UC-NRLF LIBRARY UN IV CALIFC; i THIS CHILD is SET UP FOR THE FALL AND RESURRECTION OF MANY IN ISRAEL. THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST EMBRACING THE ENTIRE GOSPEL NARRATIVE . Embodying the Teachings and the Miracles of Our Saviour TOGETHER WITH THE HISTORY OF His Foundation of the Christian Church BY REV. WALTER ELLIOTT? Of the Paulist Fathers NINETEENTH THOUSAND NEW YORK THE COLUMBUS PRESS 1908 [DAN STACK BT301 fUbtlotetat: REV. REMY LAFORT, S.T.L., Censor Deputatus. ffmprfmatur: 4- MICHAEL AUGUSTINUS, Archiepiscopus Neo-Ebor* 77 Augusti, 1901. COSVRIGHT, 1901, BY "THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF ST. PAUl THE APOSTLE IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK." PRHITEO AT THE COLUMBUS PR*S, 120 WUT 60TM St. 103 / / PREFACB. HP HIS work is a contribution to the devotional study of our Redeemer's teaching and ex- ample. It engaged the author's best thoughts and endeavors during several years. It is hoped that it may help the Catholic reader to a more vivid appreciation of our Lord's life and doctrine ; its main purpose is to move hearts to love Him fer- vently. Perhaps He may bestow a blessing upon this humble offering ; for though in itself of little enough value, yet it is given with all the love of which the author is capable. And he trusts that this Life has some special features which will recommend it. One of these is that it contains the entire Gospel history, omitting only strictly verbal repetitions. The reader will thus have the four-fold narrative of the inspired authors blended together into the continuous account of our Saviour's career from first to last, together with such passages from the other books of the New Testament as furnish additional testimony. This portion of the work is, for the most part, ruled off separately from the text; and the writer hopes that it will always be read, piece by piece, and very carefully, as a preliminary to each chap- ter. To help the reader to understand and appre- ii PREFACE. ciate this divine narrative has been the author's only purpose. He has closely followed the most generally used Catholic versions, and on disputed points has adhered to the more commonly accepted views. Another advantage is in the use made of the^ modern art of pictorial illustration. The book is full of pictures, so numerous and so carefully se- lected as to make a Life of Christ by themselves. The publishers have been aided in this by skilful artists,* and certainly have reproduced those contri- butions of Christian a'rt most helpful to a devout realization of our Redeemer's mission. This book is intended to be the religious photographic album of the Catholic household. It is hardly necessary to add that the Life, besides giving our Saviour's history, affirms and briefly proves the doctrines He taught and deliver- ed to His Church, whose divine authority, whose sacraments, and whose incorporation into a living body are all fully explained. Of course there is not, nor could there be, any claim to originality in this work. Readers acquaint- ed with Le Camus's beautiful Vie de Jesus will, perhaps, notice the influence of the earlier chapters of that inspiring writer. The author acknowledges his debt to him, and also to other Catholic bio- graphers of our Lord. * Especially by Rev. P. J. McCorry, C.S.P., to whose artistic skill and taste we are mainly indebted for the illustrations. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. OUR SAVIOUR'S PEOPLE AND COUNTRY. PAGE Palestine and the Children of Israel, I Jerusalem and Judea, . . 4 The Perea and the Transjordan, 8 Samaria, . . ..., 9 Galilee, 10 The Pharisees and Sadducees, . . . , . . .12 The Synagogues and the Sanhedrin, 14 The Roman Power in Palestine, ...... 15 The Hope of Israel, 18 The Writings which tell of Jesus, 19 BOOK I. THE HIDDEN LIFE OF JESUS. CHAPTER PAGE I. The Miraculous Conception of John the Baptist, 41 II. The Birth and Circumcision of John The Can- ticle of Zachary, . . . . . .45 III. The Divine Origin of Jesus Christ, ... 48 IV. The Descent of Jesus according to the Flesh, . 51 V. Mary of Nazareth and Joseph her espoused Husband, ........ 54 VI. The Son of God becomes Man, .... 57 VII. Mary's Visit to Elizabeth The Magnificat, . 62 VIII. The Marriage of Mary and Joseph, ... 67 IX. Jesus is born at Bethlehem, 73 X. The Child Jesus is Circumcised, .... 80 XI. The Adoration of the Magi, .... 84 XII. The Child Jesus is Presented in the Temple Simeon, and Anna the Prophetess, ... 91 XIII. The Flight into Egypt The Slaughter of the Innocents The Return to Nazareth, . . 96 XIV. The Childhood of Jesus, 102 XV. The Child Jesus among the Doctors of the Law, 107 XVI. The Hidden Life at Nazareth, . . . .113 CONTENTS. BOOK II. THE PUBLIC LIFE OF JESUS. CHAPTER PAGE I. John the Baptist prepares the Way for Jesus, . 121 II. The Baptism of Jesus "Thou art My Beloved Son!" 126 III. The Preparation in the Desert, .... 133 IV. The Temptation, 139 V. John the Baptist and the Chief Priests" Be- hold the Lamb of God ! " 145 VI. Jesus chooses Disciples, . . . . .151 VII. The Wedding at Cana, 156 VIII. Jesus returns to Jerusalem and Expels the Traf- fickers from the Temple He proclaims His Authority, . .... 161 IX. Jesus begins to Teach in Jerusalem The Inter- view with Nicodemus, . . . . . 166 X. Teaching in the Country-places Final Witness of John, . . . . . . . .173 XI. The Imprisonment of John the Baptist Jesus and the Samaritan Woman, . . . .175 XII. The Harvest and the Reapers, . . . .182 XIII. The Return to Galilee The Healing of the Ruler's Son, 184 XIV. At Nazareth, 186 XV. Capharnaum "I will make you Fishers of Men," 191 XVI. Vanquishing an unclean Spirit Healing Si- mon's Wife's Mother All Galilee is Evan- gelized, 193 XVII. Teaching from Peter's Barque The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, 202 XVIII. The Cleansing of a Leper, 205 XIX. Jesus returns to Capharnaum Cure of the Paralytic, and the consequent Dispute with the Pharisees, 208 XX. Matthew the Publican The Time for Fasting and the Time for Feasting, . . . .212 XXI. The Woman Cured of an Issue of Blood The Raising to Life of the Daughter of Jairus, . 217 CONTENTS. v CHAPTER PAGE XXII. The final Calling of the Twelve Apostles, . . 223 XXIII. The Sermon on the Mount, . . . 230-252 XXIV. Healing the Centurion's Servant The Two Blind Men The Dumb Devil, . . . .253 XXV. The Miracle at the Probatic Pool Sabbath- breaking Jesus asserts His Divinity, . . 256 XXVI. Plucking the Bars of Wheat on the Sabbath- Healing the Man with the Withered Hand Conspiracy between the Pharisees and Hero- dians, ........ 264 XXVII. The great Miracle of Nairn, . . . .269 XXVIII. The Messengers of St. John the Baptist, . . 272 XXIX. The Magdalen at the Banquet 276 XXX. At Nazareth again, 281 XXXI. Evangelizing Galilee The Devout Women who ministered to Jesus, ...... 283 XXXII. The sending forth of the Twelve Apostles The Apostolic Virtues, ...... 287 XXXIII. The Opposition of the Pharisees The Blind and Dumb Devil Christ and Beelzebub " Blessed is the Womb that bore Thee "The Mother of Jesus and His Brethren, . . . 294 XXXIV. Teaching by Parables The Sower The Candle The Mustard-seed The Leaven The Cockle The Hidden Treasure The Pearl of Great Price The Net New Things and Old, . . 303 XXXV. The Stilling of the Tempest The Legion of Devils and the Herd of Swine, . . .314 XXXVI. The Imprisonment of John the Baptist His Martyrdom, . . . . . . .319 XXXVII. Jesus Multiplies the Loaves and Fishes He Walks upon the Water, ..... 3^4 XXXVIII. The Bread of Life 331 XXXIX. Many Disciples go back from Jesus on account of the Doctrine of the Eucharist, . . . 339 XL. Eating with Unwashed Hands Inward and Outward Defilement, 342 XLI. The Syro-Phcenician Woman, .... 346 XLH. In the Decapolis Healing the Deaf and Dumb Man Second Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, 349 CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE XLIII. *The Pharisees again Demand a Sign in the Heavens " Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees "The Blind Man at Bethsaida, . 352 XLIV. "Thou art Peter," . . . . . . 356 XLV. Jesus Foretells His Death, 361 XL, VI. The Transfiguration, 364 XLVII. The Lunatic Boy, .369 XLVIII. The Passion again ForetoldJesus and the Pay- ment of the Tax The Dispute about Prece- dence, ........ 372 XLIX. The Sin of Scandal The Guardian Angels The Good Shepherd and the Lost Sheep, . 378 L. Fraternal Correction " If He will not hear the Church " The Wicked Servant, . . . 382 LI. Farewell to Galilee" Woe to thee, Corozain ! " 385 LII. The Journey from Galilee to Jerusalem "Fire from Heaven" "The Son of Man hath not where to lay His Head " "Let the Dead bury their Dead " " Looking Back, " . . . 390 IJII. Jesus in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles He Teaches His Divine Mission, . . . 393 LIV. Jesus offers the Waters of Life The Attempt to Apprehend Him in the Temple, . . . 397 LV. The Woman taken in Adultery, . . . 401 L VI. Jesus the Light of the World 405 LVII. "You shall Die in your Sins "Jesus Teaches true Freedom The Secret of Life "Before Abraham was Made, I Am, " . . . . 407 LVIII. The Man born Blind 415 LIX. Contention with the Pharisees about the Restor- ation to Sight of the Man born Blind, . . 417 LX. The Shepherd and the Sheep, . . . 420 LXI. " I am the Good Shepherd, " .... 425 LXII. The Good Samaritan 428 LXIII. Mary and Martha, 431 LXIV. Jesus Teaches His Disciples how to Pray The Lord's Prayer, . . . . . . .. 435 LXV. The Watchful Servants The Thief in the Night, 444 LXVI. Jesus at the Feast of the Dedication of the Tem- ple He again Teaches that He is God, . . 447 Hypocrisy " Woe to you Pharisees !" . . 452 CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER PAGE LXVIII. " Who hath appointed Me Judge or Divider over you?" Covetousness, .... 458 LXIX. Healing the Infirm Woman on the Sabbath Day The Dropsical Man 460 LXX. First Places at Table The Great Supper: "Compel them to Come In," .... 461 LXXI. The Chosen Few The Slaughter of the Gali- leans and the Falling of the Tower of Siloe, . 464 LXXII. "Why Cumbereth it the Ground ? " . . .468 LXXIII. " This Man began to Build and was not able to Finish," 469 LXXIV. Jesus is Warned against Herod, . . . . 472 LXXV. Lessons of Mercy The lost Groat The Prodi- gal Son, 473 LXXVI. The Unjust Steward, 477 LXXVII. Dives and Lazarus, 481 LXXVIII. Lessons in Humility The Pharisee and the Publican, 484 LXXIX. The Raising of Lazarus from the Dead, . . 486 LXXX. "It is expedient that one Man should Die for the People," 492 LXXXI. The Unjust Judge who heard the Widow's Prayer, 495 LXXXII. The Sending of the Seventy-two Disciples, . 497 LXXXIIL " Where are the Nine ?" 501 LXXXIV. The Laborers hired at the Eleventh Hour, . 502 LXXXV. Riches and Poverty, and Christian Perfection, . 506 LXXX VI. The Hundred-fold in this Life and Life Ever- lasting Hereafter, ...... 509 LXXXVII. The Sacrament of Matrimony, . . . .511 J+XXXVIII. Christian Virginity and Celibacy Jesus and Little Children, . . . . .517 BOOK III. THE PASSION AND DEATH OF JESUS. I. "Behold we go up to Jerusalem," . . . 523 II. The Ambition of the Sons of Zebedee, . . 526 III. The Blind Man at the Gate of Jericho, . . 531 IV. Zacheus the Publican, ..... 534 V. The Parable of the Ten Pounds, . . . 537 ritt CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE VI. " Six Days before the Passover," ... 540 VII. Mary Magdalen anoints Jesus, .... 542 VIII. The Procession of Palms, . . . . . 547 IX. Christ Weeps over Jerusalem, . . . .553 X. Jesus and the Barren Fig-tree, .... 556 XI. "Unless the Grain of Wheat falling into the Ground shall die " The Voice from Heaven : " That you may be the Children of Light," . 558 XII. The Temple again Purged of Buyers and Sel- lers "By what Authority dost thou these things?" 561 XIII. The Parable of the Two Sons, .... $65 XIV. The Parables of the Wicked Husbandmen and of the King's Supper, 566 XV. The Relation of Church and State, . . .569 XVI. " They shall neither Marry nor be Married," . 571 XVII. The Great Commandment " What think you of Christ?" 575 XVIII. " The Scribes and Pharisees have sitten on the Chair of Moses " "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees "The Widow's Mite, . . . 578 XIX. The Unbelief of the Pharisees The Union oi the Messias with His Eternal Father, . . 585 XX. The Terrible Prophecy of the Destruction of the City and the End of the World, ... 588 XXI. The Prophecy of the End further enforced and enlarged, 591 XXII. Personal Application of the Vision of Judgment, 596 XXIII. The Wise and Foolish Virgins Faithful and Slothful Servants, 598 XXIV. The Last Judgment, ...... 6qi XXV. Jesus* prepares for his Last Supper, and the Chief Priests make a Bargain with Judas, . 603 XXVI. Jesus Celebrates the Jewish Passover, . . 607 XXVII. Jesus Washes His Disciples' Feet, . . .610 XXVIII. "Is it I, Lord?" 613 XXIX. The Beginning of the Last Discourse The De- nial of Peter foretold Strife for Pre-eminence, 617 XXX. The Last Discourse continued : " I have Prayed for Thee" Second Prediction of Peter's De- nial The Incident of the Two Swords, . .621 CONTENTS. ix CHAPTER PAGE XXXI. The Last Discourse continued: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," . . . 623 XXXII. The Last Discourse continued : Jesus Dis- courses of the Holy Spirit How the Father and the Son and the Spirit dwell in the Church and in the Soul of each Christian, . 625 XXXIII. The Holy Eucharist, 630 XXXIV. Jesus resumes His Discourse : Union with Him is the Condition of all Spiritual Life The Identity of Joy and Love and Obedience " Love one Another, as I have Loved You " The Witness of the Spirit, . . . . .633 XXXV. The Last Discourse is concluded : Jesus Fore- tells Persecution Renewed Promise of the Holy Ghost Sorrow shall be turned into Joy, 637 XXXVI. Jesus Prays for His Church, . . . .641 XXXVII. Jesus begins His Passion, . . . . .645 XXXVIII. The Agony in the Garden, 648 XXXIX. Jesus is Betrayed with a Kiss, .... 656 XL. The Resistance of the Apostles and their Flight, 658 XLI. Jesus is led before Annas and Caiphas The De- nial of Peter, 660 XLH. The First Trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin Third Denial of Peter, 664 XLHI. The Terrible Night of Holy Thursday, . . 669 XLIV. Jesus before the Sanhedrin, .... 670 XLV. The Despair of Judas and his Suicide, . . 672 XLVI. Jesus before Pilate, 674 XL VII. "Art Thou King of the Jews?" . . .677 XL VIII. Pilate sends Jesus to Herod, . . . .680 XLIX. ' ' Barabbas or Jesus ? ' 'Pilate's Wife's Dream " Crucify Him ! " 684 * L. Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns " Behold the Man !" 688 LI- Pilate's final Struggle The Death-sentence, . 691 LII. The Way of the Cross, . . . . .694 LHL The Crucifixion The Inscription " Father, Forgive Them !" 698 IJV. The Triumph of the Conspirators The Good Thief " Woman, behold thy Son 1" . . 702 CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE IvV. The Death of Jesus 708 IvVI. After the Crucifixion, 713 LVII. The Burial of Jesus, . . . . .717 BOOK IV. THE RESURRECTION. I. The Resurrection The Empty Sepulchre, . 723 II. The Apparition of Jesus to Mary Magdalen, . 729 III. The Apparition of Jesus to the Holy Women How the Chief Priests explained the Resur- rection 73* IV. Jesus Appears to Peter ; and to Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus, ..... 736 V. " Whose Sins you shall Forgive, they are For- given Them" The Profession of Faith by Thomas, 739 VI. Jesus Appears to Seven Apostles at the Sea of Tiberias The Primacy of Peter, . . .743 VII. Jesus Appears to a great Multitude on a Moun- tain in Galilee Apparition to St. James The Commission of the Teaching Church, . .751 VIII. Jesus Ascends into Heaven, .... 754 IX. The Election of Matthias The Descent of the Holy Ghost The First Preaching of the Apostles, . . .... . . .760 EPILOGUE. JESUS CHRIST IS GOD. "Ye shall be as Gods," . i " Lo, this is our God : We have waited for Him ! " . . vii " My Lord and my God!" x "I am the Light of the World," xiv " I know Mine and Mine know Me " , adx INTRODUCTION. Our Saviour's People and Country. PALESTINE AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. PALESTINE, primi- tively known as Cha- naan, then Israel and Judea, is for the most part an extended and picturesque valley considerably elevated above sea level. Em- bosomed between two mountain chains, it is traversed from end to end by a single water- course, the far-famed river Jordan, which, rising at the foot of Mount Hermon, flows directly south, broad- ening in its northerly portion into the charm- ing Lake of Genesareth (otherwise called the Sea of Tiberias), and ending in the bitter waters of the Dead Sea. Between these two lakes the river flows in many turns, over shifting sands and among reeds and weeds, as if sadly conscious of bearing its bright waters to the cauldron of death, falling into the Dead Sea as if it were its grave. It is in reality the grave of Sodom and Gomorrha, once flourishing cities whose destruction seems still to be commemorated by 2 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. bubbles of poisonous gas rising to the surface like the belchings of the volcanic giant after his feast. Chosen from the beginning as the scene of God's sojourn among men, Palestine is the meeting-point of the three grand divisions of the ancient world, Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is the geographical centre, as it was destined to become the religious heart of ancient civilization. Upon the banks of its holy river and its lakes, and over its plains and hill- sides, dwelt in our Saviour's time a little nation highly favored by God. It was indeed broken and conquered, but it still stood erect clasping to its bosom the sacred deposit of divine truth confided to its ancestors many ages before. At the coming of Christ Israel was reduced to a population of not more than three or four millions, its former military glory, together with political independence, departed for ever. Yet in the whole wide world it alone preserved the knowledge of the true God, one, infinite, eternal, the Creator and Judge of men. It was, withal, a race of hard heart and stiff neck, but yet the only one which had the law of God. This was written upon the pages of the national constitution and graven upon the living tablets of the people's hearts. Among all other nations the idea of God was almost wholly effaced from men's souls, or rather every forceful man was worshipped as God, every portentous element of nature, every good and evil passion. Outside of Palestine everything was God except the true God. This elect race was descended from Abraham the patriarch through his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, or Israel. To each of these three, during the adventurous wanderings which made up their lives, God had repeatedly promised this land as the peculiar possession of their posterity. They, descendants of PALESTINE AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. the twelve sons of Jacob, were led to it by their great lawgiver, Moses, after suffering a very long cap- tivity in Egypt. During their journey across the desert of Arabia the children of Israel were favored by the divine interposition in most miraculous ways, until they were securely settled in this land of promise. It was "a land flowing with milk and honey," but its fruitfulness was conditioned upon the people's fidelity to God, for naturally it is subject to frequent visita- tions of drought. While the Israelites were true to God the soil was fruitful, and when they turned to false gods the hot wind of the desert blasted their fields and pastures. It was the divine purpose to com- pel the Jews to keep alive the fire of His true worship as in a carefully guarded sanctuary, until in the fulness of time it should be brought forth to illumine the whole world. The location was well chosen : on one side was the sea-coast almost entirely without good harbors, and on the other frontiers were bleak deserts or rugged mountains. The Israelites could easily hold their own against the neighbor- ing pagan nations, and ever did so except when God delivered them into the hands of their enemies in punishment of their sins. This little family of the Lord by His special providence in their location, their warlike ardor, the racial and social rules of the law of Moses, and the constant interference of His Strong right arm, preserved THE WELLS OF MOSES, 4 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. their strikingly peculiar traits of character and per- petuated their ancestral traditions of the true religion. The twelve tribes of Israel had at one era of their history become a powerful nation, whose golden age was under the kingship of David and his son Solomon. Afterwards it was broken into two separate and usually antagonistic kingdoms : that of Juda, embracing the tribe of that name and the tribe of Benjamin, whose capital was Jerusalem ; and that of Israel, composed of the other ten tribes. Many most important political changes afterwards took place, chief among them the long captivity of nearly the entire people in Babylon, the domination of Alexander the Great and his suc- cessors, and the wars of independence under the Macha- bees. Rome had conquered the country some sixty years prior to the birth of Christ, at which date it was a province of the vast empire ruled by Caesar Augustus. It was divided into four parts : Jerusalem was the seat of government for the whole province, with Judea for its immediate jurisdiction; Samaria, lying north of Judea, was another legal division ; yet further north was Galilee ; the nearer region beyond the Jordan was called the Perea. JERUSALEM AND JUDEA. Jerusalem, otherwise called Sion (perhaps the Salem of Melchisedech) , was the centre of the Jewish religion. Wherever scattered, the hearts of the people yearned for Sion, the City of God, the site of His holy Temple. Happy the day when the weary pilgrim entered its gate to offer his prayers at the one spot on the whole earth in which God had commanded sacrifice to be offered to His sovereign majesty, and where He most lovingly listened to the prayers of His people happier still the Jew who always dwelt in the JERUSALEM AND JUDEA. $ sacred atmosphere of the Holy City. Every earnest Israelite trusted most firmly that this city was in God's own time, now close at hand, to fulfil the forebodings of the Roman soothsayers and conquer the world. Few of them, however, were willing to believe that this conquest would not be one of violence, but rather (according to the meaning of the city's name, the City of Peace) a moral and religious revolution as meek as it would be irresistible. The city was divided into three parts, or rather three hills : to the west and south Mount Sion ; to the east Mount Moriah, crowned by the Temple ; and the north- ern and most inhabited section, called Acra. The place was strongly fortified, being surrounded by frowning walls overlooking, in most parts, deep ravines, and garnished with beetling towers. At the time of Christ there were one hundred and fifty thousand resi- dents, a population enormously increased at various seasons by the great throngs of Jewish pilgrims from all over the world, drawn by the festivals of their religion. Although its ancient glory had departed, Jerusalem was a great and splendid city. Among its gorgeous palaces was that of King Herod the Great, standing on the northern slope of Mount Sion and adorned with a profusion of silver and gold and costly marbles. At the northern border was the magnificent tower called Antonia, once the abode of the heroic Machabees. It was now the fortress of the Roman garrison and dominated the whole city. THE GA-TE OF THE HOLY CITY, LAMPS IN THE TEMPLE. LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. In it the governor of the coun- try was like the prison physi- cian holding the pulse of the criminal under torture and watching the limits of his en- durance. But palaces and for- tresses and governors and sol- diers could not take from Jeru- salem its true character : it was the Holy City. Everything gave place to religion, not only in the general seeming of things but in the souls of the citizens and the multitudes of pilgrims. Jerusalem was crowned by the Temple of Jehovah, arid Jehovah was uppermost in the thoughts and affections of the people, however wildly and even erroneously directed. Although the people of Israel were politically enslaved, yet experience had shown even the resistless Romans how dan- gerous it was to tamper with their faith. An insult to the house of God or to the venerable rites of His worship transformed them into a nation of martyrs. The Temple to the Jews the point of union between earth and heaven was, says Josephus, of such dazzling beauty that from a distance it looked like a mass of snow sparkling in the sunlight. It was built of marble, and its interior was overlaid with plates of gold. The exterior was enclosed by a majestic colonnade forming the outer court, that of the Gentile converts ; a railing bearing Latin and Greek inscriptions barred their en- trance to a second and more elevated court, in which worshipped the children of Abraham, the women being railed off from the more honorable place of the men. JERUSALEM AND JUDEA. 7 Within this again, and raised still higher, was a court reserved exclusively for the priests and Levites, and sacred to the celebration of the sacrifices. Finally, there was the very sanctuary of the Temple, the Holy of Holies, quite hidden by the sacred veil, and whose precincts were trodden by the High-Priest alone. To the north and east of the capital were many memorials of Israel's glory ; Jericho, which had fallen at the sound of the L,evites J trumpets, now embowered in palm-trees and roses ; many ancient battle-fields of the long Philistine wars the scenes of Samson's vic- tories, of David's conquest of Goliath, of the call of the father of the Machabees to the last successful war of liberation, and the final era of Israel's national inde- pendence. To the south was Bethlehem and the tomb of Rachel, and the field of Booz, in which Ruth, our Saviour's ancestress, had gleaned after the reapers and won her husband. But greater than all was Bethlehem itself. It was the city of David, and was foretold by Amos and other prophets as the birthplace of the promised Messias so often spoken of and saluted by the patriarchs, whose sacred ashes reposed in their rocky cells at Hebron, not far to the south- ward. Upon Bethlehem the eyes of all Israel were often turned in expec- tation of their Redeemer. An austere sect called Essenes lived in a kind of community life near the Dead Sea. They renounced marriage, mortified the flesh with extreme sever- ity, and practised every hardship known to the ascetics. But they were, it seems, .., 8 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. fatally tainted with oriental dualism, making evil a principle independent of good and identifying it with all material and physical existence ; hence their as- ceticism. They differed in this from the Jewish Naza- rites, who renounced all things from the truest motives and had ever been the mainstay of orthodox Judaism. THE PEREA AND THE TRANSJORDAN. Across the Jordan, the country stretching away east and north almost to the gates of Damascus was only in part a division of the Holy Land. It was roamed over by wild and scattered tribes, forefathers of the freebooting Bedouins of our own times, who had no share in the religious convulsions which we are going to narrate. To the Jews these people were like a thorny wilderness enclosing a fruitful vine- yard. Exception, however, must be made in favor of the region just east of the river lying between the Lake of Genesareth and the Dead Sea, and called the Perea. In spite of a sprinkling of pagans, its in- habitants were Israelites, fervent in their observance of the law of Moses. Their country was the land of Galaad, the native land of mighty EHas the Thesbite. Through the mountain pass- es of the Perea the twelve tribes had come out of the desert to the banks of the - _~^ Jordan, and it had been as- ^4^' signed to the tribes of Reuben and Gad as their portion of Israel's heritage a stalwart people, ever ready to change the shepherd's crook for the Bedouin's lance in defence of the nation or of its God GATE OF DAMASCUS. THE PEREA, TRANSJORDAN, AND SAMARIA. 9 Jehovah. There, too, in Mount Phogor, the heathen Balaam, having come out to curse the hosts of Israel, was forced by the Lord to bless them. Mount Nebo, also, was there, from whose summit Moses had re- joiced in the blessed sight of the Land of Promise, and seemed still to watch over the peo- ple of God and to renew the prophecy of a Saviour. SAMARIA. West of the Jordan, and bounded north and south by Galilee and Judea, was a little country called Samaria. Its people professed the Mosaic law, but were completely severed from the Jews, who hated them worse than swine-flesh and rated them lower than the heathen. BEDOUIN SHEPHERD They were of mingled Hebrew and pagan blood, being remnants of the original Israelites of the region who escaped the Babylonian captivity, but who were ab- sorbed into Assyrian colonies planted among the hills of Bphraim. The Samaritans gave back hate for hate. Masters of the best route from Galilee to Jerusalem, they molested the pilgrims on their jour- neys to and from the Holy City, often forcing them to take the roundabout way beyond the Jordan. Secretly they penetrated into the Temple and pol- luted the holy places ; they had a rival temple on Mount Garizim, in which ministered a schismatical priesthood. They rejected many books of the Hebrew Scriptures, holding only to the Pentateuch, of which they claimed to have the only genuine version. Mon-. grel in race, they were also mixed in religion ; for if they adored Jehovah, they also honored the pagan gods midway, as our Saviour placed them, between TOWER OF BETHEL. 10 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. the Jews and the heathen, saying to His Apostles : " You shall be witnesses of Me in Jerusalem and Judea, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth." Their chief city was Sichem, placed between Mounts Garizim and Ebal. Everywhere Samaria was sanctified by holy memories. Near Sichem, Abraham had sojourned; close at hand was Jacob's well; Josue had died in this vicinity, leaving to his peo- ple his wonderful testament. A little to the north of Sichem was the city of Samaria, in later times called Sebaste, and rebuilt and beautified by Herod the Great ; it had been in earlier ages the capital of the wicked race of Israel's kings. From their north- ern border the Samaritans looked across the plain of Esdrelon and beheld the lofty cliffs of Carmel, the place of prayer for great EHas. Near their southern limit was Siloh, where the Ark of the Covenant had so long been deposited ; and near by was Bethel, where Jacob had his vision of the heavenly ladder and had wrestled with the angel. GALILEE. North of Samaria lay Galilee of the Gentiles, so called from its occupancy during many generations by pagan communities, only partially driven out by the Machabees. It embraced the ancient territory of the tribes of Issachar, Zabulon, Aser, and Nephtali. .In its interior districts the population was genuinely Hebrew, but its capital, the city of Tiberias, on the shore of L,ake Genesareth, was Gentile in race and religion and Greek in life and manners ; the same GALILEE. ii may be said of some other scattered communities. But the country people and the dwellers in many of the smaller cities were full-blood descendants of Abra- ham. Yet their brethren in Judea looked upon the Galileans almost as half-caste, ridiculed their barbar- ous accent and their rustic manners, and at best patronized them as rough country cousins. Neverthe- less, they were loyal children of Israel and a sturdy, handsome race besides. They were faithful to God and to their national traditions, brave in battle, in- dustrious and thrifty in time of peace. Their land, everywhere beautiful, was mostly fertile, though the northern part was broken by wooded hills and ravines, often the refuge of bandits and sometimes of insur- gents. About the Lake of Genesareth Galilee was like a beautiful garden, the climate favoring all the products of the temperate, and many of the tropical zone, amid the most radiant beauty of landscape and under a genial sky ; answering the prophetic blessings of Moses upon its early Hebrew owners, the tribes of Aser and Zabulon. The high road from the Mediter- ranean to Damascus and inner Syria passed across Galilee and around the north end of Lake Genesareth, taking in Tiberias and Capharnaum. This artery of trade was of no small benefit to the Galileans in a material point of view and increased the population of their country; but it did not spoil their virtue. Nothing could spoil this strong race, in which both patriotism and religion sprang into active life from the same deep-planted root love of the law of Moses. Every rood of ground furnished heroic memories to nourish these noble sentiments. The Plain of Esdre- lon told of Gedeon's battle with the Madianites, of Saul's victory over the Philistines, of Achab's over the Syrians ; every hill and valley and stream of Gali- 12 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. lee was sanctified as a memorial of some achieve- ment of the heroes of old for God and country. The valor of the stalwart tillers of this holy soil is wit- nessed not only by Josephus but by the Roman annal- ist Tacitus ; a warlike quality too often led astray into foolhardy and disastrous insurrections. The Messias chose this portion of the people of Israel as his kinsfolk, for they were the best type of Israelites. They were free from the morbid scrupulos- ity of the Pharisees as well as from the pagan im- morality and scepticism which stained the Sadducees. They assembled every Sabbath in their synagogues and listened reverently to their Rabbis expounding the religion of their forefathers, to which they were enthusiastically devoted. Into the gates of the Holy City their dusty caravans were seen passing at every great festival time. Meanwhile their contact with the Gentiles, if it had not corrupted their manly nature and primitive morality, had yet helped them to a broader view of religious questions, and they were less fanatical in the observance of petty details of re- ligious practice than the greater part of their brother Israelites. THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES. Among all the people of Israel the opening of the Christian era was an epoch of reviving religious fervor and patriotic sentiment. In the family circle as well as in synagogues, on the streets and in the fields and workshops, the common topic was a mingled praise of the law of Moses and lamentation over the enslavement of the nation. Unfortunately, this move- ment of minds was not well directed ; it fell under control of a powerful school of rigorists called Phari- sees. These obtained a mastery over the people by THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES. their zeal for God and country, but moved them rather to a minute observance of the external pre- scriptions of the law than to a more reasonable cul- tivation of its spirit They enforced a whole system of religious practices as tests of orthodoxy, many of them the mere inventions of an ingenious ritualism, others extravagant interpretations of the Mosaic forms. They assumed to be spokesmen of the Deity and final judges of all questions of the Jewish religion. They crushed out all liberty of spirit by their author- ity, which was as imperious as their rulings were subtle and narrow. To them, however, and to their associates the Scribes learned copyists and expositors of the Scriptures the people reverently looked for guidance. They were the only leaders who believed in God and His law ; yet they who looked to them for the bread of life were too often fed with husks of ritualism. Fasts were imposed wholly without warrant in the law, postures at prayer, ablutions, religious amulets, exorbitant tithes a whole network of painful duties binding as strictly as the Decalogue, too complex to be even easily learned and impossi- ble of fulfilment. This it was that produced the condition of cen- soriousness and hypocrisy which we shall find our Saviour so often condemning. As might be expected, a vio- lent revolt against this enslave- ment of the religious spirit pro- duced a class precisely the re- verse of the Pharisees. The Sad- ducees threw off not merely the innovations of the Pharisees, but 14 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. even the valid observances of the Mosaic law. They scoffed, too, at the separatist principles of the Pharisees, mingled freely with pagans and fol- lowed their manner of living, frequenting even their lascivious public shows. They lived an easy life ; they sought an easy way of deciding religious ques- tions. They very commonly denied the immortality of the soul and the reality of a w r orld of spirits, pro- fessing to believe in the Deity only, and that in the vaguest terms possible. Politically they were the willing tools of the Romans, and of Herod the Great and his sons. They were not popular with the masses of the people, who always love and follow fervent spirits. The Sadducees were comparatively few in number, and were of the richer class, having fattened on the favor of the public authorities. THE SYNAGOGUES AND THE SANHEDRIN. Every Jewish community throughout the land had at least one synagogue, which was the usual place of public worship and Scripture exposition. Each synagogue was governed by a body of elders, a chief or ruler, a master of cere- monies and a head usher, and these sent their representatives to the Sanhedrin. Of this body, formerly so powerful, the High-Priest was president. It had seven- ty-one members, made up of the Chief Priests or heads of the sacerdotal classes, together with delegates from the elders of the synagogues and representatives from the college or association of the Scribes. All that survived of national dignity in Israel was represented by the A PHARISEE. Sanhedrin, once in plenary possession THE ROMAN PO WER IN PALESTINE. 1 5 of the executive and judicial authority over the nation. By its own connivance and consent the Romans had nullified its authority and even usurped its functions. THE ROMAN POWER IN PALESTINE. About two generations before the birth of Christ the Roman general Pompey had captured Jerusalem, slain the priests, profaned the Holy of Holies, appointed his creature Hyrcanus ethnarch, and made the coun- try part of the Roman province of Syria. Under Julius Caesar, Herod, surnamed the Great, a Gentile of Jewish faith, was appointed tetrarch of Judea, and by Antony and Octavius was made king, in vassalage, of course, to Rome. He is one of the most cruel monsters known to history, or even fable. Among his undoubted crimes are unheard-of oppression and massacre of the people, murder of his nearest kindred, and obtrusion of his creatures into the Sanhedrin and high-priesthood. His usurpation was perfect as far as suppression of Jewish liberty was concerned, while he in turn was most slavishly subservient to Rome. Upon his death, which happened shortly after our Saviour's birth, Rome divided his kingdom among his sons : Archelaus was made eth- narch of Judea, Herod Antipas tetrarch of Galilee and the Perea, Herod Philip tetrarch of Batanea and Trachonitis the region lying to the north of Lake Genesareth all strictly subject to Rome. Archelaus was deposed in the tenth year of his reign and his territory annexed to the Roman LAMP USED IN SYNAGOGUE, province of Syria. Herod Philip 16 LIFE OP JESUS CHRIST. was generally a good ruler ; lie survived our Lord's mission only a few years. Herod Antipas was cruel, impious, and licentious ; he is the Herod who mur- dered John the Baptist, and to whom Pontius Pilate sent our Saviour on Good Friday. He was finally deposed by the Hmperor Caligula and died in exile. These were some of the steps of the Roman colossus towards the entire extinction of Jewish independence and liberty. Another and a notable one was the imperial census taken at our Saviour's birth under "Coponius, Sulpitius Quirinus being proconsul of all Syria. Two insurrections followed, and then the coun- try was more closely incorporated into the empire. A temporary relief was felt under the procurators Ambivius, Anius Rufus, and Valerius, who ruled with moderation. But under their successor, Pontius Pilate, who was appointed about five years prior to our Saviour's public ministry, the Jewish people were made subject to the Roman officials in every detail of government. The Roman procurator was master of life and death, being the chief judicial as well as administrative officer in the land. He was backed by a full military equipment, the Roman legions having detachments in every strong place and a large garrison not only at the official capital, Csesa- rea on the Mediterranean, but also in Jerusalem. Roman tax-collectors were at the gates of every town, and the tribute was rigorously exacted. In the heart's core of the venerable theocracy, the Holy City itself, the foreign domination was centred, supervising and completing the political disintegration of Israel. The idolatrous Roman procurator could at his caprice interfere with the divine sacrificial worship of the Temple, and he did not fail to do so, using the priesthood as an instrument for the people's sub- THE ROMAN PO WER IN PALESTINE. 17 jection. The deep religious sentiment of the Jews, ingrained by racial tradition, by education, by the sincerest personal conviction, made the doctrine and the worship of the Temple the supreme power of the nation, and the Romans knew we|l that they must secure the leaders of the priesthood L they would maintain their supremacy. Therefore, four- "^ teen years after our Saviour was born, the Roman governor, Valerius Gratus, intruded a spurious High- Priest into the Temple in place of Annas, the legitimate one. Withdn four years two others were successively intruded, until, in spite of all protests of the people, one was found base enough to hold the place under Roman favor for nineteen years Joseph Caiphas ; though, for all true Hebrews, Annas remain- ed the only lawful incumbent. We shall find St. Luke naming both of them as High- Priests, one being such by divine right, the other by the Roman usurpation. They managed cunningly to work together, An- nas being father-in-law of Caiphas. It was when our Lord began to preach that this lowest depth of degradation had been reached : three rulers in the politi- cal order, Pilate governing Judea, with his headquarters in Jerusalem ; the two Herods, Antipas and Philip, both slaves of Rome, having nominal authority over the rest of Palestine ; in the religious order two High-Priests, one real and secret, the other open and spurious. Could a worse condition of things be imag- ined ? And what was the hope of Israel ? It was the promised Messias. HEAD-PIECES OF JEWISH PRIESTS. TYPES OF JEWISH PRIES.TS. i8 LIFE OF JESUS CHh/ST. THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. Daily the faithful Hebrew, in his family devotions, prayed for the coming of his Saviour. In the public ceremonies of religion the sublime tones of the Mosaic liturgy eloquently chanted God's promise of a Re- deemer. Hence the strained look for His advent, especially at the opening of the Christian era, when the prophetic seventy weeks of years were nearly com- pleted. "Art thou He that is to come, or look we for another ? ' ' demanded the High-Priests of John the Baptist. Israel never ceased to hope. Whether groaning under persecutions or even scandalized by apostate High-Priests, the voice of the prophets, the last of whom was dead four hundred years, still echoed in the souls of the chosen people, still was implicitly believed, telling of the coming of the Saviour, the Desired of Nations, the Seed of the Woman, the Fruit of the Virgin's womb, the Lawgiver superior to Moses, the Child-God of the House of David. Whether wailing out his prayers in the Temple, or tearfully explaining the sacred promise to his children, or writhing beneath the heel of the Roman soldier, or wildly shouting defiance against the pagan stranger in bloody revolt, the true Israelite always trusted in the coming of his Messias. The people of God were about to be rewarded for having cherished this Grace of Expectation. Lonirltuile S3 II. THE WRITINGS WHICH TELL OF JESUS. ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES AND THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. HE first writings which told the Church about her Founder were probably the Epistles of St. Paul. Some of these, it is believed, an- tedate the earliest of the four Gospels. Throughout his writings St. Paul shows perfect familiarity with his Master, whom he had probably seen and heard in the flesh, and to whom he was drawn, after his conversion at the gate of Damascus, into an intimate spiritual union, filled with special revelations. From the divine pre- existence of Jesus to His guidance of the individual soul by His Holy Spirit, every principle of His re- ligion and many of the details of His life are narrated or expounded by this most powerful of Christian teachers. St. Luke, a disciple of St. Paul, has re- corded in the Book of the Acts the earliest public discourses on the life and doctrine of Jesus, namely, those of St. Peter and others of the disciples in the beginning of their ministry. These are brief sum- maries of the career of our Saviour, from His con- nection with the old Scriptures as the fulfilment of their prophecies, to His ascension into heaven and sending down the Holy Ghost, outlining His preach- ing, journeys, miracles, betrayal, accusation, trial, execution, and His resurrection from the dead. These witness the all-pervading knowledge of Christ and of His mission in the primitive Church ; but they are not the foremost sources of the Saviour's Life. Sur- passing all other evidence is the Gospel, the Glad 20 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. Tidings, consisting of the four narratives of Matthew, Mark, I^uke, and John. THE FOUR GOSPELS. Brief as are these narratives, their power over the human mind, especially when read by seekers after a better life, is a wonderful fact in literary history. No book but God's book could so master the upright heart as the book of the Gospels has always done. In language which is a medium of incomparable clear- ness, facts are recited and rules of conduct are laid down which have superseded all previous moralizings and philosophizings, and capped with supreme beauty all former history. Simplicity is their foremost literary attribute ; nay, literary defects are everywhere found, lack of artistic grouping, fragmentary jumbling of occurrences and precepts, memoranda of apparently chance conversations; yet the events are the manifest power of God. But Holy Church, divinely guided, could alone set- tle the question of their inspiration and authenticity. It is the divine and human character of Jesus Christ living, speaking, organizing, dying, rising and ascending into heaven, that is shown in these books. If God be King of men, He is King in the king- dom of books, and so the book which tells of the Son of God may well be God's. This explains the tears of penitence its reading brings forth, like the touch of the rod of Moses on the rock in the desert ; this explains the ever-increasing veneration in which the Gospels are held by the best men and women in all ages. This power of the Four Gospels began immediately with their publication. We find them unanimously accepted in the Church as the Word of God as early as any extant records tell of THE FOUR GOSJPELS. 21 the Christian people. Roman Africa is witnessed for by Tertullian ; Alexandria and Egypt by Clement; Irenseus received them from Polycarp and witnesses for Greece and Asia Minor; Justin Martyr, bred and converted in Syria, quotes them in Rome; all citing them as irrefutable witnesses of the Christian faith. The Church of the martyrs could not be wrong, all wrong, hopelessly wrong, in a matter of such vital importance. Thus the peculiar and undeniable power of the Gospels over men generally is illustrated by the veneration in which they were held in the heroic age of our re- ligion. But, furthermore, the historical and extrinsic evidence which links these books ANCIENT BOOK OF THE GOSPELS. to the writers whose names they bear is complete. Citations from them, attributing authorship to all the Kvangelists respectively, are found in several Chris- tian writers who were themselves disciples of the Apostles, such as Clement of Rome and Polycarp of Smyrna. About the 3 r ear 115 Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, a disciple of the Apostles, says that " Matthew wrote the Saviour's discourses in Hebrew, and each one has translated his text as best he may. As to Mark, he is the spokesman of Peter, and has carefully written down whatever his memory retained." If we had more than a small fragment of Papias, we should doubtless find his testimony to Luke and John. Oral tradition is unbroken in its testimony that th> present Gospels were originally the work of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John a form of evidence of conclusive force where the authentica- tion of a document, as in this case, is essentially joined to living faith, and in an organization like the Church of Christ created and perpetuated by the 22 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. living word of preachers. Christian tradition, both early and late, is universally in favor of the authen- ticity of the Gospels, as well as of their inspiration. In fact, every species of human evidence establishes the Gospels as the work of men who actually saw and heard Jesus Christ, two of them, Matthew and John, writing what they personally knew, Mark and Luke what was imparted to them by other Apostles. The Great Book of the New Law is not the fantas- tic imaginings of Eastern mystics, but compilations of exact history. THE GOSPEI, OF ST. MATTHEW. Matthew was a Galilean employed as a collector of the Roman tax a publican. He was a full-blood Jew, originally named Levi, and was converted by Christ instantaneously, being called from his toll-booth by the Master. His Gospel, mainly addressed to the Jews, is written from their point of view ; his Jesus is the Messias of the law and the prophets. On his opening page Matthew af- firms and proves the legal right of our Saviour to the sceptre of King David. The Evangelist centres in his Master the converging realization of God's prom- ises of a Lawgiver supe- rior to Moses, the Saviour of mankind and the divine- ly accepted Victim of their sins, the Judge of the world, whose second com- ing would finally complete THE CALLINO OF MATTHEW. the covenant. Hi$ witness THE GOSPELS OF ST. MA TTHEW AND ST. MARK. 23 to Jesus of Nazareth as the founder and organizer of a new and visible, though spiritual, kingdom, the Christian Church, is especially full. As to the date of the composition of the first Gospel, no one places it later than thirty years after our L,ord's Ascension, nor earlier than twelve. The primitive Church believed that its original language was Hebrew, but there are intrinsic evidences which have led many to suppose that it was composed in Greek. It is quite probable that editions in both tongues were prepared under the author's supervision : in Hebrew for the Jews of Palestine and in Greek for those of the dispersion ; that is to say, the numerous colonies of the Jewish people scattered among the Gentiles. THE GOSPEL OF ST. MARK. As to the Gospel of St. Mark: "When Peter preached in Rome, under the influence of the Holy Ghost," says Clement of Alexandria, "an- cient tradition tells us that his hearers in great numbers called upon Mark to commit to writing what they had heard. Mark was fully possessed of it because he had long been Peter's disciple." And Peter approved Mark's Gospel and author- ized its public reading in the assemblages of the faithful. That it was Peter's teaching was the unanimous belief of the ancient Church. Writ- ten in Rome, and primarily for the Romans, it was inspired to suit the temper of the imperial race, bringing out the personal force of Jesus and His miraculous powers. It is Simon Peter's sim- ple plea for the majesty of his Master, and its un- affected power and its tone of deep sincerity make Fac-simile of tr oldest extant mam scripts of the Go pels. The first is fro the codex preserve in the Vatican L brary. It is a r production of Mai xvi. 8. The second from the codex di covered by Tische dorf in 1859 at tl Convent of St. C therine, Mt. Sin; It is St. John ii Note the corre tion above line Both these codic date from the fii half of the four century. THE VICAR OF CHRIST. 24 - LIFE OF JESUS ChRlST. it the most vivid narrative of the four Gospels, though not the most detailed nor the mosi profound. John- Mark, who thus served Peter in preparing it, was a disciple of Jesus, or almost one, when yet a youth living in Jerusalem. Peter found shelter in his mother's house when released from prison by the Angel (Acts xii. 12). He was with Paul and Bar- nabas in their first journey into Asia . Minor, and was the cause of their separation at the opening oi the second journey -(Acts xv. 37). He finally became Bishop of the great Church of Alexandria. His Gospel, as appears from the Latinisms found in it and from other evidence, was written in Rome, in the Greek tongue, about the same time as that of Matthew. THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. St. Luke's Gospel dates from about the sixtieth year after our Saviour's birth. Its writer, as St. Paul tells us, was a physician, and a native of the city of Antioch, He was bred a pagan, and after his conversion became a well- beloved disciple and CO- ANCIENT EPISTLE, laborer of the Apostle of the Gentiles. In several ways his narrative differs from the other three, for he is neither an unlettered man nor a- Jew, but a ' Gentile whose ; style o'f : ; writing is -correct -and ; even elegant, and whose mind demanded a great complete- ness of proof before yielding religious belief. Yet his Gospel shows him as full of the Same unreserved faith as the other Evangelists. There can be no doubt that he wrote under the supervision of St. Paul, and when (II. Tim. iv. n, 13) the Apostle says, "Only Luke is with me. . . . When thou comest, bring with thee , . . the books, especially the parch- ments.,." he means the material necessary to aid his THE THREE SYNOPTICS AND THE ORAL GOSPEL. 25 Evangelist to prepare this Gospel ; to which he after- wards refers when he uses the phrase, "according to my Gospel." Luke does not claim more than the humble office of chronicler, addressing his narrative to a fictitious person: "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a narration of the things that have been accomplished among us : according as they have delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word : it seemed good to me also, having diligently attained to all things from the beginning, to write to thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mayest know the verity of those words in which thou hast been instructed" (Luke i. 14). Luke's purpose was a consecutive history, based upon the oral and written statements of eye-witnesses, of the life and mission of the Saviour, beginning with His family and origin and ending with His as- cension. Hence he exhibits to us the race of Jesus, His birth, childhood and home life, followed by His public career, death and resurrection ; subsequent events, namely, the perfect organization of His Church and the story of its earliest years being told by him in that wonderful book, the Acts of the Apostles. Thus his work begins with Zachary and the Angel Gabriel in the Tem- ple at Jerusalem, and ends with the en- thronement of the Son of Mary by the Apostles in the imperial city of the Caesars. ANCIEOT BOOK3> PEN8> m ^^ THE THREE SYNOPTICS AND THE ORAL GOSPEL. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the Synoptic, that is to say, parallel Gospels. This is because they are much alike in the form of 26 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. their narrative and the choice of matter. Of the different events described, forty-two are common to all three, five are common to Mark and Luke, fourteen to Matthew and Luke, only seven being Luke's alone ; but these are mostly of surpassing importance. Matthew has but five occurrences in his Gospel which are not in the other two, and M^k only two. In the account of our Saviour's sermons the parallelism is often literal. Various explanations are offered to account for this similarity among three writers whose tastes and personal qualities were so different, and whose com- positions were made not only without concert but under influences quite diverse from each other. The most satisfactory explanation is the simplest one. It is that they all drew from one and the same source, namely, the oral Gospel. The Synoptics faithfully put into concise but complete form the narrative every- where passed from mouth to mouth among the con- verts of the Apostles, who themselves had tacitly if not expressly agreed upon a history of the Saviour's life and teaching which should be per- fectly uniform in its general features while admitting of slight verbal variations. From the very beginning this must, in some cases, have been put into frag- mentary notes by both teachers and taught for pri- vate use. When the three written Gospels were officially promulgated, the devoutly treasured notes and memo- randa scattered everywhere through the Church were superseded. There remained the Glad Tidings written by inspired hands ; the never-to-be-superseded oral Gospel meantime remaining embedded in the foun- dations of belief, while expressly certified by the writings of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It is to the THE THREE SYNOPTICS AND THE ORAL GOSPEL. 27 timid attempts of other narrators, local and partial in their sphere, that St. Luke refers when he says: " Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a narration of the .things that have been accomplished among us," The explanation, therefore, of the synoptical char- acter of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, both as to resemblances and differences, is found in the single oral Gospel of which these Evangelists gave three written versions. The oral Gospel had been agreed upon by the Apostles while still resident in- Jerusalem, in which city St. Matthew put it in writing. St. Peter preached it in Antioch, where, doubtless, St. Luke first learned it ; and after he had become a disciple of St. Paul he wrote that Apostle's version of it. St. Peter bore it to Rome and there dictated it to his disciple St. Mark. The origin of the Synoptical Gospels, thus traced to the oral Gospel, accounts for the striking fact that the first three Evangelists are mainly concerned with the Saviour's discourses and miracles in Galilee, hardly adverting to His journeys to Jerusalem until the closing scenes of His life. The oral Gospel, from which they drew their mate- rial, dealt with the simpler principles of faith and the ordinary : rules of conduct in the Christian's life, being the heritage of the common masses of mankind; thus did our Saviour teach the vast crowds of country people gathered in the villages and on the hill-sides of Galilee, and thus did He discourse with His chosen fol- lowers in His familiar conversations. The doctrine is. indeed sublime in the highest degree, but not so mystical and tran- PREACHING CHRIST IN THE TIME OF THE APOSTLES. 28 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. scendent as that promulgated by the Master in the Holy City. Now, the lack of this teaching in docu- mentary form would have fatally injured our Saviour's teaching in succeeding generations. Therefore the Holy Ghost chose St. John, " the disciple whom Jesus loved," to supply the defect. THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN. Being of a naturally ardent temperament, this Apostle and his brother James were named by Jesus " Sons of Thunder." His father and mother, Zebedee and Salome, gave up all their substance as well as their two sons to the Master's discipleship, Salome becoming one of the great women of the Gospel. John was made instinct with the loftiest sentiments of which humani- ty is capable, having drank them in during his close companionship with Jesus, and afterwards with the mo- ther of Jesus, to whom he was given as adopted son and protector. With SALOME, THE MOTHER OF ST. JOHN. . . . _ . ' '- her he remained in Jerusalem after the Ascension and during many years of his apostleship, actively engaged in founding the Church in the Holy City, while the other apostles roamed over the whole world spreading the Glad Tidings. Tradition attributes to him that more perfect formation of ecclesiastical or- der and organization which history discloses at the end of the first century. The churches which others had founded he visited, being the survivor of all his brother apostles, setting in order and forming into a real spiritual kingdom the scattered believers in the Redeemer. He finally fixed his abode in Ephe- THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN. 29 sus, the chief city of Asia Minor. Under the Emperor Domitian he suffered a painful exile in the Isle of Patraos, and at Rome was miraculously saved from death in a cauldron of boiling oil, into which he had been cast for the profession of the faith of Christ. He wrote his Gospel about the year 80, after all the other Apostles were dead and their generation had almost passed away, long after the destruction of Jeru- salem and the final dispersion of the Jews. He died in the reign of Trajan, about the end of the first Christian century. Unlike the other Evangelists, St. John always aims at teaching the Divinity of Christ, or at unveil- ing the hidden motives, the primary causes of His works and words. His natural disposition was con- templative, his relations with Jesus were most in- timate, and the epoch when God caused him to write stood in urgent need of closer study of the divine personality of the Redeemer. Of all the disciples, John's gaze penetrated most deeply into the inner life of our Lord. St. John is a perfect type of the contemplative East. His deep-gazing Semitic soul sees the profound- est mysteries in a clear light, and discourses of the union of the Godhead with humanity with the same spontaneous simplic- ity as he narrates the light- est outward occurrences of the Saviour's daily life. He seems overflowing with the ideas of the Incarna- tion, God becoming man, man elevated to the Deity. ... JO HN m THE ISLAND OP PATMOS. 30 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. The other Evangelists, says Clement of Alexandria, have given us the bodily Gospel, St. John the spiritual Gospel. They have, indeed, shown forth the Christian faith by the events of the life of Jesus and by the plainer discourses of His mission, but St. John has revealed to us in a special manner the spirit of the Master. From the first words of his Gospel to the last we are under the spell of immediate contact with the divine generation of Jesus, as in the other Gospels we dwell more directly with His human nature. The providence of God reserved this Gospel to the last moments of inspired writing for special reasons. At the time it was written the Gnostics were propagating false mysticism, and in St. John is the root and branch, flower and fruit of true mysti- cism, union with the Deity through the Incarnate Word. Among Jewish converts the Ebionites were at that same time questioning the divinity of Christ, and here in St. John is the veil lifted, and the mystery of the God- Man dogmatically defined, elabor- ately and repeatedly expounded. St. John's is more a doctrinal than a historical Gospel. Yet he holds strictly to the chronological order of events, and thus often completes the narrative of his fellow-evangelists. The Messias, Redeemer, Wonder-worker, Teacher, of St. John is identical with the Jesus of Nazareth of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But in the Synoptics He is the people's preacher instructing the hill- folk of Galilee ; while in St. John He is indeed this, but above all He is the majestic and often defiant Master, disputing with the doctors of the law in the centre of Judaism, revealing the deep things of God to an audience capable of understanding them. Every- where in the Fourth Gospel we find the blending into one divine personality of the harmonies of the THE GOSPELS A TRUTHFUL NARRATIVE. 31 infinite and the finite. It is a figure in the garb of common life, but in every feature and tone and gesture revealing the credentials of the highest leader- ship. THE GOSPELS A TRUTHFUL NARRATIVE. We have already shown that the Four Gospels are authentic ; that is to say, really the work of the men whose names they bear. Indeed, as sceptical a mind as Renan's is willing to admit this. It is equally certain that they are a truthful narrative. One argument, and it is of decisive weight, is that no error or imposture has ever been proven against the Gospels. Could this whole history or any part of it be a lie and remain undetected amid the very people who were its contemporaries ? The Apostles were inferior to the learned class of the Jews as far as mental acquirements go : why were they not detected and exposed as frauds or fanatics? Why was no at- tempt made to do this ? Why have all subsequent attempts failed utterly to injure the integrity of their testimony ? The fact is, that their unsophisticated character made them the best witnesses. Meanwhile not one of them has the traits of a visionary. They write as only sensible men could write, calmly and earnestly, equally self-disciplined and enthusiastic, as became reasonable beings moved by intense convic- tion. They were too simple in the beginning to be impostors ; they were afterwards too powerful to be dupes. Another argument for their truthfulness is found in the writers' motives ; it is certain that the Evangelists had everything to lose and nothing to gain by writing their narrative. Their amazing his- tory could only end in persecution, fetters, torture, 32 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. death. Did they not know this? Did they not calmly state the Saviour's own emphatic prophecy of it ? Yet they wrote, though they were absolutely certain of writing their own doom. They were perfectly in- different as to what might happen to them, conscious only of two things : their own truthfulness and the resistless impulse from above compelling them to write. They left consequences to God, telling noth- ing that was doubtful, wholly unconscious of their audience. Furthermore, their own unfeigned religious sentiment, heard as an undertone in their every utter- ance, reveals their motives. Their evident love of God is in entire harmony with the divinity of the system they represent : their motives and their doc- trine are of a piece. The very fact that the Apostles could preach and write the Gospel is a miracle in it- self: Galilean peasants could never have stated, and repeated, and expounded so exactly and consistently the dogmatic truths and moral precepts of a highly spiritual religion without divine assistance without having been radically transformed into a higher order of men. Another, and to some minds a more conclusive, argument than any, is that drawn from the exist- ence of an overruling Providence. The authentic life of Jesus Christ and the summary of His relig- ious system are part of His mission. Hither God did not send Him, or God will make sure that He shall be faithfully made known to succeeding generations. If the teaching of this foremost of God's messengers is not accurately given in the Gospels, where is it given ? The mere suspicion of falsehood in the nar- rative would nullify the supremacy of Christ. Is it credible that faithless followers should be permitted by Providence to substitute their impostures for the THE CHURCH AND THE GOSPELS. 33 true teaching of the Being whom the mass of man- kind joyfully recognize, and cannot help but accept, as the highest representative of the Deity ? or that dreamers should substitute their ravings for His doc- trines ? The Incarnation is a bitter mockery to hu- manity if Jesus Christ be not wholly His veritable self, living and speaking in these holy books and in His Church. If the Church of Christ and His holy Gospels can be deceivers of men, then Christ in as- cending to heaven left us worse than orphans. " And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever." This Spirit of truth "will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you " (John xiv. 16, 26). And this interposition of the Divine Spirit the Apostles felt and affirmed as a transforming power sustaining them from the day of Pentecost (I. Peter i. 12) ; "as it is now revealed to His holy Apostles and prophets in the Spirit" (Eph. iii. 5). If God thus safeguarded the spoken word which flowed in a living stream throughout the world, much rather the written word, which must remain during the lapse of ages in the custody of His Church. THE CHURCH AND THE GOSPELS. L,et us say a word about the relation of the Church to the Gospels, which is that of a most intimate and inseparable union. Although the New Testament is not to the Church of Christ what the Old Testament was to the Jewish Church for that was a religion of a book yet the Holy Spirit gave us a priceless boon in the written word of E 34 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. the New Dispensation. Of course we know that the Redeemer of men and the Founder of the Church did not write any portion of the Scriptures ; He did not command them to be written ; of all the Apostles only six wrote anything now extant ; some of the most im- portant parts of the New Testament were written by men who were not Apostles St. Luke was not even a disciple ; the Apostles did not jointly and officially approve of it or any part of it, except in a vague mention of St. Paul's Epistles by St. Peter; the Gospels and other parts of the New Testament were produced at divers times and for separate purposes ; none of them explicitly lays claim to inspiration ; nor does any part claim to be conterminous with the oral Gospel which was the first in use. Of course, again, we know that the Church preceded the written Gospel ; the religion of Christ was fully organized without any written code ; the Christian -Brother- hood antedates the Christian Scriptures; preaching went before writing preaching and organization. Christianity, unlike Judaism, is not essentially a re- ligion of a book ; it is essentially a Brotherhood, a Church. To the Church the Scriptures belong as common property, not to individual members as pri- vate property. Hers it was to know their inspiration infallibly, hers always infallibly to explain their meaning, to superintend their distribution and per- petuation. The history of the New Testament in its origin, arrangement of its parts, and the belief of Christians in its inspiration, shows the need of the Church to establish the written truth of God among men. All this being true, we also know the inestima- ble uses of the New Testament to the Church in her mission to sanctify men's souls. This is .beauti- FOUNDATIONS OF OUR NARRATIVE. 35 fully described by St. Francis de Sales by the follow- ing illustration. He compares God to a painter, the Church to His brush, the Scriptures and divine tradition is the color, and the soul of man is God's canvas. He saturates His Church with revealed truth as a painter fills his brush with paint, and, just as the artist by his brush transfers his own mental picture to his canvas, so God teaches, guides, influences, sanctifies men by the wisdom and ordi- nances and graces of His Divine Son by means of His Church. It is from the Gospels, witnesses so true and so sacred, that we are to construct the I/ife- of Jesus, and almost exclusively from them ; not only because little of importance can be learned from pagan and Jewish sources, but also because the testimony of the Evangelists is incomparably the best that could be desired. The narrative, though plainly incomplete in many details professedly so yet, by patient com- parison of dates and places as given in the various accounts, is readily fitted into a complete history. At any rate, the effect on our souls does not depend on such questions as whether Jesus was here or there at this or that particular day ; we have a knowledge of all His glorious doctrine and all His wonderful deeds in fairly consecutive order. The lyife of Christ falls naturally into three divi- sions. The first is the preparatory and mostly Hidden Life of our Saviour, from the visits of the Angel to Zachary and to Mary until the proclamation of the Messias by John the Baptist. It occupies thirty years, and includes the two marvellous messages from Heaven, the Birth of the Baptist and of Jesus, the visit of the Wise Men from the East, the Presenta- 36 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. tion in the Temple, the Flight into Egypt and the massacre of the Innocents, and the losing and find- ing of the Child Jesus by His parents. The second part is the Public lyife of Jesus, the teaching of His doctrine and the organizing of His Church. In Galilee, in Judea, even in Samaria, we shall follow Him preaching the kingdom of God and working miracles, all appropriate to the good and evil tendencies which He brought to light among the people, as a physician develops the symptoms and discovers the health reserves of his suffering patient, prescribing His remedies of divine truth, and choosing for the perpetuation of His healing His staff of spiritual physicians founding His Church in the persons of His Apostles and disciples. At well- chosen times, Jesus will boldly advance His cause from Galilee and the other outlying provinces into Judea itself, and make Jerusalem the centre of His activity, and, alas ! the field of battle. Three times He appears in the Holy City. Once suddenly, at the feast of Tabernacles, when He proclaims solemn- ly His divine mission, quickly eludes the snares of His enemies and escapes out of the city. Again, at the feast of the Dedication of the Temple, when He publicly and more boldly reaffirms His office of Mes- sias. And again, at the last Passover of His life, when He enters in triumph amid the plaudits of the people, and ends all by permitting His enemies to put Him to death. But each of these manifestations in the city is preceded by journeys into the neighbor- ing districts of Judea, across the Jordan, and into Samaria, spent in mingled retirement for the sake of prayer and in teaching the people. So, there- fore, when the hour of His death sounded, Jesus had been seen and heard throughout all Israel. FOUNDATIONS OF OcJR NARRATIVE. 37 The third part of the Life narrates the end of Jesus Christ. The Divine Victim, delivering Him- self into the power of His enemies, is immolated for the salvation of the world : His enemies have gained the victory. But Jesus raises Himself from death to life, completes the teaching and organizing of His Church, and ascends on high to take possession of His glory. The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and their establishment of their Master's religion is the sequel. BOOK I. The Hidden Life of Jesus. 38 to 4* THE HIDDEN LIFE OF JESUS. CHAPTER I. THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST Luke i. 5-56. T. JOHN THE BAPTIST was the saint with whom it pleased God to close the older dispensation and its long line of heroes a saint whose virtues should be a worthy type of the ancient glories of Israel. His origin was from the purest sources of Hebrew holiness, the venerable couple Zachary and Elizabeth, and was intimately joined to the con- ception and birth of the Messias, of whom he was appointed to be the precursor. ' ' There was in the days of Herod the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zachary, of the course of Abia, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth. And they were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame." They were lonely in their old age, for the Lord had afflicted Elizabeth with sterility, among the Jews a mark of God's disfavor. "And they had no son, for that Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well ad- vanced in years." Zachary was a devout servant of the divine altar, far removed from the worldliness of some of his brother 41 42 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. priests and the petty externalism of others. He and his wife (who was a cousin of Mary of Nazareth) bore patiently the weary years of their childlessness. They had prayed earnestly for a son, and when God had allowed the time of child-bearing to pass away, they were submissive to His will. Their prayers and their patience were destined to be miraculously re- warded. It was to Zachary that it pleased God to send the earliest announcement that the world's redemption was at hand. In the performance of his priestly duty in the Temple he had entered the Holy of Holies to offer incense. This was a function which he must celebrate entirely alone and in the seclusion of Israel's most awful sanctuary, the multitude being prostrate in prayer without. TABLE OP SHOW-BREAD. We may well SU p pO se that God opened this true priest's heart to the entire race of mankind in pre- paration for his marvellous vision, but especially that his holy soul, forgetting personal unworthiness, ex- panded and embraced in its offering to God His own chosen race, upon whom Zachary well knew all other races depended for their redemption. As the fragrant incense ascended it bore his heartfelt petitions up- ward to the throne of grace. As Zachary stood in the holy place, at his right hand was the table bearing the loaves of proposition, and the seven-branched candlestick at his left ; immediately in front was the altar of incense, shining with purest gold, its door covered with a purple veil. Suddenly a flashing light dazzled and almost blinded him, at the right side of the altar, just beside the bread of proposition, stood an angel of the Lord. Zachary 's humility INCENSE-ALTARS. overwhelms him : is this a visitation for his sins ? CONCEPTION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 43 ' ' He was troubled and fear fell upon him." The angel speaks and fear gives place to a thrill of ecstasy : 11 Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son. ' ' As the angel goes on with the amazing message the aged priest's bosom swells with joy a man-child sent from God ! to be named John, Jehochanan mean- ing the favor of Jehovah ! More, oh ! wonderfully more : he is to be a prophet, another Elias, a leader of Israel, "to prepare unto the L/ord a perfect people." But the suddenness of the revela- tion, the ,great angel, the amazing promise it was all too much for even Zachary 's faith to accept with- out a momentary reaction. " Where- by shall I know this ?" he trembling- ly asked, " for I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." The angel simply insisted, " I am Gabriel who stand before God, and am sent to speak to thee." He deigned to give no further explanation, but struck Zachary dumb for his hesi- tation in receiving his message. It is noticeable that when Abraham under similar circumstances begged an explanation from God, he was given it and not punished for asking. Plainly, God is now going to do wonders superior to those of the olden time, and He will demand a more implied faith. ' ' And the people were waiting for Zachary ; and they wondered that he tarried so long in the THE VISION OF ZACHARY. And it came to pass, when he executed the priestly function in the order of his course before God, according; to the cus- tom of the priestly office, it was his lot to offer incense, going into the temple of the Lord : and all the multitude of the people was staying without at the hour of in- cense. And there appeared to him an Angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zachary seeing him VTJLS troubled, and fear fell upon him ; but the Angel said to him : Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard ; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shall call his name John : and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity. For he shall be great before the Lord : and shall drink no wine nor strong drink ; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb. And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he shall go be- fore him in the spirit and power of Elias; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people. And Zachary said to the Angel : Whereby shall I know this ? for I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years. And the Angel an- swering, said to him : I am Gabriel who stand before God : and am sent to speak to thee, and to bring thee these good tidings. And behold thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be able to speak until the day wherein these things shall come to pass ; because thou hast not believed my words, which shall be fulfilled in their time. 44 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. Temple.*' When he came forth they perceived by his altered appearance that some marvel had hap- pened to him, "And when he came out he could not speak to them, and they understood that he had seen a vision in the Temple." His voice was gone, but he managed to inform his priestly brethren, and through them the people, that he had been granted a vision from heaven. His return home to Elizabeth was a more joyous announcement of the great event. " And it came to pass, after the days of his office were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days Elizabeth his wife conceived ; and hid herself five months, saying : Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he hath had regard to take away my re- proach among men." But Zachary's punishment of dumbness (and, it is plain, of deafness also) lasted during his wife's pregnancy. Six months of Elizabeth's time had elapsed when she was visited by Mary of Nazareth, bearing Jesus in her womb. Mary came to wait upon her aged cousin during the time of her confinement, and also to confide to her the secret of her divine maternity. But as Mary began jj\ to speak, Elizabeth's child leaped in her womb for joy : the Messias had made Himself known to His precursor ; at a later day it would be John's high prerogative to make Jesus known to all Israel. Of what happened at this visit of Mary to the aged couple we will in due time tell more in detail. Suffice it to say now, that Mary found in And whence is this to me, that the paother of my Lord should visit me " (Luke i. 43). THE BIRTH AND CIRCUMCISION OF JOHN. 45 Elizabeth the sacred confidant she sought, and that she ministered lovingly to her during her child labor and at the birth of John. CHAPTER II. THE BIRTH AND CIRCUMCISION OF JOHN. THE CAN- TICLE OF ZACHARY. Luke i. 5780. How happily passed the last period of Elizabeth's pregnancy in such company, in the exchange of such tidings from above ! When her son was born this gladness was spread among all their friends and neighbors. " Now Elizabeth's full time of being de- livered was come, and she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and kinsfolks heard that the Lord had shewed His great mercy towards her, and they con- gratulated with her." As in the case of other great heroes of God's peo- ple, the Holy Ghost would be the precursor's god- father and would choose his name. "And it came to pass that on the eighth day they came to circum- cise the child, and they called him by his father's name, Zachary. And his mother answering, said: Not so, but he shall be called John. And they said to her : There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name." Not for earthly kinship was John named, but for the entire race of mankind, God's en- tire family. The writing down of the heaven-given name was the talisman that loosened Zachary's tongue. "And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And demanding a writing-table, he wrote, saying : John is his name. And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God." 46 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. Immediately John took his place as a child of re- ligious hope among the people. "And fear came upon all their neighbors : and all these words were divulged over all the mountainous country of Judea. And all they who had heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying : What a one, think ye, shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him." Our farewell glimpse of the beau- tiful old couple of elect souls is Zachary, all transfigured with divine inspiration, holding his sanctified child in his arms and singing the Benedictus, Mary and the other friends of the family grouped about him. The theme of this divine poem is God's constant friendship for His people, not forgetting the nations "that sit in darkness and the shadow of death." This hymn of praise and prophecy has ever since resounded in Holy Church. It is the refrain of every day's divine chant in all our clois- ters, and its tones of confidence in God are among the last echoes of the Church's prayer at the Chris- tian's burial. It is an outburst of true Jewish enthu- siasm, nourished by the hopes and promises of the Messias ; but it is also a song of great-hearted love to- wards all mankind, of promise for every child of man languishing in the shadow of sin and delusion. It ends with the manner of the new gift's distribution, which is not by the sword but by the ' * beautiful feet ' ' of those who shall publish the Glad Tidings in the ways of peace, THE SONG OF ZACHARY. And Zachary his father was filled with the Holy Ghost : and he prophesied, say- ing : Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people: and hath raised up a horn of salvation to us, in the house of David his servant : As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who are from the beginning: Salvation from our ene- mies, and from the hand of all that hate us : To show mercy to our fathers ; and to remember his holy covenant. The oath which he swore to Abraham our father, that he would grant to us : That being de- livered from the hand of our enemies, we may serve him without fear, in holiness and justice before him all our days. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High : for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, to prepare his way : To give knowledge of salvation to his peo- ple, unto the remission of their sins, through the bowels of the mercy of our God : in which the Orient from on high hath visited us : To enlighten them that sit m darkness, and in the shadow of death : to direct our feet into the way of peace. THE BIRTH AND CIRCUMCISION OF JOHN. 47 St. Luke now leaves John, to find him again thirty years later. " And the child grew, and was strength- ened in spirit : and was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel." Always in solitude have men of the nobler kind, found the fire which could best temper their souls; solitude is the school of the higher order of minds. The ideal leader of men is formed by God in the desert, where the in- visible world finds an accompaniment in visible nature solemn enough for its sacred lessons. To the wilder- ness, therefore, John was called, as had been called before him all the Hebrew prophets, whose glorious procession he was destined to close. 48 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER III. THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF JESUS CHRIST. John i. 1-14. As Jesus is both God and man, we trace His ori- gin, under the guidance of the Evangelists, to God the Father in the heaven of heavens for His divine nature ; and as son of Mary, we follow his genealogy back through King David to Abraham and Adam : Son of God and Son of Man. Sts. Matthew and Luke guide us in investigating the human sonship ; St. John was chosen by the Holy Spirit to establish in a special manner the divine Sonship. The teaching of Christ's divinity is not, however, the office of St. John exclusively, for the other Evan- gelists are one with him in this. But they were not so specially chosen to elucidate the supreme dogma as he who was by excellence the beloved disciple. They wrote, as we have seen, very many years before he did and during a period when the main purpose of the Church was the conversion of the Jews, fiercely suspi- cious of what might be hurtful to monotheism. Yet with the Synoptics Jesus is God : Emmanuel, which is God with us ; Son of God without restriction of meaning, and in a manner essentially above the usual meaning of the term as applied to holy men. They aimed at forcing the Jews to bring out the divinity of Christ for themselves, using such terms, and es- pecially applying the prophecies about the Messias in such a sense, as to suggest the divinity to a think- ing mind. Meantime the oral Gospel was everywhere among the converts ; the living word of every teacher continually pressed home this great truth with full explanations. When John wrote, the time was ripe THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF JESUS CHRIST. 49 for all, even foes of the Church, to know her funda- mental doctrine in its integrity, as, indeed, all who had been baptized had known and believed it already. And we shall do well ever to bear in mind the union of the divine and human natures in the one divine person of Jesus. This, firmly grasped, will clear up many difficulties in the amazing life we are to study, and will guide us securely into the secret of when to strive to imitate Jesus and when simply to adore Him. The Greek term Logos, "the Word," is what served St. John in telling the Jews of the Dispersion about our Saviour's divine nature, for it was an expression used in their Greek version of the Scripture (Prov. viii.) It meant to them the uncreated wisdom of the Deity. In the beginning God was the Un- created Wisdom before all time, and therefore eternal. But this God, God the Word, was also with God. Now, to be with God is to be distinct from God; therefore God is both God the Word and God the Father. Yet is there in these two persons but one God- head, for St. John not only says "the Word was with God " but also "the Word was God." The Word or Son, though a Divine Person, distinct from the Father, is none the less in essence one with Him, a different person of the one same being, consubstantial that is to say, of one substance with the Father. Of this uncreated and eternal Son of God does St. John say, "The Word was made Flesh." "THE WORD WAS GOD." In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him : and without him was made nothing that was made. In him was life ; and the life was the light of men : and the light shineth in darkness ; and the darkness did not com- prehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men might believe through him. He was not the light, but was to bear witness of the light. That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him ; and the world knew him not. He came unto his own ; and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them he gave power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name : Who are born, not of blood, nor < f the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us : and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 50 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. We shall often find in the Gospels the doctrine of the Third Person of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost,- the Uncreated and Eternal Love of God, as the Son is the Uncreated and Eternal Wisdom. Thus we have the revelation of the fundamental Christian doc- trine of the Trinity, one God in three divine persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Word is light and life. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men," "enlightening every man that cometh into this world." If any man is not enlightened, he is like a blind man at midday; if he cannot see, the fault is not in the sunshine but in his darkened eyes. That all men might see and follow the light, "the Word was made flesh." They then saw His glory, ' ' the glory of the only begotten of the Father," the glory of grace from God, and of truth overflowing from God into men's souls. The Evangelist St. John was himself of those who with their own eyes saw the divine and eternal Word in the flesh as a man sees his own brother. He it is who so faithfully narrates the union of each soul with God through Christ the birth of the soul of man into the new life of light and virtue, elevating it into a condition altogether above human knowledge ancf human goodness, being a condition natural not to men but to God, "born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." As this partaking of God is our divine genealogy by adoption, so it is that of Christ by nature. He is essentially God and the Son of God, not created but born of the Father before all ages : God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. His divine origin is the starting point of St. John in his wonder- ful narrative. THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER IV. THE DESCENT OF JESUS ACCORDING TO THE FLESH. Matt. i. 1-17 ; Luke Hi. '23-38. THE GENEALOGY ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. The book of the generation of JESUS CHRIST, the son of David, the son of Abraham : Abraham be- got Isaac. And Isaac begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Judas and his brethren. And Judas begot Phares and Zara of Thamar. And Phares begot Esron. And Esron begot Aram. And Aram begot Amina- dab. And Aminadab begot Naas- son. And Naasson begot Salmon. Arid Salmon begot Booz of Rahab. And Booz begot Obed of Ruth. And Obed begot Jesse. And Jesse begot David the king. And David the king begot Solomon, of her that had been the wife of Urias. And Solomon begot Roboam. And Roboam begot Abia. And Abia begot Asa. And Asa begot Josa- phat. And Josaphat begot Joram. And Joram begot Ozias. And Ozias begot Joatham. And Joa- tham begot Achaz. And Achaz be- got Ezechias. And Ezechias begot Manasses. And Manasses begot Amon. And Amon begot Josias. And Josias begot Jechonias and his brethren in the transmigration of Babylon. And after the transmi- gration of Babylon, Jechonias begot Salathiel. And Salathiel begot Zorobabel. And Zorobabel begot Abiud. , And Abiud begot Eliacim. And Eliacim begot Azor. And Azor begot Sadoc. And Sadoc be- got Achim. And Achim begot Eliud. And Eliud begot Eleazar. And Eleazar begot Mathan. And Mathan begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born JESUS, who is called CHRIST. So all the genera- tions from Abraham to David are fourteen generations. And from David to the transmigration of Babylon are fourteen generations : and from the transmigration of Babylon to Christ are fourteen generations. THE GENEALOGY ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. JESUS being (as it was supposed) the son of Joseph, who was of Heli, who was of Mathat, who v/as of Levi, who was of Melchi, who was of Janne, who was of Joseph, who was of Mathathias, who was of Amos, who was of Na- hum, who was of Hesli, who was of Nagge, who was of Mahath, who was of Mathathias, who was of Semei, who was of Joseph, who was of Juda, Who was of Joanna, who was of Reza, who was of Zorobabel, who was of Salathiel, who was of Neri, who was of Melchi, who was of Addi, who was of Cosan, who was of Helmadan, who was of Her, who was of Jesus, who was of Eliezer, who was of Jorim, who was of Mathat, who was of Levi, who was of Simeon, who was of Judas, who was of Joseph, who was of Jona, who was of Eliakim, who was of Melea, who was of Menna, who was of Mathatha, who was of Nathan, who was of David, who was of Jesse, who was of Obed, who was of Booz, who was of Salmon, who was of Naasson, who was of Aminadab, who was of Aram, who was of Esron, who was of Phares, who was of Judas, who was of Jacob, who was of Isaac, who was of Abraham, who was of Thare, who was of Nachor, who was of Sarug, who was of Ragau, who was of Phaleg, who was of Heber, who was of Sale, who was of Cainan, who was of Arphaxad, who was of Sem, who was of Noe, who was of Lamech, who was of Mathusale, who was of Henoch, who was of Jared, who was of Malaleel, who was of Cainan, who was of He- nos, who was of Seth, who was of Adam, who was of God. 52 LIFE OP J&SUS CHRIST. Both St. Matthew and St. Luke trace our Saviour's lineage through His foster-father St. Joseph, because he and Mary were both of the family of David, and because it was customary to record the family pedigree by the male members. These two tables, though both were probably taken from official records, appear different from each other. In one Joseph is named son of Heli, and in the other son of Jacob. An explanation commonly offered is that Heli and Jacob were brothers, and that Joseph was son of Jacob, who died and left Joseph to be adopted by Heli : thus Joseph was son of Jacob by nature and of Heli by adoption. Other differences in these lists of progenitors are accounted for by omissions of various names by the Evangelists, for it was customary among the Jews to give the titles of father and son to any persons in direct descent, even though several generations re- moved from each other; as, for example, the Messias was always named Son of David. At all events, Mary has for Jesus the office of both human father and mother, and in tracing her descent (which is also that of Joseph) every requirement of genealogy is fulfilled. Hence St. Matthew, in dis- tinctly stating her marital relation to Joseph, couples her name with his in the table of descent : ' * And Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ." It may be surmised that St. Matthew, anxious to preserve the legal conditions, had obtained his record from the survivors of Joseph's family ; and that St. Luke obtained his from Mary herself, as the first chapters of his narrative show an intimate communion with her. Also we notice that his Gospel, pretty cer- tainly that spoken of by St. Paul as "my Gospel," THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS CHRIST. 53 like the writings of that Apostle himself, traces the descent of the Saviour not only back to Abraham, the father of the faithful, but to God the Father of all mankind. Jesus is not only the son of Abraham and a Jew ; He is the son of Adam and a brother of all men. His redemption is as universal as His family. Jesus was, however, a perfect type of the Hebrew people. The renowned race of Israel made Jesus of Nazareth its heir. The fulness of David's mighty courage was His; Abraham's peaceful contemplation of God and faith in the promises were His ; every noble human quality of kindness or loyalty or bravery or patience inherent in the Jewish nature flowed down into the heart of Jesus. In the supernatural order, all the predestination of God for this favored people was concentrated upon Jesus, together with the complete- ness of all possible spiritual endowments of faith and hope and love. The glorious memories of the heroic past shall be radiant upon the brow of the Hebrew Messias. Lowly as may seem His lot, the Man Christ shall outshine all His ancestors in majesty, a majesty only the more inspiring because it adorns the gracious quality of universal love, which is the paramount pre- rogative of His royalty. LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER V. MARY OF NAZARETH AND JOSEPH HER ESPOUSED HUSBAND. Matt. i. 1 6-1 8 ; Luke i. 27. HEN the first man, the Old Adam, was created, it was -by infinite power breathing spirit life into dead clay. " He breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul." When it pleased the Blessed Trinity to renew the race of man through the Word made flesh, the New Adam was not brought into existence by a new act of creation; but God breathes the breath of life into the heart of Mary of Nazareth, unites the divine life to her pure blood, and thus forms Jesus Christ for the renewal of the fallen race. The New Adam is conceived and born of the old race, but generated by an exclusive act of infinite power and love with- out the co-operation of human paternity. But God's loving condescension went even further than taking the same human nature that Adam had tainted by sin ; Jesus is not merely Adam's descend- ant, and that of saintly men and chaste women, with the greatest of saints for His mother ; but His blood is also that of apostate and idolatrous kings and shame- less harlots. By His Mother, however, that blood was passed to Him as if through a divine alembic, and cleansed till it was the immaculate blood of a perfect humanity worthy, if such a thing were possi- ble,' to be the humanity which should be associated with the divinity. This is the full meaning of the words of Isaias: " A virgin shall conceive and shall bring forth a Son, and His name shall be called Em- manuel, God with us." MARY OF NAZARETH AND JOSEPH. 55 Mary, Miriam, a virgin of the royal line of David, dwelt at Nazareth in Galilee. Of her birth and childhood the inspired history tells us nothing. A very venerable tradition affirms that her father's name was Heli-Joachim, and her mother's name Anna. She had an elder sister, named like herself Mary, wife of Cleophas, whose sons James and Jude after- wards became disciples of our Saviour. The fact that Zachary's wife Elizabeth was Mary's cousin, shows that she was not only of the race of David and tribe of Juda, but also had priestly blood in her veins. The very first mention of our Virgin of Nazareth tells us that she was espoused to Joseph, like herself an obscure member of the family of David. As to Joseph, what greater praise could be given to mortal man : he was made worthy by God's appointment to be the beloved spouse of Mary of Naza- reth. Both being descendants of King David, they were legally rela- tives. Perhaps Mary was required by the law of Moses to marry a kins- man on account of being sole heir to a little family property. Whatever this supposition may be worth, it is certain that Joseph was gifted by Heaven with the qualities which were best fitted to make him the virginal spouse of the very queen of all womanly perfection. That Joseph was an old man, or even middle-aged, when he married Mary, there is no evidence what- ever. God would not leave this sacred union open to ridicule, and A Virgin espoused to a man whose nam , , , , , . r was Joseph, of the house of David ; and th people laugh at the marriage of an Virgin's name was Mary " (Luke i. 27). 56 LIFE OF JESUS CHRI^S. old man and a young girl. It cannot be doubted that, if the divine purposes were to be attained, Mary's husband should be, and should plainly appear to be, something like her equal in natural qualities. His office was to give her happy companionship, lovingly to support her by his labor, to shield her from the breath of calumny ; and all of this could be best secured only by a husband in the bloom of man- hood. Inasmuch as it was by divine appointment that Joseph was Mary's spouse, that holy relationship would be to him the source of many graces. Among these, virginal chastity would be granted in perfection. How holy Joseph must have been that one man of all the world whom Mary was to affectionately speak of as "my husband"; of whom she should speak to her divine child as " Thy father." Was there ever a saint whose love was so deep and so pure ? What dignity but Mary's own ever surpassed that of Joseph, since to him was referred by men the origin of the humanity of Jesus "as He was thought, the son of Joseph." This marriage was an ideal one. We cannot for a moment doubt that Joseph in choosing Mary, and she in accepting him, following as they did a secret vocation of the most heavenly kind, were granted a perfect mutual affection. How deep the loyalty of such hearts, how perfect their devotion to each other. And how angelic a nature was Joseph's, to be a sharer in every joy and sorrow of the Mother of the Word Incarnate. We are not left in ignorance as to the process of the espousals of Joseph and Mary, for we know that they must have followed the Hebrew custom. Joseph sought the hand of Mary first personally, and then by presents to those who stood to her in the place of parents ; upon acceptance of his proposal,- he THE SON OF GOD BECOMES MAN. 57 took an oath of fidelity. Then a considerable period elapsed, during which this predestined pair seldom saw each other, though the law looked upon their union as settled, the parties in such cases often being spoken of as husband and wife. . CHAPTER VI. THE SON OF GOD BECOMES MAN. Matt. i. 1 8 ; Luke i. 26-38 ; John i. 14.. IT was during this interval that God chose the virgin spouse of Joseph for her unspeakable privilege of Mother of the Eternal Word. Living at Nazareth, either in her deceased parents' home, or with her sister, the wife of Cleophas, Mary passed her time as a perfect Jewish maiden. She was by no means a recluse, and as a daughter of the common people she sanctified the simple domestic cares and daily round of household duties. Content with these for her external occupation, her soul was absorbed in meditation of things divine. Apart from her es- poused husband, she seldom thought of men and their aims and ambitions, content with praying that God's will might be done in all things, rapt in the divine love and submissive to the order of life and the humble destiny which seemed all that was allotted to her a state of soul which is the basis of even the loftiest virtues of the saints. In her interior life she conversed with God and His holy angels in the most intimate communion ; her outward life was dili- gent attention to duty and loving converse with her kinsfolk and neighbors. How many happy hours did not Mary pass in reading the Scriptures rejoic- ing in the living faith of her forefathers, the longings 58 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. of the entire race for the Messias, the glorious deeds of the mighty warriors, the sweet and meek piety of the holy women of Israel ! little dreaming that the torrent of peaceful bliss which poured into her soul was the very essence of all those virtues of the ancient days. She could not know that the super- natural favors she experienced, the ecstasies, the inner voices of God and of His holy servants, the radiant light that illumined the sacred page, that all these, usual and almost commonplace to her, were the very perfection of God's gifts, and that they were granted to her that she might be made the most perfect soul that ever lived, because she was to be the Mother of the Incarnate God.* And now the fulness of time has come ; the world is to be redeemed. The same heavenly ambassador who had appeared to the priest Zachary in the Holy of Holies is now sent to the humble maiden in her chamber engaged perhaps in prayer, or just as likely with her needle or her spindle. In any case, God's messenger found her full of divine love and saluted * This blending of all divine gifts in Mary's soul includes her exemption from Adam's sin. The Angel Gabriel, as we shall see, will hail her as "full of grace," a title whose primary meaning is the dogma of the Im- maculate Conception. Says St. Francis de Sales : " God first of all destined for His most holy Mother a favor worthy the love of a Son who, being all wise, all mighty, all good, wished to prepare a mother to His liking," "and therefore He willed His redemption to be applied to her after the manner of a preserving remedy, that the sin which was spreading from generation to generation should not reach her. She then was so excellently re- deemed, that though, when the time came, the torrent of original iniquity rushed to pour its unhappy waves over her conception, with as much im- petuosity as it had done on that of the other daughters of Adam; yet when it reached there it passed not beyond, but stopped, as did anciently the Jordan in the time of Josue, and for the same respect : for this river held its stream in reverence for the passage of the Ark of the Covenant ; and original sin drew back its waters, revering and dreading the presence of the true Tabernacle of the eternal covenant." (The Love of God> Book II. chap. vi). THE SON OF GOD BECOMES MAN. 59 her accordingly as "full of grace." What amazement filled the humble soul of Mary ! She was frightened at the angel's apparition, and dis- tressed at his praise. What kind of visitor is this, and what kind of salutation ? What does it all mean ? The angel is a mighty being, but he is a gentle spirit too, and he re- assures the maiden, calls her famil- iarly by her name, and proceeds at once to the purpose of his embassy : * ' Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son ;, and thou shalt call his name Jesus "; and this was followed by the full statement of the Advent of the Messias. It is indeed the Messias J Mary hears that she is to become the mother of this great personage, the Son of God and the Saviour of men ! It is the Messias ! What an amaz- ; ing event ! What thoughts of love, joy, terror, thanksgiving, possessed -the soul of Mary at these wordsr-^-that : Jier womb should be the chosen feeding- bed for the 'root -of Jesse, from which should spring up the tree of life, the Saviour of the world, the Son of God ! How many holy mothers in Israel had dreamed of this honor and it had come to her, to Mary of Nazareth. Son of God ! Mother of the Son of God ! But of all her questionings, the one which first found utterance was her candid long- ing to save her cherished state of virginity, a state of life to. which God had plainly led her from her " THE WORD WAS >IADE FLESH." And in the sixth month the Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin es- poused to a man whose name was Joseph, 'of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the Angel being come in, said unto her : Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee : Blessed art . thou among women. Who, having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the Angel said to her: Fear notj Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son ; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High : and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father : and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever : And of his kingdom there shall be no end. And Mary said to the angel : How shall this be done, because I know not man ? And the Angel answering, said to her : The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee ; and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And there- fore also the Holy which shall be born" of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age : and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren : because no word shall be impossi- ble with God. - And Mary said : Behold the handmaid of the Lord : be it done to me according to thy word. And the Angel departed from her. AND" THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, AND DWELT AMONG US. 6o LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. childhood's days. "Then said Mary unto the angel : How shall this be, since I know not man?" Even her espoused husband Joseph, it had been agreed between them, should be to her but a reflex of her own virginity, all carnal union, by divine inspiration, totally renounced. Then the angel calmed her shrinking suscepti- -*N bilities, and revealed to her pure soul the mys- tery of her chaste motherhood : ' ' The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee, and there- fore the Holy [One] that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Here, then, God works by His Holy Spirit. "the Holy Ghost shall It was He who had spoken by the prophets in power U of OI the h Mos^ nd High foretelling this wondrous event, and who in (Luke i over ) shadow thee " primordial creation was breathed in fruitful power over the deep. The Spirit Creator penetrates Mary with the Deity, and generates the new creation in her chaste womb, arousing it into divine life and fecundating it with divine fruitful- ness. The first Adam, St. Luke tells us (iii. 38), "was of God." But he was of God's power and love alone, and could sin and did sin against his Maker. The new Adam shall be of God's very nature ; and shall show forth the soul and body of man under the personal dominion of God, sinless and incapable of sin, yet truly man. It is this amazing mystery that was first revealed to Mary and that she instantly believed on the word of the di- vine ambassador, demanding no sign, for she was under a spell of faith far passing the need of signs. But the angel gave her a sign, and one closely joined with the conception of the Saviour. "And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son THE SON OF GOD BECOMES MAN. 61 in her old age : and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren." The angel might well add, that "with God nothing shall be impossible," for he was witness no less than messenger of God's most stupendous work the union in the bosom of Mary of the divine and human natures in one divine person. And now Mary's mind was clear. God had sought her out a marvellous mystery, but evidently a fact, His purpose with her is the Messias. To yield to God's will instantly and instinctively is Mary's whole life. But there were some pangs of agony in her soul as she yielded : she not only loved God, she loved Joseph, she loved her kindred ; and can she become a mother without explaining her divine espousals with the Holy Spirit to her earthly spouse and to her relatives and friends ? But how can she explain her pregnancy to Joseph? Will he believe this unheard-of tale upon her word only ? The bare thought of being suspected of unfaithfulness to Joseph cursed, stoned to deatk as an unclean woman ! This was an awful dread ; and it was not the only terror that crept into her soul, for we may not doubt that God, whose ambassador had treated with Mary as if she were queen of earth, and of earth that had been made equal to heaven, gave her at the same time a vision of Calvary and of her motherhood of sorrows. But she was well chosen for her office of Mother of the Redeemer, capable of casting her lot wholly with the divine will for man's salvation, glad of the pain no less than of the joy. "And Mary said : Behold the handmaid of the L,ord ; be it done unto me according to thy word. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. And the angel de- parted from her." She does not meddle with times and moments, and she does not search into other 62 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. secrets. She leaves all to God by total abandonment to the divine will. She neither hurries on nor lags behind. And thus the Word was made flesh, and thus He began to dwell among us; it was the reception of the divine goodness by the highest faith, love, and obedi- ence on the part of men, represented by Mary of Nazareth. CHAPTER VII. MARY'S VISIT TO ELIZABETH. THE MAGNIFICAT, Luke i. 39-56. HAD all this taken place after Mary's marriage to Joseph she would, perhaps, have been able to over- come her lowliness so far as to pour out to him her inmost thoughts ; for a soul burdened with so great a mystery must needs have a familiar confidant. But the angel's news about Elizabeth pointed out Mary's confidant a woman, and .one, like herself, in preg- nancy, and, yet more, as in her own case, pregnant by .a miracle of God's power and love. Such a one can understand Mary, and so to Eliza- THE MEETING OF MARY AND ELIZABETH. . - - ^, . And Mary rising up in those days, went beth Mar y hastens. The distance into the mountainous country with haste, into a city of Juda : And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Eliza- beth. And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb : and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost : And she cried out with a loud voice, and said : Blessed art thou among women ; and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should came to me ? For behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed art thou that hast believed ; because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord. between Nazareth and the home of Zachary measures nearly ninety miles, forming a journey over hills and through valleys of at least four days, bringing the Mother of Jesus well south of Jerusalem to the priest- ly city of Hebron. It was not hard for Mary to find proper escort for her visit, as cara- vans were always going towards Jerusalem and the south. But we MARY'S VISIT TO ELIZABETH. HILL COUNTRY OF JUDEA. do not know who journeyed with her ; we know that when she entered that family she was overflowing with divine grace, whose glory, as , she saluted Elizabeth, shone forth with light divine. Mary was to the aged woman what the vision of the angel had been to her husband in the Holy of Holies. Since her miracu- lous conception of the forerun- ner Of God's anointed Eliza- beth had known that He must soon appear, but she had not the faintest notion where or how. The sight of Mary revealed it all, for the Christ- bearer was beaming in every loving feature of Mary's face, and quivered in the tones of her voice as she saluted her kinswoman. The dignity of Mary as the Mother of God made man, the promises of the angel to her, and the relation, of the two babes to each other, all was revealed. And not only to herself was this light given and this heavenly secret unfolded, but also to her unborn son. As Elizabeth was the first woman to acclaim the Saviour and His mother with the voice of divine worship, so was the son in her womb the first man to proclaim Him now, though yet unborn, and again upon the banks of the Jordan amid the eloquent tones of his penance-preaching. Just as sleeping nature awakes and smiles and worships at the first rays of the morning sun, so did John awake into reason and joy and adoration at the coming of the Mother of His Lord. "For behold, *' cried Elizabeth, "as soon THE SONG OF MARY. And Mary said : My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour, because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid ; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is from genera- tion unto generations, to them that fear him. He hath showed might in his arm ; lie hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy. As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever. And Mary abode with her about three months : and she returned to her own house. 64 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. as the voice of thy salutation sound- ed in my ears, the infant, in my womb leaped for joy." How very great was Mary's own joy to receive the first congratula- tions upon her divine maternity from both the Precursor and his mother! She sang her jubilation in her beautiful canticle, the Mag- nificat. It is little to say that the Magnificat is revealed, for Mary was ever in touch with God since she began to think and live and speak absorbed in the divinity of her Son. However deep is Mary's happiness as a woman, its utterance is that of a queen, the spouse of the Holy Ghost. In the Mag- nificat we hear a voice whose tones are like the music of heaven. Mary with one concentrated aspiration of her soul both praises God and thanks Him as if she stood proxy for the whole human race. Her soul and spirit, her consciousness of the divine immanence and her abounding love overflow, calm and majestic, in a celestial hymn of thanks and adoration. The more ecstatically does she thank God for His Son, because she can represent the masses of the people ; she, a low- ly maiden, humble member of an unknown household, affianced bride of a country carpenter, has been selected before the queens of the world to fill its highest dignity. " For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me : and holy is His name. And His mercy is on them that fear Him from genera- tion to generation." Although she knows that she is but the material from which has been fashioned THE MAGNIFICAT. 65 the masterpiece of the Divine Artist, she is also con- scious of her liberty and of the force of divine grace within her. Her future and universal glory is clear before her prophetic gaze. Again, as a child of Israel, she glories in the triumph of God's people ; she loves her nation, she is glad of its coming glory : ' ' He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away." The haughty Pharisees are rejected, Caesar and Herod are rejected. Men and women who are thought nothing of have been chosen as the first to see the realization of the divine promises. The Song of Mary and that of Zachary, the triumphant acclaim of Elizabeth, ring out with the dominant note of the Gospel: He that is nothing with himself and with men shall become everything with God. Before God will impart Himself and His love to us, we must show Him utter self-abasement. Haughty power is done ; the dominion of tyranny over men's souls is ended, however it may continue to torture their bodies. The infinite God lavishes His love upon the lowly, and that love is strongest in the yielding virtues of humility and kindliness and poverty and forgive- ness. These are the qualities which from henceforth shall be set by God as the test of the true Israelite. The Magnificat opens the windows of this chosen spirit, and allows us our only full view of that throne- room of our King. How tender the love, how un- affected the humility of Mary ! How spontaneously Hebrew is her poem, clothed in the lofty strains of the ancient songs of God's people ! often and lovingly re- cited by this meditative soul. How resistless the flow of that divine melody which swelled the pure bosom of Mary, and overflows upon our hearts in the Mag- 66 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. nificat! She does not speak, she cannot speak ; she sings. And the genius of the Hebrew tongue, like that of the race itself, easily passed from words spoken to poems chanted, when the soul winged its upward flight in prayer. In view of all this must we not wonder that Mary should have been classed by many dissident Christians as an ordinary woman, a mere necessary and vulgar- minded intermediary in God's work of redemption ? Mary sojourned in the house of Zachary till the birth and circumcision of John. She there enjoyed the sweetest comfort of communion with perfect ser-- vants of God, as well as the joy of ministering to her aged cousin during the pains of labor and childbed. And after the Precursor had been born and the fes- tivities of such occasions celebrated, Mary returned to Nazareth, to await God's will in the completion of her own motherhood and the birth of her Son. But the critical question of how Joseph was to learn all that had happened was still unanswered. THE MARRIAGE OF MARY AND JOSEPH. CHAPTER VIII. THE MARRIAGE OF MARY AND JOSEPH. Matt. i. 18-25 ; Luke i: 27. Upon the re- turn of Mary to Nazareth, Joseph perceiv- ed her condition to be that of pregnancy. He had known neither the visit of the angel nor the revelations at the home of Zachary. Having been ignorant of all, he was now thrown into a state of misery beyond words to describe. Nor did Mary relieve him perhaps she was hindered from doing so by a supernatural admonition, perhaps by her own shrinking humility and timidity to disclose so unheard- of a marvel. Joseph's soul was a prey to indescribable agony. He dared not doubt the chastity of his affianced spouse, to whom God had led him by a love so pure as to be an inspiration from heaven; yet the terrible reality was before his eyes. He was horrified at the undeniable physical certainty of Mary's pregnancy, and yet his soul was powerless to believe her guilty of the awful crime which this in- dicated. He dared not even ask her to explain her calm glances pierced him like fiery arrows of re- proach and yet there she was, a pregnant woman. In this state of mind he could not corrfplete the es- pousals and take her to his home ; he was just as unable to denounce her to the magistrates. He determined to adopt a middle course. He would 68 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. privately give her a release from their engagement, assigning no cause, and leave to Providence the clear- ing up of this excruciating mystery. St. Matthew briefly describes the hard trial of Joseph and its issue : "Now the generation of Christ was in this wise. When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child, of the Holy Ghost. Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to ex- pose her, was minded to put her away privately." He could not commit to human authority the decision of a case which he himself of all men the most vitally concerned could only refer as a deep mys- tery to the judgment of God. As to Mary, this was the first of the many sorrows which her high dignity compelled her to bear. Throughout her whole life the joys of motherhood and its pangs were seldom separated. If Joseph should repudiate her, she, conscious of absolute purity, would become an outcast among her sex, and her infant, the Son of the Most High, would be brought into the world under the deadly stigma of bastardy. Should she disclose her secret, she did not know if Joseph would believe her. And was it not Heaven's secret? Who knows but that her lips were sealed by the same power which had made her virgin womb fruitful. But what an agony that enforced silence must have been to her, and how heroic Mary's confidence in God to have been able to maintain it ! Yet it is not too much to say that the heart of Joseph was tried more painfully than Mary's, for the mystery was all revealed to her and was all hidden from him. To him the woe was overwhelming. God, therefore, chose to set forth His will not to Mary but to Joseph, and that by means of a vision. One THE MARRIAGE OF MARY AND JOSEPH. 69 night when he had fallen asleep, wearied with grief and doubt, the angel of the Lord was sent to him and spoke to him as in a dream. The angel came to him and saluted him with the great title of Son of David, called Mary his wife, and said, " that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." The mystery is thus given to him to un- derstand, and that by a special ambassador from heaven. Nor is this all. His own fatherly juris- diction over Mary's Son is dis- tinctly announced : ' ' Thou shalt call His name Jesus. For He shall save His people from their sins." How happy life seemed when Joseph awoke and realized what had hap- pened to him ! What a relief! What a heavenly consolation ! How sincere is his outpouring of thanksgiving ! How dear is Mary to God, must not Joseph have exclaimed, since He sends an angel to me to restore her to her original place in my affections! How good is God to me to not only clear away the fogs that ob- scured my love for my promised wife, but to make me the husband of the spouse of the Holy Ghost ! All is now clear before the manly heart of the young carpenter of Nazareth. He is to be the husband of Mary in the legal sense as well as in that of true marital love, though not in the carnal sense ; his office being to solace Mary with a perfect love; to protect her good name and the legitimacy of Jesus ; to reverence her as the temple of the Most High ; to guard and support her Son as if He were his own : and all this is made known to him as God's will, by the message ST. JOSEPH'S VISION. But while he thought on these things, be- hold the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying : Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son : and thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying : Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. And Joseph rising up from sleep, did as the Angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife And he knew her not till she brought forth her first-born son : and he called his name Jesus. ?o LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. of an angel. Gladly does he accept this double mission of marital love and angelic chastity. "And Joseph rising up from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife. And he knew her not till she brought forth her first-born Son." The attempt of anti-Christian writers to make out that these last words indicate that Mary afterwards bore other children, which children were Joseph's, is futile. The term "first-born son" was that applied to him "who first opened the womb," for such a one was by the law to be dedicated to God ; and even if he remained the only son, he was still named the first-born. St. Jerome in noticing this rule also shows that the expression ' ' he knew her not until she brought forth her first-born son," is a mode of speaking peculiar to the Hebrew language. " Noe sent forth a raven, which did not return till the waters were dried up on the earth "; that is, did not return at all (Gen. viii. 6, 7). And in Isaias God says: "I am till you grow old" (xlvi. 4). And in I. Macha- bees : * * They went up to Mount Sion with joy, and offered holocausts, because not one of them was slain till they had returned in peace "that is, not slain at all. And other passages bear out the immemorial and universal Catholic belief that Mary was always a virgin. The difficulty which arises from the naming of "James, arid Joseph, and Simon, and Jude," as being the " brothers of the Lord " (Matt. xiii. 55), is easily explained. They were sons of Mary's sister, the wife of Cleophas, otherwise Alpheus. Now, it was the Jewish custom to name first cousins brothers, es- pecially where one of them was an only son ; and thus these sons .of Mary's sister were styled brothers THE MARRIAGE OF MARY AND JOSEPH. 71 of Jesus, who was Mary's only son. A very conclu- sive proof of this is drawn from comparing passages in St. Paul and St. Mark. The James here in ques- tion was certainly James the Lesser that is to say, the* younger of the two Apostles of that name, for St. Paul means him when in Galatians (i. 19) he says he saw James, the Lord's brother, in Jerusalem, for he could not in that passage have meant James the Greater, or elder, because James the Greater was un- doubtedly the son of Zebedee and not related to our Lord at all. Well, then, it being established that the James who was the Lord's "brother" was James the Lesser, we are made certain by St. Mark (xv. 40) that he was the son of Mary the wife of Cleophas : * ' Among whom [the holy women] was Mary Magda- lene, and Mary the mother of James the Less, and of Joseph, and Salome." Simon also is named as one of the Lord's brothers, and of him Hegesippus, who wrote in the middle of the second century, affirms that he was the second Bishop of Jerusalem, and he calls him the Lord's cousin. If any other evidence were wanting to secure demonstration, it would be the act of Jesus Himself on the cross in confiding His mother to John as to an adopted son. If James or Jude or Simon were Mary's own children, this could not have been. If Mary had actual sons besides Jesus and these were His own apostles, Jesus would not have confided her to an adopted son and thus bitterly affronted them and injured her. It was not fitting that such a son as Jesus should be compelled to share His mother's love with others. He absorbed the entire motherhood of Mary. The union of Joseph and Mary in uncarnal wed- lock is the beginning of that marvel of our concupis- cent manhood, the celibate priesthood of the Church 72 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. of Christ. Love for Jesus and for His living taber- nacle, His mother, was to Joseph the passion of passions. As he served Jesus and loved Mary in severe chastity, so do the members of the priesthood serve the ever-present Christ and His living taber- nacle, which is His Church, in a spirit of joyful self- immolation, being so fascinated with this holy love that they forget the natural claims of flesh and blood. Understand the virginal spouseship of Nazareth, and you have the key to clerical celibacy. NAZARETH FROM THE CAMPANILE OF THE CHURCH OF THE ANNUNCIATION. JESUS IS BORN A T BETHLEHEM. 73 PLACE OF THE NATIVITY. CHAPTER IX. JESUS IS BORN AT BETHLEHEM. Matt. i. 25 ; Luke ii. 1-20. THE time for the birth of Jesus is approaching, and the happy union of souls between Mary and Joseph is followed by the necessary practical arrange- ments for that great event. God's providence now intervened ; instead of brr.:g- ing forth her child at Nazareth, it was the divine will that Mary should do so at Bethlehem. One reason for this was to fulfil the ancient prophecy which named that city as the birth-place of the Messias. An- other was that Mary might be saved from suspicion; for although a child conceived during the time of es- pousals was not illegitimate according to the Jewish law, yet it would have been a deep humiliation if Jesus had been born before the lapse of nine months of completed wedlock. In Bethlehem they were total strangers and there was no one there to calculate dates. Therefore did God at this time bring about the taking of the census of Palestine by the Roman authorities, which brought the Holy Family with the other members of David's house to his little city, sit- uated a long journey southward from Nazareth. The Emperor Augustus had at this time decreed 74 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. the taking of a universal census and the systematic taxation of his empire, one measure being necessary to make the other a success. The moment was favor- able. For the first time in ages the city of Rome enjoyed peace throughout its entire dominion, and the temple of Janus, the Roman war-god, was shut. Augustus had touched the highest point of his glory and might well begin to perfect the organization of his vast empire. The boundaries of the various provinces had already been fixed and published pur- suant to a decree of Julius Caesar made forty-four years previously. This census, therefore, would complete the systematic knowledge of the empire and its in- habitants, and facilitate the levying of taxes. Tacitus and other Roman chroniclers tell us of what must have been the written summary of this enrollment, a docu- ment made in the handwriting of the emperor, and after his death read, to the Roman Senate. That Palestine was included in it there can be no manner of doubt. Tertullian, who wrote in the second Chris- tian century, appeals to public documents of his day as evidence of the census in that country ; and his testimony is backed by that of competent pagan wit- nesses who wrote not long after the date of our Saviour's birth as assigned by St. L,uke. In thus choosing his city of lineage for his legal domicile rather than his place of birth or residence, Joseph availed himself of his privilege as an Israelite. The entire civil structure of the Jewish nationality was based upon the distinction of tribes and families. And Mary had her place in this choice, for, being as is more than likely without brothers, she ranked in pub- lic registers equally with male heirs in other families. Furthermore, it is historically certain that the Roman DAVID, tax fell upon women no less than men another reason JESUS IS BORN A T BETHLEHEM. 75 for Mary's enrollment. But the supreme reason is, that God would show by this providential journey to Bethlehem and the birth of the Messias there the descent of Jesus from King David. What was the precise date of this enrollment, and therefore of our Saviour's birth ? St. L,uke says that "this enrollment was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria," Does he mean Quirinus? There was such a man then in office in Palestine, only he was not governor but questor, or tax superintendent, of Syria. Many think St. Luke does mean this official, for as the census was taken with a view to taxation, Quirinus, who was high in the favor of Augustus, would naturally be given charge of it. The distance to Bethlehem from Nazareth is about eighty miles a long and painful road for a woman near her confinement. But in the Hast travelling is not hurried and the virtue of hospitality is religious- ly practised in favor of travellers. Nor can we be- lieve that the mother of Jesus suffered from the usual infirmities of pregnancy, for her maternity was every way miraculous. And what would not her soul, ever in contact with the soul of Jesus in her bosom, be willing to suffer, and how easily would it not master the bodily weakness of her condition ? Nor can we imagine a more perfect solace for every ill than the company of her husband. Filled with thoughts of the divine plan about her Infant and conversing happily with Joseph, Mary journeyed courageously forward to the spot named by the prophets of God as the place of birth of her Son/the Saviour of the world. As they neared and entered the land of J.uda she was refreshed with the memorials of Rachel, of Booz, of Ruth, of David, which were everywhere to be met with. They all spoke to her soul in salutation, in 7 6 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. encouragement, in joyful recognition of her Son. And that Son was not dumb to His mother's loving spirit, engaging her with divine words in heavenly intercourse. Every step she took the Maiden-Mother knew was a step towards the redemption of man- kind. On arriving at Bethlehem the Holy Family found the little city swarming with people, like themselves, come to the place of enrollment. The first arrivals overflowed the inns and every other lodging that was available. After anxious inquiry, Joseph and Mary must be content with an inn stable, a miserable lodging at best, and how much worse for a woman like Mary, about to become a mother. Such structures are seen in the East to-day, and they were the same in our Saviour's time. The shelter of the Holy Family was within a rude wall enclosing a space in which the horses or camels or asses of the travellers were usu- ally kept. One side of this poor abode was the wall itself,, against which a shed was built, a rough stable, without windows, the door opening on the stable yard. The humbler sort of travellers often made this a lodging for both them- selves and their beasts, especially in bad weather, forming a primitive company, and for the human mem- bers not a very agreeable one. If the yard were backed by a rocky hill, the little stables were caves THE BIRTH OF JESUS. And it came to pass that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augus- tus, that the whole world should be en- rolled. This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus the governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Gali- lee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Beth- lehem : because he was of the house and family of David ; to be enrolled with Mary his espoused V^ e > wno was w ^ 1 ^ cn ild. And it came to; pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger : because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country; shepherds watching, and keeping the night-watches over their flock. And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them, and they feared with a great fear. And the angel said to them : Fear not ; for behold 1 bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people. For this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying : Glory to God in the highest : and on earth peace to men of good will. . JESUS IS BORN A T BETHLEHEM. 77 dug out of the hill-side. In one of these, or some such humble shelter of men and beasts, Jesus was born. Here it was that Mary became a mother, first looked upon the face of her Babe, offered Him up to His Heavenly Father, pressed Him to her heart, gave Him to Joseph to embrace, suckled Him most lovingly, " wrapped Him up in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger" : then they both knelt down and adored Him. It was a very humble cradle for the Son of God ; but this monarch of the world will yet choose to reign from a throne so painful as the cross. In the minds of all the multitude of descendants of David in Bethlehem that night there were two great monarchs, the mighty Caesar Augustus and the terrible King Herod, the usurper and oppressor of the Jewish people. One of Herod's castles was not far off, and perhaps he was there at that very hour, feasting and carousing amidst his courtiers, whilst the King of kings is cradled in a manger. Bethlehem obeys Caesar Augustus and trembles at the very name of Herod, and has neither room nor bed, nor happy welcome, for the gentle queen who is come to bring forth her Royal Son. Yet in His birth-chamber, Beth- lehem's humblest lodging, He begins His reign over men's souls, a kingdom all ruled by love, ending in a conquest perfect in its mastery and joyful in its obedience. Whilst the earth was silent and without wel- come for the new-born King, the heavens were moved in their glorious mansions. If every door in the City of David was shut against Jesus, the gates of the Celestial City were opened wide and the sweet voices of angels bade Him welcome. One mile east of Bethlehem are the ruins of a church built by the Empress St. Helen, mother of Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy " (Luke ii. 9). LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. Constantine the Great, to mark the spot where the shepherds, in their rude tower watching over their flocks, heard the angels sing the first Gloria in Excelsis. "Behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them, and they feared with a great fear. And the angel said to them : Fear not ; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all people : for this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the In- fant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a man- ger." And then the angels chanted over the Child's cradle the hymn of reconciliation between earth and heaven. "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying : Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will." The shepherds were ravished with joy at this celestial praise of the Messias, which has given the note to the adoration of men ever since, is caught up again by the angels and passed from one order of the celestial spirits to another, and ringing back to earth once more, is repeated in glad- some tones throughout the whole earth. Thus the lov- ing, thankful, adoring praise of Jesus, begun in the stable by Mary and Joseph and echoed in the heavens by the angelic choir, goes on everywhere and for ever. Upright souls follow the guidance of God naturally and without hesitation. The angels are gone ; the ecstatic song is done. But "the shepherds said one to another, Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord JESUS IS BORN A T BETHLEHEM. 79 hath showed to us. And they came with haste, and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in a manger." It was not hard to find the Babe, for what other child was born in a stable and laid in a manger that night in Bethlehem ? How deep the amazement, the joy, the adoration of the shepherds, as they found the new-born Messias in His humble cradle ! There they saw Him ; and as Mary lifted Him up for their caresses, they beheld that sweetest of all pictures in religion or art or poetry, The Mother and Child. They paid Him reverence as He sat en- throned in Mary's arms, with Joseph standing by, perhaps also a few friends, humble men and women with whom our holy couple had made acquaintance on their journey. All the angels' words were now clear to the shepherds. "And seeing, they understood of the word that had been spoken to them concerning the Child ; and all that heard wondered, and at those things that were told them by the shepherds " ; for these eagerly related their midnight vision, and the song of the angels in the heavens. " Mary," meantime, * ' kept all these words and pon- dered them in her heart." What a book of divine wisdom was that heart of Mary, containing now the first pages of the New Law of Love, and afterwards all the pages of God's Book of Wisdom! As for the shepherds, they returned to their hill-side pastures, ' ' glorifying and prais- ing God for all things they had heard and seen, as it was told to them." Christian tradition insists that the birth of Jesus gave no pain to His mother; " There were in the same count shepherds watching 1 , and keeping tl night-watches over their flock (Luke ii. 8). 8o LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. and this is borne out by St. Luke's saying that Mary herself was able to fold His little garment about Him to "wrap Him up in swaddling clothes." No other hands were worthy to first touch and care for her Son than hers who had been made worthy to bear Him. The birth of Jesus was in the winter season, about the Jewish month Tebeth ; but the exact day it seems impossible to fix, or even the ex- act year. That it was about the Roman year 750 is certain. The many learned writers who have studied the question have by no means settled it : the year is uncertain, but is fixed within one or two of that above given, and the day near the end of December. Meantime the A sHEFHERiToF JUDEA. Christian people keep the traditional Christmas of their forefathers. CHAPTER X. THE CHILD JESUS IS CIRCUMCISED. Luke ii. 21. IT was God's will that the first drops of blood shed for our redemption should be an offering of obedience to the law of Moses. Let the old law go out with all honor ; let it enroll in letters of royal blood the name of the New Man, the new-born Messias. " And after eight days were accomplished that the Child should be circumcised, His name was called JESUS, which was called by the angel before He was con- ceived in the womb." John the Baptist's circumcision receives from St. Luke an extended notice, not only because John was THE CHILD JESUS IS CIRCUMCISED. 81 the Precursor of the Messias, and that his circumcision gave occasion to Zachary's Benedictus, but also and especially because John was essentially and entirely a subject of the Old Law, of which circumcision was the symbol. The Evangelist gives but a brief mention to the circumcision of Jesus, because in His case the King pays no tribute. He is superior to the law of Moses, which He came to supersede ; He is its institu- tor and the High-Priest of all its rites. Yet out of complaisance to it Jesus was circumcised. Circumcision was not performed in the Temple or synagogue, but in the private household of the family, so that our infant Saviour was cut and bled into the Hebrew religion in the humble abode to which the Holy Family had removed from the stable ; for it is very probable > that they had so removed, because when the Magi came they found the Child in a house. To administer circumcision was the prerogative of the father or mother of the child, not a sacerdotal office ; no doubt it was Joseph who drew from the veins of the Divine Infant the first offerings of redeeming love, that atoning blood whose very fever heat was love of mankind. The words accompanying the act were : ' ' Blessed be Jehovah the Saviour. He hath sanctified His well beloved from the womb of his mother and hath written His law in our flesh. He hath signed His son with the sign of His covenant, that He may impart to him the blessings of Abraham our father." And the assistants answered in the words of the Psalmist: "Blessed be he whom Thou hast chosen for Thy child." The name Jesus had already been given by the Heavenly Father in the angelic messages to both Mary and Joseph. This name is Josue in Hebrew, and was famed as the title of the son of Nun, the mighty wan LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. rior whom Moses macU* general-in-chief of th? Lord's people, and who led them over the Jor- dan into the promised land, a large part of which was subdued and occupied by them under his mighty leadership. Josue means Saviour, and its Greek form is Jesus. God the Father hav- ing bestowed the name Jesus, Joseph, whom Heaven had appointed to act as the Child's earthly father, carried out the divine purpose, and solemnly repeated the angel's words : " Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." The sacred records join another name to that of Jesus : the word Messias, in Greek, Christ, or the anointed ; the anointed Saviour of mankind is thus the Lord's full name. Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Mary, is the human being who is anointed with the divine nature and made a divine person ; also : Jesus of Naza- reth is the chosen King, as His father David was, and is anointed in token of His divine kingship ; and again : the word Messias, so significant to the Jews, concen- trated the meaning of all the prophets of old when telling of Israel's redeemer. Jesus Christ is and always was the only and full name of our Saviour. Ever since the primitive Church began to use it, it is the sweetest name and the mightiest BETHLEHEM FROM THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY. THE CHILD JESUS IS CIRCUMCISED. 83 name ever spoken. Under heaven there is no other name given by which men may be saved. God's au- thorized Saviour is the meaning of the name, prophetic as Joseph pronounced it, in actual, fulfilment as we know it, and to a degree beyond power of words to estimate. Ever since that solemn investment of the Divine Infant with His name and title, the lips of men and women and children have spoken the name of Jesus Christ in joy and sorrow, in faith and hope and love and penitence, in face of torments an'd in disdain of allurements, in the quiet of contemplation and in the whirlwind of temptation. The name Jesus Christ has been the watchword of all that was best in humanity, most virtuous, greatest, and most heroic. More and more that name prevails for all that is good and wise, and for the salvation of the human race. Thus was Jesus circumcised, and thus was the original purpose of that holy rite finally fulfilled, for Abraham and his race were marked with it as a token that the Messias was to come. It was a popular Jewish belief that at every circum- cision Klias the prophet was invisibly present among the ten regular witnesses, a reminder of the fiercest and most aggressive loyalty of the Hebrew to Jehovah. If this was true, Klias must have embraced the Infant Messias with loving reverence, and proclaimed that the outward mark of circumcision was now to be sup- planted by the inner character of divine sonship stamped upon the soul, no longer the scar in the flesh marking the true child of Abraham, but the soul's faith in Jesus Christ elevating man to sonship with God. THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER XI. THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. Matt. ii. i 12. After Mary and Joseph, the first to be called to the adoration of the New- Born were the simple children of nature : God has always preferred the men who plough the fields and watch the flocks and ply the tools of our common lot of labor ; the class to which Jesus and Mary and Joseph belonged. After them, the best fitted for supernatural faith are upright men of science. Hence, the shepherds were succeeded by the Wise Men of the East in paying homage to Jesus. Their country was Chaldea. In that country in former ages the people of God had lived in captivity, and their Scriptures must have been known to many of the more learned Chaldeans. Perhaps the Magi had received the holy books of the Hebrews as heirlooms from their fathers, and in them had learned the promise of a Redeemer. But it is well known that Zoroaster, their great philosopher, plainly taught that God would some day send a mighty teacher to man- kind, who would conquer evil and establish good in the world. There was ample material in all this for the THE A DOR A TION OF THE MAGI. investigations of scientific inquirers after truth, a class whose love of research is proverbial. But these men were not only enlightened men of science, they were also earnest and religious spirits, sharing in some way or other, we may well suppose, the Messianic hopes of Israel. God had sent angels to announce the Glad Tidings to the shepherds, a direct mode of com- munication fitted to simple minds and requiring no discourse of reasoning to understand. He acted otherwise with the scholars of the Orient. They were used to observing the heavens for the truths of science, a high vocation, and one which God would honor in an especial manner. They sought for natural truth among the heavenly bodies ; God spoke to them among the stars, and it was the language of su- pernatural hope. There is no valid evidence that the Magi were kings. They were ru- lers in the realm of intellect and priests of the temple of natural science. They came from I lie East Chaldea whence God had originally called Abraham. These souls were the elect amoi:g the Gentiles, representatives of one of the nobler castes of human kind. The brilliant orb in the midnight sky turned their steps towards Jerusalem, the one point, as the Magi well knew, in the geography of the earth that centred universal expectation ; and now, in the ever open book of the sky, they had a chart to guide their journeying thither. Great modern as- tronomers have endeavored, with some show of success, to prove that the ' ' star ' ' was but an extraordinary "There came wise men from the East to Jerusalem " (Matt. ii. i). 86 THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. natural phenomenon which God used for His purpose. But the only entirely satisfactory explanation is that it was wholly miraculous; this alone explains why the Magi, astronomers by profession, were irresistibly moved to follow it. This shining meteor of the heavens beckon- ed them on like the pillar of fire leading the Israelites across the desert. They remembered the prophecy of Balaam (Numbers xxiv. 17) : " A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall spring up from Israel." That star was indicative of the Teacher they sought after, and its apparition led them ever onward with steady light. They were not victims of the preposterous delusions of astrol- ogy, but reasonable men of learning, assimilating their natural knowledge to the supremacy of supernatural revelation. Scarcely any passage of Holy Writ is so sublime as the brief and simple narrative of their arrival at Jerusalem : ' * Now, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of King Herod, behold there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews, for we have seen His star in the East, and are come to adore Him." They had doubtless expected to find the city of Jerusalem in an ecstasy of joy, and they hoped to pay their court to the royal heir amid the pomp of civil and religious rejoicing. "Where 'is He that is born King of the Jews? " they in- "WE HAVE SEEN HIS STAR IN THE EAST," When Jesus therefore was born in Beth- ; lehem of Juda, in the days of king Herod, | behold there came wise men from the i East to Jerusalem, saying : Where is he j that is born King of the Jews ? For we have seen his star in the East, and are come to adore him. And king Herod hearing i this, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with | him. And assembling together all the chief priests and the Scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born. But they said to him : In Bethle- hem of Juda. For so it is written by the prophet : And thou Uethlehem the land of Juda art not the least among the princes of \ Juda : for out of thee shall come fbrth the \ captain that shall n.le my people Israel. Then Herod privately calling the wise men learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them ; and sending them into Bethlehem said : Go and dili- gently inquire after the child ; and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore him. And | when they had heard the king, they went their way : and behold, the star, which | they had seen in the East, went before them, until it came and stood over where the child was. And, seeing the star, they re- joiced with exceeding joy. And going into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother : and falling down, they adored him : and opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having received an an- swer in sleep, that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their own country. THE ADORA T1ON OF THE MAGI. 87 stantly inquired on reaching Jerusalem as if to shame the indifference of the unworthy subjects of so great a monarch. They found no special religious excite- ment in the city over the cradle of the new-born King, whom even the heathen nations were seeking that they might pay Him tribute. Their inquiry grew quickly into a general questioning, and reached the ears of the aged tyrant Herod. This monster had killed his own children on suspicion of their purpose to supplant him ; what must have been his feelings when he learned of this heaven-guided embassy ? Who is the new claimant ? Where is he ? The cunning old man dissembled his terror, and tried to use the faith of the Magi as a cloak to his fell designs. "And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Juda. For so it is written by the prophet." This answer of the Sanhedrin deepened the misgiv- COIN OF HEROD T] ings of the tyrant and darkened his evil mind yet more against the New-Born. He called the Wise Men to a private interview and questioned them about the star. His directions to them, however honest the sound of the words, were given in bitter and scoff- ing irony. He said, " Go, and- inquire after the Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore Him." That is to say, " I intend to kill Him ; and I will kill you too if you are simple enough to return to me." All this profoundly discouraged the Magi, and severely tried their faith. They were strangers ; they had travelled from a great distance ; they had over- come many obstacles in order to pay homage to the new-born King of the Jews. And the Jews them- 88 THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIS T. selves were indifferent, and they more than suspected that their king was incredulous and scornful. Might not they themselves be victims of an illusion? they must have thought. If the Jewish king and his priests had no living faith in their own prophets, how could they, Gentiles as they were, trust the mys- tery of the star? But they did trust it. At the end of the perplexities of that sad day, the Magi, not waiting till the following morning, set out in the deepening twilight for Bethlehem. Sorrowfully they gazed into, the darkening sky, when suddenly the miraculous star shone out before them, as if it were the great lantern of an angel beckoning them to con- tinue their journey under his guidance. It led them on " till it came and stood over where the Child was." It led them on through the gaps of the moun- tains of Judea, and at last rested upon the house to which, after leaving the stable, the Holy Family had removed. " And going into the house, they found the Child with Mary His mother : and falling down, they adored Him. And opening their treasures, they offered to Him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh." This triple offering meant more than mere reverence loyalty. It was eminently a religious oblation, both real and symbolical. Perhaps they did not at first know the divine nature of the Child- God, but, at least vaguely, they understood that here the Deity was nearest humanity. Gold, therefore, to God's royal dignity ; myrrh to His beloved but mortal hu- man frame ; and incense to the Deity's proper self, whose tender and powerful influence seemed to beam 'into their very souls from the lovely Babe enthroned in Mary's arms. Her words dispelled every doubt, And opening their she answered every question. Before these devout ambassadors of the Gentile world had taken their or THE ADORA T1ON OF THE MAGI. departure from Bethlehem, all that Mary, all that Joseph knew, had been told them a unique favor, due to souls so upright ; to servitors of fr avenly wisdom so entirely loyal. But what about the injunction of Herod to return to him with news of the infant King ? As they thought of it they must have contrasted the Holy Family at Bethlehem, radiant with every beauty of innocence and love and wisdom, with the gloomy palace of Herod, full of scoffing unbe- lief, jealousy, suspicion, deceit, cruelty. Their distrust of Herod was miraculously confirmed : "And having received an an- swer in sleep, that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their own country." Thus the wall of separation between Jew and Gentile was thrown down at the very birth of the Messias. The Wise Men could, and doubtless did, publish to the pagan nations a universal religion as now beginning, and promise that not by blood or race or will of men, but by the love of the great Father of all should men be saved. Christian tradition is not agreed as to the number of these first Gentile converts, and the earliest Chris- tian art in the catacombs represents them indifferently as two, three, or four. But the common belief has always been that there were but three. Venerable Bede witnesses one tradition of their names and per- 90 THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. sonal traits, as well as the order of their offerings. The first was Melchior, a venerable man with long beard and hair, who offered to the lyord a gift of gold, as a subject doing homage to his king ; the second was a youth, ruddy and beardless, named Gas- par, who offered the gift of incense, as a creature adoring his God; the third was in middle life, and was named Balthassar, swarthy and bearded, whose gift, that of a fellow-man to the head of the race of mortal men, was the embalming spice of myrrh. They thus represented the three stages of human life, and the three great divisions of the human family, Asiatic, European, and African. THE PRESENTATION. CHAPTER XII. THE CHILD JKSUS IS PRESENTED IN THE SIMEON, AND ANNA THE PROPHETESS. Luke ii. 22-38. 'AR inferior in its ideals and stand- ards to Christian marriage was wed- lock among the Jews, although a holy state. Therefore God annexed to every fruit of the Israelite womb a vivid reminder of human concupis- cence; this was the law of Purification. Upon the birth of a son the mother was tainted with legal un- cleanness for an entire week. She could only leave her dwelling at the end of forty days, when she was required to present herself in the Temple to be made clean by the official prayer of the priesthood. If her son was her first-born, he was solemnly presented unto the special service of Jehovah, from which he was ran- somed by the offering of a yearling lamb. Now, Mary was exempt from the law of Purifica- tion. Legally she was not unclean, for she had conceived her Son by a miracle of God. And Jesus was not legally subject to the^law of Presentation, for He was Jehovah's only-begotten Son and Him- self the great High-Priest. But the holy virtue of humility was to be preferred before personal rights ; the divine plan must yet be kept secret, and the rules of the Mosaic law were to be treated with reverence. And so Mary, under Joseph's escort, went to Jerusalem and stood at the door of the Tem- ple when her forty days were accomplished, as if she too were unclean. One of the priests sprinkled her with the sacrificial blood and declared her puri- "A Pair of Turtle Doves" fLuke ii. 24). LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. fied. Then she ransomed her Son ; and as she was too poor to offer the yearling lamb, she presented the legal substitute, a present of j^. two turtle doves. Little did the priest **^- who officiated dream that the infant Son of Mary would of- ^ fer Himself to God not -L> far from that spot for the ransom of the en- tire human race in a divinely whole burnt sacrifice. Little could he suppose that here was at once the true priest and true victim, But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart " (Luke ii. 19). DOVES OF THE ORIENT, , ,, , ,. , place of the symbolical priesthood and the pro- phetical victims, of both of which He was the perfect realization. As far as concerned the Presentation of Je- sus, His acceptance by the priest and the payment of His ransom by His parents, the conformity to outward observance concealed the true dignity of the group of Galileans: the degenerate priesthood was not worthy to know Jesus and Mary and Joseph. But there were others present who were worthy : two souls who were deeply religious, full of heavenly light, and whom God appointed His ambassadors succeeding the shepherds and the Magi to welcome the Messias to His house and to His mission, representatives of the ardent faith of ancient days and of true Judaism. Simeon, just and holy and expectant of the consolation of Israel, 93 THE PRESENT A TION. full of the Holy Ghost, while await- ing death in his advanced age, had been told in a vision that before his end he should see the anointed of the Lord. This patriarch of the later era of God's people had been coming to the Temple for many years, hoping to behold the freedom of Israel from sin and slavery, just as a weary exile goes to the shore and scans the horizon for the long expected ship. But the years passed on, and there was no news of the Messias till the coming of the Wise Men, whose inquiries aroused his hopes. But they, alas ! had not returned from their search. At last, this true son of Abraham, whose faith was the principle of his life, was to be rewarded. Under the spell of the Spirit of God he enters the Tem- ple. A first-born son has just been offered ; he beholds Him with sud- den emotions of tenderness. He looks upon the mother, and he asks a few hurried questions Bethlehem, the Magi, the Star! He begs the privilege of taking the Child in his arms, and as the sweet face leans upon his bosom and the tender eyes of the Infant gaze upon him, the Spirit whispers in his heart, It is the Messias! " And he blessed God and said, Now thou dost dismiss thy Servant, O Lord, according to Thy word, in peace. Be- THE PRESENTATION. And after the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accom- plished, they carried him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male open- ing the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. And to offer a sacrifice according as it is written in the law.of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons. And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was in him. And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the CHRIST of the Lord. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when his parents brought in the child JESUS, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he also took him into his arms, and blessed God, and said : Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word, in peace. Because my eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples : a light to the revelation of the gentiles, and the glory of thy peo- ple Israel. And his father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him. And Simepn blessed them, and said to Mary his m'o- ther : Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted : And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out r of many hearts thoughts may be revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser; she was far advanced in years, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow until fourscore and four years ; who departed not from the temple, by fast- ings and prayers serving night and day. Now she at the same hour coming in, con- fessed to the Lord ; and spoke of him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel. And after they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their city Nazareth. 94 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. cause my eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel." The man of faith is thus elevated to be a prophet of God, sings in holy melody the inspiration of his soul, gazes into the future and beholds the narrow race of Israel broadened into the great -family of humanity, en- lightened by the Christ of God, saved by the Holy One of the prophets : Oh, now let me lie down in joy and die ; I have seen and embraced the Saviour of the whole world ! The patriarchs of old, King David, the prophets how solemnly their stirring tones are echoed and prolonged upon the voice of Simeon ! Who was this grand old Israelite ? There were men of much distinction bearing his name in Jerusalem about this epoch, and ingenious efforts have been made to identify him with one or other of them. But in vain ; the curious may study these pious at- tempts with pleasure, but as a matter of fact Simeon emerges from absolute obscurity, and in one brief and fleeting scene pillows the infant Saviour on his throbbing heart, lifts up his voice in one of the love- liest canticles in Holy Writ, salutes the New-Born on behalf of the venerable Mosaic dispensation, and is gone with most sorrowful words of farewell. For as Joseph and Mary marvelled at the things that Simeon spoke of Jesus, "he blessed them, and said unto Mary His mother, Behold this Child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed." The eye of this patri- arch was enlightened to know that although Joseph was bound to Jesus by ties of love as adopted father; SIMEON, AND ANNA THE PROPHETESS. 95 Mary alone was bound to Him by those of blood, and he spoke therefore to her alone, foretelling the meaning of that Cross whose shadowy form he saw resting upon the New- Born Babe, and whose agony would reach the very soul of the sorrowful mother, as the soldier's lance should pierce the heart of her crucified Son. The glorious old patriarch has been vouchsafed a true sight of the future ages. The sign of contradiction what is it but the Cross of Jesus Christ ? Men approach it, some to perish hopelessly, others to rise gloriously. It has been the standard for and against which the race of Adam has been ever since embattled in philosophy, learning, literature, government, education. No man and no institution of man's making can remain neutral ; all must be enrolled in warfare for or against the Cross of Christ. To Simeon God associated Anna the prophetess in this greeting of the New- Born. She was a widow far advanced in years, to whom the Temple had become a home, serving the Lord night and day with fasting and prayer. Enlightened by the Holy Spirit, she stood beside Simeon, knew Jesus for the Messias, and loving- ly welcomed Him to His Temple and His people. It is to her, probably, that we owe the details of this scene, for St. Luke tells us that she afterwards with how much joy she must have done it ! spoke of Jesus to all who looked for the redemption of Israel. THE SLAUGHTER ; NAZA RETH. 96 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER XIII. THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. THE SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS. THE RETURN TO NAZARETH. Matt. ii. 1323. ST. L,UKE, who does not narrate the flight into Egypt, says that after the Presentation the Holy Family returned to Na,zareth; but this can only mean upon the return from Egypt, whither God sent them to escape the wrath of Herod. This is narrated by St. Matthew, who, after telling of the departure of the Magi, says : " Behold the angel of the L/ord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying : Arise, and take the Child and His mother, and fly into Egypt, and be there until I shall tell thee : for it shall come to pass that Herod will seek the Child to destroy Him." It seems altogether likely that Joseph had decided to live in Beth- lehem, the City of David, and there- fore of David's successor. Awork- And behold, an Angel of the Lord ap- peared in sleep to Joseph, saying : Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt ; and be there until 1 shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child, to destroy him. Who rising up, took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt. And he was there until the death of Herod : that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying : Out of Egypt have I called my son. Then i lerod, perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry ; and, sending, killed all the men-children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the confines thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had dili- gently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying: A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her chil- dren, and would not be comforted, because they are not. But when Herod was dead, behold an Angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph in Egypt, saying : Arise, r.nd take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel. For they are dead that sought the life of the child. Who arose, and took the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judea in the room of Herod his father, I he was afraid to go thither : and being | warned in sleep, retired into the quarters jof Galilee. And coming he dwelt in a j city called Nazareth : that it might be ful- filled which was said by the prophets : that he shall be called a Nazarite. , , , . he needed for the support of his ing-man like Joseph makes no great ceremony of changing abode ; his own strong arms and his good trade are his best and generally his only fortune. Furthermore, the sojourn in Bethlehem doubtless gave the Holy Family enough of considera- tion to secure Joseph the patronage family. But it is also probable that after the Presen- tation he stayed over-night in Jerusalem with some THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 97 Galilean kinsfolk abiding there ; and then it was that the voice of the angel sounded in his startled soul : "Arise, and take the Child and His mother, and fly into Egypt." Before the dawn of day Joseph and Mary and the sleeping Babe were hurrying away to that country which had been the asylum of distressed Hebrews since the days of Abraham. Many Jews were in Egypt, and of one of their synagogues there it was said that its splendor recalled the glory of Solomon's temple. These Jews of Egypt were divided according to their occupations, and Joseph could easily find a modest living among the carpenters, though perhaps the gifts of the Wise Men to the New-Born supplied every want. Prodigies are told of the journey of this holy group and their arrival upon the Nile. Curious tradi- tions tell of Demas, the "good thief," afterwards the companion of Jesus on Calvary, harboring the Holy Family during one of the halts on the way ; of the lions and leopards adoring the divine Infant by humble prostrations ; of the palm-trees bending low their grace- ful tops and offering their delicious fruit ; of the heathen idols falling down and break- ing to pieces as the New-Born came in sight. But the Gospel narrative is simply that Joseph " arose and took the Child and His mother by night, and retired into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod." Many of our readers have seen an engraving of a masterpiece, showing the Egyptian Sphinx, and Mary with her Child in her arms resting between the great stone paws of the figure, which gazes into the starry sky, while ANCIENT STATUE ON THE PLAIN OF THEBES. "Took the Child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt " (Matt. ii. 14). 9 3 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. Joseph keeps guard on the sands below. The Sphinx represented poor puzzled humanity gazing helplessly into the silent heavens, waiting for an answer to the riddle of human life. The coming of the God-man is the answer. The tyrant from whom Joseph fled with Mary and the Child was now drawing near the end of one of the most terrible careers known to history. If we might naturally hesitate to believe in the possibility of the slaughter of the Innocents, let us recall what kind of a monster unquestioned authors tells us 'Herod actually was. Not only had he murdered Jewish priests and other prominent- men of his kingdom, but he had killed his own sons, Alexander, Aristobulus, and Antipater, as well as his wife's father and mother ; he had butchered his most devoted personal friends ; he had strangled Mariamne, the faithful wife whom he passionately loved. And all this slaughter seemed but to increase his thirst for blood. History relates that as he felt his death coming on he pur- posed enclosing in the amphitheatre of Jericho the leading members of the noblest families of Israel and having them massacred on the day of his death. "Then," said he, " there will be tears at my funeral." There can be no doubt that Herod, restless and suspicious at the failure of the Magi to return to him, was told by the officers of the Temple of the start- ling occurrences at the Presentation the strange conduct of Simeon and AN ARAB SHEIK. his inspired song, the words of Anna THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 99 the prophetess addressed to the people ; it was enough to goad him on to unmeasured violence. Here is a rival claimant of the royal power, born in Bethlehem, presented in the Temple, and now as Herod supposed returned again to Bethlehem, his domicile as King David's heir. The emotion among the people, arising from the events in the Temple must have seemed to him like an invasion of his capital, his gloomy spirit was tormented with vague fears of rebellion and assassination. How profound the contrast between the turbulent soul of this cruel A CAMEL POST. monster, only the more ferocious as he felt his life drawing to an end, and the peaceful hearts of the lit- tle group passing down the steps of the Temple, soon to be warned by an angel to fly away to Egypt in safety. In vain did Herod issue his dreadful command for the slaughter of the children at Bethlehem. The number of the Innocents must have been between twenty and thirty, a due proportion for a town estimated at fifteen hundred inhabitants. How were they killed? Perhaps by one common butchery, or perhaps by a more secret and cunning kind of murder. Secular history has forgotten, or almost forgotten, to record this event, which, at any rate, would be but a lesser stain upon a reign all smeared with blood. The Christian people have always cherished the memory of these first martyrs of Christ, and the agony of their mothers, as one of the most touching incidents connected with MODERN HAGAR, 100 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. our Saviour's nativity. It is a popular belief that God granted the Innocents a premature use of reason, that they might know their heroic fate and glad- ly accept it, and thus have the merit of it. King Herod's death took place soon after this awful deed. A fitting end of such a life would have been self- murder, but although he attempted it his attendants hindered him. He burn- ed with incessant fever and was parch- ed with raging thirst which nothing could quench. The whole palace reek- ed with the filthy stench of his body, rotting before its time. His intestines were tortured by the agonizing pain of a deadly ulcer, and protruded from " Herod sending killed all the men- his body. To these corporal miseries hildren that were in Bethlehem" Matt. ii. 16). were added, we may not doubt, the most awful mental torments, among which survived the passion of envy ; for only five days prior to his death he caused his son Antipater to be murdered. Then he died, aged sixty-nine, in the thirty-fourth year of his reign an era signalized by his unrivalled wickedness and by the happy birth of Jesus Christ. Again the angel comes to Joseph in Egypt how soon or late after Herod's death we know not and says to him: "Arise, and take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead who sought the life of the Child." As he entered the Holy Land, Joseph learned that Archelaus reigned in Judea. He did not trust him and would not go to Bethlehem, for that prince was already a public murderer. But Galilee had been given as a separate THE RETURN TO NAZARETH. TO' kingdom to another son of the elder Herod. This prince was Herod Antipas, the earlier years of whose government were peaceful. Joseph's angelic monitor, therefore, bade him go back to Nazareth, which thus became the home of Jesus. In this way did God save His Son from the cruelty of His enemies, as well as from the premature manifestation of His divine personality on the part of His friends. The shepherds, the Magi, Simeon, Anna, the other faithful depositaries of God's prodigy, could commune devoutly with a small number of favored souls but where .is the New-Born King? In the obscurity of a little Galilean city He bides His time. "Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not" (Matt, ii. 18). RACHEL'S SEPULCHRE* 102 'LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER XIV. THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS. Luke ii. 4.0. the Child grew and waxed strong, full of wisdom, and the grace of God was in Him." St. Luke might have said as much of any holy child, but in this case he touches upon one of the great mysteries of the Incarnation : the natural development of the man Jesus. It is certain that He had the use of reason from the instant of His conception, yet in all external conduct He was led into active and intelligent use of His mental faculties as other boys are; and just as His bodily force was brought out and established in a graceful, muscular frame by the labors of a car- penter's apprentice, so by the teaching of Mary and Joseph His understanding was trained. He learned the first lessons of Hebrew morality and worship at the same time and place that He learned to handle the carpenter's tools. Never were such teachers as Mary and Joseph. God allowed the human soul of His Son Jesus to be in- structed by them, and the Holy Spirit fitted them for their task. His human nature was not a mere ap- pearance, but a full reality. The divine nature might indeed have taken possession of all His human faculties and assumed imperative con- trol, and no other teaching would have then been possible. But God willed otherwise. Jesus was taught, Jesus learned, He studied, He thought, He reasoned as men do from childhood up. The exception to this humanly THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS. 103 natural process was when it was interrupted for a special purpose. But ordinarily the humanity of Jesus was not absorbed by His divinity. Soul and body were perfect in their humanity, which always remained wholly itself. It used its personal contact with the divine nature to save itself from errors and weaknesses, but never to become such a prodigy as to be beyond reach of imitation. At the summit of His conscious life the man Jesus felt the unitive personal bond of the God Jesus. But the divinity was displayed only exceptionally, in some marvel necessary to overwhelm the dul- ness of the people or the incredulity of the Scribes. Hence He stored His memory by human means; He exer- cised His intelligence by the use of His eyes and ears. He learned to read and to write as other boys do. He passed from the simple intuition of childhood gradually and progressively to the reasoned processes of developing mental powers. " And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace with God and men." While a child He did not act like* a man ; He was glad to be a child and childlike. His perfection was perfect childhood. As His years increased, so did His human wisdom : by the lessons of nature always about Him, by the teach- ing of His parents, by the habits of thought common to children, by the pious practices of a perfect Hebrew family. Always this increase of human wisdom was lighted up by the eternal wisdom that dwelt within Him ; but the human soul never lost 104 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. its distinct identity. We may, therefore, put aside the infantile miracles of the apocryphal gospels as myths. What purpose could they serve, except to embarrass Mary and Joseph ? Besides, St. John tells us that the "beginning of miracles" was at the wedding of Cana. How much more reasonable, as well as edifying, is the actual fact as given by St. Luke, that He was obedient to His parents modest, sweet, gentle, full of grace and piety, beloved of God and man. He has thus sanctified childhood and youth, that most beautiful epoch of human life, and made Himself the patron and model of childhood's sunny existence. Our Saviour's home during all these happy years was the little Galilean city of Nazareth. It is now almost exactly what it was in the olden time. It lies some miles westward from Lake Genesareth, in a picturesque opening of the range of hills which is the southern boundary of the plain of Ksdrelon. There are to- day, travellers tell us, the same kind of houses in which the Holy Family dwelt scattered along the nar- row street s small and square, with walls of rough stone, windows few and small, roofs flat. Little groups of trees are seen, sycamores and cypresses, all so old that one STAIRS AND TERRACES OF HOUSES IN GALILEE. THE WORKSHOP AT NAZARETH, THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS. log can fancy the ' ' Son of Joseph the carpen- ter " having enjoyed their shade as He took His noon-day rest in the long ago. When the sun has set, the groups of men and their wives and little ones chat together in the even- ing air, and are seen before bed-time en- gaged in their even- ing prayers, just as the Holy Family was wont to do. There is the spring from which during so many ages the villagers have got their supply of water, and we can fancy Mary and her little Boy amid the groups that now pass to and fro with their water-jugs. We hear boys at play, and we know that the Boy Jesus played and laughed and was merry with other boys, right upon these same great rocks and up and down these same sloping hills. Here is a carpenter shop, without the least doubt just like the one in which Jesus lived and worked and from which He went forth to be baptized by John. Everything tells of very limited means, but there is no sign of actual penury. It is not imagination, it is the valid reproduction of reality which shows us here the Holy Family : a grave-looking man in the prime of life is at work, his wife looks on, both smile at their little Boy as He plays among the shavings. The little shop is backed by the hill-side into which a chamber has been excavated. There is a rack in which the LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. tools are set, saws and axes and chisels, and there are various little piles of rough boards. In such a dwelling lived Jesus and Mary and Joseph between the return from Egypt and the be- ginning of His public life. Mary, adhering to the custom of Oriental mothers, weaned her Child only after two years, cele- brating the event with the festive union of neighbors and relations. At the age of five the father began to teach the Boy the law of God. Thus the carpenter shop was ever associated in the memory of Jesus with the wonderful things told of God's people in the Hebrew Scriptures, and the sublime principles and precepts of the Mosaic law. A CARPENTER'S SHOP IN THE EAST. And the Child grew, and waxed strong, full of wis- ; and the grace of God was in him " (Luke ii. 40). JESUS AMONG THE DOCTORS OF THE LA W. 107 CHAPTER XV. THE CHII.D JESUS AMONG THE DOCTORS OF THE Luke ii. 4.150. AT the age of twelve, when, with the precocity of the youth of Eastern lands, Jesus began to widen the reach of His mental faculties, He gave Mary and Joseph a momentary glimpse of His great mission. The visit of Jesus, His parents all unknowing, to the precincts of the Temple, and what happened there, is a connecting link between the Presentation and His appearance as Messias on the banks of the Jordan. The divine zeal of Jesus was not visible in early childhood, but the heart of the Boy was ablaze with it, and He allowed it suddenly to burst forth eighteen years before His public manifestation, and then as suddenly to sink back within its secret receptacle. The age of twelve was an important epoch in a Jewish boy's life. Then the law laid its hard hand on him, and at the same time dispensed its spiritual privileges. Of the latter a special favor was assisting at the majes- tic solemnities of the Temple during the feasts of the Pasch, or Passover, and those of Tabernacles and Pente- cost. Women might attend if they wished, and often went with the men and boys, as did Mary on this first occasion of our Saviour's pilgrimage to the holy places. If we bear in mind that Jesus, even in childhood, could never have been unconscious of His divine nature and Going up to Jerusalem" (Luke ii. 42). Io8 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. His mission of redemption, we can understand how deeply the Passover festival must have moved Him, now witnessed for the first time. Its symbols all pointed to Himself , its memorials were all to be made living realities in His own career. When the ceremonies were over, and the time came to depart homeward, He clung to the Temple by an instinct of ownership too strong to be resist- ed. Why not begin now ? such was His thought. Samuel had be- gun even earlier. The Divine Spirit mastered Him, and when His mother and father started towards Nazareth He could not help returning into the Temple. "Born to give testimony to the truth" He will describe His mission in these words one day to Pontius Pilate He would now make a beginning of that glorious ministry, and He would do it in the Temple, the very heart of His race and His religion. Meantime Mary and Joseph, journeying home- ward, did not at first miss their Child. He might easily be lost to view in a long-drawn-out caravan, made up of relatives, friends, neighbors, separated into different groups, some mounted on camels or asses, some trudging along on foot, the entire company conversing about the events of the holy week, or chanting the Psalms of David. Perhaps Mary and Joseph were for a time separated from each other, and when Jesus went back to the Temple the mother may have thought Him with Joseph, and he have "I MUST BE ABOUT MY FATHER'S BUSI- NESS." And his parents went every year to Jeru- salem, at the solemn day of the pasch. And when he was twelve years old, they going 1 up into Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast, and having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child JESUS remained in Jerusalem : and his parents knew it not. And thinking that he was in the company, they came a day's journey, and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintances. And not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom, and his answers. And seeing him, they wondered. And *his mother said to him : Son, why hast thou done so to us ? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said to them : How is it that you sought me ? did you not know that I must be about my Father's business ? And they under- stood not the word that he spoke unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and men. SHILOH. JESUS AMONG THE DOCTORS OF THE LA W. 109 fancied the Boy to be with His mother : and so the first day passed without anxiety. But when the evening halt was reached at Sichem or Shiloh, and the scattered members of families came together to arrange for the night, the dis- tress of Mary and Joseph was extreme : the Boy Jesus did not appear, He was not to be found. After an anxious night the holy couple started back to Jerusalem, arriving there only at nightfall, and darkness and the confusion of departing caravans hindered further search till the morning ; and that was the third day. Finally they found Him "in the Tem- ple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking them questions." There were three rooms set apart for purposes of instruction in the Temple, and in one of them sat Jesus, not on a doctor's seat, but lower down as an in- quirer. Dur- ing the two previous days He had sat there by in- vitation, al- ready a favor- ite disciple. They were astonished at His wisdom and His an- swers to the difficult ques- tions with which they soon began +^ .1 TT: " Tne 7 found him in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking to ply Him; them questions" (Luke ii. 46). S20 LIFE OF JESUS they made the beautiful Boy the centre of an admir- ing circle. The rabbis taught usually by question and answer, now interrogating their pupils, again drawing out the latter 's questions, and thus more accurately imparting doctrine. The clearness of the answers Jesus gave, the originality of His statement, the freedom from formalism of this first exponent of the new teaching, both pleased and puzzled the rigid doctors of the law : they began to think that a transcendent religious genius was dawning in this unknown Boy whom they had seated among theme Ivet us admire the humility of this divine Master, who thus begins to teach by submitting to be a disciple. From what Mary said to Jesus as she ran to Him and embraced Him we must believe that nothing in her Son's life heretofore had prepared her for this occurrence. Both she and Joseph were greatly struck by this sudden change. They could not help being proud of Him, as they saw those gray-beards of the Temple under the spell of their Boy's words ; powerful words, glowing face, transfigured form. Joseph did not speak. He was, it everywhere appears, a natural- ly silent man, and no speech or word of his is recorded in Scripture ; Joseph now said nothing. But Mary's heart burst forth: "Son, why hast Thou done so to us ? Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrow- ing." The fears of a loving heart deafen reason, for Mary herself might have answered that question by remembering the angel's word at her conception of Jesus. Her Child quickly recalled her to a calmer mind : ' ' And He said to them : How is it that ye, sought Me ? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" This sentence, the first recorded words of the Messias, brief and quickly spoken, is like a tempi?- :?ESUS AMONG THE DOCTORS OF THE LA W. in door suddenly flung open and as suddenly shut again : it opens wide for one instant the whole life of Jesus as the messenger of Heaven. He has but one Father, God ; there is but one occupation worthy of Him, the business of the Father to teach and save man- kind. If He returns now to Nazareth, it will be to spend the eighteen years remaining before He begins His public life in teaching Mary and Joseph, making them overflowing reservoirs of the waters of heavenly wisdom to be dispensed in all future ages from their happy places in His Father's house above. They are to be His secret apostles, as the Twelve shall be His public ones. The power of Mary over Jesus, as His Mother and as His foremost disciple, was very fully shown by His yielding to her and granting her His exclusive company during the bloom of His youth and early man- hood, with no protest but His reminder of His mission from His Father. That answer of Jesus to' His mother, respectful but firm, toned and poised with clear decision exactly as His future utterances shall al- ways be, foreshadows the whole Gospel : the divine Sonship, the Glad Tidings, the salvation through His Mediation and Atonement. She saw it all : " His mother , -, ,, , " How is it that you sought me ? Did you not know kept all these words in her I must be about my Father's business?" (Lukcii, 49), 112 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. heart" ; and in after years, when they had been so wonderfully realized, she doubtless imparted them to the Apostles for record in the sacred chronicle. Mean- time He was at Nazareth, awaiting His predestined hour ; to Mary and Joseph the world's Teacher and Redeemer, to the neighbors only the carpenter's son. He worked at His trade w r ith Joseph, making ox- yokes, making and mending ploughs, bending over His bench, His chisel in hand, or His saw or hammer, and thus His neighbors knew Him until, eighteen years afterwards, He resumed the life-work He had claimed from His parents in the Temple at that memorable Passover. THE HIDDEN LIFE A T NAZARETH. 113 CHAPTER XVI. THE HIDDEN LIFE AT NAZARETH. Luke ii. 51, 52. HAVING plainly shown His conscious touch with His heavenly Father's guiding hand, Jesus yet " went down with [Mary and Joseph] and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them." Many a time did Mary's eyes strive to penetrate the veil of her Son's hu- manity, for she must have felt mystified at His choice of Nazareth in preference to Jerusalem, the shop of Joseph instead of the schools of the Temple during His early manhood, an era of life when His eloquence would have thrilled His hearers with youthful ardor. Doubtless He .explained His Father's plans to her and Joseph, but to all others He was silent about them, occupied with most commonplace things. His fellows knew nothing of His future, of His high religious destiny. Why did He not at least evangelize them? And why do we not know more of His life during the years of manly exuberance and power? The an- swer to this is that the Evangelists were not con- cerned with an ordinary narrative, but were chroniclers of a work of God, a message from heaven, and the words and deeds of Jesus which had immediately to do with His Glad Tidings absorbed them ex- clusively. But how thankful we should be if the Gospels had told us something of the personal appearance of Jesus. Yet it cannot be doubted that physically He was a noble and striking figure, for St. Luke tells us of His increase in stature in such terms as to indicate a full manly development. Hence, in common with all modem writers, we reject the fancy of certain 114 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. .HE SON OF THE CARPENTER. early Fathers, that He was of low size and mean appearance. He was a full- sized and handsome man more than this we cannot be sure of. Devout imagina- tion has guided Christian art in depict- ing our Saviour; but to attribute any present known likeness to apostolic times is not justified by historical research. It is altogether in accord with the divine plan that this new head of the human race should be an ideal man physically, as He was spiritually. Jesus was a perfectly formed specimen of His race, of robust constitution, vigorous strength, and manly dignity. That He was a carpenter and steadily worked at His trade was but an additional help to symmetry of form. And it was also consistent with intellectual development, for the doctors of the Jewish law learned trades and worked at them, and were thus self-supporting and independent. Manual labor during some hours of the student's day has ever been of assistance in mental development. Furthermore, our Saviour chose the working- man's state of life for a special purpose. He did so in order to cure a fatal social disease. In all ages the leisured classes have looked upon artisans and laborers as an inferior caste by the very nature of their occupations. This is one of the most obsti- nate of human delusions. Jesus would have us know that as between the two conditions, poverty and afflu- ence, He preferred the former. Toil is not degrading but elevating bodily toil and its attendant hardships. It was in pursuance of His Father's decree that man shall eat his bread in the sweat of his face that Jesus chose to be a working-man. God's general providence became His Divine Son's special choice, as a reflect- THE HIDDEN LIFE A T NAZARETH. 1 1 5 ing mind could easily see would be the case. The typical Man is the common man. No exceptional state of honor or ease could content Jesus. The noble virtues of entire resignation to the Divine Will, of patience in enduring adversity, fortitude in resisting despondency are not all these best gained in that condition of straitened means inseparable from the workman's humble condition ? Sordidness of soul is not a trait of the common man ; but he is marked by generosity, unselfishness, in- dependence of character, self-restraint ; and , _. .. , . . ., , - ,, ,. .AXCIENT PLOUGH, YOKES, SHABES, ASD uJ towards God, his privilege is the full realiza- tion of what it means to live upon the Heavenly Father's daily bounty. Jesus would prove by His choice of the carpenter's shop that neither the gifts of fortune nor high social position are needed for human welfare, or even for exerting a powerful influence upon one's fellow-men. Hence the example of Jesus the working-man has had a most powerful influence upon human society. It has made the lot of the toiler an enviable one for all religious men and women, and Jesus has drawn into that condition by free choice the noblest spirits among those of His servants who were born to riches. And so during eighteen years the God- man worked at ordinary country carpenter- ing. What would not one give if he could have a bench or a table which Jesus made YOKE FOR OXEN * a hatchet or plane which He had used ? But such relics are unknown. God willed not only to bless the lowly station of life by His Son's choice of it, but also to conceal His Son under the disguise of a simple mechanic. He "was obedient" to Joseph and Mary. He was n6 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. a model son. Filial affection overflowed His soul, not only for His mother, but for Joseph, her chaste spouse. His own loving foster-father. Joseph must have died not many years after the Finding in the Temple ; other- wise we should hear of him in attendance upon the pub- lic ministry of his Son. Hence, at our Lord's second public appearance as a teacher in the synagogue at Nazareth, His family designation is of His mother, as well as of His father : "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary ? " Even His cousins, James, Joseph, Jude, and Simon, sons of Cleophas and of Mary's sister, were unaware of the supernatural character of Jesus. But His mother was brimming over with knowledge and love of His true self. In her alone, after Joseph's death, did He find a soul worthy of His most sacred confidence. With her He spoke of the prophets and patriarchs, and with her He sometimes spoke even of the dreaded and yet longed-for " business of the Father." Thus Mary's soul became the rich casket in which Jesus first placed the pearl of great price, His Gospel. St. Luke tells us also that He gained the favor of all men gentle, kind, generous, it is easy to understand why. He was lovable by the openness of His nature and the elevation of His sentiments. For even if He must conceal His divine qualities, He could not hide His human ones. Jesus was the nearest friend of every living soul, and He must show it. Furthermore, we know that Jesus must have been very susceptible to the lessons of nature. The earth and the sun and the heavenly bodies, the trees and the growing grain, the very beasts, all spoke a language to Him but vaguely guessed at by the poets. How all na- ture prayed when Jesus prayed on the green hill- top ! How the whispering wind and the genial sunshine, and THE HIDDEN LIFE A T NAZARETH. 117 the musical notes of the birds, the happy voices of the little children, the murmur of the brooks, the bright tints of the flowers, the welcome rain how all were elo- quent of God to the heart of Jesus Christ at Nazareth ! And this we see in aftertimes when He uses all this in illustrating His teaching. Little dared He venture to exercise His power over men's minds ; yet He was the faithful friend, He was the kind fellow- workman, He was the pleasant companion of a restful hour, He was the soothing consoler of an afflicted household all this He was as true man, no less certainly than He was Mary's true Son. If nature was His open book of God, and if life with men was His daily duty, so was God's written word His constant meditation. Our joy in reading the divine pages of the Old Testament is greatly enhanced by the certainty that Jesus read them daily with the tenderest piety. Who has ever read the Old Testament as Jesus read it ? He was a per- fect Hebrew in race and in religion, and the Hebrew blood and faith were inseparably joined to the Book. In every hero and every great happening He saw Himself prefigured. But Jesus took no sides in the miserable divisions of His people. He scorned the puerile subtilty of the Pharisees ; His great soul detested their formalism. He spurned the polished materialism of the Sadducees. The fatalistic errors of the Essenes, as well as their false asceticism, He condemned. He was a perfect Israelite in being simply Himself. His soul was fed by God through every medium of divine life reason, revelation, nature, communion with men and women, especially Mary and Joseph, the natural teachers of His youth, having always the ineffably privilege of ii8 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. immediate intercourse with the divine nature with which He was personally one. As a man He was entirely human ; but wholly original was His mental and moral force. When He began to teach, all could understand, none could quite master His doctrine it fed at the same time that it stimulated the soul's ap- petite for truth. He spoke the thoughts of eternity in the words of time. And thus it was that Jesus waited at His home, aeither hurried nor sluggish, but just where and when and how the Father willed. Such a being as Jesus can afford to wait, for He knows that when He begins He shall succeed. He who patiently waits God's hour is, when that hour strikes, as strong as God. There can be no doubt that it is to the mother of Jesus that we owe the simple and entrancing story of the birth and early days of the Saviour. She had laid up in her heart everything that happened, and gave it with those sweet touches of guileless nature, those loving accents of unfathomed maternal love, which make the narrative in Luke and Matthew the unique poem of Heaven's wooing and winning the hearts of men. In after years, when Mary had shared with the Apostles the gift of the Holy Ghost, they must many a time have gathered about her and urged her to repeat again and again the divine narrative of the infancy of Jesus, and His hidden life at Nazareth. These accounts were dis- tinctly remembered and carefully noted, and afterwards embodied in the Gospels. BOOK II. The Public Life of Jesus. PALISADES OF THE JORDAN. THE PUBLIC LIFE OF JESUS. CHAPTER I. JOHN THE BAPTIST PREPARES THE WAY FOR JESUS. Matt. Hi. iio ; Mark i. 2-6 ; Luke Hi. 114. THE moral revolution which John the Baptist wrought among the Jewish people is a fact of history, and is witnessed no less by Josephus than by the Evan- gelists. It was as sudden and dramatic as it was salu- tary. He emerged from the desert of Judea alone and unheralded, but as he began to preach penance for sin on the banks of the Jordan his words shook men's hearts like the voice of thunder " a voice crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord." Mul- titudes flocked to hear him. His personality was in itself a powerful sermon. His clothing was a scanty garment of camel's hair fastened by a leathern girdle. His hair and beard had never been cut, his head and feet always bare. He was about thirty years old, but the life of a hermit, in silence and prayer and bodily 121 122 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 14 Do penance : for the ingdom of heaven is at and " (Matt. iii. 2). austerity, had prepared every faculty for his great and peculiar vocation from on high, name- ly, the ambassadorship of the terrible Jehovah. The Holy Spirit had sent him out to the people to prepare their souls for their Messias, and he did so with an austere eloquence with the piercing tones, pale face, and blazing eyes of a hermit trans- formed into a preacher of penance. John appeared during the high-priesthood of An- nas and Caiphas, about the seven hundred and eightieth year of the City of Rome, during the reign of the Emperor Tiberius Caesar. The Precursor was a very different being from Him of whom he was to be the herald, and before whom he will bend in lowly adoration. Yet he is perfect in his own kind severe, threatening, over- powering messenger of the jealous God of the Hebrews. Before the vices of the crowd he is fear- less ; no less so in resisting the pretensions of the Pharisees ; undaunted in reproving the crimes of the monarch from whose cruel hands he receives the crown of martyrdom. It was not in the Temple, therefore, that John was fitted for his mission, but from very childhood he had lived in the " deserts of Judea." This is a frightful re- gion of desolate hills and ravines on the west shore of the Dead Sea, whose only life is an occasional stunted tree, a few birds of prey and savage beasts the entire region visibly marked with the curse of God, for it shared the punishment of Sodom and Gomorrha. In solitary caves or in the shadow of rocks dwelt John, breaking his long fasts with wild honey or locusts, drawing in with every breath the sadness of man's re- volt against God, every object he saw preaching to him the terrors of the divine wrath. This is the man called JOHN THE BAPTIST. 123 by Isaias an angel angel indeed of heavenly warning : "I will send My angel before thy face to prepare thy way." Kvery day of his solitary life he grew more and more like Elias, the terrible prophet of old, till, as we shall see, the people who heard him thought he was that great ambassador of the Most High returned again to Israel. But he was more than prophet and more than Klias, for his singular glory is in the words of Jesus, that ' ' greater man than John the Baptist never was born of woman." He was the best of the old people of God, in whom lineage, the fact of birth and the quality of blood ' ' born of wo- man " was the outer mark of elec- tion. He had the inward graces symbolized by Hebrew legitimacy in higher degree than any of his ancestors : fear of God, zeal and courage against vice and error, mastery of the animal instincts. Yet those born not of woman nor of blood nor of any race but of God are all superior to John in kind though by no means in degree of sanctification. "The least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than lie " who was the greatest in earth's highest kingdom the people of Israel. He was, furthermore, the best exponent of the natural virtues THE PREACHING OF JOHN. Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Csesar, Pontius Pilate being gov- ernor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother being tetrarch of Iturea, and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abi- lina, under the high-priests Annas and Caiphas : the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. [And he] came preaching in the desert of Judea ; and saying : Do penance : for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And he came into all the country about the Jor- dan, preaching the baptism of penance, for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaias the prophet : Behold, I send my Angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee. A voice of one crying in the wilderness : Prepare ye the way of the Lord : make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low ; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. And John himself had his garment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins ; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jeru- salem and all Judea, and all the country about Jordan : And they were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. And seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them : Ye brood of vipers, who hath showed you tp flee from the wrath to come ? Bring forth, therefore, fruit worthy of penance : And think not to say within yourselves : We have Abraham for our father : for I tell you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abra- ham. For now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that yieldeth not good fruit, shall be cut down, and cast into the fire. And the people asked him, saying: What then shall we do ? And he answering said to them : He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none ; and he that hath meat, let him do in like manner. And the publicans also came to be baptized, and said to him : Master, what shall we do ? But he said to them : Do nothing more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers also asked him, saying : And what shall we do ? And he said to them : Do violence to no man ; neither calumniate any man ; and be content with your pay. 124 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. of man. In him temperance, fidelity to truth, cour- age, self-control, fortitude were elevated to their high- est natural development by the best instrumentality, the law of Moses. John's baptism was but a holy symbol of repent- ance, not a channel of grace as the rite afterwards became in the baptism of Jesus and His Holy Spirit after Pentecost.. But John was thoroughgoing. He demanded interior sorrow for sin and earnest purpose of amendment, shown and proved by confession and good works. The entire people were deeply moved by his words and crowded the banks of the Jordan, near where it falls into the Dead Sea, the point at which the terrible preacher had taken his stand. All came: hardened publicans and zealots for the law jostled one another in his auditory ; learned and simple were there together in humble equality. They made sincere confession before baptism, answering thereby an instinc- tive craving of the true penitent, who, after acknowl- edging guilt in the inner sanctuary, longs to unveil it outwardly to a faithful friend and suffer him to ex- tract the venom and apply a healing ointment. As the baptism of John foreshadowed the initial sacra- ment of the new religion, so did the true confession of his penitents foreshadow the new sacrament of penance, which secures pardon by the sinner's humble and sorrowful avowal of his transgressions. When John raised his reproving voice and struck the Jewish race-pride, he struck home. Seed of Abra- ham : that was to many Jews the cure-all of every vice. But John witnessed to the people of Israel that the God of Jew and Gentile could turn stones into sons of Abraham. It was a mighty proclamation of the new and spiritual lineage, that of Sons of God. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 125 This was a bitter truth to many of the Pharisees who ranked racial descent as an indispensable requisite of divine favor. These broke with him at once. Others of the Scribes and elders, more discerning, lingered on, and he taught them the first lesson of the coming life : 11 He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none ; and he that hath meat, let him do in like manner." Love is now become, even in this first step of the new way, the whole law and the prophets. Then came the publicans, the tax-gather- ers ; and to these he commanded absolute honesty a virtue in them as high as charity in others. To the soldiers, Jews in the Roman legions, he forbade the military vices of extravagance, gambling, bullying, and blackmailing. Such are the outlines of John's terrible preaching, by means of which vast throngs of the people were successively moved to true repent- ance for their sins and made ready for the Messias. It was like the purification of the Hebrews in passing through the Red Sea and in hearing the messages of God by the mouth of Moses in the wilderness prepara' tory to entering the land of promise. " Where the Jordan falls into the Dead Sea." 126 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. " Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths " (Matt. iii. 3). CHAPTER II. THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. ' ' THOU ART MY BELOVED SON!" Matt. iii. 11-17; Mark i. 7-11 ; Luke iii. 15-22 ; John i. 15-18. BUT it was the announcement of the coming of the Messias that was the most exciting theme of John's preaching. The Jews were essentially a Mes- sianic people, their hopes all centering on the pro- phecies which promised them a saviour. Every senti- ment of religion vibrated like the deepest chords of a harp when this powerful preacher proclaimed that the Messias was even now at hand. Even carnal motives, love of race and of power, thirst for revenge upon the pagan tyrants, mingled with spiritual motives and muddied their clear waters. No won- der, therefore, that the Baptist's au- thority rose higher with every discourse, and that at length it was whispered that he was himself the Christ. At the first breathing of this suspicion John exclaimed : "I indeed baptize you with water : but One mightier than I cometh, .the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose : He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." The Baptist's function was thus to be the Forerunner, zealously to prepare men's hearts. The Christ alone could possess them, breathe into themi the Holy Spirit, set them afire with! divine love. Do penance ! Prepare the way of the L,ord ! he cried out in tones THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. 127 of thunder : Down with every mountain of pride, fill up every dark valley of sin. All flesh shall see the sal- vation of God. He is coming to His threshing floor ; His fan is in His hand ; the chaff shall be cast into the fire, the wheat shall be gathered into His barn. These words already indicated the divinity of the Christ, and the preaching of John was in fulfilment of Isaias : "Lift up thy voice with strength, thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift it up, fear not. Say to the cities of Juda, Behold your God cometh " (Is. xL 9) . God is about to appear. A great prophet announces Him at the mouth of the Jordan near Bethany. Travellers crossing the river stopped and heard him and carried his fame everywhere. His peni- tents returned home and spread the great news ; all the race of Israel is promptly informed of it. The multitudes continue to come and to go, full of deep sorrow for their sins, and no less full of expectation of the Christ. The very locality is eloquent of the holy destiny of the people now about to be realized. There are the twelve stones still standing, which tell of the tribes passing dry shod through the river; there Elias and Kliseus had been miracu- lously ferried over the stream ; and there the former prophet had been carried up to heaven x in a chariot of fire from ad- jacent Mount Nebo had Moses THE RIVER JORDAN. 128 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. hailed the Promised L,and and sunk to his rest. And now on the same spot the Jewish nation gathered about a prophet who had received from on high the mission to announce the Messias. "He who sent me," said John, "to baptize with water said to me : He upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, He it is that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." Of yore the ancient covenant had been pro- claimed in the wilderness, and it was God's will that in the wilderness the new dispensation should begin, proclaimed by the last and greatest of the prophets. But where was the Messias ? Why did He not appear? For six months, as is commonly thought, John had waited in vain, his pierc- ing eye eagerly searching the faces and souls of his hearers to discover the Messias. The people also were eagerly looking out for Him. John meanwhile dwelt at length upon the qualities of the Messias, exhorting his hearers to be ready for Him, and for His winnowing of the whole people of Israel like the winnowing of a threshing floor. But at last the hour has come. Jesus arrives at the banks of the Jordan from the mountains of Gali- lee and asks to be baptized. He makes no distinction between Him- self and the others, His neighbors and the companions of His pilgritn- HE BAPTISM OF JESUS IN THE JORDAN. And as the people was of opinion, and 11 were thinking in their hearts of John, lat perhaps he might be the Christ, John nswered, saying unto all : I indeed baptize ou with water unto penance, but he that iall come after me is mightier than I, r hose shoes I am not worthy to bear, the Uchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to :oop down and loose. 1 have baptized you r ith water, but he shall baptize you with le Holy Ghost and with fire Whose fan > in his hand, and he will thoroughly leanse his floor, and gather his wheat into le barn, but the chaff he will burn with nquenchable fire. And many other things xhorting, did he preach to the people, 'hen cometh Jesus, from Nazareth of ralilee, to the Jordan unto John, to be aptized by him. But John stayed him, lying : I ought to be baptized by thee, nd comest thou to me ? And Jesus an- wering, said to him : Suffer it to be so ow, for so it becometh us to fulfil all istice. Then he suffered him. And Jesus eing baptized, forthwith came out of the rater ; and lo ! the heavens were opened ::> him ; and he saw the spirit of God de- cending in a bodily shape as a dove, and emaining upon him. And there came a oice from Heaven : Thou art my beloved ion ; in thee I am well pleased. John >eareth witness of him, and crieth out, aying : This was he of whom I spoke : le that shall come after me, is preferred icfore me : because he was before me. ^.nd of his fulness we all have received, .nd grace for grace. For the law was ;iven by Moses, grace and truth came by ESUS CHRIST. No man hath seen God at .ny time : the only-begotten Son who is in he bosom of the Father, he hath declared dm. THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. 129 age. He has so far done nothing at home to dis- tinguish Himself from the rest of men. Doubtless, a few of His acquaintances had remarked a deeper wis- dom in His religious conversation, or a brighter lus- tre in His blameless life. But, they may have thought, shall the Saviour come out of Nazareth, and be a carpenter ? It is an interesting question as to how, at last, John learned the identity of Jesus. The hermit life of the Precursor had begun in his very childhood, and its seclusion must have been absolute. Previous to the coming of Jesus to the Jordan, John "knew Him not." Elizabeth and Zachary had not been per- mitted to disclose Mary's secret to their son; and soon they departed to their eternal rest. It was enough for John that he was filled with the most vivid sentiment of expectation ; it is re- vealed to him that the Messias is in Israel and that He may at any moment appear, and that it shall be his own high office to recognize and to proclaim Him. His personal knowledge of Jesus, however, pre- ceded that which came by the de- scent of the Holy Ghost, as is plain from St. Matthew's account. This may be accounted for by the fact that John's penitents came "con- fessing their sins." Jesus must go through the form of this. Sins of His own He had none, but He would bewail to the Baptist the sins of the people whom He loved, and of all humanity; lament their sad fate, speak of the approaching reign of the Messias. The soul of Jesus in familiar commu- 130 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. nication with that of John would soon reveal all Jesus of Nazareth is the Messias Himself! O what a joy was this ! O how pure was that soul of Jesus ! How it mirrored to the ecstatic gaze of the austere hermit of the desert the beauty of heaven itself, how its voice was musical with the harmonies of divine love ! What eager zeal for men's welfare was there, what generous self-devotion ! Who can tell what the "Saviour spoke of to this His first disciple after Mary His mother and Joseph His foster-father : His plans, His ideas of mercy, of repentance, His flashing lights of inspiration revealing the depths of profound mysteries, His perfect humanity and His entire divinity ; and when He had ended pouring these golden treasures of religious wisdom and love into the rapt soul of John, Jesus bowed down before him and begged to be baptized. But John stayed Him and fell at Jesus' feet. " I ought to be baptized by Thee! and comest Thou to me?" As if to say: Can I raise myself above Thee, Thou Eternal Son of God ? can I give Thee any gift I, who have every- thing to receive of Thee? "And Jesus answering said to him : Suffer it to be so now. For thus it be- cometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered Him." We are permitted to ask why Jesus did not baptize John, according to his earnest request. The answer is manifold : the new rites of religion were not yet instituted ; it was God's will that the last prophet and hero of the old law should be entirely of it and not at all of the new, so that the synagogue might be buried with honor ; it was the plan of Jesus to keep secret His own purpose of instituting a new sys- tem of external ordinances. Therefore, John is to lead the Hebrew race to the door of the Church of THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. 131 Christ, glance in with longing eyes and die, as Moses did at the threshold of the land of promise. He is sanctified by faith in Him who is to come, not by the baptism of the Saviour and His other sacraments. But why did Jesus take John's baptism, nay, insist upon it ? Because all the righteousness of the ancient dispensation He would exhaust and fulfil, and seal with every approval, before He begins to supplant it. Jesus begins as a child of the old covenant, " made," says St. Paul, " under the law " a member of the Jew- ish Church which John now publicly represents. If He saw fit to be born a Jew, circumcised, presented in the Temple, He shall likewise gladly join in this holy movement of penance among the people of Israel and fulfil its sign of righteousness in John's baptism. Be- sides this, if John were set by God to point out the Messias, the Messias would reciprocate by openly ap- proving His Precursor's office in accepting the bap- tism of penance. The Heavenly Father in turn ap- proves this high purpose of the Son. It is as Jesus comes forth from the river, all dripping with its sacred waters, that the Holy Spirit descends and the Divine Voice speaks the words: ''This is My Son." Thus Jesus solemnly begins His work as Redeemer, by attaching it and inseparably linking it to the work of His Father, the Hebrew's Jehovah. Farewell now to the peaceful life in quiet Nazareth. His public career is begun, a life of hard struggle, utter self- devotedness, total failure and perfect triumph. St. lyuke tells us how the voice from Heaven spoke. He says that Jesus prayed ^after His baptism, and as His soul poured itself out in filial love to His Father, the people meantime standing by and John looking on, suddenly the heavens opened and the Holy Ghost de- scended upon Him in bodily shape like a dove, and a 132 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. voice came from heaven which said : * ' Thou art My beloved Son ; in Thee I am well pleased." Jesus and John were alone privileged to witness this prodigy, to which the latter afterwards gave public evidence. Its significance is nothing less than the open manifestation of the Most Holy Trinity. The Father and Son, co- equal in every infinite attribute of the God-head, are here shown in union by the apparition of the Third Per- son, the connecting link of the triune God. And this is not making Jesus God, but the recognition of Him as already God. The voice does not say, "Behold Him who now becomes My beloved Son"; but, "This is My beloved Son. ' ' And the figure of the dove is chosen to represent that Divine Spirit which is all sweetness, purity, and loving kindness. And now, with the loud and resistless word of a divine ambassador, John proclaims Jesus of Nazareth as the Messias,, THE PREPARA TION IN THE DESERT. 133 CHAPTER III. THE PREPARATION IN THE DESERT. Matt. iv. i-n ; Mark i. 12, 13; Luke iv. 1-13. " AND Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from the Jordan, and immediately the Spirit drove Him out into the desert. And He was in the desert forty days and forty nights, and was tempted by Satan : and He was with beasts. And He ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended He was hungry." Gratitude filled the soul of Jesus to overflowing for the approval from on high which had been given Him at the baptism of John ; but also He felt a dread at the task which was now upon Him, and longed for solitary communion with His Father. Therefore, the Spirit of God led Him into the desert and gave Him there a favorable place as well to commune with Heaven as to prepare for the ordeal of His mission. It was probably the desolate region, broken, barren, and uninhabited, lying between Jericho and Jerusalem. Near the ruins of Jericho is a high rocky eminence, and many have thought that here is the place from which Satan showed Jesus ' ' all the kingdoms of the world. ' ' Among the many caverns near the base of this mountain now dwell devout hermits, who in austerity and silence commemorate the Saviour's forty days' fast. He gave Himself up to the great thoughts which stirred His soul, wholly ignoring the wants of lower nature, nourishment of the body, shelter from the weather, or security from the attacks of wild beasts. Jesus, thus secluded in a wilderness and in denial of every sensible joy, wandered here and there absorbed in the contem- plation of His Father's love for the fallen race of man. From Adam down through all his posterity to the latest 134 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. generation, the Saviour now lived in spirit the life of man, rejoiced in his virtue, assumed the guilt of his vices. How sadly He thought of Adam. It was by pride and gluttony that the first Adam, in a garden of every delight, had ruined us ; it is by humility and ab- stinence that the second Adam makes ready to save us. Adam and all sinners after him hearken to the voice of the flesh, to the stirrings of self-love and the allure- ments of Satan ; Jesus is deaf to every voice which does not harmonize with the voice of God. The guidance of the Holy Spirit is His one rule of conduct. When God's voice sounds in a saint's most interior soul, it casts him into an ecstasy life with God absorbs his thoughts so totally that he loses taste and touch and sight and hearing in the per- fect blending of his spirit with the Deity. And even when restored to conscious- ness, he can but utter broken cries of joy, of love, of long- ing, of thanksgiving ; and then follows a quiet of soul beyond words to describe. The perfection of this state was what Jesus experienced in the desert. For forty days He enjoyed intimate communion with the Father and the Spirit. To His own high associa- tion with the Father and the Spirit He must elevate the souls of men, a union natural ANCIENT AQUEDUCT NEAR JERICHO. to Him and of original right, THE PREPARA TION IN THE DESERT. 135 supernatural to them and wholly the boon of Kis love. He must rule men's wills by His divine love till they obey His Father with the instinct of the Spirit. He must penetrate the minds of men with His own thoughts, transform them with His own aspirations. But to this glorious vision succeeds the dreadful view of the cost. The terrible prophets of old come one by one into the inner court of His spirit, and the words of God which they speak fall upon Him like the hammer breaking the rock in pieces. From an ecstasy of joy He passes to a stupor of woe. He sees all the difficulties that await Him : indifference, sus- picion, intrigues, cowardice, treason. Incoming up in the background He sees the gloomy figure of His Cross. For forty days did Jesus alternate thus be- tween heaven and hell, between holy ecstasy and holy fear. The number forty is a favorite one with God. Forty days and forty nights the earth was washed by the deluge ; for forty years the Israelites did penance in the desert; Moses and Elias and the Ninevites fasted forty days. And now the King of prophets and the Head of the chosen people again sanctifies the sacred number. When the soul is in perfect mastery it suspends the body's functions, the spiritual life absorbs the material life, and hence many have thought that our Saviour's fast was total abstinence from food and drink. But some have supposed that Jesus fasted like John the Baptist, and although without bread or meat to eat, yet did not refuse the wild roots and herbs and honey of the wilderness. At any rate, at the end of forty days the utterly exhausted body reclaimed its rights. Hunger, lassitude, extreme weakness com- pelled the Messias to provide Himself some food. And at this moment Satan began his temptation. He knew VULTURES IN THE DESERT. 136 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, Jesus to have been but recently proclaimed the Son of God : he will test the meaning of this mysterious title.* The kingdom of Christ thus begins in the storm of battle. The enemy must be met, grappled with, totally overthrown and put to flight by Jesus Christ. This battle shall be renewed from time to time, always with the same result Christ triumphant. From hence- forth the evil spirit will be met with continually in our Saviour's mission. He had been far more secret in his work in the previous ages, but terribly active and successful ; for after his victory in Eden his em- pire had gradually become almost universal, " all the gods of the Gentiles are devils." He is now to be completely conquered. Let us ask how far the devil could actually tempt * Sceptics would have us regard demons or devils as creatures of a credulous fancy. But all human history reveals the hierarchy of evil beings extending from the invisible world into our own. Nothing in science -is better proved than that there are spirits in communication with men, good spirits and evil spirits. The kingdom of wickedness embraces portions of both the visible and invisible world, and is divided only by an imaginary line, and of this kingdom Satan and his spirits are the rulers. Apart from the plain evidence of the ancient scriptures, the teaching of Christ is con- clusive evidence from revelation. Satan has his kingdom (Matt. xii. 25), his emissaries (Matt. xxv. 41), against whom Christ sets up His standard and makes relentless and successful war. Satan is the promoter of all evil, the father of lies and of liars, the instigator of murder (John viii. 44), ever assaulting the Church (Matt. xvi. 19), the foaming enemy of the Apostles, among whom Peter is the mainstay (Luke xxii. 31). As to the power of the demons, reason no less than revelation limits it strictly to unwittingly helping God to carry out His plans. The demons are workers of evil in ways which help the working of good. They hurt Job only to make his patience heroic ; they ensnare Peter only to deepen his loyalty. Careful introspection reveals in each soul the meddling of an alien power seeking to obtain control. The Evil One's superiority of nature gives him a certain access to our minds, as it also gives him control of the material elements. It is this two-fold phenomenon, a mysterious mastery of the material elements, as well as of our imagination, making for evil, that explains why mankind has always believed in demons ; it was universal experience that established the universal belief in diabolism. THE PREPARA TION IN THE DESERT. 137 our Saviour. Theologians answer that whenever Jesus willed it, His Divinity withdrew into the higher part of His soul and there passed within the veil. There remained to Jesus His human soul, His fulness of faith and hope and love as a man; without the im- mediate communication of the infinite power of God. But His human nature is ever of one person with His divine nature, which is watchful of the struggles and makes sure of the triumph of the human nature. The pendulum swings to the right and the left, but is never out of control of the supereminent force of gravity: the movement guides the clock and the stability guarantees its regularity. Thus did Jesus merit the glory of resisting temptation, even though the presence of the Divine Word assured His triumph. Seeming to lose the form of God and to have only that of His hu- manity, yet His humanity was so' well guarded by the divinity that it was absolutely incapable of sin. The difference between Him and us in temptation is thus very great. To Him temptation was an influence wholly external ; it found not the least help in His heart. To us, it becomes at once interior, having a spy in our native weakness to aid it from within. Even when we remain innocent, temptation stirs the sediment, it finds some sinful memories to help it, some fleeting evil tendencies, and the waters which seemed but now clear as crystal become' dark and troubled. In Jesus there was no evil memory or tendency, no sediment of evil possibility, no scars of former disgraceful wounds. Yet He is our model: ' ' For we have not a high-priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities : but one tempted in all things like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews iv. 15). He has a sympathetic knowledge of what it is to fall into temptation. As a physician studies not 138 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. only in books but at the dissecting table and in hospi- tals, so did Jesus learn what sin is, and so He was tempted for our sakes. Satan addresses Jesus as Son of God, for he had heard the voice from heaven call Him so. But how did the demon understand that title? Did it mean only that Jesus was beloved like a son ? Or did he suspect that He was the Word Incarnate, God as Jehovah is God ? Now, many have thought that Satan had been cast out of heaven because he was too proud to accept and believe this very mystery of God-Man that Jesus is, when it was prophetically revealed to the angels ; nor would he easily believe it now. No doubt, therefore, the evil one was mys- tified, and he will put this strange being to the test. Did he appear -to Jesus in human form; or did he speak to Him from the air ; or address Him spirit to spirit? In this we are not left wholly to conjecture, as the sacred narrative seems plainly to show us Satan in human or some other tangible or visible form. We may be certain, too, that it was by an actual and bodily movement that Jesus was carried to the Temple's topmost pinnacle, and afterwards to some high mountain whence the fiend could boast of his ownership of the entire pagan world. Yet, after, all, the triple battle of Jesus was fought and won in the invisible but most real arena of spirit life. THE TEMPTATION. 139 CHAPTER IV. THE TEMPTATION. Matt. iv. in; Mark i. 12 , 13 ; Luke iv. 113. NTIL, now, since the fall of Adam, Satan he now felt it plainly had never known so momentous a conflict. That great victory seemed to have given him his present plan of battle. Sensual indulgence, presump- tion on the divine goodness, lust of power : these were the sins of Adam. Can this new Adam be allured to commit the same ? A won- der-worker thought the devil this Messias surely must be ; I will help Him to spoil His mission by a vain show of miracles. Not by miracles of suffering and of love shall He rule men, but by those of pride and lordly majesty, of gluttony, presumption, ambi- tion ; and so He shall rule men under my supremacy. Jesus arms Himself with His Father's sword of resistance, the word of God. His enemy's assaults are thrown back instantly in his face. Not a moment's thought is given to them. Adam and Eve ruined everything by complacent dallying with the tempter ; Jesus saves all by immediate rejection. As a plumb- line in a mason's hand strikes against a bulge in a defective wall, so does the truth of God disclose a lie. Jesus has but one rule for heart and hand and tongue ; it is God's law, whose words He sternly utters, yea, even with irony, against the demon. Fainting with hunger after forty days of fasting, He is addressed by Satan : " If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But He answered and said : It is written, not by bread alone doth man live, but by every word that pro- ceedeth from the mouth of God" (Deut. viii. 3). Al- 140 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. ways Kis enemies will look for a sign, wicked and adulterous as they are : as Satan their ringleader at this beginning of His struggle, so his chief lieutenants under the cross, who will shout: " If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross!" Our Saviour refuses to separate Himself from our common human lot. The first word of His answer places Je- sus as a man among men, gladly content with God's will as His meat and drink. "Man liveth not by bread alone." Vainly did Satan call on the Son of God to use the divine power in the interests of sensual indulgence. Personal inter- est is not the aim of the Messias, and, at all events, Jehovah had fed Israel in the wilderness with bread from heaven. And does not any heroic soul forget to eat corporal food when fed by the word of God ? Abandonment to the fatherly care of Divine Providence, total aban- donment, is the characteristic trait of the true Son of God, whether it be Jesus the Only-Begotten, or any one of His brethren by adoption. Jesus is found impregnable on the side of sensual appetite, and of con- THE STRUGGLE IN THE DESERT. And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from the Jordan, and immediately the Spirit drove him out into the desert. And he was in the desert forty days and forty nights, and was tempted by Satan ; and he was with beasts. And he ate nothing in those days ; and when they were ended, he was hungry. And the tempter coming said to him : If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Who answered and said : It is written, Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him upon the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him : If thou be the Son of ,God, cast thyself down, for it is written : That he hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said to him : It is written, again : Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again the devil took him up into a very high mountain : and shewed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, in a moment of time, and he said to him: To thee will 1 give all this power and the glory of them ; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will I give them. If thou therefore wilt adore before me, all shall be thine. Then Jesus saith to him : Begone, Satan : for it is writ- ten : The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve. And all the temptation being ended, the devil de- parted from him for a time ; and behold angels came and ministered to him. fidence in His Father. Satan attempts another side, that of excessive con- fidence in God. For it often happens that one who knows that he is tenderly loved is vile enough to abuse his privilege by presumption. And as the desert was a fit place for temptation to self-indulgence, THE TEMPTATION. 141 so the Holy City shall be the scene of a more spiritual trial. Instantly the demon wafts Jesus through the air and sets Him on a pinnacle of the Temple. Far below Him He sees the city teeming with a multitude of people. Satan whispers to Him, What a glorious thing to descend upon the wings of sup- porting angels the entire city witnessing the miracle ! This would prove to all Israel that Thou art their long expected Messias. And as Jesus had used Scripture in His defence, the tempter tried it him- self in this second assault, and said to Him : "If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down, for it is written : He hath given His angels charge over Thee, and in their hands shall they bear Thee up, lest perhaps Thou dash Thy foot against a stone " (Psalm xc. u, 12). It is notice- able that he suppresses a part of the text, which promises the angelic aid to those who abide in their proper place " to keep thee in all thy ways" faithful, that is, to the ordinary will of God, which com- pliance with this amazing proposal cer- tainly would not be. The temptation was that the Messias should make a dazzling exhibition of miraculous power, and so by one splendid stroke overthrow all unbelief, suffering no delay, not consenting to be a subject of tedious dis- cussion. And why not ? Is it not better to conquer all opposition by the miraculous use of the divine power ? But Jesus reasoned otherwise. The miracle would be either a vainglorious display of power, or it would be a departure from the Father's will ; in either case an act of presumption. To back it up "And he showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and th: glory of them " (Matt. iv. 8). " The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and Him only shalt thou serve " (Matt. iv. 10). 142 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. by a Scripture text is but one instance of how the dangerous and novel ventures of fanatics in religious affairs may seem to be favored by detached passages of inspiration, whereas the whole teaching of God restores us to the safe ways of patient obedience c Therefore Jesus answered : " It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" (Deut. vi. 16). This answer but increased Satan's mystification. Perhaps, thought the tempter, Jesus is not so power- ful a being after all. If He is a mere man, why not assail Him on a common side of human weakness ambition ? ' ' The devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high moun- tain, and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and the glory of them ; and saith unto Him, to Thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them ; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will I give them. If Thou therefore wilt fall down and adore me, all shall be Thine." This claim of world- wide empire was not so transparent a fraud as at first sight it seems, when we remember Satan's almost universal dominion over a world sunk in idolatry. Men and na- tions everywhere adored the demon under the names of their gods and goddesses. Let us remember, too, that half a century before this date one man had conquered the world : Julius Caesar. Nor is devil-worship essentially different from types of idolatry common in our Saviour's time. But Jesus had come to overthrow Satan, and to do so all the more thoroughly because the demon in the shape of pagan deities was burlesquing the true and only God, and masquerading among the nations as the supreme being. THE TEMPTATION. Jesus has come, not to continue this empire of tying and pretence or even to do good by utilizing its vile methods, but to ruin it totally. He will do so by adopting methods absolutely the reverse of the devil's malign activity ; nay, even the reverse of ordi- nary human means; At the expense of His own race's allegiance, Jesus will reject all human force in establishing His authority, all violence, all alliances with earthly powers. By patient suffering, by kindly persuasion, by the loveliness of truth, He shall obtain a spiritual empire worthy of His Father. It shall be a little seed that will grow into the great tree of a new order of life. And now, therefore, away with thee, Satan, an end to thy foul temptations! " Be- gone, Satan : for it is written, The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and Him only shalt thou serve" (Deut. vi. 13). The tempter has fled. The dark shadows vanish from the clear mind of Jesus false joys, false hopes, false glory cannot gain a foothold there. Let Satan launch against Him at a future day all the powers of earth and hell ; Jesus will accept the challenge and conquer by His cross. " Fear not," He will say to His trem- bling followers, "I have conquered the world." The victory of Jesus over Satan in the desert is the first of an unbroken series, and it is our victory. Since that victory sensual pleasure, fleeting glory, the itch for money, so often used at Satan's instigation, have never had the power that they had in ancient days, when his reign was over a race of slaves. "Then the devil left Him" (Matt. iv. ). 144 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. Jesus has emancipated us. Since His victory, poverty, self-denial, humility, a gentle and yielding kindness, a meek and wise reliance on God's fatherly provi- dence, have entered the field of human endeavor and have won the best victories. From that time, also, has Jesus given His angels greater power over us. These heavenly spirits, who came and congratu- lated our Saviour upon His triumph, are always with us, aiding us in our conflict, rejoicing in heaven at our victory. AN OASIS IN THE DESERT. THE BAPTIST AND THE CHIEF PRIESTS. 145 CHAPTER V. JOHN THE BAPTIST AND THE CHIEF PRIESTS. " BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD ! " John i. MEANTIME, and while Jesus was battling with the enemy in the desert, the Jewish priests and the leaders of the Pharisees were taking counsel together in Jerusalem about the Baptist. " And this is the. testimony of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and L,evites to him." The ever-watchful eyes of these religious rulers did not fail to perceive the powerful agitation of the people under John's preaching; nor did they at first view it unfavorably. They hoped that it might be the beginning of a great national agitation in Israel in accordance with their own schemes. Therefore, they sent priests and L,evites to the Baptist, con- veying a message carefully guarded in its terms and so framed as to learn all and admit nothing ; the answer would enable them to judge whether they would push the people forward into John's arms or hold them back. " Who art thou ? " demanded the embassy. John knew well that he was rumored to be the Messias. Instantly "he confessed, and did not deny; and he confessed: I am not the Christ." Vainglory had not a moment's control of his motives or his conduct. But they insisted: "What then? Art thou EHas ? ' ' Now, the prophet Malachias had foretold him as EHas (iv. 5), and Jesus afterwards said of him: "This is EHas that was to come." But John knew that he was all this only in a spiritual sense, and permitted no such delusion to enter his mind as that he was actually the great pro- 146 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. phet of Israel returned in person. He was the bearer of the thoughts, the power, the soul's earnestness of Elias. Lest the messengers should misunderstand him, he ignored his claim to even this singular dignity. " And they asked him, What then ? Art thou EHas ? And he saith, I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered: No." The eager souls of the people dreamed of the appearance of Enoch, or of Josue, and especially of Jeremias, their favorite prophet in this era of their degradation. No : these imaginings of the people had no fulfilment in him. But they must have something more than mere negations to bring back to the Sanhedrin. "They said therefore unto him: Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? And he said : I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias." What an example of humility ! In total self-forgetfulness this mighty angel of humanity falls back for a title upon his office of messenger of God ; nay, upon the very physical instrument of it, the voice, the word, the cry : but it was a voice foretold of yore, and it was a cry which in turn announced the Saviour of men. Then came the scrutinizing question of the rigorists. "And they ' that were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not the Christ, nor EHas, nor the prophet?" The answer fully re- vealed both the humility of the Precursor and his relation to the Christ, as well as his supernatural knowledge of His immediate coming. " I baptize with water : but there hath stood One in the midst of you whom you know not. The same is He that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: THE BAPTIST AND THE CHIEF PRIESTS. 147 the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. These things were done in Bethania beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing." The startling announcement that the Messias was at hand placed the Sanhedrin in an attitude of ex- pectation. Let Him who shall claim this dignity be manifested, they must have thought, and then we shall know what course to pursue both towards Him and His precursor. Hence when in after times Jesus was rejected by the religious rulers, so was John rejected, and denounced to Herod, if not, as is sus- pected, even delivered up by them. Meantime they did not interfere with John; all that he said and did was favorable to their ultimate object of a popular uprising, the overthrow of the stranger's domination and the independence of Israel as. a theocratic and racial state. John had meantime kept enshrined the remembrance of that beautiful form, dripping with the crystal waters of the Jordan, illumined with heavenly holiness, and authenticated by the radiant dove and the thrilling voice from on high. But he knew that the great prerogative of his office was yet to be exercised. That was the formal and public proclamation of the Messias with all due solemnity. Therefore he looked for the return of Jesus from the desert, to which he knew He had retired for His preparation. Jesus on His part knew that it was by the Precursor, the gate-keeper of Israel, He should be properly introduced to His mission. To John was also granted the knowledge that the mission of the Messias was to be peaceful. This pacific character of the Saviour was contrary to popu- lar expectation. Israel was to be saved not by a warrior-king but by a patient sufferer. It was. not a universal conqueror, but a universal victim of atone- 1 48 LIFE OF JESVS CHRIST. ment for all human sinfulness, that John was appointed to announce. The last of the Hebrews, John was set free from Hebrew ambition and narrowness. He welcomed Jesus as the Saviour of the whole world : "John saw Jesus coming to him, and he said : Behold the Lamb of God ! Behold Him who taketh away the sin of the world ! " Now, although the people looked for no lamb-like man of God, but for a mighty monarch of God, yet they were by no means borne out in this by their Scriptures. Isaias (liii. 7) pro- phesies of the Messias that He should be led like a lamb, mute and helpless, to the slaughter. Jesus is the realization of this symbolical utterance of Isaias, His resignation absolute, His gentleness perfect ; He is the Lamb of God, the personal fulfilment of the high- est types of sacrifice in the old dis- pensation. He is the sacrificial lamb, He is prefigured in the lamb sacrificed at the end of the Egyp- tian servitude the lamb whose "BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD ! " The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and he saith : Behold the lamb of God, behold him who laketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said : After me there cometh a man, who is pre- ferred before me : because he was before me. And I knew him not, but that he may be made manifest in Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John gave testimony, saying : I saw the Spirit coming down as a dove from heaven, and he re- mained upon him. And I knew him not : but he, who sent me to baptize with water, said to me : He upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, he it is that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw ; and I gave testimony, that this is the Son of God. blood upon the door-posts of every Hebrew dwelling had secured the safe Passover of the destroying angel. This had been the divinely chosen sign of God's friend- ship, a symbol of reconciliation so universal in Israel that in every household, at the festival of the Passover, a lamb was sacrificed and eaten by the family for the cleansing of sins and the renewal of heavenly protec- tion. This, then, the holiest as well as the earliest of the prophetic sacrifices of the Mosaic religion, the Pre- cursor salutes as fulfilled in Jesus. He is the sin-of- fering which it foreshadowed. The followers of Jesus have ever continued this use of the symbol, applying THE BAPTIST AND THE CHIEF PRIESTS. 149 it to the redemption of the whole world. " Purge out, therefore," says St. Paul to the Corinthians, "the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump. For Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us" (I. Cor. v. 7). But this is not all. Primarily Jesus is the Incarnate Word of God. He is the only begotten Son of God, and John strongly insists on that: "This is He of whom Isaias said : After me there cometh a man who is preferred before me, because He was before me." John points out Jesus to his vast auditory, not simply as a great personage : Jesus had actually preceded John, as He had the most venerable of the Hebrew patriarchs. " Before Abraham was made I am," Jesus shall afterwards say. The Baptist had in mind the words of the prophet Malachias (iii. i) : "Behold I send My Messenger, a.nd He shall prepare the way before My face." Now, He who makes His own creature a messenger to announce Him, exists before- hand. Sin or no sin, man is united to God, his nature elevated to company with the Deity in an eternal and personal and substantial union in the per- son of Jesus. It is thus that John fulfils his office of herald of the Expected of Nations by pointing to Jesus of Naza- reth. He does not rely upon family tradition, tables of descent, or any other human proofs, but upon divine revelation, immediate and undeniable. By my own investigations or any human means, he says, I knew Him not; but "I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven as a dove, and He remained upon Him. And I knew Him not : but He that sent me to baptize with water said to me : He upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, He it is that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and I gave testimony that this is the Son of God." God 150 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. had revealed the sign to John, and John had seen it fulfilled with his own eyes, and then he proclaimed it to Israel. Thus had God brought together again the Messias and His Precursor, whose first meeting had taken place at the visit of Mary to Elizabeth. Separation, total and distant, had intervened, John living in the desert from childhood and Jesus at Nazareth, until, as far as we know for the first time, the sovereign will of God brought them together for the opening of the mission of the Messias. John also teaches that Jesus has the office, es- sentially divine, of baptizing souls with the Holy Ghost pouring out the divine Spirit upon all flesh (Joel ii. 28). In this sense, again, we know the mean- ing of John when he calls Jesus Son of God, not as holy men had been so named of yore, or as angels had been, but by an exclusive filiation, by the most living relationship, Jesus having the nature it- self of Jehovah, of which the Baptist had proclaimed the primeval action in Him. Thus John the Baptist has fulfilled his mission most faithfully, unflinchingly faced the incredulity of the leaders and instructed the ignorance of the people. What will they do ? He has baptized them unto penance ; will they accept the Baptism of the Spirit unto eternal life about to be offered by Jesus? JESUS CHOOSES DISCIPLES. 1 5 1 CHAPTER VI. JESUS CHOOSES DISCIPLES. John i. 35-5 1 - .RGANIZATION of a Church was al- ways our Saviour's purpose, no less than teaching and redeeming the world. Both doctrine and atonement were to be dispensed by Him through a society, a public institution with its duly appointed officers. Naturally, therefore, and before His first public instruction, our Saviour begins to gather His Church's officers. Before He gathers His followers He chooses their leaders. He begins to organize His Church before He begins to give forth His doctrine. Naturally also, it was from John's tried and trusted disciples that He would begin to select His own. It was for this reason that He tarried near by the Baptist's ever-changing assemblage of penitents. In a few days He again appeared among John's hearers. " Behold the Lamb of God ! " exclaimed the Baptist, pointing and gazing at Him. Two disciples of John were by these words impelled towards Jesus, for it seemed to them that John had bidden them go. But they dared not address the Messias, and Jesus, seeing their shyness, kindly said to them : * ' What seek you ? They said unto Him : Rabbi, where dwellest Thou? " One was named Andrew, the other was John, son of Zebedee, who, hiding his name with characteristic modesty, relates this occurrence, so momentous for his future destiny. Rabbi meant teacher; these two saluted Jesus, therefore, as their Master in holy wisdom, and gave Him their never-faltering allegi- 152 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. ance as the organizer of a new discipleship, higher than that of John the Baptist ; this they did solely upon the guarantee of their former master. "Come and see " where I live, answered Jesus. They thus became His dis- ciples, though later on we shall find Him renewing their vocation, for as yet He does not attach them so closely to Himself as to make them part of His very household. But He takes them to His home if some friendly shelter in a shep- herd's tent, or perhaps some hum- ble wayside inn, could be so named. Afterwards who can imagine after what joyful converse with Jesus ? Andrew departed from them, seeking and finding his bro- ther Simon, doubtless also num- bered among John's disciples. ' ' We have found the Messias ! " he ex- claimed. Not only the Baptist's testimony but the disciple's own personal trial of it was now in evi- dence : Eureka ! Andrew uttered the word with a nobler ecstasy than Archimedes or Columbus. As Si- mon, Andrew's brother, came up to Jesus, the Master beheld the one whom -His Father in heaven had chosen as the head of His religion, and He saluted him accordingly. He gave him a new name : " Thou art Simon, the son of Jona ; thou shalt be called Cephas, which is 11 FOLLOW ME I " The next day again John stood, and two of his disciples. And beholding Jesus walking, he saith : Behold the lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turning, and seeing them following him, said to them: What seek you ? Who Laid to them : Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Master), where dwell- est thou ? He saith to them : Come and see They came, and saw where he abode, and they stayed with him that day : now it was about the tenth hour. And Andrew the brother of Simon Peter was one of the two who had heard of John, and fol- lowed him. He findeth first his brother Simon, and saith to him : We have found the MESSIAS, which is, being interpreted, the CHRIST. And he brought him to Jesus. And Jesus looking upon him, said : Thou art Simon the son of Jona ; thou shalt be called Cephas, which is in- terpreted Peter. On the following day he would go forth into Galilee, and he findeth Philip. And Jesus saith to him : Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith to him: We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus the son of Joseph of Nazareth. And Nathanael said to him : Can any thing of good come from Nazareth ? Philip saith to him : Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and he saith of him :. Be- hold an Israelite indeed, in \vhom there is no guile. Nathanael saith to him : Whence knowest thou me ? Jesus answer- ed and said to him : Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig- tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered him, and said : Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the king of Israel. Jesus answered, and said to him: Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig- tree, thou believest : greater things than these shalt thou see And he saith to him : Amen, amen I say to you, you shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man. JESUS CHOOSES DISCIPLES. '53 by interpretation Peter, a rock." They did not as yet know the prophetic meaning of this divine word, nor how at a future day Jesus would set Peter as the foundation stone of His Church. By this change of name Jesus takes possession of this disciple in a special ownership. So it was in the olden time when God chose Abraham and Israel. The little party was soon on the journey homeward to Galilee, that is ; to which prov- ince they all belonged. There Jesus purposed completing His preparations for promulgating the Glad Tidings. But soon, and while journeying on- wards, He secured another disciple. "He findeth Philip," a fisherman of Lake Genesareth, a pilgrim, we may be sure, homeward bound from the Baptist's preaching. "Follow Me," said Jesus, taking him into His com- pany to share the instruction imparted while they plodded on. Follow Me ! There is majesty in this little phrase. What a change from the retiring man- ner of a village mechanic. Philip was too unselfish to enjoy his favor unknown to a certain dear friend of his, Nathanael. This was a guile- less soul, worthy, if any man could be, of the honor of the discipleship. " We have found Him of whom Moses spoke in the law," says Philip to him, "and of whom the prophets spoke, Jesus the son of Joseph of Nazareth." Philip may have thought that Nathanael, being a Galilean, would favor Jesus as a fellow-countryman. But to Nathanael the name of Nazareth was a stumbling-block, "Can any 154 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. good thing corne out of Nazareth ? ' ' He thus quoted to him the traditional evil report of that town. The Saviour, Nathanael meant to say, must be from Beth- lehem, nor could he tolerate the thought that an ob- scure man of Galilee should be the Messias. " Come and see," answers Philip, appealing simply from words to actual inspection ; and an upright soul will accept the test. The two Galileans had been resting under a fig- tree. There had Nathanael, without knowing whence it came, felt the inward touch of Jesus preparing the way for His message by Philip one of those sweet and holy moments which divine grace consecrates to its high purposes. They hurried on to overtake the Messias. "Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and He saith to him: Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile." But Nathanael seemed as little moved by this praise as by the zeal of Philip. Hence he answered coldly: "Whence knowest Thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him : Before .Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee." To -the rude honesty of the fisherman Jesus opposed a knowledge of some hidden thought of Nathanael while under the fig-tree. He was amazed. He that can see into the depths of my soul, thought the honest fisherman-, and read ,. its secrets ; is my master; what He claims I grant. "Rabbi," cried Nathanael, "Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel." Jesus praises Nathanael for his faith, nor does He reprove him because he was slow and cautious in coming to it. A divine light has en- tered that soul, it need only watch and guard it to be yet further illumined, even with heavenly visions. Jesus answered: "Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou ? Greater things JESUS CHOOSES DISCIPLES. 155 than these shalt thou see." And here for the first time He uses the word Amen, a term of powerful em- phasis, meaning most certainly it is absolutely certain. He finishes by addressing all the newly chosen dis- ciples. " Amen, Amen I say to you, you shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." The title " Son of Man," thus used by our Sav- iour, and in connection with the ministry of God's angels, shows how the Incarnation has made the earth a favored rendezvous of heaven's blessed spirits. Wherever Jesus is, there are the angels ; some are round about Him, others mounting on high to the Father's throne, and others, again, descending to com- mune with Jesus and to wait upon Him ; they show the perfect union between earth and heaven by the mediation of the Lord of the angels, the Man Christ. Son of Man He is, as well as Son of God. He is the head of our race, the Adam of a new humanity ; yet how humble a term it is for the Uncreated Word to assume. With it, as with a lowly though beautiful disguise, He clothes His Divinity, and brings us all. into that brother- .V. hood which unites the Saviour to us, a brother indeed and co-heir in all communion of God's goods, spiritual and temporal. JESUS BY THE SEA OF GALILEE. 156 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER VII. THK WEDDING AT CANA. John ii. i- ii. 'HE little caravan journeyed onward into Galilee ; it was our Saviour's purpose to complete the number of His Apostles be- fore beginning His first public discourses ; but here a woman interrupts and alters the regular order of the Master's plans His Mother. Arriving at Nazareth, they learned that at Cana, a little city to the eastward (now called Kefr-Kenna), a wedding-feast was to take place, and that Mary had already gone there, and Jesus found an invitation awaiting Him, which He decided to accept. This was natural. Nathanael was of Cana, his companions must go that way to reach their homes on the shore of Lake Genesareth, and so all started along with Jesus, who would arrange for their Invitation to the wedding-feast. This could easily be done, for the persons married were cer- tainly intimate friends, and perhaps relatives, of our Saviour. Mary had gone beforehand ; her nephews, sons of Cleophas, were also there ; perhaps it was one of them who was to be married, and indeed this seems likely. The interest Mary took in the festivities, and the assurance with which she gave orders, in- dicate that she felt quite at home there. It is q'uite certain that our Saviour was actuated only by a kindly spirit of complaisance in going to the Cana wedding-feast, though the intervention of Mary caused Him to "manifest His glory" there. We cannot imagine John the Baptist sitting down to a wedding-feast, and perhaps the newly chosen dis- THE WEDDING A T CAN A. 157 ciples, all novices of the Baptist, were somewhat scandalized by His familiar condescension to human joys. But Jesus would save sinners in every way, by mingling with men's joys and sanctifying them no less than by shaking their bones with the terrors of His Father's wrath. It was, nevertheless, a somewhat startling beginning of a penitential life, such as must be the Christian's, for its Master to sit down at a wed- ding-feast and miraculously contribute to the good cheer of the guests. But penance is not, after all, entirely inconsistent with well-ordered enjoyment. The third day after leaving the Jordan and it must have been at the evening hour our Saviour and His party arrived at Cana, having but one league to travel after leaving Nazareth. The town was probably like what it is now, seated on a hill-side, the houses surrounded with green and blooming hedges, and about the public well a grove of olive- trees, pomegranates, and fig-trees. In the East a wedding-feast is often a matter of several days' family rejoicing, and it may have been that our Saviour and His disci- ples came in towards the close of the festivi- ties at Cana most wel- come guests, a friend of the family suddenly become a Rabbi, ac- companied by His OWn CANA IN GALILEE VIEW FROM THE WEST. AT THE WEDDING-FEAST. 158 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. disciples. They in turn had great news to tell of John's preaching, especially of his testimony to Jesus as the promised Saviour. But while the company was absorbed in these amazing themes the wine began to fail; six new guests helped to consume it. Now, who would first notice this ? The men would never think of it ; among the women Mar^r, overjoyed though she was with the news of John's witness to our Saviour which engaged them all, was still the least sur- prised at it or absorbed by it. She was freer than any other to observe the embarrassment of the hosts. Mary therefore went to Jesus, drew Him aside and secretly whispered : ' ' They have no wine." It was but the bare men- tion of the awkward predicament of the hOvSts, yet it disguised a most earnest prayer: Mary -demanded a miracle. Nothing more clearly in- dicates both her full knowledge of Jesus' divine power, and the con- sciousness of her own influence over Him.. But Jesus felt that,- if He could not refuse, her, He-; ought nevertheless to protest against this premature display of miraculous powers. He answered coldly : ' Woman, what is it to Me and to thee? My hour is not yet come." We cannot deny that the tone of this answer and its wording may have pained Mary. The term " Woman," however, indicated in THE BEGINNING OF MIRACLES. And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee : and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited, and his disciples, to the marriage. And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to him : They have no wine. And Jesus saith to her : Woman, what is it to me and ^o thee ? my hour is not yet come. His mother saith to the waiters : Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye. Now there were set there six water-pots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three measures apiece. Jesus saith to them : Fill the water-pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And Jesus saith to them : Draw out now, and carry to the chief steward of the feast. And they carried it. And when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water ; the chief steward calleth the bridegroom, and saith to him : Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drank, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee : and mani- fested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. THE WEDDING AT CANA. 159 itself no chiding, for in the language used it meant I,ady or Madam. Mary's confidence was not at all shaken. We read only the words of Jesus in dead print. She saw her Son's face, she heard His gentle voice, she read His heart. Without answering a syllable she quickly | went to the servants, and said: "Whatsoever He shall say to you," motioning towards her Son, "that do ye." Now, right at hand were six large w r ater- pots for use in the Jewish purifications. Jesus had WATER-POT OF STON followed Mary when she went to the waiters, and He said to them : ' ' Fill the water-pots with water ; and they filled them to the brim," so ready were they to do His bidding. He meant to show a royal generosity ; He and His followers were six in number, and six large vessels of wine would be a worthy recompense for their host's hospitality. Nor can we fancy any danger of excess in drinking, for the presence of Jesus and the miraculous charac- ter of His gift would guard safely against it. The miracle was instantly manifest : the water had turned into wine. It was indeed a wonderful thing to the assembled company, but what was it to Jesus but a quicker way of making wine out of water than His usual way of the vineyard, slowly distilling the moisture of the fruit- ful earth into the grapes, and these again by His chemistry of fermen- tation into wine? He who formed the natural laboratory of the vine- yard and who made all the chemi- cal laws for wine-making, shall He be limited to that only way of gaining i6o LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. His ends? " Draw out, now, and carry to the chief steward," said our Saviour. Then came the inquiry, Wher^ did this new and delicious wine come from ? The waiters knew, and they told the miracle. They had poured water into the jars and drawn out wine they were sure the jars were the same, they were sure of the water; and there was the wine, wine of .the first quality and in immense quantities. To the expectant souls of the new disciples, Jesus was by this event revealed as a wonder-worker, His glory was manifested to them. It was the first of His miracles and it profoundly impressed the Saviour's followers, winning yet more securely their entire faith in Him. DINING TABLE USED IN THE EAST. JESUS CLEANSES THE TEMPLE. 1 61 CHAPTER VIII. JESUS RETURNS TO JERUSALEM AND EXPELS THE TRAFFICKERS FROM THE TEMPLE. HE PRO- CLAIMS HIS AUTHORITY. John it. 12-22. FOR the purpose of completing the apostolic band, as well as to secure a vantage-point for His teaching, Jesus led the way to Lake Genesareth, on whose western shore, besides, was the dwelling-place of the newly chosen disciples. With Him and them went Mary, and doubtless other earnest and pious women, all forming His household, she bound to Him by every tie human and divine, the others by faith and devoted loyalty. Capharnaum became His place of sojourn, much frequented by the stream of traders to and from Damascus and the Mediterranean sea- ports, as well as by the soldiers and officials of the Roman government. The "brethren" of Jesus also accompanied Him. We have elsewhere explained that this word means His cousins, the sons of Alpheus. Peter lived at Capharnaum, and there, probably in the house of the wife's mother of the Apostle, Jesus took up His abode. But they tarried only a few days, soon departing for Jerusalem, with the intention, however, of returning to Galilee. The feast of the Passover was near, and Jesus wished to test the dis- positions of the people of the capital, with its priestly hierarchy and its leading minds. Towards Jerusalem, therefore, He bent His steps. Many generations before, Malachias (iii. i, 3) had prophesied of this visit to Jerusalem : ' ' Presently the Lord, whom you seek, shall come. And who shall 162 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. be able to abide the day of His com- ing, and who shall stand to see Him ? for He is like a cleansing fire, and He shall cleanse the sons of L,evi and shall purify them." No doubt Jesus at His former visits had been shocked and scandalized at the abuses in the Temple. But then His time had not come : He was a devout carpenter of Nazareth and nothing more. Now all is changed. The rights of God have in Him a public and official defender. It was that part of the Temple devoted to the use of Gentile con- verts to Judaism which was especial- ly profaned, a splendid and spacious colonnade outside the Jews' place of worship. A public market had been established in this sacred place. Under its lofty ceilings of polished cedar wood, upon its shining marble terraces, amid its double and triple rows of noble columns, money-chang- ers and hucksters and traders were continually traffick- ing, and even cattle-dealers had their bullocks, sheep, and goats penned up there for sale to those who would provide for sacrifice in the Temple all with the ap- proval of the priestly guardians of the holy places, doubtless well paid for granting the sacrilegious li- cense. The holy place was filthy with this abomina- tion, profaned by the shouts of the traders and the bellowing of the beasts. It was especially hateful to the Lord as being a profanation of the Gentiles' court. Jesus gazed upon it all with indescribable indig- A MONEY-CHANGER, nation. He suddenly snatched up some cords from JESUS CLEANSES THE TEMPLE. After this he went down to Capharnaum, he and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples : and they remained there not many days. And the pasch of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jeru- salem : And he found in the temple them that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. And when he had made as it were a scourge of little cords, he drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen, and the money of the changers he poured out, and the tables he overthrew. And to them that sold doves he said : Take these things hence, and make not the house of my Father a house of traffic. And his dis- ciples remembered that it was written : The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up. The Jews therefore answered, and said to him : What sign dost thou shew unto us, seeing thou dost these things. Jesus an- swered and said to them : Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said : Six and forty years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days ? But he spoke of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen again from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture, and the word that Jesus had said. JESUS PROCLAIMS HIS AUTHORITY. 163 the broken wrappings which strewed the pavement. His terrible voice pierced the uproar of beasts and men. He whipped the animals and their owners out of the Temple ; He cast upon the' earth the money of the petty bankers and overturned their tables. In His holy anger He spared only those 'who sold doves, peddlers for the convenience of the poor. ' ' Take these things hence," he said sternly, " and make not My Father's house a house of traffic." Jesus was single-handed and alone in His battle for the cleanliness, spiritual and ma- terial, of the house of God, but He was easily the victor. Consciousness of His Fath- er's authority endowed Him with resistless force and awed his adversaries into utter subjection. His disciples were profoundly edified and no less amazed by His daring. They reminded each other of the Psalmist's prophecy of the Messias: "The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up " (Ps. Ixviii.) With others the case was different. Although the action of Jesus was deeply re- ligious and at first drew their admiration, yet they would not admit that it justified itself. Habituated to legal- ism, addicted to formality, they were not content with plain evidence of right acting. They wanted authen- tication and credentials. They must have something to And the money of the changers He poured out, and the tables He overthrew." 164 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. argue about. The tortuous mind dislikes that simple form of truth which is independent of argumentation. They said: "What sign dost Thou show unto us, seeing that Thou doest these things ? ' ' Jesus pur- posely answered in a way far above their compre- hension : He gave them, in prophecy, the highest credentials ever known to man, His resurrection from the dead ; although He veiled it under a claim of power over the material edifice whose holiness He had just vindicated. " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." To build or to de- stroy or to raise from ruin that noblest temple of God, the human body, is a power infinitely greater than Solomon's or Herod's in constructing the dead architecture of a great building. Jesus can and will raise His own dead body to life : are they ready to discuss that claim of power? But what did these carnal- minded men know of the dignity of man's corporal frame, or of the indwelling of the Spirit of God in it? Moreover the gesture which Jesus must have made to explain His meaning, pointing to His own body when He said the words "this temple,"* escaped their notice in the rising tempest of their wrath. They thought His answer an empty boast and moreover, they found on inquiry that He was no regular rabbi at all, but only a carpenter of Naza- reth. So they said with a sneer: "Forty years was this Temple in building, and wilt Thou rear it up in three days ? ' ' Jesus answered nothing nearly always He answered nothing or very mysteriously to the cross- questionings of bad-hearted men. To the pure of heart His answers were ever quick, and if not al- * It is noteworthy that in St. Mark's account of our Saviour's trial before the chief priests the witnesses testified : " We heard Him say, I will destroy this i emple made with hands, and within three days I will build another not made with hands." JESUS PROCLAIMS HIS A UTHORITY. 165 ways intelligible, their very obscurity shone with the bright light of truth, with present meaning or prophetic. But that mysterious three days' rebuilding of a mighty temple was never forgotten by friend or foe of Jesus. It was His first teaching in Jerusalem, and at the very end of His life we shall hear Him accused of blasphemy for it in the high court of the Jews; it was railed in scorn against Him even under the Cross. His disciples, after having long cherished it as a test of faith in Him, shall be transfigured by its fulfilment into envoys of the divine love to man- kind. From another point of view, the prophecy shall be fulfilled by the effacement of the Temple's author- ity at the death of Christ, typified by the rending of the veil of its sanctuary from top to bottom, the cessation of its rites, the suppression of the Mosaic religious system, and the substitution of the King- dom of God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are left to our imagination if we ask what might have been the result of this public and fearless display of the love of Jesus for His Father's holy Temple if it had been received in a proper spirit by the Jewish priests and scribes. It might have been the beginning of a sincere and universal awakening in Israel, carrying John the Baptist's mission triumphantly everywhere among the people and their leaders, and gaining the adhesion of the whole nation to the Messias whom he had announced. The public life of Jesus would in that case have begun and ended very differently from the actual facts. Had the Jews known the difference between the casket and the necklace, between their race and their re- ligion, they would have received the Messias with open arms after His display of power in the cleansing of the Temple. 166 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER IX. JESUS BEGINS TO TEACH IN JERUSALEM. THE IN* TERVIEW WITH NICODEMUS. John ii. 23-35, an d Hi- 1-21. HE Jewish priesthood, it was soon very evi- dent, was opposed to Jesus, even so far as to hinder His getting an audience. They would not allow Him the Temple or its precincts for His discourses if thej r could prevent it, and therefore He chose the more open places in the streets of the city and in the suburbs, talk- ing to the people in little groups or in great crowds. He worked miracles also, though St. John, who alone tells us of this sojourn of Jesus in Jerusalem, does not particularize them. "Now when He was at Jerusalem at the Pasch upon the festival day, many believed in His name, seeing His signs which He did." Amazement at His miracles was not always a sign of true faith in His Messias-ship. Although everybody began to talk about Him, and although numbers were sincerely won, Jesus knew men too well to trust to the general sentiment about Him. " But Jesus did not trust Himself unto them, for that He knew all men, and because He needed not that any should give testimony of man ; for He knew what was in man." In fact, the history of religion proves that onl} r a few are gifted quickly to discern true miracles and understand their significance ; while, on the other hand, the common mass of men are readily led astray by false wonders and often misinterpret the meaning of true ones. Hence, if it be asked how the enemies of Jesus could resist the evidence of His miracles, the answer is, that they had made up their minds be- JESUS BEGINS TO TEACH IN JERUSALEM. 167 forehand that He was not the Christ. Have we not in our own day often heard men of science say that if they saw a miracle or many of them with their own eyes they would not believe them real ? The capacities of faith are great, but s6 are the capacities of incredulity. Nicodemus was a man capable of true faith. He was a leading Pharisee, a doctor of the law, a well- known personage in Jerusalem. Had he been half as brave in professing the truth as he was anxious to learn it, his character would have been well balanced. He managed to gain access to a private meeting held by Jesus after nightfall, in which our Saviour discoursed freely with His chosen disciples ; John was one of these, and thus was probably an eye-wit- ness of this interview, of which he has given an account. " Rabbi," said Nicodemus, "we know that Thou art come a teacher from God, for no man can do these signs which Thou dost unless God be with him." He and his friends had honestly read the divine credentials of Jesus, His miracles. A miracle is the seal of heaven upon the message of a man of God : the Deity thereby assumes responsibility for His truthfulness. Here, then, Nicodemus recognized a Teacher whose authority transcended that of the official teaching of the Jews, for this strange Teacher from Galilee had God's glorious power of miracles Nicodemus had seen Him display it openly and repeatedly. Furthermore, a timid soul admires a courageous one, and so Nicodemus was drawn to our Saviour by His bold attack on the venders in the Temple. We notice the air of authority on the part of Jesus in dealing with this first-fruit from the higher ranks of Judaism. He gives Nicodemus an instruction THE NEW BIRTH. And there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night, and said to him : Rabbi, we know that thou art come a teacher from God ; for no man can do these signs which thou dost, unless God be with him. Jesus answered, and said to him : Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith to him : How can a man be born when he is old ? can lie enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born again ? Jesus answered : Amen, amen I say to thee, un- less a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh, is flesh : and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit. Wonder not, that I said to thee, you must be born again. The Spirit breatheth where he will ; and thou hearest his voice, but thou knowest not whence he cometh and whither he oeth ; so is every one that is born of the pirit. Nicodemus answered, and said to him : How can these things be done ? Jesus answered, and said to him : Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things ? Amen, amen I say to thee, that we speak what we know, and we testify what we have seen, and you receive not our testimony. If I have spoken to you earth- ly things, and you believe not : how will you believe if I shall speak to you heavenly things ? And no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up : That whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son : that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God sent not his Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by him. He that believeth in him is not judged. But he that doth not believe, is already judged : because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment : because the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light : for their works were evil. For every one that doth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, that his works may not be reproved. But he that doth truth, cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest because they are done in God. LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. for receiving baptism, as we would term the discourse. But it included the most sublime of all the doctrines of Christ, that of the new birth, the new life of our souls in the Holy Ghost. Every man, even this learn- ed and pious Hebrew teacher, shall be made over again, his powers of knowing and loving entering upon a new order of existence so radically different from the old as to be called another creation as much higher than the first as the divine is higher than the human. Thoughts and loves natural only to God are now to be the privilege of the mind and heart of man in a more than natural condition. Jesus did not hesitate to express the change in fitting terms : " Amen, Amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and of the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Though this sounded strangely to the ears of a strict Pharisee, one who had never doubted his high place in the only kingdom of God, that of Israel, and though he made objections, yet Jesus went on with His discourse and won him with His doctrine of the Spirit. The explanation which was grant- ed this timid disciple of Jesus was that the elements of inanimate nature should be lifted into union with the 168 THE INTERVIEW WITH NICODEMUS. 169 highest life of the uncreated Divinity water and spirit shall go together. Not a narrow race of men, as in the old dispensation, shall be the outward sign of divine favor, but a system of universal, sacraments ; and these shall not merely be signs but channels of God's grace. The first of these is that of John the Baptist, elevated into new and strange supremacy. The gate of exit of the old and temporary Church is trans- formed into the splendid portal of the new and eternal Church. The difference between the Hebrew baptism of penance and Christ's baptism of the Spirit, is the difference between the Baptist and the Christ. The disciple of Christ is dead and buried with Him in Baptism, to rise again unto newness of life ; dead to the world and the flesh, he comes forth to begin to live over again. He is actually changed from his former self, stripped of his evil deeds and morally transformed, for baptism is not simply a sign of interior cleansing ; it is the adop- tion of sonship to God. Christian Baptism is thus more than repentance, more than deliverance from evil. The Spirit of God breathes a new life into the soul ; new tendencies to positive virtue supplant the sinful conditions banished by re- pentance. Dead to sin, the soul lives to grace and is guided by the intimate whisper of the Holy Ghost. The water and the Spirit regenerate the soul, our Saviour insisting on the spiritual state of His followers as positively a new birth, a new act of creation. " That which is born of the flesh," He said, "is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Wonder not that I said to thee, You must be born again. The Spirit breatheth where He will ; and thou hearest His voice, but thou knowest not whence He cometh and whither He goeth : so is every one that is born of the Spirit," " Nicodemus said : ' Ho can these things be done ? ' iyo LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. The soul of man cannot work its own new birth ; the breath of the Divine Spirit must sweep through it, like the fruitful south wind upon a garden. This breathing of the Spirit fecundates the soul with divine virtues. How it does this, we know not. But we feel it ; we are conscious of it in our heart's depths, and suddenly, or gradually and imperceptibly, we are transformed, we are born again. The fact is evident ; it reveals its own existence. We are made over again into new men. Nicodemus began to under- stand this amazing teaching, and he cried: "How can these things be?" as if to imply, and I not know them ? Then said Jesus, with gentle irony : " Art thou a master in Israel and knowest not these things ? ' ' Meaning that the petty disputes of the Pharisees about minute observances unfitted one to study a great question; for here was a Pharisee, a teacher in Israel, totally ignorant of a doctrine which outranks all others in the school of divine truth. And now our Saviour, amid His newly gathered disciples, simple men, unlearned and lowly, identifies Himself with these docile spirits, and using the first person plural thereby affirms their unity with Him in His teaching office : " Amen, Amen I say to thee, we speak what we know, and we testify what we have seen, and you receive not our testimony." The haughty teachers of the Hebrew people have found it hard to understand the truths of natural religion, which are verified by the unaided conscience ; how, then, shall they manage with the deep secrets of Heaven, which must be accepted on the direct testi- mony of the Teacher? "If," said Jesus, "I have spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not, how will you believe if I speak to you heavenly things ? And no man hath ascended into heaven, THE INTER VIE W Wl TH N1CODEM US. 171 but He that hath descended from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven." Nicodemus was silenced. The words of Jesus overwhelmed him with wonder ; they were the words of a masterful * teacher revealing His divine authority. Jesus ended by teaching him the Redemption : * ' And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up : that whosoever believe th in Him shall not perish, but may have life everlasting." Here was affirmed the plainest analogy between the brazen serpent (Num. xxi. 9), set up in the desert by Moses, and Christ upon the Cross. The brazen serpent was an image of the living serpents whose fiery sting had killed the sinful Hebrews : their penitent and imploring glances at the image-serpent saved them. And so the Son of Man on the Cross is the image of guilty humanity, living, suffering, dying, in His all-sufficing atone- ment ; the sinner who looks with entire faith and with loving repentance upon Him shall be cleansed of the poison in His soul and restored to spiritual health. "For God so loved the world," exclaims Jesus, "as to give His only begotten Son, that who- soever believeth in Him should not perish, but have life everlasting." Thus it is the spontaneous love of the Father's heart for His wayward child, for poor hu- manity, that gave us our Saviour not for the re- deeming of one nation, but for the entire human race has He given His own Son. And Jesus continued : ' ' For God sent not His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved by Him." The Jews believed that the Messias would judge, condemn, and subjugate the nations of the earth. Jesus affirms the contrary : He will save all who will allow Him to do so ; those 172 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. who will not allow Him are self -judged and self- condemned. "He that believeth in Him is not judged; but he that believeth not is condemned al- ready, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Men are divided into good and evil by their love and hatred of the truth of God. "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." These words consoled the upright heart of Nicodemus, who had sought the truth and who, without fully under- standing it, bowed down before it. The soul that hungers and thirsts after righteous- ness and truth is worthy of praise from the lips of the Messias. But, as too often happens with virtuous souls, the courage of Nicodemus was less than his sincerity ; he never dared openly proclaim his faith in Jesus. Later on he timidly pleaded for the Sav- iour's life before the Sanhedrin, but without insist- ing, and with an air of almost indifference. But we shall see him on Calvary changed into a true dis- ciple, ashamed no longer of Jesus, but rather ashamed of his own former cowardice. During the Redeemer's life he had crept in secret to visit Him ; now when He is dead he boldly and publicly claims Him from His enemies, sharing with Joseph of Arimathea the sorrowful honor of burying Him. FINAL WITNESS OF JOHN. 173 HE MUST INCREASE ; BUT CREASE." CHAPTER X. TEACHING IN THE COUNTRY-PEACES. FINAI, WIT- NESS OF JOHN. John Hi. 22-36. "' JESUS was fond of country people and loved to be with them and to teach them. To them He went out from Jerusalem, the Evangelist not stating how long a time He had remained in the city. "After these things, Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He abode with them and baptized." This was only the baptism of John, which Jesus per- sonally did not administer but His disciples, as the Evangelist tells us further on: He would have His apostles co-operate with John in his preparation for the Messias. The Baptist, meanwhile, had left the banks of the Jordan. "And John also was baptizing in Enon near Salim, because there was much water there, and they [the people] came and were baptized. For John was not yet cast into prison." This change of place removed the Baptist from the reach of Herod, whose in- cest with his brother Philip's wife he had boldly reproved. And now Jesus came into the same neighborhood with John, not only to strengthen him in his strug- gle with the tyrant, but to draw from him a final witness of His own office of Messias. The disciples of John and of Jesus, being thus brought to- I MUST DE- And there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews con- cerning purification. And they came to John, and said to him : Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou gavest testimony, behold, he baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and said : A man cannot receive any- thing except it be given him from heaven. You yourselves do bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride, is the bridegroom : but the friend of the bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy, there- fore, is fulfilled. He must increase ; but I must decrease. He that cometh from above, is above all. He that is of the earth, of the earth he is, and of the earth he speaketh. He that cometh from heaven, is above all. And what he hath seen, and heard, that he testifieth : and no man re- ceiveth his testimony He that hath re- ceived his testimony, ha;h attested by his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God : for God doth not give the Spirit 'by measure. The Father loveth the Son : and he hath given all things into his hand. He that be- lieveth in the Son, hath life everlasting : but he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him. 174 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. gether, began to dispute about the baptisms of their re- spective masters, and the preference given to the latter chagrined the followers of the Precursor. But the soul of the Baptist was thrilled with joy, and not, as they had hoped, with anger. John had been com- missioned by Heaven to prepare the way for Jesus; he could only be glad to know that the Messias was drawing the people about Him and teaching them. ' ' You yourselves do bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ," he insisted, " but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the bride is the bride- groom: but the friend of the bridegroom, who stand- eth and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy, therefore, is fulfilled." John thus claims the honor of the Shosh- ben, the intermediary between bride and groom among the Jews, who bore their affectionate messages, prepared the marriage and superintended its cere- monies. So John was the Shoshbeu between Jesus Christ and His Church (Kph. v. 32), His Spouse. When he had given to the loving company of Jesus His first disciples, John, Peter, and Andrew, he re- joiced to see the union of bride and groom begun. Yet more he now rejoices to see it extending and perfecting itself in the souls of a multitude of dis- ciples. He is glad to withdraw, his task well done. " He must increase, but I must decrease," he ex- claimed. And his disciples must bear their part in this order of Providence. He continued addressing them, and in words so like our Saviour's to Nico- demus that it has been supposed that he had received them from some of his old followers in an account of that interview. "He that cometh from above is above all : he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth." The misery of it is that so THE IMPRISONMEN T OF JOHN THE BAP T1ST. 175 few hear Him nobody at all, to John's eager eyes, though his disciples said it was everybody "And no man receiveth His testimony." But " He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God is true." Faith in Jesus is a direct .submission to the God of truth, whom He represents as the tongue does the heart, as John best knew after the divine mani- festations at the baptism of Jesus. And now he con- cludes ; it is with the threatening tones peculiar to his character: " He that believeth in the Son, hath ever- lasting life: and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." The Precursor knows that his work is nearly ended, as his words indicate. They have the accent of farewell. A brief period of steadfast reproval of vice and loud resounding calls to repentance still remains to him, and then a glorious martyrdom will crown the career of this stern Hebrew prophet with its appropriate glory. CHAPTER XI. THE IMPRISONMENT OP JOHN THE BAPTIST. JESUS AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. Matt. iv. 12 ; Mark i. 14. ; Luke Hi. 19, 20 ; John iv. 1-26. JESUS now takes His way towards Galilee, to avoid the envious contentions of John's over- loyal disciples as well as the intrigues of the Pharisees. " When Jesus therefore understood that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus maketh more disciples, and baptizeth more than John (though Jesus Himself did not bap- tize, but His disciples), He left Judea." Another reason hurried Him away from Judea : He heard the ominous news that John had been seized and im- prisoned in the Perea by Herod Antipas. " But JESUS TEACHES THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. He cometh, therefore, to a city of Sa- maria which is called Sichar ; near the piece of ground which Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well. It was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria, to draw water. Jesus saith to her : Give me to drink : (for his disciples were gone into the city to buy food. ) Then that Samaritan woman saith to him : How dost thou, being a Jew, ask of me to drink, who am a Samaritan woman ? For the Jews do not communicate with the Samari- tans. Jesus answered, and said to her : If thou didst know the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink ; thou, perhaps, wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith to him : Sir, thou hast nothing wherein to draw, and the well is deep : from whence then hast thou living water ? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle ? Jesus answered, and said to her : Whosoever drinketh of this water, shall thirst again : but he that shall drink of the water that I shall give him, shall not thirst "or ever. But the water that I shall give him, shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up unto everlasting life. The woman saith to him : Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come hither to draw. Jesus saith to her : Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered, and said : I have no lusband. Jesus said to her : Thou hast said well, I have no husband. For thou hast had five husbands : and he whom thou now hast, is not thy husband. This thou last said truly. The woman saith to him : Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers adored on this mountain : and you say, that at Jerusalem is the place where men must adore. Jesus saith o her: Woman, believe me the hour cometh, when you shall neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem adore the Fath- er You adore that which you know not : we adore that which we know : for salva- :ion is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true adorer shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father also seeketh such to adore him. God is a spirit : and they that adore him, must adore him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith to him : I know that the Messias cometh (who is called Christ) : therefore, when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith to her: I am he, who am speaking with thee. LIFE Of JESUS CHRIST. Herod the Tetrarch, when he was reproved by him [John] for Hero- dias, his brother's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, he added this also above all, and shut up John in prison. And when Jesus had heard that John was delivered up, He retired into Galilee. And He was of necessity to pass through Samaria." This road to the north was the direct one, but was often avoided on account of the enmity of the Samaritans. But Jesus had Glad Tidings even for the hated and hos- tile Samaritans. Furthermore, the other route was dangerous, being through the Perea, where Herod held John captive. As Jesus arrived near a city called Sichar, close by the field which Jacob gave to his son Joseph, He made a halt ; it was noon of a hot summer's day, and after many hours afoot Jesus was tired and thirsty ; He sat down upon the wall of Jacob's well in the refreshing shade of the trees which grew about it, while His disciples went into the city to buy food. A woman came to the well to draw water, and the kind heart of Jesus determined to engage her in conversation, to instruct her and to save her well He knew her sad necessity. With a friendly air He said to her: "Woman, give me to 176 JESVS AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. 177 drink." Now, this poor soul was flattered by such a request coming from a noble-looking stranger, and es- pecially so because she perceived by His dress and accent that He was a Jew. How safely may one cross the line of fire between hostile families and races when protected by a kindly word ! She was a woman of evil life, and doubtless no very firm believer in any religion. Her answer to Jesus was -:. reminder of the race-hatred : " How dost Thou, being a Jew, ask of me to drink, who am a Samaritan woman? " The thirst of Jesus for souls was His great thirst ; and absorbed in His purpose to save this poor soul He says no more about His bodily thirst. In a tone of gentle reproof He answers : " If thou didst know the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou per- haps wouldst have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water." These gentle words, the kind- ly glance, the friendly tone, transfix the poor woman. It is by such means that the divine mercy makes the way of salvation easy to immortal souls. What Jesus said and the way He said it meant this : Didst thou but know how God has watched over thee, chosen this hour and this place for thy eternal welfare, led thee this very moment to the holy well, given thirst to There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water," 178 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. His Son that He might ask thee to give Him a drink and so be brought to listen to Him if thou didst but know the gift of God ! The woman was deeply moved, her soul was stirred by these words : " the gift of God," 11 the living water," " if thou didst know." She could but stammer forth something about the well and its waters : ' ' Sir, Thou hast nothing wherein to draw, and the well is deep : from whence then hast Thou living water ? ' ' Upon which Jesus gives her still deeper draughts of His spiritual waters. Pointing to the well, He says : ' ' Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again : but he that shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall not thirst for ever." She did not yet know what He meant ; but by this time she sus- pected Jesus to be a wonder-worker. "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come hither to draw." Upon which Jesus rewarded her dawning faith by not alone promising her the waters of eternal life, but by showing her His knowledge and mastery of all life, and hers in particular. "Go, call thy husband, and come hither." This touched a sore spot, and she gave an evasive answer, the usual refuge of de- tected vice. She said that she had no husband. Jesus closed with this instantly: "Thou hast said well, I have no husband, for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband." This was lightning from a blue sky to the poor erring creature. The woman saw that she was known to the stranger, all her adulterous wicked- ness fully revealed to this mysterious man, her sepa- rations and divorces and infidelities, and her present connection in violation of all law. She does not deny it, she cannot ; she does not excuse her sinfulness. "Sir," said she let us hope with real sorrow "I perceive that Thou art a prophet." And then sudden* JESUS AND 'THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. 179 ly, and with the resource of female ingenuity, she inter- rupted the further shameful disclosures which she dreaded, by saying: "Our fathers adored on this mountain [Gerazim], and you say that at Jerusalem is the place where men must adore." Jesus benignantly yielded to her shamefaced sub- terfuge, and from paternal admonition passed to doctrine: "Woman, believe Me the hour cometh when you shall neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem adore the Father." This was equivalent to saying that all national religions were to be absorbed, so far as they were true, in the new and universal Church of God. But Jesus must maintain the ancient faith of God and the rights of His Temple. ' ' Ye adore ye know not what : we know what we adore ; for sal- vation is of the Jews." In fact, the Samaritans rejected the Temple which God had founded ; they rejected the prophets whom God had in- spired, holding only to the Pentateuch ; and they were " He that shall drink of the water that I shall give him, shall not thirst for ever." fatally infected with idolatrous practices handed down from their Assyrian forefathers. Jesus does not stop ; He develops the further and completer truth. " But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth." Above all things the religion i8o L)*E OF JESUS CHRIST. now beginning is one of the interior life of man, al- though external worship shall not be lacking. The temples, ceremonies, priesthood of the new law shall be perfect in their beauty and holiness. But they shall in addition be infinitely more spiritual than were the former rites and the ancient priesthood ; nay, the new external forms shall be so adapted to develop the interior union of the soul with God as to be in literal truth the outward signs of the indwelling Spirit. The dispensation of the time that cometh and now is must be perfect spirituality. The paramount purpose of God is to build for Himself and consecrate and inhabit an invisible temple, that of faith and hope and love in the souls of men. In that temple there shall be a Holy of Holies where the soul shall commune alone with God ; there shall we immolate our pride, our self-seeking, our natural passions. A spiritual whole- burnt sacrifice is what God wants. And there is none which man can offer to God so worthy of the divine majesty as his own thoughts and affections and pur- poses. Such is the meaning of Jesus in saying : " God is a spirit : and they that adore Him, must adore Him in spirit and in truth." The woman heard this teaching, so pure, so com- manding, and the thought of the Messias flashed into her mind. Not daring to ask the question outright, she said: " I know that the Messias cometh who is called Christ: therefore, when He is come, He will tell us all things." And now a wonderful condescen- sion: to this poor sinner, and not to the orthodox Hebrews, did Jesus plainly avow His mission. With all her sins and errors she had good will, while they were set upon their own scheme a Messias who would overturn the Gentile world and build a Jewish empire on its ruins. ' ' Jesus saith to her : I am He JESUS AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. 181 who am speaking with thee. colloquy with the woman at But she im- came His mes- history of Jesus Church we often religious power verts, even those hearts have long The Samaritan spicuous exam water-pitcher at stinctively giv- her return, she city and eager- news: "The left her water- her way into the the men there: man who hath things whatso- Is not He the went therefore and came unto A WOMAN OF THE And so ended His the well. mediately be- senger. In the Christ and His meet with the of women con- whose wayward gone astray, woman is a con- pie; leaving her the well, as if in- ing a pledge of runs into the ly tells her woman therefore pot and went- city, andsaithto Come and see a told me all ever I have done. Christ ? They out of the city GENTILES. Him." 1 82 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER XII. THE HARVEST AND THE REAPERS. John iv. 35-42. HFORE the woman's departure the disciples re- turned, and they were not a little surprised to see Jesus very earnestly conversing with a woman about the true worship of God and the coming of the Messias with a Samaritan wo- man too. Fervent Jews in those days rated female intelligence rather too low for such favors; yet the disciples dared not question Him about it. "And they wondered that He talked with the woman. Yet no man said : What seekestThou? or why talkest Thou with her?" She was soon gone, and at last our Saviour's followers interrupted His thoughts about the new kingdom. ''The disciples prayed Him: Rabbi, eat." Then He told them that He had been eating and drinking of His Father's banquet. "I have meat to eat which you know not. The disciples said therefore one to another: Hath any man brought Him to eat?" He then taught them the lesson of how the hungry soul forgets the hungry body. "Jesus said to them: My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, that I may perfect His work." L,ater on, and as if in confir- mation of His claim of over-occupied zeal, a crowd of Samaritans were seen coming along the road and through the fields. The wheat harvest could not be far off at this sea- son of the year, and it is possible that the Master, seeing the men and women coming along through the grain, used the sight, in His famiHar way, to illustrate His point the quick returns of the apostolic ministry, as shown by the sudden movement wrought among THE HARVEST AND THE REAPERS. 183 this half-heathen people by His conversation with the woman at the well. Kven the moments of leisure of a zealous apostle may be turned to infinite account. "Lift up your eyes," He exclaimed, "and see the countries, for they are white already to harvest." He spoke to them of countries, of a world- wide mission, of kings and senates and tribes and nations coming to be garnered in His father's grana- ries, drawn by His disciples' per- suasion. But how drawn? How ripened ? By the Father's precedent persuasion in each one's heart. "It is one man that soweth, and it is another that reapeth. I have sent you to reap that in which you did not labor." While they had been absent a short while in the city a spiritual harvest was begun and ended. Je- sus the harvester had rejoiced to sow the good seed, to behold its favorable reception, to accept the homage of the souls He had won. As to His disciples, Jesus was in- deed to sow the seed for them, but they were to co-operate with Him and rejoice with Him in the reaping. They were immediately surrounded by a multitude of Samaritans. These listened with joy to the teaching of the Master, who upon their urgent prayer entered the city and stayed two days with them, so many gladly believing His doctrine that the dis- ciples could easily see how the Gentile heart would be open to the Saviour's message. The profession of faith which was publicly uttered by the new converts was suggestive of two things : THE HARVEST AND THE REAPERS. Do not you say, there are yet four months, and the a the harvest cometh ? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and see the countries, for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth, receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto everlasting life ; that both he that soweth, and he that reapeth, may rejoice together. For in this is the saying true : that it is one man that soweth, and it is another that reapeth. I have sent you to reap that in which you did not labor : others have labored, and you have entered into their labors. Now of that city many of the Samaritans be- lieved in him, for the word of the woman giving testimony, that he told me whatso- ever I have done. So when the Samari- tans were come to him, they desired him that he would stay there. And he stayed there two days. And many more believed in him because of his own word. And they said to the woman : We now believe, not for thy saying : for we ourselves have heard him, and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world. 184 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. one, that they had not been hastily or unreasonably convinced, for they told the Samaritan woman that it was not from her testimony of Jesus that they believed Him, but because they themselves had heard Him, and doubtless had closely and fully questioned Him. The second point they emphasized was that they accepted Jesus, not only as a prophet, a teacher, a powerful rabbi, but also as a Saviour. Always this was His purpose in His discourses the affirmation of His soul-saving office in addition to that of divine teacher.* CHAPTER XIII. THE RETURN TO GAULEE. THE HEADING OF THE RULER'S SON. John iv, 43-54. "Now after two days He departed thence, and went into Galilee." He did not, however, go straight to Nazareth : ' ( For Jesus Himself gave testimony that a prophet hath no honor in His own country." He knew that sooner or later He must test His own city, but He was reluctant to do so, having forebod- ings of the result. Among the Galileans generally He was certain of a welcome. He had already given them a taste of His doctrine and had worked His first miracle among them. Also the fame of His adven- ture with the traders in the Temple must have pre- ceded Him. Courageous themselves by nature, the *It is probable that the Samaritans in after years dated from this hour the final conversion of their country to the Christian faith. It was followed, unhappily, in later times, by successful impostures of false prophets. Under Vespasian, Sichem became a Roman colony, and was called Flavia Neapolis. St. Justin, the illustrious philosopher and martyr, one of the most powerful defenders of the early Christian faith, was born there. THE HEALING OF THE RULER'S SON. 185 Galileans admired His boldness, His zeal against the abuses in the holy places. They wanted to see more miracles He was at least a prophet, perhaps the Messias. The moment He arrived in Cana, where He wrought His first miracle, an officer of Herod's court, Chusa perhaps, or Manahen, the Tetrarch's foster-brother, prayed Him to come down to Ca- pharnaum to heal his son, to snatch him from the very jaws of death. But the faith of the ruler such was his office in the synagogue appear- ed to be half-hearted. He asked that Jesus should journey the twen- ty-five miles to his son's bedside to work the miracle. The power of Jesus was absolute, and must be so recognized by an enlightened soul ; near or far, he was sovereign lord of sickness and health. The Jews of Capharnaum had an inordinate crav- ing for miracles, it was the chief thing they wanted from Jesus; whereas the poor Samaritans, as we have seen, were glad and con- tent with His high and inspiring doctrine and His loving behavior to- wards them. Jesus therefore said (but, too kind to single out the ruler, He spoke to all who were as- sembled) : "Unless you see signs and wonders you believe not." The man's heart was too sore to be discouraged. " Lord," he said, "come d*own before that my son die. Jesus saith to him : Go thy way, thy son liveth." The words, the manner, the glance of Jesus, gained "GO THY WAY, THY SON LIVETH." Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things he had done at Jerusalem on the festival day : for they also went-to the festi- val day. He came again therefore into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain ruler whose son was sick at Capharnaum. He having heard that Jesus was come from Judea into Galilee, went to him, and prayed him to come down and heal his son : for he was at the point of death. Jesus therefore said to him : Unless you see signs and wonders you believe not. The ruler saith to Him : Lord, comedown before that my son die. Jesus saith to him : Go thy way, thy son liveth. The man believed the word which Jesus said to him, and went his way. And as he was going down, his ser- vants met him, and they brought him word that his son lived. He asked therefore of them the hour wherein he grew better, and they said to him : Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. The father there- fore knew that it was at the same hour that Jesus said to him : Thy son liveth ; and himself believed, and his whole house. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did when he was come out of Judea into Galilee. 1 86 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. the heart of the ruler; he firmly believed the cure had been wrought, and on his way home he met his servants hurrying to tell him that his son had been suddenly and perfectly restored. At what hour? The very same at which Jesus had spoken the word. Deeper still grew the ruler's faith, and his whole house- hold joined him in adhesion to Jesus. By this second miracle in the city of Cana began the religion of Christ to grow and spread in the land of Galilee. This was a great joy for Jesus. I^ater on we shall find Chusa's wife among the faithfulwomen who followed Him and ministered to Him and His Apostles ; the mother of the boy who was miracu- lously healed gladly paid her gratitude to the great Being who had comforted her stricken heart. CHAPTER XIV. AT NAZARETH. Luke iv. 14-30. VERY fiftieth year was set apart by the L,aw of Moses as one of special joy to Israel, and called the Year of Jubilee. The time spent by Jesus in Galilee was His time of Jubilee. Though not without its storms, it was a happy, busy, and successful season of preaching to a simple-hearted people. His miracles were incessant and were taken, generally, as He intended Heaven's au- thentication .of the Teacher's doctrine. The Glad Tidings took hold of men's hearts and triumphed in their minds. "And the fame of Him went out through the whole country. And He taught in their synagogues and was magnified by all." To discerning AT NAZARETH. 187 Spirits His doctrine was more marvellous (as it has been in all succeeding generations) than His mira- cles ; they greedily listened to it. The synagogues at first, and afterwards, when the crowds were too vast for any building, the open fields were His places of meeting. On each Sabbath it was customary for the formal assembly of the people to be regularly held in the synagogues and addressed by the rabbis, and two or three other meetings each week for special prayers and Scripture lessons too often over-done with casuistical interpretations. On all, or nearly all these occasions, Jesus was gladly heard ; He was hailed as a wonder-worker, and in the minds of vast numbers already acknowledged as the Messias ; to all He was a preacher of unheard-of power. But what of His old home at Nazareth ? So far Jesus had managed to avoid His fellow-townsmen. Indifferent to Him, even ready to scorn Him, He knew them to be ; yet He could not longer refuse to preach to them. He went to His old home, entered the synagogue on a Sabbath day, " according to His ciistom," as if He were still only the obscure work- man they had ever known Him. He did not sit in the honorable place of the rabbis, but in the body of the congregation. The ruler of the synagogue sat with the elders in a sort of chancel ; but it was not customary to give to these officials the entire conduct of the public services of religion, for any instructed and competent Hebrew might speak to the assemblage. Jesus, thus placed amid the crowd of ordinary worship- pers, arose and asked for the book of the prophets. Of course they had all heard much of His career since He had left them, but they could not realize that He was what men said He was a great teacher in Israel. Where had He studied? In His father's IPS LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. THE BOCK OF THE PROPHETS. carpenter shop ? No Nazarene as yet had heard Him discourse in public. They thought rumor had exaggerated His power. He had never so much as addressed His fellow- townsmen in the synagogue or read the Scriptures there, much less presumed to deliver a discourse. But the ruler of the synagogue beckoned Him forward, and as He advanced an assistant handed Him the cylinder round which was wrapped the scroll, and He who was yet only the young carpenter to all that congregation stepped into the reading-desk or pulpit, unwound the scro11 ' and ^gun to read. It was the prophecy of Isaias, and, whether in the or- dinary course or by a special providence, the pas- sage was as follows : ' ' The spirit of the Lord is upon me, wherefore He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor ; He hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart, to preach deliverance to the cap- tives, and sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of reward." Here He stopped, wound the scroll again on the cylinder, returned it to the assistant, and sat down, thereby expressing His purpose to discourse upon the passage He had read. A deep silence of expectation fell upon the congre- gation. What would He say? "This day," He began with equal dignity and earnestness, "is fulfilled this scripture in your ears." And then with voice and word of gentle persuasion He explained His meaning He was sent by God to save them. It was they who were meant by the prophet they, His old friends and acquaintances, conscious as they must be of sin and temptation ; and He A T NAZARETH. 1 89 was appointed by God to heal their spiritual wounds and to ransom them from spiritual slavery ; them, His first and best-loved friends. To them He would impart the earli- est gifts o God in this His accept- able time, the spiritual and prophetic year of Jubilee. Not only they and the race of Israel, but all humanity, were to be freed and made godlike in liberty, and man was to be re- stored to his primitive dignity, in- nocence, and happiness. For a moment Jesus seemed to have won, a whisper of approbation was heard. "They wondered at the words of grace that proceeded out of His mouth." But pride is not easily dethron- ed. Some one sneered, "Is not this the son of Joseph ? ' ' Other sarcastic words followed, and Jesus read in the hearts of His hearers the spite and incredulity which were lurking there ; it was too much for them to acknowledge His mission : an obscure young mechanic, with- out training or position, to announce Himself as the great messenger of heaven ! And many thought within themselves, Why did He not favor His own townsmen with miracles ? Did He work real ones ? They must be false wonders, tricks and deceits. Why not prove His mission by making Himself king ? Jesus answered their thoughts and their murmurs: "Doubtless you will say to Me THE PROPHET IN HIS OWN COUNTRY. And he came to Nazareth where he was brought up : and he went into the syna- gogue according to his custom on the Sab- bath day ; and he rose up to read. And the book of Isaias the prophet was de- livered unto him. And as he unfolded the book, he found the place where it was written : The spirit of the Lordis upon me, wherefore he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor he hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart, to preach de- liverance to the captives, and sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of reward. And when he had folded the book, he restored it to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them : This day is fulfilled this scripture in your ears. And all gave testimony to him ; and they won- dered at the words of grace that proceeded from his mouth, and they said : Is not this the son of Joseph ? And he said to them : Doubtless you will say to me this simili- tude : Physician, heal thyself : as great things as we have heard done in Caphar- naum, do also here in thy own country. And he said : Amen I say to you, that no prophet is accepted in his own country. In truth I say to you, there were many widows in the days of Elias in Israel, when heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there was a great famine throughout all the earth. And to none of them was Elias sent, but to Sarepta of Sidon, to a widow woman. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Eliseus the pro- phet ; and none of them was cleansed but Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, hearing these things, were filled with anger. And they rose up and thrust him out of the city : and they brought him to the brow of the hill, whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them, went his way. 190 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me." this proverb, Physician, heal thyself; as great things as we have heard done in Capharnaum, do also here in Thy own country. And He said, No prophet is accepted in His own country." And as a matter of fact, it is the famil- iars of a great man's childhood and youth who find it hardest to appreciate him in the day of his greatness. It was so with Jesus. But He went on and He taught them God's ways of sending miracles. He distributes His gifts to whom He pleases and prefers only those who by humility and faith are most worthy. At last He stood up, and as He left the synagogue He said : "In truth I say to you, many widows were in Israel in the days of Klias when heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the earth, and to none of them was Elias sent but to Sarepta of Sidon, a woman that was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of EHseus the prophet, and none of them was cleansed save Naaman the Syrian." Now rose the suspicions and the scorn of the Nazarenes into a storm of wrath. Jesus barely es- caped from the building. They drove Him through the streets and up the hill on whose slope the town was built : He had truly read their evil hearts. They forced Him to the brow of the hill to cast Him down headlong. They were on the point of murder- ing Him when Jesus stopped, and turning, He faced His enemies. It is well known that certain men can by a mere look or a simple word subdue a raging CAPHARNA UM. 191 beast and bring him whining to their feet. This power Jesus had, as we shall often see, over beastly men. He used it on this occasion, a prerogative of superior humanity made entirely invincible by union with the sovereign Godhead itself. The Nazarenes were suddenly halted by His majestic glance. His stern looks stiffened their sacrilegious arms and silenced their tongues. They had clamored for a miracle, and this was His answer. He forced them to open a way for Him, and passed out between their pallid faces and rigid forms, offering the kind of a miracle they did not want but were unable to refuse. Thus was Jesus driven from the home of His childhood. CHAPTER XV. CAPHARNAUM. "l WIU, MARK YOU FISHERS OF MEN." Matt, iv. 1316; Mark iv. 1728; Luke 31 38. "AND leaving the city Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capharnaum on the sea-coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim, that it might be ful- filled which was said by Isaias the prophet : Land of Zabulon and land of Nephthalim, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles : The people that sat in darkness, hath seen great light ; and to them that sat in the region of the shadow of death, light is sprung up" Jesus thus makes what might be called His home at Capharnaum ; but this does not mean that He remained there for his hired men, and they followed him. any length of time. Moved by JESUS PUBLICLY CALLS HIS APOSTLES. And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishers). And he saith to them : Come ye after me, and I will make you to be fishers of men. And they immediately leaving their nets, followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets : and he called them. And they forth- with left their nets and their father with I 9 2 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. high courage, devouring zeal, intolerant of interrup- tion, His journeyings were incessant from now until His death. Not only in the synagogues but every- where does He gather His audiences : in the pub- lic streets of towns and in private houses, at the foot of a mountain, from a boat anchored near the level shore. His discourses are generally brief, full of short maxims, striking home to the simplest hearts, abounding in narratives and illustrations from daily life. He says just enough to give the Holy Spirit abundant material to move men in holy thoughts to prepare for a thorough newness of life. Especially He speaks of the ' ' Kingdom of God ' ' and of repentance. 1 * From that time Jesus be- gan to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, say- ing : The time is accomplish- RUINS OF A JEWISH SYNAGOGUE BETWEEN NAZARETH cd and the Kingdom of God AND CAPHARNAUM. i s a ^ hand ; repent and be- lieve the Gospel. Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He stays but a moment in any place, He makes no long discourses. He utters a few brief sayings, striking and novel, and moves onward, leaving men to their own thoughts. The people follow Him eagerly ; they must hear more. Who could listen to Him, a teacher so kind- ly, so majestic, so beautiful, so stirring in His elo- quence, and not want to listen to Him for ever? The whole country round was soon awakened to the deepest religious emotion. He preaches repentance, and He announces a Kingdom He is both a teacher CAPHARNAUM. 193 and a founder. Faith in His doctrine, in His rules of conduct, is inseparably associated with outward membership in a visible society. He teaches a re- ligion and He organizes a Church. Simon Peter and Andrew his brother had been called privately on a previous occasion. But they still occasionally worked at their secular calling of fishermen. Jesus now publicly sets them apart and makes Himself their only trade, and His Gospel their sole occupa- tion. "Come ye after Me," He says, " and I will make you to be fishers of men." He does the same with the two sons of Zebedee. They may have thought what they pleased about their previous voca- tion ; this one is definite and clear ; they are selected as officials in His new kingdom, to be with Him in special love, in strict obedience, and for ever. CHAPTER XVI. VANQUISHING AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT. HEALING SIMON'S WIFE'S MOTHER. ALL GALILEE is EVANGELIZED. Matt. viii. 14-17, and iv. 2325; Mark i. 2139; Luke iv. 31-44. CAPHARNAUM is one of the most important local- ities in the life of Jesus Christ. There, as we have seen, He fixed His abode, or rather the centre of His activity. There He found keen and observant audi- tors from the heart of Asia, from Egypt and the West, travelling parties on the stream of commerce which flowed through the city's streets a centre of trade for Jews and pagans. The strong wings of commerce were then freighted with the Glad Tidings, and doubtless in after years many yielded a quicker allegiance to the Saviour, when preached in their 194 LIFE Of JESUS CHRIST. homes by the Apostles, because they had heard Him personally and seen His miracles in Capharnaum. From this point Jesus could move easily in any direction in northern Palestine, sending His disciples eastward across the lake into the Perea, or west- ward through Galilee. The homes of Peter and the other disciples gave Him refuge and hospitality amid loving friends. Thus Capharnaum became His city, His home, as far as He can be said to have had one. Nothing remains of this once busy mart, in whose streets the Saviour of the world mingled with merchants and soldiers and idlers, and preached pen- ance and the Kingdom of God ; nor are we quite sure of its exact location. The malediction which later on He pronounced (Matt. xi. 23) against it for its final indifference to His call was fulfilled to the letter, and Tel-Hum, a scattering of melancholy ruins, is all that remains. But in our Lord's time it was a beautiful place, so situated as to command a charming view down the lake, taking in both banks, whose verdant slopes enclosed in emerald set- ting the clear waters, reflecting the white cottages of many villages and the sails of many graceful vessels. Never was scene more tranquil than that chosen by our Saviour as the principal spot in which to speak to men of His meek and peaceful Gospel. The town was an indus- trial as well as a commercial centre, many I ruins of mills and tanneries and potteries upon its site and in its immediate vicinity showing where those honest workmen who were the usual audience of the Messias earn- ed their living. He sat among them, or He stood above them upon a wall or the ruin AN ANCIENT POTTERY. of a well, and told these toilers about the EARLY METHODS OF FARMING. CAPHARNA UM. 195 love of the Heavenly Father for them, of the divine equality of men before God, who made all men, rich and poor, learned and simple, Jews ^ and Gentiles and Samaritans^ alike in His image, called them all to the same immortal destiny, and gave? His divine Son to all to lead them on to Paradise. ' ' And they entered into Caphar- naum, a city of Galilee, and forth- with upon the Sabbath-days, going into the synagogue, He taught them." A Roman centurion, perhaps a proselyte, an officer of the garrison, had built a synagogue, out of love for the people and their religion, and this was doubtless the chief one of the several the town contained. Per- haps the prostrate columns of beautifully carved marble found at Tel-Hum to-day are the ruins of the edifice which so often resounded with the tones of our Saviour's voice. When the Master first ap- peared a crowded assembly awaited Him. St. Mark tells us the first impression : ' ' And they were as- tonished at His doctrine, for He was teaching them as one having power, and not as the Scribes." He handled living questions of practical impor- tance and He astonished men with His clearness ; es- pecially His address breathed authority in every word. The rabbis appealed to the interpretations of the writers of their class, and Jesus appealed to the Holy Scriptures and to good common sense ; He always awoke the voice of conscience. Their angry disputes concerned minute external observances over which they wrangled for ever, yet never came to a con- clusion ; Jesus treated of the great problems of time 196 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. and eternity and fully settled every question in a brief discourse. He was the people's ideal preacher and He won their allegiance. While all were absorbed in listening to Jesus an unexpected disturbance occurred. A demoniac, an unhappy man possessed by a devil of uncleanness, had got into the synagogue unnoticed. The words of the divine Teacher tormented the evil one within him like whips of fire. At length he burst out with a furious and resounding voice : ' ' Let us alone ; what have we to do with Thee, Jesus of Nazareth ? Art Thou come to destroy us ? I know Thee, who Thou art, the Holy One of God." The harsh tones, the writhing form and furious gestures of the demoniac, were in shocking contrast with the gentle Saviour. The people were fright- ened and amazed, awaiting some catastrophe. But Jesus knew that voice, and in words of scorn He " rebuked him, saying: Hold thy peace, and go out of him." Instant- ly the unclean spirit flung his vic- tim into the crowd, shouting and tearing him, and then vanished, leaving him there without serious injuries. The astonished people began to ask who this triumphant Being was. He had already healed the sick by a mere word, and now He masters the terrible demons in like manner. A great fear fell upon all who were present. "What thing is this?" they questioned one another ; ' ' what is this new doctrine ? For with authority He commandeth even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." Nothing could have served our Saviour's mission better than this event, "LET us ALONE!" And in the synagogue there was a man jvho had an unclean devil, and he cried out vith a loud voice, saying : Let us alone ; vhat have we to do with thee, Jesus of Nazareth ? art thou come to destroy us ? '. know thee who thou art, the Holy One of jod And Jesus rebuked him, saying : rlold thy peace, and go out of him. And vhen the devil had thrown him into the nidst, tearing him, and crying with a loud r oice, he went out of him, and hurt him lot at all. And they were all amazed and here came fear upon all, insomuch that hey questioned among themselves, saying : A'hat thing is this ? what ts this new doc- rine ? for with power he commandeth even he unclean spirits, and they obey him. Vnd the fame of him was spread forth- with into all the country of Galilee. VANQUISHING AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT. soon a topic of common conversa- tion. At this era the Jewish people, as Josephus re- lates, were fre- quently subjected to persecutions of the devil in visible form, possessions, obsessions, and the like. These, occur- ring with alarming frequency, and all over the country, as we shall see in the course of the Saviour' s j ourney s, were a punishment for the unbelief of the Sadducees, who denied the existence of spirits and of immortal life. 197 With power He commandeth even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." Some of the Jews thought that these evil spirits were the souls of lost men torment- ing the living. The better informed knew that they were devils, and that God allowed them to afflict the souls and bodies of men for their punishment or purification. Ordinary temptation by an evil spirit, foul imaginations, suggestions, enticements which draw the will to wickedness, and do this more power- fully than evil companionship of men all this is some- thing easily comprehended. Beyond this there are still more powerful influences, placing the victim under a spell of diabolical influence so strong as to render 198 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. him helpless. In the state called diabolical posses- sion the demon is like the pilot of a ship he is master of the captain and the crew. He uses the body and the entire outward activity of his victim as if they were his own, although he is not able to master the will otherwise than by placing it in a state of insensibility or lunacy. He is to the soul what a clot of blood in the brain is to the sensible man insanity or the coma of apoplexy : and then he himself acts instead of the human will and under- standing. The man possessed is thus like a devil in human shape. Furthermore, the evil one general- ly affects the bodily state of his victim, causing various sorts of fits, deafness or loss of speech, or self-lacerations. Hence in the Gos- pel we read of demoniacs being cured. It must also be borne in mind that a demoniac is not always responsible the demon does not possess the impossible power of com- pelling sin. Yet we must believe that God would rarely allow any person to be thus afflicted unless he had already voluntarily subjected himself by his vices to the enemy's yoke. Jesus, who had come to de- liver men from all slavery of sin, gladly delivered demoniacs from their horrible torment, nor is any miracle oftener repeated than that which is first record- ed as occurring in the synagogue of Capharnaum. When Jesus passed out of the synagogue He was in such honor that He might have taken His midday meal with some distinguished family, but He was true to His first though humblest friends. PETER'S WIFE'S MOTHER is CURED. And immediately going out of the syna- gogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. And Simon's wife's mother lay in a fit of a fever : and forthwith they tell him of her. And coming to her he lifted her up, taking her by the hand : and standing over her he commanded the fever, and im- mediately the fever left her, and she min- istered unto them. And when it was even- ing after sunset, they brought to him all that were ill and that were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered to- gether at the door. And he healed many that were troubled with divers diseases ; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaias the prophet, saying : He took our infirmities and bore our diseases. And devils went out of many, crying out, and saying : Thou art the Son of God. And rebuking them, he suffered them not to speak, for they knew that he was Christ. HEALING SIMON'S WIFE'S MOTHER. 199 He went home with Simon-Peter. He found, no doubt, a hearty welcome, but also a saddened house- hold, for Simon's wife's mother lay ill of a fever, perhaps caused by the malaria mentioned by Josephus as arising from the swamps to the north of the L,ake of Genesareth. Simon and others must have begged their holy Guest to relieve the sick woman, nor would Jesus refuse to His near friends a favor freely granted to strangers. He took her by the hand, standing over her, looking upon her, instilling into her soul that loving confidence in His power which would merit the favor her friends had prayed for : "He commanded the fever; and immediately the fever left her, and she arose and ministered unto them." And thus in unrestrained enjoyment of the Saviour's gentle company and conversation some happy hours were spent. But the entire town and its neighborhood waited impatiently the setting of the sun and the end of the Sabbath stillness, that they might hurry to Him with all their sick friends, including a large number of demoniacs. He healed them all. He drove out the devils, commanding them to cease their cry, "Thou art the Son of God ! " lest they should precipitate an uncontrol- lable religious agitation. Far into the night He healed diseases and ex- pelled demons and spoke many words of heavenly healing for men's souls, and then retired to sleep : but at dawn of day, when they sought Him again, He had secretly departed. It was as if He wished to give the people of Capharnaum time to " And they brought to Him all that were ilL w 200 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. To applaud His miracles, to say " He is a great rabbi," this was good enough to begin with; but it would take time and thought and prayer and counsel to accept Him heartily as the Messias. Therefore, "rising very early, going out He went into a desert place, and there He prayed." His mission demanded solitude ; He must pray as well as preach and work miracles. To the people He willingly gave the day-time ; they could not refuse Him the night hours for prayer. But a whole multi- tude went after Him, Simon in the lead. (( And Simon and they that were with him followed after Him, and when they found Him they said to Him : All seek for Thee. And the multitudes besought Him and they stayed Him, that He would not de- part from them." Then He began a kind of mission- ary invasion of the land, leading great numbers about through the country and holding vast meet- ings in the open air, and more select assemblages in the synagogues. "And He saith to them: I,et us go into the neighboring towns and cities, that I may preach there also the Kingdom of God, for to this purpose am I come. And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preach- ing the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing all man- ner of sickness and every infirmity among the peo- ple." So it was that He performed His work, spending the early hours of morning in some lonely spot absorbed in prayer, lovingly communing alone with the Father. From this He would be drawn by the Apostles, and often by a great throng of men and women. The busy hours passed quickly away in speaking to His well-loved people about God's way of salvation, sometimes forced to discuss a miserable scruple with the Pharisees, stopping to eat ALL GALILEE t*> EVANGELIZED. t X>I a frugal meal with His followers, ministered to by the devout sisterhood which never left Him ; again teaching and journeying, always working astound- ing miracles, until long after dark He managed again to get a few hours of very necessary sleep. No wonder that St. Matthew relates: "And His fame went throughout all Syria, and they presented to Him all .sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and such as were possessed by devils ; and -lunatics, and those that had the palsy, and He healed them. And much people followed Him from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jeru- salem, and from Judea, and from beyond the Jordan." At this time Galilee was a populous province, with over two hundred cities and towns, a vast field for our Saviour's zeal. His first excursions were through the northern part of the province, be- ginning with Bethsaida, a town lying to the north- east of Capharnaum, and the native place of Philip, Simon, and Andrew. It was, as is indicated by its name, the house of fish, a fishermen's village on the lake shore. I,ater on the Tetrarch Philip built a city near by, and called it Julias after the daughter of Augustus, but this new city was placed on the east side of the Jordan. At this populous centre Jesus found abundant material for His zeal. He pour- ed out His heart's trea- sures upon Bethsaida SEA OF GALILEE. 202 t LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. and its vicinity, and we shall find Him condemning it bitterly, with its neighbor Chorazin, for its indiffer- ence to His teaching. The Gospel says that the Master preached in many cities hereabouts, passing hurriedly from one to another like a man with good news, hardly waiting to see the effect of His preach- ing. Everywhere He worked so many miracles that St. Matthew, true to his Hebrew tendency to note the fulfilment of the ancient pro- phets, quotes from -Isaias (ix. i): ' ' The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles ; the people that sat in dark- ness saw great light, and to them that sat in the region of the shadow of death light is sprung up." THE SHIP OF PETER. And it came to pass that, when the mul- titudes pressed upon him, to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Genesareth. And he saw two ships standing by the lake : but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And going up into one of the ships, that was Simon's, he desired him to thrust out a little from the land. And, sitting down, he taught the multitudes out of the ship. Now when he had ceased to speak, he said to Simon : Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon an- swering, said to him : Master, we have labored all the night, and have taken nothing : but at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had done this they enclosed a very great multitude of fishes, and their net was breaking. And they beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they were almost sinking. Which when Simon Peter saw, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying : De- part from me ; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was wholly astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken : And so were also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. And Jesus saith to Simon : Fear not : from henceforth thou shaltbe taking men. And when they had brought their ships to land, leaving all things, they followed him. CHAPTER XVII. TEACHING FROM PETER'S BARQUE. THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES. Luke v. i ii. THE unruly eagerness of the crowd was ever a cause of annoy- ance to the disciples of Jesus, though to Himself it was simply an occasion for the practice of loving patience, and in one instance, as in the case of the woman cured of an issue of blood, of miracles. It was used by Him, on an occasion which we have now to relate, to distinguish Peter from the rest of the chosen band. To be close at hand when He spoke, actually to TEACHING FROM PETER'S BARQUE. 203 look into His face, to touch Him all this was too precious a privilege to be lost, and there was often a heavy crush of the people about the Master. To do justice to all He sometimes ascended a rocky hill; again, the steps of a synagogue, or at Jerusalem, those of the Temple. On the shore of the lake He occasionally used as a pulpit one of the little ships of His disciples ; generally, it would seem, Simon's boat, apparently an accidental circumstance, but taken in connection with the changing of that Apostle's name at the Jordan, and with the office of Apostolic primacy which He afterwards bestowed on him, His choice of Simon's ship as His pulpit was evident- ly part of a plan. A meaning altogether peculiar has ever attached to the expression, the ship of Peter ; it stands for the Saviour's infallible authority in the Apostolic Bishopric of Peter's successors. How beautiful was the scene, as Jesus sat in the boat, gently swayed by the blue waves of the lake ! The calm of the morning hour, the charm of the landscape, helped our Saviour's kindly tones to in- stil His doctrine into souls filled with religious joy. No temple ever built, no palace of marble and gold, could have given Him a roof so splendid as the sky of Palestine, nor an enclosure so lovely as the lake with its waters sparkling in the sunlight, the green hills of the shore, the great throngs of eager and reverent listeners, drinking in the musical tones of the voice of the Messias. His good heart ended all in its own way. " I^aunch out into the deep," He said to Simon, when He had ended His dis- course, "and let down your nets for a draught," as if He FISHING-BOAT ON LAKE GEN^AEE 204 ' ' They enclosed a very great multi- LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. wished to compensate for the use of the ship, as well as to stamp His preaching with a miracle. Simon said: "Master, we have labored all the night and have taken nothing, but at Thy word I will let down the net. And when they had done this they enclosed a very great mul- titude of fishes, and their net was break- ing. And they beckoned to their part- ners that were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships, so that tude of fishes, and their net was they were almost sinking." This miracle breaking. and the words in which it is framed for our meditation have ever been the comfort of Chris- tian missionaries, and of others who labor through weary nights and weary days only to fail and fail again in gaining souls. At last the reward of faith is granted by the I/ord with overwhelming generosity, and the heart of the zealous envoy of Christ is humbled by His bounty and says, as Peter did : "Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man." Peter was more stunned by the power of Jesus than he was touched by His kindness. But what visions of the future apostolate were called up by our Sav- iour's answer: "Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men." When all had reached the shore Jesus said to them, "Follow Me." These fisher- men lacked at this time some qualities of disciple- ship afterwards gained in high degree ; but Jesus had inspired them with zeal for souls : they immedi- ately left father, companions, ships, nets, the very fish He had just given them, and went away with Him, never more to leave Him. A yet further call, and a more public one, will THE CLEANSING OF A LEPER. 205 be given them before many days. And these fisher- men will yet draw their nets across the entire sea of humanity, and will gather the multitudes to the shores of eternal joy. "Fear not ; from henceforth thou shall be taking men." CHAPTER XVIII. THE CLEANSING OF A I,EPER. Matt. viii. 2-4 ; Mark i. 40-44 ; Luke v. 12-16. THIS poor wretch whom Jesus healed, says St. Luke, "was full of leprosy." How did he manage to get close enough to Jesus to throw himself on his face and crave his cure ? Perhaps he forced his way into the crowd in spite of the legal prohibition to approach his fellow-men. It was not, however, for- bidden to lepers to travel, but they were bound under severe penalties to send forth the warning cry : * * Un- clean ! unclean ! ' ' The sanitary rules of the law of Moses prevented the spread of this fearful disease, but nothing could " THOU CANST MAKE ME CLEAN." And it came to pass when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy, who seeing Jesus and falling on his face, besought him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus having compassion on him, stretched forth his hand ; and touching him, saith to him : I will. Be thou made clean. And when he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was made clean. And he strictly charged him, and forth- with sent him away. And he saith to him: See thou tell no one, but go, shew thyself to the high priest, and offer for thy cleansing the things that Moses command- ed, for a testimony to them. But he being gone out, began to publish, and to blaze abroad the word ; so that [Jesus] could not openly go into the city, but was without in desert places, and they flocked to him from all sides, and he retired into the desert and prayed. 2o6 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. secure its extinction from the community. The unhappy victim, whose loathsome sores, as the malady developed, finally covered his whole body, was condemned to live apart, generally in some desert place, the afflicted forming little settlements of the most pitiable creatures eye ever saw. At the crisis of the disease the entire body was swollen, the nails of the fingers and toes rotted off, and the eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth exuded corruption, the voice becoming harsh and shrill. If the leper could survive this period of misery, he became of an astonish- ing whiteness, every part of his body, even to his hair, being perfectly bleached. But after this, though he was miserable enough, his malady was not contagious, and on presenting himself to the priests he was re- lieved of the leper's interdict, and could return to his home and family. However it may have happened, our poor leper made his way to Jesus and threw himself upon the ground before Him, amazing everybody by his bold- ness, now hiding his hideous face and now show- ing it, and crying out, "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." Faith in the Christ he had, and trust in His power the two virtues which are the latch and the hinge of the Lord's heart. What was the terror of the crowd to see Jesus actual- ly reach out and touch and caress the poor leper, against the law and against all fear of contagion. Little did they dream that He was Maker and Master of all law that He would touch and taste and be THE CLEANSING OF A LEPER. 207 clothed with our moral leprosy without being made unclean with its guilt. " I will ; be thou made clean," said our Saviour ; " when He had spoken, immediate- ly the leprosy departed from him and he was made clean." The hand that touched him was not made unclean, but the entire body which it had touched was instantly healed. And now Jesus commanded the happy man to go to the priest and show himself, according to the law of Moses, and obtain a certificate of health, as well as make the proper thank-ofiering ; adding a pre- caution lest the priesthood of the neighborhood, hear- ing that He had broken the law of touching a leper, should be enraged against Him : ' ' See thou tell no man." The time was not yet come for the Messias fully to reveal His relation to the old order of re- ligion and decree its complete supersession. His gentle charity had only violated a precept which He Himself had made and could unmake, but His spirit of entire obedience was active for the edification of the people. However, the cleansed leper, more thank- ful than obedient, "being gone out, began to pub- lish and to blaze abroad the word." A LEPER HOSPITAL. 208 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST CHAPTER XIX. JESUS RETURNS TO CAPHARNAUM. CURE OF THE PARALYTIC, AND THE CONSEQUENT DISPUTE WITH THE PHARISEES. Matt. ix. 1-8 JESUS wished "SON, THY SINS ARE FORGIVEN THEE." And again he entered into Capharnaum after some days. And it was heard that he was in the house, and many came together, so that there was no room, no not even at the door ; and he spoke to them the word. And it came to pass on a certain day, as he sat teaching, that there were also Phari- sees and doctors of the law sitting by, that were come out of every town of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem ; and the power of the Lord was to heal them. And be- hold they brought to him one sick of the palsy, lying in a bed, who was carried by four ; and they sought means to bring him in and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in, because of the multi- tude, taey went up upon the roof, and let him down through the tiles with his bed into the midst before Jesus. And when Jesus had seen their faith, he saith to the | sick of the palsy : Son, thy sins are forgiven thee. And there were some of the scribes sitting there, and thinking in their hearts : Why doth this man speak thus ? he blas- phcmeth. Who can forgive sins, but God only ? Which Jesus presently knowing in his spirit, that they so thought within themselves, saith to them : Why think you these things in your hearts ? Which is easier, to say to the sick of the palsy : Thy sins are forgiven thee ; or to say : Arise, take up thy bed, and walk ? But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins (he saith to the sick of the palsy), I say to thee, Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. And immediately he arose ; and taking up his bed, went his way in the sight of all, so that all wondered, and glorified God, saying : We never saw the Tike. And he went forth again to the sea- side : and all the multitude came to him, and he taught them. ; Mark ii. I-JTJ ; Luke v. 17-26. to prevent His miracles from becom- ing in the people's eyes the main object of His mission. This would be a reversal of the true order. His miracles were like the seals upon title-deeds, the authentication of His doctrine. The multitude might easily be so dazzled by the great power of Jesus over the laws of nature as to forget that His main purpose was to seek and to save souls. As soon as He appeared they crowded upon Him in such a way as to hinder His publication of the Glad Tidings by their craving for the miraculous. It certainly in- fluenced Him in keeping out of the cities, as a general rule. He knew that the people who would follow Him into the country would be of the more earnest sort. Meantime in the country He would be better placed for an occasional retreat into total solitude, in which He could enjoy those hours of prayer to His Father which were the strength and the consolation of His human exis- tence. Before carrying out this plan He would visit Capharnaum JESUS RETURNS TO CAPHARNAUM. 209 to look after the good seed He had sown there. A sort of investigating committee awaited Him. Doctors of the law and leading Pharisees had come from all directions, some even from Jerusalem, drawn by the rumor of His miracles and of the novelty of His teaching, or sent by the highest officials of the Jewish Church. The intriguing priesthood, who had quarrelled with " One sick of the P als y-" Him in the Holy City, easily found the right sort of men for their purpose ; these had come to Caphar- naum. They were rabbis of various grades of influ- ence and their power was great ; they shared personally in the deep reverence of the people for the law which they expounded, although a great proportion of them were tainted with Pharisaism. Such as these led the concourse of people which blocked the very doors of the house no doubt Peter's in which the Messias lodged : He must address them ; He did so most willingly. The deep silence of the auditory and the strong but gentle tones of the Master's voice were interrupted by a singu- lar incident. A helpless paralytic had arrived, borne on a litter by his attendants. It was vain to seek admission to Jesus through the door ; probably a score of un- fortunates had already tried and failed. Now, in the Orient there is generally an outside stairway or ladder leading to the flat roof of the dwelling. What the feebler^ will of the other miracle-seekers had left untried the enterprise and strong faith of the paralytic aud ., An mitfe stairway Iea a to the flat roof oi his friends ventured upon. It the dwelling." 210 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. must have been with infinite trouble and many sharp pains, but it was done : they dragged the bed and its occupant to the roof, actually displaced a part of the covering, and by means of ropes let the infirm man down into the house. There he was with his pleading eyes and his crippled form at Jesus' feet. It was a prayer by deed as well as word and look, and Jesus was pleased. He could not re- sist such faith ; men saw it in His face. But in- stead of the miracle which they breathlessly awaited, what was their surprise to hear: "My son, be of good heart; thy sins are forgiven thee." To cure diseases of the body is not the height of His power ; He asserts power over the soul vastly more marvellous. That which is man's most secret self, his conscience, is what Jesus can see, heal, raise to life. But is not this power a divine monopoly ? Can any but God forgive sin, whom alone sin offends ? So silently reasoned the spies of the Scribes and Pharisees. They said no word, but in their hearts they were shocked and scandalized. Their thoughts ran in this wise : * ' Why does this man speak thus ? He blas- phemeth. Who can forgive sins but God only?" To speak as Jesus had spoken was, in fact, either to be a blasphemer or to possess the power of God. Jesus knew this, had foreseen the alternative, read their thoughts, and seized His point of vantage. For if in God's name He worked miracles, He was not a blasphemer in forgiving sins, but rather by claiming to exercise the attributes of God He proved His di- vinity. And now His first miracle was to reveal to His critics their unspoken thoughts ; His second to put life into the dead nerves of the cripple: "Why think you these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the sick of the palsy : Thy sins are CURE OF THE PARALYTIC. 211 forgiven thee ; or to say : Take up thy bed and walk ? " To man both are equally impossible, but they are alike easy to God. If Jesus could stand this man on sound and whole limbs by a word, it is plain He was no liar in anything He said or did : He had what- ever power He might claim to have. It is by exercise of power over the visible world that men may rightly claim the possession of authority over the invisible,, The ordeal could not have been better chosen. If He healed this man, it followed that He had power over sin He could heal men's souls. He received no an- swer to His challenge. And now Jesus spoke amid breathless expectation can He heal the paralytic ? Our Saviour's voice is firm and imperative as He says : ' ' But that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins (He saith to the man sick of the palsy), I say to thee, Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house." The dead nerves of the paralytic quivered with life, his bones were clothed with strong muscles, he suddenly rose up, caught up his bed from the floor, and, no doubt after fervent thanks to his double Benefactor (who had not only healed his body but cured the wound of mortal sin in his soul), he made his way triumph- antly through the wonder-stricken crowd, glorifying God. So did the assembled people glorify God ; but the of the hostile party were rather stricken with fear than moved to thanksgiv- ing. They went away say- ing : ;< We have seen won- derful things to-day." emissaries Arise, take up thy bed and go into thy house." 212 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER XX. MATTHEW THE PUBUCAN. THE TIME FOR FASTING AND THE TIME FOR FEASTING. Matt. ix. 9-17; Mark ii. 14-22 ; Luke v. 27-39. BUT no miracle could amaze an ordinary Jew in our Saviour's time more than His opening the door of His Church to publicans the most odious class in the community. A publican was an officer of the Roman revenue, the very sign and standard of the pagan tyranny under which Israel groaned ; he was the very type of the idolatrous usurpation. If him- self a pagan, he was in that an unclean thing as well as a minion of the foreign despot. But especially if he was a recreant Jew ; as an enemy of his re- ligion, a betrayer of his own nation, he was marked as an outlaw to every good Hebrew, excluded from the synagogue, incapable of offering evidence under oath. Capharnaum abounded in this class which was under so deep a malediction ; for as the Roman tax was gathered from trade and barter and import and export, the commerce between inner Syria and the Mediterranean, which passed through its streets, paid heavy tribute, which required many tax-gatherers. They had all doubtless heard of Jesus, some of them had seen Him from afar and had felt the charm of His voice ; but they were under the ban and dared not approach very near Him. One among them, I/evi, or Matthew, was set apart by God for an example of Jesus' love for sinners. The Saviour was returning from one of His excur- sions into the country, a crowd of people bearing Him company into the city. He purposely passed near the publican, who was sitting at his table. Doubtless he saw Jesus and envied the disciples who MA TTHE W THE P UBLICAN. 2 1 3 were close to Him, and helplessly longed for power to rise and join them. Jesus looked upon him, beckoned him to come, said to him, "Follow Me!" and instantly, as if all had been arranged between them beforehand, he rose up and followed the Master. The spell that Jesus lovingly put upon him con- quered greed for money and made him one of our Saviour's Apostles. lyevi changed his name to Mat- thew, The Gift of God, in thanks- giving for having been elevated from an outcast of the Jews to close fellowship with the Christ. A yet nobler form of thanksgiving was his zealous endeavor to bring other publicans to our Saviour. He al- ready felt the passionate zeal of an apostle in his blood. Matthew therefore prepared a supper, invited many of his fellow customs officials, and Jesus, true to His principles, made no difficulty in accepting an invitation to be present, though the whole company was under the Jewish ban. The Pharisees and Scribes, when they learned of His intention, were scandalized. They feared to pro- test to the Master's face they drew aside the disciples, simple men, whose scruples they hoped to rouse, or whose timidity they hoped to frighten. " Why doth your Master eat and drink with publicans and sin- ners?" Jesus heard this, and for His defence He THE VOCATION OF MATTHEW. And when Jesus passed on from thence, he saw a man sitting in the custom-house named Matthew, a publican, Levi, the son of Alpheus, and he said to him : Follow me. And leaving all things he rose -up and followed him. And Levi made a great feast in his own house. And it came to pass, that as [Jesus] sat at meat many publicans and sinners sat down together with Jesus and his disciples. For they were many, who also followed him. And the scribes and the Pharisees, seeing that he ate with publicans and sinners, said to his disciples : Why doth your master eat and drink with publicans and sinners ? Jesus hearing this, saith to them : 1 hey that are well have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. For I came not to call the just, but sinners. Go then, and learn what this meaneth : / will have mercy and not sacrifice. And the disciples of John and the Pharisees used to fast : and they come, and say to him : Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast often and make prayers ; but thy disciples do not fast ? And Jesus saith to them : Can the children of the marriage fast, as long as the bridegroom is with them ? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them : and then they shall fast in those days. And he spoke also a simil- itude to them : That no man putteth a piece from a new garment upon an old garment: otherwise he both rendeth the new, and the piece taken from the new agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles : other- wise the new wine will break the bottles, and it will be spilled and the bottles will be lost But new wine must be put into new bottles ; and both are preserved. And no man drinking old, hath presently a mind to new : for he saith, The old is better. 214 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. borrowed a popular saying : * ' They that are well need not a physician, but they that are sick." The Pharisees claimed to be spiritually sound and so they were if exact external observance and loud outward profession make a man holy : to them, therefore, and by their own claim, the Heal- er of souls was not sent, but rather to such as these ORIENTAL WAY OF EATING, very publicans and the sinful men who consorted with them. And He gave them a text : " Go then, and learn what this meaneth : I will have mercy and not sac- rifice " (Osee vi. 6). To save souls is more pleasing to God than to offer sacrifice. To seek and save poor sinners wandering towards eternal destruction this was the choice of Jesus, rather than to preach exact observance of the law. Zeal for souls outranked even zeal for the law. Do sinners await Him ? Everything is set aside to attend to them. And He added : " For I am not come to call the just, but sinners " It is a curious fact that this doctrine is a hard one for some Christians even at this late day fully to understand. Beaten on the question of the guests, the enemy assailed our Lord on that of the banquet itself. The Pharisees were great fasters, and perhaps this very day was one of their especial fast days. They were of that kind of ascetics who, on account of abstaining themselves, would relieve their hunger by sprinkling ( bitterness upon the food of others. They opened, be- sides, the old feud between the disciples of John the Baptist and those of Jesus: "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast often and make prayers, but Thy disciples do not fast?" The Saviour's manner and words were kindly as He an- " The disciples of swered : ' ' Can the children of the marriage fast, as the Pharisees fast j as the bridegroom is with them? As long as often and make * . prayers" they have the bridegroom with them they cannot TIME FOR FASTING AND TIME FOR FEASTING. 21 5 fast." Instantly the disciples of John must have recalled the same terms used by their master in speaking of Jesus. He is the bridegroom ; His Church, whom His disciples represent, is the bride ; and God His Father would -have the es- pousals of His Son celebrated with every joy. Who ever heard of fasting at a wedding-feast? "But," He added sadly, thinking of the future, ' * the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast in those days." It is a renewal of the prophecy first made in the figure of the destruction of the Temple, and then in that of the brazen serpent, now yet more plainly and without any figure of speech. At every step on His way He must pass beneath the shadow of the Cross, now dimly seen, but gradually growing plainer. He is looking into the faces of some who will play a part in the tragedy : the Pharisees, who will con- spire against Him and finally triumph ; His disciples, who will be hunted like wild beasts, condemned to prison, weep many bitter tears, finally pour out their hearts' blood to cement the foundations of His Church. Fasting and weeping and sorrow enough in its time ; but let all rejoice in the brief day of the bride- groom's happy presence among them. But, they might have asked, why not at once re- veal the entire plan, the whole future of the new dispensation ? He answers by comparing His auditors, including His disciples, to an old garment in need of mending : * ' No man putteth a piece from a new garment upon an old garment ; otherwise he both rendeth the new, and the piece taken from the new agreeth not with the old." If Jesus suddenly imposed on the old religion the entire system of belief and A PHARISEE PRAYING IK PUBLIC. Si6 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. practice belonging to the new, He would precipitate a conflict. The genuine Hebrew character is not yet elevated enough to assimilate the new religious spirit, and, on the other hand, the Christian religion has nothing to gain from Judaism. The future of the Church was destined to demonstrate this. Even the most fervent converts from Judaism found it hard to receive the Gentiles upon terms of equality, or to allow the Mosaic law to be put aside as a worn-out and unmendable garment. Peter must have a new revelation before he would frankly and unreservedly go to the Gentiles, and Jesus must call in a new Apostle, Saul of Tarsus, to supply fully the wants of the pagan nations. Jesus must, therefore, exercise judgment in forming His followers, souls little ac- customed to His holy way, and only to be broadened and deepened by loving and gentle patience. All this is a precious lesson to those who aspire to make converts to Christ's true Church from the ad- herents of the many Christian sects around us. He enforced this caution by another comparison, suggested by the wine of the feast, contained in leathern bottles : ' ' No man putteth new wine into old bottles, otherwise the new wine will break the bottles, and it will be spilled and the bottles will be lost. But new wine must be put into new bottles, and both are preserved." He compares the new faith, alive with vigorous activity, to new wine. To fill a man with the ardent and impulsive zeal of Christian- ity, he must not be of the old order all absorbed in the one purpose of preventing change from estab- lished forms. When men's souls are made over, and become new in thought and temper, He will give them the new religion in all its integrity. New wine, even of a better grape, is not so pleasing as the WOMAN CURED OF AN ISSUE OF BLOOD. 217 well-ripened juice of an inferior grape even of es- sentially lower quality. " No man drinking old wine hath presently a mind to new, for, he saith, The old is better." So must men's souls grow accustomed to the Gospel, and gradually become familiarized with its harsh-tasting rules, till their old ways of self-righteousness shall finally pall upon them. The teacher who succeeds in leading them to this is like St. Paul, who was all things to all men that he might gain all. To feeble souls a little effort is pro- posed, not great heroic acts, of which they are in- capable till after a long novitiate. Thus did Jesus discourse at table, on this occasion and on many others afterwards ; giving His hearers, amid the gentle influences and exchanges and kind offices incident to such gatherings,, the most sublime doctrines of His religion. We shall see Him defend- ing the great penitent Magdalen at a dinner, giving some of His most remarkable parables on similar occasions, and at last associating with the name Supper His highest gift to man, His own living flesh and blood. CHAPTER XXI. THE WOMAN CURED OF AN ISSUE OF BI.OOD. THE RAISING TO LIFE OF THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS. Luke viii. 40-56 ; Mark v. 21-4.3 Matt. ix. 18-26. THAT whole day had been full of lofty teaching. It was to close with a stupendous miracle the raising of a dead girl to life. The banquet was suddenly interrupted by the en- trance of a man of note, the ruler of the synagogue. His name was Jairus, and he was distracted with grief. "He fell down at the feet of Jesus, beseech- 218 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. ing Him that He wouia come into his house, for he had an only daughter almost twelve years old, and she was dying." His haste, his sobs, his prominence in the city, his disregard of his reputation in entering the ' ' unclean ' ' company of the banquet, his prostra- tion at Jesus' feet, appealed to a heart always easily moved. "My daughter is at the point of death; come, lay Thy hand upon her that she may be safe and may live." Willingly did Je- sus rise and follow him, the dis- ciples keeping Him company. As soon as He reached the street a great multitude surrounded Him many had been waiting outside for hours, we may suppose, to get a sight of the wonder-worker, others had followed the ruler to the doors, and many more quickly ran up when the word was passed that the great prophet was to be seen. Among them was ' ' a woman having an is- sue of blood twelve years, who had bestowed all her substance on phy- sicians and could not be healed." In those days medical treatment for such complaints was but uselessly added torment she was only the worse for it. Besides this bodily evil, she was on account of it " un- clean " according to the Mosaic law, divorced, perhaps, from her hus- band, and subjected to most bur- densome rules in her daily life. Her faith in Jesus was supreme. Dreading to reveal her misery in "WHO HATH TOUCHED MY GARMENTS?' And as he was speaking these things unto them, behold there came a man whose name was Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue : and he fell down at the feet of Jesus, beseeching him that he would come into his house. For he had an only daugh- ter almost twelve years old, and she was dying. And he besought him much, say- ing : My daughter is at the point of death ; come, lay thy hand upon her, that she may be safe, and may live. And he went with him, and a great multitude followed him, and they thronged him. And there was a certain woman having an issue of blood twelve years, who had bestowed all her substance on physicians, and could not be healed by any : who when she had heard of Jesus, came in the crowd behind him, and touched his garment. For she said : If I .shall touch but his garment, 1 shall be whole. And forthwith the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the evil. And immediately Jesus knowing in himself the virtue that had proceeded from him, turn- ing to the multitude, said : Who hath touched my garments ? And all denying, Peter and they that were with him said : Master, the multitudes throng and press thee, and dost thou say, Who touched me ? And Jesus said : Somebody hath touched me : for I know that virtue is gone out from me. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, and seeing she was riot hid, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth, and declared before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was immediately healed. But Jesus seeing her, said : Be of good heart, daughter : thy faith hath made thee whole ; go thy way in peace. And the woman was made whole from that hour. WOMAN CURED OF AN ISSUE OF BLOOD. 219 the presence of the crowd, and jostled roughly about by rude men, she yet persevered: " If I but touch His garment, I shall be healed," she said to herself. Watching her chance, she boldly pressed into the cap of the human wave surging after Him, and was thrust upon the Saviour from behind. She clasped in her hand the hem of His garment, the zizith, or woollen fringe of His mantle. " She felt in her body that she was healed of the evil " ; strength, vigor, soundness, flowed into her, as per- ceptible as the pain and languor that a moment before oppressed her. As to Jesus; the touch of that hand of faith had thrilled to His heart of love she had stolen what He would gladly have given her. Halt- ing and turning to the multitude, He said: "Who hath touched My garments ? ' ' His tone was so solemn that utter silence followed ; but Jesus must force the recipient of His bounty to reveal herself. Peter exclaims : ' ' Master, the multitudes throng and press Thee, and dost Thou say, Who touched Me?" But He insisted: "Somebody hath touched Me, for I know that virtue hath gone out from Me, ' ' and His eye searched the silent faces gathered about Him. Meantime the woman, fearing and trembling, yet very grateful, was a prey to conflicting senti- ments. But she must be made to own the truth, for the purpose of Jesus was to show that her cure took place because in touching His garment she had touched His heart. She *' fell down before Him," declared before all the people for what cause she . , . , T _.. ., , , . "If I but touch his garment, I shall had touched Him, and how she was im- be healed." 220 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. mediately cured. But Jesus said : "Be of good heart, daughter: thy faith hath made thee whole ; go thy way in peace." Pious tradition records that this woman was the far-famed Veronica, otherwise Berenice, who, when Jesus was going to Calvary, braved both Jewish and Roman hate and stopped the sad procession, caring naught for the oaths and fury of the mob, and wiped the sweat and blood and dust from our Saviour's face. If the tradition be true, the divine picture left upon Veronica's towel is the authentic portrait of the Man of Sorrows, a pathetic legacy bequeathed to us by the hands of a woman in reward for woman's great faith and mighty courage. But all this delayed the journey to the house of Jairus. Considerable time was consumed in the cure and its accompanying occurrences. The poor father must have more than once urged our Saviour to hasten on. And his anxiety was too well founded: "Thy daughter is dead," cried a hurried messen- ger no use to trouble the Mas- ter further! The unhappy father was smit- ten as with a thunderbolt. It seemed as if death were some malignant ene- my of Jesus, who had tightened his fatal grasp MOURNING SCENE AT A HOUSE IN PALESTINE. and Snatched RAISING OF THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS. 221 away his victim lest the Saviour should rob him of his prey. "But Jesus, having heard the word that was spoken, saith to the ruler of the synagogue : Fear not, only be- lieve ' ' ; and to the crowd He gave orders to remain outside the hou.se, for His plan was as much as pos- sible to lessen the public excite- ment. Peter, James, and John, privi- " The damsel is not dead, but sleepetn.' leged witnesses of His most amazing wonders, were selected to enter with the Master ; the mourners were already wailing, and as our Saviour and His disciples came into the stricken household the funereal flutes were playing dirges which indi- cates the arrival of Jesus as being some time after the girl's death. Jesus showed surprise at all this 1 ' tumult of people weeping and wailing," for He would teach us that death is not to be mourned over as an unmixed evil ; and also because He intended to bring the girl back to life. " Why make you this ado and weep ? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth." It was a light sleep indeed to Him who could wake the dead with a gentle whis- per ; but to those who had seen the child's life fade out, and knew that her heart was still, and her pale lips felt no more the breath of life, His words were a mockery "they laughed Him to scorn." " But He, THE RULER'S DAUGHTER. While he was yet speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying : Thy daughter is dead ; why dost thou trouble the Master any farther ? But Jesus, having heard the word that was spoken, saith to the ruler of the syna- gogue : Fear not, only believe. And he admitted not any man to follow him, but Peter, James, and John the brother of James. And they come to the house of the ruler of the synagogue ; and he seeth a tumult and people weeping and wailing much. And going in he saith to them : Why make you this ado and weep ? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But he having put them all out, taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. And taking the damsel by the hand he saith to her : Talitha cumi, which is, being interpreted : Damsel, I say to thee, arise. And her spirit returned, and immediately the damsel rose up, and walked ; and she was twelve years old. And they were astonished with a great as- tonishment. And he charged them strictly that no man should know it, and command- ed that something should be given her to eat. 222 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. having put them all out, taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and they that were with Him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying." There she lay ready for the tomb. But the Lord of life and death takes her white, cold hand in His, and saith to her: " Talitha cumi, which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say to thee arise." It is a command ad- dressed to a corpse, or rather to a disembodied spirit far off in the regions of death, yet given as a master commands a servant. In after times Peter told it in the original tongue to his disciple Mark, that he might convey to us the very accents of this awful power. And how great the astonishment at beholding terrible death meekly obedi- ent. " Her spirit returned, and immediately the damsel rose up and. walked." Je- sus, who did not confine His charity to great gifts like life itself, bade them give her some food. He could not suppose that such a wonder as this could be kept secret : the Apostles pres- ent, the father, the mother, the expectant multitude would soon blaze it abroad. But He hoped to suppress the knowledge of it long enough to get away from the city, and so He charged them to keep it secret. He quickly passed out towards the lake, entered one of His disciples' boats, " Talitha cumi." and escaped across the water. FINAL CALLING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 223 CHAPTER XXII. THE FINAI, CALLING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. Matt. x. 2-4. ; Ads i. ij ; Mark in. 13-19 ; Luke vi. 1 2 -i 6. So far the Church of Christ was in an inchoate condition. His fol- lowers had gathered to Him as emi- grant families go into a new country, to live in their wagons and under trees and tents. But now our Saviour must show Himself a king and proceed to the organization and enrollment of His subjects. He is not a teacher only ; He is a founder. The union of His redeemed children with Himself is organic, and makes a new kind of life in God's world, that of His Church. We shall see Him likening it to a vine with its branches ; to a house with its foundations and its superstructure of walls and doors and windows and roof; to a net with its fishermen and its many kinds of fish ; to a woman's batch of dough with its leaven ; to a banquet with its host and guests and steward ; to a flock of sheep with its good shepherd ; but especially and always He names it and makes it a kingdom. The public property of this common- wealth of God shall be the good done by one to another, the love that is the breath of life in the com- pany of Jesus ; as also shall be its THE TWELVE. And it came to pass in those days that he went out into a mountain to pray, and he passed the whole night in the prayer of God. And when day was come, he called unto him his disciples, whom he would himself, and they came to him. And he made that twelve should be with him, and that he might send them to preach (whom also he named Apostles), Simon whom he surnamed Peter, and Andrew his broth- er, and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and he called them Boanerges, which is the sons of thunder ; Philip and Bartholomew, Mat- thew the publican and Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon the Cananean, who is called Zelotes, and Jude [or] Thad- 2 deus the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who was the traitor. And he gave them power to heal sicknesses and to cast out devils. 224 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. ST. ANDREW. faith, safeguarded by a divine order of men to rule the household, to draw and mend the net, to prune the vine, to provide guests for the banquet that is to say, to teach the truth, to detect error and to condemn it, to order all things sweetly in His Church, to hand down the original good custom. This will make Christ's gift to men continuous, as men singly are but momentary ; universal, as men and their nations are but fragments. And there- fore the Master publicly sets apart His Apos- tles from His other followers, and bestows upon them His own authority. Several of them He had called before on two separate occasions, and the others He had, no doubt, similarly selected and tested, as Holy Church has ever since done in her choice of men for the apos- tolic ministry. And now He pre- pares for the final act. Jesus made ready for institut- ing His Apostolate by spending a ' ' whole night in the prayer of God. And when day was come, He called unto Him His disciples. And He made that twelve should be with Him, and that He might send them to preach, whom also He named Apostles." Hereto- fore it was men and women, and crowds of them, coming and going, seeking and finding and losing Jesus. But from now on to be with an Apostle is to know where and when and how to secure the full presence of Jesus. That this might be, He pays His filial homage to ST. SIMON. FINAL CALLING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 225 His Father all the night long in the prayer of God's Spirit, without whose guidance He undertook nothing. The vast importance of this step was fitly shown by this long prayer of our Saviour. In the morning the general discipleship, the mingled friends and ad- herents, new-comers and old, were called into solemn assembly to hear the names of the Apostles, names by which prince and beggar shall be christened in all civilized humanity till the end of time. Among the Apostles there was one whom Jesus appointed to be leader. This leader's name was changed from Simon to The Rock by design, for he was to be made the corner-stone. His close asso- ciates, the brothers John and James of Zebedee, knew the Master and believed in Him before Peter, and were His seniors in the preliminary vocation at the Jordan ; John also was the more beloved ; Andrew was the very first disciple called. Yet Simon Peter was given the special office, the peculiar primacy, which was to be that fountain of perpetuity and that centre of unity which the Holy Ghost estab- lished in the Roman Bishopric. Peter was a genuine Galilean. He was brave without pru- dence ; he was ever starting something new ; he it was who generally spoke first, moving ahead of the others a true, rough, untamed Galilean. He was destined to be tamed by the sad revelation of his own weakness, God's usual way of taming chosen souls. Of the disciples thus elevated to the Apos- tleship, the greater number, after the coming of the Holy Ghost, vanished away into heath- endom to convert and save it, and only local traditions, in various parts of the world, give us glimmerings of their career. Andrew was ST. PHILIP. 226 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. ST, JUDE. the eldest born unto Christ of the whole band, having made his noviceship with the Baptist. Of the sons of Zebedee, James and John, Sons of Thunder as our Saviour styled them to show their electric fire, John was the heir of Jesus and our representative under the Cross in the bestowal of His mother's love. He was the drinker- in of Jesus' words, and their chron- icler in the sublimest writings ever penned by man. These two, with Peter, were cho- sen by Jesus to be witnesses ol the raising of the daughter of Jairus to life, of the Trans- figuration, and of the Agony in the Garden. James was the first of them who entered the gate of heaven, being the pioneer of Apostolic martyrdom ; and John closed the glorious line on a peaceful bed, and closed also the narrative of redemption by his marvellous vision of the Heavenly City. Philip, so early called, was that true friend to Bartholomew (origi- nally named Nathanael), whom he brought to the Messias. Both were very familiar with Jesus, es- pecially Philip. Matthew, or I/evi, the collector of the Roman tax, names himself in his list as " the publican." At the word of command he arose without a moment's hesitation, and gave up all and followed Jesus, though he had been a publican, he gave the new religion its first inspired book, in which he shows the links of the old law with the new, and tells, chiefly ST. JOHN. True Jew, even FINAL CALLING OF THE TWEL VE APOSTLES. 227 in this spirit, of the active life and wondrous deeds of the Messias. i Thomas the Doubter is a great figure among the twelve ; a reasoner, a questioner, slow to believe, a searcher of difficulties, but a type of the many honest minds in all ages who do not readily believe but are invincible in the faith when at last they accept it. James (the less or younger) , and Jude his brother, were sons of Cleophas, who was either himself the brother of Joseph, or whose wife was the sister of Mary or of Joseph. These two, their brother Josas or Joseph, and their sisters, were called brothers and sisters of the Lord. An only child like Jesus was thus complimented by Hebrew custom. Jude, also called I/ebbe, and again Thaddeus (to distinguish him from the apostate Judas) , must have been a man of deep enthusiasm, to judge him from his fiery Epistle. His brother James was for thirty-seven years Bishop of Jerusalem, a powerful advocate, at the coun- cil of the Apostles, of St. Paul's policy towards the Gentiles and of his revelations, a perfect echo in his far-famed Kpistle of many essential points of Christ's teaching. Simon the Zealous had been probably a partici- pant in the insurrection which had taken place some years previously, and named that of the Zealots for the law. If this be true, it shows that our Saviour was not unwilling to favor even an ex- treme type of Hebrew patriotism, as long as it was not Pharisaical. Finally, there is Judas Iscariot, mentioned in the holy narrative only by compulsion, the dark shadow in this pictured group of heroes. What made him an Apostle ? Did he force himself into the company and on to the acceptance of Jesus, from the start 8 x. JAMES. 228 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. ST. THOMAS. a thief and a traitor ? Rather, he was first honest in his attachment. But there is no vice so killing as avarice, though there are others more sudden in their stabs. Judas Iscariot has dignified avarice by making its product the traitor of all human history. How could Jesus ever choose him? It is a mystery. We can only suppose that in this case the ordinary rule prevailed ; as in other cases so in this, the Master used His '/, human means of information only, the divine III knowledge remaining suspended and apart.* Judas was a man of affairs, " carried the purse," 1 was the necessary procurator of the little band. And his treason, if it wrecked his own salvation, was made one powerful means of the salvation of the world. It is seen that Jesus mingled in His Apostolate the most in- congruous elements, mingled them together in a union ol love so strong as to blend them into one heart and one soul : they quar- relled often, but always to be made brethren again. He chose an un- pardoned rebel against the Roman tyranny and a gatherer of the Roman tax ; the strong and calm and ever faithful John and the impetuous and backsliding Peter ; ST. BARTHOLOMEW. *St. John says (v. 65), that "Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that did not believe and who he was that would betray Him." What is here meant by the words " from the beginning " ? Do they mean 'that Jesus knew Judas would betray Him when He first chose him as a member of the band ? Or does it mean that He knew his evil intention the first moment he harbored it ? The latter seems to us to be altogether the most probable meaning. FINAL CALLING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 229 Jude the enthusiast and Thomas the doubter; James the contemplative ascetic is a high official among the most restless and roving of. missionary bands. One requisite of a fully .equipped Church alone is lacking a man of intellectual culture. But Jesus will supply that want in the learned Scribe, Saul of Tarsus, to become in various ways the most notable of all the Apostles and the most like the Master in the gift of persuasion. And now the work of Jesus is not simply teach- ing divine truth, it is the making a new people ; the Kingdom of God is formed. The new dispensa- tion is both an interior condition of faith and right- eousness and an external order and government of men; it is a living organism, with its own pecu- liar corporate life flowing out from and into the divine human life of Christ. With this the Re- deemer became inseparably identified. Travelling back and forth, teaching the people, working miracles, disputing with enemies, the Apostles were always with Him. His relation to them was essentially superior to His relation to others. To instruct them how very greatly they needed it is always evident became His especial work. All were of that "class" which our Saviour evan- gelized with so much joy, the working class ; but they became the masterpieces of His grace, the messengers of His truth and of His salvation to the entire world. They were the first officers in His everlasting kingdom. ST - MATT HEW. 230 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER XXIII. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. i. THE; BEATITUDES. Matt. v. 1-48, and m. 1-34, and vii. 1-29; Luke vi. 17-49, and xii. 22-59. Y the choice of the Twelve Apostles the Church is organized ; it is to be made alive by the teaching of truth. The Church may be compared to a tree ; the external organization is like the bark and the wood ; the sap is the doctrine of Christ. Some of this doctrinal instruction had already been given, most of it remained to be so, and Jesus leads His Apostles apart into a favorable locality where, seated on a hill- side, He preaches to them and to the multitudes His greatest discourse the Sermon on the Mount. He is anxious that men should know what to believe, how to think rightly, and thereby have right ways of action. He is mankind's guide to right. It would have sounded strange if one had said in His company, "It makes no difference what a man believes as long as he follows the Saviour." The peculiar action of man as such is his thinking. Jesus would set that right for all men and for ever by teaching the one true doctrine and entrusting it to His one true Church. St. I" the time occupied or the number of words recited, street, but by reverent fear of. God, by loving submission, by entire confidence. The outer part should be characterized by the inner. Formalism is a constant dan- ger, and some whose lips are full of prayer, are really prayerless in soul. Yet our Saviour is by no means opposed to stated forms of prayer, for He immediately gives us one, the Lord's Prayer. No reasonable man lives but he orders his life ; no true Christian prays but he has his set forms of prayer, the supreme one being now instituted. No prayer so perfect as this one, none less liable to formalism in its constant repeti- tion, none so true a cure-all for hu- man affliction a very sacrament of prayer. Many books have been written to explain it, and yet every- body can understand it. It is the first prayer taught the Christian child after the sign-prayer of the Cross, it is the last one forgotten by the Christian sinner ; it is pub- licly uttered in the most solemn HOW TO PRACTISE VIRTUE AND HOW TO PRAY. Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them : otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father who is in heaven. Therefore when thou dost an alms-deeds, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth : that thy alms may be in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. And when ye pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, that love to stand and pray in the syna- gogues and corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men : Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But thou when thou shall pray, enter into thy cham- ber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret : and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. And when you are praying, speak not much, as the hea- thens. For they think that in their much speaking they may be heard. Be not you therefore like to them, for your Father knoweth what is needful for you, before you ask him. Thus therefore shall you pray : Our Father who art in heaven, hal- lowed be thy name : thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it i s in heaven. Give us this day oursupersubstantial bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also for- give our debtors. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen. For if you will forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences. But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father for- give you your offences. TRUST IN GOD'S PRO VIDENCE. 245 part of the Christian Sacrifice. Many ages it has been universally offered to God as the first and final expression of allegiance to Him and affection for our neighbor, and yet no one has dreamed that the Lord's prayer is worn out or can be superseded. He teaches it again and again, and we shall return to its consideration later on. "They think that in their much speaking they may be heard." CHAPTER XXIII. CONTINUED. 5. REUGIOUS JOY; TRUST IN GOD'S PROVIDENCE. AFTERWARDS Jesus gives a needed lesson about a misery unhappily and yet truly named religious gloom. Joy is the dominant note of all friendship, most especially of that friendship which unites us to God religion. Yet men, because they are sinners and must make atonement, are prone to gloom in re- ligion. Jesus is against this: "And when you fast be not as the hypocrites, sad ; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee." The reader will not fail to notice that our Saviour's warning against LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. melancholy is joined with his con- demnation of ostentation and vain- glory in our religious demeanor, for it often happens that a gloomy Chris- tian is over-anxious for men's ap- proval. He frequently returned to the lesson of confidence in God. Who- ever knows what religious men call The World, knows how hardly it deals with its votaries ; also how doubly miserable are those who look to it for happiness. One of the most blessed favors Jesus bestows on us is emancipation from the world. Eat- ing and drinking, lodging and cloth- ing all are necessary, but they come from God our Father : such is the doctrine of Christ. Let us always bear Him in mind, always remember our eternal destiny as His well-lov- ed children : He will not fail us. Does He fail the beasts and the birds and the flowers and fruits ? Can He think less of us, His children, des- tined for His company in Paradise, than He does of these senseless things? Hence this charming dis- course on Confidence in God. It was delivered in a country place, the Master looking out over the fields and hedges, holding in His hand, we may suppose, a bunch of wild flowers, the offering of the children who were ever His favorites and were frequently in His company. " BE NOT SOLICITOUS I " Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom. Sell what you possess and give alms. Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth : where the rust and moth consume, and where thieves break through, and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven : where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also. The light of thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be single thy whole body shall be lightsome. But if thy eye be evil thy whole body shall be darksome. If then the light that is in thee, be dark- ness : the darkness itself how great shall it be ? No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other : or he will sustain the one, and de- spise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat : and the body more than the raiment ? Be- hold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they ? And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit ? And for raiment why are you solicitous ? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow : they labor not, neither do they spin. But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. And if the grass of the field, which is to- day, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe : how much more you, O ye of little faith ? Be not solicitous there- fore, saying : What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed ? For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. And be not lifted up on high. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore solicitous for to-morrow ; for the morrow will be solici- tous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. TRUST IN GOD'S PROVIDENCE. 247 When reduced to its most elementary terms, this teaching means that although we must strive earnestly for the bodily support of ourselves and those de- pendent on us, we should strive yet more earnestly for the power to suffer want unrepiningly. No man worthily enjoys the temporal gifts of God who cannot be content without them. Our only absorbing desire must be for the Kingdom of God, which is not in eating and drinking. So far all must be conformed to this doctrine. What goes beyond this is for the smaller number. " Sell what you possess and give alms." It is the Gospel Counsel of Poverty. It is not a command but a special call to perfection. In its spirit of detachment it bears, indeed, upon all. But in its literal fulfilment, the counsel of Evangelical Poverty is for those alone whose souls are led to it by special illumination of the Holy Spirit. In all this the Master draws a dividing line between the worldly-minded Christian and the true-hearted disciple. The purpose of God in sending His Son on earth was not to bring temporal prosperity to those who should respond to His message, but very often the contrary. Jesus Himself was a poor man ; His mother and His foster-father were poor ; His disciples were poor ; His friends and followers in all ages, though drawn from all classes, poor and rich, mighty and lowly, have ever been and must ever be poor in spirit. But His Church always loves by preference actually and literally poor people. Her saintly heroes are all poor men and women, and in the vast majority of her membership she honors poverty and ministers to it. She is distinctively the poor man's Church. Members of the Church have indeed for a time lost some portion of this spirit, but it was because they had fallen into degeneracy ; a condition in which ' Consider tlw lilies." 248 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. high offices were reserved for the rich and policy was shaped by worldly ends. But this was always the beginning of the ruin of religion ; as at the divi- sion of Christendom three hundred years ago, and the French Revolution two centuries later. To be penetrated by Christ's Counsel of Poverty and domi- nated by its spirit is a prerequisite for maintaining the allegiance of men and nations to Christian unity and orthodoxy. CHAPTER XXIII. CONTINUED. 6. THE RULE OF FRATERNAL CHARITY J THE EFFI- CACY OF PRAYER. ONE of the worst consequences of the fall of man is the inordinate tendency we feel to sit in judgment upon our equals. Although himself inevitably a sinner, each man is irre- sistibly bent on playing the censor of his neighbor. Against no other fault does our Saviour so often ad- monish us. "Judge not, that you may not be judged ; for with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why seest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, and seest not the beam that is in thy own eye ? " How true it is that our little store of personal virtue is often the stimulus to excessive zeal for the correction of our neighbor. Censo- riousness is want of balance between personal virtue and zeal for correction, unless, indeed, it happens that correc tion is imposed by one's office. Our Saviour threatens THE MOTE AND THE BEAM, Judge not, that you may not be judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged : and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again. Good measure, and pressed down and shaken together and running over, shall be given into your bosom. And he spoke also to them a similitude : Can the blind lead the blind ? do they not both fall into the ditch ? The disciple is not above his master : but every one shall be perfect, if he be as his master. And why seest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye ; and seest not the beam that is in thy own eye ? Or how sayest thou to thy brother : Let me cast the mote out of thy eye ; and behold a beam is in thy own eye ? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Give not that which is holy to dogs ; neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them un- der their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you. " ASK, AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN YOU." Ask, and it shall be given you : seek, and you shall find : knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that ask- eth, receiveth : and he that seeketh, find- eth : and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. Or what man is there among you, of whom if his son shall ask bread, will he reach him a stone ? Or if he shall ask him a fish, will he reach him a ser- pent ^ If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good gifts to them that ask him. their feet, and FRA TERNAL CHARITY; PRA YER. 249 the terrible penalty of retaliation: God will judge the judger by his own usurped rule of judging his neighbor. Naturally Jesus follows on to a warning against the other extreme^ that of wasting our true and affec- tionate zeal upon those who are total- ly incapable of profiting by it : * ' Give not that which is holy to dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under turning upon you, they tear you." Upon which He returns to the efficacy of prayer, and six different times in succession (as if the incredi- ble revelation could not be too emphatically taught) He repeats one of His most marvellous promises: "Ask, audit shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth ; and he that seeketh, findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened." But, we may inquire, what is here referred to what gift, what lost treasure, what door is meant? Many a one asks for deliverance from affliction, little knowing that it is placed as a condition of his salvation. Some would save a child from death, little under- standing the future downfall if the child grows to manhood. Some, again, are incessantly striving to substitute daily and petty miracles for the ordinary providence of the ** Good measure, pressed down, shaken to- gether, and running over." 250 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. Heavenly Father. Hence in every prayer for temporal favors or for spiritual luxuries, our lyord would have us wholly submissive to the good pleasure of the Father. Only one prayer can and must be peremptory that for the salvation of the soul and the necessary means of securing it. "Or what man is there among you, of whom if his son shall ask bread, will he reach him a stone? " Enter ye in at the narrow gate." CHAPTER XXIII. CONCLUDED. 7. THE GOLDEN RULE. THE NARROW AND THE BROAD WAY. FALSE PROPHETS. THEN follows the Golden Rule, the brief summary of all religious relationship between man and man a most heroic rule, all the more because so simple, so accessible, so practical. As a commentary on it one would be justified in offering the entire body of Christian teaching: " All things therefore whatso- ever ye would that men should do to you, do you also to them, for this is the law and the prophets." If this seems to narrow the empire of self-will down to painful self-forgetfulness, well and good, let it be so ; but consider what it leads to, all the more quickly and directly because so painfully strait. "Enter ye in at the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are that go in thereat. How narrow is the gate and strait is the way that leadeth to life, and few there are that find it ! " It is not in loitering through wide and level plains full of flowers and pleasant groves that the limbs are developed and the lungs enlarged, but in climbing steep paths and con- quering rocky heights. So by self- THE GOLDEN RULE. All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do you also to them, for this is the law and the pro- phets. Enter ye in at the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How nar- row is the gate and strait is the way that leadeth to life, and few there are that find it. THE GOLDEN RULE. FALSE PROPHETS. 251 conquest alone may one grow to be a stalwart disciple of Jesus Christ. Not only are these principles to be put into prac- tice by Christ's followers generally, . but especially so by Christian teachers. The- people were to watch whether or not a teacher of new theories offered evidence of a practical sort : ' * Beware of false pro- phets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their fruits you shall know them." A fatal test if applied to ritualistic Judaism, an axe at its very root. For, instead of love and harmony and inner spiritual life, its fruits were hatred and contention among brethren and formalism in religious worship. Jesus thus ended His great discourse. The simple beauty of the Sermon on the Mount outshines the masterpieces of orators as the noon-day sun a penny candle. Its precepts and its counsels are the essence of the New L,aw, a law of love for God and man, a system of precepts and counsels rightly called by St. James the "perfect law of liberty." The Gospel, epitomized in this Sermon, is a code whose majesty of authority and whose stimulus to personal liberty are inextricably blended. The concluding words are a direct claim on Jesus' part to be the Divine Legislator Himself this New L,aw is His word. Coupled with this is His preference of a virtuous life built on His teaching as a house on a rock over even supernatural gifts. On the contrary, a life of outward profession and even of inward belief but fruitless of inward and outward charity, is like a splendid building badly founded the crevices that gape in its walls from top to bottom and the threaten- ing lean of its towers turn into mockery its rich materials and its graceful adornments. * ' Not every Strait is the way that leadeth to life." 252 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. "BY THEIR FRUITS YOU SHALL KNOW THEM." Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bring- eth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good : and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name ? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you : depart from me, you that work iniquity. Every one therefore that heareth these my words, and doeth them, shall be likened to a wise man who digged deep and built his house upon a rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock. And every one that heareth these my words, and doth them not, shall be like a foolish man tha* built his house upon the sand with- out a foundation. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and immediate- ly it fell, and great was the fall thereof. And it came to pass when Jesus had fully ended these words, the people were in admiration at his doctrine. For he was teaching them as one having power, and not as their scribes and Pharisees. And when he was come down from the moun- tain great multitudes followed him. one that saith to me, Lord ! Lord \ shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doth the wiH of my Father who is in Heaven, he shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." " Every one, therefore, that heareth these My words and doeth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock." Who but the equal of God could so loftily speak of His own words ? What wonder, then, that with all His mildness, it was His awful dig- nity that gave the final echo of His discourse in the minds of His hear- ers. The Pharisees laid particular claim to authority. Compared with Jesus, authority was the conspicuous lack in all their teaching. He alone could say, My Words are stronger than the storms of life and death, and are the immovable and eternal basis of all joy. "And it came to pass when Jesus had fully ended these words, the people were in admiration at His doctrine ; for He was teach- ing them as one having power, and not as their Scribes and Pharisees." So ended the Sermon on the Mount. HEALING THE CENTURION'S SERVANT. 253 CHAPTER XXIV. HE AUNG THE CENTURION'S SERVANT. THE TWO BUND MEN. THE DUMB. DEVII,. Matt. viii. 5i3> and ix. 27-34. ; Mark Hi. 20-22 ; Luke vii. i-io. ' ' HE loveth our nation and hath gogue." This praise of an upright turion was spoken to Jesus upon His return to Capharnaum by a deputa- tion of Jewish elders. Their errand was to beg Jesus to cure the Roman officer's servant. This was a favor- ite and well-loved dependent of his master, whose heart was heavy with fear of his impending death. So was the heart of our Saviour very tender towards that imperial race which was to know Him as its only master, and to give its name to His Church in abdicating in its favor the empire of the world. Jesus gladly went with the elders. The Roman united to the high quality of relig- ious generosity that of personal hu- mility. He sent another message, as he saw the approach of the mul- titude, and his message has become the world-wide expression of humble confidence upon the lips of Chris- tians when receiving Jesus in Com- munion. It is the Domine, non sum dignus : "Lord, trouble not Thy- self, for I am not worthy that Thou shou!4st enter under my roof. For built us a syna- and kindly cen- "LORD, I AM NOT WORTHY THAT THOU SHOULDST ENTER UNDER MY ROOF." And when he had finished all his words in the hearing of the people, he entered into Capharnaum. The servant of a certain centurion, who was dear to him, being sick, was ready to die. And when he had heard of Jesus he sent to him the ancients of the Jews, desiring him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus they besought him earnest- ly, saying to him: He is worthy that thou shouldst do this for him, for he loveth our nation and he hath built us a synagogue. And Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent his friends to him, saying: Lord, trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof. For which cause neither did I think myself worthy to come to thee : but say the word and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers ; and I say to one : Go ! and he goeth ; and to another : Come ! and he cometh ; and to my servant : Do this ! and he doth it. Which Jesus hearing, mar- velled, and turning about to the multitude that followed him, he said : Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith not even in Israel. And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior dark- ness : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion : Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour. And they who were sent, being returned to the house, found the servant whole, who had been sick. 254 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. which cause neither did I think myself worthy to come to Thee: but say the word, and my servant shall be healed." The great-hearted Roman was a soldier. His symbol of power was the word of command. Many a time had he taken his life in his hand at a single word of his superior officer, as he in turn had seen his legionaries do at his own behest. He would remind Jesus of this, his knowledge of the force of lawful authority: "For I also am a man subject to author- ity, having under me soldiers. And I say to one, Go ! and he goeth ; and to another, Come ! and he cometh ; and to my servant, Do this ! and he doth it. ' ' What a lesson was this to the proud Jewish elders, who, vain of their elect place, dealt almost on terms of equality with the prophets, and added to and dis- torted the precepts of the law of God ; whereas, this representative of the Gentile world thought Jesus too high a personage to be invited to enter his home. It was humility and frankness, but especially faith, that Roman virtue which should become the synonym of intellectual security of human reason in the ages to come the new Pax Romana. Naturally, a Roman would admire first the sover- eign majesty of the Saviour; but his joining to this the holy virtue of humility was very pleasing to Jesus, who foresaw the future supremacy of the Gentile races in His religion, and made haste to speak of it: "Turning about to the multitude who followed Him, He said : Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith, not even in Israel. And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the King- dom of Heaven. But the children of the king- dom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness : THE BLIND MEN; THE DUMB DEVIL. 25$ there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." This is a proclamation of that high- er law of heritage which is spiritual, not racial, nor even of sacred rites and sacrifices, but of the new birth of the inner man. A voice would yet . resound in echo of this teaching, a clarion voice, going everywhere and saying, " There is neither Jew nor Greek, nor bond nor free, nor male nor fe- male, but ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Not by right of birth but by faith and love shall men be citizens of the kingdom of God. " And Jesus said, Go, and as thou hast be- lieved, so be it done to thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour." On the way to His resting-place for the night two blind men followed Jesus, crying : out "Have mercy on us, O Son of David ! " Jesus did not stop : was it to try their faith? or was it lest that royal title, Son of David, might be caught up by the fiery Jews and turned into a war-cry? But His kindness was always the same, and at the door of the house Jesus turned, and asked: "Do you believe that I can do this unto you? They say to Him, Yea, I^ord. Then He touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it done unto you. And their eyes were opened." How fitting a reward of the inward sight of faith, thus to be given the use of the eyes of the body, and to look first into the noble and beautiful face of Jesus Christ ! As on a former oc- casion, so now Jesus bade His grateful beneficiaries to be silent about the miracle, lest His plans should be forced ; and, as before, so now it was in vain : "They spread His fame abroad in all that country," " I have not found so great faith not even in Israel." 256 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. Quickly followed a demoniac who was made dumb by the evil spirit within him, and Jesus cast out the demon and the man spoke. ' ' Never was the like seen in Israel" was the verdict of the people, who saw Jesus doing more wonders than ever KHas and EHseus had done. But the emissa- ries of the chief priests, the spies in the camp of the Son of David, whis- pered' to each other and began to say openly : ' ' Ey the prince of devils He casteth out devils." After these miracles some "friends "of our Saviour, perhaps frightened by the accusation of dia- bolism, had the weakness to suggest that He had grown frantic, that He was become insane. "And they come to a house, and the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when His friends had heard of it, they went out to lay hold on Him. For they said: He is become mad." GIVING SIGHT TO THE BLIND. CASTING OUT A DUMB DEVIL. And as Jesus passed from thence there followed him two blind men, crying out and saying : Have mercy on us, O Son of David. And when he was come to the house, the blind men came to him. And Jesus saith to them : Do you believe that I can do this unto you ? They say to him : Yea, Lord. Then He touched their eyes, saying : According to your faith, be it done unto you. And their eyes were open- ed ; and Jesus strictly charged them, say- ing : See that no man know this. But they going out spread his fame abroad in all that country. And when they were gone out, behold they brought him a dumb man possessed with a devil. And after the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke, and the multitude wondered, saying : Never was the like seen in Israel. CHAPTER XXV. THE MIRACLE AT THE PROBATIC POOL. SABBATH- BREAKING. JESUS ASSERTS HIS DIVINITY. John v. 1-15. So far Jesus had preached and wrought miracles mainly in Galilee, making that province the nursery of His religion. The result was a deep-flowing re- ligious sentiment there. But Jerusalem must be made to know Him well, and He had never ceased to think of that city, the heart of the I/and of Israel and the centre of all its religious life. He therefore re- THE MIRACLE A T THE PROS A TIC POOL. 257 turned to the Holy City, and immediately He wrought a miracle which gave Him occasion to proclaim His divinity and to enlarge upon its attributes. " Now there is at Jerusalem a pond called Pro- batica, which in Hebrew is called Bethsaida, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick, of blind, of lame, of withered, waiting for the moving of the water." It was a place of miracles, one of those Holy Wells which God's lov- ^ ing providence has scattered over all parts of the world. "And an angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond, and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water, was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under. ' ' As Jesus passed there, He saw among the anxious watchers of the water's motion a sufferer whose air of despondency aroused His compas- sion ; he had been infirm for thirty- eight years, and our Saviour knew that he had been long and vainly waiting for his cure. " Wilt thou be made whole?" He asked him. The man supposed He meant the healing given by the pool. His piti- ful and even reproachful answer deepened the sympathy of the Sav- iour, whose heart is a very ocean of healing. " I have no man to put me into the pond " ; as if to say, other invalids are rich and have their servants to lift them up and " TAKE UP THY BED AND WALK." After these things was a festival day of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jeru- salem. Now there is at Jerusalem a pond called Probatica, which in Hebrew is called Bethsaida, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick, of blind, of lame, of withered, waiting for the moving of the water. And an angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond, and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water, was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under. And there was a certain man there that had Been eight and thirty years under his in- firmity. Him when Jesus had seen lying and knew that he had been now a long time, he saith to him : Wilt thou be made whole ? The infirm man answered him : Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pond ; for whilst I am coming, another goeth down before me. Jesus saith to him : Arise, take up thy bed and walk. And immedi- ately the man was made whole and he took up his bed and walked. And it was the Sabbath that day. The Jews therefore said to him that was healed : It is the Sab- bath ; it is not lawful for thee to take up thy bed. He answered them : He that made me whole, he said to me, Take up thy bed and walk. They asked him therefore, who is that man who said to thee, Take up thy bed and walk ? But he that was healed knew not who it was, for Jesus went aside from the multitude standing in the place. Afterwards Jesus findeth him in the Temple and saith to him : Behold thou art made whole ; sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee. The man went his way and told the Jews that it was Jesus who made him whole. 2 5 8 LIFE OF JESVS CHRIST. at certain times into the pond." hurry them in before me, a miserable pauper ; by the time that I have dragged myself to the bottom of the steps the angel is gone. But Jesus lifted him up quickly and by a mere word : " Arise, take up thy -bed and walk." Instantly the blood flow- ed new and fresh into his withered legs, the dead nerves began to tingle with the warmth of life. He stood up immediately, leaped and jumped, took up his bed and walked. From this miracle aro.se a most violent agitation against Jesus : it was wrought on the Sabbath day ! Certain Jews saw the man who had been healed passing along the streets car- * An angel of the Lord descended rying his bed, an admiring crowd mak- ing ^m more conspicuous, and they cried out to him : " It is the Sabbath day ; it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed." They were less concerned at a stupendous miracle than at a poor man carrying his bed to his humble home on the Sabbath. He, very naturally, took refuge from their attack under the authority of the Wonder-worker. * * He that made me whole said to me : Take up thy bed and walk." And who was He ? The man did not know His name ; meantime Jesus had gone aside and was lost in the crowd. But Jesus took care to meet him after awhile in the Temple, and said to him : " Behold thou art made whole; sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee." This indicates that the man's illness had been caused by his vices ; Jesus read his conscience, and made His work of mercy complete by this admonition. Upon which the healed man published abroad that it was Jesus of Nazareth who had cured him. From SABBA TH-BREAKING. 259 this moment a bitter contest began; the Sabbath- breaker is known, He must be brought to task, ay, He ought to be slain. On His part, He did not shrink, but turned their accusation to good account, showing His authority by proving His union with the Father. " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." He teaches that work is never wrong in itself, for on every day God's omnipotence is inconceivably active in ruling and re- creating the universe. Absolute cessation from work for a single instant would mean final destruction. Who will proclaim a Sabbath to the Almighty Father in preserving men's lives? Who will hinder the Son from healing a lame man on the Sabbath ? The Father and the Son work thus in unison. The reason- ing of Jesus was bold, and its meaning, when well considered, was nothing less than a claim to be one God with the Father. " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." The Jews saw plainly enough that when Jesus named God as His Father in so strict and exclusive a sense He claimed divinity. The crime of Sabbath- breaking was swallowed up in that of blasphemy. 1 ' Hereupon therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He did not only break the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Him- self equal to God." Jesus was unmoved, nay, He was glad of the vast crowd which by this time had been drawn around Him,- probably in some spacious court of the Temple. He began a great discourse, divided into eight different parts, each one lifting his hearers' minds high into the contemplation of His union with His Father. i st. His oneness with the Father in the divine activity : " Amen, amen, I say unto you, the Son can- 260 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. not do anything of Himself, but what He seeth the Father doing, or what things soever He doth, these the Son also doth in like manner. For the Father loveth the Son and showeth Him all things which Himself doth, and greater works than these will He show Him, that you may wonder." It is " in like manner" as God the Father that the uncreated will of Jesus flows into His humanity and actuates and guides His created will. This goes far beyond the cure of the withered limbs of a paralytic ; it will be extended to, 2d. The sovereign authority over life and death : ( ' For as the Father raiseth up the dead and giveth life, so the Son also giveth life to whom He will." This life-giving and life-taking power of the Father and the Son, Jesus goes on to show, is a divine attribute associated with the exercise of supreme dominion in the judgment of men's moral conduct. Jesus therefore claims an honor from men equal to that paid to His Father ; for, 3d. The authority of Father and Son as judges of men is identical : " For neither does the Father judge any man, but hath given all judgments to the Son, that all men may honor the Son as they honor the Father. He who honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father who sent Him. Amen, amen, I say unto you, that he who heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath life everlasting and cometh not into judgment, but is passed from death to life. Amen, amen, I say unto you, that the hour cometh and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in Himself, so He hath given to the Son also to have life in Himself. And He hath given Him power to do judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Wonder not at this, for the hour JESUS ASSERTS HIS DIVINITY. 261 cometh when all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they that have done good things, shall come forth unto the resurrection of life, but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection, of judgment." And now He passes to evidence of this claim of divinity to be true, and why it should be accepted. He is man, that is certain ; how shall we be equally certain that He is God ? Not by His mere human word. For if He acted as man simply, separate from God, He would be powerless in ac- tion and unworthy of credence as a teacher. Therefore He says he never so acts or teaches. Thus, 4th, His teaching is true because He teaches in obedience to God : ' * I cannot of Myself do anything. As I hear, so I judge, and My judgment is just, because I seek not My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. If I bear witness to Myself My witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He wit- nesseth of Me is true." What is the force of that witness? It is as plain as day, and as close as God could make it : a great messenger of God, a man of mar- vellous power, accepted by all Israel. Therefore, sth, John the Baptist witnesses ,?, r i r rr- "The hour cometh when all that JOT the truthfulness of JeSUS and for His are in the graves shall hear the voice Messias-ship : " There is another that beareth witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesseth of Me is true. You sent to 262 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. John and he gave testimony of the truth. But I receive not testimony from man ; but I say these things that you may be saved. He was a burning and a shining light, and you were willing for a time to rtjoice in his light." If Jesus be an impostor, John the Baptist was a cheat or a visionary. But He has a yet more direct guarantee of His office of Messias and of the truth of all His claims, including that of being the only Begotten Son of God a guaran- tee superior to the testimony of John. It is the amaz- ing power of miracles. Nicodemus the Pharisee had placed this proof in its right aspect when He said, 6th, that no man could do the works which Jesus did unless God were with him: "But I have a greater testimony than that of John, for the works which the Father hath given Me to perfect, the works them- selves which I do, give testimony of Me, that the Father hath sent Me. And the Father Himself who hath sent Me, hath given testimony of Me." The instinctive answer of the sceptical mind to this would be the demand actually to see God and hear His voice in confirmation of the claim of Jesus. But this was a frantic absurdity, especially for a Hebrew who had the revealed word of God ever at hand. Now, yth, The divinity of Jesus was plainly foretold in the Scriptures : ' ' Neither have you heard His voice at any time nor seen His shape. And you have not His word abiding in you, for whom He hath sent, Him you believe not. Search the Scriptures, for you think in them to have life everlasting, and the same are they that give testimony of Me." The Hebrew prophets had uttered God's voice and these men had stopped their ears. The reason they do not receive Jesus is not want of reasonable and overwhelm- ing evidence of His divine mission and even His divine JESUS ASSERTS HIS DIVINITY. 263 nature. For, 8th, the Jews reject Jesus because they do not love God. If He had ministered to their pride and ambition, they would gladly have followed Him. And so He ends His case against them : " And you will not come to Me that you may have life. I receive not glory from men, but I know you, that you have not the love of God in you. I am come in the name of My Father, and you receive Me not ; if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive glory one from another, and the glory which is from God alone you do not seek? Think not that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you, Moses, in whom you trust. For if you did believe Moses, you would perhaps believe Me also, for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how shall you believe My words ? ' ' The Saviour's concluding words are very note- worthy. He is not the enemy of His people; He will not consent to be their accuser. It is not the Mes- sias, but Moses, their ancient leader, intercessor, law- giver, who will become their judge. They are indeed zealous supporters of Moses, but only in outward forms, for Jesus, whom they accuse as a blasphemer, Moses fore- told as their Messias, and reverenced as the Saviour of the world and the L,ord and Master of mankind. In this majestic discourse Jesus claims to possess the incommunicable attributes of the Deity : unity of action, reciprocity of power ; dominion over life and death ; the supreme judgeship of the human race. And He proves His claim by reference to John the Baptist, to the Hebrew Scriptures, and by a gift of miracles so constant and so amazing as to guarantee God's approval. All this He taught upon occasion of a dispute over Sabbath-breaking. 264 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER XXVI. PLUCKING THE EARS OF WHEAT ON THE SABBATH. HEADING THE MAN WITH THE WITHERED HAND. CONSPIRACY BETWEEN THE PHARISEES AND HERODIANS. Matt. xii. 1-13 ; Mark n. 23-28, and Hi. 1-5 ; Luke vi. i-io. FTER the festival days Jesus left Jerusalem and journeyed with His disciples towards Galilee. He travelled slowly, tarrying along the way for several days preaching the King- dom of God to the country people. On the first Sabbath-day the caravan encamped near some fields of wheat. Meantime the Pharisees had sent their detectives to watch and to an- noy the Master, and St. Luke tells us what then happened. " And it came to pass on the second first Sabbath, that as He went through the corn-fields, His disciples being hungry, began to go forward, and to pluck the ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands." This became an occasion for a brief but very clear ex- planation of the difference between the ritual observ- ance of a spiritual man and that of a formalist. The religious martinet is mainly concerned with the out- ward form, the true disciple with the spiritual mean- ing. The sharp zeal of the Pharisees objected to the plucking of the ears of corn : ' ' Why do you that which is not lawful on the Sabbath-days ? ' ' And others went to Jesus and complained : ' ' Behold Thy dis- ciples do that which is not lawful to do on the Sab- bath-days." But the alleged illegality was not fixed PLUCKING WHEAT ON THE SABBATH. 265 by Moses but by the Jewish rabbis, who made hard additions to a law already too hard to observe. Jesus answered in popular style by citing examples : " Have you not read so much as this, what David did when himself was hungry, and they that were with him: how he went into the house of God, and took and ate the bread of proposition, and gave to them that were with him, which is not lawful to eat but only for the priests?" This was an instance of dispen- sation on account of necessity, to which all such laws as that of the Sabbath must yield as to superior authority. But Jesus adds an example of a higher kind, the needs of relig- ious service itself. Those who ministered with Him were on an equal footing with those who served in the Temple; nay, the preaching of His Gospel was even above the worship of the Temple. " Or have ye not read in the law, that on the Sabbath-days the priests in the Temple break the Sabbath, and are without " Why do you that which is blame? But I tell you that there is here a not ^lawful on the Sabbath- greater than the Temple." Higher still He leads them ; He tells them of the supreme law of charity, violated by them in judging these hungry men for taking a few mouthfuls of wheat : * ' And if you knew what this meaneth, / will have mercy, and not sacrifice, you would never have condemned the inno- cent." The whole teaching is summarized in two axioms: "And He said to them, the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. The Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." There was now open war between Jesus and the Pharisees. His every occasion of teaching was theirs for fault-finding ; nay, for accusation of the most deadly crimes, such as heresy and blasphemy. Even 266 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. His miracles, dictated by His loving kindness, were pretexts for their poisonous malice. The following incident of the healing of the man with the withered hand is in point. The Apocryphal Gospel of the Naza- renes says that the man came and said : ' ' I am a poor mason, earning my living by the labor of my hands : O Jesus, I pray Thee to cure me, that I may be saved from the shame of begging my bread." Now, this was in the synagogue at Capharnaum, on the Sabbath, perhaps the one after the Master's arrival there, and in the sight of a multitude of people. Would Jesus dare to do on the Sabbath a deed of charity that He could just as well post- pone to the next day ? Would He openly condemn the Pharisees' interpretation of the Sabbath rest ? They watched Him with eager eyes. Jesus de- termined to give an object-lesson of the true Hebrew practice : 4 ' And it came to pass on another Sabbath that He entered into the synagogue and taught. And there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the Scribes and Pharisees watched if He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusa- tion against Him. But He knew their thoughts and said to the man with the withered hand : Arise, and stand forth in the midst. And rising he stood forth. Then said Jesus to them : I ask you if it be lawful on the Sabbath-days to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy? But they held their peace." The prerogative of saving was His, for He was sent to save. Jesus argued further: "What man shall there be among you, that hath one sheep, and if the same fall into a pit on the Sabbath-day, will he not take hold on it and lift it up ? How much better is a man than a sheep ! Therefore it is lawful to do a good deed on the Sabbath-day." The very soul THE MAN WITH THE WITHERED HAND. 267 of Jesus was stirred within Him at their fanatical orthodoxy. " And looking round about on them with anger, being grieved for the blindness of their hearts, He saith to the man : Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth, and his hand was restored to him." If a shepherd would save his sheep on the Sabbath, Jesus would save a friend, a brother, though on account of it the Pharisees should thirst for His blood. The Pharisees now began to take counsel for His death. They even went for counsel to the He- rodians, the emissaries and spies of the licentious tyrant who had but recently imprisoned John the Baptist. It is a sad example of how the hypocriti- cal external observance of law may form alliance with shameless vice against true virtue. "And the Pharisees were filled with madness, and they talked one with another, what they might do to Jesus, and going out immediately, made a consultation with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. But Jesus knowing it, retired from thence with His disciples to the sea ; and many fol- lowed Him, and He healed them all. And He charged them that they should not make Him known. And a great multitude followed Him from Galilee and from Jerusalem and Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan ; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, hearing the things which He did, came to Him. And He spoke to His dis- ciples that a small ship should wait on Him be- cause of the multitude, lest they should throng Him. For He healed many, so that they pressed upon Him for to touch Him, as many as had evils. And the unclean spirits, when they saw Him, fell down before Him, and they cried, say- " And He ^ to the man : Stretch forth thy hand." 268 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. ing, Thou art the Son of God. And He strictly charged them that they should not make Him known. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaias the Prophet, saying : Behold, My servant whom I have chosen, My beloved in whom My Soul hath been well pleased. I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not contend, nor cry out, neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets. The bruised reed He shall not break, and smoking flax He shall not extinguish, till He send forth judgment unto victory. And in His Name the Gentiles shall hope." Jesus therefore deemed it prudent to give up Ca- pharnaum as His ordinary domicile, and for a period He sailed with His disciples from place to place along the lake shore, preaching and healing as before, but endeavoring to suppress the fame of His miracles. Soon, however, He found that a yet further retreat was necessary for His purpose. He landed with His Apostles on the west shore and went back into the country towards Nairn. THE GREA T MIRACLE OF NAIM 269 RUINS OF THE CITY OF NAIM. CHAPTER XXVII. THE GREAT MIRACLE OF NAIM. Luke vii. 11-18. NAIM was a little city the better part of a day's journey from the lake shore. It was beautifully placed (it is now but a miserable cluster of huts) on the north-west slope of L,ittle Hermon, and was once a town of some note. In visiting the very ancient cemetery near by, the lessons of death are mingled with the joyful thought that the old enemy met more than his match one pleasant evening of the long ago at the adjacent city gate. As Jesus journeyed with the large following which was now His usual company, He passed the cave of the witch of Endor, and looked westward over the plain of Esdrelon, in former days empurpled with the blood of many great battles. Perhaps He con- versed of the heroes of old and of how they all 270 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. finally were conquered by death, an enemy who was now to be overthrown. As He approached the city's gate His soul was moved by the plaintive sound of the Hebrew death chant. Soon they saw the funeral approaching. First came the men, their heads and faces partly covered with their mantles, their feet bare, their garments rent, moving slowly and in silence, followed by the corpse. There lay the dead man swathed in cerecloths upon an open bier, his white face turned vacantly to the sky. The women came next, singing with many tears a mournful THE WIDOW'S SON. And it came to pass afterwards, that he went into a certain city that is called Nairn, and there went with him his disciples and a great multitude. And when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a great multi- tude of the city was with her. Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy towards her, he said to her : Weep not. And he came near and touched the bier. And they that carried it stood still. And he said : Young man, I say to thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. And there came a fear on them all and they glorified God, saying : A great prophet is risen up among us, and God hath visited his people. And this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea, and throughout all the country round about. And John's disciples told him of all these things. chant accompanied by the sweet notes of the flutes. In this case there was no false show of sympathy, for the dead man ' ' was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a great multitude of the city was with her." What happened is told thus by St. Luke: "Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy towards her, He said to her: Weep not. And He came near and touched the bier. And they that carried it stood still. And He said : Young man, I say to thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up and began to speak. And He gave him to his mother." Jesus commanded Death, and that pitiless tyrant instantly obeyed the corpse heard and spoke and was alive. Jesus took him by the hand and led him to the astounded mother; he began to speak per- haps to repeat the words of Jesus : "Mother, weep not." What a deep impression must have been made upon all the people present ! He who is Master of THE GREAT MIRACLE OF NAIM. 271 " And He gave him to his mother." death is man's easy conqueror. "They glorified God, saying : A great Prophet is risen up among us, and God hath visited His people." In truth, this awful miracle, which surpassed in publicity and in other favorable circumstances that of the raising to life of the daughter of Jairus, was soon talked about every- where. The disciples of John hurried away to his prison with the marvellous tidings. 272 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE MESSENGERS OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. Matt. xi. 2-19; Luke mi. 18-35. S the Baptist heard these wonders his soul triumphed with Jesus over death and over the demons. But he never dreamed of Jesus be- ing his deliverer from prison ; his unselfish nature was absorbed in the one thought of God's will, God's glory, all centred in the Messias. He longed to hear of His supremacy among the people, at the Temple, before the Romans His full religious supremacy. But John's disciples, who had already quarrelled with those of Jesus, must have made some complaints to him, impart- ed to him their doubts, questioned the entire fulfilment of the prophecies in the Carpenter of Nazareth. Hence the Precursor sent from his prison a message which he hoped would hasten Jesus in His onward march, and elicit from Him a more solemn proclamation of His Messias-ship than any yet given. The message was sent with another purpose, that of allaying the doubts of John's adherents, as being calculated, by voicing their difficulties, to secure an explicit affirmation, made direct to them, of Jesus' Messias-ship. " He called to him two of his disciples and sent them to Jesus, saying : Art thou He that art to come or look we for another?" John, exercising his office of pointing out the Lamb of God, does Him this last service before his own martyrdom shall close his lips a witness faithful unto death. Our Saviour did not change His plan at this solici- tation, and yet He received the strange embassy with loving courtesy. Deeds, miracles, heavenly power, ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 273 heavenly love for the poor, must ever outrank mere words, no matter how plain, in authenticating His mission ; herein He teaches us a lesson of practical religion: "Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen : the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, to the poor the Gospel is preached." This answer was of more worth to the orthodox Jews who came from John than at first sight we might suppose, for they were children of the prophets. Now, Isaias (xxxv. 5) had marked the Messias' open- ing of blind eyes and deaf ears, giving speech to the dumb and healing the halt and lame, evangeliz- ing the poor, as signs of His divine mission ; Ezechiel (xxxvi. and xxxvii.) foretold the raising of the dead to life. But Jesus gave a final word of warning to His Precursor's followers: "Bless- ed is he whosoever shall not be scandalized in Me." He waited till they had departed, lest His words of praise for John should seem like personal flattery, and then He gave to His immense auditory what was in reality the funeral oration upon John, whose end the Saviour knew was near at hand the end of a mighty saint, worthy, if any one could be so, to be preached over by the Son of God. St. Luke doubtless gives us but a brief summary of this striking eulogy of John the Bap- tist the saintliest of all hermits, of all ascetics and contemplatives, of all who keep baptismal innocence or who achieve its recovery by penance, model of mission- aries to sinful Christians, of fearless reprovers of crime " GO AND RELATE WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD AND SEEN." Now, when John had heard in prison the works of Christ [he] called to him two of his disciples and sent them to Jesus, say- ing : Art thou he that art to come, or look we for another ? And when the men were come unto him they said : John the Baptist hath sent us to thee, saying : Art thou he that art to come, or look we for another ? (And in that same hour he cured many of their diseases, and hurts, and evil spirits, and to many that were blind he gave sight.) And answering, he said to them : Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen : the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, to the poor the Gospel is preached, and blessed is he whosoever shall not be scandalized in me. 274 LTfE OF JESUS CffRJST. iii high places, martyrs, humble lovers of Jesus the Lamb of God: "What went you out into the desert to see ? a reed shaken with the wind ? But what went you out to see ? a man clothed in soft garments ? Behold, they that are in costly apparel, and live delicately, are in the houses of -kings. But what went you out to see ? A prophet ? Yea, I say to you, and more than a prophet ; this is he of whom it is written, Behold I send My angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee." He was the greatest natural man that was ever born of woman, the last and the greatest of the heroic race of Israel. "For I say to you, amongst those that are born of women, there .is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist." And yet the old order, even as typified in John, yields to the new, the child of the promise to the child of the fulfilment: "But he that is the lesser in the Kingdom of God, is greater than he." Greater, that is to say, in dignity, but certainly not in personal virtue. As Moses led the children of Israel to the L,and of Promise without entering it, so John leads the people to the perfection of their destiny in Christ and His Church, points it out, gazes fondly upon it, and remains in the desert to close by a glorious death the long era of God's ancient dispensation. And yet, having given John such high praise, our Saviour was not done with him. He would still insist that the ideal Jew was John and John's type of old, the Prophet Elias ; this was the stuff to make the best Christians of the true Israelite was of a manly, a daring, a warlike race, as well as one gifted with the fixed gaze of the Semitic contemplative. "And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the king- dom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 275 bear it away. For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you will receive it, he is EHas that is to come." Then He marked His emphasis: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Meantime many Jewish leaders had rejected John, and Jesus reminded His hearers of this. Not cour- age but rashness, not frankness but intrigue, not hu- mility but haughtiness were their characteristics and the qualities they sought in others. They had set themselves apart from God's Kingdom, and the result was that publicans and simple country people and rough fishermen were given their vacant places ; and this began with John's baptizing in the Jordan : " And all the people hearing, and the publicans, justi- fied God, being baptized with John's baptism. But the Pharisees and the lawyers despised the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized by him." If John was too austere for them, Jesus was too lax : the critical spirit is content with nothing but the office of criticism. "And the lyord said, Whereunto, then, shall I liken the men of this genera- tion ? and to what are they like ? They are like to children sitting in the market-place, and speaking one to another and saying: We have piped to you, and you have not danced; we have mourned, and you have not wept. For John the Baptist came, neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say : He hath a devil. The Son of Man is come eating and drinking, and you say : Behold a man that is a glutton and wine-drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners." Pride is by turns a scofiing free-liver and a fanatical ascetic anything so as to maintain its place of censor. Wrong-hearted men would be both self-indulgent and gloomy in their religion, because they are proud ; proud men cannot be happy even 2 7 6 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. when yielding to sensuality, for their best pleasure is in making other men miserable. But our Saviour ended thus: "Wisdom is justified by all her chil- dren." Penance is consistent with joy nay, it alone gives true joy, for it generates peace of conscience and loving confidence in God. Joy is the dominant note of all godlike conduct whether jubilant or penitential, for God is love and joy. If a man is able easily to weep and to laugh by turns he has learned true life. THE WOMAN THAT WAS A SINNER. And one of the Pharisees desired him to eat with him. And he went into the house of the Pharisee and sat down to meat. And behold, a woman that was in the city, a sinner, when she knew that he sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and standing behind at his feet, she began to wash his feet with tears, and wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with me ointment. And the Pharisee who had invited him, seeing it, spoke within himself, saying : This man, if he were a prophet, would know surely who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, that she is a sinner. And Jesus answering, said to him : Simon, 1 have somewhat to say to thee. But he said : Master, say it. A certain creditor had two debtors ; the one owed five hundred pence and the other fifty. And whereas they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which therefore of the two loveth him most ? Simon answering said : I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said to him, Thou hast judged rightly. And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon : Dost thou see this woman ? I entered into thy house : thou gavest me no water for my feet ; but she with tears hath washed my feet, and with her hairs hath wiped them. Thou gavest me no kiss, but she, since she came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but she with ointment hath anointed my feet. Wherefore I say to thee, many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, he loveth less. And he said to her, Thy sins are for- given thee. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves : Who is this that forgiveth sins also ? And he said to the woman : Thy faith hath made thee safe ;go in peace. CHAPTER XXIX. THE MAGDALEN AT THE BANQUET. Luke mi. 36-50. The great assemblage had broken up and the people had scattered to their homes. All but our Saviour's immediate disciples must return to daily labor and household duties, His lessons resting only upon the surface of some minds and sinking deep into others, all thinking and talking of Him and of His miracles and His doctrine. The Master was led by His followers to the hospital- ity of a prominent Pharisee named Simon, whose house was in the town of Magdala, upon whose site on the lake shore the pilgrim of our day finds the little Arab village Kl- Megdel, its humble cottages taking the place of the old-time luxurious dwellings, whose very ruins are al- THE MAGDALEN A T THE BANQUET. 277 most totally obliterated. The town was a place of evil repute, containing many bad women and worse men. Those of its inhabitants who were not given to vice were either careless of its scandal or fanatical in their opposition to it. But why did Simon the Pharisee invite Jesus to dine with him ? Not from love, it would seem; for we shall find that the Master received scant courtesy from His host. Jesus had His own purposes, and accepted the invitation. Leaving His sandals, according to usage, at the door, He noticed as He entered that He was not offered the water and towel to wash His feet, customary in that sub-tropical country ; nor was He given the usual kiss of welcome, nor the perfumed oil for His hair and beard. What happened afterwards is narrated by St. Luke with such vividness as to be almost spoiled by comment. Let us admit that the poor Pharisee might well be indignant at seeing a harlot making her way through the curious crowd which hung about the doors and windows, entering, in spite of his servants, into his dining-hall, and then going up to the couch on which Jesus half reclined, according to custom, beside the Pharisee himself. What would shock us more than such boldness? But let us ask what were Mary's feelings? The poor Magdalen blushed purple and then was pale with nervous excitement. She wept ; and Jesus, who hated shameless lust as no one else ever could, was moved to tender pity by her grief and her tears. He had known her before ; He had converted her and cast seven devils out of her (Luke vii. 2). 2 7 8 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. This had happened at one of His visits to this part of the lake shore ; perhaps she had halted her splendid chariot on the edge of one of His assemblages and caught some words of burning reproach, gone sorrowfully away, repented, returned and confessed, and now sought Him as her Master, and would begin her following of Him by public penance. She was of a respectable, doubtless a wealthy family, for we shall find her again at Bethany, a sister to Martha and L,azarus, our Sav- iour's faithful friends. The scene of her career as an evil woman was, as her name imports, at this town of Magdala, far away from her home, to which, we surmise, she did not return till after our Saviour had interceded for her with her brother and sister. Her wayward heart had been trans- formed. Her eyes, whose flashing beauty had been a snare to herself and others, now served her to weep penitential tears upon the feet of Jesus, her beautiful tress- es humbly to wipe them, and her lips, made clean by many earnest words of true contrition, privileged to kiss those feet whose unwearied zeal pursues lost souls through the briers and rocks of every hu- Her career as an evil woman was at man misery. What our Saviour valued this town of Magdala." mQst in Mary > s case was the loye in l ier heart, whose depths were stirred with gratitude, deep and true in proportion to her former degradation. The public penances inflicted by the Church for open vice which characterized the heroic age of Chris- tianity had their beginning in Simon's dining-hall THE MAGDALEN. 279 that day, as Mary the public harlot, lately released by the word or look or thought of Jesus from seven devils of uncleanness, sought her pardon in this open way, as she had with open scandal sinned against her Maker and her fellow- creatures. But after Jesus had set Simon right, He adminis- tered a rebuke to him, a bitter one surely, for it com- pared him unfavorably with this converted harlot. It is not seldom that a reformed Christian sets an example which puts an innocent Christian to the blush. Poor Mary had not spoken ; so much did mingled grief and joy monopolize her heart that her tongue could find no words. But she was eloquent, none the less, by her affectionate humility. "And turning to the woman, He said unto Simon : Dost thou see this woman ? I entered into thy house : thou gavest Me no water for My feet ; but she with tears hath washed My feet, and with her hair hath wiped them. Thou gavest Me no kiss, but she, since she came in, hath not ceased to kiss My feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but she with ointment hath anointed My feet. Wherefore I say to thee, many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, he loveth less. And He said to her, Thy sins are forgiven thee." How happy a lot for Simon if such words could have been said to him ! But this was a gloomy outlook for Jesus the state of mind revealed by Simon's objec- tions. What could a Redeemer hope for when the best and most influential of the people were shocked at His love of sin- ners, and grumbled at the forgiveness of sins ? ' ' And they that sat at meat with Him began to Say within themselves: " Many sins are forgiven her." 280 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. "Thy faith hath made thee safe." Who is this that forgiveth sins also ? And He said to the woman : Thy faith hath made thee safe. Go in peace." But if faith had saved her, love enchained her. Go away she would not. She becomes a close friend and follower of Jesus. The converted prostitute is one of the high personages in the history of Christ's mission, a chosen witness of His death and resurrection. A T NAZARETH AGAIN. 281 CHAPTER XXX. AT NAZARETH AGAIN. Matt. xiii. 54-58 ; Mark m. 1-6 ; Luke vii. 11-17. HATEVKR mystery hides the re- jection of our Saviour by the peo- C\ple of Nazareth, His love for them is in the open day. He returned probably at this time to His early home, that His suspicious and jealous fellow- townsmen might be allowed to atone for their previous rejection of Him, and might offer some of their better spirits as members of His apostolate. Many disciples went with Him to Nazareth, and as He appeared in the synagogue at the Sabbath meeting, their enthusiasm and the news of His wonderful works gained Him at least a respect- able reception. The halo of mira- cles encircled His brow, " and many were in admiration at His doctrine." Yes ; but it was not the admiration of docile spirits, but of vain men puzzled by a mystery and resenting its difficulty : " How came this Man by all these things ? ' ' The curios- ity of a humble soul is the seed of faith ; but the people of Nazareth had judicial curiosity. They would seek truth as its masters and not as its servants. Among themselves they talked over the family of Jesus, as if each humble name of mother, father, cousins (called by Jewish custom brothers and sisters) was IS NOT THIS THE CARPENTER ? And going out from thence, he went into his own country, and his disciples followed him. And when the Sabbath was come, he began to teach in the synagogue : and many hearing him were in admiration at his doctrine, saying : How came this man by all these things ? and what wisdom is this which is given to him, and such miracles as are wrought by his hands ? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and Jude, and Simon ? Are not also his sisters here with us ? And they were scandalized in regard of him. And Jesus said to them : A prophet is not without honor save in his own country, and in his own house, and among his own kindred. And he could not do many miracles there, only that he cured a few that were sick, laying his hands upon them, and he wondered be- cause of their unbelief. And he went through the villages, cities, and towns, teach- ing in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity. 282 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. an injury to the great Prophet's mission: "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and Jude, and Simon ? Are not also his sisters here with us ? ' ' They were men who would rather see wisdom and virtue discredited by the lowly social state of its teacher, than witness that social state elevated by even a divine exponent. Part of the teaching of Jesus was that wisdom came more by gift of God than bj r human study, and if they must choose between believing that or holding Him an impostor, they preferred the latter alterna- tive. The Evangelist says that Jesus ' ' wondered at their unbelief." He repeated the reproach of His former visit : * ' A prophet is not without honor save in his own country, and in his own house, and among his own kindred." He went away, having been hindered in working miracles by the lack of faith, only a few that were sick having been cured by His ' ' laying His hands upon them." Soon this heavy air of selfishness was changed for the congenial atmosphere of the towns and villages of the adjacent country, which gave Him hearty welcome. He taught " in their syna- gogues, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity." EVANGELIZING GALILEE. 283 CHAPTER XXXI. EVANGEUZING GAULEE. THE DEVOUT WOMEN WHO MINISTERED TO JESUS. Luke viii. 2, 3. JESUS had now both organized His Church and set it a pattern of how to teach. He thereupon " travelled through the cities and towns, preaching and evangelizing the Kingdom of God." The whole country of Galilee and parts of the adjacent provinces saw Him and heard His doctrine, sometimes in their synagogues, oftener in the open air in pleasant coun- try places. We know little of the details of this journeying, or of the meetings and miracles which marked it. It was like the march of the sun from morning to evening across the hemisphere distribut- ing warmth and light, or rather, like the sailing of a fleet of richly laden vessels, trading from port to port ; Jesus everywhere left His blessed promise of eternal life, His treasure of how to know truth and practise virtue, and He carried away the only pay- ment He ever exacted, the loving profession of faith : ' ' This is indeed the Son of God ! " To be acknowl- edged and loved as the Messias by the people, to be hailed as a deliverer by repentant sinners, to be sincerely thanked by the sick and miserable whom He helped, and meantime to introduce His Apostles as the continuators of His mission, these were His only purposes. The Twelve were ever with Him. His most intimate teaching was for them, and by it they were won to closer and closer ties of affection. Sometimes He sent some of them in advance to pre- pare for His coming, both for the answering of ques- tions and for the housing and comfort of the whole 28 4 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 44 Certain women who had been healed of infirmities." apostolate. He was seldom unaccompanied by a great throng of men and women. The people of one town would follow Him nearly or quite to the gates of an- other, singing the solemn music of the Hebrew Psalms, or pausing to listen to a discourse or witness a miracle. The Evangelists tell us that a band of women had joined our Saviour's Apostolate and accompanied Him in all His journeys. No wonder that they did so. He was woman's emancipator. It is Jesus who has made the wife the equal of the husband, it is He who has given the daughter liberty to consecrate herself to charity and religion. He it was who elevated motherhood to a divine dignity in Mary of Nazareth. Bringing up the rear of His picturesque Oriental procession and riding on mules would be seen this party of women, who had become a sort of organized body among the Master's following: " Certain wo- men who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary who is called Magdalen, out of whom eeven devils were gone forth, and Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward, and Susanna." But there were others who had taken up the double voca- tion of serving Jesus and His Apostles in their domestic life and forming the woman's part of the apostleship : "And many others who ministered unto Him of their sub- stance." Was Mary the mother of Jesus among them ? Without doubt ; for we have St. Luke's account of her asking to see Him during one of His discourses, being accompanied at the time by the family of^ her kinswoman, Mary Cleo- phas. If she is not named among the WOMEN WHO MINISTERED TO JESUS. 285 women who usually accompanied our Saviour, this is because her presence was taken for granted. She must have been these women's very queen. They must have sought her out by instinct as the noblest of their sex, and have honored her according to her station. As the three Synoptics do not make any more detailed mention of her in this connection, we are left to conjecture as to how closely she followed our L,ord. Per- haps this omission was by an understanding between Mary and these Evangelists. But JOANNA, THE WIFE OF neither the high office of Mary as Mother of CHUSA. Jesus, nor the certainty of her close relationship to some of the women named, will allow us to suppose that she remained alone at home. Can we fancy the Master leaving His mother at Nazareth, now be-- come a most uncongenial abode for her? Could He gather about Him a band of ministering women and not place His mother at their head ? Those who are named include Salome, the mother of James and John, and Mary Cleophas, either Mary's sister or sister-in-law. This assemblage made part of the Messias' community of " many women," the origi- nal of the communities of sisters and of nuns which have been the pride of the Christian Church from that day to this. Without the aid of women little good has ever been done for God or man, and in Christ's Church women's work and women's prayer have been an organic part of the divine plan of salvation. Its life is a corporate one, public, fully supported by the Church's authority, and honored by God with an unbroken succession of saints. Not less useful for God's Church, not less saintly, has been the vast multitude of women whose cloister has been the holy shrine of the Christian family. As wives and mothers, 286 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, or as virgins living in the midst of the world, Catho- lic women are the mainstay of religion. By their generosity to works of charity, by their unswerving loyalty, by their patient instruction of youth, by their pious endurance of the gross vices of their husbands, fathers, and brothers, or their fervent emulation of the virtues of the men, the female sex has shown its gratitude for the dignity bestowed upon it by Christ as well as its worthiness of His favors, and has developed a wonderful capacity for varied and resourceful re- ligious activity. In our Saviour's life women stand forth in heroic prominence. As He and His Apostles had a common purse and lived upon the charity of the people, so were they greatly helped by the presence and zeal of this association of women. MARY CLEOPHAS. SENDING FORTH THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 287 CHAPTER XXXIl. THE SENDING FORTH OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. THE APOSTOLIC VIRTUES. Matt. iv. 23, and ix. 36-38, andxi. i ; Mark vi. 7-13 ; Luke viii. I, and ix. 1-6. How ardently our Saviour must have longed to be everywhere and to give a share of His teaching to everybody ! " And seeing the multitudes He had compassion on them, because they were distressed and lying like sheep that have no shepherd. Then He saith to His disciples : The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the I^ord of the harvest, that He send forth laborers into His harvest." Prayer for vocations to , the Apostolic ministry is here in- culcated. Jesus would make His followers competent harvesters both by breath- ing His own spirit into them and by giving them the lessons of per- sonal experience. This latter meth- od of forming them He was now the more anxious to begin because He was soon to leave Galilee and its favorably disposed people for the harder field of Judea. Hence " He sent them, two and two, to preach the Kingdom of God and to cure the sick." He also gave them power over unclean spirits. But He forbade them to go to the Gen- tiles or the Samaritans they were not yet fitted to contend with the THE APOSTOLIC CHARTER. And having called his twelve disciples together, he gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases and all manner of in- firmities. And he sent them, two and two, to preach the Kingdom of God, and to cure the sick. These twelve Jesus sent, commanding them, saying : Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the cities of the Samaritans enter ye not. But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And going preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils ; freely have you received, freely give. And he commanded them that they should take nothing for the journey, but a staff only. Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor money in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, nor bread, nor two coats, nor shoes, but to be shod with sandals, nor a staff, for the workman is worthy of his hire. And into whatsoever town you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy ; and there abide till you go thence. And when you come into the house, salute it, saying : Peace be to this house. And if that house be worthy, your peace shall come upon it ; but if it be not worthy, your peace shall return to you. 288 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. difficulties of the heathen or semi-heathen. "But," said He, " go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." This indicates that for the present they were to confine their teaching to those moral precepts so conspicuous in the Sermon on the Mount, repen- tance for sin and the love of God and one's neigh- bor ; they were to avoid what would arouse the Phari- sees ; but yet announcing the formation of the new brotherhood, God's Kingdom, His Church. "And going, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Then He adds the stupendous words : " Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils." His closing words are the rule of poverty for all Christian missionaries: "Freely [that is to say, without price] have you received, freely give." Upon this point He enlarges, outlining the Gospel way of behaving when one stands forth as the proxy of Jesus Christ. The first virtue of the apostolic man is Apostolic Poverty : "And He commanded them that they should take nothing for the journey, but a staff only. Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor money in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, nor bread, nor two coats, nor shoes." And later on, in a re- petition of this same charge He even takes away their staff. Never was a sterner purpose more emphatically, almost fiercely, insisted on than this of Jesus to have His disciples a body of men entirely detached from even the ordinary comforts of life. It is the Gospel rule of voluntary poverty. He sent them, two and two." This im P lies His rule of Apostolic Celibacy. There is 110 mention of THE APOSTOLIC VIRTUES. 289 home, or of care of wife or child. Indeed nowhere in the entire Gospel history, from -the preaching of John on the Jordan till that of Paul in Rome, is the family life of union with wife and children named in connection with the Apostles, save the cure of Peter's mother-in-law. How could a man take nothing for his journey, nor possess gold and silver, nor provide bread or clothing, and support his wife and children? As to Peter's wife, she is nowhere mentioned first or last. Could she be living and not be named among the women who followed and ministered to the L,ord ? It is altogether probable that she was dead when Peter was called ; also that the other Apostles were and continued to be all un- married men. Thus began, as one form of detach- ment from the ordinary joys of human existence, the institution known as the Celibacy of the Clergy an Apostolic institution which has been ever since the usual rule in the Christian ministry. Fulfilling such requirements of their Master, Christian mis- sionaries are sure of winning men's hearts, for noth- ing but the foulest hate can resist teachers whose lives are as self-denying as their doctrine is elevating. Another Apostolic virtue inculcated here is that of Peacefulness. Our L,ord gave a new meaning to the Oriental salutation, Peace be to this house ! when pronounced by the Ambassadors of the Prince of Peace. But this peacefulness was too often met by the sword : " I came not to send peace but the sword." The Peace of Christ provokes the sword of Christ's adversary. The Glad Tidings have always acted on a community like some powerful acid which detects and separates substances in solution the preaching of the Gospel reveals the poison in men's souls, it divides the evil-minded from the good, it elicits, it 290 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. provokes persecution. Our Saviour forbids retaliation, even resistance. Yet " whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words, going forth out of that house or city, shake off even the dust from your feet, for a testimony against them. Amen, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the Day of Judgment than for that city." To take the truth of Christ or leave it, as one may choose, is not allowed. Jesus is sensi- tive as to what kind of reception His messengers re- ceive. "He that receiveth you," He says a little further on, " receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me." Nor does He hesitate to claim a kindly welcome for the lowliest representa- tives of truth and virtue : ' ' He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, hath the reward of a prophet ; and he that receiveth a just man in the name of a just man, shall receive the reward of a just man." These words are as so many keys to the safety- vaults of the devout rich, as they are a promise of a share in the Apostolic heritage for all who help to spread the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. Together with the Peacefulness of the Apostles' message, Jesus inculcates the Spirit of Martyrdom : I arm you (as if He had said) with the olive branch, and it will be beaten out of your hands by the sword of your enemies. Jesus foretells that the re- compense of peace shall be arraign- "-^ nient of the Apostles and their suc- cessors before Jewish councils and pagan judges, expulsion from the synagogues and the family circle love repaid by hate, by torture, by death. He comforts them by remind- SHOD WITH SANDALS. THE APOSTOLIC HERITAGE. ing them of His example. Shall they repine at being called disturbers of the peace when they have heard their Master called Beelzebub? Confidence in God is to be, there- fore, another distinguishing trait of the Apostles. L,et them fear neither man nor devil, neither Phari- see nor heathen, but boldly and openly attack falsehood and vice, and enforce the claims of divine truth, giving to the whole world the teaching He gave them in His many quiet hours of communion with them : What if they do kill you ? your souls they cannot hurt. Your Father in Heaven, who lovingly cares for the little birds which sing His praises in the trees and hedges, will He not safeguard your eternal welfare, you who proclaim His Glad Tidings of salvation to the whole world ? Conscious Union with the Spirit of Christ is another Apostolic charac- teristic. " Every one that shall con- fess Me before men, I will also con- fess him before My Father who is in Heaven." What an inspiration to Apostolic courage that as the Apostle proclaims Christ to men, Christ proclaims the Apostle to the Heavenly Father ! The Master and the disciple thus act together. " I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me." THE APOSTOLIC HERITAGE. Behold 1 send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up in councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues ; and you shall be brought before governors and before kings for my sake, for a testi- mony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what to speak, for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak. For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you. The brother also shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the son, and the chil- dren shall rise up against their parents, and shall put them to death. And you shall be hated by all men for My Name's sake, but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved. And when they shall persecute you in this city, flee into another. Amen I say to you, you shall not finish all the cities of Israel till the Son of Man come. The disciple is not above the master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the good man of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household ? There- fore fear them not. For nothing is covered that shall not be revealed, nor hid that shall not be known. That which I tell you in the dark, speak ye in the light, and that which you hear in the ear, preach ye upon the housetops. And fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him that can destroy both body and soul into hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? and not one of them shall fall to the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered . Fear not therefore ; better are you than many sparrows. Every one therefore that shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in Heaven. But he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in Heaven. Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth. I came not to send peace but the sword. For I came to set a man at vari- ance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in- law against her mother-in-law. And a man's enemies shall be they of his own house- hold. He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not up his cross and followeth me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that shall lose his life for me, shall find it. 292 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST This, then, is the Apostolic Heritage. It is all SUEL marized in Zeal for Souls, the first and last motive of the Apostle's life. In his case every other virtue is subsidiary to this thirst for souls, this torment of spirit to aid Christ the Redeemer in seeking and saving sinners. Detachment from worldly goods and from the privileges and the joys of the married state, entire self-immolation, peacefulness and patience under injuries, the spirit of martyrdom, absolute confidence in Divine Providence, intimate union with Christ 's Spirit in the inner life all are inspired by love of souls, and in turn intensify the Apostolic thirst to labor and to suffer for men's salvation. This love of souls is the love of Christ. The Apostle, as he loves Christ, loves the souls of men more than race or country, father or mother or wife or child. Zeal for souls is pre-eminently the Apostolic virtue. We shall find our Saviour at a later day returning to this subject on occasion of sending forth the seventy- two disciples, and inculcating in much the same terms the very same Apostolic traits of character here de- picted with such glowing fervor. After His address to them, Jesus, we may not doubt, opened wide His arms and pressed His well-loved Apostles one by one to His bosom, and so sent them forth. As they set out two and two together on this first Apostolic invasion of the realms of darkness, Jesus turned to the mul- titude, and pointing after them with tender affection, exclaimed : ' ' Whosoever shall give but a cup of cold water to one of these My little ones because he is My disciple, I say to you that he shall not go with- out his reward." Their success was immediate, both as teachers and as wonder-workers : * ' And going forth they preached that men should do penance, and they cast out many PREACHING OF THE APOSTLES. 293 devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them." * Meantime, and while they were thus scattered through the country places, Jesus con- tinued His own preaching in the towns and cities. " And it came to pass when Jesus had made an end of commanding His twelve disciples, He passed from thence to teach and preach in their cities." This preaching of the Apostles was to be only ex- perimental, a part of their training for the work to be done after the complete organization of the Church by the coming of the Holy Ghost. But it had its good effects. And when a few years afterwards these same men, wholly perfected and transfigured, shall again appear and preach the Kingdom of God, their present mission will have prepared the way. Mean- time our Saviour soon draws them back to His com- pany, for with them and their training is He most particularly concerned. *This ceremony was doubtless a foreshadowing of that consoling Sacrament of the New Law, Extreme Unction. St. James (v. 14) gives in detail the form and substance of it as afterwards instituted by Christ : " Is any man sick among you ? Let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man ; and the Lord shall raise him up : and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him." 294 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER XXXIII. THE OPPOSITION OF THE PHARISEES. THE BUND AND DUMB DEVIIy. CHRIST AND BEELZEBUB. "BLESSED is THE WOMB THAT BORE THEE." THE MOTHER OP JESUS AND HIS BRETHREN. Matt. xii. 22-50 ; Mark Hi. 22-35 ; Luke xi. 17-36, and viii. MANY of the Pharisees had long known that Jesus of Naza- reth was winning the people to a spirit opposed to their own, and this was shown conclusive- ly by the Sermon on the Mount and the public pardon of Mary Magdalen. The leading class in Israel, the Pharisees and Scribes, were longing for the national independence of their own race, and Jesus was bent on saving all mankind from sin and hell. They were, furthermore, fanatically addicted to outward re- ligious observances this had grown to be the supreme purpose of the Mosaic law with them ; Jesus inces- santly inculcated the interior virtues, and preached the supremacy of God's mercy. He knew that Israel had run its course as a secular power, and that He was sent to use its best spirits for a new, a high, a supernatural career, compared with which the glories of David and Solomon were but faint suggestions of the divine favor to man. But it is plain that the racial traits of the Jews, their love of pure Hebrew blood and aversion for the foreigner, though well calculated to carry down safely the promises of God TffE OPPOSITION OF THE PHARISEES. 295 and to make sure of the prophetic identity of the Saviour, were hard to adjust to the international char- acter of the Christian religion. When the Gospel of Christ, therefore, was developed so fully as to show its incompatibility with the racial ambitions of the Pharisees, these agitators, these fierce conspirators, set to work to destroy the Carpenter's Son. And from now on to the end this purpose gives a dark hour to every day in the life of our Saviour. They belittle His power, they malign His motives, they accuse Him of blasphemy, of disloyalty, of heresy. Unscrupulous and blood-thirsty, they are beforehand with Him in His journeys, sowing calumnies against Him. They seek to embroil Him with popular prejudices, to implicate Him in rebellion against the Roman usurper. This accounts for their accusation of diabolism, when on arriving at Capharnaum Jesus exorcised a man possessed of a blind and dumb devil so that the man spoke and saw. What enraged the Phari- sees was the cry of the people : * ' Is not this the Son of David ? But the Pharisees and the Scribes, who were come down from Jerusalem, said : He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of devils He casteth out devils." Jesus turned their dreadful accusation to His own account, a custom of His to which we are indebted for some of His best instruc- tions. He called the peo- ple together, and, securing^ silence, said : * ' How can Satan cast out Satan ? And if a kingdom be divided "Sowing calumnies against Him," 296 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. against itself, that kingdom cannot stand ; and if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan be risen up against himself, he is divided, and cannot stand, but hath an end." A little good sense, calmly spoken, which has passed into a universal maxim. But Jesus drove it home for His supernatural mission. He referred to the exor- cisms of the Jewish rabbis : ' ' And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then is the King- dom of God come upon you." What follows is a note of triumph over the demon. Jesus has entered into this poor world as into Satan's very den, has stricken him a mortal blow, and broken the fetters from his victims' limbs : * ' When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things are in peace which he possesseth. But if a stronger than he come upon him, and overcome him', he will take away all his armor wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils." "How can any one enter the house of the strong and rifle his goods, un- less he first bind the strong ? and then he will rifle his house." And upon this He turns to His friendly hearers and boldly urges an open display of their belief in Him ; all or nothing is the divine demand : * ' He that is not with Me is against Me, and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth." And then to the group of His enemies who had blasphemed the Spirit of God in attributing to the demon the cure of the man possessed : " Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but he that shall speak THE OPPOSITION OF THE PHARISEES. 297 against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to come. Be- cause they said, He hath an unclean spirit. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree evil and its fruit evil. For by the fruit the tree is known. " This is one of those reverent tributes which Jesus pays to the Divine Spirit, only paralleled by His loving and obedient homage to His Father. The Father and the Son and the Spirit are everywhere in the Gospel, working and speaking by the or- gan of the Son made Man. No- thing is clearer than the father- hood of the Deity, the divine son- ship of Jesus, the overruling pre- sence of the Holy Ghost, each dis- tinct from the others, and all three one in essence, in being, in deity. The crime of rejecting the Son, hateful though it be, is outranked by that of rejecting the Spirit that is in the Son, blinding one's self wilfully to the good actually before one's eyes, first opposing a messen- ger of God and finally opposing everything he does, no matter how good. It is to pass from befouling the king's standard to personally insulting the king himself.* OUTWARD RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES. * St. Augustine calls attention to the glimpse of future states of par- don and punishment given by our Saviour in the words just quoted. For, says the saint in substance, how can there be pardon in the next life, except in Purgatory ? Jesus here assumes in His hearers the belief in a middle state of souls, those who are yet making amends ere they can be called to heaven a belief then as now universal among the Jews. 298 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. FORM OF ASKING FAVORS Then follows a terrible arraignment of the evil tongues and hearts of Jesus' enemies : " O generation of vipers, how can you speak good things, whereas you are evil ? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of a good treasure bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of an evil treasure bringeth forth evil things." And He then affirms the responsibility of ordinary mortals for even trifling sins of speech : what shall be the torment of those who revel in blasphemy and calumny ? ' l But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justi- fied, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Let us apply this terrible test to ourselves. It was the Pharisees' hard words from their hard hearts, their pitiless pursuit of violators of minute laws, and their habit of sitting in judgment on others that caused our gentle Saviour to single them out for condemnation and the same faults will, perhaps, bring upon us the same fate. Even the idle words of a bitter soul spread misery around, not only among enemies but even among friends. "Master," said some one, "we would have a sign from Thee " meaning a sign in the heavens. It was a challenge to Him to emulate Samuel, who had made the thunder roll ; or Elias, who had called down fire from heaven ; or Josue, who had caused the sun to stand still. But Jesus would not reward wil- ful incredulity with preternatural arguments. He would cleave the heavens and ascend into them at the end of His sojourn on earth. But before open- ing the gates of the skies at His Ascension, He will first conquer death, the fell prince of the tonib. He THE OPPOSITION OF THE PHARISEES. 299 accordingly answered: "An evil and adulterous gen- eration seeketh a sign, and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights." And He reproached them with the example of the Ninevites : ' ' For as Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of Man be also to this generation. The men of Nineve shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, because they did penance at the preaching of Jonas, and behold a greater than Jonas here. The Queen of the South shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater than Solomon here." The heavenly Father had made Jesus the light of the world : ' ( No man lighteth a candle and putteth it in a hidden place nor under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that they that come in may see the light." Wilful blindness to the light on the part of a Jew, a servant of God, was a more grievous offence than that of the heathen. Our Saviour shows this by a picture of the added ferocity of the demon again assaulting and again over- coming one who had previously expelled him*: ' ' And when an unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out. And coming he findeth it empty, swept and garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and "We would have a sign from Thee." 300 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it be also to this wicked generation." A woman in the crowd, eagerly listening to this powerful eloquence, was rapt into a sort of ecstatic envy of her who was privileged to be the Mother of Jesus, and she cried out: "Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the breasts that gave Thee suck." Jesus answered : " Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it." The stream of His zeal was at the moment running strong for interior union with God and bore along with it His answer. Mary the Mother of Jesus was first saluted by the angel as full of grace, and on that account the Holy Ghost chose her to be Mother of the Messias. Not the womb nor the breasts nor the royal blood, but the sanctity of soul in that greatest among women entitled her to be called blessed. And every soul must hearken to God and obey and love Him ; other- wise whatever blessed office it may have will rest upon it as jewels upon a corpse. It was because Mary had first conceived the Son of God in her soul that she was chosen to conceive Him in her womb. Returning to the mystery of evil in the Pharisees Jesus thus explained it: "If thine eye be single thy whole body shall be lightsome. But if thine eye be evil thy body shall be in darkness." The eye of the soul is the intention. What did these men mean by their hostility to Jesus ? They meant am- bition, lyust of power was their passion. Their soul's eye was bloodshot with the violence of their impulse to rule. Hence hate, lying, treachery, and they ended with deicide ; all the while they assumed the air of de- votees to the faith of Israel. "Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. THE OPPOSITION OF THE PHARISEES. 301 If then thy whole body be lightsome, having no part of darkness, the whole shall be lightsome, and as a bright lamp shall enlighten thee." Meantime, "As He was yet speaking to the mul- titudes, behold His Mother and His brethren stood without seeking to speak to Him" to call Him, per- haps, to His forgotten nourishment, or to keep some appointment. We have already seen that Mary must have been in the company of her Son since He began His public life. Her household would include her nieces and nephews, numbered among the disciples of Jesus and named His brothers and sisters by Jewish custom. This public occasion was chosen by Him to show the universality of His kinship, being no less affectionate by the grace of God than by the closest natural ties : ' ' Who is My mother, and who are My brethren ? And stretching forth His hand towards His disciples, He said : Behold My mother and My breth- ren. For whosoever shall do the will of My Father that is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother." Compare this with the words addressed by Jesus from the Cross to Mary and John, and you have the whole mind of Jesus on the relation we bear to His blood rela- tions, and especially to Mary. The divine sonship is ours by union with Christ, and this comes through the motherhood of Mary ; again, His brother- hood with us is brought about by the same instrumentality. It is one of the curiosities of religious error that these words WASHING BEFORE MEAT. I 302 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. of Jesus, which really elevate us to a family union with Himself and His mother, should have been per- verted to mean His publicly belittling His beloved mother to the place of an ordinary parent. If faith be "the root and foundation of all righteousness," then is Mary the choicest fruit of faith, for she free- ly believed God's messenger with a simpler trust and concerning a far higher mystery than did Abraham, the father of all the faithful. If love be the fulness of all righteousness, then is Mary superior to all her fellow- mortals, for her love is that of the most perfect mother for a Divine Son Behold My brethren." TEACHING B Y PARABLES. 303 CHAPTER XXXIV. TEACHING BY PARABLES. THE SOWER. THE CANDLE. THE MUSTARD-SEED. THE I^EAVEN. THE COCKLE. THE HIDDEN TREASURE. THE PEARI, OF GREAT PRICE. THE NET. NEW THINGS AND Matt. xiii. 153 ; Mark iv. 134 ; Luke viii. 4, i8 y and xiii. 1821. JESUS made an end of reproaching His enemies and of disclosing their evil motives. He rested for a time with His disciples and then journeyed along the lake shore. The peaceful country-side, the clear waters, the beautiful sky, shed peace like a gentle dew upon the hearts of all. As the Master resumed His regular teaching, He developed a style of instruction peculiarly His own; and it is that of all teachers who faithfully pattern on Him : He taught in parables. His discourses were pictures of men and things named for His doctrines, as in a theatre the players are named for the char- acters they personate. The imagination is the picture- book of the soul, the theatre of the intelligence, the account- book of the conscience. Hence the sermons of Jesus are pictured truth and virtue. Not all the poets of the world have gained so high a power over men's imagination as Jesus Christ. The poetry of the Old Testament, easily best in all literature of the ancients, is surpassed in simple grandeur by the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. It is in the poetry of songs and legends that the world learns the best human wisdom, and in the parables of Christ the truest religion. 304 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. Furthermore, the parables of Jesus set men dis- cussing, for they were often a sort of riddles, to be solved only after some guessing ; and this deepened the lesson. Our Saviour's immediate disciples, how- ever, had not so great a need of the parables, for to them were given His constant care, His incessant teaching ; it was theirs ' ' to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God; but to others in parables." Jesus draws His figures from every familiar scene and object fishermen and farmers at work, money-lenders and their debtors, kings and their armies, the birds in the air and the grass in the fields, the trees in the orchard, the vineyard and its keeper and laborers, the busy housewife making bread, the lucky treasure- finder. His purpose in all this He summed up in answer to one of their questions : ' ' And His dis- ciples came and said to Him : Why speakest Thou to them in parables ? Who answered and said to them : Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given. For he that hath, to him shall be given, and he shall abound ; but he that hath not, from him shall be taken away that also which he hath. Therefore, do I speak to them in parables, because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And the prophecy of Isaias is fulfilled in them, who saith : By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand ; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears they have been dull of hearing \ and their eyes they have shut, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and under- stand with their heart, and be converted and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For Amen I TEACHING BY PARABLES. 305 say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them." THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. The crowd surged about Him so thickly that He again chose a boat for His pulpit, one belonging, doubt- less, to His Apostles, which may have followed His movements along the shore. To the Apostles Jesus gave a special explanation of this parable in sentences of wonderful force. What can exceed in power His statement (given afterwards in ex- plaining the parable of the wheat and the cockle) of the universality of His religion : ' ' Now the sower is the Son of Man, and the field is the world." He also explains the hardness of heart, trampled like the wayside path by every worldly de- sire, hardly conscious of hearing the truth, soon to lose it altogether by the unclean birds, the evil spirits. The flippant worldling, superficial, giddy, receives the word with joy, as he does the latest fashion of dress or amusement only to cast it away for some newer sensation. The man who is absorbed in gain, or in am- bition ''he heareth the word, and the care of this world and the de- "HEAR THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER." And again he began to teach by the sea- ide, and a great multitude was gathered ogether unto him, so that he went up into a ship and sat in the sea ; and all the mul- itude was upon the land by the sea-side. And he taught them many things in par- ables, and said unto them in his doctrine : Hear ye ! Behold, the sower went out to sow, and whilst he soweth, some fell by the wayside, and the birds of the air came and ate it up. And other some fell among stony ground, where it had not much earth, and it shot up immediately, because it had no depth of earth. And when the sun was risen it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And some fell upon good ground, and brought forth fruit that grew up and increased and yielded, one thirty, another sixty, and an- other a hundred. And he said : He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And he saith to them : Are you ignorant of this parable ? and how shall you know all par- ables ? Hear you therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the Kingdom, and understandeth it not, there cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart ; this is he that receiveth the seed by the wayside. And he that receiveth the seed on stony ground, this is he that hear- eth the word, and immediately receiveth it with joy. Yet hath he not root in himself, but is only for a time, and when there ariseth tribulation and persecution because of the word, he is presently scandalized. And he that receiveth the seed among thorns, is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts after other things, [these] choke up the word, and he be- comech fruitless. But he that receiveth the seed upon good ground, this is he that hear- eth the word, and understandeth, and bear- eth fruit, and yieldeth, the one a hundred- fold, another sixty, and another thirty. 3 o6 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. THE SOWER. ceitfulness of riches choke up the word and he becometh fruitless." But the good ground, yielding manifold fruits of virtue and of joy. is the heart that hears the truth, reasons it out and understands it, and quickly puts its pre- cepts into practice. The man of good will and of good sense is the rich field of God's harvest. If men try to run over such a one with their worldly maxims, he stands his ground and guards his fences. If the evil one would sug- gest doubts, he falls back on holy faith and is loyal to his teacher ; if the foul humors of the flesh would smother the good seed with weeds and thorns of sensual vice and greed of money, he puts his heel upon his animal nature and gives his better self fair play. Meantime our Saviour says a word of comfort for those who are anxious about their co-operation with God's grace : God does His work in our hearts silent- ly. He is not only the sower, He is the fertility of the soil, and the warmth of the sunshine, and the moisture of the gentle rain. For us to be able to will and to do, is all His gift. Patience is to be our virtue, as well as sound reason and obedience. We need not go out and strive to measure the daily growth of the grain ; we cannot see the root, nor its mys- terious union with the soil that is to say, we cannot know how these good thoughts grow into firm roots of virtuous conduct. God cares for that ; let us give Him our hearts, and we may then securely labor to help Him. " So is the Kingdom of God as if a man," said Jesus, " should cast seed into the earth, and should sleep and rise, night and day ; and the seed should spring and grow up whilst he knoweth not. For the earth of itself bringeth forth fruit, first the TEACHING BY PARABLES. 307 blade, then the ear, afterwards the full grain in the ear. And when the fruit is brought forth, immedi- ately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." Experience proves that no man works so quickly for God and so efficaciously as one whose main endeavor is to suppress self-will. And if some will make this doctrine an excuse for spiritual sloth, it none the less remains true ; it is at once the wheels and the brake of the chariot of the true Christian. Ending this parable of the Sower and the Seed, the Lord admonished His Apostles to spread the light which beamed from these bright lessons. "And He said to them: Doth a candle come in to be put under a bushel or under a bed ? and not to be set on a candlestick ? For there is nothing hid which shall not be made manifest, neither was it made secret, but that it may come abroad. If any man hath ears to hear, let him hear." He enforced this urgent appeal to their zeal by reminding them that all truth and virtue is common property in God's family ; it is bestowed only to be given forth again ; and this is a condition of its further possession by every recipient. "And He said to them: Take heed what you hear. In what measure you shall mete, it shall be measured to you again, and more shall be given to you. For he that hath, to him shall be given, and he that hath not, that also which he thinketh he hath, shall be taken from him. ' ' 3 o8 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. THE GRAIN OP MUSTARD-SKED. The action of God's truth upon the public life of humanity, the influence of the Church over nations, her gradual growth into the dominating institution of the world, the contrast between her feeble begin- nings and her final universal triumph all this Jesus teaches in the prophetic parable of the mustard-seed. The maiden of Nazareth bore in her IT BECOMETH A TREE. The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a arms a little Infant whose shoulders grain of mustard-seed which a man took and sowed in his field. Which is the least indeed of all seeds : but when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs, and be- cometh a tree, and shooteth out great branches, so that the birds of the air come and dwell in the shadow and under the branches thereof. grew into the prop of the whole world. A group of humble fisher- men scattered themselves over the proud empire of Rome and mastered it completely. Apply the lesson to personal conduct : a little word spoken lightly in con- versation by a Catholic friend sinks into a bigoted soul, and in a few years it has grown up into the true religion of Christ. LEAVEN. In another place our Saviour warns His disciples to ' ' beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, ' ' mean- ing their false doctrine. But if evil breeds evil, so does good breed good. If a good man is placed with non- Christians by the will of God that is to say, by his state of life by the inspirations of holy zeal, by providential circumstances of family, fellow-citizen- ship, social intercourse, or business connection, he becomes a powerful centre for good. He is to his sur- roundings what the Church is to the world. All this is taught by our Lord's parable : " The Kingdom of Heaven is like to leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened." How surely were those words meant for us, and for these days of error and vice ; we Catholics TEACHING Y PARABLES. 309 are the leaven of the great modern world. Our non- Catholic people, having many natural virtues, are like good flour, making sweet and wholesome bread if only leavened with the true religion. THE COCKLE AND THE WHEAT. An interesting phase of the mystery of evil is the presence of the bad among the good in the Kingdom of Christ on earth. If the good Catholic be good leaven to the non- Catholic, a bad Catholic is poison to his non-Catholic neighbors. He associates the name of Catholic with drunkenness and with debauchery, the sacraments and the Holy Sacrifice with blas- pheming and adultery, the true faith with bribery and political corruption. For a while he can play the hypocrite and is a wolf in sheep's clothing. But he is often detected, and then he clothes the Bride of the Lamb in his wolf's skin. What shall be done with him ? Expel him from the Church ? Brand him as a spiritual outlaw ? Do that, and his innocent family suffers more than he does, his private vice be- comes matter for scandalous public discussion, and perhaps he is thrown into despair. Our Saviour's way is the best. Admonitions and reproofs have their uses and may frequently be applied with good results, but when all this is done the scandal must yet be borne and the remedy left to God. May we not merge our indignation against scandalous sin- ners into terror at God's final judg- ment upon them? God can afford to wait cannot we do so? But Jesus knew how sorely good souls WAIT TILL THE HARVEST. The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a man that sowed good seed in his field. But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat, and went his way. And when the blade was sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. And the servants of the good man of the house coming, said to him : Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field ? Whence then hath it cockle ? And he said to them, An enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him, Wilt thou that we go and gather it up ? And he said, No, lest per- haps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reap- ers, Gather up first the cockle and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn. 3*6 LIFE OF JESVS CHRIST. are tried by the filthy sinners with whom they must live, and therefore He expounded this parable more ful- ly in private to His disciples, painting therein one of His vivid pictures of the end of the world. " Then having sent away the multitudes, He came into the house, and His disciples came to Him, saying : Kx- pound to us the parable of the cockle in the field. Who made answer and said to them : He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world ; and the good seed are the children of the king- dom, and the cockle are the children of the wicked one ; and the enemy that sowed them is the devil. But the harvest is the end of the world, and the reap- ers are the angels. Even as cockle, therefore, is gath- ered up and burnt with fire, so shall it be at the end of the world. The Son of Man shall send His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom, all scan- dals, and them that work iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire ; and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the just shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." THE HIDDEN TREASURE. The learned are not agreed on the relative order of these parables, but we know that their purpose was to enforce the great principles of the Sermon on the Mount. One of these is absolute surrender to God, full acknowledgment and entire acceptance of the supremacy of God in all things. Jesus illustrates this: " The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a treas- ure hidden in a field, which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof, goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field." True conversion to God is the joy of sudden riches one hardly dares tell of TEACHING BY PARABLES. 3" it lest it should prove a dream, so strange is the feel- ing of unlooked-for bliss. Then is the moment of heroic vocations, leaving all that was to gain all that is, selling this world and buying the next. Blessed be the book of the Gospels that teaches this science of political economy, and the books of the saints that expound it ; blessed the professor in the university, the priest in the pulpit, the true friend among the laity, the Christian journalist, the devout parent ; blessed are all who know and can teach this deep secret of sound money, these heavenly laws of trade which rule in the barter of passing pleasure for eter- nal joy. THE PEARI, OP GREAT PRICE. Not content with one parable on this topic, the Master enforces His doctrine of heavenly finance by a second one: "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls ; who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way and sold all that he had and bought it." If a man has intel- lect, learning, genius, station, health, riches, accord- ing to Jesus Christ he has what will set him up in business, for here is his means of a bold venture. L,et him, however, understand that he is dealing with God and bargaining for eternal joy : no huckstering here. All for all is the maxim THE PARABLE OF THE NET. That God neither disdains to wait for sinners, nor, on the other hand, will allow them a final impunity, Jesus shows us in His parable of the net. Patiently, yes painfulry, does Holy Church draw her net through the sea SEEKING GOOPLY PEARLS. ALL KINDS OF FISHES. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a. net cast into the sea, and gathering to- gether of all kinds of fishes, which when it was filled they drew out, and sitting by the shore, they chose out the good into vessels, but the bad they cast forth. So shall it be at the end of the world. 312 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. of humanity, and though guarding it as best she may, she cannot help enclosing every kind of souls, even the unworthy who deceitful- ly enter in. So back and forth through the world goes the net of Jesus Christ, woven of the sacra- ments, the dogmatic teaching, the holy brotherhood of the Church, and only when drawn upon the shores of eternity shall the good and bad be sepa- rated ; but the separation shall then be irrevocable. When He had finished these parables, Jesus with loving familiarity addressed His audience : ' ' Have ye understood all these things? They say to Him, Yea. He said unto them, Therefore every scribe instructed in the Kingdom of Heaven, is like a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old." One test of a Christian teacher's power is in revealing the ever-blooming freshness of His doctrine, which means the disclosing of some new beauty and new usefulness in the ancient doctrine, some adjustment to a new order of politics, or of social conditions, or of mental activity. New things and old is our Saviour's way, not old things and new. As God incessantly makes new the earth and the earthly life of man, so He ever newly develops His spiritual life. New dwellings are always being built on the old streets of the City of God. God changes men in their generations that He may display the inexhaustible resources of His Church. Adherence to forms and methods of religious influence which have succeeded in a bygone social state is often unwise, all the more so because its exponents are tempted to insist upon these worn-out clothes of TEACHING BY PARABLES. 313 religion as the very substance of the 'true faith. It is not a new religion that men want; but a new cloth- ing of the only true religion, ever ancient and ever new. On the other hand, the innovator in doctrine or the minimizer of the fulness of truth, the censor of simple-minded orthodoxy, the teacher who would win an audience at the expense of some immemorial belief or practice of the people of God who is tempted to win men at any expense such a one has lost his touch with Jesus Christ. The over-conservative teacher con- fuses the clothes of religion with its life, and the over- opportune teacher sacrifices its life to present avail- ability. The true way is that of our Saviour: the wise teacher, says He, " bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old." In all this series of parables the Evangelists show us how the Master taught the people, and what is His school of rhetoric for Christian teachers for all time. " All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes, and without parables He did not speak to them. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet, saying : / will open My mouth in parables ; I will utter things hidden from the founda- tion of the world. But apart, He explained all things to His disciples. And it came to pass when Jesus had finished these parables He passed from thence." 3 I4 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER XXXV. THE STIWJNG OP THE TEMPEST. THE LEGION OP DEVILS AND THE HERD OP SWINE. Matt. viii. 18-34. , and ix. i ; Mark iv. 35-4.1, and v. 1-2 1 ; Luke viii. 22-4.0 . L,ADL,Y did the L,ord rest from His busy hours of preaching and disputing. He entered one of the disciples' boats and was wafted gently over the waters of the lake, the western sky all golden with the setting sun. As the shades deepened and the stars began to glit- ter in the sky, the fatigue of the long and eventful day, the evening breeze and the cadence of the oars won Him into a deep and refreshing sleep. His disciples lovingly watched His slumbers, His head resting, perhaps, on one of their rough coats folded to make Him a pillow. The rippling of the waves and the murmured conversation of these well-loved children were the last sounds He heard : they were doubtless talking of His power and of His love, and of their happy privilege to be His disciples. But after a time the sky to the east and north became overcast and an ominous stillness fell ; then a few puffs of wind came from the highlands towards Ivibanus and Hermon, the messengers of the advanc- ing storm. I^ake Genesareth, especially the upper part of it, is subject to sudden storms, and the dis- ciples, whose avocation taught them to know the weather, were soon aware of their danger. Down swept the fierce gale, forcing them out of their course, lifting the waves high into the air, and threatening their destruction; and still the Master slept on. But when the waves dashed into the little vessel and THE STILLING OF THE TEMPEST. 315 "PEACE, BE STILL I" And Jesus seeing great multitudes about him, when evening was come, gave orders to pass over the water. . . . And send- ing away the multitude, they take him, even as he was, in the ship, and there were other ships with him. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that the ship was filled. And he was in the hinder part of the ship sleeping upon a pillow, and they awake him and say to him: Master, doth it not concern thee that we perish ? And rising up he rebuked the wind, and said to the sea : Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was made a great calm. And he said to them : Why are you fearful ? Have you not faith yet ? And they feared ex- ceedingly, and they said one to another : Who is this (thinkest thou), that both wind and sea obey him ? threatened to sink it, they " awake Him and say to Him : Doth it not concern Thee that we perish ? ' ' Jesus arose without any sign of dis- turbance, and looking calmly into the storm, " rebuked the wind, and said, Peace, be still ! And the wind ceased and there was made a great calm." He tamed the wild elements as men of a peculiar gift can tame a wild horse, by a look, a motion of the hand. But Jesus did not fail to notice that His followers had given way to something like dis- trust. This pained Him ; and so He said to them, * ' Why are you fearful ? Have you not faith yet ? ' ' In like danger, Caesar's proud trust in his destiny had dictated the famous admonition to his boat- man, ''Fear not, thou bearest Caesar and his for- tunes;" fortunes afterwards all wrecked in one stormy moment in the Roman capitol, with their ignoble fruits of tyranny, bloodshed, and slavery, barque of Peter yet bears Christ and His for- tunes in safety, and will do so till the shores of eternity are reached. Storms assail it, storms of dark vices, heathen persecutions, barbarous invasions, kingly oppression, wild popular outbreaks overwhelm the bark of Peter and threaten the Church's de- struction, casting timid souls into despair, for Jesus seems asleep. But those whose faith is true never despair ; they never cease to pray to Him with loving trustful- ness. God arises in His might and the storm is stilled. Furthermore, the relig- The " And the waves beat into the ship." LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. ious atmosphere is purified by the convulsion of the elements. Dreadful calamities are turned into real favors. Deep-rooted abuses are torn out and de- stroyed, and the peace of Heaven reigns amid a peo- ple chastened and renovated in spirit. Jesus and His disciples landed at Gergesa, a point of land jutting into the sea on the eastern shore of the lake. The ruins of a town and of some ancient monuments are yet to be seen there, and also the steep bluff made famous by the miracle of the herd of swine. As the land was reached a pitiable sight met the eye a naked man wandering about, afflicted with the worst form of diabolical possession ; " no man could bind him, not even with chains." He was howling miserably, and cutting himself with stones. His usual abode was among some tombs in the caves by the water-side. What caused the poor wretch to run from afar off and throw himself at Jesus' feet? The demoniac may have retained, or per- haps been specially granted, a mo- mentary use of personal will, a glim- mer of hope. As he fell prostrate at His feet, Jesus commanded : "Go out of the man, thou unclean spirit." But the evil power within him forced him to cry out with a loud voice : ' ' What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure Thee by God that Thou torment me not." The demon felt in presence of his Master, but did he "MY NAME IS LEGION." And they came over the strait of the sea into the country of the Gerasenes, which is over against Galilee. And as he went out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the monuments a man [St. Matthew says two men] with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling in the tombs, and he wore no clothes, and no man now could bind him not even with chains. For hav- ing been bound with fetters and chains, he had burst the chains and broken the fetters in pieces, and no one could tame him. And he was always day and night in the monuments and in the mountains, cry- ing and cutting himself with stones. And seeing Jesus afar off, he ran and adored him. And crying out with a loud voice he said : What have I to do with thee, Jesus, the Son of the Most High God ? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him : Go out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him : What is thy name ? And he saith to him : My name is Legion, for we are many. And he besought him much, that he would not drive him away out of the country. And there was there near the mountain a great herd of swine, feeding. And the spirits besought him, saying: If thou cast us out hence, send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And Jesus im- mediately gave them leave. -And he said to them : Go. And the unclean spirits going out, entered into the swine, and the herd with great violence was carried head- long into the sea, being about two thous- and, and were stifled in the sea. THE DEVILS AND THE HERD OF SWINE. 317 know Him precisely as God ? It is not probable. Hence the policy of the evil one to tarry and to pro- crastinate. That the disciples might learn a lesson, Jesus asked the demon: "What is thy name? And hesaith to Him : My name is Legion, for we are many." Hoping to bring upon the Master the hatred of the people, the spirits besought Him, if He cast them out, to send them into a herd of swine, feeding near by. And Jesus gave the devils their wish. He would draw good out of evil expel the demon from his victim and punish the Jews who owned the swine and ate their flesh against the law of Moses. He would also give to Satan the shame of the company of those brutes whose disgusting foulness makes them the symbol of unbridled appetite among men. In an instant the two thousand swine were struck with un- controllable panic, rushed in a frantic mass up the mountain, as suddenly wheeled about and with roars of pain rushed down again, and the whole herd "with great violence were carried headlong into the sea ' ' and were drowned. It is an emblem of the career of the sensualist, the victim of his own wild passions, hateful in animal deformity and finally driven to despair and death. The swineherds running across the fields carried the news of their terrible loss to the adjacent town and country, and thus our Saviour's name and power were given publicity. <( And they that fed them fled, and told it in the city and in the fields. And they went out to see what was done. And they came to Jesus, and found the man out of whom the devils were departed sitting at His feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. And they that had seen it, told them in what manner he had been dealt with who had the devil, how he had been healed from the legion, and concerning the swine." 318 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. But the people were semi-pagan. " And they be- gan to pray Him that He would depart from their coasts." The Saviour's miracle was not lost upon them, but it was too costly a lesson to be learned upon a sudden. They were amazed to see the demoniac clothed no less in decent garments than in fully restored sanity, calm, grateful, and anxious to follow and serve the Master. But of Jesus they were in great fear, and humbly begged Him to leave them a feeble and futile testimony to His greatness. When, however, the restored man asked leave to fol- low Jesus, the Master decided that he had better re- main as a witness and a teacher : " Go into thy house, to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Ivord hath done for thee, and hath had mercy on thee. And he went his way, and began to publish in De- capolis how great things Jesus had done for him, and all men wondered." He remained a living proof of the Messias and a living voice ; for Jesus was minded to return again to the Gerasenes and deepen the lesson of this flitting appearance upon their coast ; His grate^ ful beneficiary was meantime His ardent advocate. All this time a vast number of people were await- ing our Saviour's return to the other side of the lake : 1 ' And when Jesus had passed again in the ship over the strait, a great multitude assembled together unto Him, for they were all waiting for Him." IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 3*9 CHAPTER XXXVI. THE IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. - HIS MARTYRDOM. Matt. xiv. i- ; Mark vi. 14-29, and i. 14 Luke ix. 7-9. ; GIVE ME WE have seen that the ambitious leaders of the Jews had at first hoped much from John the Baptist, but were soon disappointed in him, for he was no tool for intriguing politicians. And after he had pro- claimed the Nazarene Carpenter as the Messias they gave him up they suspected his orthodoxy. From suspicion to hatred the step is a short one, and an occasion soon of- fered which showed they had taken it. Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Perea and Galilee, had married a daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia ; but after a time he put her away and took Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. The scandal was enormous. The whole people were shocked, Aretas declared war, and John the Baptist, who usually preached 'beyond the Jordan and therefore in Herod's dominions, boldly entered the palace of the incestuous ruler and amid his unclean revelries thundered forth : "It is not lawful for thee to take thy brother's wife." St. Mark tells us what had hap- pened after this : ' ' Herod himself had sent and appre- hended John and bound him in prison [in the fortress JOHN THE THE HEAD OF BAPTIST." Now Herodias laid snares for him and was desirous to put him to death, and could not ; for Herod feared John, know- ing him to be a just and holy man ; and kept him, and when he heard him, did many things ; and he heard him willingly. And when a convenient day was come, Herod made a supper for his birthday, for the princes and tribunes, and chief men of Galilee. And when the daughter of the same Herodias had come in and had danced, and pleased Herod and them that were at table with him, the king said to the damsel : Ask of me what thou wilt and I will give it thee. And he swore to her : Whatsoever thou shalt ask, 1 will give thee, though it be the half of my kingdom. Who when she was gone out, said to her mother : What shall I ask ? But she said : The head of John the Baptist. And when she was come in immediately in haste to the king, she asked saying : I will that forth- with thou give me in a dish the head of John the Baptist. And the king was struck sad ; yet because of his oath, and because of them that were with him at table, he would not displease her. But sending an executioner he commanded that his head should be brought in a dish. And he beheaded him in prison and brought his head in a dish, and gave it to the damsel, and the damsel gave it to her mother. Which his disciples hearing came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. 32 LIFE OP JESVS CHRIST. " The daughter of Herodias came in and danced," of Macherus], for the sake of Herodias, the wife of Philip his brother, because l.e had married her." But it was the guilty woman who was most enraged and who had brought about John's arrest. The saint of the desert had suddenly thrust himself be- tween her and the fruits of her lust and her ambition ; she set to work to have him murdered. She caused exaggerated reports of the general indignation at their incest and at John's imprisonment to be brought to Herod, pretending to fear a popular uprising. It is possible that some at least of the Pharisees aided her in this, for if they had been willing to harbor the Bap- tist in Judea, he could have escaped the tyrant, who had no jurisdiction east of the Jordan. This is fur- ther evident from our Saviour's retreat from Jeru- salem into Galilee, as we have seen, upon learning of John's imprisonment, for this supposes His knowledge of Herod's partisans being power- ful enough even in Jerusalem to do Him serious injury. But if Herodias thirsted for John's blood, her accomplice did not. Low as he had fallen, he yet admired the fearless preacher of penance, and loved to hear that glorious voice, even though he trembled at its sound. And he feared to go to extremes against the people's favorite, at least immediately. A leader of the people is always dreaded no less than hated by tyrants, for in times of public commotion the most stable throne has been overturned by the appeal of a popular orator. Therefore it was not with the intention of murdering John, but to keep him away from the multitude, that Herod seized him and shut him up in prison. His disciples were allowed access to him, JOHN'S MARTYRDOM. 321 Herod heard him willingly, at least on matters of ordinary religious interest, even sometimes advised with him as a sort of counsellor. ' ' Knowing him to be a just and holy man ; and kept him, and when he heard him did many things ; and he heard him willingly." In all this there was a faint shadow of hope for the repentance of the sensualist. Unfortu- nately a wicked woman was between John and the tyrant. She had seduced the one and she hated the other. She made a murderer of the one and a martyr of the other. She waited impatiently for the moment when the overpowering sensuality of Herod could be played against his reverence for the prophet : "And when a convenient day was come, Herod made a supper for his birthday. And when the daughter of the same Herodias had come and had danced, and pleased Herod, the king swore to her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask I will give thee, though it be the half of my kingdom." L,ike mother like daughter. What a spectacle ! The foul tyrant, gorged with wine, aflame with lust ; the companion of his guilt, equally sensual but for the mo- ment dominated by hatred of the man of God who had reproved her paramour for his criminal love of her ; the giddy girl, with her licentious dance adding fire to the lust of the man who had done so deadly a crime against her own father, and affording the coveted opportunity for her mother's thirst for the Baptist's blood. Quickly the two women withdrew and conferred together. The younger hastened back and said to the king, "I will that forthwith thou give me in a dish the head of John the Baptist. And the king was struck sad " : that is to say, drunkenly sad, cowardly sad, adulterously sad, not penitently sad. Super- stitious fidelity to a bad oath, human respect for LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. the gibes of his convivial companions, struck back his feebly rising sense of shame. "And the king was struck sad ; yet because of his oath, and because of them that were with him at table, he would not displease her. But sending an executioner he commanded that [John's] head should be brought in a dish. And [the executioner] beheaded him in prison and brought his head in a dish, and gave it to the damsel, and the damsel gave it to her mother." The words of St. Ambrose are chosen by Holy Church to fitly characterize this crime: "The re- ward of the dancer is the death of the Prophet. And finally (what even savages are accustomed to abhor) amid feasting and drink- ing the command is given to The executioner beheaded him in prison." carry Qut the cmel compact _ from feast to prison and back again from prison to feast moves this manifold crime. Who would not have thought as he saw the messenger hurrying from the king's banquet to John's prison that it was to set him free ? a boon asked by a favorite young girl out of pity for the Prophet, and gladly granted by the king to honor his birthday. But oh what cruelty was mingled with their joys! What voluptuous pleasures were associat- ed with the martyr's pains ! . . . Cast thine eyes, O cruel king, upon this sight, worthy dish to set be- fore thy unclean appetite. Reach out thy hand let no savage joy be lacking and dabble thy fingers in this sacred blood. And as the meat and drink upon thy table has not sated thy hunger and thirst, drink this blood yet flowing warm from the head thy MARTYRDOM. 323 lust has just severed from the body. L,ook into those eyes whose glassy stare even in death reproves thy incest, and which slowly close upon thee rather from horror of thy vice than from the weight of death. Those lips whose golden words of warning thou didst not heed are silent, but they will yet torment thy memory." While all this was happening Jesus was preach- ing in Galilee. The dreadful tidings reached Him just as the Apostles returned from their preaching in the country places "the Apostles coming together unto Jesus related all things that they had done and taught." The disciples of John, having man- aged to get possession of the body "and laid it in a tomb," came and told Jesus their awful news breaking in on the happy reunion of the Master and His Apostles. Furthermore, it was learned that Herod was thinking of seizing Jesus. This was but natural. John and Jesus were servant and master, and the re- morse of Herod for the murder of the one would alternate with his alarm about the purposes of the other : his crime was always being repeated by a ghost-play in his troubled conscience, troubled and superstitious also. "At that time Herod the Te- trarch heard the name of Jesus (for His name was made manifest), and he said: John the Baptist is risen again from the dead, and therefore mighty H works show forth themselves in him. And others said : It is Blias. But others said : It is a prophet, as one of the prophets. Which Herod hearing said : TOMB'OF JOHN THE John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I BAPTIST. hear such things? And he sought to see Him." 324 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST: CHAPTER XXXVII. JESUS MULTIPLIES THE LOAVES AND FISHES. HE WALKS UPON THE WATER. Matt. xiv. Jj-j6 ; Mark m. 30-56; Luke ix. 1017; John vi. 1-2 T. THE death of John was a great shock to the sensi- tive nature of our Saviour. His soul craved a brief time of solitude and prayer, of mourning for his be- loved Precursor. " Which when Jesus had heard He retired from thence by a boat, into a desert place apart." He said to His disciples: "Come into a desert place and rest a little." It was impossible to avoid the throng where they were : ' ' For there were many coming and going, and they had not so much as time to eat. And going up into a ship Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which Is that of Tiberias." The Apostles, also, would enjoy a season of rest. They had labored hard as missionaries, they were anxious to speak fully with Jesus about their experi- ence, and they too mourned John very bitterly. Many if not all of them had been baptized by him, and had been promoted from his discipleship to that of Jesus. "And taking them, He went aside into a desert place apart, which belonged to Bethsaida." This is a little solitude just east of where the Jordan enters the lake, a point formed by the river, the lake, and a range of rocky hills which joins them together. The soil was barren and uncultivated, covered' with a growth of wild grasses. Hither the Master directed His disciples to sail their boat. But privacy was no longer an easy luxury for Jesus. " A great multitude followed Him, because they saw the miracles which He did on them that MIRACLE OF THE LOA VES AND FISHES. 325 were diseased." In spite of every precaution, the people " saw them going away," says St. Mark, " and many knew [the point they were heading for], and they ran flocking thither on foot from all the cities, and were there before them." It would seem that He had delayed the passage across the lake, and had obtained some rest in the boat ; otherwise the crowd could hardly have had time to make the circuit of the northern shore and be beforehand with Him. "Jesus therefore went up into a mountain, and there He sat with His disciples." Many pilgrims journey- ing towards Jerusalem for the Passover had joined the multitude ordinarily waiting upon our Saviour, for "the Pasch, the festival day of the Jews, was at hand." But Jesus did not stay long resting ; He loved the people too well for that. No landscape of ravishing beauty ever charmed the soul of an artist, no group of loving wife and little ones ever enraptured a father's heart, no review of vast armies ever dilated a con- queror's soul, as the sight of many men and women inflamed the soul of Jesus Christ. He knew, indeed, that the motives of the multitude were not the highest. They wanted miracles, they sought a political Mes- sias and an earthly kingdom ; they were goaded on by the horrid murder of the Baptist. But He loved them well in spite of their faults. "He received them and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing." He explained His true office He was a king to preach and to heal. The time passed quickly away till late in the after- noon. Our Saviour was mindful of the bodily needs of His auditors, and He contemplated a double joy for them : a great miracle for their souls and a full meal 326 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. for their bodies. But He would try the faith of His Apostles first. " When Jesus therefore had lifted up His eyes, and seen that a very great multitude cometh to Him, He said to Philip : Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat ? And this He said to try him, for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered : Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little." Thus the mat- ter rested for some time, until ' ' when the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him, saying : This is a desert place, and the hour is now past ; send them away, that going into the next villages and towns they may buy themselves bread. And He answering, said to them : They have no need to go ; give you them to eat. And they said to Him : I^et us go and buy bread for two hundred pence, and we will give them to eat." Thedis- ciples seemed to think all this a pleasantry on our Saviour's part, and it- was in that spirit that they ironically asked: " I,et us go and buy bread for two hundred pence and we will give them to eat." They doubtless named the total sum in their little treasury. "And Jesus saith to them, How many loaves have you ? go and see. And when they knew [how few there were], one of His disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, saith to Him, There is a boy here that hath five barley loaves and two fishes." Does this answer show an anticipation on Andrew's part of the coming miracle? 'HE MIRACLE OF THE LOAVES AND FISHES. And he saith to them : How many loaves lave you ? go and see. And when they :new, one of his disciples, Andrew, the irother of Simon Peter, saith to him : Phere is a boy here that hath five barley oaves and two fishes, but what are these mong so many ? He said to them : iring them hither to me. And he com- nanded them that they should make them 11 sit down by companies upon the green ;rass. And they sat down in ranks, by lundreds and by fifties. And when he had aken the five loaves and the two fishes, ooking up to heaven he blessed and broke he loaves, and gave to his disciples to set icfore them ; and the two fishes he divided mong them all. And they all did eat and /ere filled. And when they were filled, he aid to his disciples : Gather up the frag- lents that remain, lest they be lost. They athered up therefore, and filled twelve askets with the fragments of the five arley loaves and of the fishes, which re- lained over and above to them that Siad aten. And the number of them that did at was five thousand men, besides women nd children. MIRACLE OF THE LOA VES AND FISHES. 327 He continued : " But what are these among so many ? He said to them: Bring them hither to me." The reader knows that the stupendous miracle about to be performed tallied with the time when * ' the Passover, the festival-day of the Jews, was near at hand." The coincidence was notable to the mind of Jesus, for after His miracle He was going to pro- claim for the first time the religious banquet which was in the New Law to take the place of the Paschal Lamb in the Old, and He made this feast a solemn religious occasion. "He commanded them that they should make them all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties." It was the marshalling of His hosts as if for battle. But little did those ardent- ly patriotic Israelites appreciate that the only military array proper to the new kingdom would be the ordering of fifties and hundreds and thousands and millions of peaceful souls about the banquet-table of the Prince of Peace. Jesus then worked His miracle. In His soul's labo- ratory was stored the spell which by slow processes turns earth and air and water into human food : He now doubles its power upon itself and concentrates its work of seasons into the space of a few words of heavenly blessing: 'And when -He had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, looking up to Heaven He blessed and broke the loaves, and gave to His disciples to set before them ; and the two fishes He divided among them all. And they all did eat and were filled." The remains of such a feast were relics, and were fit tokens to teach the lesson of humble Christian thrift: the worth of the gifts of God is not in themselves but in the loving kindness of the Oiver. " And immediately He obliged His disciples blessed an the loaves 328 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. to go up into the ship that they might go before Him over the water to Bethsaida, whilst He dismissed the people. Now those men, when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had done, said : This is of a truth the prophet that is to come into the world. Jesus there- fore, when He knew that they would come to take Him by force and make Him king, fled again into the mountain Himself alone." He dismissed the people. But they were too deeply preoccupied with racial as- pirations to be cheated so easily of their design to place Him at the head of a national uprising, even though He strove to elude them by sending His Apostles away in their boat without Him, hidden by the gathering darkness. Their leaders counselled to- gether, they determined ' ' to take Him by force and to make Him king." They would march in triumph to Jerusalem, raising the whole country by the way. He avoided them. When they sought Him He was gone He had "fled again into the mountain Him- self alone." They were right in thinking that one who could feed an army by asking a blessing on a basket of bread, could also arm it and lead it to And gave to His victory. But they made a mistake which has not disciples to set be- seldom been imitated by Christians in succeeding fore them." a ges. For although the power of Christ's kingdom conduces to national liberty and glory, its distinct and peculiar office is not national glory but the saving of men's souls one by one, and always by means the very opposite of warlike ones, namely, peaceful per- suasion, patient suffering and love. It is possible that our Saviour was moved to send away His Apostles lest they should become tainted by the secularism of the multitude. What a temptation ! the thought of being made generals over the cohorts that could instantly have been formed from the five JESUS WALKS UPON THE WATER. 329 thousand hardy Galileans. It was nightfall when they went aboard their vessel, and as the wind was con- trary, they made what headway they could by rowing, directing their course towards the "land of Genesa- reth," the western shore just south of Capharnaum. Presently the wind changed and quickly increased to a gale ; soon a violent tempest was upon them. Their situation was extremely perilous, for it was impossible to land in safety upon the western shore with the storm beating upon it, and it was equally impossible to keep their little ship away from it. Meantime their Master was either among the hills engaged in prayer, or, as seems possible, had been making His way on foot around the head of the lake. But on the coming of the storm His love for His Apostles drew His thoughts to their tossing bark and in a moment He was near them. "They saw Jesus walking upon the sea and drawing nigh to the ship, and they were afraid. " His dim outline floated before them like a phantom above the raging waters, every flash of lightning re- vealing Him far or near, seeming to beckon them onward: "They all saw Him and were troubled." Jesus had passed from the solid earth and was walk- ing like God " upon the waves of the sea " (Job ix. 8). Presently His voice, cleaving the roar of the wind and the dashing of the water, came weird- ly upon them : " Have a good heart ; it is I, fear ye not." " Lord," shouted Peter, "if it be Thou, bid me come to Thee upon the waters. And Jesus said : Come. And Peter going down out of the boat walked upon the water to come to Jesus." But alas ! Peter's trustful- ness was not perfect ; there was a mixture of bravado in his motives a fault that shall yet cause him a deadlier shipwreck than what now "Othou of little faith." 330 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. befell him. " But seeing the wind strong he was afraid, and when he began to sink he cried out, saying : L/ord, save me ! And immediately Jesus stretching forth His hand, took hold of him, and said to him : O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?" When faith wavers miracles cease. When all is lost Jesus is not lost. When faith or hope or love has been wanting, our own weakness should at least teach us the lesson of the strength of Jesus' arm. When the Master reached the boat with Peter, and when the storm suddenly ceas- ed, they all fell down and adored Him, " saying, Indeed Thou art the Son of God. And presently they were at the land to which they were going. And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Genesareth and set to the shore." They reached land in the early hours of the morning. What followed is thus narrated by St. Mark: "And when they were gone out of the ship, immediately they [that is, the people of the neighborhood] knew Him. And running through that whole country they began to carry about in beds those that were sick where they heard Jesus was. And whither- soever He entered, into towns or into villages or cities, they laid the sick in the streets and besought Him that they might touch but the hem of His garment, and as many as touched Him were made whole." JESUS WALKING UPON THE SEA. And when evening was come his dis- ciples went down to the sea. And when they had gone up into a ship, they went over the sea to Capharnaum, and it was now dark, and Jesus was not come unto them. And the sea rose by reason of a great wind that blew. When they had rowed therefore about 6ve-and-twenty ot thirty furlongs, they saw Jesus walking upon the sea and drawing nigh to the "^hip, and they were afraid ; and he would nave passed by them. But they seeing him walking upon the sea, thought it was an apparition, and they cried out ; for they all saw him, and were troubled. And im- mediately he spoke with them and said to them : Have a good heart : it is I, fear ye not. And Peter making answer said : Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to thee upon the waters. And he said : Come. And Peter, going down out of the boat, walked upon the water to come to Jesus. But seeing the wind strong, he was afraid, and when he began to sink he cried out, saying : Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus, stretching forth his hand, took hold of him and said to him : O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt? And when they were come up into the boat the wind ceased ; and they were far more astonished within themselves For they understood not concerning the loaves, for their heart was blinded. And they that were in the boat came and adored him, saying : In- deed thou art the Son of God. And pres- ently the ship was at the land to which they were going. THE BREAD OF LIFE. 331 CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE BREAD OF LIFE. John m. 22-60. "THE next day the multitude, that stood on the other side of the sea, saw that there was no other ship there but one, and that Jesus had not entered into the ship with His disciples, but that His dis- ciples were gone away alone ; but other ships came in from Tiberias, nigh unto the place where they had eaten the bread, the L,ord giving thanks. When therefore the multitude saw that Jesus was not there nor His disciples, they took shipping and came to Capharnaum seeking for Jesus." Whether by boats from across the lake, or by messengers or travellers along the shore, the half-political and half-religious assemblage left by Jesus at the north-east corner of the lake soon learned that He was at or near Caphar- naum. They heard of His preaching in that neigh- borhood and of many miracles of healing. De- termined from various motives to see Him again, and annoyed at His avoiding them, they at least the leaders came over to Him in boats. " They said to Him, Rabbi, when earnest Thou hither? Jesus answered them and said, Amen, Amen, I say to you. you seek Me, not because you have seen miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labor not for the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting, which the Son of Man will give you. For Him hath God the Father sealed." They had mistaken Jesus and His mission. They thought Him a wonder-worker who would feed His followers for purposes of worldly ambition, while He was only a teacher who wished to instruct them 332 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. in the way of eternal happiness. The horrible busi- ness of going to war and slaying men in order to found a political empire was not the mission of Jesus; He had been sent to establish a brotherhood as peace- ful as it was glorious, and which was to be the spiritual city of the children of God. Their perplexity broke out in questions, which were all good opportunities for His teaching : " What shall we do that we may work the works of God ? Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He hath sent." Not warlike ardor, but zealous love of truth was God's will with men ; not that men should conquer each other, but that they should quickly believe in God's messenger. Faith is the demand of God faith in His Son, the most necessary of all virtues, the high- est act of enlightened reason. It was this intelligent but humble submission to truth and its divine ex- ponent that God wanted from the Jews nor has He ever asked anything else from any one as the root and foundation of all virtue and wisdom. But they were continually looking to miracles, especially as a means of re-establishing the supremacy of Israel. It is little wonder that they misunderstood Him. They were ever thinking of and talking about Israel's kingdom as a living thing in God's designs, to be planned about and fought for : Jesus knew it to be dead. The exchange of words which followed shows that they surmised that Jesus, if He only would, could renew the daily wonders of the exodus from Egypt, and lead them in triumphant wars against the idola- trous Gentiles. "They said therefore to Him, What sign therefore doest Thou ? that we may see and may believe Thee : what dost thou work ? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written, He gave THE BREAD OF LIFE. 333 them bread from Heaven to eat." . Upon which our Saviour immediately entered upon one of the most momentous discourses of His life. In it He teaches, first, that He is the bread of the soul, the food of the human mind, the fulness of a great divine doc- trine : and thus is God and man made one in spirit. He goes on to teach, secondly, that He is the bread of both soul and body ; that He is the food of the entire man ; that, by some mysterious process, now plainly outlined, He will make His spiritual union a bodily one as well, uniting us not merely by our convic- tions and affections to His soul and divinit)-, but also making each of us one body with His body, filling our bodies with His flesh, and, our veins with His blood, in order that He may the better fill our minds with His thoughts and with His love : in a word, THE EUCHARIST. And first He is the bread of faith : Amen, Amen, I say to you, Moses gave you not bread from Heaven, but My Father giveth you the true bread from Heaven. For the bread of God is that which cometh down from Heaven and giveth life to the world. They said therefore unto Him : Lord give us always this bread. And Jesus said to them : I am the bread of life, he that cometh to Me shall not hunger, and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst." Who but God Himself could say, / am the bread of life ? But besides this, Jesus is the spokesman of God, and yet has not been hearkened to: "But I said unto you, that you also have seen Me and you believe not. All that the Father giveth to Me shall come to Me, and him that cometh to Me I will not cast out. Because I came down from Heaven not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." Upon which our Saviour passes into the Doctrine of 334 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. lyife, life's principle, life's restoration, life related to death : and herein He teaches that His doctrine gives the soul a supernatural life so abundant as to over- flow upon and restore even the dying body : * ' Now this is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again in the last day. And this is the will of My Father that sent Me, that every one who seeth the Sou, and believeth in Him, may have life everlasting, and I will raise him up in the last day." L,et any one deny, if he can, that Jesus has brought a new spiritual life among men. For nineteen cen- turies the inspiration of humanity in its literature, its art, its social conditions, especially in its morality and its religion, has been Jesus Christ. What is best and most beautiful in this world comes from union with Jesus Christ by entire belief in His teaching. But many of the Jews did not feel the want of a life of faith ; they thought that v/ the revelation of God through Moses and the prophets was enough. Therefore, they had no use for Jesus as a teacher, however much they desired Him as a national leader : ' ' The Jews there- fore murmured at Him because He had said, I am the living bread, which came down from Heaven. And they said : Is not this Jesus, the Son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know ? How then saith He, I am come down from Heaven?" Upon which our Sav- iour reiterates the statement of His " And him that cometh to Me I will not cast out." relation to His Father : " Murmur THE BREAD OF LIFE. 335 not among yourselves. No man can come to Me, except the Father who hath sent Me, draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the pro- phets : And they shall all be taught of God." He does not advert to their objecti< about His human parentage, for if they could not understand the authority of God in a won- der-working teacher, how could they under- stand the deep mystery of the Incarnation? lyet them but be faithful to the inner voice of reason and of faith and the result is certain : " Every one that hath heard of the Father and hath learned corneth to Me." More than this invisible drawing no man dare claim : "Not that any man hath seen the Father, " I am the living bread." but he who is of God, he hath seen the Father. Amen, Amen," finally exclaims the Master with de- cisive authority, " I say unto you he that believeth in Me hath everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the desert and are dead. This is the bread that cometh down from Heaven, that if any man eat of it he may not die." And now follows -the amazing doctrine of the Eucharist. It is the communication to us of the actual body and blood of Christ, and with it the fruits of His atonement for our sins. The life of faith by belief in Jesus Christ as God's spokesman, His Word, is one with the life of sanctification through His atonement, His bloody death upon the Cross. Both the truth of God in Christ's teaching and the pardon of God through Christ's suffering are to be ours in entire fulness. Therefore our Saviour, having chosen bread as the figure of the one, chooses bread again as the outward form of the other. His 336 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. communication of Himself to us as our Redeemer (as will be seen at the L,ast Supper) is to be under the form of bread for His body and of wine for His blood. The bread of faith makes us partakers of the mental life of Jesus ; the Eucharistic bread makes us partakers of His physical life, given for us in His death on the Cross. Thus the whole Christ, physical as well as spiritual, is communicated to each Christian name- ly, as the Word of God in faith, as the Lamb of God in sacrificial food. This is life as it is in Christ and as it is imparted by Christ. The reader will perceive in the successive .sentences of this as- tonishing discourse that it is a summary of Christ's way of imparting His life to His believers and His lovers. " I am the living bread which came down from Heaven. If any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever ; and the bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world." His hearers were of too gross a nature to understand that the spirit sanctifies the flesh and can and does use it for highest spiritual purposes ; and they were too proud to wait patient- ly for explanations of a mysterious statement: "The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying : How shall this man give us His flesh to eat ? ' ' Our Sav- iour's purpose of a literal, a flesh and blood union with men now fully appears. For if He had used the word flesh as a mere figure of speech He must have said so, as in similar circumstances He had done before and will do afterwards. But he insists and reinsists upon the literal meaning, always expressly connect- ing with it the imparting of life : " Then Jesus said to them, Amen, Amen, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink -His blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth My THE BREAD OF LIFE. 337 flesh and drinketh My blood hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up in the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me and I in him." Perhaps the strongest words in all Scripture are those which follow. The introduction of humanity into the Deity by adoption of sonship can only be perfected by the extension to each of us of the hu- man nature of Jesus, which enjoys personal oneness with the divine nature of the Father : " As the living Father hath sent Me, and as I live by the Father, so he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me." The divinity came to humani- ty as a race by a Man-God ; it shall take personal possession of each in- dividual by a Man-God. But how ? What can be the meaning of eating the Master's flesh and blood not figuratively but literally ? Our Sav- iour's only answer is a recurrence to what He taught in opening His discourse. He that accepts the Messias as the bread of faith takes His teaching implicitly, confides ab- solutely in Him, saying credo mystery or no mys- tery, I believe! " This is the bread that came down from Heaven," He says, eat manna and are dead. shall live for ever." Here, then, is a most singular satisfaction of man's craving for the infinite, the master passion of the race in all ages. Man and God are to be made one by physical union (as food is united to the body) be- I AM THE LIVING BREAD which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever ; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying : How shall this man give us his flesh to eat ? Then Jesus said to them : Amen, amen, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh and drink- eth my blood hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall liv* for ever. "Not as your fathers did He that eateth this bread 338 LIFE OP" JESUS CHRIST. tweeii the Christ and His loving disciple. And this corporal union best conveys the spiritual life. The physical life of Christ from the first throb in Mary's womb till His last gasp on Calvary, was the vehicle to us of the life of God. By every look, tone, word, touch, sigh, tear, blood-drop, God's life went forth from our Saviour to His disciples. As one gives first a cup of water from a spring to the hot and dusty way- farer and then gives the spring itself, so does God, following up the gift of the teaching Christ, give us the fulness of the divine life in the Kucharistic Christ. As one man heals another by infusing his own whole- some blood into his veins, so is the redeeming blood of Christ physically poured upon us and into us by the Eucharist. As by the bodily life and death of Christ, and not by His spiritual influence alone, the life of God is offered to us as a race, so by our own bodily life absorbing Christ's own bodily life is that divine life perfected in us one by one. The end of man is the infinite God ; He having come to us in flesh and blood, now by flesh and blood will absorb us and hold us as a living man holds his living blood. m \ 7 HE DOCTRINE OF THE EUCHARIST. 339 CHAPTER XXXIX. MANY DISCIPLES GO BACK FROM JESUS ON ACCOUNT OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE EUCHARIST. John vi. 61-72. F they of Capharnaum had known how to love God, they might indeed have wondered at the gift of the Real Presence, but it would not have shocked them into disbelief. lyOve believeth all things. But we are not surprised that the synagogue, in which Jesus held His discourse, became the scene of violent discussion, for this singular doctrine puzzled even the disciples, and some even revolted against it. Yet if they would but take Jesus at His word and wait for explanations and abide all results in simple faith, the mystery would but add another divine wonder to their Master's religion. Had they not known Him render His body invisible, superior to the force of gravity ? Had He not but the night before walked in the air and upon the water His own bodily self? Did not a touch of His very clothes heal diseases ? What could He not do with that body, that wonderful body ? If He could walk the water with it, if He could raise it and lower it at will, if He could make it visible and invisible, why not give it the form of bread, why not sink it into our bodies? But ''many therefore of His dis- ciples hearing it, said : This is a hard saying and who can hear it ? But Jesus know- ing in Himself that His disciples mur- mured at this, said to them : Doth this scandalize you ? If then you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where This is a* hard saying. 340 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. He was before?" As if to say, My power and My love are masters of My body, and can do with it all that agrees with the original purpose I had in view in taking a body and in becoming man. For God to come down from Heaven and take a human body, for God in His human body to reascend to heaven, for God in His human body to make Himself the very food and drink of His beloved all this is one that is, if you will understand that spirit and flesh go to- gether as master and servant : ' ' It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." Butcher's meat was their idea of the flesh of Jesus, and that was because they were unspiritual men. The religious spirit was different : " But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the be- ginning who they were that did not believe, and who he was that would betray Him. And He said, There- fore did I say to you, that no man can come to Me, un- less it be given him by My Father. After this many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him." Just as in high altitudes the rarity of the air is unbearable by those whose heart-action is not per- fectly sound, so in the following of Jesus the atmos- phere was becoming oppressive to weak souls. As the teaching of the Master gradually was developed, earthly views, human motives, re- liance on human power, gross appetites, were more and more excluded. The means and in- strumentalities by which the love of Jesus should become the bond of union between Him and His followers are all mysterious, a miracu- lous adjustment of material things to superna- tural ones. There is water and the Holy 'Lord, to whom shall we go ?" Ghost ; there is a human word and divine par- THE DOCTRINE OF THE EUCHARIST. 341 don ; there is eating and drinking with the ever- living Son of God as the meat and drink of the feast. Kleva- tion of tnind, in other words absolute faith, was neces- sary for the discipleship. This was the Baptist's meaning when he spoke of the Messias and His fan upon the threshing-floor winnowing out the chaff. Jesus now applies the test boldly, so that when " many of the disciples went back and walked no more with Him, then Jesus said to the twelve : Will you also go away ? And Simon Peter answered Him : Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have known that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God." How true an act of faith ! Peter does not say, We understand your teaching, we have better minds than these others, we have had more instruction than these doubters and hence we believe. No. Peter's faith and that of all the true disciples rests upon Jesus Himself, upon His truthfulness, upon His office of Messias, upon His divinity, not upon their own understanding and their own knowledge. With this occasion, and its marvellous discourse, which is the prophecy of the Eucharist, the name of Judas the traitor is associated, as it is with the ful- filment of the prophecy at the Last Supper. Was the avarice of the Traitor the cause of his lack of faith, or just the reverse? We know not. We remember, however, that Jesus " knew who he was that would betray Him." And now again: "Jesus answered them : Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil ? Now He meant Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for this same was about to betray Him, whereas he was one of the twelve." It was the pity of Jesus that dictated this warning to Judas, that he might either repent and remain a disciple, 342 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. or at any rate openly join the enemy. But avarice is a vice generally accompanied by besotted ob- stinacy. CHAPTER XL. EATING WITH UNWASHED HANDS. INWARD AND OUTWARD DEFILEMENT. Matt. xv. 1-20 ; Mark vii. 1-23. THE Pharisees had established a system of ab- lutions so minute as to be an intolerable burden. Twenty-six different directions were given for wash- ing the hands in the morning alone, and countless other regulations about cleansing not only the per- son but everything made use of, all on pretence of avoiding legal uncleanness. This almost incredible network of observances entangled men at every step and was insisted on with rigor, even with fierceness. Naturally it diverted men from the substance of the Mosaic law, and elevated outward conformity above inward principle. One might contract un- cleanness twenty times a day, often without being aware of it ; and how serious a matter this was is They found fault. known from the saying of their Rabbis, " He who sits down to table with hands unwashed is as guilty as one who commits adultery." Jesus emancipated His Apostles from this slavery, this nursing mother of hypocrites ; and they openly disregarded these customs, much to the scandal of the Pharisees. These finally took our Saviour to task for it. They were some of those sent down from Jerusalem to spy upon our Saviour. * ' And there assembled together unto Him the Pharisees and some of the Scribes, coming from Jerusalem. And when they had seen some of His disciples eat bread with INWARD AND OUTWARD DEFILEMENT. 343 common, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews eat not without often washing their hands, holding the tradi- tion of the ancients, and when they come from the market, unless they be washed, they eat not, and many other things there are that have been delivered to them to observe, the washing of cups, and of pots, and of brazen vessels, and of beds. And the Pharisees and Scribes asked Him : Why do not Thy disciples walk according to the tradition of the ancients ? but they eat bread with common [unclean] hands." A hot rebuke was the answer to their com- plaint, a rebuke which cut to the root of their error, exposing the human and therefore usurped authority of their traditions : ' ' Well did Isaias prophesy of you hypocrites as it is written : This people honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain do they worship Me, teaching doctrines and precepts of men. For leaving the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, the washing of pots and cups, and many other things you do like to these." External ob- servance has its place, but not at any time as standing alone, nor ever without the authority of God. Valid external religion is like the body, a God-given external help to the soul: but the soul is always the chief thing. The Pharisees and Scribes unlawfully thrust their system of outward observances into the holiest relations of life. The Master instances: "Well do you make void the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition. For Moses said : Honor thy father and thy mother, and he that shall curse his father or mother, dying let, him die. But you say,, if a man shall say to his father or mother, Corban (which is a gift), whatsoever is from me shall profit thee. And further you suffer him not to do anything for 344 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. his father or mother, making void the word of God by your own tradition which you have given forth. And many other such like things you do." Upon this He turned to the multitude and ad- dressed them on this topic, a practice of His which enraged the Scribes, for it was appealing from their formalism and pettiness to the simple, good sense of a religious people: "And having called together the multitude unto Him, He said unto them: Hear ye and understand, not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but what cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man." And He laid stress upon it, say- ing : " If any one have ears to hear, let him hear." Even the holy practice of fasting, valued by the Saviour Himself as of divine institution, depended for its worth on the interior sentiment of repentance. Jesus would rather a man should eat a full meal and be good natured than utter proud censure of his neighbor on a fasting stomach. And when the disciples told Him of the scandal taken by the Phari- sees on account of this teaching, He said: "Every plant which My heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone, they are blind, and leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit." But when He came indoors He gave them a fuller explanation about fast- ing, reproaching them as being themselves "without knowledge. Understand you not that everything from without, entering into a man, cannot defile him? But it entereth not into his heart, but goeth into the belly, and goeth out into the privy, purging all meats. But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and those defile a man. For from the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testi- INWARD AND OUTWARD DEFILEMENT. 345 monies, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lascivious- ness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. These are the things which defile a man ; but to eat with unwashed hands doth not defile a man." Real uncleanness is a guilty conscience. The con- sciousness of wilful disobedience to the known law of God, whether it command fasting or feasting, is the only uncleanness properly so called. Hating and drinking is an indifferent act until it crosses God's will. It may borrow from that will a moral dignity of the highest sort, but it is sinful under any condi- tions if against that will. It is so with all external practices of religion. They are calculated to deepen interior conviction by outward expression, to increase merit by external constancy, to draw others onward by good example all conditioned upon the intention, the secret attitude of the soul towards God. Hence in those holy observances called the sacraments, which Christ Himself instituted as outward signs and channels of inward grace, before approaching them the Christian strictly examines his soul's interior condition, aided by the Christian ministry which has them in custody and imparts them. The real man is both inner and outer, and the per- fect agreement of these two orders of life is human conduct brought to perfection. Fanaticism would dispense the soul of man from all external aids of] religion ; formalism would make the totality of reli- gion a series of external practices. Both are wrong. The religion of Christ is alone right. That unites the inner life of divine grace with the outer life, and thereby produces within our souls the highest results in interior love and faith and trustful con- fidence, adorned by the most beautiful and edify- ing expression of the same in outward observance. "Holding the tradition of the ancients." 346 ^ LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER SYRO-PHC^NICIAN WOMAN. Matt. xv. 2138; Mark vii. 24. 37. ND rising from thence He went into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon." Jesus knew that His enemies in high places were ready to put Him to death ; or, more accurately, to assist others to do it. Flight, at least for a time, had become necessary, and He knew that a temporary security could be had by crossing the province of Galilee in a northwesterly direction to the borders of Tyre and Sidon, the neighborhood of the heathen Gentiles. So secret were His designs that when He had passed over the smiling upland country of Galilee, perhaps making the journey by night, and had found the shelter He sought, He tried to keep for awhile in hiding : "And entering into a house, He would that no man should know it ; but He could not be hid." Not only did He want seclusion, but He did not wish to evangelize the heathen ; in less than two years they would have His Church and His Apostles. For the present every rule of prudence bound Him exclusive- ly to the Israelites, though He had already plainly taught the universality of the Glad Tidings. But the eager heart of a distressed woman antici- pated this introduction of the Gentiles, helped, per- haps, by the suggestions of some of the devout women always in the Master's following ; or perhaps she was a Jewish proselyte. At any rate, she knew who He was, and knew it accurately, and was full of faith in Him : "A woman of Chanaan came out of these coasts, and crying out said to Him, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David, my daughter is THE SYRO-PHCENICIAN WOMAN. 347 grievously troubled by a devil. . But He answered her not a word." Too kind to deny her, He was yet unwilling to advertise His coming by a miracle, or to overleap the bounds of His mission. But a mother's heart was her advocate. She ran along after Him beseeching ' * that He would cast forth the devil out of her daughter." Finally the disciples interfered ; they were moved, doubtless, by pity for her, but also, perhaps, by fear of her gathering the people by her loud pleading. "Send her away," was their form of asking for the miracle, "for she crieth after us." Then Jesus said these words very hard words from one so kind, that is, if He intended them for the wo- man's ears ; in that case He had made up His mind to cure the daughter, but would strengthen the faith of the mother : "I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel." It may be that He spoke only to His Apostles. " But she came and adored Him say- ing, Lord help me ! " Upon which she was given a blow that would have silenced any ordinary soul, but was in her case calculated to develop to the uttermost her love of her daughter and her faith in Israel's Mes- sias : " Suffer first the children to be filled, for it is not good to take the bread from the children and cast it to the dogs." The renowned virtue of faith rings out in this Chanaanitish woman's answer: "Yea, Lord, for the whelps also eat under the table of the crumbs of the children." I am not a child of the household, " SEND HER AWAY, FOR SHE CRIETH AF- TER US." And behold a woman of Chanaan who came out of those coasts, crying out, said to him : Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David, my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil. Who answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying : Send her away, for she crieth after us. For the woman was a Gentile, a Syro-Phrenician born. And she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. And he answering, said : I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel. But she came and adored him, saying : Lord, help me. Who answering said : Suffer first the children to be filled, for it is not good to take the bread from the chil- dren, and cast it to the dogs. But she answered and said to him : Yea, Lord, for the whelps also eat under the table, of the crumbs of the children. Then Jesus an- swering, said to her : O woman, great is thy faith, be it done to thee as thou wilt ; for this saying, go thy way, the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come into her house, she found the girl lying upon the bed, and that the devil was gone out. And her daughter was cured from that hour. 348 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. " I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel." as if to say, but yet I am at least the Master's dog ; I am not worthy of a full meal, yet surely I may be given the leavings of the children humility, trust, persistence, courage, fidelity to the demoniac daughter are the great qualities of this woman's prayer. It was a prayer of faith faith bred amid the idols of wood and stone and the unclean rites of paganism. It was instantly rewarded. " O wo- man," exclaimed Jesus, " great is thy faith, be it done to thee as thou wilt ; for this saying go thy way, the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And her daughter was cured from that hour." What effect, we may ask, had this showing of Gentile faith on the Apostles? Perhaps it astonished them more than the mira- cle itself, for miracles had become common occurrences. But some of them must have thought of the great future of the Glad Tidings among the heathen as foreshadowed by this occurrence. MIRACLES IN THE DECAPOLIS. 349 CHAPTER XLH. IN THE DECAPOLIS. HEALING THE DEAF AND DUMB MAN. SECOND MIRACLE OF THE LOAVES AND FISHES. Matt. xv. 2939 ; Mark vii. 3137, and viii. iio. WE do not know precisely how long a time Jesus and His disciples remained in the pagan communi- ties along the borders of Tyre and Sidon, nor the exact road He took when He came back east on His way towards the Decapolis. There was a choice of routes. The Decapolis lies east of the Jordan and south of Lake Genesareth. On consulting the map we find that Jesus could have followed the Mediter- ranean coast roads southward till near Mount Carmel, and then, by the valley of the Kishon and passing through His old home at Nazareth, He could reach the banks of the Jordan amid the cities whose num- ber, ten, gave the Decapolis its name. But this is not the route our Saviour chose, for it would have brought Him again into immediate contact and con- flict with His enemies. Therefore "He came by Sidon to the sea of Galilee" ; that is to say, going northward from Tyre to Sidon, thence He started straight eastward. This would take Him across the river Leontis and the upper waters of the Jordan, and then along the foot-hills of the Le- banon mountains. Turning south- ward, and making a detour to the east, to avoid the shores of Genesa- reth at Bethsaida, He finally reach- ed the Decapolis : such is our con- j ecture . It was a j ourney of several days, made doubtless on foot (ex- EPHPHETA I And they bring to him one deaf and dumb, and they besought him that he would lay his hand upon him. And taking him from the multitude apart, he put his fingers into his ears, and spitting, he touched his tongue, and looking up to heaven he groaned and said to him, Ephpheta, which is : Be thou opened. And immediately his ears were opened and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke right. 350 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. cept that we may suppose the wo- men of the company rode on camels or asses), and it lay for the most part through a heathen population. Many opportunities for instruction were improved by our Saviour as the caravan journeyed on, or while the camp was being made for the night. Meantime the honest Israel- ites in the Saviour's company saw the abominations of idolatry in false worship and foul immorality every- where about them. In the Decapolis the mixed popu- lation of pagans and Hebrews would help Jesus to remain comparatively unobserved, if such a thing were any longer possible. The Evangelist St. Mark tells us what happened. Our Saviour used a ceremony for this miracle of curing the deaf mute, as He did for various others. He took the poor creature apart so that all could see and hear what was done ; He groaned and looked up to heaven ; He anointed his tongue with spittle; He put His fingers in his ears; He solemnly spoke the words of healing to the man's senses as if to living beings "Be thou opened!" All this is but one instance of the Master's use of outward forms in His religion, and hence a lesson that we also should use them. This particular case is notable because the Christian Church has adopted both the words and actions in her ceremonies of Baptism. "And He charged them that they should tell no man. But the more He charged them, so much the more a great deal did they publish it. And so much " I HAVE COMPASSION ON THE MULTITUDE." And Jesus, in those days again when there was a great multitude, and had noth- ing to eat, calling his disciples together, he saith to them : I have compassion on the multitude, for behold they have now been with me three days, and have not what to eat ; and if I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint in the way, for some of them came from afar off. And the disciples say unto him : Whence then shall we have so many loaves in the desert as to fill so great a multitude ? And Jesus said to them : How many loaves have you ? But they said : Seven, and a few little fishes. And he commanded the multitude to sit down upon the ground. And taking the loaves and the fishes, and giving thanks, he brake and gave to his disciples, and the disciples gave to the people. And they did all eat and were filled. And they took up seven basketsful of what remained of the fragments. And they that did eat were four thousand men, besides children and women. And having dismissed the multi- tude he went up into a boat and came into the coasts of Magedan (or) into the parts of Dalmanutha. MIRACLES IN THE DECAPOLIS. the more did they wonder, saying :.. He hath done all things well, He hath made both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak." In vain did He command secrecy ; He was pub- lished everywhere in the neighborhood, and as He came to the shores of the lake multi- tudes of the lame and the deaf and the blind were cured, so that the very heathens ''glorified the God of Israel." "And when Jesus had passed away from them He came nigh the Sea of Galilee, and going up into a mountain He sat there. And there came to Him great multitudes having with them the dumb, the blind, the lame, the maimed, and many others, and they cast them down at His feet, and He healed them. So that the multitudes marvel- led seeing the dumb speak, the lame walk, the blind see, and they glorified the God of Israel." It was under these circumstances that the Master took occasion to repeat His miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. It served to impress with His authority an assemblage made up to a great extent of pagans, and to reward the fidelity of many faithful men and women who, with their families of children, had fol- lowed Him for three days, some of them from a distance. When Jesus said: "I have compassion on the multitude," His disciples knew what to an- swer almost the same words they had used unwit- tingly to stimulate Him to the previous miracle : "Whence shall we have so many loaves?" they had but seven in their little store of food, and a few small fishes. Four thousand men, not counting wo- men and children, were fed at this generous banquet, An'd looking up to heaven He groaned." 352 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. and seven baskets were filled with what was left over. When all was done He sent the people to their homes, and entering a boat crossed over the lake. CHAPTER THE PHARISEES AGAIN DEMAND A SIGN IN THE HEAVENS. ''BEWARE OF THE I^EAVEN OP THE PHARISEES.'' THE BUND MAN AT BETHSAIDA. Matt. xvi. i 12 ; Mark viii. 11-26. IT is not certain just where Magedan, the point on the lake shore to which Jesus now passed, was situated, but it was very likely a little to the south of Capharnaum. The Master went there to comfort His many faithful followers living in the vicinity. They needed His presence, for the Pharisees were active against His teaching. They had sought the aid of the Herodians, as we have seen, and even took counsel with the Sadducees, their bitter enemies any- thing to destroy Jesus. The Pharisees did not hate the Sadducees less, but they hated Jesus more. " And there came to Him Pharisees and Sadducees tempting, and they asked Him to show them a sign from Heaven. And sighing deeply in spirit, He saith : Why doth this generation ask a sign ? Amen, I say to you, a sign shall not be given to this generation. When it is evening you say, It will be fine weather, for the sky is red ; and in the morning : To-day there will be a storm, for the sky is red and lowering. You know then how to discern the face of the sky, and can you not know the signs of the times ? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet." "BEWARE THE LEA VEN OF THE PHARISEES." 353 Instantly on His landing they tried Him about the "sign from Heaven/' meaning some portent in the sky. Daniel (vii. 13) and Joel (iii. 15) had prophesied some such miracle, and as Jesus had not yet shown it, they fancied that it was the limit of His power. Their whole mind was wrong. They assumed to limit and to judge a Being whose every discourse was full of divine truth, whose every step was marked by prodigies luminous with the light of heaven. No wonder that Jesus sighed deeply at such perverseness. A simple mind could read Him as a farmer or a sailor reads the signs of the weather in the gathering storm-clouds, or as a devout soul perceives God's will in the " signs of the times." Therefore He repeated His former admonition : "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. And leaving them He went up again into the ship and passed to the other side of the water." But He did not depart, we may be assured, without some further teaching for the comfort of His followers and of His many faithful adherents living in that vicinity. The Messias was weary of heart. With all His love, His heavenly doctrine, His miracles, what progress had He made ? As He sailed past Ca- pharnaum on His way to Bethsaida, and saw its beautiful streets lined with pleasant homes and cool gardens, He must have felt downcast to think that He was actually avoiding it, sailing around it for fear of His enemies, lest His very Apostles should be contaminated. The alliance of the Pharisees with the Herodians gave the former the backing of the law, the brute force of the state. It was now not only the exponents of Jewish orthodoxy but the 354 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. " He led him out of the town." BEWARE OF THE LEAVEN PHARISEES." OF THE And leaving them, he went up again into the ship and passed to the other side of the water. And they forgot to take bread, and they had but one loaf with them in the ship. And he charged them, saying : Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying : Because we have no bread. Which Jesus knowing, saith to them : Why do you reason, because you have no bread ? do you not yet know or understand ? have you still your heart blinded ? having eyes see you not ? and having ears hear you not ? neither do you remember ? When I broke the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took you up ? They said to him : Twelve. When also the seven loaves among four thousand, how many baskets of fragments took you up ? And they said to him : Seven. And he said to them : Why do you not understand, that it was not con- cerning bread I said to you : Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees ? Then they understood that he said, not only that they should beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Phari- sees and Sadducees. officers of the secular law and the sol- diers of the despot that He had to fear. These sad thoughts rose to His lips in a tender admonition to His Apostles: ' * Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod." Now, at that very moment they discovered that they had forgotten to bring a supply of bread. Poor Apos- tles ! They could do no better in answer to His words than to accuse themselves of this bit of forgetfulness : ' ' Because we have no bread." This, however, served their Master for pushing home His warning: "Why do you reason, because you have no bread ? When I broke the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took you up ? They say to Him : Twelve. When also the seven loaves among four thousand, how many baskets of fragments took you up? And they say to Him : Seven. And he said to them : Why do you not understand that it was not concerning bread I said to you, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees ? " As a matter of fact none are so stupid as the morally weak, who often relapse after repentance because they eat and drink in the company of former com- panions in sin, and are thereby again leavened with corruption ; hence our I^ord's warning to His disciples. THE BLIND MAN A T BETH SAID A. 355 He was soon out of reach of . the Herodians, a term applied to the minions of Herod-Antipas, the murderer of the Baptist. The transit of the lake had brought our Saviour and His party to Bethsaida, a town in the dominions of Herod- Philip, the brother indeed of Antipas, but quite unlike him, being a peaceful prince. Bent upon a special purpose, land- ing and turning northward, the Master was yet un- able to get away from the town with- out a miracle. Using this occasion, as He had recently used another, to teach the value of emblems and signs in re- ligion, He anointed the eyes of a blind man, to whom He gave sight, with spit- tle, and touched them with His holy hand : " They brought to Him a blind man, and they besought Him that He would touch him. And taking the blind man by the hand, He led him out of the town, and spitting upon his eyes, laying His hands on him, He ask- ed him if he oaw anything. And look- ing up he said, I see men as it were trees walking. After that again, He laid His hands upon his eyes and he began to see, and was restored so that he saw all things clearly." It is sad to think that the first act of thanksgiving our Saviour was con- strained to ask was concealment of the miracle : "Go into thy house, and if thou enter into the town, tell nobody." He laid His hands upon his eyes and he began to see." 356 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER XI.IV. "THOU ART PETER." Matt. xvi. 1319 ; Mark viii. 27-29 ; Luke ix. 1820. A SECLUDED spot was necessary for our Saviour's immediate purpose. This was the establishment of the Apostle Peter's peculiar authority, and that of his successors, in the Christian Church THE PAPACY. The holy company ascended the eastern bank of the Jordan, passing the bridge of Jacob and the bitter lake of Merom, until they were among the sources of the sacred river. It was near Csesarea-Philippi that they encamped, or were harbored by some kindly Jewish country people. Csesarea was the capital of the tetrarchy of Herod-Philip, a pagan city in which our Hebrew caravan would not have felt itself at home. The surrounding country was partly Hebrew and partly Gentile, so that in this new environ- ment the Master, now far removed from His enemies, could peacefully develop to His disciples so grave a matter as that of the paramount authority in His Church. Of this essential feature of God's spiritual kingdom St. Matthew gives our Saviour's teaching in His own words, only a fragment, perhaps, of an extended discourse, but the entire fulness of its sub- stance. That the Master intended the time and the event to be full of great results is shown by St. lyuke's statement that our Saviour "was alone pray- ing" just before those questions and answers which are of such moment in His formative action on His Church. He introduces His doctrine of Peter's supremacy by a demand for the Apostles' profession of faith in His Messias-ship and in His divinity. They must have "THOU ART PETER." 357 understood it so, when He said: "Who do the peo- ple say that the Son of Man is? " It would appear to be an inopportune moment to ask such a question, to subject His immediate followers to such an ordeal, for never had He seemed more merely human than during their recent journeyings flights from His enemies, as they might better be called. He was even anxious to hide His miracu- lous power, working not many mira- cles, and commanding concealment even of those He did work. The faith which under these conditions could cry out with the quick instinct of unfaltering loyalty, ' ' Thou art the Son of God ! ' ' was worthy to be the enduring basis of the new religion, root-faith, rock-faith, key- faith ; it was to be known as the Petrine faith, in the ages to come. "Who do the people say that the Son of Man is ? But they said : Some John the Baptist, and other some KHas, and others Jeremias or one of the prophets." This shows a confused faith among the people, or rather an introductory one. As if to say, Here is some mighty teacher sent from God, but we know not just who or what he is. Then Jesus tests His Apostles. Have they improved upon this ? Is their faith in Him clear ? Can they be set above the rest of the Jewish world? "Jesus saith to them, But who do you say that I am?" He must have something different from them. If they are what they should be, He is to them not simply the voice of one in the wilderness calling to penance, as was John ; nor the "THOU ART PETER." And Jesus came into the quarters of Caesarea Philippi. And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples also were with him, and he asked them say- ing : Who do the people say that the Son of Man is ? But they said : Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias or one of the prophets. Jesus saith to them : But who do you say that I am ? Simon Peter answered and said : Thou art Christ, the Son of the liv- ing God. And Jesus answering said to him : Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to Thee, but My Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. And hatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven, and what- soever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. 358 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. return of mighty Elias or Jeremias to recall Israel to primitive fervor, to racial independence, to holy wars against the corrupt and idolatrous nations of the world. Jesus called men to pen- ance, as did John; He mourned over the decay of true religious fervor, as did Jeremias; He had the lofty fearlessness which distinguished Klias. But He is infinitely more than any or all of these. He is the Master and Lord of both people and pro- phets. He is the Messias. He is prophet of Himself, and He is His own voice. He is the Son of God. Had His Apostles become persuaded of that ? Did they not only know it, but know it in a way different from the common opinion ? Did they feel the spell of Messianic faith ? He will apply the test : 11 Who do you say," how solemnly and yet how tenderly He must have asked! "Who do you say that the Son of Man is? " It was the loving Father appealing from the rumors and opinions of the outside world to His own children for the true estimate of His character. The appeal was not in vain. The answer came from Peter. Nor was it on ac- count of the ardor of his love, the impulsiveness of his nature, the sincerity of his character that he made his great confession of faith. But it was now an inspiration from on high which caused him to utter the Apostolic faith ; the Heavenly Father stirred his heart and opened his lips. His voice rang out in tones clear and frank, thrilling with the conscious- ness not only of his own sincerity and the loyal ad- ; Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in Heaven." "THOU ART PETER." 359 hesion of his fellow-Apostles, but also of a secret revelation from Heaven : ' ' Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God ! " The response of our Saviour to the Apostolic pro- fession of faith was instant, and it was of supreme im- portance. It concerned Peter in an exclusive manner ; for as God had given that Apostle a particular in- spiration of faith, Jesus accordingly bestowed 011 him a peculiar dignity. "And Jesus answering said to him : Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Long before this Christ had set Peter apart from his fellow-disciples by giving him a new name, Simon Peter, Simon the Rock ; and now He explains the meaning of that name in reference to His Church. And under what very solemn circumstances : immedi- ately following that Apostle's public profession of the faith of his brethren and himself, a faith inspired by the divine Father, Jesus associates His Church with the faith of Peter as an architect places a building on its foundations. Peter is the foundation of the Church, a term now used by the Saviour for the first time ; Peter is placed in inseparable connection with His Church's indestructibility. Peter and Peter's faith is the foundation of the Church, which shall not be mov- ed by all the powers of darkness because rooted and grounded in divine truth by means of Peter's gift of faith a special inner illumination of truth, a special guidance in its public expression. Peter and his successors deal directly with God for guidance as teachers of the Church of Christ, and the living God. 1 Thou art the Christ, the Son of 360 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. with all the world in the extent of their jurisdic- tion.* But our Saviour was not content with naming Pe- ter as the Rock among the Apostles. He adds a yet more perfect description of his dignity. He had used the word Church ; he now passes to the familiar term of Kingdom of Heaven, and gives Peter its Keys a word universally accepted as the symbol of dominion. " And I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, shall be bound also in Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in Heaven." Later on the L,ord will give the power of binding and loosing to all the Apostles, and this is an attri- bute of the entire Apostolic order, the Catholic epis- copate under the presidency of Peter's successor. But to Peter and his successors is granted the fulness of this power, being here given singly to him and on a separate occasion. This establishes the rule of one Apostolic head over the entire Church ; it institutes a living unit of government, positive, active, perpetual, not a passive primacy, much less an honorary distinction. From this moment onward whenever the Apos- tles hear Jesus name His Church, they will think of its foundation rock ; whenever He speaks of His Kingdom, they will recall that there is one among them who has received the keys of that Kingdom^ * More of this we shall see when we come to Peter's consecration by the prayer of Christ to confirm his brother Apostles (Luke xxii. 31, 32) ; and when he is chosen from among the other shepherds of Christ's flock and appointed the chief shepherd (John xxi. 1417). JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEA TH. 361 CHAPTER JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEATH. Matt. xvi. 20-28; Mark viii. 30-30; Luke ix. 21-27. Saviour " commanded His disciples that they should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ." Therefore He must have had with Him only His especial followers, the Apostles and a small number of disciples ; for we could hardly understand His caution- ing in such a manner the usual great assemblage which followed Him. Every word now said in His favor hastened His battle with His enemies, and be- fore that happened He desired to teach more truth and work more wonders. Nor would He finish His work anywhere but at the Holy City, and the indis- cretion of His Apostles might defeat this purpose by bringing the conspiracy of the Pharisees to a head in the provinces. And so He turned the loving glances of His fol- lowers to the end of His life, a bitter and terrible end, whose shadow never quite lifted from His own spirit. Added to their faith in His divine mission must be the cruel test of fidelity to. His death. With this purpose our Saviour, dropping all figures, told them the naked and horrible truth, no longer veiled under the type of Jonas, or of the destruction of the Temple, or of the brazen serpent, but plain as open words could make it, the triumph of His enemies, and His own ignominy and death. Peter mistook his duty upon hearing this, and would stand up and fight rather than lie down and suffer: " And from that time Jesus began to show to His 362 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the ancients and scribes and chief priests, and be put to death, and the third day rise again. And He spoke the word openly. And Peter taking Him began to rebuke Him, saying : Lord, be it far from Thee, this shall not be unto Thee." I,ove revolted, faith revolted, manhood revolted ; but it was human love and faith, it was unregenerate man- hood : this was not the sentiment that had been re- vealed to Peter by the Heavenly Father. What Peter meant was resistance by force of arms ; but this would be to thrust the miserable passion of war between Jesus and the race He would redeem. The Apostles, those courageous children of a warlike race, were all of the same mind as Peter. Oh, how hard it has ever been to teach naturally noble characters that the militant virtues of Christ are all intended for self-conquest not anything left wherewith to conquer or even to resist the onslaughts of human enemies. The rebuke of Jesus to Peter was the bitterest He ever uttered to one of His own, except at the last to Judas ; it was administered before them all, for they were all involved in the fault. How deep a pain for Peter to hear himself called by the name of Satan not that the term exclusively meant the Bvil One ; but it did mean adversary : Jesus ' l turn- ing about and seeing His disciples, said to Peter: Go behind Me, Satan, thou art a scandal unto Me, because thou savorest not of the things that are of God, but the things that are of men." And thereupon Jesus called up the multitude and to the whole assemblage, including His chosen fol- lowers, He delivered a discourse on the Cross. In prophetic tones He spoke from His gibbet, as He was destined to do in actual fact just before He died JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEATH. 363 upon it. The cross is the balance on which our Saviour weighs the various great values of the world, including life itself; and to the following effect: "If any man will come after Me let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and who- soever will lose his life for My sake and the Gospel, shall save it. For what doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul ? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Here we have Christ's theory of values. All that man loves in this life must go to purchase what he shall enjoy hereafter. Self-interest, pleasure, human glory are like gold and silver good to purchase with, but not good to eat or to be clothed with or sheltered under. It is God's will that we shall first receive the good things of this life from His hands, and then prove our love of Him by giving them back to Him, THE DOCTRINE OF THE CROSS. And calling the multitude together with his disciples, he said to them : If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake and the Gospel, shall save it. For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul ? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? For he that shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful gener- ation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when he shall come in the glory of his Father with the holy angels ; and then will he render to every man accord- ing to his works. Amen I say to you, there are some standing here that shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. trusting to Him blindly for the good things of the next life. Now, though this doctrine is plain to the true philosopher once he knows what God and man are to each other, it is hateful to the worldling. Our Saviour makes it, therefore, a most essential doctrine in His religion. The Cross typifies Christ. "With Christ," says St. Paul, " I am nailed to the Cross." And again, " I am not ashamed of the Cross." To be ashamed of poverty and of meekness is to be ashamed of Christ : they are the badges of the love of Christ. Our Saviour goes on : "He that shall be ashamed 364 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also shall be ashamed of him, when He shall come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels ; and then He will render to every man according to his works." This reference to the great day of reckoning fixes the law of self- denial as part of the code by which men shall be tried in that awful court, the other part being love of our neighbor. Nor was the world to be without a triumphant spectacle of this supremacy of the Cross, for His resurrection and ascension would display it. Hence He said: ''Amen I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." CHAPTER XLVI. THE TRANSFIGURATION. Matt. xvii. i-ij ; Mark ix. 1-12 ; Luke ix. 28-36. THK souls of the Apostles were oppressed by the shadow of the Cross. Yet the dominant note of the teaching of Jesus is not sadness, it is joy not indeed the giddy laugh and the empty mirth of men thought- less of eternity, but the joy inseparable from the con- sciousness of love. Love is the only joy of a reason- able life, and the friendship of Jesus is the perfection of love. The Apostles were but novices in this school of joy, and the prophecy of the Cross hung their souls in mourning. Even after so long journeying and teaching and communing with the Master, His gentle resignation to failure and to death was a bitter temptation to them. Hence our Lord vouchsafed to them His Transfiguration. The departure from the upper waters of the Jordan THE TRANSFIGURATION. 365 and the passage across that river into Galilee, as well as the time spent on the way to Mount Thabor, a point some miles eastward from Nazareth, are no otherwise chroni- cled than by the statement of the Evangelists, " that about eight days after these words, Jesus took Peter and James and John, and leadeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves to pray. ' ' This must have been after a long day's travel, for the three Apostles were ' ' heavy with sleep." They prayed awhile, perhaps reciting together the divine poetry of the Psalms, or commun- ing with God in silence and then they fell asleep. How Jesus prayed meantime, and what happened to Him, is thus told in the sacred nar- rative : ' ' And whilst He prayed He was transfigured before them ; and His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became shining and exceeding white as snow." It was as if the beams of light from above had become servants of His prayer and made the bodily form of Jesus as brilliant as His soul : ' * And [awakening out of their sleep] they saw His glory, and they beheld two men talking with Him. And they were Moses and Elias appearing in majesty." What was their conversation with Jesus? The same sad topic of the Cross. The brightness of " HE WAS TRANSFIGURED BEFORE THEM." And it came to pass about eight days after these words, that he took Peter and James and John, and leadeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves, to pray. And whilst he prayed he was trans- figured before them ; and his face did shine as the sun, and his garments became shining and exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can make white. And behold two men were talking with him. And they were Moses and Elias, appearing in majesty, and they spoke of his decease that he should accomplish in Jerusalem. But Peter, and they that were with him, were heavy with sleep. And waking, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. And it came to pass that, as they were departing from him, Peter saith to Jesus : Master, it is good for us to be here, and let us make three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias, not knowing what he said, for they were struck with fear. And as he was yet speak- ing, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them ; and lo ! a voice out of the cloud, say- ing : This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye him. And the dis- ciples hearing, fell upon their face and were very much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them and said to them : Arise and fear not. And they, lifting up their eyes, saw no one but only Jesus. And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them not to tell any man what they had seen till the Son of Man shall be risen again from the dead. And they held their peace, and told no man in those days any of these things which they had seen. And they kept the word to themselves, questioning together what that should mean : When he shall be risen from the dead. And his disciples asked him, saying : Why then do the Scribes say that Elias must come first ? But he answering said to them : Elias indeed shall come and restore all things. But I say to you, that Elias is already come, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they would. So also the Son of Man shall suffer from them, and be despised. Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them of John the Baptist. 366 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. Thabor is one with the awful light of Calvary: "And they spoke of His decease that He should accom- plish in Jerusalem." The effect of this great vision on Peter, James, and John was for a time stupefying, and the subsequent impression was the deepest reverence for Jesus. Not only did they see their Master wonderfully dignified by this heavenly favor, but they saw Him joined in familiar company and converse with the greatest personages of the old law. If the testimony of John the Baptist had been a help to Jesus, much rather was this sponsorship of the " And his garments be- most venerable leaders of the people of God. But came white as snow." how much did they overhear of the colloquy on the Saviour's death? Enough, we may suppose, to fur- nish the Gospel narrative with its brief mention of that topic of discourse. Death, indeed so they must have thought could have little power over Him whose human nature they now beheld resplendent with the brightness of the Deity which dwelt within it, and responsive to the salutation of the Immortal Father from above. Peter found his voice at last. As the tones of the two holy Patriarchs ceased and their bright forms began to fade away, Peter longed for some permanent reminder of their visit : his confused and dazzled mind reverted to the tabernacle in the desert and the Ark of the ancient Covenant. Was not this new covenant worthy of like honor ? So he called out, but with a timid voice: "Master, it is good for us to be here, and let us make three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Klias, not knowing what he said, for they were struck with fear." Peter would give the Transfiguration an enduring memorial; he would set up a shrine before whose splendor the Temple itself would pale into insignificance. And in truth the THE TRANSFIGURATION. 367 tables of the law were not so precious as the words of loving loyalty uttered here by the two representa- tives of the law and the prophets, " as they spoke of His decease that He should accomplish in Jerusalem." And the words which God spoke to His people in the wilderness, what were they but a dim prophecy of the divine message now spoken from the luminous cloud which gathered above them : ' * Behold a bright cloud overshadowed them ; and lo ! a voice out of the cloud, saying : This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him." But Peter's prayer was not to be granted, though in his heart and in that of every follower of Christ the joy of the Mount of Transfiguration was to be prophetical of the greater joy of the Mount of Crucifixion. For the whole purpose of this vision and of this voice from on high was to strengthen the Apostles' faith in the promises of a Master doomed to be cruci- fied. For although Moses, as the Rabbis taught, had died "from the kiss of God," yet he now adored the crucified Jesus as his Master, and he adored His pain- ful death as the holiest and highest form of departure. So, too, Elias discoursed in holy gratulation with Jesus about His ' ' decease that He should accomplish at Jerusalem," though he himself had been carried into the sky in a fiery chariot. The death of Jesus was foreshadowed by a bright cloud and a voice from heaven, and the appari- tion of the greatest men of old, and the glorious transfiguration of His mortal body, though it was the death of the Cross, pain- ful to the last degree, disgraceful, com- passed by traitors and apostates and in- flicted by murderers and tyrants: it was Master, it is good for us to be tne happiest and most glorious of deaths here." 3 6S LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. because it was a death of love and of atonement for sin. "And Jesus came and touched them, and said to them : Arise and fear not. And they, lifting up their eyes, saw no one but only Jesus." This was the end of the vision. As far as its immediate effects went, it was intended exclusively for these Apostles. Therefore as their spirits grew calmer with His gentle presence, Jesus, discoursing about His future resurrec- tion from death and His permanent transfiguration into His spiritualized body, cautioned them not to tell of this vision till His resurrection had made the whole world the repository of His secret; though we can hardly believe that He meant that their fellow- Apostles should not know it. But they were dazed and puzzled, and although they ' ' kept the word to themselves, they questioned together what that should meal 1 " When He shall be risen from the dead ? " They asked Him also about the belief in the coming of Elias before His own full triumph ; but He recalled His former teaching, that Elias had already come in the person of John the Baptist ; arid as God's enemies had treated the Baptist so would they treat the Messias. And it was thus that they passed the night together upon the mountain. " They were struck with fear." THE LUNA TIC BOY. CHAPTER THE LUNATIC BOY. Matt. xvii. 14-20 ; Mark ix. 13-28 ; Luke ix. 17-44.. 1 jHE following day, as Jesus came down with Peter, James, and John to join the rest of the disciples, Ht found them sur- rounded by a great multitude of people, and a hot dispute going on between them and certain Scribes. Whether it was impatience at His long absence during the transfiguration, or that His dis- ciples had been threatening the people with His anger, we know not ; we merely know ' ' that all the people seeing Jesus were astonished and struck with fear, and running they saluted Him, and He asked them: What do you question among you?" The trouble was the failure of the disciples to deliver a boy from the power of the devil who had crazed him, and the consequent scoffs and jeers of the Scribes. " And behold a man among the crowd, falling down on his knees before Him, cried out saying : Master, I beseech Thee look upon my son, for he is my only one. Lord have pity upon my son, for he is a lunatic." The unhappy father then told his sad story: "For he falleth often into the fire, and often into the water, and lo ! a dumb spirit seizeth him, and teareth him. And I desired Thy disciples to cast him out, and they could not." Here, then, was the difficulty ; the Apostles of Jesus were not equal, as yet, to their vocation, nor were the people ready to place faith in them : hence the victory of the Scribes, their mocking laughter, their scorn and disdain. "Then Jesus answered and said : O unbe- 370 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. lieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you ? How long shall I suffer you ? ' ' One of the hard- est trials of our Saviour was the com- pany of His dull followers must it not have been now a yet greater pain than usual, since He was fresh from the company of Moses and Elias ? 1 ' And Jesus asked his father, How long a time is it since this hath hap- pened him ? But he said : From his infancy. But if Thou canst do any- thing, help us, having compassion on us." There was an accent of doubt in this answer making discord in the mind of our Saviour: "If Thou canst do anything." But the lack of faith here was palliated by the failure of the disciples in the case and by the scoffs of the Scribes. The question and answer following are noble examples of kindly treat- ment of a perplexed soul on the one hand, and of honest doubt on the other. Our Saviour took up the doubting word : "If Thou canst, ' ' and gave it back with double force : " And Jesus saith to them: If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And immedi- ately the father of the boy, crying out with tears, said : I do believe, Lord, help my unbelief." Many a worthy soul can make no other act of faith. It is not perfect, but it is enough to begin with. "I DO BELIEVE, LORD, HELP MY UNBE- LIEF." And behold a man among the crowd, falling down on his knees before him, cried out, saying: Master, I beseech thee look upon my son, because he is my only one ; Lord, have pity upon my son, for he is a lunatic, and suffereth much ; for he falleth often into the fire, and often into the water, and lo ! a dumb spirit seizeth him, and he suddenly crieth out, and he throweth him down, and teareth him, so that he foam- eth ; and bruising him, he hardly departeth from him. And I desired thy disciples to cast him out, and they could" not. Then Jesus answered and said : O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you ? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto me. And they brought him. And as he was coming to him, and when he had seen him. immedi- ately the spirit troubled him, and being thrown down upon the ground, he rolled about foaming. And he asked his father : How long time is it since this hath hap- pened unto him ? But he said : From his infancy. And oftentimes hath he cast him into the fire and into waters to destroy him ; but if thou canst do anything, help us, having compassion on us. And Jesus saith to him : If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And immediately the father of the boy, cry- ing out with tears, said : I do believe, Lord, help my unbelief. And when Jesus saw the multitude running together, he threat- ened the unclean spirit, saying to him : Deaf and dumb spirit, I command thee, go out of him and enter not any more into him. And crying out and greatly tearing him, he went out of him, and he became as dead, so that many said, He is dead. But Jesus taking him by the hand lifted him up, and restored him to his father ; and the child was cured from that hour. And when he was come into the house, then came the disciples to Jesus secretly and said : Why could not we cast him out ? Jesus said to them : Because of your unbelief. Foramen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain : Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you. And he said to them : This kind can go out by nothing but by prayer and fasting. And all were astonish- ed at the mighty power of God. THE L UNA TIC BO Y. 371 Meantime the crowd was breathless with expec- tancy, and crowded and crushed towards the Master as He stood near the weeping father, who was en- deavoring to hold down his maniac child. Jesus waited till the multitude could fairly see and hear what He would do. Then His voice, imperious and threatening, was heard: " Deaf and dumb spirit, I command thee, go out of him, and enter not any more into him. And crying out and greatly tearing him, he went out of him, and he became as dead, so that many said, He is dead. But Jesus taking him by the hand lifted him up, and restored him to his father, and the child was cured from that hour." And now Jesus, having overcome both the demon and the Scribes, had to reckon with His own disciples. Their failure was made the more notorious by His easy success. The disciples said to Jesus secretly : " Why could not we cast him out ? Jesus said to them : Be- cause of your unbelief. For Amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you." The lesson is simple. Faith and power are in Christ's Kingdom. But how obtain this faith and power? Is it by merely putting additional pressure upon one's reasonable adherence to God and His teaching ? The answer of Jesus to this implied ques- tion (perhaps it was even spoken among the disciples) shows the practical side of faith, even miraculous faith : "And He said to them, this kind [of demon] can go out by nothing but by prayer and fasting." Let a man with but a little grain of faith unite him- self with God in prayer, and conquer his bodily ap- petites by fasting, and he can then conquer devils and remove mountains. 372 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER XLVIII. THE PASSION AGAIN FORETOLD. JESUS AND THE PAYMENT OP THE TAX. THE DISPUTE ABOUT PRECEDENCE. Matt. xvii. 2126, and xviii. 1-5 ; Mark ix. 29-4.0 ; Luke ix. 44-50. 11 AND departing from thence they passed through Galilee and He would not that any man should know it : for He would not walk in Judea because the Jews sought to kill Him." They were tarrying, it would seem, apart from the common route, withdrawn from general contact with the people, when Jesus repeated to the Apostles His prediction of His death and resur- rection. "And when they abode together in Galilee, Jesus said to them : The Son of Man shall be be- trayed into the hands of men, and the}* shall kill Him, and the third day He shall rise again. But they understood not this word, and it was hid from them, so that they perceived it not." St. Matthew adds that "they were troubled exceedingly concerning this word"; and yet they were afraid to ask for further explanation. They wished to take it figura- tively, while it was plain fact and was meant to be taken as such. We shall see that even to the very end they hoped, nay they believed, that it was im- possible that this all-powerful wonder-worker would allow Himself to be put to death. " And when they were come to Capharnaum, they that received the didrachmas came to Peter and said to him : Doth not your Master pay the didrachma ? He said: Yes." This was either the tax of the Tetrarch, Herod-Antipas, or, more probably, the an- nual contribution fixed by the law of Moses for the JESC/S AND THE PA YMENT OF THE TAX. 373 support of the Temple. Peter entered the house to get the money (about thirty cents of our standard), but was anticipated by the Master: "And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying : What is thy opinion, Simon ; the kings of the earth, of whom do they receive tribute or custom ? of their own chil- dren or of strangers ? And he said : Of strangers. Jesus said to him : Then the chil- dren are free." There was no power on earth which could exact tribute from Jesus, or which was not bound to pay Him tribute. He was greater than the Temple, He was Lord of the Herods and the Caesars. But Jesus did not come on earth to stand upon such rights as these, but to save men's souls. Meantime He had trouble enough on His hands without adding a dispute with tax- gatherers. And, finally, to pay "GIVE IT TO THEM FOR ME AND FOR THEE." And when they were come to Caphar- naum, they that received the didrachmas came to Peter and said to him : Doth not your Master pay thedidrachma ? He said : Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying: What is thy opinion, Simon ? The kings of the earth, of whom do they receive tribute or custom ? of their own children or of strangers ? And he said : Of strangers. Jesus said to him : Then the children are free. But that we may not scandalize them, go to the sea, and cast in a hook, and that fish which shall first come up, take, and when thou hast opened its mouth, thou shalt find a stater ; take that, and give it to them for me and for thee. tribute by working a miracle was to gather tribute in- stead of paying it. Hence He not only avoided giving scandal to weak souls, but edified them by teaching His beautiful union with men as members of the church and of the state in the payment of their share for the public support. Jesus said to Peter: " But that we may not scandalize them, go to the sea and cast in a hook, and that fish which shall first come up, take, and when thou hast opened its mouth, thou shalt find a stater ; take that, and give it to them for Me and for thee." We may notice here one of the many cases in which the Saviour distinguished Peter from his brother Apostles. It shows the tender solicitude of our Saviour, that He was constantly reading the thoughts of his 374 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. ties, in their faces, or in their very silence. After the incident of the didrachma tax He perceived that something was the matter. He suspected that they had been disputing hotly. He said : ' ' What did you treat of in the way? But they held their peace, for in the way they had disputed among themselves which of them should be greater." Restiveness under His constant preference for Peter may have caused this dispute. It therefore became necessary to show that this dignity was official and concerned authority. He would plainly indicate that in bestowing office He need not always follow the perfection of personal virtue. And as a matter of fact, Peter, though the highest in the Apostolic order, was not the " disciple whom Jesus loved" by preference. Meantime personal humility was to be cultivated by all, whether in au- thority or in subjection to authority. The bearer of office should be per- sonally as humble as he is official- ly exalted, otherwise he is as per- sonally unworthy as he is officially favored. But let us admire the kindly method our Saviour took to illustrate this. "And calling unto Him a little child, He set him in the midst of them, whom when He had embraced, He saith to them : Amen "WHO IS GREATER IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN." And when they were in the house, he asked them: What did you treat of in the way ? But they held their peace, for in the way they had disputed among them- selves which of them should be greater. But Jesus, seeing the thoughts of their hearts, sitting down, he called the twelve, and said to them : If any man desire to be first, he shall be the last of all and the minister of all. And Jesus, calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them ; whom when he had embraced, he saith to them : Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whosoever, there- fore, shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the Kingdom of Heaven. I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." As if to say, Why dispute about who shall be first in the kingdom before you have found out how to enter it ? A life as blameless as this inno- cent child's is the key. Simplicity, frankness, love, trustfulness, content these childlike virtues are the DISP UTE ABOUT PRECEDENCE. 375 great qualities for citizenship in My Kingdom. Add- ed to these qualities are those that make men leaders, such as wisdom and prudence and fortitude. But it is childlike confidence in God, and a child's trustful love of parents and brothers and sisters and friends and companions : it is this type of character that is the Christian one, whether for subject or for ruler in the kingdom. The Kingdom of Heaven is not a barrack of soldiers but a household of loving parents and children. So Jesus taught. As to authority itself, it has its representatives in the Kingdom of God whose prero- gatives are divine. Jesus had said to His Apostles on a previous occasion that whosoever received them received Him. That was a right attached to their office, and it armed them \\ith a penalty wherewith to punish disobedience. He now and in words very similar enforces that other right which empowers them to stand for God, and not them only but all others, even the simple and the lowly and the igno- rant, all whose personal virtue makes them teachers by the strong right of good example, true counsel or zealous reproof : " And he that shall receive one such little child in My name, receiveth Me. And whoso- ever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me, but Him that sent Me." Our Saviour's comparison of official dignity with personal virtue, even that of childlike innocence and simplicity, bears with it a useful lesson, especially to such as would .make official power the absorbent of all other power in religion. The ideal condition is that in which authority is vested in persons distinguished by private virtue ; these bring to bear in the loving exercise of their office the compulsion of personal holi- ness. We know that even in dealing with sinners 376 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. authority should call them to repen- tance rather by the free motives of love than by the threats of punish- ment, reserving the pressure of the law for the more obstinate, for whom alone it is intended and is necessary. And how can love be made compul- sory except by one who loves and is beloved? It is the will of Christ, says St. Francis de Sales, that we should love obedience more than we fear disobedience. Since the only unitive virtue is love, therefore the original, the per- petual, the all powerful, the exclu- sive means of bringing men into friendship with God and keeping them there must be love : how then can one who does not love hope to save souls ? If we yield a place to fear, it must be an introductory one, the minor orders of that divine priest- hood and hierarchy of persuasion and conversion and perseverance which is conferred upon sanctified souls. The official hierarchy of the Church's ministry was founded by Christ to arm this unofficial hierarchy of personal vir- tue with a divine authority in the external order. By sacraments and dogmas, indeed, the Church is con- stituted ; but sacraments and dogmas generate prayer and patience and zeal and every other form of holy love, which in turn reacts upon them and makes them more fruitful. Happy is the family, and the parish, and the religious community, and the diocese in which " Unless you become as little children, you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven." DISPUTE ABOUT PRECEDENCE. 377 this rule of Christ prevails, and obedience and love are so blended as to be indistinguishably one. Jesus enforced a similar principle on occasion of a complaint made by St. John. When our Saviour had said, " He that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me," John answered Him saying, " Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name, who followeth not with us, and we forbade him. But Jesus said : Do not forbid him. For there is no man that doth a miracle in My name and can soon speak ill of Me." The man who was casting out devils was probably doing so by the regular Rabbinical exorcism, adding, however, the invocation of the name of Jesus, in whose power he believed ; he was evidently a friend of Jesus, for God worked miracles by Him. John's complaint was therefore founded on rash judgment, and voiced rather the jealousy of an official than the charity and zeal of an Apostle. Jesus would say, L,et good men do good ; if they are not plainly in rebellion against My authority they are to be presumed as subject to it; "For," He added, "he that is not against you is for you." This, of course, applies only in favor of the liberty of action of men of good will, for on another occasion, and referring to evil-minded men, our Saviour says the very contrary. 378 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER XLIX. THE SIN OF SCANDAL,. THE GUARDIAN ANGERS. THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE I