U,-~J I AUJMNl LIBBAKY, I THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, I PRINCETON, N. J. % . - ^ , ,„£^<^^^^es^ BS 2560 .T565 1829 Thompson, John Samuel 1787. The Monotessaron THE MONOTESSARON; THE GOSPEL HISTORY^ ACCORDING TO THE FOUR EVANGELISTS: HARMONIZED AND CHRONOLOGIC ALLY ARRANGED, IN A UEVr TRANSLATION FROM THE GREEK TEXT OF GRIESBACH, IltUSTRATED BY SELECTIONS FHOM THE MOST EMINENT COMMENTATORS, AJjT- CIENT AND MODERN, AND BT A GREAT TAHIETT OF ORIGINAL NOTES AND DISSERTATIONS, EXHIBITING THE LATEST IMPROVEMENTS IN BIBLICAL SCIENCE AND CRITICISM. BY THE REV. JOHN S.*^THOMPSON, OF THE tJNIVERSITlES OF GLASGOTV AND EDINBURGH, PHOFESSOK OF LANGtTAGES, AND AUTHOR OF "SYSTEMATICAL THEOLOGY." The Holf Scriptures are able to make thee wise to salvation, tbrougii faith in Chrisit Jesus, 2 Tim. 3. 15. How cau I understand, unless someone guide mef Acts 8. 31. The unlearned wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction, 2 Peter 3. 16. BALTIMORE: PRINTED FOU THE AUTHOR. 1829. DISTRICT OF MARrLAND— To Wit: BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the first day of May, in the fifty-third year of the Inth' ♦***'*'* peudence of the United States of America, JOHN S. THOMPSON, of the said * L. Si district, hath deposited in this office, the title of a Book, the right whereof he ♦ ■ ^ claims as proprietor, in the words foUewine, to wit: "The MoDotessaron; or the Gospel History, according to the Four Evangelists; harmonized «ud chronologically arranged, in a new translation from the Greek te\t of Griesbach; illustrated by selections from the most eminent Conimeutat.jrs, ancient and modern, and by a great varie- ty of original notes and dissertations, exhibiting the latest improvements iu Bibli ja^l science and criticism; by the Rev. John S 'J'hompson, of the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, Pro- fessor of Languages, and author of "Systematical Theology." The Holy Scriptures are able to Make thee wise to salvation throngli faith in Christ Jesus, 2 Tim. 3. 15. How can I understand unless some one guide nie? Acts 8. 31. The unlearned wrest the scriptures to their ownde- struction, 2 Peter 3. 16." In conformity to the a«t of the Congress of the United States, entitled '"An act for the encour- agement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and pro- prietors of such copies, during the tiroes therein mentioned." And also to the act, entitled 'An act supplementary to an act, entitled 'An act for fhe encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned.' aud extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, en- graving, and etching historical and other prints." PHILIP MOORE, Clerk of the District of Maryland. ADVERTISEMEIVT. This work claims the following advantages over all others of the kind extant in the English language: 1 A more accurate text. The translation has been made from the best edition of Griesbach, and carefully collated with the ancient Syriac and Latin Vulgate. 2 Superiority and greater purity of style. Vulgarisms, Hebraisms, and numerous tautologies, which are found in the best Harmonies extant, are here avoided. 3 Jt more complete harmony of the Evan' gelists, in which more than a hundred discrepant expressions, which may be found in any other, are here reconciled. 4 Ji much nearer approach to perfection in Chronological arrangement, 5 A more extensive and critical commentary. 6 Greater purity from, Secretarian errors, and greater independency of thought and expres- sion. He that follows Christ and the dictates of an enlightened con- science, and despises, the meanness and slavery of framing his speech to accord with the Shibboleth of party, must expect to bear reproach, but in this respect, the author can adopt as his motto: Conscia mens recti, famae mendacia ridet. 7 The Theology of this work is more pure from the contagion of vulgar and heathen super- stition on the one hand, and the equally dangerous contagion of Infi- delity on the other. For thirty years, the author has studied his Bible as carefully and assiduously as any man on earth; and can truly adopt the language of Chemnitz as his own: Salutarem His- tori am de vita et actis dulscissimi Salvatoris nostri a teneris amavi. On the other hand, in the greatest independency of expression, the language of the heart has been that of Augustine: Heriticus esse nolo: or that of the Psalmist, O send out thy light and thy truth, let them lead me, or that of the English Church: From all heresy, false doctrine and gchism, good Lord dehver us! The Harmonists from whom the author has derived the greatest assistance, are Chemnitz, Lightfoot, Cartwrlght, Le Clerc, Cra- dock, Newcome, Doddridge, Priestley, Michaelis, Griesbach, and Townsend. The Commentators to whom he owes the greastest obligation, are Origen, Chrysostom, Jerome, Theophyhic, Conneil a Lapide, Tiri- nus, Le Clerc's Hammond, VVhitby, Calmet, Clarke, Grotius, Gill, Kuinoel, Rosenmuller, Beausobre and L'Enfant, Bengel, Stock, Priestley, Campbell, and McKnight. Nor is he less indebted to the Horae Hebraicae of Lightfoot and Schoetgen. The Lexicons, which he found to be most useful, are those of Dielericus, Stock, Leigh, Schoetgen, Parhurst, and Schleusner. CONTENTS. Page. PREFACE. in. PART FIRST. Section. 1 IntroHuction, Luke 1. 1 — 5; John 1. 1 — 5, 9 — 14, 16,17,18. I 2 Book of the Nativity, Luke first and second chapters. 18 3 Preaching of the Baptist, Matt. 3. 1 — 13; Mark 1. 1—9; Luke 3. 1 — 18; and John 1. 6 7, 8. 24 4 Baptism of Jesus Christ, Matt. 3. 13 — 17; Mark 1. 9— 11; Luke 3. 21,22 28 5 Genealogy of Jesus, Matt. 1. 1 — 17, and Luke 3. 23—38. S3 6 The temptation of Jesus, Matt. 4. 1—11; Mark 1. 12, 13; Luke 4. 1—13 33 7 The second Testimony of John, John 1. 15, & 19—34. 40 8 Jesus o!itains Disciples from John, John 1. 35 — 51. 44 9 Marriage Feast at Cana, John 2. 1 — 11. . . 47 10 John's last Testimony and Iinprisonment, John 2. 12, and 3 22—36; Matt. 14. 3—5; xMark 6. 17—21; Luke 3. 18—21. 48 11 Christ's journey through Samaria, Matt. 4. 12; John 4. 1—42. 52 1 2 Cure of the Officer's Son, Matt. 4. 12; John 4. 43—54. 60 13 Jesus opens his Commission at Nazareth, Luke 4. 14— 23; Mark 1. 14, 15. .... 61 14 Parable of the Sower Matt. 13. 1 — 9, and 18 — 24; Mark 4. 1—10. 13— 21; Luke 5. 1—4, and 8. 4— 9, 11—16. 65 15 Draught of Fishes and call of Peter, Luke 5. 4 — 11. 69 16 Cure of a Demoniac at Capernaum, Mark 1. 21 — 28; Luke 4. 31—37. 70 17 Cure of Simon Peter's Mother-in-Law, Matt. 8. 14 — 17, and 4. 23—25; Mark 1. 29—40; Luke 4. 38—44. ....... 72 CONTENTS. '"Section. i^age. 18 Parable of the Wheat and Darnel, Matt. 13. 2,24— 32, and 36—43; Mark 4. 1—4, and 24, 26—35; Luke 8. 18. 76 19 A Storm on the Lake, Matt. 8. 18 — 27"; Mark 4. 35— 41; Luke 8. 22—26, and 9. 57—62. . . 80 20 Cure of the Gadarene Demoniac, Matt. 8. 27 — 34; Mark 5. J— 21, Luke 8. 26 — 40. . . . 8S 21 Careof the Paralytic, Matt. 9. 1—9, Mark 2. 1—12; Luke 5. 17—26. ...... 86 22 Call of Matthew Levi, Matt. 9. 9 — 18; Mark 2. 13— 23; Luke 5.27—39. .... 88 23 Cure of a Hemorrhage, and of Jairus' daughter, Matt. 9. 18 — 27; Mark 5. 22 — 43; and Luke 8. 41 — 56. 91 24 Cure of two blind men, and a Dumb Demoniac, Matt. 9. 27—34 93 25 Jesus revisits Nazareth, Matt. 4. 13 — 17, and 13. 54 — 58; Mark 6. 1—7; Luke 3. 23—30. ... 95 26 Conversation with Xicodemus, John 2. 13, 2i — 3. 22. 98 27 Jesus walks in the Corn fields, Matt. 12. 1 — 8; Mark 2. 23— 28; Luke 6. 1—6 105 28 Cure of a Withered Hand, Matt. 12. 9—22; Mark 3. 1—12; Luke 6. 1—12, and 17— 19- . . .108 29 Ordination of the Twelve Disciples, Matt. 5. 2 — 17; 6. 19—84, and 7. 6, 21—27, and 10. 1 — 4; Mark 3. 13—20, 4.21, 22, and 9. 49, 50; Luke 6. 12—17, 20—27, 39, 40, 46-49; 8. 16, 17; and 11. 33—36, and 12. 22— 34, and IG. 13. . . . .Ill 30 Sermon on the Mount, Matt. 5. 1, 17 — 6. 19; 7. 1 — 5, 7—21; Mark 4. 24; Luke 6. 27—39; and 41—46, and 11. 1—14; 12. 51, 59; 16, 17, 18. . . 121 31 A Leper is Cleansed, Matt. 7. 28, and 8. 1 — 5; Mark 1. 40— 45; Luke 5. 12— 16 139 32 Cure of the Centurion's Servant, Matt. 8. 5 — 13. Luke 7. 1—11. 142 33 Mission of the Twelve, Matt. 10. 1, 6 — 11. 1; Mark 6. 7—14; Luke 9. 1—7; and 10. 2—13. 144 34 Blasphemy of the Pharisees, Matt. 12. 22 — 37; Mark 3. 22— 30; Luke 11. 14— 23. . . . .151 35 Arrival ©f Christ's Brethren, Matt. 12. 46 — 50; Mark 8. 31— 35; Lukes. 19— 21 and 11.27, 28. . . 153 36 Widow of Nain's Son, Luke 7. 11 — 17. . . . 154 37 Christ's answer to John's Messengers, Matt. 11. 2 — 16; Luke 7. 18—31. 155 38 Death of John the Baptist, Matt. 14. 6—18; Mark 6. 21—30. ........ 156 PART SECOND. Section. Page. S9 Jesus leaves the Tetrarchy of Herod, Matt. 14. 1,2, 13; Mark 6. 14—17; 30—33; Luke 9. 7—11. . . Ii7 40 Jesus feeds five thousand men, Matt. 14. 14—22; Mark 6. 34—44; Luke 9. 11—17; John 6. 1—15. . 159 41 Jesus Walks on the Sea, Matt. 14. 22—36; Mark 6. 45—56; John 6. 15— 21 162 42 Discourse concerninij Bread, John 6. 22— 59. . . 164 43 Defection among the Disciples, John 6. 60 — 71 . 167 44 Cure of the Impot-^nf ^nan at Bethesda, John 5. 1 — 17 170 45 Discourse at th-. P^ratecost; John 5. 17 — 47. 172 46 Discourse concerning Tradition, Matt. 15. 1 — 20 j Mark 7. 1—23. 175 47 Syro-Phenician Woman, Matt. 15. 21 — 28; Mark 7. 24—31 1T9 48 Cure of a Deaf and Dumb man, Matt. 15. 28 — 31; Mark 7. 31—37. 181 49 Jesus feeds four thousand men, Matt. 15. 32 — 88; Mark 8. 1—9 182 50 The Pharisees seek a Sign, Matt. 11. 16—20; 12.38— 45; and 16. 1—5; Mark 8. 11—14; Luke 11. 24— 27, and 12. 54—58. 183 51 Caution against false Doctrines, Matt. 16. 5 — 12; Mark 8. 14— 21; Luke 12. 1 186 52 Blind Man of Bethsaida. Mark 8.22— 26. . . 190 63 Peter's Confession, Matt. 16. 13—21; Mark 8. 27—31; Luke9. 18— 21. 191 54 Jesus foretells his Sufferings, Matt. 16. 21 — 28; Mark 8. 31—38, 9. 1; Luke 9. 22—27. . .196 55 Christ's Transfiguration, Matt. 17. 1—13; Mark 9. 2— 14: Luke 9. 28—37. 199 66 Cure of a Dumb Demoniac, Matt. 17. 14— 21; Mark 9. 14— 30; Luke 9. 37— 43; and 17. 5, 6. . .206 57 Jesus instructs his Disciples privately, Matt. 17. 22, 23; Mark 9. 30— 32; Luke 9. 43 — 45. . . .212 58 Payment of the Tribute Money, Matt. 17. 24—27. 213 59 Discourse concerning Humility, Matt. 18. 1 — 10; Mark 9. 33_49; Luke 9. 46— 50.and 17. 1, 2. . . 214 60 Doctrine of Forgiveness, Matt. 18. 15 — 35; Luke 17.3.4 '. . .228 Gl Jesus takes final leave of Galilee, Matt. 10. 20—24; 19. 1; Luke 9.51; 10. 13- 17;13.31— 33;John7. 1— 9. 280 62 Mission of the Seventy-two, Luke 10. l, 9; and 12. 35 — 48; Matt. 24. 42— 51; Mark 13.33— 37. . . 233 63 Feast of Tabernacles, John 7. 10— 52. . . .240 64 Jesus asserts the authority of his Mission, John 8. 12-33 247 CONTENTS. vii Section. Page. 65 Discourse eoncerning Abraham's Offspring, John 8. 93— -59 249 66 Return of the Seventy, Luke 10.17 — 24; Matt. 11. 25—30 266 67 A Teacher of the Law instructed, Luke 10. 26 — 28. 261 68 Parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10. 29 — 37. 862 69 Martha's Entertainment, Luke 10. 38 — 42. . . 264 70 Christ reproves the Scribes and Pharisees, Luke 11. 37—47, and 52—54; and Matt. 23. 13, 23, 25, 26. 265 71 Caution against Covetousness, Luke 12. 13 — 21. . 266 72 Massacre of Galileans by Pilate, Luke 13. 1 — 6. . 268 73 Cure of an Infirm Woman, Luke 13. 10 — 18. . . 269 74 Design of the Parables, Matt. 13. 10 — 18, 33, 44, 53: Luke 13. 18, 20, 21 273 75 Number of the Saved, Luke 13. 23 — 30. . . 280 76 Jesus dines with one of the Rulers, Luke 14. 1 — 14. 287 77 Parable of the Marriage Feast, Matt. 22. 1 — 14; Luke 14. 15—24 290 IS Christians must renounce the World,Luke 14. 25 — 33. 294 79 The Lost Sheep and Drachma, Luke 15. 1 — 10; Matt. 18. 12—14 295 80 Parable of the Prodigal Son, Luke 15. 11—32. . 297 81 Parable of the Unjust Steward, Luke 16. 1 — 12, and 14, 15 299 82 Rich Man and Lazarus, Luke 16. 19—31. . . 301 83 Christ rejected by the Samaritans, Luke 9. 52 — 56. . 316 84 Cure of ten Lepers, Luke 17. 11 — 18. . . .317 85 Coming of Messiah's Reign, Luke 17. 20 — 37. . 818 86 Nature and Importance of Prayer, Luke 18. 1 — 14, . 321 87 Cure of a Man born blind, John 9. 1 — 11. . . 323 88 Parable of the Shepherd and Sheep, John 10. 1 — 21. 328 89 The feast -'f the Dedication, John lU. 2"2 — 42. . 832 90 Liquiry concerning Divorces, Matt. 19. 2 — 12; Mark 10. 2—12, Lii;: J 16—18. ..... 336 91 Children received and blessed, Matt. 19. 13 — 15; Mark 10. 13— 16 Luke 18. 15— 17. . . 337 92 Riches injurious to Religion, Matt. 19. 16 — 26; Mark 10. 17—27; Luke 18. 18—27. . . .338 93 Reward of preferring Christ to the world, Matt. 19. 27—29; Mark 10. 28—30; Luke 18. 28—30. . 341 94 Ambition of Zebedee's Sons, Matt. 20. 20—28; Mark 10. 33—45. 344 95 Parable of the Labourers, Matt. 19. 30—20. 16. . .347 96 Lazarus raised from the Dead, John M. 1 — 46. . 350 97 Decree of the Sanhedrim, John ll. 47 — 64, 5, 7, and 12. 10, 11. 355 VIU CONTENTS. Section. Page. 98 Christ's last Journey to Jerusalem, John 11. 55, 56; Matt 20. 17— 19; Mark 10. 32— 34; Luke 18.31—34. 356 99 Cure of Blind Bartimeus, Matt. 20, 29—34; Mark 10. 46— 52; and Luke 18. 35— 19. 1. . . .358 100 Christ visits Zaccheus, Luke 19. 2— 10. . . .361 101 Parable of the Minas, Luke 19. 11— 28. . . .362 102 Jesus sups with Simon at Bethany, Luke 7. 36 — 50; John 12. 1—8; Matt. 26. 6—13; Mark 14. 3—9. 364 103 Christ's Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem, Matt. 21. 1—10; Mark 11. 1— 10; Luke 19 29—44; John 12. 12—19 367 104 Jesus cleanses the Temple, Matt. 21. 10 — 17; Mark 11 11, 15—19; Luke 19. 45— 48; John2. 13— 22. 372 105 Barren Fig Tree, Matt. 21. 18—22; Mark 11. 12— 14, 20—28, 24. 375 106 Discourse with the Chief Priest?, Matt. 21. 23 — 32; Mark 11. 27— 12. 1; Luke 20. 1—9. . . .378 107 Parable of the Vineyard, Matt. 21. 33—45; Mark 12. 1—13; Luke 20. 9—19 879 108 Greeks desire to see Jesus, John 12. 20 — 50. . . 385 109 Christ's Reply to the Herodians, Matt. 22. 15—22 Mark 12. 12— 17; Luke 20. 20— 26. , . .391 110 Christ's Reply to the Sadducees, Matt. 22. 23—33; Mark 12. 18—27; Luke 20.27—38. . . .392 111 Christ's Reply to the Pharisees, Matt. 22. 34 — 47; Mark 12. 28— 37; Luke 20. 39— 44. . . .396 112 Jesus Inveighs against the Scribes and Pharisees, Matt. 23. 1—3, 5, 8—10, 14—22, 27—39; Mark 12. 38 —40; Luke 11. 47—51, and 13. 34, 35, and 20. 45—47. ........ 404 PREFACE. On offering: to the Christian world, a new edition of the Gos- pel History, differing in construction and arrangement from all former publications, on the same subject, some explanatory ob- servations, illustrative of the nature and characteristics of the work, njay be necessary. The title, Monoiessaron^ implies one out of four, and appears the most appropriate that can be select- ed to designate a history, including the four Gospels in one regu- lar narrative. The word Diatessaron is of more general use, but is not so significant and suitable for a work of this nature. The grand object of Gospel Harmonists, has been to attain such an exhibition or arrangement of the four Gospels, as sets forth the agreement of the Evangelists, in their testimony concerning the life, doctrines, miracles, character, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To accomplish so desirable an object, two methods have been pursued by Harmonists, of which a brief ac- count shall be given. 1. The Ta'ian Method which attempts to construct one regu- lar, connected history, including every text and phrase in the four Gospels, and at the same time, avoiding all refietitions of the same or similar words and phrases ; so that the whole writings of the four Evangelists, may appear as the production of one writer. This was the plan invented by Tatian, who composed a Diatessaron, in the second century, being the first attempt to harmonize the four Evangelists. Of those who have pursued the Tatian method, the following are perhaps the mosi worthy of no- tice : — Chancellor Gerson, who published a Monotessaron, Parfs, 1420. Jansenius, Bishop of Ghent, who published his CoNCORBANTiA EvANGELicA, at Louvaiu in 1571, which was highly recommended by both Catholics and Protestants, for mo- desty, piety and erudition. He has been esteemed tlie prince of the Catholic harmonists; and the public manifested their esteem for his labours, so far as to require fourteen editions of his valua- ble harmony. Among the Protestants, Osiander published a Harmony in 1537, of which Walch and Chemnitius speak witli great respect, but Michaelis says some things rather sarcastically. In the IV PREFACE. next century, the learned Calovius published his valuable Biblia Illustrata, in which is contained a Harmony, after the innn- ner of O^-iandcr. In 1647, appeared from the Elzevir press, at Amsterdam, a beautiful edition of the Harmony of the learned professor Cartwrij^ht, containiuj^^ besides the text, an analysis, para|5hrase, and practical observations, on every portion of the Evaii.t^olical history. In 1747, Pilkington published an Evan- gelical History, which exhibits much ingenuity, talent, and industry. Nor should I pass unnoticed, the valuable Diatessa- rons, ptiblisiicd by professor White, Robert Thompson, 13 r. Wil- lan, John Chambers, U. Warner, and the Synopsis of Chai-les Thompson, all published in the present century. Last of all, though probably best of all, the New Testament arranged in chi-onological order, by George Townsend, London 1825, which contains one of the best Movntessarons ever publislied. 2. The Eusebian Jtethodt so called from Eusebius of Cesarea. Harmonists, who pursue this method, endeavour so to arrange, in parallel columns, the wlxde text of the four Evangelists, that their agreement or dissonance may be at once perceived. Some have imagined that this is the only arrangement of the Gospels that can be entitled a harmony ; but after all attempts of this kind have been tried, by the inost eminent theologians, the re- sult must be either a Monotessaron or the object has not been at- tained. Surely if all the Evangelists could be so arranged as to avoid all dissonance, there would remain only several repetitions of the same narrative. Among those Harmonists, who have ar- ranged the writings of the Evangelists in parallel columns, the most distinguished have been Calvin, Chemnitius, Le Clerc, Toinard, Newcome, and Griesbach. Chemnitius has been styled tiie Janseniiis of the Protestants. He died leaving the woik incomplete, but his laboiious undertaking was brought to its accomplishment in the beginning of the seventeenth century, by two very eminent theologians, Lyser and Gerhard. The "work being completed, appeared in three large folios : the most extensive and probably the most valuable work on the Gospels, that has ever been published. In 1699, the learned Le Clerc published nis Harmonia Evangelica, which hasutiited the tes- timony of all critics in his praise. Besides the exhibition of the four Gospels, in parallel columns, the work contains, ** A History of Cnrist from tkt four Evangelists*^^ c a stange prolepsis, connects the death of the Baptist vv ith the commencenient of his oublic ministry. It is now nearly agreed among harmonists, that from the twenty- second verse of tiie fourth chapter, to the thijtecnth of the four- teenth chapter, Mattliew has dcj.artcd from true chroni»i:»gical order, in which aberration, he has not been followed by any of the other Evangelists. From the most accurate account of the times in which the dif- ferent Gospels were published, we can form the most reasonable conjecture concerning the comparative accuracy of their chrono- logical order. As the three first Gospels were published during the life time of some of the apostles, there would be time and op- portunity to correct mistakes, and each Evangelist would natur- ally improve, by the previous publication ofil'e other. INow as the most accurate criticism confirms the most j»ncieut testimony, that Matthew wrote first, and Mark last of the three, it fellows, as an indisputable fact, that Mark is the most accurate, and Matthew the most negligent historian. The chief step towards the construction of a regular chrono- logical history from the four Evangelists, is to ascertain the number of passovers, which happened between the b^piiam and crucifixion of Christ. The early christian fathers held that our Lord's public ministry lasted only one year, during which he at- tended two passovers : but Eusebius first discovered notices of Jour passovers, in the Gospel of John ; and Sir Isaac Newton and Joseph Scaliger were so great Improvers of the calendars as to descry even a fifth, whilst Tatian, Comester, Ludolphus, Burmann, and Priestley have not been able to perceive more than two passovers, mentioned in the second and thirteenth chap- ters. The opinion, therefore, of Eusebius, Newton, and Scaliger, being unsupported by any testimony, either scriptural or ecclesiastic, must be rejected. VIII PREFACE. A second source of iiifonnation concerninji^ the chronolo^yiral order of the Evanajclical History, arises from attention to (»nr Master's discourses. Sir Isaac Newton and Archhishof) New- come, have shown, that our Lord made frequent allusions to present and surrounding objects. Hence they conclude, that it was winter, when, passing through Samaria, lie said, four months and then comes the harvest ; Seed time when h** pronounced the parable of the sower; and spring when he delivered tl»e sermon on the Mount and alluded to the lilies and grass of the field. THE TRANSLATION. In attempting a new version of the sacred Text, I have not been induced to deviate from the received English translation through dislike or desire of innovation ; but as far as possible, I have carefully endeavoured to ascertain the original words of the Evangelists. To this end I have had continually before me, both the Halle and London editions of Griesbach, the editions of Wetstein and Bengel, and the Ancient Syriac and Latin Yul- gate. Whilst translating, I have studiously avoided the extremes of a mere verbal and loose paraphrastic version, being desirous of exhibiting the spirit of the original, without redundance or de- ficiency of words. Moreover as a strictly literal rendering of idiomatical phrases, is subversive of the sense of an author, care has been taken to discover the Hebi-ew or Hellenistic idioms, and to give their literal sense, agreeably to the genius ot the En- glish language. For this purpose, continual reference has been made to the best writers on Biblical Hermeneutics. and to the translations of Wakefield, Campbell, Beza, Beausobre, and De Sacy. The frequent recurrence of particles which, in the original, are often merely expletive, has been carefully obviated, or that di- versity of signification, of which they are susceptible in the Greek, has been observed in this translation : and when I have had oc- casion to encounter the delicate task of forming (fne narrative out of two or threCi such phraseology has been adopted, as combines, as nearly as possible, the very words of the sacred writers, with- out addition or retrenchment. MONOTESSARON. PART FIRST, Containing the history of Christ's nativity^ and Mb public ministry, to the death of the Baptist, SECTION FIRST. Introduction. Whereas many* have undertaken to compose a history of those facts which have been fully accredit- * Seeing Luke informs us, in the beginning of the fifth chapter, that the people pressed on Jesus to hear the word of God, we should not be surprised that many would take memorandums of what they heard, and also that frequent inquiries, should be made con- cerning the doctrines and miracles of Jesus. These detached me- morandums would be soon compiled into a history, which would be more or less accurate and authentic, according to the fidelity with which the particulars were collected, and the wisdom and propriety with which they were arranged. These memorandums constituted the foundation of the Gospel History, and to them the Evangelists were much indebted for the various and numeious narratives of which their own histories are composed. But as many reports, not founded on facts, would also obtain circulation, and each being de- sirous of rendering his history as complete as possible, we cannot be surprised at the number of imperfect and spurious books which ob- tained, during the first ages of the Christian Church. We have, therefore, abundant reason for gratitude to the kind Providence of Almighty God, who inspired so suitable and worthy a man as Luke, to undertake the assiduous and laborious work of making an accurate and orderly compilation of the Gospel History, for the instruction, comfort, and satisfaction of the Church of Christ through all suc- ceeding ages. Three Hypotheses have been suggested to account for the singu- lar coincidences of language, which are found in the three first Gos- pels. First. 7'he Evangelists copied from each other. This was the opinion of Grotius, Wetstein, Mill, Owen, Townson, Hales, Harwood, and Griesbach. — Second. The Evangelists copied from one common document, which contained those passages that are si- % 10 INTRODUCTION. c(l* amoaa; us, even as they, who were eye-witnesses and ministers of tlie Logos,! delivered them to us : it seemed good to mej also, having accurately traced milar. This Hypothesis was adopted by Le Clerc, Lessing, Mi- chaelis, and Eichhorn. Third. The Gospels loere compiled from memorandums of Chrisfs discourses, taken by his auditors. There can be no difficulty in uniting these three Hypotheses ; for suppose Matthew compiled his Hebrew Gospel from detached memorandums ; this Hebrew Gospel would be a common document for Luke, Mark and Matthew's translator : Luke might copy Matthew, Mark copy Luke, and Matthew's translator, would occasionally copy both Luke and Mark. * Though the original word, ?r£5rPni»e(^of jjfttvwv, signifies to be per- suaded, or accomplished, I have chosen the term, accredited, as the best calculated to express the meaning of the Evangelists, and the general import of the translators and commentators on this passage. All the events of the Gospel History were so well attested, and the predictions of the ancient prophets so fully accomplished, in the life and ministry of our blessed Master, that the whole vocabulary of the Greek and English languages cannot aftbrd more appropriate words to express the meaning of the saci'ed historian, than those which have been selected. All the facts were so notorious and pub- lic, as to be well and powerfully attested by many thousands, who had no other inducement, than the love of truth and sincerity, to bear testimony, even at the risk of their lives, to the wonderful works of God. Hence the Gospel is supported by an accumulation of evi- dence, which frowns into shame and disrepute, every attack of infi- delity and unbelief. tThe word Logos is here used as an appellative, to denote Jesus Christ, whose name is the Logos of God, Rev. 19. 13. Such was the opinion of Origen, Athanasius, Gomarus, Cameron, Capellus, Witzius, Wolf, and Calovius. As John has used this word in his introduction to denote that being who holds the second rank in the Universe, I have not translated the term, believing that no word, in the modern languages, adequately expresses the sense affixed to the word Logos, by Philo and the Platonic philosophers, and afterwards adopted by Paul and John. In support of this opinion, I adduce the authority of Lactantius, the Cicero of the Christians. " The Greeks use the term Logos, more appropriately than we can word or discourse; for their Myoi signifies both reason and discourse, be- cause it is both the wisdom and voice of God. " J The attentive reader cannot but observe the inconsistency of Luke's preface with the supposition of supernatural instruction. As an honest, careful, and accurate historian, he collects, with assiduity and scrupulous exactness, from the most authentic sources, and having cautiously examained the claims of the various narratives, he selects the genuine from the fabulous, and compiles an exact and INTRODUCTION. 11 every thing from its origin, to write distinctly to thee, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mayest know the certainty of those doctrines, concerning which thou hast received instruction.* In the beginning existed the Logos,! and the Logos well digested compend of the history of our Lord's life, doctrines, and miracles, which has been so highly esteemed and admired by all Christians, that even those, who rejected all the other books of the New Testament, acknowledged and believed the Gospel by Luke. Indeed, of all who undertook a history of our Lord, none was so em- inently qualified as this Evangelist. Brought up at Antioch, the capital of Syria, being well instructed in the language, manners, and religion of the Jews, an attendant, for some time, on our Lord's ministry, and a constant companion of the Apostle Paul, he mani- fests a variety, energy, and method in his history, not to be found in the productions of the other Evangelists, so that the mere tyro in Greek cannot even look into hb preface, without being convinced of the superiority of his style and education. * From the beginning of the Christian dispensation, the excellent method of communicating religious instruction by catechising, ob- tained, and has been long and successfully practised ; but, alas ! how inattentive and contumelious are many parents and ministers to this important duty, by neglect of which the people perish through lack of knowledge. In the early age all were catechised before ad- mitted to the privileges of the Church ; there was no exception on account of age or station. Theophilus, a Grecian nobleman, had been catechised, in the elements of the Christian religion, on his conversion to the faith of Jesus, but Luke would have him well in- structed, rooted, and grounded in that holy faith, that he might arrive to the stature of a perfect man in Christ Jesus. No wonder, that so many professors are so easily tossed about with every wind of doc- trine, when their religious instruction is so superficial and unsatisfac- tory. Let every man, who regards his present and eternal station in the works of God, and prefers the rank of an intelligent to a mere animal existence, cultivate the most intimate accquaintance with the sacred oracles, ever reflecting, that whilst the things of time pass away, and even the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, the Holy Scriptures are able to make wise to salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus. t What John has said of the Logos in this introduction has occasion- ed greater perplexity to the commentators, than any other part of the Gospel History, probably on account of the obscurity that hangs over the design of the writer. Nor is it easy to understand the meaning of John, without the supposition that he wrote as a The- ologian, to correct some errors of his time. Hence Michaelis and many others have followed Ireneas, in the opinion tliat John wrote to re- IS INTRODUCTION. was with God, and the Logos was a god. This same was in the beginning with God : all things were made by him, and without him not one thing came into being : That which was accomplished in him, was life, fute the errors of the Gnostics and other heretics, who arose in the apo!",:)lic age, and used Logos, Life, Light, Truth, Favour, Only- begotten as names of subordinate deities. Le Cleix believed that John's design was not so much to controvert the peculiar notions of his tune, as to show the Christians in what sense these terms should be understood, and prevent mistakes arising from the doctrines of Plato and Philo. I think by comparing the introduction of John with the opinions of his time, there will be no reason to differ essen- tially from either Michaelis or Le Clerc. J . John asserts that the Logos was ivith God in the beginning. In this proposition John does not affirm that the Logos was eternal, nor that he was created in the beginning ; but only, that at the time this woricl was formed, the Logos then existed. Now if we compare the writings of Plato, Philo and the Philosophers in general, we'shall find a double sense attached to the word Logos. The Jirst merely conceplual or ideal, being nothing more than a personiftcation of the wisdom or mind of the Deity. The second personal or substantial, being the appellative of the Son of God, when he became a real per- sonal existence. Hence the distinction of the internal sinA external Logos. Whitby says: "The primitive Fathers very plainly and frequently affirm, that the Logos was strictly from all eternity, in the Father, but was produced or emitted before the creation of the world. " In proof of which position he cites Justin, Athenagoras, Theophilus, TertuUian, Tatian, and Lactantius ; and refers to Bull's Defence of the Nicean Creed. Theodoret and Augustine are quoted by Cornell a Lapide, in proof that Orpheus and many of the Greek, Chaldean, and Egyp- tian philosophers called the supreme God, Nous or Mind, and his word, the offspring of the Mind, they denominated Logos. Let us hear TertuUian, in his Apology, addressing the heatfien philosophers : *' You philosophers yourselves, admit that the Logos, the rt'orrf and reason, was the creator of the Universe ; the Christians merely add: that the proper substance of the t«or J and reason, is spirit', that this word must have been pronounced by God, and when pronounced, it was generated, and, consequently, it is the Son of God. " " Thought, says Bossuet, which we feel produced as the offspring of our minds, as the son of our understanding, gives us some idea of the Son of God ; for this reason, this Son of God, assumes the name of the Word, to intimate that he was produced in the bosom of the Father, as the inward voice arises in our souls when we contemplate truth. " John Benedict Carpsove and Professor Paulus, of Jena, have shown that besides the merely conceptual Logos, which was allowed to have always existed in the Father, Philo and many of the Jews and philo- INTRODUCTION. 13 and this life was the light of men. And this light shines in darkness and the darkness does not prevent it. That was the true light, which coming into the world, enligh- tens every man. He was in the world, and by him the sophers, attached the notion o{ personal subsistence to the Logos. — Dr. X. Clarke, on this passage, says : " after a serious reading of the Targums, it seems to me evident, that the Chaldee term mcmra or word, is used personally in a multitude of places, and to attempt to give the word any other meaning in various places, would be flat opposition to every rule of construction. " There is therefore one principle, in which Philosophers, Learned Jews, and the primitive Christian fathers were united : From all eternity the Logos existed, not personally, but as the reason and voice, or mind and ivord of God, but before the creation or commencement of time, Jehovah begot, or produced this ivord as a personcd existence, his Son. In this latter sense, the Logos is here introduced by John, as existing with, not in God, at the beginning of time and creation ; and hence John plainly teaches the personal pre-existence of Christ, as appears manifest from the whole scope of the passage, and several parts of his Gospel. The word beginning, therefore, has the same import here as in Gen. 1. 1. j and to interpret it to mean the beginning of the Gospel, is to divest the whole passage of force and meaning ; for what propriety could there be in saying, Jesus existed when he began to preach ? None ! Therefore John says the Logos had life in him before he became man. 2. The Logos was a god. John does not teach that the Logos was God, in the absolute sense of the term ; but in a subordinate sense. Those who contend for the supreme deity of the Logos, as- sert that the construction of the Greek, is such as warrants their con- clusion; for say they, the word God, being the predicate of the pro- position, should not have the article. Admitting this, we say, on the other hand, that had John intended to say the Logos was a god, no other form of expression could have been used, than that found in the original text: whereas had he intended to say the word is the su- preme God, he could have used a different form, and have said o 6eof Yit A«y«?. Thus Origen, on this passage says : " when the word God is used to denote the self-existent being who is the author of the Universe, John places the article before it, but withholds the article when the Logos is called God." Eusebius contra Marcellum de ec- cles. Theol. L. 11, 17, observes that " the article is here omitted, that the Evangelist might teach a distinction between the Father and. the Son ; otherwise he might have said « 6e»i tiv o Xoyci, had he intend- ed to call the Father and the Son the same being." See the lirst of these quotations in RosenmuUer, and the latter in Lampe, on this passage. Epiphanius also, cited by Pearson on the Creed, observes that iif we say o 6eoi, God with the article, we niean the living and true God, but if we say Sso?, God without the article, we mean a l-i INTRODUCTION. world was made, yet this world did not acknowledge him. He came to his own, but his own people did not receive him : to as many, however, as received him, by believing in his name, he gave power to become chil- heathen god. Hence the ablest Greek critics among the ancient fa- thers, who knew an hundred fold more about the construction and usage of the language than the modern critics, say John could have used the article in this phrase, had he intended to designate the Lo- gos as the supreme God. From what has been said it will follow, that John used the word God, when characteristic of the Logos, in^a subordinate and relative sense ; and this he might do, either as a Jew, following the usage of the holy Scriptures, or in imitation of the Grecian philosophers. The Hebrew Scriptures use the term God to denote beings of the An- gelic order. Compare Psalm 97. 7, with Heb. 1. 6. Thus also in Psalm 86. 8, where the Hebrew says, "there is none among the gods like unto thee," the Chaldaic version says, there is none among the angels of heaven like unto thee." Jesus tells the Jews, " the law called them gods to whom the word of God came. John 10. 35. Hence we see the term god, used in the scriptures, in a subordinate sense; and we have reason to believe that it is so used in this introduction ; for John could not intend to say the Logos was the same, as the God in whose presence he was. 3. All things animate or inanimate were made by the Logos. Against this proposition, two objections are made. 1. That out of about 300 instances, where the preposition dia with a genitive occurs, in the New Testament, not more than three can be found to denote the first or efficient cause : but uniformly this construction marks the instrumental cause of an action. Consequently the Father, and not the Son, is the Creator. 2. The verb eyiuro never signifies to create. Now both these objections may be admitted, in their full force and extent, and yti the proposition ; That all things were made by the Son, be true and perfectly maintainable. The ancient phi- losophers, as well as many very eminent modern writers on Cosmo- gony, have maintained a two-fold creation, or rather a creation and formation. A creation, strictly so named, in which the elements of things are called from nonentity into being : a formation, by which things receive their figure and adaptation for their destined use, in actual being : The first may be called a creation of essence, the second of forms of being. It is readily granted, that the scrip- tures uniformly describe the Father as acting through the agency of his Son : and if John contemplated the agency of the Logos in the formation of things, his words and phrases are well adapted to ex- press his meaning with caution and perspicuity. " What part be- longed to the Son in Creation, says Rosenmuller, no mortal should dare to explain. The Ancients thus understood and believed ; that the Father was the disposer of all things, but that in finishing what he had disposed, he used the agency of his Son." Lactantius de INTRODUCTION. 15 dren of God ; who were not begotten of blood, nor of concupiscence, nor by the desire of the male, but of God. This Logos became incarnate, and tabernacled among Sapien. L. 4, C. 9, says, the philosophers were not ienorant of the Logos, for even Zeno denominates the maker anil disposer of the world, Logos. Philo, de Mundi Opificio, says, when the Deity de- creed to form this mighty globe, he conceived the forms thereof, and afterwards constituted this intelligent world after the model he had conceived : and if it please any one to speak more openly, this ar- chetype of the intelligible world, this idea of ideas was the Word of God." Hence the philosophers of that time and some of the Fathers, even Origen andAugustine, held the Son to be an intermedium, if I may so say, between the Deity and the material world ; as if some being more nearly connected with creation, than the eternal spirit, should be the agent in the formation of things. The Apostle Paul expressly declares all things visible and invisible were created in the Son, and by his agency, and for his use. Col. 1. 16. And again: by him God made the worlds, Heb. 1. 2. I know it is objected that the word uiSvcii should be translated ages, but this need not be granted ; for the same term is used in chap. 11. 3, of this epistle, to signify the material world : and Michaelis observes, in his notes on Pierce's Commentary, that the Jews, in their most solemn acts of devotion, address God as the Creator of the ages ; doubtlessly meaning by the term ages^ this system of the Universe. The Apostle Paul and the Evangelist John, therefore, clearly unite in the sentiment of the philosophers of their times, in ascribing the formation of all things to the Son of God, and hence they place him before all things, for this very reason. Surely there can be no more impossibility in Christ's agency in the forming of this world and man upon it, than in his raising the dead, calming the winds, and suspending the action of nature's laws. John tells us the world was made by the Logos. In this we believe him; but let those who say the world was not made, but only reneioed or enlightened by the Logos, account for the inconceivable ignorance or wickedness of this enlightened and re- newed world, in not knowing or acknowledging the Son of God ! 4. The Logos pre-existed personally, before the world, and having derived his being and fullness from the Father became the author of life and all its benefits to mankind. John 1. 3 — 12. That which was accomplished in the Logos was life. This is life causal and superna- tural : the spring of life temporal, and inexhaustible source of im- mortal and spiritual life. John having described the formation of all things by the Logos, proceeds to notice the most important par- ticulars, not as posterior transactions, but as subjects of reiterated attention. The time, when life was produced in the Logos, was that in which it passed from its conceptual, to its substantial state of being. The time when the wisdom and vvord of the Deity became 10 INTRODUCTION. US ; and we beheld his glory, the glory of an Only-be- gotten from the presence of the Father, full of grace and truth ; for out of his fulness, we have all received grace instead of grace. For the law was given by Moses, incorporated, in the person of his only-begotten, the firstborn of the whole creation. Col. i. 15. By this act of generation or forma- tion, the Father gave to the Son the inconceivable power or prero- gative of having life in himself. Hence Jesus says, "I live by the Father. The Father has given the Son to have life in himself. I came that ye might have life more abundantly. Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life. He that believes on the Son has life, but he that believes not on the Son, shall not see life." From these and similar passages, we conclude, that as all beings received life from the Son, at first, whereby they perceive the light of this world, and perform certain transactions in it, so every intelligent being must receive spiritual and immortal life by the faith of the Son of God, and spiritual union with him, or without doubt perish everlastingly. Hence men, who have forfeited their claims to life by sin, must have that claim renewed by faith and repentance, or suffer eternal death in annihilation of being. That this life was given to the Logos before the world was, is clear from the context; for John describes the accomplishment of life in him, before he be- came man, or tabernacled among men. So that those who imagine the first and second verses, are spoken of the Logos, in a conceptual state, gain nothing ; for John plainly ascribes life to the Logos, before the incarnation ; and the formation of the world to him, in his jaer- sonal dinA substantial %idii.t oih^iwg. Verses 10 — 14. The Logos was the author of life to man at first : and when Man had forfeited that life, it became necessary for the Son of God to ap- pear in our world and die, that man might live. This new and spiritual life, however, is communicated to those only who believe and receive the Son. Thus in verse twelfth : To as many as re- ceived him, he gave poiver to become the eons oj God. The un- believer therefore, who does not receive by faith the Son of God, must inevitably perish, in the strict and proper sense of the term : for this is eternal life to know or acknowledge the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. They therefore, who know not God, through his Son, cannot receive power to become sons of Godj neither can they trust in his name, and consequently, cannot be saved, nor enter into life, but without doubt must perish everlasting- ly ; for Jesus gives the power of becoming sons of God to none, but those who know, profess, and obey him. 5. The Logos was the medium of all the dispensations of Jehovah to mankind, whether Antedeluvian, Patriarchal, Mosaic, or Chris- tian. In verse tenth, John asserts that the Logos was- in the world j and that he came to his own people, before he says any thing of his incarnation, verse fourteenth. Thus the true light enlightens every INTRODUCTION. 17 but favour and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God, at any time ; tlie Only-begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known. man of all ages; though the darkness, oi' ungodly men, do not compre- hend nor perceive his divine illumination. In the Patriarchal dispen- sation the Logos frequently appeared in the form of man, and as an angel, speaking and acting in the name and as the representative of Jehovah. See the history of the appearances to Abraham and Lot, Gen. 17 and 18. He was the angel of Jehovah's presence, who went before Israel, and whom they tempted in the wilderness. 1 Cor. 10. 9. The Mediator by whose hands the law was given at Sinai, Acts 7. 53. and Gal. 3. 19. How appropriate are the words of John, verse eighteenth ; No man has seen God at any time. The Only-begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known. Thus the primitive Fathers believed and wrote with one voice. See their sayings collected by Bishop Bull and Dr. Water- land. 6. The Logos, who was with the Father in the beginning and by lohom all things were made, became incarnate, and tabernacled among men. Verse fourteenth. No doctrine can be more fully or clearly taught than this. Hear Christ. No man has ascended in- to heaven but the son of man who came down from heaven. What if ye see the son of man ascend up where he was before.'' Father glorify me with the glory I had with thee before the world was. John 3. 13; 6. 38, 62; and 17. 5. This testimony by John is ful- ly confirmed by Paul, when he says : To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. Here a learned Philosopher and Apostle of Jesus, asserts the origin of all things to be the Father, but the existence of all things is by the Son. Addressing the Colossians, he descrioes that Jesus, through whose blood we have redemption, as the first born of the whole creation, by whom all things were created ; who was before all things, and by whom all things consist. Col. 1. 14 — 17. In the epistle to the Philippians, 2. 6 — 11, he represents the Logos, as being tirst in the form of a god, and afterwards humbling himself, laying aside his majesty, and taking the form of a servant, and being found in fash- ion as a man. This distinction between the pre-existent Logos and incarnate being called Christ Jesus, he notifies to the Romans, in his introduction to the epistle addressed to them, by denominating Jesus, the son of David, according to t\\efiesh, but the Son of God, according to the Spirit. Now were we at any loss to comprehend the meaning of the Evangelist and the Apostle, the uniform testi- mony of the Christian writers from the days of John and Paul should suffice. Hear then Clemens Romanus, a writer cotemporary with the apostles, "One Lord Christ, who saves us, who though he 3 SECTION SECOND. Book of the Nativity.* There was in the days of Herod, King of Judea, a certain priest named Zachariah of the course of Afjijuh, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth. They were both I'ight- eous before God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord without blame. And they had no child, for Elizabeth was barren; and they were both advanced in years. Now it came to pass, that as he officiated before God, in the order of his course, he was appointed by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord, to burn incense : and the whole multitude of the peojjle was praying without, at the time of incense. Then ap- peared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense ; and Zachariah was troubled at the apparition and fear fell on him. But the angel said to him : Fear not Zachariah, wnsjirsf a Spirit, yet he became Jlesh.^^ Ignatius, in his epistle to the Magnessians, says, *' There is one God who manifested himself through Jesus Christ liis Son, who is the eternal Logos." Subse- quent writers need not be here called in evidence. All who know any thing of antiquity, are well satisfied, that the incarnation of the pre-existent Logos, is the unanimous testimony of the Christian Church, and of every writer of any reputation belonging to that Church, for more than fifteen hundred years. Hence, I can acquit the apostles and ecclesiastical writers of the charge of being false witnesses for Christ and advocates of heathen Philosophy, in no other way, but by believing the pre-existent dignity and subsequent incarnation of the Logos, Jesus Christ. *Book of the Nativity, BiZxo^ yeviveui. I have taken this title from the first verse of Matthew's Gospel according to the generally received Text. I regard it as the title of some small book, like the " Gospel of the Infancy," from which Matthew selected a part or the whole ot the two first chapters of his Gospel : or, it may be the title by which he intended to distinguish the subject of the two first chapters, from the main body of the history, whose particulars he Avas fully qualified to attest, having been an eye witness. Mat- thew could not write the history of the miraculous conception, the visit of the Magi, the slaughter of the children by Herod, otherwise than by selecting from some books which treated of these things, or writing from report. Hence a reason arises why I have thought proper to pass unnoticed in this history, Matt. 1. 17—2. 23, and to insert what Luke has written on the same subject— Luke positively declares he wrote a narrative of those things only, which he had traced to their origin, and had found to be worthy of full credit. This is the reason he differs so much from Matthew, because on ex- amination of a subject, the history of which depended for its autho- rity, on the veracity of Mary and some of her acquaintances, he no doubt found some things inaccurate, others fabulous, and a part wor- thy of all acceptation. We therefore give the account of the mira- BOOK OP THE NATIVITY. 19 ibrthy prayer has been heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall beai' thee a son whom thou shalt name John. He shall be to thee, joy and glad- ness ; and many shall rejoice because of his birth. For he shall be grerit before the Lord: he shall drink no wine nor strong liquoi*, but be filled with the holy spirit, eve n from his mother's womb : and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. More- over, he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to re- concile fathers to their children, and by the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare the disobedient, to be a people well disposed for the Lord. Then Zachariah said to the angel : How can I know this ? for I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years But the angel answering, said to him : I am Gabriel, who attend in the presence of God, and was s^ent to declare to thee, these glad tidings. But know, that thou shalt be dumb and unable to speak till the day in which these things shall be accomplished, because thou hast not believed my Avords which shall be fulfilled in their season. Now the people waited for Zachariah and wondered that he delayed so long in the temple. But when he came out, he could not speak to them ; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple ; for he was making signs to them, whilst he remained silent. And when the days of his ministry were ended, he returned home. Now after these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and concealed herself five months, saying : Has the Lord done this for me, and looked upon me at this time, to take away my reproach among men ? Now in the sixth month,* the angel Gabriel was sent by God, to Nazareth a city of Galilee, to a virgin, espoused to a man whose name culous conception by Luke, believing it ought to be retained : but we have placed it in a ditterent type, to indicate, that it cannot lay claim to the same authority with the rest of Luke's History, all the facts of which, the apostles could most surely certify as eye-witnesses. I think Grotius and Le Clerc have well answered the question; why have the Evangelists said so little of Christ before the beginning of his Ministry ? by saying : It was not the object of the sacred writers to relate the childhood and puerile transactions of the Man Christ Jesus, but to give' a faithful description of his character, doctrines, mission, death and resurrection, that the world might learn the doctrine of God, as revealed by him, and the foundation of their hope through him. It would profit the world but little, to know how Jesus wrought at the trade of a Carpenter with his father; but it is all important, to know how he taught as the Son of God and Judge of the world ; and how he became a ransom for all, and was made wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. * The time of Christ's birth has become of late years, a subject of more than usual interest, on account of the controversy about the authority of the two first chapters of Matthew, and the attempt of chronologers to alter the common reckoning of the vulgar era. All attempts to ascertain the accuracy of ancient dates or historical facts, should be made in submission to the authority of the ancients, un- less internal or contradictory evidence, neutralizes the strength of the testimony. Nor should we feel ourselves authorised to reject so BOOK OF THE NATIVITY. was Joseph, of the house of David ; and the virgin's name was Mary And the angel entering in to her, said : Hail ! favorite of Heaven ! the Lord be with thee, most blessed of women ' But she was greatly- troubled at his saying, and reasoned about the meaning of such a salu- tation. Then the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour witli God ; and behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, whom thou shalt call Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He shall reign over the house of Jacob through all ages, and his kingdom shall have no end : Then said Mary to the angel : How can this be, seeing I have no intercourse with a husband? The angel answered : A holy spirit will come upon thee, and a power of the Most High shall overshadow thee, and therefore, the holy off- spring shall be called Son of God. And lo! Thy kinswoman Elizabeth has conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren; for with God the accomplishment of every word is possible. Then Mary said : Behold the handmaid of the Lord ! be it to me as thou hast said. And the angel departed. In those days Mary arose and travelled in haste to a city of Judea, in the hill country; and entering the house of Zachariah, saluted Elizabeth. And as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's salutation, the babe leaped in her womb : and Elizabeth was filled with a holy spirit, and cried with a loud voice : Blessed be thou among women, and blessed shall be thine offspring. And how happens this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me. For lo ! as soon as the sound of thy salutation reached my ears, the babe leaped with joy in my womb. And happy is sh? who believed, that the things promised from the Lord shall be accomplished. Then Mary said : My soul magnifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; for he has regarded the low condition of his hand- maid : andlo! henceforth all generations shall call me happy. Be- cause the Mighty one has done great things for me, therefore hallowed the testimony of ancient historians, without the most cogent and conclusive reasoning to the contrary; Antonius Pagi informs us, the tradition prevails at Alexandria to the present day, that our Lord was born in the end of the year of Rome 751. This tradition he observes must have been very ancient, from the manner in which it is mentioned by Julius Africanus. We shall see from Clemens of Alexandria, Ireneas and Tertullian that this tradition is worthy of the epithet apostolical. Clemens, who gives the chronology of the Roman Emperors down to his own time, about an hundred years after the Gospels were written, expressly affirms, Stromat. L. 1, that Jesus was born in the twenty-eighth year of Augustus, and that he lived fifteen years under that Emperor's reign. Now of the different dates assigned by different historians to the commencement of this Emperor's reign, none is more suitable than the year of Rome 724, when after the death of Cleopatra and Antony, Augustus made his triumphant en- try into Alexandria. If then, Christ was born in the twenty-eighth year of Augustus, to the year 7'24 add 27, the number of whole years, and we have 751. Again, if Jesus was fifteen years old when BOOK OF THE NATIVITY. SI be his name. His mercy is on them that fear him to all generations. He displays strength with his arm and scatters the vain imaginations of the proud. He casts down potentates from their thrones, and exalts them that are lowly. He fills the hungry with good things, but sends the rich away empty. He supports his servant Israel, in remem- brance of his everlasting kindness, as he promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his posterity. So Mary abode with her about three months and then returned home. Now when Elizabeth's full time for delivery was come, she bear a son ; and her neighbours and kinsfolk having heard of the great kind- ness which the Lord had shown her, rejoiced with her. And, on the eighth day, thevcametocircumcisethe child and would have called him Zachariah after the name of his father But his mother said: Nay ; he shall be called John. They said to her: there is none of thy kin- dred called by th.^t name. So they made signs to his father to know how he would have him callei! : and heasktd for a writing table and wrote : His name is John. And they all were surprized. And his mouth was immediately opened and his tongue loosed : and he spakeUn praise ot God. And fear came on the whole neighbourhood ; and the fame of these things sjjread abroad '^hrough all the Hill country of Judea. And all who heard, laid them up in their hearts, saying : What will this child be ! And the hand of the Lord was with him. Then Zachatiah his father was fuled with the holy spirit, and pro- phesied, saying: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people ; and has raised up for us a prince of Salvation, in the house of David his servant, as he promised by the mouth ot his holy prophets since this age began ; a deliverance from our enemies and the hand of all that hate us; to show mercy and re- member his holy covenant with our fathers, the oath which he swoi'e to Abraham our father, that he would grant us, being delivered from the hands of our enemies, to worship him in his presence without fear, in holiness and righteousness all our days. And thou child shall be called a prophet of the Most High ; for thou shalt go before the Lord Augustus died, from 767 the year of Rome in which he died take fifteen and reject the months of the current year, there remain 751. Ireneas, L. 3, C. 25, says, "our Lord was born about the forty- first year of the reign ot Augustus," and Tertullian, contra Judeos, C. 8, concludes thus : " Hence we see, that Christ was born in the forty-first year of Augustus." In these dates, Ireneas and Tertul- lian do not contradict, but confirm the decision of Clemens, for they reckon from the time Augustus was proclaimed Triumvir, with Antony and Lepidus, in the year of Rome 711, and third year of the Julian era. Now add 40 whole years to these dates and we have the year of Rome 751, of the Julian era 43, and the forty -first year of Augustus. Again according to this reckoning, Augustus reigned 56 years, from which if we take 15, the age of Jesus at the death of Augustus, according to Clemens, we leave just 41. Hence we see, the testimony of these fathers, is complete, and harmonious : and if modern opinion or calculations are of force to confirm ancient testi- mony, we might add the names of Joseph Scaliger, Emendat. Temp. 2d ed. and the famous Catholic Annalist, Cardinal Baronius. S2 liOOK OF THE NATIVITY. to prepare his way : to give knowledge of salvation in the remission oi their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, in which the morn fronr- on hii^h has shone upon us, to enlighten them who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace. So the child grew and acquired strength of mind, and dwelt in the deserts till the time of his manifestation to Israel. About that time, an edict was issued by Augustus Cesar, that all the kingdom should be registered;* (which register was first accom- pl'shtd when C'yienms was governor of Syria,) and all went to regis- ter themselves, each in his own city. Now Joseph went up from Na- zareth, a city of Galilee, to the city of David in Judea, called Bethle- hem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be regis- tered, attended by Mary his espoused wife, then pregnant. ■ And it came to pass, that while they remained there, the time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth her first-born Son, and haviiig swathed him, she laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the guest chamber. Now there were shepherds in that country, abiding in the fields by night, and watching their fiocks: and lo ! an angel of the Lord s'-ood among them and a heavenly glory shone around them : and they were greatly afraid. But the angel said to them : Be not afraid, for behold! I announce to you good-tidings which shall be great joy to all the peo- ple ; — because for you is born this day, in the city ot David, a Saviour, who is Lord Messiah. And this shall be a sign to you. Ye shall find a babe in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And instantly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, goodwill to men. And when the angels departed into heaven, the shepherds said one to another : Let us go even to Bethlehem, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. So they went in haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen, they published abroad what had been said to them concerning this child; and all who heard, wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary carefully concealed these things deeply, reflecting on them. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God, for all the things they had heard and seen, agreeably to what had been told them. And when eight days were accomplished, the child being circum- cised, was called Jesus; the name given by the angel before he was conceived. Also when the days of their purification were ended ac- cording to the lav/ of Moses, theyfcarried him up to Jerusalem, to pre- * This census, or general register of the kingdom of Judea, has occasioned great perplexity to the Chronologers and Commentators of the New Testament, chiefly because Matthew places the birth of Christ in the reign of Herod the Great, and the words of Luke would seem to intimate that the census was not taken till ten years after the death of Herod, when Cyrenius was Governor of Syria. We have avoided all the difficulty, in the translation which is perfectly agree- able to the original, ana founded on the supposition, tliat the people of the whole kingdom of Herod the Great, were registered after his death, at the time of the partition of the kingdom among liis sons. In explanation of this opinion, let it be carefully consiHered that BOOK OF THE NATIVITY. 23 sent him to the Lord: for thus it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male child, nhich is the first born, shall be consecrated to the Lord ; and a sacrifice shall be offered according to what is said in the law of the Loid, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And lo ! there was at Jerusalem a just aid pious man, named Simeon, who was expecting the consolation of Israel, and the holy spirit was on him : And it had been revealed to him by the holy spirit, that he should not die till he should see the Lord's Messiah. This man came in the spirit into the temple, as the parents brought in the child Jesus, that they might do for him according to the custom of the law ; and he took him in his arms and blessed God, saying, Now, Sovereign Lord, thou causest thy servant to die in peace according to thy word ; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast provided in the sight of all the people, a luminary to enlighten the Gentiles, and the glory of th> prople Israel. Now whilst his father and mother were wondering at the things which were spoken of him. Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is dtjstined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and a sign for contradiction, that the reasonings of many hearts may be revealed : yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own heart. Moreover, there was a prophetess, Anna, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who, though advanced in age, being a widow of about eighty-four years, had lived only seven years with a husband from her virginity ; she departed not from the temple, but wi'h p.ajer and fasting worshipped night and day. This woman also, conmg in, at the same instant, continued praising the Lord, and spoke concerning the child to all at Jerusalem, who were expecting deliverance. And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew and acquired strength, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. the tcill of Herod the Great was left to the arbitration or disposal of Augustus, and Josephus tells us that Augustus delayed to decvie. till he could know how he might apportionate the kingdom (>f Herod to the support of his sons. Here then t believe the register was made. Josephus is here our best guide: and by coaiparing what he has said in the first book of the Wars, witli the fourteent!^ and seventeenth books of his Antiquities, we shall find, he places the decree of the Senate constituting Herod a king, in the 184th Olympiad, when Calvinus and Pollio were consuls. This was in the end of the year of Rome 713. Herod entered into possession of the kingdom of Judea, after the taking of Jerusalem and death of Antigorus, in rhe 18oth Olympiad, Agrippa and Gallus being consuls. This was in the year 716. — Now Josephus says, Herod died, having completed 37 years from the decree of the Senate, and 34 from the death of Antigonus and the taking of Jerusalem. These dates fix the end of the year 750 fo;- tlie time of Herod's death. Moreover Josephus snys, there was an eclipse of the moon at the time of Herod's last sick- ness. This eclipse Astronomers place on the thirteenth of March, in the year of Rome 750. Again Josephus says, the battle of AcUum was fought in the seventh year of Herod's reign. This was in the year of Rome 723. Substract 7 aud add 34, the result will be 750, S* BOOK OF THE NATIVITY. Now his pai'ents went yearly to Jerusalem at the feast of the Pass- over. And when he was twelve years old, they having gone up to Jerusalem, according to the custom of the festival, and remained the usual time, were on their return, but the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem, and his parents knew not; yet supposing h'm to be in the company, they went a day's journey, seeking him among tlieir rela- tions and acquaintance: but not findmg him, they returned to look for him at Jerusalem. And after three days, they found him in the tem- ple, sitting in the midst of the Teachers, both hearing them and asking questions. And all who heard him were astonished, but they who saw him were greatly amazed at his understanding and answerr. But his mother said to him: Son why hast thou done so with us? Bf^hold thy father and I have been seeking thee with sorrow. Then he said to them : Why did ye seek me ? Did ye not know, that I ought to be at my Father's? But they did not comprehend his meaning. Then he returned with them to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but his mother retained all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men. SECTION THIRD. The Preaching of the Baptist. The beginning of tbe gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God. There came a man, sent from the presence of God, whose name was John. The same came as a witness that he might bear testimony concerning the Light, that all through him might believe : he was not the Light, but came to bear witness concerning the Light. In the fifteenth year^ of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of .ludea, and Herod tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the province of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being high priests, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacliariah, in the wilderness. -f Now this same * This must have been the fifteenth year of Tiberius' sole tmpire, reckoned from the death of Augustus, which began Aug. 20th, year of Rome 781, of tlie Julian era 73, of the vulgar Christian era 28, and of the true A. D. 30. Against this date, all the subtilty of ob- jectors, has been unable to adduce a single solid argument. t The desert, in which John preached, lay along both sides of the Jordan, and was not a barren wilderness. According to Lightfoot, he first taught near Hebron, but afterwards removed towards Jordan, probably near Jericho, a tract of country called desert, but having THE PREACHING OP THE BAPTIST. 25 John wore raiment of camel's hair, with a leathern girdle about his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.* And he went into all the country about the Jordan, publishing a baptism of proselytism, for remission of sins : saying, Change your minds, for the reign of heaven draws nigh.f As it is written in the book of the sayings of Isaiah the Prophet ; in it several large cities, of which six are mentioned in Joshua xv. 61, 62. Jericho itself contained twelve thousand men, of the courses of the priests ; and the road from Jerusalem to that city, and to Pe- rea, especially near the time of the Passover, was frequented by great multitudes, about which time John began his ministry. The country was very convenient for food, and its vallies abounded in palm-trees, which yield much wild honey. Hence John could have a plentiful supply either from the trees or rocks. * In imitation of Elijah, whom he represented, he wore a garment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle. 2 Kings i. 8, and Mai. iv. 5. The Jews used to wear hair or coarse garments, in times of humilia- tion, as did also the Nazarites, till they had fulfilled their vow, and it was also worn by the prophets when the}' preached repentance. See IMatt. vii. 15, andxi. 2L; Zech. xiii. 4; Is. xxii. 12; Jer. iv. 8; Jonah iii. 5, 8 ; Dan. ix. 3 ; Rev. xi. 3. Harmer informs us, that clothing of camel's hair is common in that country till the present time ; that Jocusts are commonly eaten in the East, and allowed to be eaten by the Jewish law ; Levit. xi. 22. Honey is plentiful in Palestine ; de- posited in holes of rocks, by wild bees ; it eilso exudes from the leaves of trees, and appears on them as dew : hence, Jonathan could col- lect it with the point of his rod. 1 Sam. xiv. 26 — 29. Chardin also says the Dervises in the East, wear garments of the hair of camels, and great leatliern girdles, and sometimes feed on locusts, svhich, says Dr. Shaw, appear in great abundance from the end of March, till July; and when sprinkled with salt, and fried, taste like cray-fish. It was therefore on the insect, John fed, and not on the plant locust. + The reign or kingdom of heaven and of God, imply the jsame thing. God and Heaven are convertible terms, in the style of the Hebrews. Accordingly, Matthew, who wrote for the Jews, uses tluj phrase kingdom of Heaven ; but Mark and Luke who wrote for the Gentiles, s;iy the kingdom of God. The reigji of heaven is that spi- ritual dominion of the Messiah over the minds and affections of man, and the kingdom of heaven frequently implies, the Christian church', whose members are the professed subjects of Christ, and are therefore represented as constituting that Kingdom described by Daniel ii. 4, vii. 13. But by a usual figure of speech, the effect of the reign of lieaven in man, is put for the cause; Rom. xiv. 17, andrighteousnerss, joy. and peace. consfittjt.rch of the Gospel, arising from the prejudices, passions, or views of mankind. t The Jordan, says Sh.iw, is b}' far the largest river, except the Nile, which I have seen in Barbary, or the Levant. It is about 30 yards wide, and three or four deep, and so rapid as to discharge daily into the dead sea, above 6,000,000 tuns of water. Opposite Jericho was Beihabara, or the house of passage ; so called, either because it was the place where the Israelites passed, or where the common ferry was kept, for passage to and from Judea. J The approachiiigvenireance or ivrath to come, was the destruction of the Jewish nation by tha Romans, wiiich took place about forty years after the preaching of John and Jesus. The axe being laid to ihe root of thf trees, intimated that the Jews had now their last warn- ing ; and if ihey did not reform, ihey should be as elTectually do- THE PREACHING OF THE BAPTIST. 2^ Suitable to a change of mind, and begin not to saj- withiu yourselves : We have Abraham for father ; for I assure you, God is able, out of these stones, to raise up children to Abraham.* And even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees, every tree, there- fore, which yields not good fruit, is hewn down, and cast into tire. And the multitude aske^ him. What shall we do then? He answered : Let hihi that hath two coats give to him that has none, and let him that has food do' Ukewise. Then came also Tax-collectors to be baptized, and said to him, Teacher, what will we do ? and he said to them : Exact no more than what is appointed you. Then Soldiers also asked him : What shall we do ? and he said to them : Injure no man either by violence or false accusation, and be content with your allowance. Now while the people were in expectation, and all were reasoning in their hearts concerning John, whe- ther he were the Christ, John answered them all, saying : I indeed baptize you with water, but one more mighty than I, is coming, whose shoe-latchet I am unworthy to loose ; he will baptize you with a holy wind and fire : his fan is in his hand, and he will tho- stroyed, as trees when cut down and cast into the' fire ; thereby im- plying the most severe disciplinary sufferings to which they could be exposed. * The Jews depend greatly on the advantages arising from beln cannot be mistaken. The ciiildren, whom he advises to obey their parents in the Lord, must have been initiated into Christ's Church, otherwise they could not have hitd parents ia tlie'Lord ; for this ex- 32 THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. voice came from heaven, saying : This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.* pression marks incorporation into the Christian Church. — Rom. xvi, 7, 8, 11 ; Philemon l6. Among the descendants of Abraham, the seal of circumcision wais impressed on the eighth day, by the appointment of God. Were not Jewish children as ignorant of the nature and design of circumcision, as children of Christian or heathen parents can be, of the nature and intention of Baptism? and if the authority of the parent be proper in one instance, why not in another? From Maimonides, it appears, that the children of proselytes were also baptized with their pa- rents ; and sometimes heathen children being baptised at the request of sponsors, or one who adopted them, were considered as prose- lytes. As, therefore, no evidence can be adduced, which sets aside the authority of the Jewish parent over his child, or prohibits the Baptism of children, we have the strongest presumption that the chil- dren, of Christian or Jewish parents, always were considered as fit recipients of this seal of the covenant : and they seem either to for- get or deny the legal authority of parents over their children, who teach or assert their inability to dedicate their children, by thus in- ducting them into the Christian sanctuary. No man need ever doubt of the stability of a young person's faith and attachment to Christi- anity, who has been duly and piously instructed by his parent : for experience proves the truth of the proverb : " train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it," The neglect of the parent to induct his child into the Christian Church, and leaving the child wholly to his own volition when of age, is in effect saying: There is nothing valuable in itself, but as your imagination may dispose you to believe ; and it is a matter of indifference to me and to you, whether you be Christian or infidel ! O Christian parents — think of this ! ! Bring your little children to Jesus, and train them up in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord. * In relation to the word, tvSoxTjaa, " 1 am well phased," I admire the celestial wisdom manifested in the selection of the aorist tense of the Greek verb. Jehovah was, is, and always shall be, well pleased^ with his dear Son. Hence that doctrine which supposes the Great Eternal to have poured out his wrath on the Son of his Love, or willingly grieved the Soul of the Mediator, should be rejected. The attention of the reader is called to the conduct of Jesus. No slavish fear filled his breast ; yet, in humble attitude, he is found bowing the knee to the Father of spirits, and praying for the sancti- fied use and success of every Christian institution. Nominal Chris- tians ! arise and be baptised, and wash away your sins, calling upon you the name of Jesi^g. The innocent Lamb of God, had no sins to \Yds\x away, except the merely ceremonial implication of the Jewish SECTION FIFTH. The Genealogy of Jesus. Now Jesus himself m as about thirty years of aj^e when he began his minislry,* being, according to the custom of pedigrees,! a son of Joseph, son ot Jacob, son of Matthan, son of Eleazar, son of EUud, son of x\chini, son of Zadoc, son of Azor, son of Mea- riahj son of Shemiah, son of Ehakim, son of Abiud, Law, Heb. vli. 27: but he persists, notwithstanding the remon- strance of the Baptist, in tiie deterrainatinn not to slii^ht or neglect any instiutiou tending to produce the fruits of" righteousness. May God grant conviction to the desplsers and indifl'erent. * In no other instance, that I have observed, have our English translators mismanaged their very important undertaking, so far as in the present. It would even seem from this passage, that they were ignorant of the Greek construction and idiom. Af;t"i"^''°5> *?•'> beginning, iras. Beginning what ? Waswlr.it? Beginning his />«6/;c mini&try, as appears from the same Luke, xxiii. 5 — teaching through all Jewry, beginning, from Galilee. Began to do and tench, Acts i. 1. Mat. iv. 17, and Mark iv. 1. This is the rendering of the vulgate, and ought to be follov/cd by all. Was what? ivas about i/tirti/ years of age, as every priest must have been according to the Lfiw. Num. iv. 3, 23, 35. Hence it appears to be the meaning of the Evangelist, that Jesus was thirty years of age, when, about to commence his public oflicc, he came to John to be baptized, according to the custom of the priests. Levit. viii. G. t Reader, I here present you the Genealogy of your Lord and M.ister, carcfciUy collated with the Genealogical tables of the old Testament and corrected and amended according to the best authori- ties. Any name introduced into this table, concerning which there remains any doubt, is put in Italics ; and the great important and essential names are in capitals. Hence it appears that Jesus is the son of Diirid tlirough the regal line; that he descended from Solomon, 2 Sam. vii. 12 — 16, and not from Nathan, and conse- rjuenlly, the objection of Calvin is removed, who afi'inns, that "if C'hrist was not descended from Solomon he could not be the Mes- siah." Tliat our Master sprang from the tribe of Jiidah according to the declaration of the Apostle and the prediction of the Patri- arch ; that he is the son of yl/»Y//<^/m according to the promise; a son of Adam, and therefore the kinsman redeemer of all mankind; the son of God and hence the Iicii- atid Lord of the world. From the critical and very h^arned work of Dr Barrett, it appears "■hst the ciglUecnth verse of the third chapler of first Chronicles, 5 ^^^ THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS* son of Arnauy son of Rephaiah, son of ZERrBBA- BEL, son of Salathiel, son of Jechoniah, son of Je- hoiakim, son of Josiah, son of Amon, son of Ma- nasseh, son of Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, son of Joa- tham, son of Uzziah, son of Amaziah, son of Joash, son of Ahaziah, son of Joram, son of Jehoshaphat, should be transposed after the twentietli ; and the word, Salathiel, substituted for the word Pedaiah, agreeably to the reading of the Alexandrine Septuagint. This being done, we find the testimony of Luke sustained, that two generations, Rephaiah and Arnan,or Rhesa and Joanna intervened between Zerubbabel and Abiud, which are therefore placed in the table. On the same authority, Neariah and Shemiah, or Nagge and Semei, are put between Eliakim and Azor; and the whole table arranged after the Cambridge Manuscript, or Cedex Bezae, with the exception of the above additions. Notwithstanding that we have added four names to the catalogue of Beza's Ms. which we consider the most accurate, yet it still fails to equal the calculations of the ancients, who generally place 55 generations between Jesus and Abraham. But let itberememem- bered that these ancients made their calculations from Luke, who following the legal and not the natural line (as is manifest in the case of Heli and Neri) increases the catalogue above the true number of iiatural and ordinary generations. Seeing therefore that Ireneas, Africanus, and Ambrosius assert that Luke has some names inter- polated, we may reasonably conclude that the number 55 may suffer a deduction of five or six names, which might probably be detected. First then, we find Matthat and Levi omitted by Julius Africanus, Euscbius, Gregory Nissen, Ambrose, and Augustine. IMoreover, Africanus says, Matthan and Melchi successively married the same woman of whom was born Jacob to the former and Heli to the latter. If then Melchi were the father of Heli, Matthat and Levi should be rejected from the catalogue of Luke. Again, as the writer of first Chronicles, subjoins Neariah or Nagge after Shemaiah, Dr. Barrett supposes Mattathias and Maath should be rejected from the text of Luke, there being no corresponding generations in any of the genealogies. After removing these four, there should remain 51 names between Christ and Abraham, which corresponds with the catalogues of Africanus and Ambrose. Finally Dr. Barrett excludes from the Catalogue of Luke, Melea and iMenan,' making Eliakim the grandson of Nathan ; and thus the number of names from Abra- ham to Jesus, is reduced to A{), agreeing with the present table, wliicii places 36 generations between David and Christ, being seven less than the catalogue of Augustine ; hut when tlic six, rejected from the text of Luke, are deducted, there remains only one of a difference: and this one, Le CJerc and Drusiifs would supply, by placing Abner, either before or after Eliakim. THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS. 35 son of Asa, son of Abia, son of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, son of David, son of Jesse, son of Obed, son of Boaz, son of Salmon, son of Naashon, son of Amminadab, son of Ram, son of Hezron, son of Pharez, son of Judaii, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, vson of Abraham, son of Terah, son of Nahor, son The great Roll of the Lineage of Jesus from Adam contains, according to tiic calculations of Gregory Nissen, Basle, and Augus- tine 77 names; but the Ilarleyan Ms. gives 75, Ireneas only 72, and our catalogue reduces the numberto 68. This Roll is properly divided into four sections ; the first, from Adam to Abraham, including 20 names and a period of about as many hundred years: but in the account of this period, the Septuagint differs greatly from the Hebrew Bible; the latter giving 194(5 years and the former 3412. In the age of Jared, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, and Terah, they are nearly agreed, but to the age of every other person, the Septuagint uniformly adds an hundred years. The second, from Abraham to David, includes 13 generations and a period of 900 years, allowing 70 years to each generation. The third, from David to Salathiel, includes 19 names and a period of about 600 years, allow- ing 30 years to a generation. The fourth, from Salathiel to Jesus, includes a list of l6 names, and a period of about 500 years, assigning about 33 years to each generation. la all probability, therefore one name is wanted in this part of our catalogue; which may be Abner. Next to the Introduction of John, we know of on portion of the New Testament, which has occasioned more perplexity and confu- sion among the Commentators, than the genealogy of Jesus ; and the attempts of Theologians to maintain their different schemes of har- monizidg the genealogies of Matthew and Luke, afford one of the most prominent instances of the Labor inanis. The Method of Africanus a native of Palestine, and the cotemporary and literary rival of Origen, though probably the first attempt, is the most rea- sonable and effectual. The catalogues of names became confused from reckoning two ways, both by the natural and legal descent., hence Jesus was son of Heli and son of Nathan by the legal line, but son of Jacob, son of Solomon by natural descent. The main object, therefore, of Dr. Barrett's learned researches, undoubtedly fails : for Mary was not the daughter of Heli, neither was she of the tribe of judah. The universal voice of Antiquity pronounces Mary the daughter of Joachim and Anna; Anna was the daughter of Matthan, and both Joachim and Matthan were priests ; conse quently, INIary was of the tribe of Levi, as I have elsewhere shown. The genealogy given by the Evangelist is that of Joseph ; and the grand objort was to show, that Je«;iis. a sou of JosrMih. was indeed 36 TJIE GENEALOGY OF JESUS. of Semg, son of Reu, son of Peleg, son of Ebei, son of Suluh, son of Arphaxad, son of vSliem, son of Noah, son of Lamech, son of Methuselah, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mehalahel, son of Caman, son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God. the son of David and the true Messiah. Tliis was all-important ; and this has been accuniplished. See my Lecture on the Miraculous Conception, and Dissertation on Integrity of the New Testament. Genealogies wore kept among the Jews with great care and exact- ness, as ap])cai s from Nehemiah vii. 5, 64 ; Ezra ii, 62 : so that to loose their genealogy was to loose their inheritance among Israel. 3?ut the genealogies of females were not kept ; nor were brothers by the mother ever accounted brothers, says Mamonides, " causa heraeditatis cernendae, sive in causa ducendae fratriae, aut exeundi calcaei." Consequently the genealogy of Mary would have availed nothing in Jewish law ; hence it is high time to reject the fanciful supposition that Luke gives the genealogy of Mary : for if he had, it would have been labor to no useful purpose whatever. The names of kindred among the Jews were reckoned two ways. 1 by natural generation : 2 according to Law, as when a man died childless, his brother being obliged to take his wife, the issue was accounted to the deceased brother. See Gen. xxxvii. 8 ; Deut. xxv. 5 ; and Ruth iv. 5 — 8. By reason of these intermarriages son)e succeeded as natural sons, others as merely nominal : aud thus were the families of Nathan and Solomon interwoven. On this supposi- tion, which best accounts for the diversity of names, the genealogies given in Matthew and Luke may both be true : and this is the method long pursued by the Christian Church, in reconciling the two Evangelists. See Euseb. Hist. Eccles. L. 1. C.7. Hence the first sixteen verses of Matthew may be true and genuine, as the writer calls them "the book of the genealogy or Roll of the Line- age of Jesus : for this Roll or catalogue might have been obtained from the public Registers. SECTION SIXTH. The Temptation of Jesits. Then Jesus, full of a holy spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led, by the Spirit, through the wil- derness forty days ; and when they were ended, he THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS. 37 was luiiigry; because he eat iiothinjjj during those da\ s, being tempted by the deceiver.* Tiicii the tempter said to liim: It thou be a son of God, com- mand this stone to become bread. Jesus ans veered, It is written : Man sliaU not Uve on bread alone, but on every appouitment of God. * Tlie term, biaSoXoi, properly signifies a deceiver, slanderer, or accuser, and answers lo llie tiohvuw sutan, au adversary ; lliere- I'ore, 1 have used tlie tonus, iudisciiHiinately, not doubling, lliat tliey were so understood by the Apostles : for the Syriac kertza, Hebrew saian, and Greek diahulos, are synonymous terms, implying a ca- lumniator, deceiver, or adversary. Indeed, devil and satan are words of very extensive application, and denote wliaiever is disad- vantageous to the well-being of man, whether it aliect his health, character, or religious prosperity. The history of Christ's temptation is a fine piece of composition, surpassed only by some jiarts of the book of Job. It partakes of the nature of poem, and has its dramatic characters : the Son of God, and the Ahriinan of the Persian Mythology : the Son of God is the hero, and hunum desire personified, the satan of the contest. To give all the etlect imaginary to the \irtue and triumph of Christ, satan is represented as possessing every advantage, and appearing in the threefold nialigniiy of tempter, deceiver, and adversary. During the scenes, every stratagem of the enemy is practi.sed, and every de- gree of seduction is tried : First — Distrust in Gud\ supporting Pro- vidence; Secondly — Presumption; and, Thirdly — Ambition, aspir- ing to such self-sufficiency, as uliciiatcs the ailections from God, and constitutes idolatry. If we devest this history of its dramatic features, it will contain an easy and beautiful lesson of instruction, highly interesting to mankind. Jesus was tempted in all respects as we are, lleb. iv. 15 ; James says every man is tempted by his own desire, chap. i. 14 ; and John reduces all the sources of temptation to three: the desire of the flesh — the desire of the eyes — and the pride of life, 1 John ii. l6. Laying, therefore, the doctrine of the Apostles, as the foun- dation, we find no difficulty in building thereon a superstructure of perfect symmetry. Jesus was born of poor parents, and appeared, in the most important and public station, without even the means of subsistence. As a man, therefore, he might naturally feel disposed — 1st. To use the miraculous powers, which had lately been commu- nicated to him, for the purpose of jwrsonal maintenance. This d(!- sire he overcame and subdued, so far as never, on his own account, to put forth one efibrt of delegated power. Thus was i\\e first temptation overcome. ~d. lie might be disposed to give the Jewish people si^ch a siou^ i 38 THE TEMPTATION OF JESiS, Then the deceiver brought him to Jerusalem, the holy city, and placed him on the pinnacle of the tem- ple, and said to him : If thou be a son of God, cast thyself down ; for it is written : He shall give his an- gels charge concerning thee, to keep thee safe : and on their hands shall they bear thee, lest at any time thou strike thy foot against a stone. Jesus answered, It is said : Thou shalt not try the Lord thy God. Again, the deceiver took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and shoAved him all the provinces of the state,* in a moment of time, and said to him : as would indubitably satisfy them, that he was indeed the Christ ; which could have been perfecly accomplished, by going to the pin- nacle of the temple, during a public festival, and casting himself down from thence. This also he declined, and there was no such sign given. 3d. The desire of assuming the government and kingdom of his father, David, might have kindled, for a moment, in his bosom, the ambition for regal honours, and the elevation of his people and na- tion to the imperial grandeur and power of Rome. Yea, it Is even possible, that the high-priest, or an emissary of the Sanhedrim, might have attempted to negotiate a compromise with the Messiah, oflering to invest him with regal honour and power, and to put him in pos- session of all the provinces, included in the ancient kingdom of Da- vid and Solomon, to which, as the Messiah, he had an indisputable claim : provided he would sanction and maintain the institutes, of Moses, and the established ordinances of the temple service. This appears still more probable, inasmuch as the adversary does not ask of him idolatrous adoration, but only worship, tvurcwv, in his presence^ or agreeably to the Levitical ritual. Moreover, this tempter did not offer Christ any greater extent of territory, than the kingdom of Da- vid, which belonged to him, and was understood to be included in the promise : and he well knew, that if Jesus would co-operate with the Sanhedrim, it would be an easy matter to cast off the Ro- man yoke, and restore the kingdom to Israel. This was the last and severest trial of all, and seems to have been in accordance with the most sanguine expectations of Christ's most intimate friends and fol- lowers. But he shunned the bait, and dismissed the temptation, con- tenting himself with a spiritual dominion over the minds and affec- tions of men. In this sense he most justly deserves, and may he far ever possess, Universal Empire. * All the Kingdoms of the world. This translation in our English Bibles has occasioned much unnecessary conjecture and mistake ; and well if its evil tendency had stopped within the regions of fancj THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS. 39 I will give thee all this authority, and the glory of these provinces^ for it is dehvered to me, and 1 give it to whomsoever I please : if then thou dost homage in my presence, all shall be thine. Jesus anwered: Withdraw, adversary ; for it is written : Thou shalt reverence the Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou worsliip. Then the adversar}-, having ended every trial, departed from him for a season ; and the angels of God came and ministered to him. and erroneous interpretation. It has been made a weapon in the hands of infidelity, to wound the Christian cause and excite the ridi- cule of the scornful. The business of a translator, is to give the peculiar sense in which a word or phrase is used by his author, in that particular place, and not any, nor even the most commonly received, sense of the term. Michaelis very reasonably supposes, that Matthew wrote : cal mamdccuth hazcbi, all the provinces of renoicn, and the Greek translator very closely copying the Hebrew original, says, Ttaaa; ra; /Saaajtaj tow xoaM-'^v. for Zebi in Hebrew, and A'oswos, in Greek, signify beauty, glory, ornament or renown: and Judea had been called by the prophets : The glory of all lands, or the land of glor}^ ; Ezek. xx. 6, 15 ; Dan. viii. 8, and xi. l6, 41. This interpretation is confirmed by Luke, who says, tlie kingdoms, otxo^ffoy, of the inhabited land. This term was used by the proud sovereigns of the world to denote the honor or majesty of their kingdoms. The i^o??ia??.Ewp?Vc is so called, Luke ii. 1. The Gre- cian State ; Demos, de Coron. and the Kingdom of Judea, Joseph Antiq. viii. 3. See Glassii Philologia Sacra, Leigh's Critica Sacra, Stockii Clavis Linquee Sanctae, and Marsh's Michaelis, vol. 3. p. 155. Glass strictly limits the meaning of the term, to the Land of Canaan, and Leigh correctly says, that the word translated kingdom, denotes also the provinces and principalities of which a state may be composed. On these data, I found the translation which I have given in tlic text. Judea was divided into four provinces: Judea proper, Samaria, Galilee, and Perca ; and governed by Arehelaus, Antipas, and Philip, sons of Herod the Great, who were called kings and their principalities, kingdoms. jNIatth. ii. 22, and xiv. 9. Now according to Deut. xxxiv. 1 — 3, and the testimony of the famous travellers Mariti and JMaundrel, all the kingdoms or provinces of Judea, could be seen from the top of Nebo or Quarantania. See Clarke, Campbell, McKnight, and Townsend, on this passage. If this interpretation be admitted, there seems no necessity for the interference of the ancient Ahriman or modern Satan, nor does there appear either piety or consistency in the supposition, that the Spirit of God should carry the Saviour of the worjd into the wilder- ness, to be tempted of a rebel foe to God and man, who had been SECTION SEVKNTIL The Second Testimony of John. This is the testimony of John. When the Jews sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him ; Who ?rt thou? he denied not, but confessed: I am not the Christ. And they asked him: What then? Art thou Elijah ? And he said : I am not.* Art thou the Prophet ? and he answered : No.f Then they said to him : Who art thou ? that we may give an an- swer to them who sent us» What sa3'est thou of thy- ejectcd from the presence of the Lonl. The very thought is too horrible to obtain utterance, and pregnant with mischief to the Chris- tian cause. See this subject fully discussed in my " Systematical Theology/' L»'ct. 7, and Balfour's'second Inquiry., * There is here an apparent contradiction to Matt. xi. Id, and xvii. 12, where our Lord says of .Tohn : This is Elijah, who was to come. But the intention of our Master was to inform his disciples, that John was Elijah, in the sense of Malachi, because ho came in the power and spirit, of that ancient prophet. From Matt. xvii. 10, it appears the Scribes taught, Elijah would come before the Messiah; and founded this opinion on a literal construction of Mai. iv. 5 , and as they believed in the doctrine of transmigration, John rightly understood them to ask : Whether he were the prophet Elijah, returned to dwell pcrsoiially, on earth again ? This question, there- fore, could not be answered by John in the affirmative, without -equivocation : and truth required him to answer according to the sense of the interrogation. t Almost all the translators have orred in this place, except Wake- field and Campbel. Indeed, the common translation : Art thou that .prophet? is a violation of the English idiom; seeins the pronoun that, has no antecedent in the sentence. The translations of Dodd- ridge, Luther, Ijeausolue, and De Sacv, involve contradiction be- tween John andCiirist: forbad John been asked : Art thou a prophet? he could not have answered : No, for Jesus affirms, there had not arisen among men a greater prophet than the Baptist. Mat xi 11. But the interrogation of the messengers was: Art ihou the prophet? meaning either the prophet predicted by Moses, Deut. xviii. 15, or Jeremiah, whom they expected to return in the days of the Messiah, to restore the pot of manna, and the Ark of the Covenant, Accor- dingly, some supposed Christ to be Jeremiah. Mat. xvii. 14. Hence, there was a general expectation of some great prophet, besides Elijah and the Messiah, whom they particularly distinguibhed by the definite appellation, The Prophet. THE SECOND TESTmO?fY OF JOHN. 41 self? He said : I am the voice of a cryer in the wil- derness: Make straight the way of the Lord, as saith the Prophet Isaiah. Now the messengers were Pha- risees:* and they asked him: Why then dost thou baptize,! if thou art not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet ? John answered them, saying : I baptize * The Pharisees were strict religionists, and derived their name from JPJiarash, to separate ; because they not only separated them- selves from all Pagans, but also from Jews, wlio did not conjpjy with their peculiarities. Being great lovers of tradition, they encumbered religion with many frivolous observances ; and thereby assumed high pretensions to piety and strictness of discipline. They were very peculiar in their dress, loved many washings, fastings, and public prayer; and manifested great reverence for the Law, Sabbath, and traditions of the Elders. But however noble, holy, and pure theit motives might have been at first, their religion degenerated into super- stition, and their mighty zeal into intolerable bigotry. Reverenced by the common people, and dreaded by tiie nobility, they possessed great influence, and often executed, in the name of religion, the most pernicious designs. Hence, it is easy to account for the severity of John's address to them, when they came to his baptism : for Luke informs us, chap. vii. 30, that the Pharisees and Lawyers, lejecting the counsel of God, were not baptized of John. It is there- fore, very probable, that when the Pharisees came to the Baptist, their object was rather to cavil, object, and dissuade the people, thaa to comply with the admonitions of the preacher. Hence, Johu calls them, Offspring of the Serpent. f t The Messengers from Jerusalem did not question the authority of Baptism, but of the Baptist: for the Jews believed in the divine appointment of the ceremony, but it had been only practised in the admission of proselytes, and in the presence of three magistrates commissioned by the Sanhedrim. The authority of administering the rite without an appointment, and the baptism of Jews, were considered exclusively the prerogative of the Messiah or his precur- sors, who, they admitted, might baptize even Jews, for the purpose of forming a more select soc\(i\.y . We ought not therefore to be surpri- sed, that the great mass of the nation should rush forward, with one Consent, to be baptized by John, believing him to be either the Mes- siah or one of his forerunners. Danzius in a v;iiuable Treatise, on the Baptism of proselytes, extant, in Meuschen's Nov. Test, ex Talmude, has undertaken to prove, that Baptism whs appointed of God, and long practised in the Jewish Church ; and that the Baptism of John was essentially the same, as that which had been so long practised by divine appointment. See the Co.nmentaries of Rost-amiiller, Kuiuoe), Townsend, and Clarke* 6 42 THE SECOND TESTIMONY OF JOHN, in water, but there stood one, in the midst of yotr^ whom ye know not. He, coming after me, is before me, whose shoe-string* I am unworthy to loose. These things were done in Bethabara,t on the Jor- dan, where John was baptizmg. On the next day, he sees Jesus coming to him, and says : Behold the Lamb of God, which bears away * To bear or loose the shoes of another, implies great disjiarity. In visits among the great men of the East, the sandals were taken oft' at the door, and either left there, or given to a servant to carry. Hence, to loose or carry shoes, whs tiie office of an inferior domestic. From this phrase and the preceding one : He is he.fure me, some have inferred the doctrine of Christ's pre-existence; but whether that doctrine be true or not, there is nothing in the testimony of the Baptist, that either teaches or implies such an opinion. The word tf^fi^ooOiv, properly signifies before, or in the jjrescncc of. Matt. V. 24; xxiii. 13, Acts xviii. 17; 2 Cor. v. 10; but it also frequently in the Septuagint version and New Testament, indicates prefer- ence or superiority. Gen. xlviii, 10, and John i. 27, compared with John iii. 31 ; Mat. iii. 11 ; Mark i. 7- I" the two last passages, Mat- thew and Mark use the word, t5;tv^or£/ioj, more mighty, which must be the sense intended by John : and Chrysostom the most eminent Grecian among the fathers, gives the sense by ivrt/uwrf^of, more honorable. The term, rt^wroj, according to derivation, signifies ^priority, and hence frequently superiority. Indeed Leigh well says: It does not so much indicate order of time as of dignity. Accordingly, King James' translators render it by the word chief: Mark vi. 21 ; Luke xix. ^: Acts xxv. 2, and xxviii. 7, 17 ; 1 Tim. i. 15 ; by the word first Mat. xxii. 38; Mark xii. 28, 29, 30 : by best, Luke xv. 22 : by chiefly, Rom. iii. 2; Wakefield renders the phrase, rt/iwroj /wou, greater than I ; and justifies his translation by referring to John xv. 18; Col. i, 15. Stockius and Hammond say, we must understand the word in the comparative degree, John xv, 18, and xx. 8 ; 1 Cor. xv. 45, 47. Now the sum of the whole matter is this : John siiys Jesus, who came after him, should be prefer- red to him, because, as the I'-lessiah, he was more excellent or greater than he : for Jesus had received a more exalted commission, and a greater portion of the divine spirit. See the Lecture on the pre- existence nf Christ, in my " Systematiual Theol: gy." t Though most of the Mss. and versions read / ethany, yet I choose to retain Bethabara. It is found in the Armenian, .Ethio- pic, and Philoxenian versions; and in C. K. and many other Mss. It is the reading preferred by Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome: and both Origen and Jerome relate, that tradition until their day, still pointed out Bethabara, as the place whore John Baptized. THE SECOND TESTIMONY OF JOttN* 43 the sin of the world!* This is he of whom I said: After me comes a man, who is preferred to me, for he is my superior. And I knew him not, but for this pur- pose came I baptizing vvitli this water that he may be manifested to Israel. Moreover, John bear witness, saying: 1 saw I lie spirit descend from heaven, like a dove, and remain on him. But 1 should not have * In the opinion of Lightfoot, John could not have selected a more characteristic expression, than that adopted in allusion to the lamb which was offered at Jerusalem every morning and evening. 1 He addresses Priests and Levites, whose chief iemployment was to make a sacrifice of that lamb. 2 It was about the time of oftering the sacrifice, when John saw Jesus coming to him, and used these words. 3 The lamb declared the innocence of Christ, as being without spot 5 and pointed out the death of Christ, in being oiiered. 4. It was pertinent to the doctrine of John, who had spoken of remission of sin ; and when Christ came near, he intimated, in what manner, tlie sin of the penitent should be forgiven, by the sacrifice of this lamb, who should bear away the sin of the world. To bear anmij sin, is an allusion to Isaiah liii. 7, and the usual practice gf the oftering of the lamb, Lev. i. 4, iii. 2. and iv. 4 : for when the sacrifice was ottered, he that brought it, laid his hands on the head of tlie victim, according to the command of God, and con- fessed liis sins, which were considered as thereby transferred to the victim, which carried them away. Dr. Clarke observes that in three essential things, Christ diftered from the lamb in the daily offering. 1. He was the lamb of God the most valuable. 2. He carries away sin in reality, other lambs only representatively. 3. He carries away the sin of the tvorld, whereas the usual lamb was off*ered, only, on behalf of the Jewish people. How far the rites of the Jewish worship were representative, and in what sense they were types, or shadows of good things to come, Heb. X. 1, are subjects of much litigation among Christians, and are not likely to be easily determined. But as all Christians agree, that Jesus, the Christ, is anointed of God, a Prince and a Saviour, and made of God for us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and re- demption, we ought firmly to believe, that in his own good time, he will^nis^ transgression, make an end oi' sins, and establish everlast- ing righteousness. Thus will the Lamb of God bear away the sins of the world. But thrice happy the man, who, having heard and learned of the Father, comes to Christ, in cheerful and devoted obe- dience; for he shall find a happy entrance administered to him, into the kingdom of God and of Christ. Reader, much has been done ; say not : It is ftnighed, till thy mind be enlightened, an*i thy sou! reconciled. 4lt THE SECOND TESTIMONY OF JOHN. known* him, had not he, who sent tne to baptize in water, said : On whomsoever thou shalt see the Spi- rit descend and remain, the same is he who baptizes with a holy spirit. And I have seen and borne tes- timony, that this is the Son of God. * There seems a dissonance between this saying of John, and his address to Jesus, when he came to be baptized, Mat. iii. 14. But, thou'^h this declaration seem to reflect on the two first chapters of Matthew, yet, there is nothing irreconcileable in the language of John; for though John might have the highest veneration for the per- sonal purity and holiness of Jesus, and even have believed him to be a prophet, yet he knew him not to be the Messiah, till he received the sign from heaven, for his residence in the wilderness till the time of his appearance as a public teacher, might have effaced all early reports concerning the wonders related in the book of the nativity. Hence the modesty of the Baptist, and the singular character of Jesus, may account for what is said, in Matt. iii. 14 : and all that is affirmed here, is only, that officially, as the Christ, Jesus was not, previously, known to John.^ SECT [ON EIGHTH. Jesus obt. ins Disciples from John Again, on the next day, stood John and two of his disciples, and earnestly looking on Jesus as he walked, he said : Behold the Lamb of God ! And the two diseiples henrd him, and followed Jesus.* But .fesus turning, and seeing them following, said to them: What seek ye? They answered: Your * Worthy pattern of Christian ministers, and devoted servant and forerunner of the Messiah ! Thine highest ambition was to proclaim the Lamb of God. Though thy disciples leave thee, to follow Je- sus, thine end is accomplished. Like Paul, thou wast willing to ac- count all things loss compared to Christ, and the success of his king- dom. Thou wast willing to decrease, that Jesus might increase. Thy disciples left thee, and followed Jesus I Truly the spirit of Elijah dwelt in thee. May li;/ example be imitated by all, in bring- ing men to Jesus; and may all the preachers of Christ be willing to lose all for the sake of increasing; the followers of the Lamb. JESUS OBTAINS DISCI I'LES FROM JOHN. 45 residence, Teacher. He said to them : Come and see. They went and saw the place of his residence, and abode with him that day, as it was the tenth hour. One of the two, who heard John and followed Jesus, was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. He first met his own brother Simon, and says to him : We have found the Messiah ! and he brought him to Jesus, who, looking earnestly on him, said : Thou art Simon, the son of Jona, but thou shall be called Peter.* On the day following, Jesus desired to go into Gra- lilee, and finding Philip, said to him : Follow me. JVow Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip meets Nathaniel, and says to him: We have found him whom Moses, in the Law, and the prophets, described,t Jesus of Nazareth, the * The members of the Charch of Rome imagine that this name •Was given to Simon, to intimate tliat he should be head of the Uni- versal Church. This opinion, however, has certain facts strongly opposed: the equality among the disciples, continually inculcated by Jesus; the election of James to preside over the church at Jerusa- lem ; and the manner of Paul's address to Peter. Notwithstanding, I believe Peter was so called by our Lord, from that forward and prominent part which he acted in the founding of the Christian Church. He was always the first in avowing his faith and attach- ment to his Master. He received special commandment to feed the flock of Christ, and was the first to open the way for the Gentile world to enter the Church of God. Moreover, a more signal dis- play of heaven's interposition was never manifested, than in that me- morable sermon preached by this Apostle at the Feast of Pentecost, ■when three thousand souls were converted, and turned from darkness to light, and from the pgwer of Satan to God. Thus Peter became a Hock, on which the Church was founded, being so eminently and signally successful in the ministry : and I feel no reluctance to give the full meaning and scope of Matt. xvi. 18, to any reasonable Ca- tholic, as far as implies Peter to have been next to our Lord, most eminently denominated, the foundation of the Church. t Jesus had been descnbed by Moses in the Law, the seed of the woman, who should bruise the serpent's head, Gen. iii. 15; the seed of Abraham, in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed, Gen. xxii. 18; the Shiloh, to whom the assembhng (»f the people should be. Gen. xlix. 10, and a prophet raised up by Jehovah, like to Mbses. l>eut, xviii. 15. In the prophets he was described as thn 46 JESUS OBTAINS DISCIPLES FROM JOHN. son of Joseph. And Nathaniel said to bira : Can there be anything good from Nazareth? Pbilip an- swered : Come and see. Jesus saw Nathaniel com- ing to him, and said of him : Behold a true Israelite, in wliom there is no deceit. Nathaniel said to him : Whence know est thou me ? Jesus answered: I saw thee under the fig-tree before Philip called thee. Nathaniel replied : Teacher, thou art the Son of God :* Thou art the King of Israel. Jesus an- Branch of the Lord, Is. iv. 2; the Shoot from Jesse, in whom the Gentiles would trust, Is. xi. 10; Jehovah's Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, a Light to the Gentiles, and God's Salvation to the end of the earth, Is. xlix ; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; despised and rejected of men, but, notwithstanding, a man that should be raised to life after being put to death as a sacrifice, and perform ai: the purposes of the Lord in the renovation of mankind, Is. liii. 2, 9, 10; the seed and offspring of David, in whom his throne should be establised forever, 2 Sam. vii. 12; Ezek. xxxiv. 23, and xxxvii. 24 ; the Messiah, who should be cut off, to make an end of sins, and establish everlasting righteousness, Dan. ix. 24 ; the Lord even the Messenger of the Covenant, who should come to the second temple, built by Zerubbabel, and fill it with his glorj, Mai. iii. 1 ; Hag. ii. 9. These prophecies being extant in the Jewish Scriptures, so minutely designate the Messiah of both Jews and Christians, (between whom there can be no collision,) that infidelity must be put to the blush, if it possess sensibility. * The title son of God appropriated to Jesus in the scripture, has m all ages occasioned confusion and discord among his followers. Some think he was so called on account of his miraculous conception. See Dr. A. Clarke on Luke 1. 35. But this could not distinguish him from John the Baptist, or Isaac the son of promise to Abraham. Others lay hold on what is said of his resurrection, Rom. 1. 3; Col. 1. 15 ; Rev. 1. 5 ; and imagine he thence derived what is peculiar in the title Son of God. Others are altogether satisfied that Son of God and Messiah, are phrases of the same import. John 1. 50. Matt. 16. 16; Ps. 2. 5. But after all, there seems something lacking in these explanations. The key to scripture in niany places must be obtained from the prevalent opinions of the times. Now all that have any acquaintance with the history of the times, in which Christ made his appearance, must know, that no phraseology was more common than sons of gods, in an essential and proper sense. Therefore, though the Christian world should continue the Arian controversy, to the end of time, nothing could be de- cided on the homoousian question. Hence we may conclude, there is not so little mystery, in the phrase, The Son of God, as JESUS OBTAINS DISCIPLES FROM JOHN. 47 swered : Because I said, I saw thee under the fig- tree, dost thou beheve ? Thou wilt see greater things than these. Moreover, he said to him : Veri- ly, verily, I say to you : Hereafter you shall see the heaven opened,* and the angels of God descending to the Son of man, and ascending. some have vainly imagined. See my " Systematical Theology " p, 123. Lect. 1 1 . * This sublime and figurative address of Jesus to Nathaniel, is descriptive of the exalted and celestial nature of Christianity. Never before had such a display of God's name, character, and designs, been manifested to the world. The Gospel brought immortality to light. The Only-htgottcn, from the bosom of the Father, announced mercy, peace, salvation, and happiness to man. The highest heaven is laid open. God comes to tabernacle with his creatures, man is elevated to fellowship with the celestial inhabitants, and a ceaseless intercourse opened between the upper and lower regions of Jeho- vah's kingdom. Christians, the Angels of God are ascending and descending for your protection and encouragement. The reign of heaven is the spring of action. When Andrew found the Messiah, he could not rest till he found his brother Simon and brought him to Jesus. Thus did Philip to Nathaniel. Religion, like leaven, will produce a fermentation. If you are indifferent and inactive, you give evidence to God and the world, that the root of the matter is not in you. Arise, call into active, energetic operation, all the pow- ers of your souls, and rest Dot till you become inmates of the upper temple. SECTION NINTH. A Marriage Feast in Cana. On the third day, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also and his disciples were invited to the marriage feast. And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus says to him : They have no wine. Jesus answered : Wo- man, what concerns it you and me ? my time is not yet come. His mother says to the servants: Do what- ever he commands you. Now there were six water- pots of stone, containing two or three measures, pla- 4S A BIARRIAOE IN CANA. ced for the purification of the Jews. Jesus says ta them : Fill these pots with water ; and they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them : Draw now, and bear to the Steward. And they did as he com- manded. But when the Steward tasted the water, which had become wine, and knew not whence it was, (but the servants who drew the water, knew,) he called the bridegroom, and said to him : Every man presents the good wine first ; and when the guests have drimk sufficiently, then that which is worse ; but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This be- ginning of miracles did Jesus, in Cana of Galilee and manifested his glory ; and his disciples believed in him. I am well pleased with the observations of Campbel, Wake- field, Clarke, Rosenmuller, and Townsend on this Section. Dr. Clarke thinks John, the Evangelist, was the bridegroom ; but Lampe asserts the contrary, on the authority of Ignatius, Tertullian, Aagus- tine, and Jerome. Notwithstanding probability is in favor of the Dr's opinion. The place was Cana of Galilee, a village near Caper- uaum, and west of the Sea of Tiberias; John iv. 47. I'he time was the third day after he obtained disciples, or after his arrival in Gali- lee. The miracle was, in all probability, performed at the instiga- tion of his relatives, who had heard of the transactions attending his baptism and the testirriory of John. Jesus' address to his mother, has been fully proved by Critics, from the best authorities, to be by no means disrespectful. Augustus addresses Cleopatra, Qafaei w yumt, Dion. Cassius L. 51 : and .fischylus says, Hejoice, O woman of D arms. Persae line 155. See also John iv. 21 ; xix. 26, and XX. 13, 15 ; and 1 Cor. vii. l6. The size of the water-pots cannot be determined. No more of the water was made wine than was drawn, nor is there the least insinuation, that any abuse was made of this miracle; for the Steward only intimates what was usual at similar festivals. SECTION TENTH. John's Last Testimony and Imprisonment. After this, he, and his mother, and his brethren^ and his disciples, went down to Capernaum ; but they remained there only a few days. Afterwards Jesus JOHN'S LAST TESTIMONY AND IMPRISONMENT. 49 and his disciples came into the land of Judea ; where he continued with them, and baptized. And John also was baptizing in yEnon, near Salim, because there was much water in that place ;* and the people were continually arrivinsj and baptizing themselves : for John was not yet cast into prison. Then a discussion arose between a disciple of John and a Jew about purification if and they came to John, and said to him : Master, behold the man, who was with you on the Jordan, of whom you bare testimony, baptizes, and all go to him. John answered : A man can receive nothing, unless it be given him from hea- ven. | Ye 3'ourserves bear me witness, that I said: I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He who possesses the bride is bridegroom, but the * yEuon is placed by Pritius, Li^htfoot, and others, on tliis side of Jordan ; but Ilottinj^er and Hofifmau strongly assert the .contrary. The most likel}- opinion is, tiiat iEnon was rather the name of a fountain than of a village; the location of which seems to have been opposite Salim, on the other side the Jordan, a little north of Betha- bara, and about eight miles south of Scythnpolis Here John bap- tized, because there was much water, a reason sufticient to settle for- ever, any dispute about the manner, which was, indubitably, immer- sion. It also appears, that the people di[)ned themselves, from the form of the Greek verb : it being in the middle voice indicating the action to be reflected on the agent. t The baptismal washings, then in process among the disciples of John and Jesus, induced this discussion. The people then were united in opinion, that all required purification, but now many ima- gine themselves to be clean and to need nothine supposition is completely refuted, by the unequivocal language of the text under consideration, which pronounces the cure of the officer's son, the second miracle Jesus performed. * Lightfoot supposes the phrase, " according to his custom," im- plies the continual attendance of Jesus on the public worship of the Synagogue, while he lived at Nazareth as a private individual. Though there were many things defective, and perhaps some things blameable, in the service and worshippers ; yet, our Master never absented himself. Let every man make the best choice ; but, let none neglect attendance. The Apostle says : Forsake not the assenv- bling of yourselves : may his wholesome advice, and the good exam- ple of our Lord, never be despised, uor forgotten, by any that call themselves Christians. t Though the Levites only, were appointed to teach the people and superintend the schools of the forty-eight cities, Josh. xxi. Deut. xxxviii. 10, and IMal. ii. 7, yet sometimes men of other tribes, who studied the law, obtained a limited authority from the Sanhedrim, to leach and preach ; moreover, the Jews had a law that if any man professed to have received the spirit of prophecy, he was permitted to speak, but if the Sanhedrim, who were Judges in this case, deter- mined that he was not a prophet, he could not continue to preach, except at his peril. On this condition, Jesus obtained the privilege ut JNazareth and in the Synagogues of Galilee. Lightfoot says, though the Jews did not allow the liberty of teaching, to the illiterate and mechanics, yet, they granted it to such as set upTor heads or leaders of sects ; that they might learn their doctrines, and not condemn them unheard. X The sucred voluijies used in the Synagogues, nrr% n'riftrn on (j'i JESUS OPENS HIS COMMISSION. louiid flic {)Iace where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed* me to preach the Gospel to the poor ; he has sent me to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind; to release the oppressed, and announce the acceptable year of the lord.I skins, parchment, or vellum, and rolled on two rollers, so that whilst the person reads from right to left, he rolls off with the left hand, and rolls on with the right. Hence, Jesus unrolled the volume till he found the passage intended for his text, as Houbigant suggests, and not the lesson of the day, as M'Knight and others contend. * The peculiar names given to Jesus and his doctrine, seem to have taken rise, from the first reason assigned for the authority of his commission. The first verb, cx.^if}£, indicates the appellation, Christy and the second verb, cvayytu'i^iaOat, suggests the cause of his doctrine being called the Gospel, or glad tidings. The pas- sage read by our Lord, is found Isaiah Ixi. 1, but contrary to the fancy of those, who contend that he read the lesson of the day, he connects with it Is. xlii. 7- Thus, the Master and pattern of Chris- tian teachers, selected two portions of sacred writ for the text of his first sermon, both of which were full of meaning, and as inexhausti- ble in streams of salvation, as the fountain of eternal and almighty love. Blessed Jesus ! may all the ministers of thy Gospel, imitate thee. O ! may they never act the part of foolish triflers, by seeking to amuse their hearers with novel, speculative, or curious discour- ses, while Man's Ruin, God's Mercy, and Redeeming Love, can never be fully told. Jesus was anointed with the holy spirit, and power to announce glad tidings to the spiritually poor; and to induct them into tba glo- rious inheritance. Truly the spirit of the Lord was on him ; and he muslik be an intruder on the Gospel ministry, who cannot adopt the language of his Master. No wonder his congregation were astonished at him, whilst he proclaimed, as the commissioned ambas- sador of Heaven, light fur those in darkness, liberty for the cap- tives, health for the sick, life for the dead, salvation for the wretch- ed, and immortality for the whole oftspring of Adam. Such a ser- mon, from such a preacher, was adapted to astonish earth and heaven, as much as the members of the Synagogue at Nazareth. t The acceptable year of the Lord, according to the ancient Fathers of the Christian Church, was the year of Christ's public ministry, being the year thirty-one of the Vulgar .(Era. This ac- cepted year, began at the time of this public Sermon at Nazareth, which, we have shown, was about the beginning of January, A. D. 31: and terminated about the feast of Deriication, John x. 22 : at 'vhich time^ his ministry became so oflensive to the Jews, as to JESUS OPENS HIS COMBIISSION. GSf And having rolled the volume, and given it to the officer, he sat down ;* and the eyes of all that were in the Synagogue were gazing on him. Then began he to say to them : To-day, has this scripture been ful- filled in your ears. And all approving and wondering at the gracious words which proceeded from his mouth, said : Is not this Joseph's son ? From that time, Jesus began to preachf the Gospel induce them to resolve on his destruction, and necessitate him to retire into Perea, for safety iu obscurit}', John x. 39, 40. Alas ! that such excellent preaching, should have been of so short dura- tion: but then, as now, the most worthy is the most despised. Lowth and others say, the year of Jubilee, was a type and figure of our Lord's ministry. It was the great year of release from debts, obligations, and bondage, and of recovery of lands, possessions, and liberty; and was gloriously realized, in the year of Christ's public preaching, in which the poor were fed, the sick healed, the bond- men released, the tongue of the dumb made to sing, and the lame to leap for joy. But they greatly obscure and destroy the fitness of the type and antitype, who extend our Lord's ministry to the duration of three or four years ; whereas, it is entirely out of the power of any, to produce higher proof of such a duration, than plausible con- jecture. Only 15 months elapsed from the time of Christ s first public sermon at Nazareth, till the time of his public crucifixion, without the gates of Jerusalem. * The Jewish teachers, in reverence of the holy scriptures, stand when they read, and sit when they preach, or deliver practical instruction : Thus, our Lord sat down and taught the people out of the Ship; so also, he sat down before he delivered his divine ser- mon on the mount. When, therefore, our Master stood up, it was the indication of his desire to read ; and when he sat down, the ej'es of the congregation were attentively fixed on him, expecting his illustration, or sermon. t The preaching of Jesus, was in perfect harmony with that of the Baptist, and the Apostles followed closely, the example of their Master, Matt. iii. 2, Mark i. 15, and vi. 12, Luke x. 9. Hence, the preaching of Repentance and Faith, has ever been correctly repu- ted the great business of the Gospel ministry. — Men are alienated from God, by wicked works. The carnal mind is enmity to him: and without a change is efiecied, the kingdom cannot enter into man's soul ; neither can he see it, because it is spiritually discerned. — The reign of the highest heaven; or, in other words, Ahni;4lity grace^ must operate a spiritual change, in tlic mind and affections; and ulti- niaiely, regenerate the whole structure of man, before a mectness j? 1)4 JESUS OPENS HIS COMMISSION. of God, saying : The time is accomplishecl, and tlie reign of the highest heaven draws nigh: Change 3^oiir minds, and ]ieheve the Gospel. And his fame spread abroad, through all the surrounding country ; and he taught in their s^^nagogues,* with universal applause. effected for admission into the Upper Sanctuary, the abode of Spirits made perfect. * Synagogues are 5o frequently mentioned, in the New Testament, that a description of them becomes necessary. The Greek word avvayuyri,iis well as the Hebrew to whicli it answers, signifies in gen- eral, any assembh^, holi/ or prof a?ic ; bnt, most commonly it denotes a place of worship. The Christians themselves, often gave the name Si/nagogue to their asseniblics and places of worship, as ap- pears from James ii. 2, the Epistles of Ignatius, and the writings of Clemens of Alexandria. It is not easy to determine, when the use of Synagogues began among the Jews: They are first men- tioned, Ps. Ixxiv. 8, and allusions seem to be made to them in the. Sixth Chapter of Judith; but, probably, they did not exist before the time of the Babylonian captivity. — It is, however, certain they have been long in use, since James says, Acts xv. 21 ; Moses of old time has in every city them that preach him, being read in the Syna- gogiies every Sabbath. The chief things belonging to a Synagogue, were, 1. The Ark, in which was deposited the book of the Law; which was placed in that part of the Synagogue which looked towards liie holy land, the temple, or holy of holies. 2. A pulpit,in which he stood, who read or expounded the Law. 3. Common seats or pews for the people, and chief seats for the Elders, who sat with their back towards the Ark, and their faces to the Congregation. The women sat alone, in a gallery. 4. Lamps fixed to the walls, or, suspended from the ceil- ings for ornament, and to give light at the evening service. 5. Rooms or, apartments for the utensils of the Synagogue, such as trumpets and alms chests. The Officers of the Synagogue, were, 1. A Council of grave per- sons, well versed in the Law, over whom one presided, called rider of the Synagogue. But, as all these elders were engaged in the gov- ernmentof the Synagogue, they are sometimes called rulers, chiefs, bishops, fathers. They possessed authority to leach and rule the people; and even to punish by censures, excommunications, fines, and scourgings. — They taught the people themselves, or, appointed others to do so ; hence, the apostles obtained leave of the rulers, to address the people. Acts xiii. 15. The manner of teaching was by dispute, conference, or a continued discourse like a Sermon. Teach- in*^ in any of these ways, they called, Dabasch, searching; the dis- course, Darschan, a search^ and the preacher, Derasch, a searcher. SECTION FOURTEENTH. Parable of the Sower.* Now it came to pass, that as Jesus was walking by the ISea of Galilee, and the multitude was pressing on him to hear the doctrine of God, he saw two ves- sels on the edge of the Lake, but the fishermem hav- ing gone out of them, were washing nets. Then Jesus went aboard one of them which belonged to Simon, and entreated him to put a little from the land ; and sitting down in the vessel, he taught the * This is one of the most important, interesting and beautiful of our Master's discourses. Nothing in the whole volume of divine revelation, conveys to the mind, more certain and awful truths, than this prophetic description of the reception, influence, and ett'ects of the Gospel among men. God and divine providence are justified, in the sower and seed. The sower is the Son of Man, Jesus from the highest heaven, clothed with divine authority, and full of grace, and truth, and love for mankind. The seed is the word of God. The pure, unadulterated, eternal truth which Jehovah sent down, as living bread from heaven, that it might give life to the world. The sower, without partiality, scatters the good seed on all the ground, whether the soil be stony, thorny, shallow, or good. God is good to all, and wills that all may come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved. But alasl what follows? Here and there are found par- cels of good land, which watered by the dews and gentle rains of heaven, become productive, and yield fruit that shall endure for- ever. But there a portion of stony ground that can aftbrd no mois- ture or suitable soil, for the seed to take root or grow. There another piece of ground, more disposed to produce weeds and bram- bles than a useful and expected harvest. High way-hearers obtain the seed easily, and part with it freely. Poverty and care are thorns to the poor, and fashion and fame to the rich. Great God I how much of this earth is cursed on account of barrenness, and hence for- saken and abandoned to be burnt. Let hearers of the Gospel reflect on these things. By a careful hearing, and affectionate reception of God's word, with ardent prayer, that it may yield the peaceful fruits of righteousness, God may send his refreshing showers and cause them to appear as a field which the Lord has blessed. There is one thing worthy of all consideration : The fowls of hea- ven devour much of the seed. These are Satan and his allies, evi; spirits, wicked men, unbelievers, especially deists, and, I migl.i add. sceptics, and indifferent persons, who all combine to takeawa-^ 9 66 PARABLE OF THE SOWER. multitude^ who remained on the shore, preaching his doctrine to them by parable.* Hearken : Behold ! a Sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and was trodden under foot, and devoured by the fowls of heaven. Other seed fell on rocky places, where it had not much mould,, and sprang up immediately ; because it had no depth of earth. But when the Sun arose, it was scorched ; and having no root and lacking moisture, it withered away. Some fell among thorns, but the thorns grew up with it, and choked it. And other the seed and render the hearers of God's word barren and unfruit- ful. From all such beings, be it our ardent and continual prayer: Good Lord deliver us ! *The word T«f<«^eA>) parable, properly means an allegorical similitude or comparison, serving, by a figurative or poetical repre- sentation, to render the description more animated, interesting, and curious. Personification seems essential to parable, which should always involve the notion of animated and rational existence. It differs from Example, by partaking of similitude, and from Alle- gory, by being true and applicable, only in the general scope, but vague and inexplicable, in the particulars. It is essential to Alle- gory, that all its principal terms should bear a double sense, and be true and suitable, both literally and figuratively : but in Parable, we must remember the advice of Maimonides : " Fix on the grand ob- ject of the parable, without attempting an explanation of particu- lars." He who would undertake to explain what is implied by the ring, the shoes, the music, and the dancing, in the parable of the Prodigal, would manifest more clearly, puerility of fancy, than soundness of judgment. The Greek word, vct^u^oXti Parable has all the extent of signifi- cation in the New Testament, that the Hebrew word mashal, has in the Old. It often signifies a forcible or weighty saying or moral jnaxim without including the notion of comparison. See page 117. The English translators sometimes render it Comparison, Mark 4. SO. Other places they call \i proverb, Luke 4. 23 ; and elsewhere, they give it the appellation of figure, implying similitude or repre- sentation. Heb. 9. 9. Indeed the word, parable, implies Compari- son, Similtude, Allegory, or any saying that is ancient, obscure, proverbial. Or powerful and weighty, and should be so rendered ac- cording to circumstances, or as the context requires. The method of instructing by Parable, Allegory, Sinilitude, Fa- ble, or Apologue was vory common, and liigldy esteemed bv all the PARABLE OF THE SOWER. 67 s-eed fell on good ground, and growing and increasing, yielded fruit, some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred fold. Having said these things, he cried : Whoever has an ear to hear, let him hear. And when he was in private, the disciples and those who were present asked him : What may this parable mean ? Then he answered : Know ye not this parable ? How then will ye understand all parables ? Hear ye, therefore, the parable of the Sower. The Seed is the word of God. Those in whom the word is sown by the way-side, are they who ancient, especially Asiatic, nations. No scheme of Rhetoric, says Lightfoot, was more familiar among the Jews, than that of parable. As an interesting representation of truth, parables were u\ threat use by the prophets and ancient teachers. Wise men uttered their sentiments in parables, to which exercise the fool was unable to attain, Prov. xxvi. 7. In parables, Jotham showed the Shechemites tiieir folly in the choice of Abimelech ; Nathan conveyed reproof to David, 2 Sam. xii. 1 — 4 ; and Jeremiah and Ezekiel showed the rejection of Israel by a boiling pot and basket of figs, Jeremiah i. 13, and xxiv. 2, 3 ; Ezekiel xxiv. 3 — 5. In our Saviour's time, the method of instructing by parable, was very common, and he appears to have carried it to the highest perfection His parables of the Sower, Wheat, Mustard-seed, Hid treasure, Leaven, Barren fig-tree. Prodigal Son, Rich man, Vineyard, Marriage feast, Talents, and Samaritan, are unrivalled in beauty, utility and excellence. Hence, Commentators are greatly mistaken, who either imagine or teach, that Christ adopted this method, to prevent the Jews from understanding his doctrine. The Evangelist says, Christ spoke to them in para- bles, as they were able to hear. That is, he was as plain as the cir- cumstances would admit. But that this parable was intelligible, and intended by our Lord to be understood, is evident from the gentle reproof given to the disciples, when they asked the meaning of it: Kiioto ye nut tins parable? How then will ye know all parables? In the location of this section, I have ventured to deviate from the path of all preceding Harmonizers ; and liere present to the reader the parable of the Sower, as the first discourse delivered in a bark, by the shore of the sea of Galilee, near Capernaum. Two Evan-, gelists give notice of this discourse, but do not formally relate what Christ said at that time: yet we cannot think that a sermon deliver- ed to so great a multitude, and followed by so remarkable events, as the draught of fishes, and the call of four eminent Apostles (two of whom wore ;;fterw;ird engaged in transmitting the Gospel to future accs^i would liavG been suffered to fall into o'jliviou". The nature of 68 PARABLE OF THE SOWER. hear, but understand not the word of the reign, then conies the deceiver and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They who receive the seed in rocky places are those who on hearing the word, receive it joyfully ; but having no root in them endure only for a season ; and in time of trial, when tribulation or persecution ari- ses because of the word, they instantly take offence and fall away. They who receive the seed among thorns, are those who hear the word, but the anxious cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, and inordinate desires of other things, choke the word ; and it bears no fruit to perfection. But they who receive seed on good ground, are they who, hearing and understanding the word, receive it in an honest and good heart; and holding it fast, patiently bear fruit, some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred fold. this parable, and the season of the 3'ear, when leaving Nazareth, Jesus pieaclied the second discourse of his ministry, on the shore of the Lake, perfectly agree; seeing not more than a week had ehipsed from the time he opened his Commission, on his arrival in Galilee from Samaria. Tlie season was Seed-time, and the discourse was about Sowing The parable is admirably and prophetically descrip- tive of the reception and success of iiis Gospel in the world ; and ver)' appropriate, as an inaugural sermon, when entering on his own public office, he was that day about solemnly to cfdl into the labour of the sacred ministry, two of his most distinguished Apostles, It cannot be denied, that Matthew and Luke have, at least on some occasions, followed tiie ushhI method of historians, in the clas- sification of subjects, without regard to the order of time. Thus Luke narrates the imprisoimient of John in connexion with his first public preaching, even before the baptism of Clirist; though John describes the Baptist and Jesus baptizing near Saleni, some months afterwards. In the simie manner Matthew collects a sumniarv of our Lord's moral discourses, and hastens, without regard to chronol- ogical order, to lay them beft)' e his Jewish reader, as if they had been all delivered on one occasion: though several parts of the ser- mon on the mount, are related by Luke, as liie sayings, and discour- ses of Christ on different occasions. So likewise, in the thirteenth chapter, IMatthew collects a number of parables, very dissimilar in their nature ; and which, following the rule, so highly approved by Sir Isaac Newton, Whiston, and Newcome, were not spoken on the same occasion, nor at the same season of the year. SECTION FIFTEENTH. Draught of Fishes, and Call of Peter. Now, when he had finished his discourse, he said to Simon : Launch into deep water, and let down your nets for a draught. But Simon answered: Master, we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing ; nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net : and having done so, they inclosed such a multitude of fish, that the net began to break. Then they made signs to partners in the other vessel, to come to their assistance : and they came and filled both the vessels until they were beginning to sink. Now Simon Peter beholding, fell at the knees of Je- sus, saying : O Sir, depart from me, for I am a sinful There is a seeminjf discordance among the Evangelists, in their account of the call of Simon and Andrew, James and John : but all can be reconciled on the rule proposed by Le Clerc : — " He who re- lates many things, comprehends the few ; while he who relates the few only, does not deny the many." Matthew and Mark say : — Je- sus saw Simon and Andrew casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. This is not contradicted by Luke, who says, at the com- mand of Christ, they let down the net for a draught. Again, both the former Evangelists say, that it was a little after Jesus called Pe- ter, when he saw James and John in the vessel with their father, mending iheir nets, and called them to follow him : but all this is included in the narrative of Luke, who describes James and John as the partners of Simon, assisting him in the draught of fishes, bring- ing their vessels to land, and fors;ikiug all to follow Jesus. Nor is it unnatural to suppose, that the sons of Zebedee, might be so engaged with the concerns of their fatiier, when about to leave him, as to re- quire a second, or particular invitation to follow Christ, and re- nounce the world : yet, be it remembered, immediately on receiving the second invitation, they leave nets, vessel, servants, father, and all, to follow Christ. Oh I how often has Christ repeated his calls to thousands, who have never, like these sincere fishermen, fully de- voted themselves to his service. This draught of fishes is exceediuGfly like that mentioned by John, but it is very probable, that the miracle was repeated, as a mean to produce faith and confidence in the disciples, at two special seasons: the first, when he called them to forsake their usual employment, and become his followers ; the second, when he was about to give tiie final and grand commission to preach the Oospel to the whole hu- 70 DRAUGHT OF FISHES, AND CALL OF PETER. man. For amazement, at the draught of fishes which they had taken, seized him, and also James and John the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners ; and, Hkewise, all that were present. But Jesus said to them : Be not afraid ; follow me, and henceforth I will cause you to become fishers of men. And when they had brought their vessels to land, they straightway forsook all, and followed him. man rare. OCien the faithful minister of the Gospel feels discouraged when, like Peter, he toils long and takes nothing ; but perseverance, in obedience to the commission of Jesus, will assuredly be crowned with success. May none be afraid : the kingdom is the Lord's, and he gives to whomsoever he will. There never will be an instance, where God will permit honest, pious efforts to prove unavailing, and totally fail. But ever be it remembered : the minister, who would be useful, must feel his own unvvorthiness, and entire dependence on the co-operation of God; and be, at all times, ready to imitate these disciples, and forsake all at the call of Jesus. Without such dispo sitiou, even the minister of religion is contemptible. SECTION SIXTEENTH. Cure of a Demoniac at Capernaum. And they went into Capernaum, and immediately, on the Sabbath, he taught in the synagogue. And they were astonished at his doctrine ; for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the Scribes. Now, in the synagogue, there was a man possess- The doctrine of demoniacal possessions, has been a source of much discussion, since the time of the learned Joseph Mede, who laboured to prove, that the demoniacs were not supernaturally tor- mented, but only insane. His view of the subject has been ably maintained by Heinsius, Syke, Mead, Farmer, Lardner, Kuinoel. Kosenmullcr, and P)iestley : and, in general, by all those writers of every sect, who would believe that origin of the Scriptures, which appears to them rational. It was the opinion of the Jews, and of all the eastern nations, that insanity was produced by the agency ol •vil spirits, whom they called de;nons. They were supposed to en- ter the bodies of men, and to disorder their understundiiigs 5 and. CURE OF A DEMONIAC AT CAPEUNAUM. 71 ed of an impure demon ; and he cried with a loud voice: Ah! Jesus Nazarene, what have we to do with thee? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of Grod. And Je- sus rebuked him, saying: Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And the demon, having thrown him consequently, no cure was expected till the demon was cast out. — Hence the ancients had recourse to a variety of exorcisms, or charms to compel those demons to depart. Pythagoras, Thales, Plato, and the Stoics, taught, that the world was full of demons, whom Plato calls visible and generated gods, but all antiquity con- sidered them the souls, or ghosts of dead men. These spirits were believed to have power to produce, or greatly augment, the disorders of man, such as lunacy, epilepsy, and insanity. This appears from the history of Job and Saul : the practice of exorcism among the Jews, Matt. xii. 27; Acts xvi. 16; and the account given of Saul's distemper by Josephus, Antiq. vi. 1. The word demon, is derived from Jot/iw, which signifies to divide, because the ancients believed the demons to be intermediate beings between God and men, who performed the office of intercessors and executors of the divine purposes, and therefore distributed to man- hind their due proportion of pain or pleasure. Hence that famous passage in the sixth book of Virgil : All have their manes, and their manes bear, &c. Augustine and others supposed, that the term demon always im- plies an evil spirit or a devil, wherever it is used by the sacred wri- ters ; and this opinion seems generally if not universally supported by the scope of the passage where the word is used. The following distinction should nevertheless be carefully observed : The heathen writers considered demon as a general term, like the word angel, applicable to spirits in general, but the writers of the New Testa- ment, use demon, in the sense of devil or evil spirit, except where they refer to heathen usages or opinions. There is no ditterence of opinion among the ancients about the nature of the beings called demons. All are united in the belief, that they were spirits of dead men, pursuing the bent of their inclinations, in doing good or evil among the living. Ilesiod describes that happy race of men, who lived in the first or golden age of the world, as beings promoted af- ter death, to the rank of demons ; and appointed by the will of the Deity, to be guardians of men, and observers of their good or evil actions. Plato agrees with Hesiod, and thinks that he, and many of the poets, are praiseworthy for affirming, that when good men die, they obtain great honour and become demons. Eusebius and Theodoret cite these passages from Hesiod and Plato, in their ar- gument foi similar honour and dignity being bestowed on saints and martyrs: and thus Paul was understood by the" people at Athens, when he preached Jesus and the Resurrection. Acts 17. 18. Kut 7S CURE OF A DEMONIAC AT CAPERNAtTM. down in the midst, convulsed him, and crying aloud, came out of him, and did hira no hurt. Then were they all amazed, and said to each other : What new doctrine is this ? for with authority he commands even the impure spirits, and they obey him. And his feme spread through the whole country of Gralilee. Josephus says, " Evil demons are no other, than the spirits of the wicked, who enter into the bodies of the living, and kill them, unless they obtain help against them." Now since the whole world believed in the influence of the dead, over the living, at the time of Christ's public ministry, what shall we say of those teachers or Com- mentators, who suppose that Jesus either knew nothing of the mat- ter, or passed over it, as a popular superstition ? We cannot avoid saying, that such an opinion, either subverts the whole Gospel, by representing the sayings of Christ and the writings of his disciples, as a medley of pagan, vulgar, and Jewish opinions, intermixed with the Gospel, witnout any mark of distinction ; or it invalidates the whole testimony of Christ, by reason of his incompetency through lack of knowledge or fidelity. The doctrine of real possession, must therefore be true, and it must also be true, that the souls ot men became either angels or devils after death. Let therefore all opposition cease ; for there can be no more inconsistency in the per- mission of demons to tempt or even injure men, than in suffering storms, tires, and earthquakes to destroy life, or devastate a country. SECTION SEVENTEENTH. Cure of Simon Peter's Mother-in-law. And when they came out of the synagogue, Jesus, Simon and Andrew, with .Tames and John, entered into Peter's house. Now the mother of Simon's wife lay sick of a great fever, and they besought him on her behalf. And going to her, he took her by the hand, and raising her up, rebuked the fever, and im. mediately it left her : then she arose and served them. Now, at even, when the sun was setting, they brought to him all that were sick of any disease, and many possessed of demons ; and, laying his hands on each of them, he healed them all. \m\ the whole city was assembled at the door. Demons also came CURE OF SIMON PETER's MOTHER-IN-LAW. 73 out of many, crying : Thou art the Son of God. But rebuking, he suffered them not to speak, for they knew him to be the Christ. Thus was fulfilled,* what was said by Isaiah the prophet : He took our in^ firmities, and bear our diseases. f Now, in the morning, rising before day, he depart- ed into a solitary place, and was praying there, when * Theologians give four rules for the application of the phrase — It might be fulfilled, in the New Testament. 1. When the thing predicted is literally accomplished. 2. When an event happens agreeably to the spirit of the prediction, though it be not in confor- rnity to the letter. 3. When something happens of a similar nature to that contained in the Scripture, to which the reference is made. 4. When something mentioned in the Old Testament, is more fully accomplished in the New. t The extraordinary cures performed by Christ, were undoubtedly Biiraculous ; and as such he appealed to them. Miracles may be de- fined, events contrary to experience or the established order of things. The opposers of miracles, or unbelievers, are fond of Hume's rash declaration, that " no human testimony can prove a miracle ;" and talk loudly of Nature and its laws. But Cowper has well said • Nature is but a name for an effect, whose cause is God. The uni- form course of circumstances, in animal and vegetable life, which we daily observe, does not proceed from an innate principle of lite and motion in the inert masses of which the visible universe is composed ; but from the immediate agency of that Omnipotence, which first gave them existence, and appointed the laws by which they are go- verned. The various results of the will of Omnipotence, may be cal- led constant, but unobserved miracles: while the deviations from these uniform results, are the unusual, and, therefore, the more re- garded miracles. The credibility of both classes of njiracles, de- pends on the testimony of the senses of those who observe theiji. If the miracles, daily observed, were from this moment to cease, and another uniform course of events were to demonstrate, in a different manner, the power of God, then the ex[)erience of one age would be contary to that which preceded : yet, the experieuce of the latter age would not falsify the testimony of the former. Hence they act very irrationally, who disbelieve the miracles of Christ ; since they are transmitted to us by the united and concurrent testimony of that age ; and sustained by an uninterrupted succession of credible wit- nesses. The Deist, therefore, stands as self-confuted, as the sceptic who denies the existence of a material world. The Evangelist here tells us, in what sense Jesus hire our sins; iiot by sutTering the punishment of sins, but by delivering us from them and their consequences. This is not to be expected, hewever. 74 CURE OF SIMON PETER'S MOTHER-IX-LAW* Siaion, a»id his companions, going in search of him, iba.id hiiri, and said : All are seeking thee. Indeed^ the people earnestly sought him, and coming to him, urged liim not to dep rt from them. But he said to them : 1 must preach the reign of heaven to other cities also, because for this I was sent. And Jesus went through all Galilee, continually preaching, in their synagogues, and proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, casting out demons, and whilst we live in the lave and practice of sin. But if we repent, he is faithful wh» has- promised, and he will not deny himself. The connexion between sin and disease, is very fully taught, in the Scriptures. The Jews were persuaded, that diseases, especially such as were grievous, were sent as a punishment for some sin, John ix. 3. Nor was this opinion dissonant to the literal interpretation of their law. Indeed, the Scriptures plainly teach us, that human cala- mities are often no more than the just chastisement of men's iniqui- ties, Deut. xxviii. 15 — 6S; 1 Cor. xi. 30 j John v. 14 ; James v. 15 ; 1 John V. l6. This is the reason why Jesus said to the paralytic:. Thy sins be forgiven. Tiiis is also the reason why Mark calls that forgiving sin, which Matthew had denominated, healing disease. This view of the subject also reconciles the discordance, which many have supposed to subsist between this quotation of the Evange- list, and the original Hebrew, in Isaiah liii. 4. Indeed, even the happiness of the celestial regions, is predicated on the forgiveness of sin, Isaiah xxxiii. 24 ; Rev. xxi. 24. In the early attempts to translate the Bible, the Septnagint and Vulgate were almost the only guides ; and, as Peter and the Seventy had represented Christ, as bearing: sins, according to the Hebrew of the prophet, it was supposed that Matthew had made an accommoda- tion of Isaiah's language, which nricfht prove injurious to the doctrine of vicarious sufferings. Consequently, a variety of attempts were made to reconcile the discrepancy between the Prophet and Evange- list. Among these, the opinion of Beausobre deserves notice : — • " The passage in Isaiah liii. 4, relates properly to the sins of men. whereof diseases are the emblems and consequences: and iMattnew applies the passage to our Saviour's curing diseases, after the man!)er of the Jewish Doctors, who were wont to prove, from the same text, two things which might have a resemblance or connexion o.ie with the other." Now, it would seem much more pious and suitable for commenta- tors, to yield an opinion, which will not abide the test of Scripture, than to compel the Prophets or Evangelists to bear testimony to n doctrine contrary to the plain letter of the text. Matthew, a JeW;, whose language was Hebrew, and who wrote in Hebrew, had cer- CURE OF SIMON PETER's MOTHER-IN-LAW. 75 healing all kinds of diseases among the people. And his fame went forth into all Syria : and they broue;ht to him all that were diseased, tormented, or afflicted with any disorder, even demoniacs, lunatics, and- para- lytics, and he cured them all. And great multitudes followed him from Gralilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Ju- dea, and Ferea. tainly more acquaintance with the language of Isaiah, than any mo- dern critic : and we fear not to affirm, that the Greek of Matthew is a perfect and exact translation of Isaiah's Hebrew, and that both the Hebrew and Greek are faithfully rendered in the words of the pre- sent translation. The Apostle informs the Hebrews that Jesus took share of our infirmities, Heb. 4. 15. Nor is it denied that Jesus is described as the lamb of God that bears away the sin of the world. All that is contended for in this place is that the doctrine of imputed guilt and imputed righteousness has no support from this, nor any other passage of holy writ. The doctrine of atonement is of the highest importance to the salvation of man and essential to the Christian system. But if the holy scriptures are admitted to be the guide, all things are of God who was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. As God so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son, and spare him not but deliver him for us all, it is manifest that Jehovah never had any unfriendly feeling toward man. What God does for men on Christ's account, is done in honour and reward of Christ's mediatorial suffer- ings and obedience, not on account of guilt borne or expiated by Jesus. All that is said by divines about the Father forsaking Jesus in his sufferings and pouring out his wrath upon him as our substitute, savours rather of blasphemy than christian piety. In the redemption of the world, the Son of God has well said, I and my Father are one. My Father works hitherto and I work. The object and end of both are the same : the purification and salvation of all that are fit subjects of such inestimable blessings. The Saviour endured much suffering on account of mankind, and as far as men have their sufferings mitigated or obviated through*the services of Jesus, he may be truly said to have suffered in their stead : but Christ takes away sin, by turning sinners from their ini- quity through the ministry of his Gospel and the influence of the Spirit, Acts 3. 26; and 26. 18; or by extending the exercise of mercy to the penitent in a free pardon, which on account of his me- diatorial services, he has authority to bestow on all that come to God by him. Acts 5. 31 ; and 13. 38, 39; Rom. 3. 25, 26. In this manner the Redeemer has borne away much of the sin of the world already, and he will finally deliver the world from its influence, by gathering all that obey him, to whom he becomes the author of salva- 10* SECTION EIGHTEENTH. Parable of thf Wheat and Darnel. Now, when great multitudes were gathered to- gether to him out of every city, he began again to teach by the sea-side. And having gone aboard a vessel, he said to the people on the shore : Consider what, and how ye hear. Then he put forth another parable to them, saying : The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a man sowing good seed in his field ; but whilst men slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat, and went away. Notwithstanding, when the blade sprang up, and brought forth fruit, then appear- ed also the darnel. So the servants of the house- tion, Heb. 5. 9 ; into the celestial regions where nothing impure shall ever enter ; and then obliterating in due time, the names, persons, and memories of all his irreconcilable enemies. Thus shall the triumphs of Immanuel be completed. * I have followed Wesley and Campbell in the use of the term darnel, though it is very probable that Clarke has come nearest to the truth, in calling zizania, degenerate wheat. The word tares, m the common version, is misapplied and does not suit the context or original. The darnel, called by Virgil, infelix lolium, not only grows among wheat, but also resembles it j and, when mixed in bread, occasions dimness of sight, sickness and giddiness in them that eat it ; and the straw has the same effect on cattle. All this is truly descriptive of the spurious mixtures which have been imposed on the world, as the doctrine of Christ ; the deleterious effects of which have been long experienced among men ; but by reason of the dimness of sight, and the vertigo of the head, the unhappy victims perceive not the fraud by which they have suffered such mental debility. The original word, zizania, is neither pure Greek nor Latin. It is, however, a well chosen term to represent the idea of the writer, being a corrupt word to represent an equally corrupt doctrine. — Chrysostom speaks of zizania, as well known in his time, and simi- lar in appearance to wheat : and Lightfoot adduces a quotation from the Talmud to the same effect. Indeed, it is evident from the para- ble, that its likeness to wheat must have been considerable, seeing the distinction could not be made, until the ear was formed, and the grain made its appearance. Clarke alleges a quotation from the Mishna in favour of the word being translated degenerated wheat, PARABLE OF THE WHEAT AND DARNEL. 77 holder came, and said to him : Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? Whence then does it produce darnel ? And he answered : An envious man has done this. Then said the servants : Wilt thou, therefore, that we go and gather it? But he said : No ; lest, while ye collect the darnel, ye root up also the wheat. Let both grow together * till the harvest ; and, in harvest-time, 1 will command the reapers to gather first the darnel, and bind it in bun- dles, to be burnt ;* but to gatlier the wheat into my granary. and supposes it to be derived from the Chaldee term, zunin, signify- ing a mixture. If this be not the fact, it is as near to it, as any thing hitherto addueed : and if the subject of the parable be doctrine, then the mixture is the corrupt system which men have sowed in the reli- gious world, under the name of the Christian Religion, * I could readily concede to the opinion that some writers have adopted concerning this parable and its application to doctrines, as I have just noticed in this note, but what idea can we form of doc- trines being burnt or cast into a lake of fire there to weep and gnash their teeth. If we compare this parable with what immediately fol- lows concerning fish taken in a drag-net, we see a propriety in the application of the parable to men and not doctrines. In the outward form and letter of the parable it may apply to the Jews, in the general and spiritual meaning it is descriptive of the present state and final destiny of all men. To restrict it to the letter, will not agree with se- veral important particulars in this'parable. If we say the unbelieving Jews were the darnel and the believing the wheat, the discription would not be truly applicable, for many of the unbelieving Jews died before the visitation of the national sin in their destruction by the Romans, and many of those entitled to the appellation wheat, suffer- ed atliiction then, as at every other period of the world, though walk- ing in the ways of holiness and peace : and therefore the doctrine of future retribution is the true spirit of this parable, and fairly dedu- cible from it. The blended state of things, or intermixture of righte- ous and wicked, believers and unbelievers, often prevents or retards the impartial administration of justice, in order that the righteous may not suffer in common with the wicked. But a time comes when the divine conduct will be vindicated in the reward of faith and holi- ness, anddestructionof unbelief and ungodliness, in the eternal sepa- ration of the pious and wicked, when all that know and obey God and Christ shall be received to heaven and happiness, and the vile, the unbeliever, and impious shall have their portion in the Lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second, and will be eternal death. 78 PARABLE OF THE WHEAT AND DARNEL. Again, he said to them : So is the Kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed on the ground ; and, while he sleeps hy night, and rises hy day, the seed springs up and grows, he knows not how. For the earth yields fruit of itself; first the blade, then the ear, and afterward the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, he sends out the sickle imme- diately, because the harvest is come. Again, he said : To what may we compare the Kingdom of God, or by what similitude shall we re- present it? Then he put forth another parable to them, saying : The Kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man so ed in his field; though it be the least of all seeds, yet, when so \n, it grows, and becomes the greatest of herbs, even a tree shooting out great branches, so that the fowls of heaven come and lodge in its branches, beneath its shade. From what we have already intimated concerning the double sense, this parable seems to be descriptive of the circumstances and fate of Christ's auditors. God had planted Israel wholly a right seed, but they had become the degenerate plant of a strange vine ; and when he looked that it should bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild or degenerate grapes. Therefore brake he down the fence, and suffered it to be trodden under foot, so that being neither pruned nor digged, it yields only briars and thorns. See and com- pare Jer. ii. 21 ; Is. v. 1 — 7 ; and Ez. xvii. 1 — 10. God made man upright, but he sought out many inventions, Eccles. vii. 29. If therefore men retain not the knowledge of the Holy One : If they allow themselves to be deceived, so as to yield fruits of unrighteous- ness, they may rely on the veracity of God, that they shall not escape his righteous judgment. They may also expect that in proportion to the nature and extent of their degeneracy, will be their sufferings. Though the parable was thus plain and comprehensible, and might have been easily perceived by the Jews, as applicable to them in its literal and primary use, yet like professors of religion, in various ages and places, they either relied too presumptuously on the divine favour, or were too incredulous of the divine ■warnings: so that though expressly told of their approaching danger, they continued to manifest spiritual insensibility Hence according to the predic- tion of the Prophet: Hearing they did not understand and seeing they did not perceive Christ's meaning, and therefore were not con- PARABLE OF THE WHEAT AN» DARNEL. 79 In many such parables, spake Jesus to the nuihi- tude, as they were able to hear ; so that the saying of the j)rophet was accomplished : I will open my mouth in parables ; I will utter things hidden from the foun- dation of the world. Then dismissing the multitude, he went into the house ; and his disciples came to him, saying : Ex- plain to us the parable of the darnel of the field. Then he answered : The sower of the good seed is the Son of man ; the field is the world ; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom ; the darnel are the sons of evil ; the inimical sower is the deceiver ; the verted and healed. But the end of that age took place about 40 years after this parable was pronounced, the angels or messengers^ being whosoever, or whatsoever God pleases to send or employ, were the Romans; the darnel, or degenerate wheat, were the per- verse and rebellious Jews ; the furnace of fire was the burning of Jerusalem and the calamities which befel the Jews at that time; because God said, his furnace wr.s in Jerusalem, and thither he would gather the Jews, and melt them, Ez. xxii. 17 — 22 : and the wheat, were the believing and pious, who escaped these calamities, and shone forth in the kingdom of their father Christ, which was established about the year 70, on the ruins of the former disperisa^ lion. See the Lecture on the Coming of Christ, in my Systemat- ical Theology. To this view of the subject, I am inclined because that kingdom of God, the subject of the parable, is almost uniformly represented in the Jewish writings, whence the phrase is derived, as the polit}' of Israel, Avhose subjects were the Jews, and hence called by Jose- phus, ©5ox«a,T£a or Theocracy. In this sense Christ, as a Jew, must have used it, and in this sense it was understood by his auditors. When we open tlie book of Daniel, from which both Jews and Christians have borrowed the phrase " kingdom of God," we find it described as a kingdom or polity possessed by saints, governed by tlie God of Heaven, and c()ntrnsted with other kingdoms and poli- ties. This kingdom of the Messiah is not merely a dominion or reign; for even this, involves the notion of subjects. — In a word: It is the Christian Polity ; all the professors of a Divine Revolatiou are its avowed subjects ; Jesus is the king; the scriptures are the Jaws, constitution, and statutes of the Kingdom ; and the rewards and chastisements annexed to tlie character of the subject, are tho sanctions of the Laws. With this view of the kingdom, there arises a perfect harmony between the preaching of John and Jesus; foi darael is the chaff of John, which was consijjnpd to imquenGhablo 80 PARABLE OF THE WHEAT AND DARNEL. harvest is the end of this age ; and the reapers are the messengers. As, therefore, the darnel is gather- ed and burnt in Hre, so shall it be at the conclusion of this age. Tlie Son of man will send forth his mes- sengers, and they will gather out of his kingdom, all offensive things and workers of iniquity, and cast them into the fiery furnace : weejDing and gnashing of teeth shall be there. Then shall the righteous shine like the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. Whoso - ever has ears to hear, let him hear ! fire ; while grain, wheat, believers, were gathered into the granary or barn. Compare Matt. xiii. 30; and Luke iii. 17. I admit, the word /Bacrasta kingdom, should be translated reign, when timK, motion, or secrecy, is implied; as when Luke, xvii. 21_, says the iti'vj^n of God comes not with observation. — The reign of God is wirhin yon- But even here, the term rvithin may be contes- ted ; for ivtoi is used in the sense of among by Xenophon, in his Cj'rop. i. i. and in Anab. L. vi. C. v. ^ 5. The word fvroj, how- ever, signifies xvithin, Matt, xxiii. 26; but there it is used substan- tively. Thus I have given both views of the parable, let the reader choose which he pleases; and probably he will act most wisely who believes both. In the two mmor parables of this section, our Lord gives a beautiful and encouraging prospect of the growth and prosperity of the kingdom. Like seed sown, whether observed or not, it still prO' gresses. The size of the mustard tree is said to be very considera- ble in the East. One Rabbi Simeon narrates in the Jerusalem Tal- mud, that he had a stalk of mustard in his field, on which he was wont to climb as on a fiw-tree. Small, even the least of sects was the Christian, at the time our Lord pronounced this prophetic para- ble; but now it is the greatest; and we may rest assured it will uni- versally triumph. SECTION NINETEENTH. A Storm on the Lake. Now, on the same day, when the evening was come, Jesus, seeing great multitudes about him, gave orders to his disciples to pass over to the opposite A STORM ON THE LAKE. 81 shore. But, as they went, a certain scribe,* coming to him, said : Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Jesus said to him : Foxes have holes, and fowls of heaven roosts, but the Son of man has not where to rest his head. Then he said to another : Follow me ; but he repUed : Master, permit me first to go and bury my father. Jesus answered : Let the deadf bury their dead ; follow me, and publish the reign of God. Then another also said : Master, I will go with thee, but suffer me first to bid my family farewell. Jesus answered him: No man, looking behind, after he has put his hand to the plough, is fit for the kingdom of God. Now, when he had gone aboard the vessel, his dis- ciples, dismissing the multitude, followed him, and launched forth, accompanied by some other barks. But as they sailed, he fell asleep ; and a storm cora- * The scribes, of whom Ezra was the most eminent, assumed their name and profession about 900 years before Christ, 2 Chron. xvii. 7 — 9. Their general employment was to transcribe books, read, and expound the law, Nehem. viii. 7'^-8. They were divided into two classes. Civil and Ecclesiastical. The Civil class was accessi- ble by men of any tribe, and consisted of various ranks in office, from the common scrivener to the secretary of state. The Ecclesi- astical were descendants of Levi, and the learned men of the na- tion ; hence called doctors or teachers of law, which they expound- ed to the people, Matt. xvii. 10 ; Mark xii. 35. Indeed, they were the preaching clergy of the Jews, whose business was to instruct the people, whilst the office of the priest was to attend on the sacrifices : but it seems these scribes were strenuous advocates of traditions, and litigious about trivial rites. + Let the spiritually/ dead bury those who are dead in the common acceptation of the word. The Jews called all dead, who lived not in conformity to the law. The term, dead, frequently occurs in the Scripture, in a figurative sense, implying those who are insensible to the duties and precepts of religion. Such Jesus would leave to at- tend to the concerns of the literally dead, whom they resembled ; but commands all, into whose souls the divine life had entered, to pursue its dictates. That man who has no spiritual sensibility, as well as he who would manifest more concerns for the affairs of the present life, than for those of the spiritual and eternal, must be ill adapted to serve in the public offices of religion 11 83 A STORM ON THE LAKE. Ing down on the lake,* the waves beat into the ves- sel, so that they were in danger.f And the dis- ciples came to him, sleeping astern on a pillow, and awoke him, saying : Master, save us, we perish ! Then he arose and rebuked the wind and the sea, saying : Peace, be still ! And the wind and swell of the water ceased, and there was a great calm.t Then he said to them : Why are ye so fearful ? Where is your faith ? But the men feared exceedingly, and wondered, saying one to another : What kind of per- son is this ? for he commands even the wind and the sea, and they obey him. ^ ' m ■ ■ ' ■■ -■ ' ' ' * This lake is a collection of fresh water, and abounds with the best fish ; therefore, its coasts were inhabited by fishermen, who collected much money from the fish-markets. It is called the Sea of Chinnereth, Numb, xxxiv. 11 ; Josh. xiii. 27; Lake of Genesareth, Luke V. 1, from a tract of Galilee, so called, which bounded it* on the west; the Sea of Galilee, Matt. iv. IS, from the province of that name bounding it on the west and north ; the Sea of Tiberias, John Vi. 1, from a city of that name, built by Herod, tetrarch of Galilee, in honour of Tiberius Caesar, which is situated in the most fertile part of Galilee, on the southwest extremity of the lake, and possess- ing many privileges, became one of the principal cities in those parts, having in it thirteen synagogues. The lake is said, by Jose- phus, to be five miles in breadth, and twelve in length ; but Pliny makes it seventeen miles long, and six broad. t There is a strong current in the lake of Gennesareth, caused by the river Jordan passing through the midst of it ; and, when this current is opposed by contrary winds, which sometimes blow here with the force of a hurricane, from the southeast, sweeping from the mountains into the lake, a very boisterous sea is instantly raised, which the small vessels of the country are ill qualified to resist.—- E. D. Clarke's Travels. I This is proof complete of the miraculous power which was ex- erted on the occasion. The surface of the sea was smooth imme- diately at the words, Be still / Whereas, after a storm, the sea ge- nerally remains long in agitation. Hence this circumstance gav« force and evidence to the miracle. SECTION TWENTIETH. Cure of the Gadarene Demoniac. And they sailed down to the country of the Gada- reneSjWhich hes on the other side of the sea, opposite GaHlee ; and immediately on landing, there met him a man of the city,* coming qut of the tombs, who had been possessed of demons a long time, and wore no clothes, nor abode in a house, but dwelt among the tombs. t This man was so exceedingly fierce, that none could pass that way ; nor could any man bind him, even with chains : for he had been often bound with chains and fetters, but the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in * Because of some inconsistency in tiie narration of tliis sec- tion by the Evangelists, and the extraordinary nature of the subject, the rantings of Rousseau and the motley groupe of his faithless disciples, have been as extravagant, as they have been hazardous and unfounded. The verbal discrepances are these : 1. Matthew calls the people, inhabiting the country on the south east of the Lake opposite Galilee, Gergesenes, but Mark and Luke give them the name of Gadarejies. Compare Matt, viii, 28 ; Mark v. 1 ; Luke viii, -26. Now this discrepance is reconciled by a single geographical remark : Gadara and Gergesa were two neighbouring cities, in the district of Decapolis, and the country was indifferently called by the name of either of these cities. Here, therefore, there subsists no discord. This remark will be farther confirmed by the following brief notice. Gadara, according to Jose- phus, was the metropolis of Perea, or the region beyond the Jor- dan, and being not only the capital, but also a very rich cit}', it was of great note in that country. Nor, if we follow Schoetgen, will the city of Gergesa yield in popular fame to her sister city. — Among its vuins are seen, two Amphitheatres, solidly built of marble ;three temples ; several palaces ; and a whole street, ornamented on both sides, by a row of marble columns of the Corinthian order. t The second discrepance arises from Mark's declaration, that the Demoniac came out of the tombs, whilst Luke says he came out of the city. This is reconciled in ray translation, by saying, he was a man of tlie city, as Jesus is said to be of, arto, Nazareth, John i. 45. and came from the tombs. According to Josephiis and E. D. Clarke, tliese tombs were cut out of the rocks on the borders of the Lake, and, were such caves, as served to shelter or conceal robbers. Shaw says, the chief Moors have cupolas, built over their graves, ef four yards square, which are frequently open. 84 CURE OF THE OADARENE DEMONIAC. pieces ; and he was driven by the demon, into desert phices. Night and day was he in the mountains, or in the tombs, continually crying and bruising himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus, he ran and fell prostrate before him, crying with a loud voice : What hast thou to do with me ? Son of the most high God, I beseech thee torment me not ; for Jesus had com- manded the impure spirit to come out of the man.* Then Jesus asked nim: What is thy name? And he answered: Legion; because many demons had entered into him. Now a great herd of SAvine, about two thousand, were nigh, feeding on the mountain : and the demons earnestly besought him, not to drive them out of the country, nor into the abyss; but if he should cast them out, to suffer them to enter into the swine : so Jesus gave them leave. Then went the demons out of the man, and entered into the swine ; and the whole herd rushed down a steep bank into the Lake and were choked.f Now when the keepers * Matthew mentions two demoniacs, Mark and Luke, only one. Here we can apply the maxim of Le Clerc : " He who relates manj things, comprehends the few ; whilst he who relates the few only, denies not the relation of the many." But a reason for this difference is usually assigned from Augustine, that one of the demoniacs had been a person of great respectability, and the country was in greater anxiety concerning him. Farmer and Wetstein are nearly of the same opinion. Nor is it improbable, that two demoniacs might have met on this occasion, who lived separately at other times. How- ever, a principal reason may be collected from the Gospels them- selves, why Mark and Luke mention only one; because only one being grateful for his cure, his gratitude is recorded by the two Evangelists, who were more intent on inculcating the moral, than in magnifying the power of their Master. See Newcome's Harmony. t The fourth objection arises from the destructive tendency of the miracle. But this being the only miracle wrought by Christ to the disadvantage of any individual, supposes some special cause. Now the keepers of these swine were either Jews or Heathens : If Jews, a punitive miracle may he allowed, in the destruction of their swine, kept Jn direct violation of their own Law. which they ac- knowledged to be of divine origin. But if these Gadarenes were heathen, their city, being in the confines of Palestine, was inhabited by disciples of Moses, and their conduct in keeping swine, among CURE OP THE GADARENE DEMONIAC. 85 saw what had happened, they fled, and told every thing iii the city and country, and what had befallen the demoniac. Therefore the whole city and people of the neighbouring country of the Gadarenes, went Out to see what had been done ; and coming to Jesus, they found the man out of whom the demons had de- parted, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and of a sound mind,* and they were afraid : and on being informed, by those who had seen, of the means by which the demoniac had been cured, and concerning the swine, they began to entreat him to leave their coasts. So entering the vessel, he was about to return, when the man who had been possessed of the demons earnestly begged leave to accompany him. But Jesus sent him away, saying : Return to thy home and friends, and tell them, how great things God in pity has done for thee. So departing, he pub- lished through the whole city and Decapohs, what things Jesus had done for him ; and all were amazed. the Jews, was not only a snare to them, but open contempt of the national religion, founded on divine authority, and therefore merito- rious of rebuke. Moreover, though the miracle was of individual disadvantage, its tendency was benevolent ; for in that country^ swine's flesh has a powerful influence in superinducing Leprosy^ which is a most bainful and loathsome disease, and was therefore gra- ciously prohibited. * Here Luke and Mark seem plainly to express their opinion that the man's disorder was insanity. This is farther evident from the language of the man himself* He says, his name was legion! Such a name could only originate in a mind, sufficiently frantic to imagine something of which there could be no possibility of knowledge. Again could demons have such predilection {ov the country of Gada^ va, and such dread of being drowned, as to be so importunate with Jesus, not to drive them out of that country, nor into the deep f If they were so much afraid of water, and so desirous of inhabiting the swine, why did they run straightway into the water, and destroy their new abode ? Now, if the man's case were a certain species of insanity, aU tlus would seem natural ; and the narrative, intelligible, but dressed in the peculiar phraseology, and conveyed through the medium of the popular superstition, with which the historian had no right to intermeddle, ^ee Lecture eighth of my Svstematiral Theology, SECTION TWENTY-FIRST. Cure of the Paralytic. Now when Jesus had passed over in the vessel to the other side, a great multitude gathered around hinif and rejoiced at his return ; for they were all waiting for him. And entering Capernaum after some days' absence, it was reported that he was at home ; an(i immediately so many were assembled that even the places about the door could not contain them ; and he preached the doctrine to them. And it came to pass that while he was teaching, there were present Pharisees and Doctors of Law, who had come from Jerusalem, and from every village of Galilee and Judea ; and a mighty power of healing was displayed before them. Lo ! four men came, bearing on a couch a man sick of the palsy ; and they tried to bring him and place him before Jesus : but finding no means of approaching him, because of the multitude, they ascended the flat-roof,* andhaving removed the cover- * The houses of the Jews, as well as those of the ancient Greeks and Romans, were j^a^-row/ei/, and had stairs on the outside, or in the porch, by which persons might ascend the roof, without entering the house. In some of their cities, these roofs form a continued ter- race, extending from one end of the city to the other ; so that a per- son on the roof, might flee from thecity, without coming down, Matt. xxiv. 17. These roofs are covered with a strong coat of plaster of terrace, having in them a trap-door, level with the roof, and covered with the same materials, which opened for the convenience of ascen- ding to take fresh air. The roofs were also furnished with battle- ments round about for safety, Deut. xxii. 8 ; Judges xvi 27 ; 2 Sam. xi. 2. Now many have thought that the men, having ascended the roof, forced this trap-door, and removed some part of the adjoining roof, to make way for the lowering of the paralytic on his bed, into the midst of the house where Jesus sat. Shaw, however, has very ingeniously, and, I think, successfully, shown, that the roof was not broken, nor the trap-door forced, by the bearers of the paralytic. He says the entrance ;» one of the principal houses, is through a porcii, having benches on each side, and sufficiently large for transacting business and receiving visits, persons being seldom admitted into the interior of the dwelling. In fhis gateway are general)}' placed the stairs, leading to the upper ©URE OF THE PARALYTIC. 87 ing and forced a passage, they lowered down, by the tihng, the couch on which the Paralytic lay, into the court before Jesus, who seeing their faith said : Courage, son ; be thy sins forgiven.* Then began some of the Scribes and Pharisees to reason, saying within themselves : Why does this fellow speak blasphemies ? Who can forgive sins, but the One God? Then Jesus perceiving their thoughts, said to them : Why reasoning in your apartments of the house. From this porch the entrance is through a large court or quadrangle, generally paved with marble, and strew- ed with mats or carpets for the accommodation of comprny, being the usual place of reception for large parties or entertainments ; and from the structure of the building, being in the resemblance of a square, around the court, properly styled the midst of the house, Luke V. 19. The court is covered with a veil, as a protection from the heat or inclemency of the weather, which being extended from one side to the other, by ropes fi.xed to the parapet walls or ballus- trades, can be rolled up at pleasure. The bearers of the Paralytic, therefore, either forced a passage through the door, in the gateway, which leads to the roof, or they ascended by the adjoining terraces, and as Jesus was, in all probability, preaching to the people in the court, from one of the windows of the house, the men having rolled back a part of the veil, let down the sick man over the parapet wall of the roof, into the area, or court of the house before Jesus. In justification of this interpretation, Shaw observes, that areyrj, transla- ted roo/", may mean any covering, consequently the veil or covering of the court; that the word a^o^v^avtiif breaking up, is omitted by the Cambridge Ms, and S3'riac version ; and that the preposition Sta, through, may mean by, agreeably to Acts ix. 25 ; and 2 Cor. xi. 33, where it is rendered 6^ or oyer, the wall. Hence the couch of the Paralytic was let down over the battlement, or ballustrade, by the tiling into the court, or midst of the house where Jesus was teaching: and there was no breaking of roofs or forcing of trap-doors, but a suitable zeal, faith, and perseverance, manifested by the bearers of the Paralytic, which God rewarded with an abundant blessing. * Physicians say that palsies are sometimes occasioned by intem- perance, if this was an instance, great appropriateness would appear in the address of Jesus : Thy sins be forgiven. We have already shown both the Jewish opinion, and, indeed, the scriptural doctrine, of connexion between sin and disease, we therefore judge it unneces- sary, to add any further remarks at present, but only observe, that when sin is removed or forgiven, disease must depart ; and he that would live long, and see good days, must do good and shun evil contin- ually. 6^ CUKE OF THE PARALYTIC. hearts, think ye evil ? Whether is it easier to say to this paralytic : Thy sins be forgiven, or Rise and Walk ? But that ye may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins, I say, (addres- sing the paralytic) arise, take up thy couch* and go to thine abode. Then instantly he arose in their pres- ence, took up that whereon he lay, and went home, glorifying God. But when the multitude saw this, they were all amazed and filled with fear, saying : We have seen strangef things to-day : and they glo- fied God, who had given such power to men. * The beds of the eastern nations, especially the Jews, consisted of only a matress, laid on the floor, and over it a sheet ; but in win- ter a carpet. — Harmer. + The strange things which they had seen that day were these : 1. The power of working miracles displayed before them, in a Very eminent degree. 2. The return of a prophet, after an absence of many generations, whose claims to a divine commission were, that day, duly attested by the miracle : for the Jews had no prophets from Malachi to Christ. 3. An authority assumed by man to act as the deputy of the Most High, in absolving sin ; and saving mankind. 4. Lastly, the reign of heaven, commenced under the auspices of their long expected Messiah. Oh ! these were strange things to the Jews, and, heaven knows, to many Christians. Reader, is thy soul under the influence of heaven's reign ? Is the kingdom within you ? Is thy soul at peace with thy Maker ? and art thou reconciled to him through the blood of the everlasting Covenant? If not, thou art as blind, dark, and hardened as these Jews, who crucified their Lord; and except a divine power be exerted on thy soul, thou canst not see the kingdom. May God speak to the frozen, and morally dead thousands of man- kind, that they also may exclaim: We have seen strange things H-day ! SECTION TWENTY SECOND. Call of Matthew Levi* And after these things as Jesus passed thence, he saw a Publican, named Matthew Levi, son of Alphe- us, sitting at the Tax-office, and said to him ; Follow CALL OF MATTHEW LEVI. 89 me. Then he arose, and leaving all, followed .lesus. And Levi* made him a great feast in his own house. But when Jesus sat doAvn to meat, a great company of publicans and sinners, who had followed him, came and also sat down with Jesus and his disciples. Then the Pharisees and iScribes beholding him eat with publicans and sinners, murmured, saying to his disci- ples : Wh}- do ye and your Master eat and drink with publicansf and sinners? But Jesus hearing, said: * The opinion of Grotius on this passage, that Matthew and Levi mean tlie same person, is now become a settled point among the learned. We know but little of his history ; yet it appears, he was a Jew, and a native of Galilee ; but of what town is not known. As a Tax-gatherer for the Romans, his office was to receive the cus- toms for persons and goods passing the Lake Gennesareth. Though publicans were too generally objectionable characters, among the Jews, some of them were men of great probity and benevolence, as Zaccheus, Luke xix. 8 ; and perhaps Matthew was of a similar dis- position. From his making a great feast in his own house, and en- tertaining so many, it would appear, that he was a man of wealth. Notwithstanding, he readily forsook all, at the call of Jesus, and became a zealous, faithful, and devoted disciple till death. t Publicans were the collectors, and many of them, ^rmers of the customs and taxes imposed by the Romans on the Jewish nation. There were at that time two sorts of publicans in the Roman Em- pire : Such as farmed the taxes of a whole province, who were generally knights, and men of honour and character, highly esteemed and eulogized by Cicero, in his Orations, as the ornament of the City, and support of the Commonwealth. But these did not levy the taxes in person, but employed under-farmers, who often exacted moie than was due. and practised great injustice and oppression, Luke iii. IS. And as in every country, the raising of taxes for a foreign power is odious, it was peculiarly so to the Jews, who regard- ed the paying of tribute to the Heathen powers, as little better than apostacy from their religious allegiance. Hence the exaction of these taxes, by these under-farmers, frequently in an oppressive manner, rendered the office detestable, and led to the classification of the publicans with sinners. Notwithstanding the appellation, sinners, be attached to these men, who are classed with the publicans, and sat down to eat with Jesus, they were probably men of as good moral character, as the Pharisees, who held them in abhorrence. The fact seems to be, that they were heathens, perhaps Romans, or officers of that government, and therefore entitled to the name because, they did not acknowledge the living and true God. The word sinner, as used by the Jews, in 12 90 CALL OP MATTHEW LEVI. They who are well, need not a physician ; but they who are sick. Go ye therefore and learn what means, " I prefer* mercy to saciifice " For I came not to call the righteous. f but sinners, to a change of mind. Then came to him the disciples of John, who were accustomed to fast, and said to him : Why do the dis- ciples of John and of the Pharisees fast often, whilst thine fast not, but eat and drink? Jesus answered: Do the companions of the bridegroom fast while tlie bridegroom is with them ? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them ; then will they fast in those days. And he spake also a parable to them : No man puts a piece of new cloth on an old garment ; for the new agrees not with the old ; and he takes away the new patch from the garment, and the rent is made worse. | its general acceptation, meant no more than a heathen or gentile j and was used as a political word of contempt. Mat. xviii. 17 j xx. 19 ,• xxvi. 45 ; Gal. ii. 15. * The common translation, " I will have mercy and not sacrifice," is not scripturally true, and is, moreover, calculated to mislead the reader, and set the Scriptures at variance with themselves. It is a Hebraism, where the negative is used for comparison. See Intro- duction, p. 225. 18. t Often in Scripture, saint^ or righteous, and sinner, are used as mere political distinctions, equivalent to Jew and Gentile : and con- sequently, no indication of real character. Notwithstanding, if we regard the origin of this distinction, and the literal use of these terms, we will perceive a propriety and force, which should not be disre- garded. The Jews, as a nation, stood in covenant relationship with the Living and True God, while the Gentiles were aliens by idola- try. In religion, the Jews were, therefore, sanctified, called, holy, and a peculiar people. So also in Christianity, they who have avouched the Lord to be their God, been baptized into the name and religion of Jesus, and in sincerity of heart, devote themselves con- tinually to the sesvice of God in Christ, seeking and expecting the sanctifying influence of his Holy Spirit, are righteous, and all others are sinners, no matter what their moral character may be ; for men are justified by faith and not by deeds of the Law. X This passage is somewhat obscure in the Greek. The meaning is: either the new patch, from its greater strength and weight, tears the old garment; or the person, beholding how unseemly it looks, tears it off, and thereby makes the rent worse. CALL OF MATTHEW LEVI, 91 NeitKer do men put new wine into old bottles, for the new wine will burst* the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into new bottles, and both will be preserved. Nor does any one after drinkmg old, immediately desire new ; for he says the old is better. * Then, and even now, bottles were made of goat-skins or leather, in many of the eastern countries. If new wine be put in them, when they are old and not easily distended, the fermentation bursts the old bottles. — The meaning of Christ in both these comparisons, is, that a mixture of his doctrine, and the opinions of either ancient or modern Pharisees, will not succeed. By the preference of the drinker for old wine, he intimates the power of prejudice and educa> tion in obstructing the progress of truth. SECTION TWENTY-THIRD. Cure of a Hemorrhage, and Jairus' Daughter, Whilst he thus spake, lo ! there came a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, and falling prostrate at the feet of Jesus, earnestly besought him to come to his house, saying: My only daughter is now dying ;* come and lay thy hands on her that she may recover and live. Then Jesus and his disciples arose and followed him. But as he went, a great multitude fol- lowing, occasioned a throng. And a certain woman, * According to Matthew, Jairus thought his daughter actually dead, but Mark and Luke represent her at the point of death; per- haps the father did not know whether she was dead or not, but might be aiVaid that she had deceased, from the circumstances in which he left her. Matthew, therefore, relates the narrative according to the apprehensions of the parent ; the other Evangelists state the matter agieeably to the fact. The desire of Jairus, that Jesus might go and lay his hands on his daughter, was in accordance with the ancient custom practised by the prophets, who accompanied prayer for any person with the laying on of the hands, Num. xxvii. 18. Mat. xix. 13. Jairus believing Jesus a great prophet, and having heard of his mighty deeds, would naturally be inclined to think that if he prayed for his daughter, God would hear and grant his request, Gen. xx, 7". 92 CURE OF A HEMORRHAGE — JAIRUS' DA^GHTEK, having a hemorrhage for twelve years, who had suf- fered much by several physicians, on whom she had spent all she possessed, but instead of receiving any relief, she rather became w^orse, having heard of Je- sus, came behind in the crowd, and touched his man- tle ; for she had said : If I can but touch his clothes, I shall recover ; and immediately her issue of blood was stanched, and she felt that the disorder in her body was cured. Jesus knowing, power had pro- ceeded from him, turned, and looking round on the crowd, said : Who touched my clothes ? His disciples answered : Master, thou seest how the crowd press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me 1 But the woman, seeing she could not be concealed, and know- ing what had been done for her, came trembling and threw herself prostrate before him, and declared, in the presence of all the people, for what cause she had touched him, and how she had been cured. Then said Jesus to her : Courage, daughter, thy faith has saved thee ; Go in peace, and be thou cured of thy disorder. Now while he spake, a messenger came from the Ruler's house, saving : Thy daughter is dead, trou- ble not the Teacher any further.* But Jesus> hear- * It seems evident IVom this mess;ige, that all the liarnionizers are mistaken in the chronological arrangement of this section. Had Jesus raised to life the widow of Nain's son, before the application. of Jairus, on behalf of his dying daughter, the village of ISain being in the vicinity of Capernaum, all would have been fully informed of a transaction so public and miraculous : and, therefore, the family of Jairus would have been induced to retain hope, even after the de- cease of the child ; but instead of confidence, they relinquish a ease so hopeless. Though Priestley followed the general order adopted by others, in placing the raising of the widov/'s son before that of Jairus' daughter, he was aware of the inconsistency of such ar- rangement. He even thinks that though Luke is particular iu refer- ring the account of the widow's son to an earlier period, yet seeiag- his chronology is by no means exact, he might be mistaken about the order of these events. Hence there subsists a beautiful grada- tion in the three miracles, wrought in the restoration of three persons, to life — The^r^-^ was just dead, the second carried out to be buried*, and the third had been buried four days. eURE OF A HEMORRHAGE — JAIRUs' DAUGHTER. ^3 ing this message, said to the Ruler of the synagogue ; Be not afraid, only believe. And when he came to the Ruler's house, he suffered none to enter save Pe- ter, James, and John ; and the father and mother of the child. Seeing the minstrels,* and the tumult occa- sioned by those who wept and lamented, he said : Why do ye weep and make a tumult ? The child is not dead, but asleep. Then they derided him, know- ing that she was dead. But putting them all out, ex- cept those who accompanied him, and entering the chamber where the child lay, he took her by the hand, saying : Child, arise. Then, her spirit returning, she arose immediately, and walked ; for she was about twelve years of age. Then her parents were greatly astonished ; but having ordered some victuals for her, he charged them to tell no man what had been done. Notwithstanding, this report went forth into all that country. * Bcausobre observes, mournfers usually played on flutes, at the fu- nerals of children, and on trumpets, at those of grown persons: but Newcome and Clarke prefer the term piper. Every Jew, even the poorest, was required to have at least two pipers and one mourning woman at a funeral. Chardin says, in the East, the concourse ot people to a funeral, is incredible. Every body runs thither, both poor and rich ; and the former, more especially, make a strange noise. Newcome observes, tliat when the Jews supposed Josephus was slain, great lamentations were made, and many people hired pi- pers, who led the way in these lamentations. Among the Jews, Oreeks, and Romans, persons were hired to attend funerals, and be-» moan the dead, Jer. ix. IJ — 21 ; xlviii. 36. Amos v. 16. This prac- tice is still preserved among the Irish, who to this day hire suitable persons, or bards, to perform their Caoinan or Ullaloo at funerals. SECTION TWENTY-FOURTH. Cure of Two Blind Men, and a Dumb Demoniac. And as Jesus departed thence two blind men fol- lowed him, crying: Son of David,* have mercy on us. * S»n of 9(md was the peculiar characteristic name of the Mo.^- 94 CURE OP TWO BLIND MEN, AND A DEMONIAC. And when he was come to the house, the blind men approached, and Jesus said to them : Do you believe that I am able to do this ? They answered ; Yes, Master. Then he touclied their eyes, sayinff: Ac- cordiiig to your faith, be it done to you. And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus strictly charged them, saving : See that no man know. But depart- ing, they spread his fame through all that country. Now as they departed, there was brought to him a dumb demoniac. And the demon being expelled, the dumb man spake, and the multitude wondered, saying : Nothing like this was ever seen in Israel.* siah, at that time current among the Jews, who all believed hira to spring from the family of David, John vii. 42: for which reason, these men and all others, believing in the divine mission of our Lord, called him by that appellation, Matt. xii. 23 ; xv, 22 ; and xxi. 9, This persuasion was founded on the promises God made to David, Ps, cxxxii. 11; Acts ii. 30. These men had more correct views of the person and character of Jesus, than most moderns. They be- lieved him to be the son of David, a real man, in nature like them- selves, but did not thence doubt of his ability to save. The great ma- jority of the Christian world have ever split on the rock Christ; and the true testimony concerning him, has been as much discredited by Christians as Jews. The unbelievers in the real humanity of Jesus, make him a God, and thereby sink into ridicule the testimony of the Bible, and the divine qualifications of the Messiah: Whilst those who J3elieve hira only a man as to nature, seldom reach the faith of these blind men, who believed in Christ's ability to save. — Faith ia Jesus as mighty to save, in time and eternity, seems indispensable to the very nature of Christianity ; and without if, none can receive or retain their spiritual eyesight. * The magnitude and multitude of Christ's miracles, occasioned this reflection. On that very afternoon, he had raised the daughter of Jairus from the state of the dead ; cured a woman of an issue of blood; restored sight to two blind men; and cured a dumb demo- niac : and all these things had he performed in Capernaum. Well might the people say : Never was the like seen in Israel! Blessed Jesus, the time of thy ministry was short ! A world of rebels would not admit thy longer stay; but thy ceaseless activity, and thine un- limited and benevolent exertions to save and bless mankind, will ren- der thv memory savnurv to the latest son of Adnm. SECTION TWENTY-FIFTH. Jesus revisits Nazareth. And when he departed thence, he came into his own country, and his disciples accompanied him. But he did not many miracles there, because of their unbelief : only that he laid his hands on a few sick persons and healed them. But when the sabbath came, he began to teach in their Synagogue, and many of his hearers were astonished, and said : Whence has he this wisdom, and those miraculous powers, that such mighty deeds are performed by Him ? Is not this the carpenter,* son of a carpenter ? Is not his mother called Mary ? His brethren James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas, and his sisters, are they not with us ? And they took offence at him. * It is very reasonable to suppose that the people of Nazareth had never heard of Christ's miraculous conception, or if the report had gone abroad in that city, Jesus being now thirty years old, so long a time might have effaced the remembrance of it, or raised up a new generation, who were unacquainted or unmindful of all that was fa- vourable to the character of a poor carpenter. It was a laudible custom among the Jews of every rank, to teach their children some ingenious art, not only as a preventative of idleness, but a reserve in time of want. Chasinai and Chanilai, brothers of distinguished rank, were put with a weaver to learn his trade, which Josephus says, ivas no disparagement to them. Justin Martyr, in his dialogue with Trypho, affirms that Christ assisted his supposed father in his trade of a car- penter, and his townsmen here address Jesus as a carpenter. This however could not be any reproach ; for Rabbi Jose was a currier, and Rabbi Jochanan a shoemaker. What is most worthy of notice here, is what these Nazarenes say of Joseph's family, which must be admitted. From this passage it appears our Lord according to the flesh had four brothers and one or more sisters. James is here and elsewhere called the brother of Jesus. The mother of James was the wife of Cleopas or Alpheus. Luke 6. 15. John 19. 25. Matt. 10. 5; and 27. 56. Alpheus and Cleopas were the same person. Jesus's mother was the same as the wife of Cleopas, and from Hegesippus and Theophilac, it appears that Joseph married Mary, wife of his brother Cleopas, who died childless, and had James, Joses, Simon, Judas and Salome by her. Jesus, though iirst-born, was not called son of Cleopas, because miracu- lously conceived, but James was called son of Alpheus. See Clarke on Mat. 13. 55 ; and John 19. 25. 96 JESUS REVISITS NAZARETH. Jesus said to them : You will doubtless say to me this proverb : Physician heal thyself Whatever we have heard, being done at Capernaum, do also here in thy own country. Moreover he said : Verily 1 say to you : No prophet is acceptable in his own country. But I tell you of a truth : xVlany widows were in Israel, in the days of Elijah, when heaven was shut three years and six months, and there was a great fam- ine over all the land : but to none of them wa> Elijah sent, except to a widow woman of Sarepta in Sidon, Likewise there were many lepers in Israel, in the time of the prophet Elisha, but none were cleansed, except Naaman the Syrian On hearing these things all that were in the Syna- gogue were tilled with wrath,* and rising up, drove him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, in order to cast him down headlong. But passing through the midst of them, he departed. And leaving Nazarethf entirely, * The peculiar cause of this people's rage at Jesus, was derived from the scope of his discourse ; in which, by referring to God's dealings with Israel, in the calamitous times of Elijah and Elisha, in which the distinguishing favour of heaven had appeared suspended towards Israel, and extended to the Gentiles, in the cure of Naaman, and preservation of the widow and her son at Sarepta, he more than intimated the rejection of the Jews, and the call of the Gentiles, to incorporation as the covenant people and church of God. Oh ! how deplorable is the state of that people whose heaven must be built on the ruin of their fellow-men ! t Nazareth and Capernaum were famous on account of being the principal places of our Lord's residence. Nazareth, the native place of Jesus, was a small city of Zebulon in Galilee, about 70 miles north of Jerusalem, and 10 west of Capernaum. The site of Joseph's house, and that of the ancient Synagogue, where Jesus first taught, are still shown to travellers. Constantine the Great built a magnifi- cent temple here in honour of Christ ; and there still remains a Church for the worship of the Greek Catholics. But, Nazareth, so notetl in the Christian history, was never a place of great importance, nor good character. Lampe says, its inliabitants were much ad- dicted to theft and robbery ; and hence, the name of Nazarene was contemptible. Their city was built on a hill, and surrounded by mountains. Far from being grateful to divine mercy for so distin- JESUS REVISITS NAZARETH. 97 he came down and dwelt in Capernaum* a city of Galilee, on the sea coast, in the borders of Zebulon and Naphtali : and thus was fulfilled the saying of Isaiah the Prophet : The land of Zebulon and Naph- tali, countries near the sea, by the side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles ; the people settled in dark- ness, saw a great light;! and on them who dwelt in a place of the shadow of death, light arose. guished an honor and exalted a privilege, as to be the favoured spot of Jesus' birth and residence for thirty years, they treat his services with contempt, on no other account than personal acquaintance, and plainness of teaching. Tliis was the cause of the contempt mani- lested to Jesus, by the Nazarenes; and still to all the faithful minis- ters of Jesus, by the ungodly and depraved Nazarenes of modern times. Paul found that in his days some were so reprobate, as not to endure sound teaching; and there never was a more awful proof, of the abandoned state of a church or people, than that afforded by a continual desire of novelty, and an abhorcmce of plainness of speech, and fidelity in rebuke : and that minister who has not suffi- cient independence, to rebuke as well as exhort, is a dishonor and snare to the profession. The outrage of the Naznrenes in driving Jesus from their city, and endeavouring to throw him over the precipice, induced him to aban- don them totally. The word, xataXiTtw, Mi\t. iv, 13, signifies to leave finally, abandon forever; and accordingly, Jesus never favored them with anotiier visit; and, like Pharaoh, they were con- signed to hardness of heart, indicating spiritual abandonment. * Capernaum, implying tonm of consalatiun^ or pleasant villagCy IS supposed to have taken its n;ime from a neighbouring spring of celebrity, wiiich watered the country of Gennesarcth, Joseph, Wars iii. 35. As this city is not mentioned in the Old Testament, it is be- lieved to have been built by the Jews, after their return from Baby- Ionian captivity. It was'situated on the western coast of the sea of Galilee, and peculiarly adapted as an advantigeons residence for our Lord. From the time of calling Peter, liis house appears to have been the home of his Master. Here Matthew sat to receive the custom arising from the navigation of the Lake. Here, and in the neighbouring villages, resided the disciples of Jesus : and the trade of tliis city, and siiipping of the Lake, afforded great facility to our Lord's movements and ministry. Tiie exaltation of this city to heaven intimates its flourishing condition, trade, wealth, and religious privi- leges: and its depression to Hades, is accomplished, in the utter desertion and extreme desolation of the place; there being, at pres- ent scarcely a solitary remain of that once famous city, t This country underwent very great hardships, during the ca- 13 SECTION TWENTY-SIXTH. Conversation with Nicodemus at a Passover* Now the passover, a Jewish festival, being nigh, Jesus went up to Jerusalem ; andj while he was at Jerusalem, during the feast, many believed in his namCi when they saw the miracles which he per- formed. But Jesus did not trust himself to them, because all knew him ; and he needed no testimony concerning man ; for he knew what was in man. Then a Pharisee, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus by night, and said to him : Master, we know that thou art a teacher come from God ; for no man can do the miracles* which thou art doing, unless God be with him. Jesus answered : Verily, verily, I say to thee, except a man be born again, he cannot discern the reign of God. Nicode- mus replied : How can a man be born when he L • ^_ . ■■ : , : — — - lamities which befel the kingdom of Israel and Judah : these were its times of darknesk, add of the shadow of death, i. e. of extreme affliction, according to the Scripture style, wherfein light is used to denote prosperity, and darkness adversity, Isa, xiv. 7, and elsewhere. The prophet had foretold that this country should see happier days, which happened when Jesus Christ preaclied the gospel there. * From this passage, it is manifest that all the Harmonists are mis- taken ih the location of this section. John records only one miracle of Christ before the interview between Christ and Psicodemus, which be calls the beginning of Christ's miracles, John ii. 11 ; but, this being done in a remote villnge, and before a few witnesses, could not have excited much attention at Jerusalem. Moreover, John states, that the cure of the officer's son was the second miracle wrought by Christ, John iv. 54 ; but this is related after Clirist's journey through Samaria. He also states, that when Christ arrived in Galilee, the Ga- lileans received him gladly, having seen all the things that were done by him at Jerbsalem during the feast, John iv. 45. There remains, therefoire, no other method of reconciling the history of John, nor the testimony of the Evangelists, but by the alteration of the arrange- ment of the facts, so as to obviate contradiction. The miracles of Christ were admitted, by Nicodemus, as decisive testimony of a divine commission. They have been always so re- garded by the Christian world ; arid have been doubted, only by a few sceptics, v/ho have beeri sufficiently hardy to rejectj as evidencej all human testinaoDy, except their own assertionsi GeNVERSATION WITH NICODEMUS. 99 is old ? Can he enter his mother's womb, and be born a second time ? Jesus answered : Verily, verily, I say to thee, unless a man be born of water and spirit,* he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of flesh, is flesh ; and what is born of the Spirit, is spirit. Wonder not, therefore, at my saying rf Ye * Born of icatcr and spirit. That is, liaving received the baptism of water, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Christians have long disputed about the connexion of baptism and regeneration, but no well instructed Christian has ever doubled of the utility and import-? ance of both to the Christian life, Christ here asserts the necessity of water baptism ; and, when he gave the commission to bis apostles; he connected baptism and faith as prerequisites to salvation. Whoso- ever, therefore, denies or neglects baptism by water, retreats from the Christian ground of hope, to wander in the wilderness of Deism, an4 risk his lot in fellowship with those who obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If there be any thing taught ii> the Gospel of Christ, concerning which there remains not a shadow of doubt, it is this — that induction into the kingdom of our Lord, is through the me- dium of an open profession and avonchment of Jehovah as our God, and Jesus, his Son, our Saviour and Redeemer. Whatever, thereforCj be the exceptions which divine favour vouciisafes to youthful inno- cence and mental incapacity, we may rest assured, that neglect of the public institutions of religion, such as baptism, the Lord's supper, $nd private and public worship, will meet an unexpected reprimand from the Lord, the righteous Judge. t The conversation of our Lord with Nicodemus, has given rise to ifiore discussion and controversy, than any other passage of the New Testament. This ( ircumstance, indeed, ought not to excite surprise. On the interpretation of this passage depend the most important de- cisions, which can engage the attention of a Christian. The ques- tions how, or when, we are first admitted into covenant with God — the necessity of the means of grace — the efficacy and meaning of the^ sacraments — witli many more interesting considerations, are essen- tially connected with the interpretation given to the conversation of our Lord witli one of the heads of the Jewish sanhedrim. The occa- sion was sucli as to justify the expectation that some new and im- portant doctrine would be revealed to the world ; suited alike to the state of mind, the condition of the inquirer, and the sublimity of the Ivlessiairs character and office. This doctrine was the absolute ner cessity of regeneration, or being born again. One chief cause of the difficulty which has attended the interpre- tation of this passage, is, the apparent abruptness of our Lord's ad- dress. Some suppose that a part of the conversation is omitted. Others, that our Lord reproved the tiniidity of the Jewish teacherj, by 100 CONVERSATION WITH NICODEMUS. must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and thou hearest its sound, but knowest not whence it comes, nor whether it goes ; so is every declaring, immediately on the attempt of Nicodemus to begin a con- versation, that whoever would be his disciple must come to his bap- tism, and publicly profess his relifjion. Others, that our Lord per- ceived at once the object of Nicodemus' visit, that it was to inquire concerning the Messiah's kingdom ; and, in reference tw this, imirie- diately began his conversation, " Except a man be born again.'' Another difficulty arises from the surprise of Nicodoaius at the men- tion of the new birth ; whereas this was a subject with which he must have been well acquainted, as the Jews were accustomed to caU their proselytes, after they had l)een ba[)tizc(), " new born children." On whatever account our Lord thus addressed Nicodemus, the pur- port of his conversation is evident. lie relates the manner in which a man must enter the kingdom of God. On such a subject the Jewish leader must have entertained tl»e notions which were common to his countrymen. It will be necess;iry, then, to understand thoroughly the object which our Lord had in view, and to ascertain what were the previous ideas of Nicodemus, respecting that change by which h man was admitted into covenant with God. The Jews, as well as the Christians, believed in the influences of the Holy Spirit, as firmly and implicitly as the most humble and orthodox Christian ; though no mistake is more common, than the representing their belief in its influences as a new doctrine, unknown till the days of the apostles. The prayer of David, in the fifty-first Psalm, was the uniform language of the pious Jews ; and the most de- vout Christian could not require a more fervent or expressive prayer, for the continued influencos and daily renovation of the spiritual life, bv the Holy Spirit of God. It is certain also, and Nicodemus must have been assured, that while the Spirit of God was the agent which conferred the blessing on the worshipjiers of God, yet it had pleased God that external ordinances should be appointed under the law, as the means by which strength of resolution, increased faith, true re- pentance, and all the grnces of spiritual life should be iniparted. It was then, as now, that he who bent his knees before God in private, offering up the prayer of the heart, left his chamber a better man than if the prayer had not been offered. Obedience produces bless- ings. He who attends to the means of grace will become a better Christian than he who hopes for the mercy of God, and disregards his ordinances. These truths must liave been known and believed, though they were disregarded by every Jew. What, then, was the opinion of Nicodemus respecting the beginning of this spiritual life, and of a new birth, by which men were admitted into the kingdom of God ? The Jews believed that Abraham, before his call, was an idolater. eONVERSATION WITH NICODEMUS. 101 one who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answer- ing, said to him : How can these things be ? Jesus said : Art thou the teacher of Israel, and knowest not but that when God called him from his fathers house, it was said to him, I will make thee a new creature; that if any one shall persuade another to embrace the true religion, it is as if he had created him anew; that a |>ricst was made a new creature, by the oil which was poured upon his head, at his inauguration into his office ; that a man who is newly born, does not immediately receive the Spirit from above until he is circumcised. But when he is circumcised, the Spirit is poured upon him with a heavenly effusion. When he has become a youth, and studies the law, a greater effusion is poured out upon him. When he observes the precepts of the law, a greater effusion is poured out upon him. Wiien he is established in life, and trains up his family in the ways of the Lord, then he becomes in all things a perfect man. These things were well known to Nicodemus. He must have been well acquainted also with the Jewish custom of admitting proselytes into the communion of the Jewish Church by baptism ; and that, in so admitting them, they were called new creatures. Wlience, then, proceeded his surprise at the language of our Lord ? Ye must be born again ; unless a man be born of water, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Nicodemus, like the rest of his countrymen, was looking for the JMessiah, or the prophet who should precede him; and, as the learned Lightfoot observes, " expected that Christ would take the Jewish people as they were; and they, without any inward change of mind and heart at all, should be translated into an outward changed condi- tion of happiness and earthly glory, as much as they could desire or imagine. No, said our Lord, there is more required of him, and in him, that desires to see and partake of the happiness of that kingdom, and those days: he must suffer a change in himself, and in his princi- ples, and be as if he were born anew." Such, says the learned Light- foot, is the connexion of this speech of Christ, with that of Nicodemus. The meaning of the speech of our Lord must be collected further from the difn^reiice between the kingdom of heaven expected by Nicodemus, and the spiritual kingdom which Christ came to establish. Perceiving the mingled feelings of doubt and veneration with which the Jewish senator approached him, he immediately, in contradiction to the prevailing error, assures Nicodemus that his kingdom was not of the nature he supposed, and that it was necessary that a man should be born again of water, and of the spirit, to become a partaker of its privileges. As men were admitted into the Church of Moses by circumcision, so shall they be admitted into the new dispensation by baptism. As by the one rite a human being is- taken into covenant with God, and is considerfid in a new relationship, so by the athet 102 CONVERSATION WITH NICODEMUS, these things ? Verily, verily, I say to thee, we speak what we know, and testify what we have seen ; but ye receive not our testimony.* If I have told you ■— ■ ■ r rite the same privileges shall be given in the new economy You ajso, (v. 3.) who are Jews, must, like tlie proselytes whom you re- ceive, and the children you initiate, you also must be born again. This was the doctrirje Nicodemus could not comprehend He could not suppose that a Jew, who had already been received into covenant M'ith God, was to be considered as a stranger, and he therefore inter- preted the words literally, (v. 4.) To rectify the error, our Lord re- peats the words, with the addition. Except a man be born of water, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. You also, though a master and teacher in Israel, must not hope to partake of the privileges of the Messiah's kingdom, unless you enrol yourself among the number of my disciples, be baptized in my name, and re- ceive the influences of the Holy Spirit. — Townsend's Harmony. * In this highly interesting discourse, our blessed Master clearly teaches iJirce all-important and solemn truths, which lie at the very root of Christianity; and, without which, the religion of Jesus sinks into an ineflicient system of ethics, and loses all its characteristic energy and excellence. 1. 17ie natural man is altogether unfit for the felloivship and en- joyment of his God. This is clearly implied in the language of Christ to Nicodemus — You must he born again. If all men were fit for the enjoyment of Christ's kingdom, this language would bo wholly inapplicable and unmeaning. But the awful truths — that all have sinned — that the natural man perceives not the things of God — that the carnal mind is enmity to him, and that no man comes to Christ except the Father draw him — rivet the doctrine of human depravity and alienation from God, by wicked works, in the minds of all who have ever studied in the school of experience, or been taught the rudiments of Christianity. 2. A spiritual change must he lorought in the human soid, hyiohich the carnal mind is subdued, and the affections and desires sublinm'l and assimilated to the tvill of the Deity. This is the great lesson Jesus taught Nicodemus, and of which he, though a teacher of Israel, was so ignorant. Unbelievers, in every age, affect to be very ignorant of a superintending Providence, and every thing that seems to them mysterious in religion ; and are ready to exclaim, in the very words of Nicodemus — How can these things be? But the Bible speaks an unequivocal language on this momentous subject ; and, fjom this conversation of Christ with Nicodemus, as well as from many other parts of the sacred volume, we learn that every man must have two births; one from earth, the other from heaven : with- out the first, he cannot sec or enter into this v.orld ; without the last. he shall never behold nor enjoy the glories and blessings oi Chnst"? CONVERSATION WITH NICODEMUri. lO-!? Earthly things, and ye believe not, how will ye be- lieve, when I tell you heavenly things ? No man has ascended into heaven, but he who came from heaven, kingdom on earth, nor be prepared to enter into the joys of heaven, and partake of tlie fellowship of the saints in light. Nicodenius, and the Jews generally, had some notion of the second birth, but, like! many Christians, they put acts of proselytism in its stead, and tancied that it consisted in professions and ceremonies ; but our Lord would lay the axe to the root of this barren tree, and, by the repeti- tion of Amen, or Verily, which a Jew regarded equal to a solemn oath, he assures Nicodemus and all mankind, that except a man be born of spirit, as well as Water, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. When John came baptizing with xVater, he gave the Jews the plainest intimations, that they should look for the baptism of the spirit, of which water was a significant emblem. He who receives not this baptism, has neithfer right nor title to the kingdom of heaven. Nor can all the births of earth ever fit a soul for heaven. Like will pro- duce its like. As are the earthy, such will be the sons of the earthy. What is born of flesh, is flesh ; therefore, we nuist be born of the spirit, in order to be spiritual ; and born, av(^Osv, from above, in «rder to ascend above earth to heaven. 3. None can knoio, of tinder staiid this celestial change, but by its effects; and the influence it exerts on the Jcetings and character of lis subjects. Our Lord illustrates, by a similitude, this insportant de- claration. The wind, which is air in motion, carinot be seen, nor its rise, progress, and fall, distinctly traced, but we can hear its sound, perceive its breezes, and have full assurance of its existence, from its eflfects and operations ; though this assurance depends entirely on our arguments, a posteriori ; just as we prove the existence of God from the things he has made. Just so it is with the second birth. The great Agent is invisible. His manner of operation is beyond our discovery ; but the reality of his operation is known by the eflects produced on the disposition and life of the regenerate. Hence the unbeliever doubts of all he hears, because he depends on the tes- timony of others. No wonder that the unregenerate should turn Deist, and live Atheist in the world, because his earthy, dead soul, is insensible to all the movements of the celestial world. Our blessed Master expressly declares, that unless a man be born again, or front above, he cannot see or discern the kingdom of God ; and the apos- tle assigns the reason : because it is spiritually discerned, 1 Con ii. 14. So far, therefore, is the unregenerate man from entering, of enjoying the kingdom of God, that it has not come within his view. He can never have even a Pisgah's prospect of the land of promise, till God kindle the hallowed fire on the altar of his heart ; and then, and not till then, will the incense of praise ascend from a grateful soul to a pardoning God. 104 CONVERSATION VVItH NlCOt>JiMUS» the Son of man, who was in heaven.* And, as Moses placed on high the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be set on high. For God so loved the world, as to give his only-begotten Son, that who- soever beheves in him, may not perish, but obtain everlasting hfe. For God sentf not his Son into the world, to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved* He, who believes in him, shall not be condemned, but the unbeliever is already condemned, for not believing in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the con- demnation : The light came into the world, and men preferred darkness to the light, because their deeds were evih For he who does evil, hates the light, and shuns it, lest his deeds should be detected : but he^ who obeys the truth, comes to the light, that his works may appear to have been performed by God. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and doubtless, as a teacher of Israel, and a member of the grand sanhedrim, he walked in the command- ments of the Lord blameless. He might, therefore, like thousands in modern times, think it very strange, if not absurd, that Christ should speak to him of a new birth. But, to use the cogent language of Dr. Clarke on the passage, without the baptism or regeneration of the Holy Spirit, the reader may take Jesus Christ's word for it, that in liis present state he cannot enter the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is holy and spiritual, and a spiritual regeneration is therefore essentially necessary to prepare the soul for a holy and spiritual king- dom. May all. therefore, hear and understand the language of Christ. Yc must be horn from above. * To ascend into heaven, or he in heaven, is a figurative expression^ signifying an intimate acquaintance with tiie mysteries of God's king- dom, Deut. XXX. 13; Fsa. Ixxiii. 17; Prov. xxx. 4 ; John i. 18; Rom. xi. 34. I have translated tor, was, agreeably to John ix. 25. Dr. Clarke supposes our Lord used the phrase, no man has ascended into heaven, to correct a notion among the Jews, that Moses had ascended into heaven in order to get the law, I should rather think not — but, that Christ uses the negative in the comparative sense, im- plying, that no man had obtained so great acquaintance with divine things, as the Son of man. t God sent not his Son to condemn the world. Limited Jews imagined the Messiah would destroy the Gentile nations, but God had decreed otherwise ; and loving the world, the whole world, sent his Son to save mankind ; and, if ever the purpose of God, and the SECTION TWENTV-SEVENTH. Jesus walks in the Corn-fields. About that time, being second-first* Sabbath, Jesus walked through the corn-fields ; and his disciples, being hungry, began to pluck the ears of corn, and object of Christ's mission, be accomplished , an innumerable mul- titude out of all nations, shall be glad in his salvation. Notwith- standing the unbeliever is condemned, and cannot enjoy life, or salvation, unless God redeem him from darkness and spiritual death. But, blessed be the name of the Most High God, millions of con- demned unbelievers have been saved from unbelief and wrath, and even now chant redeeming love. * Second-first is a literal translation of the Greek ^vre^ov^Mray and the usual rendering of the Latin versions. Notwithstanding the meaning is very obscure, and this phrase being found nowhere in the New Testament, except in this place, the learned have been very much divided about its signification. Three explanations of the phrase have'enlisted their favourite advocates : — 1 . Grotius and Ham- mond say, the Jews called the Sabbaths of the three great festivals, prime, or first Sabbaths; but, as the passover began their ecclesias- tical year, the passover Sabbath was called theirs/, the Sabbath of the pentecost the secondfiirst, and the Sabbath of the feast of taber- nacles the third-first Sabbath. But very cogent objections can be urged against this opinion ; for, supposing it were on the first Sab- bath of Nisan, or of the passover, as Clemens of Alexandria would have it, that Christ walked in the corn-fields, the disciples would have transgressed two laws by plucking the ears of corn : first, a breach of the law, which enjoined the observation of the Sabbath ; and, second, a violation of the law, prohibiting the collecting of grain before the wave-sheaf was offered on the next day after the leastof unleavened bread, or sixteenth of Nisan, Levit. xxiii. 14, 15; but the charge of the Pharisees extended only to profanation of the Sabbath. Nor could the time be the Sabbath of pentecost, for then the harvest was fullygathered, and the first loaves offered, in thanks- giving to the God of harvest, for the favour conferred by the boun- ties of the season. 2. Nor is it probable that the opinion of Epi- phanius and Beza is more tenable ; for had it been on the last day, or Sabbath of the passover, it is not likely that Christ and his disci- ples should have left the feast, on the last and great day, to proceed on their return to Galilee. Notwithstanding this second opinion is much more reasonable than the first ; for, as the Jews counted the Sabbaths from the passover to pentecost, the Sabbath next to the commencement of the passover would be called the first Sabbath, and tlie seventh or last day of the passover happening within a day or two, might be called second-first. 3. Scaliger, Lightfoot, Casau 106 JESUS WALKS IN THE CORN-FIELDS. eat them, after rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees observing, said : Why do ye that which is unlawful* to be done on the Sabbath? Jesus answered tf Have ye not read what David did, when he and his companions were hungry ? How he bon, Whitby, Beausobre and L'Enfant, seem to have attained the truth on this subject, and explain the phrase thus : — The first day of the passover was a Sabbath, Exod. xii. 1 6 ; Levit. xxiii. 7. The morning after the Sabbath, the priest offered i\\^ first-fruits, invok- ing God's blessing on the harvest, and his leave to collect it. From that day they counted seven Sabbaths to the pentecost, Levit. xxiii. 15 ; and for ease in remembering, they called the first Sabbath after the second day of unleavened bread, second-first, and the second Sabbath, second-second ; meaning the j^rs^, second, third Sabbath af- ter the wave -offering. * Among the principal works forbidden on the Jewish Sabbath, are enumerated ploughing, sowing, reaping, binding, thrashing, winnow- ing, cleaning, and grinding. The Pharisees reasoned thus : — It is forbidden to reap, or to gather the ears of corn, for this is a sort of reaping, Exod. xxxiv. 21 ; therefore, these men break the Sabbath. Again it is forbidden to grind, but these men rub the ears of the corn, which is a kind of grinding ; therefore, they profane the Sabbath. The law of the Sabbath was so strict, that the Jews were not allowed to kindle a fire, or dress any victuals ; therefore, they were obliged to prepare such things as were needed on Friday afternoon, which was called the preparation. Their Sabbath began at sunset, the usual time of the end and beginning of the Jewish day. As soon, therefore as the sun was going down on Friday, so far as to shine only on the tops of hills, they lighted their lamps. So super- stitious was the regard paid to the Sabbath by the Jews, that they would not defend themselves from a public enemy on the Sabbath, as appears from the history of their wars with Antiochus Epiphanes, and the Romans. To sanctify the Sabbath, was to do no work thereon ; and, to profane the Sabbath, was to do any work during that sacred day of rest. An exception w^as allowed for the priests, who lighted the holy fire, and slew the sacrifice, which would have been a profanation of the Sabbath, had not these tilings been en- joined by God ; hence the Jews said — There is no Sabbath in the temple, Numb, xxviii. 9. See the Introductions of Beausobre and Lamy. t Our Lord excuses his disciples by three pertinent and conclusive arguments: I. Necessity — They were hungry; and that God, who preferred mercy to sacrifice, would yield to the setting aside of an arbitrary injunction, for the practice of mercy or benevolence in a case so urgent. 2. Precedent — David and his companions, when hungry, entered the house of God, or court of the tabernacle, kept at JESUS WALKS IN THE CORN-FIELDS. 1(!)7 entered the house of God, and ate the shew-bread, and gave also to his companions ; which ought not to be eaten, except by priests alone ? Or, have ye not read in the law, that the priests in the temple pro- fane the Sabbath, and are blameless ? But I tell you, a greater than the temple is here. And had ye known what means : I prefer mercy to sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the innocent. The Sab- bath was instituted for the benefit of man, but man was not made on account of the Sabbath ; therefore, the Son of man* is ruler even of the Sabbath. Nob, in the house of Abimelecli, cuid ate of the twelve loaves pre- sented to the Lord, as an offering every Sabbath ; and pljced on the golden table, were hence called loaves of the presence, 1 S-iin xxi. 6; Exod. xxix 32; Levit. viii, 31 ; xxiv. 6. S. Authority — The priests, in the temple, performing the service prescribed by the law of Moses, were held blameless on account of the comm iiidaieur ; there- fore, as Moses, by the authority of God, made this exemption on be- half of the priests, so Jesus, possessing a still higher authority ^md commission, had a still greater right to make exception on behalf of his disciples, when actually engaged in attending on the Son of man, in his ministry, as the priests served God, in the temple. Moreover, this Son of man, having come to establish a new dispensation, had a right to dispense with, and abrogate whatever, in tiie Mosaic ritual, was unfavourable to the manifestation and execution of his glorious and gracious dispensation of mercy and benevolence ; therefore, this Son of man was Lord of the Sabbath by authority ; and every son of man is ruler of the Sabbath by necessity. * Some have supposed that the phrase, Son of man, implies man in general ; but this interpretation is very lax, and w ' * To see God is a Hebraism implying to enjoy God and his salvation. See John iii. 3, and 36. This phrase was used by both Jews and Heathens to signify a state of blessedness. Hence Virgil says: Ille Deuni vitani, ailspiciet, divisque vidcbit Permistos, heroas, et ipse videbitur illis, t Reward in heaven, Matt, v. 12. — Treasure in heaven, Matt. vi. 20. — Recompensed at the resurrection of the just, Luke xiv. 14. — A crown of righteousuess which the righteous Judge will give me at my departure, and also to all that love his appearance, 2 Tim. iv. 8. — An unperishable inheritance reserved in heaven for you, 1 Peter i. 4. — > The trial of your faith will be found to honour and glory, at the ap- pearance of Christ, 1 Peter i. 4. J. — We strive to obtain an incor- ruptible crown, 1 Cor. is. 25. — If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable, 1 Cor. xv. 19.— Our light affliction works for us a far exceeding eternal weight of glory, 2 Cor. iv. 17. — Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived what God has prepared for them that love him, I CoK. ii. 9. What mean these and many similar passages of Scripture? Do they encourage a grovelling mercenar}' spirit in the minds of the vir- tuous ? Or, do they mean no more than, that the righteous are more happy in their minds, while they are suffering aud striving for the honour of Christ ? Alas ! What perversion ef Scripture, and what bliQdjies.s in Sectarianism ! Nothing less can be meant, than the ex- 15 ii4 ORDINATION OF THE TWELVE DISCIPLES. But alas !* for you that are rich ; for ye are receiv- ing your consolation. Alas ! for you that are filled i for ye shall hunger. Alas ! ye, that laugh now, shall mourn and weep. Alas ! when men shall speak well of you ; for so did their fathers of the false prophets. tension of the rfewards of virtue and piety to all worlds. Nor can any thing less than bigotry induce a man to say or think that those rewards are common to all, seeing that they are exclusively the por- tion of the righteous, in which the infidel, the hypocrite, and the un- godly have no part. The crown belongs to them who strive for it, and love the appearance of Christ. — The treasure in heaven belongs alone to those who have laid up their treasure there. — The great things God has prepared, are only for those who love him. — Let no man therefore be deceived ; for what he sows that shall he reap. — They, therefore, make sad the heart of God's people, who rashly deny them the hope which God has set before them, and by which, even the Master of Christians himself was induced to suffer the shameful death of the Cross. Let the Christian rejoice, therefore, to run the race set before him. The prize is sure. Those who would pretend to exalt the grace of God, by the subversion of all dis- tinction in another world, may strengthen the hands of the wicked, and make the hearts of the righteous sad, but let them beware lest they be foundjthe least in the kingdom of God and Christ, on ac- count of their unhallowed attempt to destroy the greatest motives to virtue, which the God of love has revealed to man, in those Scrip- tures, which are profitable for reproof and instruction in righteous-* ness, 2 Tim. iii. l6. * I have followed Wakefield, in translating oua.t alas, and not 7000, as in most versions, Grotius says, it is a word of lamentation and not of anger* The Jewish Legislator, appointed a public proclama- tion of blessings for the virtuous, and maledictions against those who kept not the law, Deut, xi. 29, dnd xxvii. 12, i3 — xxviii. 9. But the Institutor of the Christian religion, softens maledictionihto commisser- ation, and laments the folly and misery of erring man. This is mani- fest from the construction of the Greek ; there being no change from the indicative to the optative or imperative mode of the verb, as should have been, had imprecation or malediction been intended. BesideSj the phrase is often used when no imprecation can be de- signed. See Matt, xxiv, 9; Luke xxiii.29; 1 Cor. ix. I6. Nor can the mere circumstances of being rich, full, joyful, or popular, induce execration, with the least show of justice, any more than those of being poor, hungry, sorrowful, or despised, can entitle a man to the benediction of heaven. The truth is, that no circum- stance in which any man can be placed will profit him, unless it occasion the peaceful fruits of righteousness, nor be injurious to himj unless it estrange his heart from God, or lead to impiety. ORDINATION OF THE TWELVE OISClPLES. 115 Ye are the salt of the earth ; but if this salt become insipid,* how shall its savour be restored ? It is hence- forth good for nothing, but to be cast away and trod- den under foot of men. Salt is good. Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with another : for as every sacrifice! is seasoned with silt, so every one of you should be salted for the fire. Ye are the hght of the world, t A city built on a hill cannot be concealed : nor do men light a lamp and place it under a bushel or couch, but on a stand, that it may give light to all that are in the hoqse. So let your light shine before men, that seeing your good works, they may glorify your Father, who is in the — ' « — ' ■ ■ . ... ■ * That this is possible in Judea we have the testimony of Maun- drel, who speaking of the valley of salt, saj^s ; "I broke a piece of that part which was exposed to the air, sun, and rain, but though it had the sparks and particles of salt, yet it had entirely lost its sa- vour." Here Dr. Clarke well observes : A preacher may have the sparks and glittering particles of true wisdom, without its unction or comfort; only the soul that is in union with Christ by the Holy Spi- rit can preserve its savour." Ministers, like salt, should preserve the world from putrefaction. t The learned Schoetgen has favoured the world with an excellent treatise on this difficult passage. It was the peculiar characteristic of our Lord's instructions, to draw his illustrations from the common objects, which were either familiar or present to his hearers. As the people were familiarly acquainted with every custom connected with the temple service, an allusion to any part of it would be readily un- derstood. Now there was a bitumenous salt used in Judea, obtained from the Asphaltite Lake ; and which having a fragrant odour, was strewn in great quantities over the Sacrifices, to prevent inconve- nience from the smell of the burning flesh, and to qiiicken the action ef the fire, that the Sacrifices might be more quickly consumed. Great quantities of this bitumenous preparation lay in its appointed place in the temple, and was easily damaged. The virtue of the salt was soon lost by exposure to the effects of the sun and air, and it was then sprinkled over the pavement of the temple, to prevent the feet of tlie priests from slipping, during the performance of the service. — Schoetgen. Horae Hebraicae, Vol. 1. p. 20. 'I Light of the world, was a title given by the Jews to their most distinguished Rabbins. Christ applies it Iiore to his disciples, whom he now set apart to take place of the Jewish teachers. As the lights of the world, they were designed to lead men out of the ways Qi ignorance and vice into the paths of truth and holiness. Like the 116 ORDINATION OF THE TWELVE DISCIPLES. highest heaven.* For there is nothing hid, which will not come to light ; nor any thing concealed, which shall not be known, and brought to view. The eye is the lamp of the body : if therefore the eye be somid, the whole body will be enlightened ; but if the eye be disordered"^ the whole body will be in darkness. Con- sider, therefore, whether the light in you be darkness. If the light in you become darkness,! how great that darkness ! But if the body be enhghtened, without any dark part, it will be enhghtened as when a lamp gives you light by its blaze. sun in the firmament, and the lamp on the stand, every minister of Jesus should diffuse tiie light of divine knowledge, and the warmth of celestial fire, on all that surround him, or enter the circle of his acquaintance. * I have translated h^moi, the highest Heaven, agreeably to the Hebrew idipm of using a plural instead of a superlative, or to ex- press majesty and excellence. The Jews reckoned three heavens. 1 The air, Matt. vi. 26 ; Luke ix. 54. — 2 The firmament, Mark xiii. 25,31; Luke xxi. 26; and Heb. xi. 12. — 3 The third heaven, or heaven of heavens, supposed to be the residence of the Deity, or throne of God, frequently called Heavens, in the plural by way of eminence, 2 Cor. xii. 2; 1 Kings vii, 27 ; 2 Chron. ii. 6, and vi. 18. t Light in man may be regarded as his learni)]g, or moral sense : and in both acceptations, the light may become darkness. A false education, corrupt religious opinions, or a depraved conscience is like midnight darkness to the soul. Many vainly imagine, that con- science is a sure and safe guide ; and some so grossly mistake, as to attribute man's accountabiiit}' to the law of his understanding, but nothing can be more certain, than the utter fallacy of such opinions. No man knows of right or wrong, but as he has learned the charac- ter of his God : and all that he can learn with certainty, on this mo- mentous subject, is derived from revelation. Before, therefore, man's uuderstanding or conscience can be admitted as a standard o.- mora) rectitude, we must be perfectly assured, that the law of the understanding is an exact transcript of the revealed law of God, and that conscience is a perfect re-echo of the Christian morality, taught by the blessed Jesus. But how rare is this perfection of the under- standing and conscience ! and what vast multitudes have their under- standing and conscience perverted by the darkness of a false science, the gloom of a corrupt theology, or the pravity of sinful habits. Let all men, therefore, search and try their ways ; looking to the Father of Lights, and in the fervent prp.yer of a devoted mind, be- seech him to lighten their darkness, heal the moral diseases of theii ORDINATION OF THE TWELVE DISCIPLES, 117 Then he uttered a forcible sentence : Can the blind lead the blind? Shall not both fall into a ditch? The disciple is not above his teacher ; but every finished scholar will be like his master. Give not that which is sacred to dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest having trampled them under their feet, they turn and tear you.* A mass t not treasure for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust consume, and thieves break through soul, and lift on them the light of his countenance, that by his light and influence, they may be transformed into his image, and reflect his holiness. " In my apprehension, says Dr. Campbell, our Lord's argument stands thus : " The eye is the lamp of the body ; from it all the other members derive their light. Now if that which is the light of the body be darkened, how miserable will be the state of the body ? how great will be the darkness of those members which have no light of their own, but depend entirely on the eye ?" And to show that this applies equall}' in the figurative or moral, as well as in the literal sense : " If the conscience, that mental light which God has given to n^an for regulating his moral conduct, be itself vitiated ; what will be the state of the appetites and passions, which are natu- rally blind and precipitate ?" Or to take the thing in another view : You, my disciples, I have called the light of the world, because des- tined for instructors and guides to the rest of mankind ; but if ye should come, through ignorance and absurd prejudices, to mistake evil for good, and good for evil, how dark and wretched will be the condition of those who depend on the instructions they receive from you, for their guidance and direction?" * The import of this passage seems to be, a prohibition of a com- mon abuse of holy things. As it would have been irreverent and profane to have cast the sacrifices to "dogs or swine, so is it also an abuse of the sacred institutions of religion, and the promises and consolations of God's blessed word, to dispense them to those who have no hunger or thirst for righteousness, nor no higher views ot' heaven, than the satisfying of their sensual appetites, and the gratifi- cation of base desire Solomon says : A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver, Prov. xxv. 11 ; and Jesus said : The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to the weary. Isa. — 1. 4. t Ajnass not treasure on earth — hut lay up for yourselves trca.' sure in hcacen. This advice of the Saviour is to be understood agreeably to the Hebrew idiom, which oft employs a negative instead of a comparative ; thus Prov. viii. 10, Receive my i-nstruction and not silver. Matt. l."c. Ic?. I will have mercv and wi>if sacrifice-, hi thes« US ORDINATION OF THE TWELVE DISCIPLES. and steal. But sell your possessions, and give alms* Provide for yourselves purses that will not wear ; and lay up for yourselves an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thieves approach to steal, nor is any thing spoiled by worms ; for where your treasure is, there" will your hearts be also. No man can serve two masters : for either he will hate the one and love the other ; or he will wait on the one and neglect the other. Ye cannot serve God and riches. There- fore I say to you : Be not anxious* for your life, what A' e shall eat ; nor for your body what ye shall wear. Is not hfe better than food, and the body than raiment. Observe the fowls of heaven ; they sow not, neither do they reap and gather into barns ; yet your hea- venly Father feeds them. Are ye not better than thev ? Which of you by anxious thought, can add to his hfe a single day ? And if you cannot do that which is least, why be anxious about the rest ? And why and similar expressions, the import of the negative not is rather tjian — Mercy rather than sacrifice. Now, if we transpose the ad- vice of our Master to his disciples, it will read thus : Lay up trea- sure in heaven not (rather than) on earth. But the instructions con- tained in this section, receive peculiar force and pertinence, when regarded as a solemn charge or ordination Sermon, pronounced by the Great Bishop of the Christian Church, on the separation of twelve of his disciples for the sacred work of the ministry. Wretch- ed is the condition of that Pastor, who seeks the fleece, not the flock : and sordid the soul of the Minister, who seeks a place in the sacred desk, as the means of honour or emolument. If any man would follow Christ, as a teacher of religion, let hirn take up his cross daily, and follow his Master, by consecrating his soul and body, time and talents, to the service of his God, being anxious about nothing. Wherever the Lord sends him, the hearts of the people will be opened to receive him, and to minister to his necessities. * The original word is derived from the phrase fit^tiiw ifov vow, to divide or distract the mind. Such anxious and distracting care, is forbidden by our Lord, because it is alike destructive to religious duty and human happiness. The double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Hence, an English writer has well said : Like a man to double business bound, I stand and pause where I shall first begin^ and both neglect. Also a Latin Poet ; Tot nie impediunl curae, quae meum animura diverse tralnmf. ORDINATION OF THE TWELVE DISCIPLES. 119 iSiYe ye anxiously concerned about raiment ? consider the lilies* of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin : yet Solomon in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Therefore if God so adorn the herbage^ which may be in the field to- day and the morrow, be cast into the oven,t how much more you, O ye of little faith ? Therefore, inquire not anxiously hke the heathen. What shall we eat ? What shall we drink ? Or with what shall we be clo- thed ? For your heavenly Father knows tliat ye need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of hea- ven audits righteousness ;t and all these things shall be superadded to you. Be ye not therefore, anxious about the morrow ; for the morrow will bring its own concerns^ Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.}} Fear not little flock, for it is your Father's good * Consider those lilies. Allowing what may be, at least, gener- ally admitted \Vith safety, that our Master drew his illustrations from present and familiar objects, his reference to the lilies and the herb- age, at that day in the field, will fix the time of this discourse to that period assigned to it, by the Chronological arrangement adopted in this Harmony: namely in May A. D. 31, between the feasts of the Passover and Pentecost. t The inhabitants of the East make use of dry stubble, straw, or withered herbs, to heat their ovens. — Harmer^s Observations. I The kingdom of Heaven and its righteousness, imply the reign or kingdom of Christ, and the pure and perfect system of morality and religion taught by the founder of the Christian Church or king- dom. Micah defines the righteousness of the Lord to be what the Lord requires, Micah vi. 5, 8. Paul contrasts the righteousness of God with that which the Jews sought to establish, Rom. iii. 21, and X. 3. This righteousness of their own was what they had adopted as a moral system consisting of numerous rites and ceremonies, foun- A ded, in part, on the letter of the Law, but, more fully, on their own traditions. Oh ! Let the reign of Christ or heaven triumph in the human soul, Let all the powers and affections of man be subject to the dictates of this holy religion, and all heaven is bound to make the man happy and provide for his exigencies. Eternal truth shall be maintained in that blessed declaration: They that seek the Lord shall not want any good. Ps. xxxiv. 10. II " Sufficient for the day are the present troubles of life, and God would not have us to add to them, by any unreasonable solicitous- aess far the fniuve J' ■^Samuel Clark. 120 ORDINATION OF THE TWELVE DISCIPES. pleasure to give you the kingdom. Not every one calling me Slaster,* shall enter the kingdom of the Highest Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father, who is in the highest Heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Master, have we not taught in thy name, and in thy name cast out demons, and in thy name done many wonderful deeds ? Then shall I acknoweldge to them, I never knew you ! Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. Why call ye me Master, and do not the things which I say ? There- fore, whosoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will compare him to a prudent man, who build- ing an house, dug deep and laid the foundation on a rock : and the rains descended, and the floods arose, the winds blew, and the streams beat vehemently on that house, but it felt not, nor was it shaken ; for it was founded on a rock. But whosoever hears these my words and does them not, shall be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand without a foundation : and the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and the storm beat vehe- mently against that house, and immediately it fell, and great was its ruin.f * The word Master is the most appropriate title to be used by a Jew in addressing a prophet or teacher ; when heathens are speakers, the appellation Sir, is then the mest suitable. The meaning of our Lord in this place is, that no man, however exalted in privilege, or endowed by gifts, or distinguished for professions, shall obtain the approbation of God, or acceptance in the kingdom of Jesus, if he be not possessed of the spirit and mind of Christ. Nothing but a meek, holy, and obedient mind, is fitted for the kingdom of Jesus. t In Judea and all tropical countries, the rain often falls in great torrents, producing rivers which sweep away the soil from the hills ; and such houses as are built of brick, imperfectly prepared, by being •only dried in the sun, literally melt away before these violent rains. What a perfect picture of a nominal church, founded and built by an unskilful or unholy minister ! and of all the unhallowed attempts of men, who imagine they can establish a name or accumulate wealth by unholy asjd crafty inventions. SECTION THIRTIETH. Sermon on the Mount. Then Jesus beholding a great concourse of people, ascende(f the Mount, and sitting down,* his disciples Came to him, and resumingf his discourse, he taught them, saying : Do not imagine that I am come to subvert^ the law * This was the signal of his intention to continue his instructions ; for the Jewish teachers generally sat whilst they preached or taught the people. Accordingly the disciples resorted to their Master on perceiving his intention thus manifested by sitting down. The word disciples, here nnust not be limited to the number twelve, which he had lately selected to be his constant companions, but it must be understood as including all those who believed in Christ's divine com- mission, and followed him, at least occasionally, to hear his divine instructions. t Much diversity of opinion exists among the Harmonists, con- cerning the chronology of the sermon on the plain and that deliver- ed on the mount. Priestley and Clarke think there is no inconsisten* cy in the supposition, that they are the same ; for Jesus might have stood in the plain whilst he healed the sick, and afterward retired to the mount, for the greater convenience of his hearers. New- come, Lightfoot, Pilkington, Michaelis, Richardson, Priestley and Townsend, are agreed in considering these discourses as the sarae^ notwithstanding some diversity in the narrative of the two Evangel- ists. Doddridge, Bedford, M'Knight and others maintain the con- trary opinion ; believing them two distinct events. I have attempt- ed to reconcile both parties in considering the sermon on the plain, as a part of the sermon on the mount, which immediately succeededo The sermon on the plain I conceive to be peculiarly addressed to the disciples ; that en the mount to be adapted to a mixed audience, still keeping in view the instruction of the Pastoral office, and the characteristic features of the Christian religion. Matthew and Luke have both infringed on each other's narrative, probably on ac- count of some inaccuracy in the memorandums, from which they compiled their history, or a lapsus memorise of the order pursued in the discourse. This has been assumed in my efforts to restore order and connexion in the two discourses, of which no candid and intelli- gent Christian will venture to complain. I Many visionaries have arisen in different ages of the Christian church, who, notwithstanding this solemn and plain declaration of our blessed Master, have ventured to affirm and teach that the law of Moses is abolished, merely from a supposition that it was too grievous a burden to be borne. But tliere never existed a stricter 16 122 SERMON ON THE MOUNT. and the prophets ; I come not to abrogate but to ful- fil. Verily I say to you, heaven and earth may as soon pass away, as one yood or point* pass from the law till all be accomplished. Therefore, whosoever shall violate the least of these commandments and teach men accordingly, shall be least in the kingdom of the highest heaven : but whosoever will both do and teach them, shall be greatf in the kingdom of the system of morality delivered by God to man, than that contained iit this sermon. Alas ! for those who take liberty to sin because grace abounds, and use the Christian liberty as a cloak for maliciousness. Jesus, the Wisdom of God, no doubt foresaw this disposition, and therefore on the very first step to found the new dispensation, he takes occasion to caution his followers against such a grievous de- ception, and thereby disperse the evil surmises of his Jewish hearers. * The yood is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and a point is either a vowel point in Hebrew, or one of those points used to distinguish certain letters, such as resh and daleth, he and cheth, which have a great resemblance to each other. Capellus in Arcane Punct. and several other writers, have largely discussed this passage, in the controversy about the authority of the Hebrew vowel points. The opinion that these points existed in the time of Christ, and that the allusion is here made to them, is as probable as any other view of the subject. Our Lord's meaning, however, cannot be mistakea. Not even a particle of that holy law of the Lord given to man through Moses and the Prophets, shall fail to be accomplished, nor suffer abrogation by any subsequent communication from the same unchangeable God. Those writers who are so much addicted to ex- patiate on the dissimilarity of the law of Moses and Christ, as to continually diffuse the sentiment, that the former has been supplant- ed by the latter, cannot have reflected on the support they give to the enemies of Revelation, who have alwa3's urged this supposed dis- agreement, as an argument against the doctrine which assigns their origin to the same unchangeable Jehovah. + Here, as well as in many other passages of the New Testament, the doctrine of diversity of rnnk and degrees in spiritual attainments and happiness in the future kingdom of God, is clearly indicated. When the mother of John and James entreated Christ to give the chief rank in his kingdom to her two sons, Jesus did notinformher that no such distinction would there subsist ; on the contrary, the opinion being admitted, Christ assures her and all others, that eleva- tion in rank is not by grace, nor attainable by favour, but destined by eternal justice for those alone, who have qualified themselves to be the righteous recipients of so great rewards. Matt. xx. 23 ; and , Mark x. 37, 40, SliRMON ON THE MOUNT. iS^ highest heaven. For I say to you : Except your righteousness* exceed that of the Scribes and Pha- risees, ye shall in nowise enter the kingdom of the highest heaven. Ye have heard what was saidto the ancients : Thou shalt do no murder, and whosoever shall commit mur- der, shall be liable to the sentence of the Judges. But I tell you : Whosoever shall be unjustly angry with liis brother, shall be accountable to the Judges ; and whosoever shall call his brother vile man, shall be exposed to the sentence of the Sanhedrim ; but whosoever shall say apostate wretch, shall be held a bond slave in the fiery Gehenna.f Therefore, if * The Pharisees affirmed that only the outward action was com- manded or forbidden in the law, and interpreted all its precepts accor- dingly. On this principle, they boasted of having performed every thing that was required of them. Nay, they were so arrogant as to think they could do even more than was required. This pernicious morality, destructive of all virtue, Jesus loudly condemned, as was fit. in the beginning of his ministry. — nP Knight. Hence we see that all that devotedness of soul, and purity of in- tention, which constitute the very foundation of the Christian moral- ity, were utterly disregarded by the Pharisees, as making no part of their moral system. t For the illustration of this obscure passage, which has long puz- zled the Commentators and spread terror in the ranks of the super- stitious, there appears nothing more needed, than to simply state the facts to which our Lord alludes. Here are three degrees of crime mentioned, and three degrees of punishment respectively an- nexed to each, proportionate to the powers inl^ested in the three courts of Judicature, held among the Jews. The crimes are ; 1, cause- less anger ; 2, anger accompanied with expressions of insult and contempt ; 3, hatred and detestation accompanied with execration. The two first arc threatened with -temporal punishment, or the ani- madversions of the Jewish tribunals ; and it is highly analogous to our Master's reasoning, that the punishment annexed to the last, should be also temporal, seeing the crime was the same in nature, as the second, though somewhat aggravated. On the contrary, to suppose with many commentators, that for the little difference of sayj* ing fool instead of simpleton, our Lord should pass from such a sen- tence as a Jewish court could pronounce, to the awful doom of eter- nal punishment in hell-fire, is what cannot be reconciled to any ra- tional rule of faith, or known measure of justice. This opinion will be found untenable from attention to the construction of the Greek, 124 S^EHMON OW THE MOUNTS ye bring your gift to the altar,* and there remembei* that your brother has a complaint against you, leave your gift before the altar and go, be reconciled first to your brother, then returning, present your gift. Agree quickly with your plaintiff while you are in the way with him, lest the plaintiff deliver you to the judge, and the judge consign you to the officer, and ye be cast into prison. Verily I say to you : ye can in nowise be released till ye have paid the last farthing, t In the former instances, the construction is svoyoc ro *f/$«/ — t» ervvtSfia:, but in the third, it is «; ytwctv implying that the person should be held a bond slave, in Gehenna. Now as Gehenna or Gihinnom, Tfras a valley in the vicinity of Jerusalem, appointed by Josiah to be the desecrated spot for the deposit and combustion of the dead carcasses, and offal of animals, and other filth of the city, we must necessarily infer, that a great number of persons must be continually employed in carrying all kitids of filth of the city, and offal of the sacrifices in- to this valley, and in supplying fuel and attending to the fires. This employment must have been the most degrading, in the estimation of a Jew, to which any human being could be devoted ; and if we ad- mit, that in the days of Christ, the power of life and death was taken from the Jews by the Romans, as appears from their acknowledg- ment to Pilate : It is not laivful for us to put any man to death., John xviii. 31, it will follow that sentence to the slavery of Gehen- na was the deepest degradation to which they could consign their Convicts. As it was not therefore in tlie power of the Jewish court, to hangf stone, or burn, the punishments were whipping, the stocks, and slavery, and these and similar punishments were all that Christ either meant or implied in this passage. See the commentaries of Hewlett and Townsend, and my Systematical Theology. * The Scribes and Pharisees taught that the gifts and sacrifices that were brought for the temple service, were, of themselves, suffi- cient to expiate all offenses which were not to be punished by the judges, and that v/lthout amendment of life. Therefore Christ teaches, in opposition to them, that no sacrifice or other worship can be acceptable without justice and charity. — Whitby. In the doctrine of the scribes and Pharisees, provision had been made for pecuniary damages only, and bare restitution, which might be done without a charitable mind or brotherly heart, but our Lord urges reconciliation of mind, for till the duty of forgiveness be dis- charged by ourselves, God will accept no sacrifices or services at our hand. — Lighffoot. t The opinion adopted in the above note, seems confirmed by this passage ; for Christ has evidently thfe same subject in view : yet SERMON OH THE MOUNT. 1^/ Ye have heard that it was said : Thou shalt nor coniQiit adultery. But I say to you, Whosoever looks on a married woman to cherish impure desire, has al- ready committed adultery with her in his heart. Therefore, if even your right eye* lead you to sin, put it out and cast it from you ; for it is more profitable for you to lose one member than that your whole body be cast into Gehenna. And if the right hand ensnare you, cut it off and cast it away ; it is better to lose one member than that the whole body be cast into Gehenna. he speaks of no higher punishment than imprisonmment. Dr. Clarke says, those who make God the adversary, Christ the judge, death the officer, and hell the prison, abuse the passage and dishon- our God. He is also ollended at those who would argue the doctrine of purgatory or Universal Restoration from the payment of the debt in prison, even to the last farthing. Be it so. But, any man has as good a right, and as high authority to support the doctrine of purga- tory, ©r universal restoration from this passage of scripture, as any other man has to draw from it the doctrine of hell or endless misery. The truth is, the passage says nothing favourable to either the one or the other scheme ; for it has no reference whatever to the affairs of another world. * The meaning iS) that it is better for a man to restrain and morti- fy the strongest and most impetuous passion of his nature than en- danger life and character by its indulgence. The sin of adultery was uniformly punished with death among the Jews, Levit. xx. 10 ; Deut. xxii. 22. In many cases, the sentence was execuU'd by stoning to death in Gehenna. This was done in the following order. The first or chief witness, led the guilty bound to an eminence, and cast him down on a great stone at the bottom. The second witness stood prepared with another great stone to cast down on his breast. If he still lived, the spectators rushed towards him and stoned him till he died. Thus his body was cast into Gehenna. But in many instances adultery, as well as incest, sodomy, and bestiality, was pu- nished by burning to death in Gehenna. Hence our Lord wisel}^ and justly observed, that it was better to loseevenarighteye, or hand, meaning merely the mortification of the most ardent desire, than to suffer the destruction of the whole body in Gehenna. Moreover, lest any should think his religion would afford a greater liberty for licentiousness, than the law of Moses, he cautiously warned them, that even the fostering of impure desire, in the manner described m the text, should be accounted ecjual, in turpitude, to the sin forbiddeTi by the letter of the law. 126 SEUMON on the MOliN 1\ It has also been said : If a man desire to put away his wife, let him give her a writing of separation.* But I say to you : Whosoever shall put away his wife, except for adultery, causes her to become an adulter- ress ; and whosoever marries her that has been di- vorced, becomes an adulterer. * The following is the copy of a bill of divorce as taken from Lightfoot : '' On the day of the weekN, of the month N, of the year of the world's creation N. according to the computation by which we are wont to reckon, in the province of N, I, A. B., the son of A. B,, and by what name soever 1 am called, of the city of N, with the greatest consent of my mind, and witiiout any compulsion urging me, have put away, dismissed, and expelled thee ; thee, I say, C. D., the daughter of C. D., by what name soever thou art called, of the city of N, who heretofore wert my wife ; but now I have dismissed thee ; thee, I say, C. D., the daughter of C. D., by what name soever thou art called, of the city of N, so that thou art free, and in thine own power to marry whomsoever ihou shalt please ; and let no man hinder thee from this day forward, even for ever. Thou art free, therefore, for any man, and let this be to thee a bill of rejection from me, letters of divorce, and a schedule of expulsion, according to the law of Moses and of Israel. Reuben, the son of Jacob, witness. Eleazer, the sm of Gilead, tcitness. We have a copy of a bill of the same kind in Buxtorff, and nearly jn the same words ; it is therefore needless to transcribe it, but [ may add the several formalities with which it was delivered. Bills of divorce were given either privately or publicly. When given privatel}', the bill was sealed with the husband's seal, and was deliv- ered before two witnesses into the hand of the wife, either by him- self or by some person deputed by him, or the wife might depute some person to receive it ; and when dismissed she might, if she pleased, carry the bill to the sanhedrim to be enrolled for preserva- tion, as an evidence of the transaction. But when the divorce was public, the steps were more numerous ; for they chose first some pri- vate place to which the Rabbi, who conducted the business, resorted together with two other Rabbins, called at the expense of the pursuer as arbiters, the scribe who wrote the bill, and two witnesses, who saw it written, and were to witness the delivery. If these were sa- tisfied that there were legal grounds for divorce, then they, together with the husband and wife, went to the door of the synagogue, where, after morning prayers, the presiding Rabbi thus addressed the hus- band : Art thou N. about to deliver this bill of divorce of thy own free will ? — Yes. — Perhaps thou hast bound thyself by some oath or vow to give it her ? — No.-^If thou art bound by any oath, vow, or SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 127 Again ye have heard that it was said to the ancients ; Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but tliou shalt per- form to the Lord thy vows. But I tell you : Swear not at all ; neither by heaven, for it is God's throne ; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool ; nor by Jeru- salem, for it is the city of the great king. Neither shall ye swear by the ihead, for ye cannot make one hair white or black. But let your word yes, be yes ; and your no be no : for whatsoever exceeds these^ comes from evil. anathema, I absolve thee. — I never made any thing of the kind. — Perhaps thou hast received something for this libel : if it repent thee, revoke it, and I will find a remedy. — I received nothing. I do not repent. — Didst thou ever say any thing which might affect this libel^ and render it void ? No. — After these questions, tiie presiding Rabbi, having read the bill, turned to the scribe who wrote it, and said, Thou scribe, didst thou write this writing ? — Yes. — Didst thou write it at the instance of the husband and the wife ? — Yes, — Did the husband say this to thee before witnesses ? — Yes. — Dost thou acknowledge this to be the same copy that was written by thee ? — Yes. — Then, turning to the two witnesses, he asked each of them, separately, concerning their signatures : which things being done, ho turned to the wife and asked her, if she would accept the bill of di- vorce willingly ? To which, if she assented, he then desired her to stretch out her hands, he himself delivering the writing to the hus- band, in order to be given to her, in the following words : " Behold the bill of thy divorce. Receive this bill of thy divorce. By this be thou divorced from me, and free to give thyself to any other." The witnesses before-mentioned were desired to notice particularly this part of the transaction, that if there sliould be occasion they might give their evidence : the writing was again delivered to the Rabbi, who read it aloud in the hearing of the people who had come out of the synagoofqe, and he then addressed them in the following words : " Behold Rabbi M. and Rabbi N. (meaning the two arbiters) and the others, who are citizens ofN, have discerned, under the pain of anathema, and I also discern, that none henceforth come forward to object to this bill of divorce, unless it be at present, when they may come forth and declare." If none objected, the judgment was final, and the Rabbi who presided gave tlie libel a tear in the form of a cross, which was called " the rent of the house of judgment ;"' kept it in his possession for the divorced wife's interest ; enjoined her not to marry for three months, that it might be seen whether she was with child, and then dismissed the parties. Such was the divorce when the husband was the complaiucr ; but the wife mi^ht sue as well as the husband, if she thought herself 128 SERMON ON THE MOUNT. Ye have heard that it was said : An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you : Re- venge* not an injury ; but to him that smites you on the right cheek turn tlie other also : and suffer him that sues you at law, for your mantlef to take your coat also. If one constrain you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him that asks of you, and from him that would borrow of you, turn not away. aggrieved, and especially if she disliked the person to whom she had been espoused at early age by her parents. The following is a copy of the writing used in her case, as given by Maimonides : " In the day N, of the week N, of the year N, A. B,, the daughter of C. D., came before us and said, My mother or my brethren deceived me, and wedded me, or betrothed me, when I was a young maid, to E. F., the son of E. F., but I now reveal my mind before you, that I will not have him, so that he is free, and in his own power to marry whomsoever he shall please," &c. Signed as the former hill of divorce. See Buxtorflf's Synag. Judaic, cap. 40. Lighif. Heb. k. Talm. Exer. Matt. v. 31. * The original word acfKTT'jjj'oi, signifies to oppose force to force, to avenge, or requite, or to act according to the license afforded by the law of talio, to which Christ here alludes. Campbell and Clarke translate the ^Urs-se, resist not the injurious or evil person. And Clarke says, he is persuaded this is the meaning. Now little more need be said, than that James and Peter are completely at issue with these Commentators ; for they both command us to resist the adversary, or evil person, James v. 7, and 1 Peter v. 9 ; and the same Peter tells us; God resists the proud, 1 Peter v. 5. The original word signifies to oppose by force, Rom. xiii. 2, and Hesychius says it implies to stand opposed in battle. It also signifies to put the law ia force against the offender, see Septuagint, Deut. xix. 16, 18. This is manifest from the preceding words, and also from those which follow. TertuUian says, the meaning is, that the injured should not retaliate, agreeably to Paul, Rom. xii. 17, Recompense to no man evil for ovil. + Dr. Clarke, on Matt. v. 40, says, Xifcov signifies the upper gar. ment, and I/uanov the under garment : but on Luke vi. 29, he re- verses the statement, and in a note from Bishop Pearce, shows that chiton was the tunic or vestcoat, and himation, the outer coat, gown or cloak. The latter statement is correct, the former, a mistake. Le Clerc on Hammond affirms, that every one who is not altogether ignorant of the Greek language, knows that chiton means the tunic or interior garment, and himation, the exterior or Pallium. From what Christ savs copcerning soft or delicate raimentj which he calls SERMON QN THE MOUNT. 12.9 Ye have heard that it was said : Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy. But I say to you : Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefuUy use and persecute you, that ye may become sons* of your Father in the highest Heaven ; for he causes his sun to rise on evil and good, and sends rain on just and unjust. If ye love only them who love you, what reward can ye expect ? Do not even tax-gatherers and sinners in like manner ? And if ye salute your brethren only, wherem do ye excel ? Do not even the heathen in like manner ? If ye do good to them who do good to you, what thanks are due to you ? for sinners also do the same. And if ye lend to those from whom ye expect to receive, what thanks are due to you ? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting as much in return. But by loving your enemies, doing good, and lending without mistrust, your reward shall be I/uatt,ov, Matt. xi. 8 — 10, we have reason to believe, that it was a name given to that part of the dress which might be dispensed with. Hence the Roman soldiers were called f^ovoXitwa, implying, that they wore only the tunic in time of war ; and the common people, "who had no right to wear the toga, or gown, were called tunicat%. Matthew represents Christ saying, " H any sue thee for thy coat, let liim have thy cloak also."' Luke says," forbid not him that takes thy cloak to take thy coat also." — some say, Matthew represents the- contest about what was most indispensable; Luke about what was most valuable. But the probability is, that the words have been transposed in Matthew. * According to the prevailing idiom of the Jewish language, men are called sons of their ruling dispositions, or of the tendency of their conduct. Thus we read of sons of Belial, sons of perdition, sons of thunder, sons of consolation, sons of the wicked one, sons of God. The meaning here is : Men, by the exhibition of the merciful, benevolent, and impartial disposition of their heavenly Father, will attain the name of sons, and manifest the character of the God of the whole earth. Though men cannot be perfect in that absolute sense in which God is perfect, yet in their own degree and nature, they may be perfect; when their hearts are fully set to do justly, love mer.= cy, and walk humbly with God. He who acts as well and as merc^* ful, as his abilities and opportunity will admit, is rrs oerfert in kind, as^ angels or ffod?. 17 130 SERMON ON THE MOUNT. great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High ; for he is kind to the unthankful and evil. Be ye, therefore, merciful and perfect, as your Father in the highest Heaven, is merciful and perfect. Be careful not to perform your deeds of righteous- ness in the presence of men, in order to be seen by them ; otherwise ye have no reward with* your Fa- ther, who is in the highest Heaven. Therefore, when you give alms, sound not a trumpet before you as the hypocrites in the synagogues and streets, that they may have honour of men : verily I say to you : They have received their reward.f But when ye give alms, let not your left hand know what ycXur right hand does, that your alms may be in secret ; and your Fa- ther, who sees in secret, will reward you. When ye pray, be not like the hypocrites who love to pray, standing t in the synagogues, and at the cor- ners of the streets, that they may be observed by men : verily I say to you, they have their reward. But when ye pray, enter into your closet, and, having shut the door, pray to your Father, who, though un- seen, sees in secret, and will reward you. But ir^ prayer, use not tedious repetitions, 1| as the heathen * The reward is here said to be, tt^^*, in the presence, or laid up with God, not notv in the actual possession of the person for whom it is reserved. Hence there shall be a future retribution for all the sui- ferings and virtuous attainments of the righteous, in the present mode of being. I have rendered Sinatoc-vvTi, which is certainly the true reading, deeds of righteousness ; for such a latitude must be allowed to this term; and such extension of signification, it undoubtedly has_, in many places, in both sacred and profane writers. + Some would have us to believe, that all men receive their re' ward here, as well as the hypocrites. Such men would make the Master of Christians so bad a logician, as to make a distinction with- out a difference : but their opinion is extravagant, false, and perni- cious. It is an excrescence of rr'l^ious fanaticism, or an efferves- cense of sectarian zeal, which will soon evaporate. I Standing was the usual attitiiHe of the Jews, in prayer, Mark ix 25. Lukexviii. 11, 13, but in cases of great humiliation, or earnest- ness, they practised kneeling, or even entire prostration, Deut. ix. IS, II The Battology here reproved, derives its name from Battus, a SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 131 who think they shall be accepted on account of theu' lon^ prayers. Do not therefore imitate them, for your Fatlier knows what you want before you ask. Pray ye, therefore, after this manner, Our Father* who art in the highest Heaven,! sane- sorry poet, who composed many long hymns, ill connected, and full of repetitions, and often grovelling and mean. This folly is well ex- posed by ^scliyliis, who, in one place, gives nearly a hundred ver- ses, containing nothing but mere tautology. Thus invoking the gods, he proceeds; (*, i«, tw, — s, f, «, «j «. Thus the priests of .Caal continued crying from morning to noon : O Baal / hear us : and the Ephesians cried for two hours ! Great is Diana of the Ephe- sians. I have often thought of this, when I have heard ministers pass nearly an hour in addressing complimentary names, attributes, and phrases to the Deity, without attending to the great design yf prayer. How good the advice of the wise man : Let thy words be few and well ordered. * Our leather, AbinUf was an appellatioii of the God of Israel, common among the Jews, and frequently used by Christ. Malachi says, Have we^not all one Father? chap, ii, 10 — Is he not thy Father? Deut. xxxii. 6 — Doubtless thou art our Father, Isa. Ixiii. l6 — One Father of all, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is nam- ed, Ephes. iv. 6,"j and iii. 14, 15. The word our, says Chr3'sostom, is joined to Father, to teach us, that, having one common Father, we should love as brethren. The Jews, says Lightfoot, were accus- tomed to say : Let none pray the short prayer, meaning in the singu- lar, for himself alone. O ! what a fulness in the phrase, our Father ^ and how well adapted to inspire the true spirit of devotion. Are we fatherless here ? it reminds us of an all-sufficient Father in heaven. Are we weak ? he is almighty. Are we poor, using this phrase in the spirit of adoption, we look to earth, as the lower department of God's vast possessions, and, raising our eyes to the shining abodes, and starry worlds, we claim these and all God's vast domains in unbound- ed expanse, as ours by right, birth, and adoption ; for he is the Fa- ther of our spirits, Heb. xii. 9 ;- and we are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus ; and, if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, Gal. iii. 26, Rom. viii. if. t The phrase, toho art in heaven, is sustained by the copies of Matthew's gospel, but unsupported by those of Luke. This phrase, however, was very common among the Jews, and if, as Beausobrc affirms, Christ took the three first petitions of this prayer, from a prayer called Kadesh, or The Holy, in common use among the Jews, then we may admit, that he adopted the phrase, who art in heaven^ from the same usage : and this seems confirmed by the frequent adoption of it, by our Lord himself, Matt. vii. 21 ; x. 32 ; xi. 25; xii. 50 ; .xv. 13> xvi. 17; xviii. 10; xix, 35 ; and Luke x. 22. 1^ SERMON ON THE MOUNf . tified be thy name* ; thy reign comef ; thy will be There is a great difficulty in understanding the omnipresence of the Deity, to which both the scriptures and philosophy invite our atten- tion. We cannot conceive of a being possessing the power to act where it is not ; and the scriptures inform us that the heaven of he«» vens cannot contain God, and that whether we ascend to heaven, de- scend to hades, or fly to the ends of the eiarth, we cannot escape his presence, 1 Kings, viii, 27, and Psalm, cxxxix. 7, 8. On the other hand, heaven is uniformly described as the throne and residence of the Deity, throughout the Hebrew scriptures ; and this was also a very common opinion among the ancient philosophers, who believed God managed the afiairs of the lower worlds by demons or angels. Noi- ls it possible for us to unite the notion of personality with essential omnipresence ; and every idea of intelligence involves the notion of personality. Woltzogenius observes, that whenever God is said to be any where but in Heaven, we are to understand it not of his es- scntial presence, but of his efficacy, operation, and omniscience. This may be ; therefore let us adhere to the use of scripture language. * The name of God signifies God himself, his attributes and worship. In scripture^ the name of a person is often put for the person himself, Acts i. 15, Rev. iii. 4, and xi. 13 ; also, Gen. iv. 26j Ps. Ixix. 36, and cxvi. 17, Isa, Ivi. 6; Joel ii. 32, Zeph. iii. 9- To sanctify the name of God, is to separate him from all the idols of the nations, and worship him alone, as the only true and living God ; to separate his attributes from all imperfection of character, or ability ; to fear and love him as the only ruler of the universe, and eternal parent and benefactor of men ; to rely on his word, as true and faithful, and confide in his providence and unchanging love • to preserve the ut- most veneration for the sacred institutions of religion, and worship him with cheerfulness, reverence, and awe ; to think, speak, and act as under his immediate vigilance, and accountable to the rectitude and purity of his nature for our wilful or perverse wanderings from the dictates of his word or the holiness of his character. The pray- er, therefore, implies, May God be every where known in all the perfections of his glory, may sin and imperfection of moral character be for ever destroyed, may ail false Worship and religion be utterly abolished, and may all intelligent beings in heart and life, honour, love, fear, and exalt the God of salvation for ever and ever. t This is to be understood, not of the absolute kingdom of the Father, but of the Mediatorial kingdom of the Son. And as the ob- ject of this kingdom is to reconcile all men, by restoring them to purity, holiness, and happiness, we pray : May tiiis reign of Christ come ; may it triumph in every nation, isle, tribe, and tongue in the globe earth ; may all men receive it in love, meekness, and joy, and every heart become a throne for the reconciling God ; may the ministry of reconciliation prosper and run, and bo glorified, till truth be found without error, love without dissimulation, happiness • SEfRMON ON THE MOUN'f. ISfi done* on earth, as in heaven. Give ns daily, the bread sufficientf for us ; and forgive us our sins, for we also| forgive all those who have offended us ; and without interruption, Christianity without an objector, sin without aa admirer, the heart of man without an evil or painful thought, and life immortalized in the beatitude of perfect heaven, and in the fulness and love of a redeeming God. * This is the perfection of holiness, when the soul, contemplating the love, wisdom, mercy, power, goodness, truth, and unchangeable- ness of the Deity, displayed in the formation, preservation, govern- ment, instruction, and final salvation of all intelligences, it falls into perfect and eternal acquiescence, saying with every faculty attuned to the harmony of the sound : Thy will, which is my sanctification ; thy will, which is nly salvation ; thy free, benevolent, irresistible, and unerring will be done. t The word cnova-iov, has occasioned great perplexity to interpre- ters. The word is nowhere else to be found in the New Testament, in the Septuagint version, nor in any Greek author. Some think it is formed from another word signifying the next day, or the morrow, and, according to the style of the Hebrews, the time to come. .Te- rome says, he found, in a gospel of Matthew, for the use of theNa- zarenes, the Hebrew word 3Iahar, which signifies the morrow, or time to come, as in Exod, xii. 14 ; Josli. iv. 6 ; Matt. vi. 34. If this be correct, the petition runs thus: Giiw ns daily the bread sufficient for our subsistence, during our lives, see Exod. xvi. l6 ; Prov. xxx. 8, and xxxi. 15 ; 2 Kings, xxv. 3D ; 3^ob, xxxiii. 18 ; 1 Tim. vi. 6, 8 ; and James ii. 15. Wakefield conjectures the word to be formed from the junction of sti and ouetav, the bread according to our por- tion of the inheritance, Luke xv. 12, 13. And the Syriac version reads : Give us daily the bread of our necessity, or necessary for our subsistence. Chr3'sostom, Theophylact, and Basil explain the pas- sage, such bread as being turned into the substance of our bodies, wiH nourish and preserve them. By bread, is implied, all the neces- saries of life, as appears from numerous passages of scripture ; and the petition includes all that is needful for well-being, while being en- dures. T Scarcely can there occur a more awful thought to the mind, tlian the idea, which this petition inspires. Here we are taught by Jesus, to supplicate God to forgive, because we exercise forgive- ness towards all who offend us ; or, as Matthew reads, to forgive us as we forgive others. Now, if we utter this request, while we maintain a single grudge or feeling of animosity to a single individual, we either mock God, or pray for our own condemnation. Let us, therefore, rellect, and if we feel oiu'selves so unlike tlio God whom we profess to adore, let us earnestly pray for his holy and gracioup spirit, to purge our hearts from all envy, hatred, and malicf . 154 SERMON ON THE MOUN'f . lead us not iiito temptation, but deliver us from evil. * # * Amen. * T!ie reader will expect inc to give some reason for leaving out the doxology, found in most copies of M-Uthew's gospel, at the con- clusion of the Lord's prayer. Let the following brief notice suffice, I do not reject it because i\lill, Wetstein, and Griesbach, have exclu- ded it from having a place in the sacred text. Nor am I led to think it unworthy of a plate in this most excellent form ; but from a compa- rison of the evid( nc:; on both sides, its authority becomes at least very doubtful, and 1 hove made it a rnle to admit nothing of a doubt- ful nature into the te.ii of ihis harmony. 1, The doxology, consist- ing of these words : " For thiricis the kingdom, arid the power, and ihe glory, for cver,''^ is wanted in the Vatican, Cambridge, and manj' other manuscripts ; 2, it is wanted in the Coptic, Arabic, Saxon and Vulgate versions ; 3, it is wanted in Origen, and Cypri- an in the third century, and in Cyril of Jerusalem, and Gregory Nyssen of the fourth, though these Greek fathers have professedly and particularly commented on the Lord's prayer ; and it is addu- ced twice by Caesarius, as a part of a Liturgy, but not of the scrif)- lures ; 4, it is wanted in all the Latin fathers ; 5, it is totally want- ed in all the copies of Luke's Gospel. If it be asked ; how did this passage obtain a place in the Syriac, Persic, Armenian, Gothic and Slavonic versions in some manu- ■cripts, and in the comments of Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthy- mius, and Isidore ? I would answer, in the words of Wetstein : Sup- posing this to be a part of a Liturgy, usually pronounced by the priest alone, at the end of this and other prayers, (and this was a no- torious fact, in the Jewish and Christian assemblies of the East,) it is feasy to conceive, that transcribers of JMatthew's Gospel, generally used in the East, would readily add this doxology to the prayer ; but, if it were originally prescribed, by our Lord, we cannot con- ceive why Luke, the Evangelist, the Greek Fathers, and all the La- tin churches and Fathers of the West, should have failed to follow their great Master. t This excellent prayer stands as far above any other composition of the kind, as Jesus, its blessed author, is exalted above his fellow men. Many learned men have laboured to show, that the morality taught in this unparalleled sermon, had been long in use among the heathen ; and that the phrases, which compose this prayer, were derived from the Jewish Liturgies. We could have spared these ttarned triflers their unneeded toil. What a eulogy would it have oeen, to have addressed Cicero, at the close of one of his most con- summate and eloquent orations, or the apostle Paul, at the end of one of hi3 unrivalled discourses, O, sir! your discourse we admire, but svery word of it is to be found in the dictionary, and all these words f.e have been io tf.e habit of usicg for a long time ! Might not the SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 135 Ask, and ye shall obtain ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and the door shall be opened to you. For whosoever asks shall obtahi ; whosoever seeks shall find ; and to every one that knocks, the door shall be opened. Should any of you go to his friend at midnight and say ; Friend, lend me three loaves^ following retort well apply ? Granted, but you never possessed the abilities of putting them together, in this manner. In propriety, conciseness, simplicity, perspicuity, arrangement, and sublime devo- tion, there is nothing that approaches this prayer among the produc- tions of men; and the most natural conclusion of a mind sufficiently qualified to judge, would be ; Here is a God teaching men, how they ought to address a God. This composition, surrounded as it is, with a celestial galaxy of sparkling lights, moral sentiments, too pure for earthly origin, is sufficient to shake the pillars of infidelity, and con- vert its very sons into witnesses for Jesus, and the divinity of his re- ligion. " As the High Priest, passing through the holy place, when he went up into the holy of holies to consult the oracle, heard the voice as of a man speaking from the mercy-seat, so in contemplating this portion of the New Testament, we seem to have passed on to the most spir- itual communication of God to man. Freed from the types and shadows of the Mosaic law, and rescued from the cloudy traditions and perversions of the Pharisees, the light of the sun of truth breaks forth in all its splendour. We hear, from an infallible oracle, the ut- ter overthrow and refutation of all the false glosses and rabbinical cor- ruptions, which had so long perverted the spirit of the divine law. The wickedness of the nation increased, in spite of the learning of their teachers, because those teachers were corrupt, and proud, and worldly. The church of Christ was established in holiness, because its first teachers, though ignorant and rude, were disinterested, hum- ble, and spiritual. Rites and ceremonies had usurped the place of the prayer of the heart, and the homage of a holy lift ; Christ en- forced the meaning of the law, and exalted devotion and virtue above vows and sacrifices, and all the observances of superstition. The priests were endeavouring to make the law worldly, the Mes- siah made it spiritual. They would have changed the law of God in- to an cnccuragcment of the propensities of the animal or inferior na- ture of man ; Christ taught them that the entire conquest of this na- ture was required by their Father in heaven. The priests encour- aged, under the appearance of strict obedience to the law, ingratitude to parents, revenge, facility of divorce, and other evils ; but our Lord has here given a code of laws to the world, obedience to which will for ever annihilate all superstitious dependence upon every other mode of aspiring to the approbation of the Almighty, than by aiminj;; at spirituality of motive, and holiness of life. 136 SERMON ON THE MOUNT. for a friend of mine on a journey is come to see me* and I have nothing to set before him : though he within should answer : Do not disturb me, the door is locked, and I and my children are in bed ; I cannot rise to serve thee : yet i tell you, if he will not rise and serve him because he is his friend, because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as much as he wants. Moreover, what father among you would give his son a stone when he asks bread ? Or a ser- pent instead of a fish ? Or a scorpion when he asks an egg 1 If then, ye who are evil, know to give good things to your children, how much more will your Fa- ther, in the highest Heaven, give, good things and a holy spirit to them that ask him ? Moreover, when ye fast, be not like the hypocrites^ of a sad countenance ; for they disfigure their faces,that their fasting may be observed of men. Verily I say : they have received their reward. But when you keep a fast, anoint 3^our head, and wash your face, that 3^our fasting may not be observed by men, but by your Father to whom, though unseen, nothing is secret, and your Father will reward you. Judge not, that ye be not judged ; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned : forgive and ye shall be forgiven. For as ye judge, ye shall be judged ; and if ye forgive nqt men their offences, neither will your father forgive* your offences. Give, and there * There is a considerable similitude between some fish of the eel kind and some serpents, likewise between some stones and bread ; and if we except the legs and tail, a white scorpion, according to the account of Bochart, is veiy like an egg. The meaning is, the ])arontal feelings of a father would not a.Uow him to practise such a deception on ins hungry and needy son, wlien he preferred a re- quest of the. above nature, and shall notthe God and Father of the universe, when he hears their cry, grant to his nc^^dy suppliant off 3})ring, what they require for their subsistence an(5 liappiness ? t We are taught by the greater number of Christian preachers, that God forgives no sin. This falls nothing short of calumny on the conduct of God and the testimony of scripture. But lest the charge should appear without evidence, let it be considered, that all who SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 137 will be given to you ; good measure, pressed, and shaken, and heaped, shall be poured into your lap j for with the same measure you give to others, ye shall receive again. Therefore, whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even* so to them ; for this is the law and the prophets. Why behold the splinter in your brother's eye, while ye perceive not the beam in your own ? or, how can you say ; Hold, brother, let me take out the splinter that is in thine eye, whilst ye observe not the beam in your own ? Hypocrites, first take the beam out of your own eyes, and then you shall see clearly to take the splinterf out of your brother's. Enter at the strait gate ; for wide the gate and broad the way teach the doctrine of Christ's vicarious sufl'erings, in such a manner as to represent the discharge of the sinner's debt, solely on account of this vicarious payment, are clearly convicted. Likewise, all who teach, that we are fully recompensed for our moral conduct in this life, or adequately punished in the next. This latter class represent the Deity as inexorable, as he is described by the former. God have mercy on both, they know not what they do ! Should the doc- trine of either party be true, the moral character of the Deity would be no longer worthy of imitation, and, instead of the scriptures speak- ing the language of love and forbearance, the very passage under consideration would imply : If ye punish not men for their offences, God will punish you ; and another passage, selected from the Lord's prayer, would read thus : Punish us for our sins, for we also punish every one who has offended us ! Let both classes of teachers, there- fore, desist from their folly, and pray to the Lord, that the thoughts of their hearts may be forgiven. * If we were to act agreeably to this golden rule of morality, earth would be changed to heaven, paradise be restored, and the ta- bernacle of God be with men. Who loves to be defamed, defraud- ed, hated, or abused in character, person, or property? Not one on earth. Then let all do to each other, according to what they wish to be done in relation to themselves. t This is the rendering of Wakefield ; and Hesychius, says iar- phos is a piece of wood, or splinter. The passage thus translated, seems consistenf^^nd analogous ; for there is a propriety in compar* ing a splinter anc^at'tieam, which appears not when a mote and a beam are contrasted. Beausobre says, the expression was prover- bial, and is found in the ancient Jewish writings, to express a small failing contrasted with enermous crimes, 18 ISB SERMON ON THE MOUNTS that leads to destruction, therefore many enter hy it. But strait the gate* and narrow the way that leads to life, and few there are who find it. Beware of false teachers, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves^ Every tree is known by its fruiti Men do not gather figs off thorns, nor grapes off a bramble. That is not a good tree, which yields bad fruit ; nor is that a bad tree which yields good fruit. So every good tree yields good fruit, and every bad tree, bad fruit. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart,! brings that which is good ; and a bad man out of the bad treasure of his heart, brings forth that which is bad-; for out of the fulness of the heart the mouth speaks.. Therefore, by their fruits ye shall know them. * By this metaphorical representation, our Lord describes, in an easy and beautiful mdnnerj the striking difference between that strict morality, he had taught, in this discourse, and the loose and formal principles taught by the Jewish doctors. By the broad way and wide gate, he represents how generally men are disposed by pride, pasj sion, or worldly views, to follow the popular current of opinion^ however erroneous, and adopt that system, which seems most calcu- lated to favour the bent of their inclinations, while, by the narrow way, he shows what a small proportion of mankind seek the truth, and attach themselves to it, in faith and obedience, notwithstanding every difficulty arising from within, or from without. Reader, the entrance into the kingdom of Jesus, is so strait, that you can never enter, till you deposite without the gate, every unholy desire and passion of the soul, every burden of an earthly and selfish nature, and in the very act of entering, experience such a change, as will be to you the beginning of months. This gate is too strait, says Eras- mus, to admit any that are swollen with the glory of this life, or ela- ted, and lengthened out by pride, distended by luxury, or laden with the fardels of riches. None can pass but men stripped of worldly lusts, who have put off the flesh, and become, as it were, emaciated to spirits ; therefore few seek to enter. These are hard things, who will hear them ? May God open the ear, incline the heart, and save the soul of the reader. The broad way proved the way of destruction to the Jews, in a signal manner ; it has ever been the path to ruin : while the narrow way of truth and Christian duty, is the path of life. He that believes, has life, and shall have it more abundantly. t Our Lord has elsewhere said ; Make the tree good, and the fruit shall be good also. Nothing less than a renewed heart, filled SECTION THIRTY-FIRST, A Leper is cleansed. Now when Jesus had pronounced all these sayings* in the hearing of the people, they were astonished at liis doctrine ; and great ^multitudes followed him as he came down from th^ mount.* But as he was about to enter into Capernaum, Lo ! there met him a man, covered with leprosy,t who seeing Jesus, pros- with divine love, can produce the fruits of righteousness, in either minister or people ; but as we cannot judge the heart, we mustabid^ by the direction of our Master. By their fruits ye shall know thtm. * According to the rule of Chemnitius, and Doddridge, that when one of the Evangelists is explicit, and the others indefinite, as to the time, we ought to follow the arrangement of the former, 1 have preferred the order of Matthew, who places this miracle, imme- diately after the sermon on the Mount, whilst Jesus was on his way to Capernaum. Newcorae, Lightfoot, and Townsend, place the cure of the leper after the cure of Peter's mother-in-law, whilst Christ was on a tour through Galilee ; but Doddridge, M'Knight, Chemnitius, and Priestley follow the order here adopted. Townsend seems deeply offended at Michaelis for saying i " Mark and Luke relate this fact on a totally different occa- sion, because they were unacquainted with the time, and Luke eveo with the place where it happened." But there is no reasonable blame attached to this opinion ; for Luke says, the cure of the leper Jiappened, when Jesus was in one of their cities, which is a very in- definite expression, and indeed seems to indicate, that he did not know when, or where, the miracle was performed. Moreover, no leper was allowed to enter one of the cities, because of the contar gious nature and uncleanliness of his disease. It is altogether suffi- cient for the design of the miracle and our faith, to be assured that such an astonishing miracle was wrought, and that the fact was so powerfully attested. Non-essential differences will never injure the testimony of honest and adequate witnesses, unless we burden theic testimony by the ill-judged weight of plenary inspiration. t The leprosy takes its name from wtt/j, a scale, because it mani- fests itself, by scaly patches on the skin, of a shining reddish, livid, or white colour, which being easily detached, leave an excoriation, which discharges a watery, and often a bloody humour, till a new crustatioTi is formed. — It is a highly contagious, loathsome, and greviously itching disease, which frequently bids defiance to even the most skilful medical practice. The Jews said of leprosy, it is the finger of God ; tiierefore, they looked only to God for a cure, 2 Kings v. 3, 7, 27, and Matt. xi. 5. For the Scriptural account of tijjs disease, read Levit. xiii. and xiv. Both Jews and Gentiles con" 140 A LEPER IS CLEANSED. trated* himself, saying : Master,! if thou will, thou canst make me clean. Then Jesus, moved with com- passion, stretched out his hand and touched t him, sidered leprosy an expressive emblem of sin, beginning with a spot, from a hidden infection, but soon spreading its contagion through the whole constitution, and manifesting its pollution over the whole body of man. Hence, the person was regarded as unclean, and unfit for the company of others. * The word, ir^os-xursw, frequently translated worship, in the Eng- lish Bible, properly signifies to prostrate oneself, as a profession of profound respect, according to the manner of thfe Eastern nations. Hence Luke, by far the best Grecian of the Evangelists, gives the periphrasis, jTa/Zirtg" on Ms face: and Hesychius and Phavorinus ren- der the word by TpoffTriTrra-, to prostrate^ which is the word used by Luke V. 8, to express the homage of Peter. The word takes its ori- gin from the fmoning of a dog, and signifies the adulation, reve- rence, or homage of one person to another, however manifested ac- cording to the customs of the times or countries, where peculiar usa- ges obtain. The believers in the Deity of Jesus, have endeavoured to press the use of this term into their service, as evidence that Christ received Divine worship, but this is a great mistake : and so weak evidence is calculated to bring an opinion into disrepute. The whole congregation of Israel worshipped King David, 1 Kings i. 23 ; Abigail bowed herself to the ground before David, 1 Sam. XXV. 23 ; tlie Amalekite fell to the earth and did him obeisance, 2 Sam. i. 5 ; Mephibosheth fell on his face and did him reverence ; Saul bowed with his face to the ground before Samuel, 1 Sam. xxviii. 14 ; Obadiah fell on his face before Elijah, 1 Kings xviii. 7 ; and Nebu- chadnezzar fell on his face before Daniel, Dan ii, 46. This opinion, therefore, of divine homage being implied in the term, should be for ever abandoned. t Another circumstance, thought to be favourable to the notion of Christ's Deity, is the compellation by which he is here, and else- where addressed. The word Lord, put so frequently into the mouths of those who address Jesus, by the English translators, has had a powerful efl'ect in impressing a superstitious veneration which was never intended by the sacred writers. The word Adoni in Hebrew, ICurios in Greek, Dominus in Latin, Monsieur in French, and Mas- ter or Sir in English, are words wholly synonymous, and very suita- ble for respectful address ; and in cases where the particular name of the individual is not known, the only appellation in our power ; hence, the appropriate lines of Martial : Cum te non nossem, domimim, regejnquevocaham, Cum bene te novi, jam mihi Prisons e?-is. I By the Jewish law, any person who touched a leper, was pro- nounced unclear. This was a prudential and advisatory precept. A LEPER IS CLEANSED. 141 saying : I will ; be thou cleansed ; and immediately his leprosy departed. And Jesus charged him, say- ing : Tell no man,* but go, show thyself to the priest, and present the offering which Moses com- which the Master of Christians readily dispensed with, in the exer- cise of benevolence, as he had done, on former occasions, with the solemnity of the Sabbath: yet the eame Jesus, who departed from the letter of the Jewish law, in trivial matters, strictly enjoins obedi- ence, in matters of importance, and where moral duty was involved. Go, says he to the leper, present thine offering, according to the commandment of Moses. This single act of Christ should be suffi- cient to attest his claims to the divine authority of his doctrine. * The command of Christ to the man whom he had cleansed: Tell no man, has occasioned much conjecture among the Commen- tators. Out of a great variety of opinions, let the following suffice. 1. As the leper was forbidden social intercourse on account of his un- cleanness, it is very probable that Jesus was either so far ahead of the multitude, on his way, or aside from them, as to allow the ap- proach of the leper ; and though the miracle might have been seen by many, yet it was not likely to be carried to the ears of the priests before the man should arrive himself with his offering ; and if the man did not relate the manner of his being cleansed, the priest would not be prejudiced, so as to deny the reality of the cure. 2. The multitudes which attended our Lord, had now become so great, and every new miracle, adding increased attention, Christ might be unwilling to excite the jealousy of the existing govern- ment, which might have been urged to destroy him, and thereby, in some measure, defeat the ends of his mission : the instruction of mankind and the confirmation of their faith. 3. Jesus would rather leave the Jews to dr^^w their conclusions, from the variety and im- portance of his mil Licles, the excellence of his doctrine, and the pu- rity and benevolence of his life, than from any verbal report of his divine Authority, 4, Had the proselytism of the Jews become gene- ral, they might have proclaimed him King, and thus the Gentiles, supposing it a national artifice, might have rejected him ; and the existing governors, in conjunction with the Roman power, have has- tened the destruction of the Jewish nation, on account of an act, which Jesus could not justify, nor the Divine providence sustain. 5. Besides tiiese, the long train of coinciuences, necessary to com- plete the prophetic character of the Messiali, and lay the foundation on which the mighty fabric of the Christian faith should be built, re- quired time, and forbid too great acceptance in the world. 6. Ac- cording to tiie parable, Luke xix. 12, Jesus must go into a far coun- try to receive a kingdom, which the wisdom of God declined giving him, till he finished his mediatorial commission on earth and ascended up on high, Phil. ii. 7 — 11 ', Actsii, 32 — 36. The season, therefore, 14^ A LEPER IS CLEANSED. manded for a testimony* to them. But departing, he began to pubUsh many things ; and the report spread abroad, so that great multitudes were continually col- lecting, to hear him and to be healed of their disea- ses. Wherefore, Jesus being no longer able to enter the city openly, continually withdrew into desert pla- ces, and prayed.f of Christ's humiliation, designed for our instruction and examplcj could not admit of too great popularity, or worldly honours. * The testimony here intended, may admit of a twofold inter- pretation, 1 . The testimony of the^priest, that the man was cured of his leprosy, would entitle him to re-enter the city, and enjoy the blessings of social life. 2. The information communicated by the man, would be a testimony to the priests, and through them, to the people, that Jesus was the promised Messiah. t Retirement and prayer are indispensable to the duty and happi- ness of man : and without them, it is impossible to maintain the divine life in the human soul. Though this passage proves that Jesus was wholly a dependant being, for otherwise, his secret prayers would have been totally inconsistent and unmeaning, yet it must be admitted by all, that if ever there existed a being on earth, who could have omitted this duty with safety, that being was the anointed of Jehovah, on whom the spirit of the Almighty had been so largely poured, yet, hear it, O ye prayerless Christians ! Jesus prayed pub- licly, privateli/, And secretly. May God strike conviction on the hardened, dead, unfeeling, and ungrateful hearts of men ; and grant them that, without which it is Impossible to live 35 a Christian, or enjoy the kingdom of heaven : I mean the spirit of prayer and sup^ plication. This is the chain that binds God and the human soul to- gether 5 the breath, the food of .the spiritual man. SECTION THIRTY-SECOND. Cure of the Centurion's servant. Now the servant of a certain Centurion who was dear to his master, was sick of a palsy, and about to die ; and the Centurion being informed of Jesus, sent* elders of the Jews to entreat him to come and heal his servant. These coming to Jesus, earnestly besought him, saying: He is worthy of this favour; for he Joves our nation, and he built our synagogue. CURE OP THE centurion's SERVANT* 143 Jesus said : I will go and heal him. But when he was not far from the house, the Centurion sent friends to him, saying: Master, trouble not thyself; for I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof; nor did I esteem myself worthy to come into thy presence ; only speak, and my servant shall be healed by the word.* For even I, who am under the au- thority of others, having soldiers under me, say to one, Go, and he goes; to another, Come, and he comes ; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. Jesus hearing these sayings, admired him ; and turn- ing, said to the multitude who followed, I assure you, I have not found so great faith, even in Israel. Then Jesus said ; Go, be it done for himf according to his faith. And the messengers returned to the house, and found the servant weU. * The reading here adopted is that of Griesbach, supported by almost every copy of Luke's Gospel, and the best copies of Mat- thew's ; consequently the reading of the English Bible here, is either unmeaning or unsupported. Here is one of the brightest examples of humble vital faith, found in the whole volume of the sacred records. This Centurion, as the name implies, was a Roman soldier, having the command of a hun- dred men ; and though only a proselyte of the gate, this narrative bespeaks him fuller of faith and good works, than any of the Phari- sees, who boasted of their membership, in the strictest sect of that people, who were called by the name of Israel's God. I, says he,, am also like you, a man under the direction of another, but possess- ing full influence over those subjected to my control, can speak and it is done : so, thou who art subject to the God of heaven, yet hold- ing, by his delegation, power and authority to demand obedience from all terrene existences, canst as easily, by a single word, heal the diseased, and control the powers of nature. In all probability, he had been informed by the inhabitants of the city, how Jesus spoke, and the wind and sea obeyed ; and he drew the like conclusion con- cerning his power over diseases, of which Capernaum had witnessed already some remarkable instances. t I have here changed the address, from the second person to the third, for the sake of preserving strict uniformity in the narrative. Some have doubted whether the account of the Centurion's ser- vant related by Matthew and Luke, with some difference, refer to the same person. The chief objection is : Matthew's centurion, comes in person to Jesus, but Luke's sends the Elders of the Jew^. SECTION THIRTY-THIRD. Mission of the Twelve. And they went into a house, but the multitude crowded together so fast, that they were unable to eat bread. And when his kinsmen heard, they went out to secure him, for they said : He is in an ecstacy. But beholding the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were scattered an(i neglected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples : The harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few ; pray, therefore, that the owner of the harvest may send* labourers into the harvest. The difl'erence between the two Evangelists, is not sufficient to au- thorize the opinion of two separate cures, performed on two persons where there should occur so many striking coincidences. Le Clerc adduces the following Jewish proverb : The messenger of any man is as, or equal to, the man himself. Hence Matthew relates that to be done by the Centurion himself, which he performed by the mediation of others. This mode of writing is common to all historians, with- out any imputation on their correctness. This method has been adopted by Matthew in other instances; where there can exist no doubt : for he tells us, xi. 3, that John, who was then shut up in pri- son, sent two of his disciples to Jesus, and said to him. The same mode of writing is adopted xxvii. 19, where Pilate's wife is made to speak in the first person through the medium of a messenger. Thus also, Mark x 35, causes James and John to prefer in person the re- quest, which was presented by their mother, and not by themselves, Matthew xx. 20. Thus Jesus is said to baptize, John iv. 1 ; Pilate to scourge Jesus, John xix. 1 ; and God to do what he did by his mes- sengers. Gen. xvi. 13; xviii. 1 ; Ex. xx. 1. Hence Grotius, New- come, Le Clerc, Doddridge, Lightfoot, and Michaelis, consider the Bcti, aiives of Luke and Matthew descriptive of the same event, which happened according to the arrangement of Luke vii. 1. * The three Evangelists unite in representing Jesus as about en- tering Capernaum, when the Centurion applied to him for the cure of his servant. Matt. viii. 5, Mark ii. 1, Luke vii. 1. Luke says the next day, he went to Naum, Luke vii. 11 ; and Matthew xi. 1, says, When Jesus had finished instructing his disciples, he departed thence io preach in their cities. Besides, according to Mark, who omits the sermon on the mount, the first thing that occurred after the ap- pointment of the Twelve, was their going into a house, Mark iii. 20 ; at which time, the multitudes had become so great and urgent, the Pharisees and Herodians so incensed, and his relations so alarmed, a? MISSION OF THE TWELVE. 140 Then having called to him his twelve disciples, he §ave them power and authority over all the demons, to expel unclean spirits, and to heal all diseases and in- firmities. And tlius instructing them, he sent them forth by two and two,* saying : Go not to the Gentiles, f nor enter a city of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the stock of Israel. And as ye go, pro- claim : The reign of the highest heaven draws nigh. Heal the sick, cleanse lepers, expel demons, | freely ye have received; freely give. Take nothing for the jour- ney except only a stalf. Provide no gold, nor silver, nor brass in youv girdles, nor a travelling script, nor bread, nor two coats or pairs of shoes, nor stafi*;^ for the workman is worthy of his maintenance. Therefore^ into whatsoever city or village ye enter, inquire who in it is worthy, jj and abide with him till ye leave the place. to excite apprehensions of an insurrection or commotion which might lead to a suspension or perhaps a termination of Christ's public minis- try ; therefore the twelve were instructed privately,, and commis- sioned to go forth, as eye-witnesses of the divine mission and doctrines of Jesus. * By sending out the disciples in this manner, they were compe- tent witnesses, according to the Jewish law, Vv^hich required the testimony of two. Their diflierent gifts and dispositions, would modulate their own conduct, and invigorate their ministerial ser- vices. t The reason of this restriction, was, the regard God showed Israel, as his covenant people. Ex. 19. 6. Therefore the Gospel was first preached to the lost sheep of Israel, to show