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IN MEMRIAM 
 George L>avld3on 
 
 1325-1911 
 
OUR SAVIOUR 
 
BLESSED LORD ANf^AVIOUR 
 
 JEMJS^CHEIST: 
 
 AND 
 
 THE LIVES AND SUFFERINGS 
 
 OF HIS 
 
 HOLY APOSTLES AID EVANGELISTS, 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. JOHN / FLEETWOOD, D.D. 
 
 WITH AN .INTRODUCTION TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED, 
 
 THE LIVES AND LABORS OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS AND MARTYRS FROM THE 
 CRUCIFIXION TO THE REFORMATION. 
 
 
 
 AND 
 
 A HISTORY OF THE JEWS, 
 
 FROM TIIK EARLIEST AGES TO THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 A NEW AND IMPROVED EDITION, WITH NOTES 
 
 BY REV. J. NEWTON BROWN, D.D. 
 
 EDITOR OF "ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE." 
 
 BRADLEY, GARRETSOK & CO., 
 PHILADELPHIA, 66 NORTH FOURTH STREET. 
 
 WILLIAM GARRETSON & CO., 
 
 GALESBURG, ILL. ; COLUMBUS, O. ; NASHVILLE, TESX. ; 
 
 HOUSTON, TEXAS; SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 
 
 1874. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by 
 BRADLEY & CO., 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and 
 for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 IN preparing a new edition of this popular book, it was the 
 desire of the Publishers to make it as perfect as possible for 
 general use. They have spared no pains or expense for this 
 purpose, believing that their efforts will be crowned with 
 public approbation and success. Its typography, engravings, 
 and general appearance, speak for themselves; but the other 
 improvements in this edition may justify a few words of 
 explanation. 
 
 The original edition of this work appeared in Glasgow, 
 Scotland, in 1813, more than fifty years ago. Large and 
 expensive as it was, it soon became a favorite with the Chris- 
 tian public, and several abridgments of it for more popular 
 circulation were attempted by different hands, and executed 
 with various measures of success. No one, however, either in 
 England or in this country, it is believed, has done full justice 
 to the Author, or given entire satisfaction to the public, as 
 .did, for example, Fawcett's abridgment of Baxter's Saints' 
 Rest. Large omissions, extending in some instances to whole 
 chapters of the original work, have been made in these, 
 destroying the connection and completeness of the narrative; 
 apparently just to save the trouble of a careful condensation, 
 which should leave out nothing essential to the perfect Life 
 of Christ. 
 
 In this edition, the utmost care has been taken to restore the 
 continuity of the narrative in the Author's own language. 
 
 His general style is strong and noble t but frequently redun' 
 
 3 
 
dant, and in some parts would bear more retrenchment than has 
 been here attempted. His spirit is candid, reverential and 
 devout, and his doctrine decidedly evangelical. 
 
 Some two hundred Notes have been prepared for this edition, 
 chiefly original. Wherever selected, the name of the Author 
 is always given. These Notes, like the work itself, are entirely 
 unsectarian, and designed to throw new light on the times, 
 places, and persons mentioned in the course of the narrative. 
 A few are argumentative, chiefly confirmatory of the positions 
 of the Author, but in some instances, corrective of his text, 
 from the progressive knowledge of the age on the point in 
 hand. 
 
 In the Notes, as in the body of the work, the introduction 
 of foreign languages has been avoided, as the appearance of 
 them is apt to prejudice the common reader. But the last and 
 best results of modern criticism have been studiously sought out, 
 and embodied in plain and popular English. It is hoped that 
 the true scholar will find no reason to despise this course, 
 although he should find little that to him is absolutely new. 
 All men have not his helps or his attainments; and thousands 
 will be glad to find in a clear, brief Note, at the foot of the 
 page, information which might, without such assistance, have 
 been longed for and sought in vain. 
 
 No notice whatever has been taken in the Notes of the 
 modern theories of Strauss and Renan self-contradictory 
 theories, tricked up for temporary effect, in the forms of a vain 
 philosophy, and a "science falsely so-called." They will have 
 their little day, and then pass into contempt and oblivion ; but 
 the word of the Lord, the life and doctrine of Jesus Christ, 
 the Saviour of the World, will endure forever. 
 
 J. N. B. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE life of our Lord and Saviour on earth comprises 
 a series of events the most interesting and important 
 that have ever taken place in the history of the world. 
 They have exerted a more effective influence on the 
 subsequent destinies of mankind than all the events of 
 all precedent history; and they will exert a still 
 stronger influence till time shall be no more. The hap- 
 piness, both temporal and eternal, of every man living, 
 or that ever will live, is connected with these events, 
 and cannot fail to be varied according to the interest 
 which he takes in them and the degree of influence 
 which he permits them to exert on his own life and 
 conduct. 
 
 Under these circumstances, it is hardly possible for 
 us to be too well informed concerning the events in the 
 life of our Saviour. We read them in the Four Gospels 
 from our childhood up, until our familiarity with the 
 language in which they are written often causes us to 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 everlook its sublime and inspired import. An honest 
 and sincere effort to render the life of our Saviour more 
 clear and intelligible to common readers, by combining 
 in a continuous narrative all its incidents as given in 
 the Four Gospels, should therefore be received with 
 public favor. Such has been pre-eminently the case 
 with Fleetwood's " Life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, and the Lives and Sufferings of his Holy Apos- 
 tles and Evangelists." This plain, unadorned narrative, 
 written in that modest and unpretending style which 
 the sacredness of the subject renders so peculiarly 
 appropriate, has been received with a degree of 
 public favor which is almost without a parallel. The 
 "Pilgrim's Progress" itself has been and is scarcely 
 more popular. The public have recognized it as the 
 book that was wanting; and, if we are right in our 
 estimate of its tendency, it must nave rendered an 
 incalculable amount of service to the cause of reli- 
 gion. 
 
 Real religion must advance in the world precisely in 
 proportion as the true character of our Saviour and the 
 true import of his mission on earth are understood. 
 We should be ever anxious to learn more and more 
 respecting these subjects. We should be ever striving 
 to learn the truth. We should neglect no means of 
 arriving at; it. Having read the life of our Saviour by 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 an uninspired writer, we see the events in a new point 
 of view; and we instantly go back with increased 
 interest to the inspired volume to verify by irrefragable 
 authority every word of what we have just read. This 
 was doubtless the intention of the pious Fleetwood. 
 His purpose was not to make men neglect the Gospels, 
 but to read them more and with greater interest than 
 ever before. If we would know the truth, we should 
 read the Gospels often, with humble prayer for enlight- 
 enment, earnest desire for improvement, and sincere 
 efforts at obedience to the words of our Saviour. His 
 own declaration assures us that our knowledge of the 
 truth will be always proportioned to our loving obe- 
 dience to its dictates. The great use of an uninspired 
 Life of our Saviour is to increase our interest in the 
 subject, and to induce us to study the sacred records 
 more diligently. 
 
 The Lives of the Apostles and Evangelists, though far 
 less important than that of the Saviour, are neverthe- 
 less full of interest for every serious reader. Their 
 labors, sufferings, and martyrdoms, connected as they 
 are with the first days of gospel enlightenment to a 
 benighted and perishing world, possess a value and an 
 interest by no means to be found in any merely secular 
 history ; and their noble example serves to strengthen 
 the impression which we receive from the immaculate 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and perfect example of Him who spake as never man 
 spake. 
 
 The original work of Fleetwood is voluminous and 
 somewhat costly. The present edition is condensed from 
 it ; but it is believed to retain all that is essential to its 
 great purpose of public utility, while it is afforded at 
 a comparatively trifling cost. Such books should be 
 brought within the reach of the humblest inquirer after 
 religious truth. They cannot be too widely diffused. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAGH 
 
 Presage of the Birth of Christ Prediction of the Birth of John the 
 Baptist Salutation of the Blessed Virgin by the Angel Visita- 
 tion of the Virgin Mary to Elizabeth Birth of the Baptist 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 General Decree for Taxation Published Birth of Christ Declara- 
 tion of the same to Shepherds Circumcision and Presentation of 
 Christ in the Temple The Wise Men of the East Worship the 
 Holy Child Flight of Joseph into Egypt Massacre of Infants 
 at Bethlehem Death of Herod Return of Joseph out of Egypt.. 31 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 State of our Lord's Childhood and Private Life His Interview with 
 the Jewish Doctors Mission, Character, and Doctrine of the Bap- 
 tist Baptism of Christ, and Visible Descent of the Holy Spirit on 
 that Solemnity 44 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Commencement of our Saviour's Ministry His Temptation in the 
 Wilderness Deputation of the Sanhedrin to John the Baptist 
 First Miracle wrought by the Blessed Jesus 53 
 
 CHAPTER V. , 
 
 Expulsion of the Profaners of the Temple Jesus converses with 
 Nicodemus Baptizes in Judea Instructs a Poor Samaritan 
 Heals a Sick Person at Capernaum Retires again to Nazareth, 
 and is Expelled thence by his Impious Countrymen 66 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Our Lord Proceeds to Capernaum Adds to the Number of his Fol- 
 lowers Proclaims the Gospel in Galilee Preaches to a numerous 
 Audience his well-known and excellent Discourse upon the Mount. 87 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Our blessed Lord Cures the Leprosy and Palsy Casts out a Devil 
 Succors the. Mother-in-law of Peter, and afterward pursues his 
 
 Journey through the Country of Galilee 105 
 
 9 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 t 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. PAGB 
 
 Jesus Confirms his Mission by producing a Miraculous draught of 
 Fishes Curing the Leprosy a Second Time Appeasing the Boist- 
 erous Waves Casting Devils out of divers Persons grievously 
 Possessed Ill 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Our Lord proceeds in Acts of Mercy and Benevolence Adds Mat- 
 thew to the number of Disciples Casts out an Evil Spirit Passes 
 again through Galilee Selects Twelve from among his Disciples, 
 as his Constant Followers and Companions, and Addresses the 
 Multitude in an Excellent Discourse 119 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Continuation of our Lord's Glorious Doctrines Beneficent Acts 
 and Astonishing Miracles wrought in Confirmation of the Divinity 
 of his Mission, and the Extending of his Heavenly Kingdom 135 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The Character of John the Baptist Cleared and Justified by the 
 Blessed Jesus He Visits Simon, the Pharisee Display of our 
 Lord's Humility and Condescension 141 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Miraculous Cure Effected at the Pool of Bethesda Reproof of the 
 Superstition of the Jews in Condemning 1 the Performance of Ne- 
 cessary Works on the Sabbath Day After doing many Acts of 
 Mercy and Wonder, our Blessed Lord is visited by his Mother and 
 his Brethren, and makes a Spiritual Reflection on that Incident.. . 149 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Our Lord Delivers many Remarkable Parables, and Explains several 
 of them He returns to Nazareth, and Commissions the Twelve 
 Apostles, whom he had before Selected as his Constant Attendants 
 and Followers, to Disperse and Preach the Gospel of the Kingdom 
 of God in divers Places Circumstances of the Death of John the 
 Baptist 161 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Our Lord adds to the Confirmation of his Mission and Doctrine by 
 working a Miracle in the Wilderness of Bethsaida The People, 
 struck with the Power and Grace of the Blessed Jesus r propose to 
 raise him to the Earthly Dignity of King Peter, by Means of his 
 Blessed Master, Performs a Miracle in Walking upon the Sea 173 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Pharisaical Superstition severely Reprimanded The Great Redeemer 
 continues to Display his Power and Benevolence in the Relief of 
 several Objects of Affliction Guards his Disciples against the 
 Prevailing Errors and Fallacies of the Scribes and Pharisees 
 Proceeds on the Works of. his Heavenly Father 184 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. PAGE 
 
 The Blessed Jesus delegates a Special Power to Peter as one of his 
 Disciples Pronounces the Final Judgment of the World, and is 
 afterward Transfigured upon the Mount 195 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Our Saviour Relieves a Youth Tortured with a Dumb Spirit Con- 
 forms cheerfully to the Custom of the Country, by Paying the 
 Tribute Reproves the Pride of his Disciples,' and Delivers some 
 Excellent Moral' Precepts 203 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Our Blessed Lord quits Galilee .Finally He goes up Privately to 
 Jerusalem Addresses the Multitude at the Solemn Feast of Ta- 
 bernacles Exempts the Woman taken in Adultery from the Pun- 
 ishment annexed by the Jews to that Crime Escapes from the 
 Snares laid for him by the inveterate Scribes and Pharisees 212 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Our Lord continues to work Miracles in Confirmation of his Mis- 
 sion and Doctrine Calls forth and sends out Seventy Disciples 
 Preaches to the People of Judea, by way of Parable 232 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The humble Jesus resides with Martha arid Mary, two Obscure 
 Women of Bethany Improves a Circumstance which occurred -at 
 the Feast of Dedication Prescribes a Mode of Prayer to "his 
 Disciples and future Followers Rebukes some of the Pharisaical 
 Tribe 24:3 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Explanation of the Origin and Opinions of the different Sects among 
 the Jews Our Lord teaches the Multitude by plain Discourse, 
 and also by Parables 251 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Blessed Jesus accepts the Pharisee's Invitation Delivers divers 
 Parables, representing the Requisites for Admittance into the 
 Kingdom of God the Care of the Redeemer for every one of his 
 People The Reception of a Penitent Sinner, and the Punishment 
 of misusing the benefits of the Gospel 269 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Jesus Rebukes the insolent Derision of the Pharisees Describes, by 
 a Parable, the Nature of Future Rewards and Punishments, and 
 Enforces the Doctrine of mutual Forbearance 231 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Our Lord is applied to in behalf of Sick Lazarus Cures Ten Persons 
 of the Leprosy in Perea, and restores Lazarus to Life 2S4 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. PAGE 
 
 The Great Prophet of Israel Foretells the Ruin of the Jewish State, 
 and Enforces many Important Doctrines by Parable He Blesseth 
 the Children, as Emblems of the Heavenly and Christian Temper 
 and Disposition 295 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Our Lord Departs from his Retirement Declares the only way of 
 Salvation Shows the duty of Improving the Means of Grace by 
 the Parable of the Vineyard Prediction of his Suffering, and 
 Contention of the Disciples about Precedence in his Kingdom .... 301 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 The Benevolent Saviour restores sight to the Blind at Jericho 
 Kindly regards Zaccheus, the Publican Delivers the Parable of 
 the Servants entrusted with their Lord's Money Accepts the 
 kind offices of Mary Makes a Public Entry into Jerusalem 307 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Jesus Pronounces a Curse upon the Fig Tree Expels again the 
 Profaners of the Temple Asserts his Divine Authority, and De- 
 livers two Parables 313 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 The Blessed Jesus wisely Retorts on the Pharisees and Herodians, 
 who Propound an Intricate Question to Him Settles the most 
 Important Point of the Law Enforces his Mission and Doctrine, 
 and Foretells the Judgment that would Fall upon the Pharisaical 
 Tribe , 324 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Our Saviour commends even the Smallest Act proceeding from a 
 truly Benevolent motive Predicts the Demolition of the Magnifi- 
 cent Temple of Jerusalem, and Delivers several Instructive Para- 
 bles 334 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Our Blessed Lord is Anointed by a Poor but Pious Woman The 
 Perfidious Judas consents to Betray his Master The humble Jesus 
 Washes the Feet of his Disciples, and Foretells that Disciple who 
 was to Betray him into the hands of his Inveterate Enemies 359 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Jesus Institutes the Sacrament in Commemoration of his Death and 
 Suffering Settles a Dispute which arose among his Disciples 
 Predicts Peter's Cowardice in denying his Master Fortifies his 
 Disciples 'against the Approaching Shock Foretells Peter's Cow- 
 ardice again Preaches to., and Prays with his Disciples for the 
 Last Time Agonizing Address of our Lord to his Father in the 
 Garden 370 
 
CONTENTS. 13 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. PAXJB 
 
 The Blessed Redeemer is taken by a Band of Soldiers at the Infor- 
 mation of the Traitor Judas Heals a Wound given the High- 
 Priest's servant by Simon Peter Fulfilment of our Lord's Predic- 
 tion concerning Peter The Saviour of the World is Arraigned at . 
 the Bar of the Sanhedrin, and tried by the 'Jewish Council 392 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Our Blessed Saviour is Carried before the Roman Governor The 
 Traitor Judas becomes his own Executioner Pilate Publicly Ac- 
 quits Jesus and Refers his Case to the Decision of Herod 406 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 The Roman Governor, for want of Evidence, proposes to Acquit and 
 Release Jesus three several times ; but, at the Pressing Instiga- 
 tion of the Jews, he Condemns arid Delivers him up 415 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 The Innocent, Immaculate Redeemer is led forth to Mount Calvary 
 and there Ignominiously Crucified between Two Malefactors A 
 Phenomenon Appears on the Important Occasion Our Lord 
 Addresses his Friends from the Cross, and gives up the Ghost 424 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 The Blessed Jesus Treated with Indignity after his Crucifixion A 
 Pious Person Begs his Body from Pilate in order for Interment . . 440 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Two Pious Women go to View the Sepulchre of their Crucified Lord 
 and Saviour An Awful Phenomenon Happens A Ministering 
 Spirit Descends The Redeemer Bursts the Chain of Death and 
 Rises from the Tomb . 446 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX., 
 
 Jesus Appears on Divers Occasions to different Disciples Reproves 
 and Convinces Thomas of his Unbelief Shows himself to a great 
 number of his Followers in Galilee 459 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Our Blessed Lord Instructs his Disciples in what manner they 
 should Conduct themselves in order to Propagate the Doctrines 
 of the Gospel Gives them his Final Blessing arid Ascends into 
 Heaven General Review of the Life and Doctrines of the Great 
 Redeemer 472 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 Remarks on the Peculiar Nature of the Christian Religion, the Prin- 
 ciples it Inculcates, and its Fitness to render men Holy and 
 Humble here, arid Happily Glorified hereafter 481 
 
14 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES AND EVANGELISTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ST. PETER 500 
 
 ST. PAUL 523 
 
 ST. ANDREW 555 
 
 ST. JAMES THE GREAT 561 
 
 ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST 5G4 
 
 ST. PHILIP 568 
 
 ST. BARTHOLOMEW 571 
 
 ST. MATTHEW 574 
 
 ST. THOMAS 576 
 
 ST. JAMES THE LESS 580 
 
 ST. SIMON, THE ZEALOT 583 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ST. JUDE 585 
 
 ST. MATTHIAS 587 
 
 ST. MARK 088 
 
 ST. LUKE 591 
 
 BARNABAS 594 
 
 STEPHEN 601 
 
 TIMOTHY 603 
 
 TITUS 606 
 
 JOHN MARK 607 
 
 CLEMENT . 609 
 
 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS AND MARTYRS, FROM 
 THE FIRST CENTURY TO THE REFORMATION. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 SIMEON 612 
 
 ION ATIUS 615 
 
 POLYCARP 619 
 
 JUSTIN MARTYR 623 
 
 IREN^US 625 
 
 THEOPHTLUS 629 
 
 ATHENAOORAS. 630 
 
 PANT^NUS 632 
 
 "CLEMENT, OF ALEXANDRIA 633 
 
 TERTULLIAN , 638 
 
 HIPPOLYTUS 643 
 
 ORIGEN 646 
 
 CYPRIAN 652 
 
 NOVATIAN 657 
 
 GREGORY THAUMATURGUS 659 
 
 PAMPHILUS 662 
 
 EUSEBIUS 663 
 
 DONATUS 664 
 
 COXSTANTINE THE GREAT 666 
 
 ATHANASIUS.. . . 671 
 
 PAGE 
 
 HILARY OF POITIERS 673 
 
 ULPHILAS 674 
 
 BASIL OF CESAREA 675 
 
 GREGORY NAZIANZEN 677 
 
 JOHN CHRYSOSTOM 678 
 
 DIDYMUS 681 
 
 SISIUNIUS 681 
 
 AMBROSE 683 
 
 JEROME 685 
 
 VIGILANTIUS 687 
 
 AUGUSTINE 690 
 
 PATRICK 693 
 
 BENEDICT 698 
 
 COLUMBAN 702 
 
 CONSTANTINE SYLVANUS 703 
 
 PETER WALDO 707 
 
 JOHN WICKLIFFE 709 
 
 JOHN Huss 712 
 
 MARTIN LUTHER 714 
 
 JOHN CALVIN... ... 718 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS 
 
THE HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PRESAGE OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST PREDICTION OF THE 
 
 BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST SALUTATION OF THE 
 
 BLESSED VIRGIN BY THE ANGEL VISITATION OF THE 
 
 VIRGIN MARY TO ELIZABETH BIRTH OF THE BAPTIST. 
 
 No event that ever did, or perhaps will, happen, can 
 more remarkably display the wisdom and power of the 
 great Jehovah, than the glorious manner in which he 
 brought life and immortality to light, by the gospel of 
 his only Son, manifested in the flesh. 
 
 History, as it refers merely to human events, is a 
 pleasing and instructing subject ; but that which relates 
 to our immortal interests certainly claims our most 
 serious regard. 
 
 If we -survey the stupendous works of the creation, we 
 shall find that few arrived at perfection at once. This 
 observation is amply confirmed by the various produc- 
 tions in the natural and changes in the moral world. 
 The Supreme Being, who conducts all his operations 
 according to infinite wisdom, appears to have retained 
 the same maxim in regulating his kindest dispensations 
 to the sons of men. The divine will was not revealed, 
 
 15 
 
16 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 at first, in its clearest evidence and fullest splendor. 
 The dawn, in a spiritual as well as in a natural sense, 
 preceded the meridian glory ; the former revelation was 
 but a type or earnest of the latter, and, in comparison 
 with it, intricate and mysterious. 
 
 The all-gracious God, as it seemed best to his unerring 
 wisdom, was pleased, by degrees, to open and unfold his 
 glorious counsels ; and man, by degrees, attained to the 
 knowledge of the great plan of salvation, and the means 
 used by its great Author to promote and establish it.* 
 
 Sometime before the incarnation of the blessed Jesus, 
 an opinion prevailed among the pious part of the Jews, 
 
 * Among these providential means, as Dr. Turnbull has shown in his 
 valuable work, " Christ in History," was the choice of a CENTRAL 
 NATION, to receive and lift up the torch of heavenly light amid the 
 surrounding darkness. " As in society at large we find a central power, 
 in religion a central principle, and in philosophy a central idea, it may 
 be presumed that in the succession of human affairs, we shall find 
 among the nations, in a more or less perfect form, a central or a chosen 
 people, whether named church, or theocracy, or kingdom of God. We 
 may expect not only a succession of divine facts, maintaining religion 
 in the world, but a succession of individuals, families, and communi- 
 ties, perhaps some one community differing from all the rest in gifts, 
 attainments, and usages, fitted to retain and transmit to all genera- 
 tions, and finally to the whole world, the principles and hopes of a 
 perfect religion." 
 
 Such a people were the ancient Hebrews. Such a land was Judea 
 for fifteen hundred years. What the United States is in the modern 
 world, midway between the two great oceans and continents, was 
 Palestine in the ancient world, at the head of the Mediterranean sea, 
 the very centre of intercourse and influence alike to Asia, Africa, and 
 Europe. Thus its geographical position precisely corresponded with 
 the character and destination of its people, nor could we find any 
 other spot then and thus happily situated for fulfilling the merciful 
 purposes of the Most High. As Moses himself says, "When the 
 Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated 
 the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the 
 number of the children of Israel." Deut. xxii. 8. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 17 
 
 that the great Jehovah would condescend to favor them 
 with a clear revelation of his divine will, by the mission 
 of some eminent person, qualified from above to instruct 
 them in the same. This opinion was founded on the 
 predictions of the ancient prophets, who had described, 
 with the utmost beauty and clearness, the person, char- 
 acter, and glory of the Messiah, appointed by God, in his 
 own time, to declare his eternal counsels to mankind. 
 
 Relying on the fulfilment of these prophecies, the 
 devout persons among the Jews imagined the time 
 appointed by God was near at hand,* and that the 
 
 * Four prophecies in the Old Testament seem to furnish just grounds 
 for such an expectation at that time. 
 
 1. The prophecy of Jacob on his death-bed (Gen. xlix. 8-9). SHILOH, 
 in this prediction, can mean no other than the Messiah ; for our Lord 
 sprang out of Judah, and this was the crowning blessing, the grand dis- 
 tinction of this tribe, whose privileges Jacob is here predicting. Besides 
 the name here given him, the PEACEMAKER, can fitly apply to no other. 
 And to him alone is to be the gathering of all nations here foretold. 
 
 The Messiah being then, beyond doubt, the subject of the prophecy, 
 we need only inquire into the time here set for his manifestation on 
 earth " before the sceptre shall depart from Judah." The sceptre is 
 the well known sign of royal authority. But Judah did not attain to 
 royal authority till the time of David, and then not simply as a tribe, 
 but as a State or kingdom, embracing within its Jimits Judah and Ben- 
 jamin. These it retained after the rupture under Rehoboam, and re- 
 ceived from the revolted kingdom of Israel a large accession of loyal 
 priests. The royal authority was rather suspended than destroyed at 
 the captivity, and was revived afterward, first in modified and then in 
 independent form, by the Maccabees (B. C. 163), who though of the 
 priestly race, belonged to Judah. Now the last of that royal race were 
 the two sons of Herod the Great, by Mariamne, who were put to death 
 in the thirty-first year of his reign : the very year (according to Dr. 
 Jarvis) in which the angel Gabriel was sent to Zacharias in the temple, 
 to announce the birth of John the Baptist, as the harbinger of the 
 Messiah. Archelaus, who succeeded, and for eight years reigned over 
 Judea, was the son of Herod by a Samaritan mother. After his 
 removal, Judea was reduced to a province, governed by a Roman pro- 
 
18 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 appointed Messiah would shortly make his appearance, 
 and therefore are said to " have waited night and day 
 for the Consolation of Israel." The people, at that time 
 grievously oppressed by the Roman power, and conse- 
 
 curator. What Jew could fail to see in these events that u the sceptre 
 had departed from Judah," and hence that the predicted time of the 
 Messiah was come ? 
 
 2. The same conclusion would be reached by a study of the second 
 chapter of Daniel, especially the forty-fourth verse. The kingdom set 
 up on earth by the God of heaven can be no other than the kingdom of 
 the Messiah, and the conquest of the whole world by the iron energy of 
 the Roman arms, would leave no doubt that the time of the Messiah's 
 advent and kingdom drew nigh. 
 
 3. The kindred prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (Dan. ix. 24-27) fixed 
 the time still more precisely ; and was evidently designed to do so, though 
 many modern interpreters, from various causes, have missed the sense 
 of certain parts, especially of the dates on which the computation of 
 time proceeds. We are sorry to find the late indefatigable Professor 
 Stuart in this category. A Masoretic pointing, manifestly false, 
 plunges him into a perplexity which he is frank enough to confess. 
 But as the Septuagint version, then current in Judea, has no such 
 absurd pointing, we need not hesitate to reject it as an error of the 
 Masorite Jews. Even he, however, admits that the key-verse of the 
 passage (the twenty-fourth) refers to the period and to the purposes of 
 the Messiah's coming, and that the Seventy Weeks are weeks of years, 
 making four hundred and ninety years. He would indeed reckon this 
 designated period from the decree of Cyrus for the return of the Jews 
 (B. C. 536) ; but even he can find no great event in Jewish history to cor- 
 respond to this view of the case. Whereas, if we fix the first date from 
 the solemn decree of Artaxerxes and his seven counsellors, in the 
 seventh year of his reign (B. C. 455), its termination, even allowing 
 for slight errors in the chronology of the times, will embrace the very 
 years of our Lord's manifestation, ministry, and death. As the death of 
 Christ, which caused the Jewish " sacrifice and offering to cease " (so 
 far as its value was concerned), by fulfilling the type, was to occur 
 " in the midst of the week," or last seven years of the period, the re- 
 maining three years and a half conduct us to the time of the "open- 
 ing of the door of faith to the Gentiles." Thus every thing becomes 
 clear. And what is to our present purpose, Jesus himself opened his 
 ministry with the decisive words, " The time is fulfilled ; the kingdom 
 of God is at hand . Repent ve. and believe the glad tidings," Mark i. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 19 
 
 quently anxious of regaining their liberty, as well 
 as of revenging themselves on their tyrannical op- 
 pressors, waited the accomplishment of the prophecies 
 with the most solicitous desire. But this opinion of the 
 
 14, 15. A time fulfilled must certainly presuppose a time predicted. 
 And in predicting the destruction of Jerusalem, as the consequence of 
 not knowing "the time of his visitation, " our Lord refers to this very 
 prophecy, with the admonition, "Let him that readeth, understand." 
 Mark xiii. 14. 
 
 4. The prophecy of Haggai (ii. 3-9) of still later date, points to the 
 same general conclusion. In it he consoled the aged Jews, who wept 
 at the laying of the foundation of the second temple, by the assurance 
 that " the glory of the latter house shall be greater than of the former." 
 
 But how could this be ? In material richness and splendor it never 
 approached the former, not even when afterward repaired, enlarged, and 
 adorned by Herod the Great. Herod employed ten thousand laborers ; 
 Solomon one hundred and eighty-three thousand ; and as to expendi- 
 ture, all Herod's revenues were trifling compared with the wealth 
 lavished on the former house by Solomon, which at a. moderate calcu- 
 lation, would be sufficient to pay the present national debt of the 
 United States and Great Britain combined ! Miraculous gifts also 
 glorified the first temple, which were utterly wanting in the second. 
 No fire from heaven, such as kindled the flame on the altar of the first 
 house, descended on the second. No Shechinah dwelt in the Holy of 
 Holies, between the cherubim. Even the ark propitiatory and the 
 cherubim were wanting ; the oracle from the mercy seat and Urim and 
 Thummim never gave to it a single ray of their mysterious glory. 
 
 In what way, then, could this prophecy of Haggai be fulfilled ? Only 
 in the way expressly promised, that " the Desire of all nations, the light 
 to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel," should come 
 into it, and thus glorify it by his sacred presence and teachings. The 
 words of Malachi, later by a hundred years, thus expound and confirm 
 it : "And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come into his temple, 
 even the Messenger of the Covenant whom ye delight in ; behold, he 
 shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." Mai. iii. 1. Thus the voice of the 
 prophet who closed up the inspired canon of the Old Testament, joined 
 the voices of the former prophets, as if to keep the people who wor- 
 shipped in that second house, forever on the tiptoe of expectation for 
 the appearance of the Messiah, until his infant form was at length 
 clasped in the arms of the aged Simeon. 
 
20 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 approach of a general Deliverer extended much farther 
 than the country of the Jews ; for, through their con- 
 nection with so many countries, their disputes with the 
 learned men among the heathen, and the translation of 
 the Old Testament into a language now almost general, 
 their religion greatly prevailed in the East, and conse- 
 quently their opinion, that a prince would appear in the 
 kingdom of Judea, who would dispel the mists of igno- 
 rance, deliver the Jews from the Roman yoke, and spread 
 his dominion from one end of the world to the other. 
 
 While the Eastern world was fraught with, these san- 
 guine hopes, the Angel Gabriel, who had appeared to 
 Daniel the prophet, with a certain information as to the 
 period of the Messiah's coming,* as well as his transac- 
 tions in this lower world, was sent to Zacharias, a pious 
 priest, while he was executing his office before God, in 
 the order of his course (which was to burn incense when 
 he went into the temple of the Lord), to foretell that a 
 child would spring from him and his wife Elizabeth, 
 though they were stricken in years, who should be en- 
 dowed with extraordinary gifts from heaven, and honored 
 with being the forerunner of the Saviour of the world. 
 
 Zacharias, when he saw the angel, though he probably 
 knew him to be of heavenly extraction, could not judge 
 the subject of his mission, and therefore discovered a 
 mixture of fear and surprise, but the heavenly ambas- 
 sador cheered his desponding soul with this kind address: 
 " Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy 
 wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call 
 his name John." That he waited, day and night, for 
 the consolation of Israel, he well knew ; which is all we 
 
 * See note, page 17, 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 21 
 
 can understand by his prayer being heard ; for it was un- 
 natural in him to think that he and his wife Elizabeth, 
 who were advanced in years, should have a son ; nay, 
 he intimates his doubts concerning it in these words : 
 " Whereby shall I know this ? for I am an old man, and 
 my wife well stricken in years." Besides, he was a 
 priest of the course of Abia, whose particular office was 
 to pray on behalf of the people, for public and national 
 blessings ; so that it is very reasonable to think that on all 
 occasions of public worship he prayed most earnestly for 
 the accomplishment of the prophecies relative to the ap- 
 pearance of the long-expected Messiah, who was promised 
 as a general blessing to all the nations of the earth. 
 
 That this was the great subject of his prayer appears 
 from the declaration of Gabriel : The prayer thou hast 
 directed with sincerity to an Almighty ear, con- 
 cerning the coming of the Messiah, "is heard; and, 
 behold, thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son," 
 who shall prepare the way for the mighty Redeemer of 
 Israel. The good old priest was much astonished at the 
 subject of his mission, as he was at the appearance of the 
 messenger; and esteeming it impossible that his wife, 
 thus advanced in years, should conceive a son, weakly 
 demanded a sign, to confirm his belief in the fulfilment 
 of the promise, though he knew the authority of the 
 angel was derived from the God of truth. But, as it is 
 the lot of humanity to err, Zacharias had, for that time, 
 forgot that nothing was impossible to Omnipotence, as 
 well as that it 'was not the first time the aged were 
 caused to conceive and bear children. The least reflec- 
 tion would have reminded him that Sarah had conceived 
 and borne Isaac when she was far advanced in years ; 
 
22 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 and that Samuel was born of a woman who was reputed, 
 and even called, barren. 
 
 His curiosity was, indeed, gratified, but in a manner 
 that carried with it at once a confirmation of the pro- 
 mise, and a punishment of his unbelief. As he had 
 verbally testified his doubt of the fulfilment of the predic- 
 tion of the angel, he was punished with the loss of his 
 speech, which was to continue to the very day in which 
 the prediction should be accomplished : " Behold, thou 
 shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that 
 these things shall be performed, because thou believest 
 not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season." 
 
 Zacharias soon received an awful testimony of the 
 divinity of the mission of Gabriel, who was no sooner 
 departed than he was struck dumb ; for when he came 
 to pray in the course of his office during the oblation of 
 his incense, he could not utter a word, and was under a 
 necessity of making signs to the people that an angel 
 had appeared to him in the temple, and that he was 
 deprived of the faculty of speech, as a punishment for 
 his doubting the fulfilment of an event which had been 
 foretold concerning him. 
 
 Soon after Zacharias departed to his own house (the 
 days of his ministration being accomplished), his wife 
 Elizabeth, according to the prediction of the angel, con- 
 ceived, and retired into a private place, where she lived 
 five months in the uninterrupted exercise of piety, 
 devotipn, and contemplation on the mysterious provi- 
 dence of the Almighty, and his amazing goodness to the 
 sinful children of men.* 
 
 * Nothing could be more important or indicative of the care of divine 
 Providence, than the appointment of a Forerunner to the Messiah, the 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 23 
 
 When Elizabeth was advanced six months in her 
 pregnancy, the same heavenly ambassador was sent to a 
 poor virgin, called Mary, who lived in obscurity in 
 Nazareth, under the care of Joseph, to whom she was 
 espoused. This man and woman were both lineally 
 descended from the house of David, from whose loins it 
 was foretold the great Messiah should spring.* 
 
 This virgin, being ordained by the Most High to be 
 the mother of the great Saviour of the world, was saluted 
 by the angel in the most respectful terms : " Hail, thou 
 that art highly favored ; the Lord is with thee : blessed 
 
 miraculous circumstances of whose birth were so admirably fitted to 
 shield from suspicion the character of the Virgin Mother of our Lord. 
 Those who lose sight of this connection, dishonor the Scriptures and 
 the wisdom of God in the method of human redemption. 
 
 There is a unity in the scheme of Prophecy, as well as in its fulfil- 
 ment. Three Old Testament prophecies predicted the mission of 
 Christ's forerunner. Isaiah xl. 2-11 ; Malachi iii. 1 ; iv. 5, 6. His 
 birth, therefore, was necessary, but the manner of it is a new develop- 
 ment of the tender mercy of God ; which, the more it is studied, must 
 fill us with increasing delight and adoration. 
 
 * "St. Matthew dates the Messianic hope from David and from 
 Abraham, and binds Christianity with the promises of the anciert 
 covenant. St. Luke, on the contrary, places the corresponding descent 
 not before the Birth, but after the Baptism, and represents Christ as 
 the second Adam, the Son of God. In the one case, we see a royal 
 infant born by a legal title to a glorious inheritance (though by his 
 very name, destined to save his people from their sins) ; and in the 
 other, a ministering Saviour, who bears the natural sum of human sor- 
 row (and gives his life a ransom for many). 
 
 "Even in the lines of descent, which extend through the period 
 common to the two genealogies, there is a characteristic difference. 
 St. Matthew follows the course of the royal inheritance of Solomon, 
 whose natural lineage was closed by the childless Jehoiachim ; St. Luke 
 traces, through Nathan, the natural parentage of the Son of David. 
 In St. Matthew, the birth of Christ is connected with national glories ; 
 in St. Luke, with pious hopes." Westcott on the Four Gospels, 1862. 
 
24 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 art thou among women ! " Such an address, from so 
 exalted a being, greatly alarmed the meek and humble 
 virgin ; to allay whose fear, and encourage whose heart, 
 the angel related, in the most sublime terms, the subject 
 of his embassy, which was to assure her that she was 
 the chosen of God to the greatest honor which could be 
 conferred on a mortal, and which would perpetuate her 
 memory; an honor no less than that of being mother 
 of the promised and long-expected Messiah, who upon 
 earth should be called Jesus, because he shall save the 
 people from their sins, be the restorer of human nature, 
 and the procuring cause of eternal bliss to sinners who 
 had forfeited the favor and incurred the resentment of 
 an offended God : that this divine person was the Son 
 of the Most High God : to whom should be given, by his 
 Almighty Father, a throne in the heavenly kingdom, on 
 which he should gloriously preside, and which, being the 
 whole church of Christ, the house of Jacob, the spiritual 
 Israel, or the kingdom of the Messiah, should continue 
 forever and ever. 
 
 The astonished virgin, unmindful that Isaiah had 
 long since prophesied '-'that a virgin should conceive 
 and bear a son," thought her virginity an insurmount- 
 able barrier to the fulfilment of the promise, especially 
 as such an event had never occurred since the creation 
 of the world; and therefore required of the angel an 
 explanation of the manner in which such a circumstance 
 could be effected. 
 
 This desire by no means implies her not remembering 
 that with God all things were possible, but only serves 
 to prove the weakness of her apprehensions on the one 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 25 
 
 hand, or her diffidence and sense of her unworthiness 
 on the other. 
 
 The angel, therefore, perceiving the uprightness of 
 her disposition, notwithstanding some little proof of 
 human weakness and shortness of sight, vouchsafed an 
 immediate answer to her inquiry : " The Holy Ghost 
 shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest 
 shall overshadow thee ; " or, in other words, This miracu- 
 lous event shall be brought about by the aid of the Holy 
 Spirit and wonderful exertion of the power of the Most 
 High. As thy conception will be effected by the imme- 
 diate influence of the Holy Ghost, " therefore also that 
 holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called 
 the Son of God." To confirm her faith in the glorious 
 message, the heavenly messenger observed to her, that 
 her cousin Elizabeth, notwithstanding her advanced 
 years and reputed barrenness, was about six months 
 pregnant ; assigning this incontestable argument for the 
 miraculous incident : " For with God nothing shall be 
 impossible." 
 
 This reply not only removed all her doubts and fears, 
 but filled her with inexpressible joy, so that she even 
 anticipated the promised felicity ; for she, with the rest 
 of the daughters of Jacob, had long indulged a hope of 
 being selected by God to be the honored mother of the 
 Saviour of Israel ;* and therefore, on her being assured 
 that such happiness was destined her by the great Dis- 
 poser of all events, she thus expressed her reliance on 
 the fulfilment of the Divine promise, and perfect acquies- 
 
 * This is too strongly expressed. According to the Scriptures, none 
 but the daughters of Judah, in the line of David, could entertain a 
 reasonable expectation of this sort. 
 
26 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 cence in the will of the Almighty : " Behold the hand- 
 maid of the Lord! be it unto me according to thy 
 word." * 
 
 The angel had no sooner departed, than Mary set out 
 for the mountainous country of Judea, though at a very 
 remote distance from Nazareth, in order to rejoice with 
 her cousin Elizabeth in the joyful news she had received 
 from the angel concerning her. The rapture and delight 
 which filled the minds of Mary and Elizabeth, on the 
 occasion of this salutation, can only be conceived from 
 the affecting description recorded by the evangelist Luke, 
 who is peculiar for the beauty of his style and elegance 
 of his expressions. 
 
 That evangelist writes, that the salutation of Mary 
 had such an effect upon Elizabeth, that on hearing of 
 the miraculous event that had befallen the virgin, the 
 babe leaped within her, and that she, being inspired 
 with a holy delight on the approaching prospect of the 
 nativity of her Saviour, exclaimed with rapture, " And 
 
 * The acquiescence here expressed in the Divine Will, implies a far 
 greater trial and triumph of faith than is generally imagined. This is 
 well set forth by Mr. Ellicott, in his Bampton Lectures on the Life of 
 Christ : " With the rapid foreglance of thought she must have seen in 
 the clouded future scorn, dereliction, the pointed finger of a mocking 
 and uncharitable world, calumny, shame, death. But what was a 
 world's scorn or a world's persecution to those words of promise? 
 Faith sustains that possible shrinking from more than mortal trial, 
 and turns it into meekness and resignation : ' Behold the handmaid 
 of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word. ' 
 
 " From that hour the blessed Virgin seems ever to appear before us 
 in that character, which the notices of the Gospels so consistently 
 demonstrate, meek and pensive, meditative and resigned, blest with 
 joys no tongue can tell, and yet, even in the first hour of her blessed- 
 ness, beginning to feel one edge of the sword that was to pierce 
 through her loving and submissive heart." 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. . 27 
 
 whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should 
 come to me ? " (Luke i. 43.) Nor did her ecstasy cease 
 with this token of humility and joy on the important 
 event, in the ardor of which she evinced that prophetic 
 influence, which, while it amazed the blessed virgin, 
 could not fail of establishing her belief in what the angel 
 had foretold ; for she repeated the very words expressed 
 by the angel in his salutation of the holy virgin, 
 " Blessed art thou among women ; " together with a 
 quotation from the Psalms, " and blessed is the fruit of 
 thy womb." 
 
 Mary conceived the Seed long promised and earnestly 
 desired ; the Seed in whom all the nations of the earth 
 were to be blessed, according to the words of the Psalm- 
 ist : " His name shall continue as long as the sun ; and 
 men shall be blessed in him ; all nations shall call him 
 blessed." The happy virgin, catching the holy flame 
 from the aged Elizabeth, broke out into an humble 
 acknowledgment of her unworthiness, and the wonder- 
 ful grace of the Almighty in appointing her to the exalted 
 honor of bearing the Redeemer of Israel, as expressed 
 in these known words, " My soul doth magnify the 
 Lord," etc. 
 
 Thus having, by this visit, confirmed herself in the 
 belief of the prediction of the angel Gabriel, when the 
 period of Elizabeth's pregnancy approached, she returned 
 to Nazareth, having resided in Judea about three 
 months. 
 
 Soon after the departure of Mary, Elizabeth brought 
 forth a son, the appointed harbinger of the King of 
 Glory ; and on the eighth day after his birth, according 
 to the Judaical custom, he was circumcised, and called. 
 
28 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 agreeably to the appointment of the angel, John; 
 alluding, in the Hebrew tongue, to the gracious display 
 of the wisdom and goodness of God, who was about to 
 manifest himself to the world by the spreading of the 
 gospel of his Son, of whom this John was the appointed 
 forerunner. 
 
 The promise being thus fulfilled, the aged priest was 
 restored to his speech, and immediately broke out into 
 praise and rapture at the marvellous works of God, in 
 strains which astonished all around him. 
 
 This surprising event greatly agitated the people of 
 the adjacent country, who were divided in their opinions 
 concerning a child whose birth was attended with so 
 many extraordinary circumstances. Indeed, these inci- 
 dents were worthy of general admiration ; that he who 
 was to be the forerunner of the mighty Saviour of Israel 
 should not make his entrance on life in an obscure and 
 common manner, but with particular tokens of the favor 
 of Heaven, in order to attract the observation of his 
 countrymen, and excite their attention to that ministry 
 which he is called to by the blessed God, even the pre- 
 paration of the people for the reception of the Messiah, 
 who was shortly to appear in the flesh. 
 
 It is observable that the Baptist, from his infancy, 
 displayed great qualities both of mind and body ; for 
 such was his strength of constitution, through the bless- 
 ing of the God of nature, that he lived till near the 
 thirtieth year of his age, when his public ministry began, 
 in the mountainous and desert country of Judea, bereft 
 of almost all the comforts of life. But at length the 
 prophecy of the good old Zacharias, relating to his future 
 elevation, was literally fulfilled : " Thou, child, shalt 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 29 
 
 be called the Prophet of the Highest ; for thou shalt go 
 before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give 
 knowledge of salvation to his people, by the remission 
 of their sins, through the tender mercies of our God, 
 whereby the Dayspring from on high hath visited us, to 
 give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow 
 of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace." 
 
 As Joseph had betrothed Mary according to the 
 method of the Jewish espousals, before they came to 
 cohabit together as man and wife, she was found to be 
 with child ; at which he was so much confounded that 
 he resolved to put her away. Yet he purposed doing it 
 privately, probably to prevent that exemplary punish- 
 ment which the law inflicted on those who had violated 
 the faith of their espousals before the marriage was com- 
 pleted (Deut. xxi. 23, 24), or to avoid the infamy of a 
 public divorce. 
 
 While he was ruminating on this interesting event, he 
 was overtaken with a pleasing slumber, and received a 
 communication from above, which fully revealed the 
 cause and manner of Mary's pregnancy, dispelled his 
 doubts, and encouraged him to take home his falsely- 
 suspected spouse : " Joseph, thou son of David, fear not 
 to take unto thee Mary thy wife ; for that which is con- 
 ceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." * 
 
 * Dreams, supernaturally influenced, have ever had a place among 
 the various methods of divine communication. Perhaps it is the most 
 simple method. Thus Pharaoh and Abimelech were admonished 
 against taking Sarah ; Jacob was cheered on his journey to Padan 
 Aram ; Joseph assured of his future greatness ; the chief butler and 
 baker apprised of their approaching lot, and Pharaoh himself, of the 
 coming years of plenty and famine. Superstition has abused this fact, 
 as it has every other : nevertheless, the fact remains. 
 
30 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 The pious Joseph complied with the voice of Heaven 
 most cheerfully; for no sooner did the morning dawn 
 appear, than he rose from his couch, and obeyed the 
 commands of the Most High, by relating to his espoused 
 wife his being assured of her innocence, and immediately 
 restored her to her former favor. 
 
 While he related to her the manner of this extra- 
 ordinary revelation by a messenger from Heaven, he 
 discovered in her a remarkable chastity of heart, entirely 
 conformable to so mysterious an operation, and knew 
 her not till she had brought forth the great Redeemer 
 of Israel. 
 
 Thus was fulfilled that which was foretold by the 
 prophets, and particularly the prediction of Isaiah, 
 which imported that a Virgin should bring forth a son : 
 " Behold, a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and 
 shall call his name Immanuel, which, being interpreted, 
 is God with us." Isa. vii. 14 ; Matt. i. 23. 
 
 Some supernatural dreams require an interpreter ; others, from their 
 peculiar character, interpret themselves, like the dream of Joseph on 
 this occasion. In the former case, they are given in symbols ; in the 
 latter, the appearance and language are literal and evidently divine. 
 
 It is apparent from the evangelical narrative, that as yet Joseph 
 knew nothing of the Angelic Annunciation to Mary. Those who 
 imagine she would immediately communicate it to her espoused hus- 
 band, are without any authority or 'good reason for such a supposition. 
 In so singular a case, silence was natural, till God himself should open 
 the way for the communication. The native modesty of her sex, her 
 conscious innocence, her calm confidence in the power and protection 
 of the Almighty, all combined to impose silence. Joseph evidently 
 had no idea of the truth. He was revolving quite different ideas, in 
 the most painful perplexity. Hence, such a dream was not a natural 
 one, but the contrary ; and its effect on his mind prepared the way for 
 a full communication of the truth authenticated as it then was by the 
 birth of John the Baptist. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 31 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 GENERAL DECREE FOR TAXATION PUBLISHED BIRTH OF 
 CHRIST DECLARATION OF THE SAME TO SHEPHERDS 
 CIRCUMCISION AND PRESENTATION OF CHRIST IN THE 
 TEMPLE THE WISE MEN OF THE EAST WORSHIP THE 
 
 HOLY CHILD FLIGHT OF JOSEPH INTO EGYPT MASSACRE 
 
 OF INFANTS AT BETHLEHEM DEATH OF HEROD RETURN 
 OF JOSEPH OUT OF EGYPT. 
 
 AUGUSTUS CAESAR, the Roman emperor, having at this 
 time issued an edict for a general taxation on all na- 
 tions, cities, and towns subject to the empire, King 
 Herod, in consequence of that decree, commanded all 
 under his government to muster in the city of his people, 
 or place of his descent, that an estimate might be taken 
 of their persons and effects.* Pursuant to this order, 
 
 * Taxing implies a registration of persons and property, an assessment 
 of taxes on this basis, and an enforcement or actual collection of the 
 taxes assessed. Of these elements of a taxing, it appears that only the 
 first was executed at the time of our Lord's birth. For some reason, per- 
 haps the exhaustion of the people, consequent on Herod's enlargement 
 and adorning of the Jewish temple, which occupied the last eight years 
 of his reign, Augustus forebore to complete the taxation of Judea, until 
 about twelve years later, after Archelaus, the son of Herod, was 
 deposed, and the country was reduced to a Roman province dependent 
 on Syria, of which Cyrenius was then President. Even then it gave 
 rise to a rebellion, mentioned by Luke (Acts v. 37), owing to the violent 
 repugnance of the Jews to acknowledge allegiance to a foreign heathen 
 master. 
 
 The politico-religious sects of the Herodians and Galileans seem to 
 have taken their origin on that occasion ; the former affirm ing, and the 
 latter denying the lawfulness of paying tribute to Caesar. These sects 
 
32 LIFE OF CHRIST, 
 
 t 
 
 Joseph and Mary, as descendants from the line of David, 
 departed from Nazareth, where they then resided, and 
 came to Bethlehem, a city of Judea, the place of the 
 nativity of David and his ancestors. 
 
 The manner and place of our Lord's birth certainly 
 demand our highest admiration and wonder, and are a 
 striking display of wisdom, both in the direction and 
 accomplishment of the will of his heavenly Father. 
 Considered in his divine nature, heaven is the habita- 
 tion of his throne, and the earth is his footstool ; con- 
 sidered in his human nature, he is humble beneath all, 
 being confined within the narrow limits of a manger. 
 Though, as the Son of God, he is the brightness of his 
 Father's glory, the express image of his person, and 
 his throne is forever and ever ! as the Son of man, oh, 
 wondrous condescension ! he is wrapped in the meanest 
 swaddling-clothes; and, as man, he takes up his habita- 
 tion with the beasts of the field ! In fine, let us adore 
 his grace and love in vailing those glories for a time 
 which he enjoyed at the right hand of his Father, 
 assuming our nature, and that in its humblest state, in 
 order to raise us to that degree of glory and happiness 
 which, by our apostasy from God, we had justly forfeited ; 
 exulting with the prophet, " Sing, heavens, and be 
 joyful, earth, and break forth into singing, moun. 
 tains, for the Lord hath comforted his people ! " 
 
 But the humble manner in which the blessed Jesus 
 made his appearance in the world did not long eclipse 
 the glory of his descent a heavenly messenger being 
 despatched from above to apprize mankind of their 
 
 continued to agitate the country up to the time of its fatal rebellion 
 and overthrow by the Romans under Titus, 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 33 
 
 Saviour's incarnation. It pleased the Wise Disposer of 
 all things, by his holy angel, first to make known to 
 some honest shepherds, who were watching their flocks 
 by night in the neighboring fields, the birth of the long- 
 promised, long-expected Messiah. The radiance which 
 shone around them terrified the astonished peasants; 
 but to dissipate their fears, and confirm their joys, the 
 divine messenger interposed, and thus addressed them : 
 "Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of 
 great joy, which shall be unto all people. For unto you 
 is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which 
 is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you : 
 Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, 
 lying in a manger." Luke ii. 10, etc. 
 
 The glorious news was no sooner proclaimed than a 
 number of the celestial choir were heard to resound the 
 praises of the Almighty for this transcendent display of 
 his goodness to sinful men : " And suddenly there was 
 with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising 
 God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on 
 earth peace, good- will toward men." Transported with 
 the happy tidings of the birth of the Redeemer of Israel, 
 the angel no sooner departed than the shepherds hastened 
 to Bethlehem in quest of the Babe, whom, according to 
 the information of the sacred missionary, they found 
 wrapped in swaddling-clothes and lying in a manger. 
 This event, so exactly conformable to the angel's predic- 
 tion, equally delighted and amazed them ; nor could they 
 conceal the purport of his mission, but published abroad 
 all they had seen and heard. 
 
 Having viewed, with praise and wonder, their long- 
 expected Saviour, and offered their grateful praises to 
 3 
 
34 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 God for the manifestation of his goodness to mankind, 
 they departed with hearts filled with love and gratitude, 
 still glorifying the almighty Parent of universal nature. 
 
 After the expiration of eight days from the birth of 
 the holy infant, he was circumcised, according to the 
 Mosaic institution ; and thus, by a few drops, gave 
 earnest of the abundance of blood which he was to shed 
 for the purification of mankind. The blessed Redeemer 
 passed through this ceremony, not that he stood in any 
 necessity of conforming to the laws of any kind, being 
 the supreme Lawgiver, with respect to his exalted 
 nature ; but, as, considered in his humble state, he was 
 born of a woman, made under the law, and came, 
 according to his own declaration, to fulfil all righteous- 
 ness, it was requisite he should conform to that custom 
 which characterized the Jewish nation and was one of 
 the principal injunctions of the Mosaic law, under which 
 he was born, in order to fulfil all 'hat is spoken of him 
 in the Scriptures. 
 
 Besides, as all the promises made to Abraham were .o 
 be fulfilled in the Messiah, it was necessary he should 
 receive the seal of circumcision, in order to prove his 
 descent from the patriarch, concerning whom it was 
 foretold, " In thy seed shall all the families of the earth 
 be blessed." As a further reason for our Lord's com- 
 pliance with this Jewish institution, we may urge the 
 propriety of his finishing the former dispensation by an 
 exact adherence to its rules, as he was about to establish 
 another and much better. 
 
 As the same institution also required that every first- 
 born son, without any .regard to circumstances of family, 
 should be presented to the Lord in the temple, by 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 35 
 
 delivering him into the hands of the priest and paying 
 five shekels, together with an offering which, from the 
 poorer sort, consisted of a pair of turtle-doves or two 
 young pigeons a ceremony in commemoration of the 
 divine mercy in sparing the first-born of Israel when 
 those of Egypt, both man and beast, were destroyed 
 so his parents, having tarried at Bethlehem till the days 
 of Mary's purification were accomplished, brought the 
 child Jesus to Jerusalem, and there presented him in 
 the temple to the Lord, in the manner thus described, 
 with the offering allowed to the poorer sort of people ; 
 a repeated instance of the exact obedience of the im- 
 maculate Jesus to the ceremonial law, as well as of the 
 poverty of his parents, though descended from a royal 
 house. 
 
 During the presentation of the holy infant, there en- 
 tered the temple a pious and venerable old man, named 
 Simeon, who, with all the devout, had " waited day and 
 night for the consolation of Israel," and to whom it had 
 been revealed by the Spirit of Truth that he should not 
 depart this mortal life till he had seen the Lord of life 
 and salvation. 
 
 Accordingly, it was signified to him by the Holy 
 Ghost, at whose instance he came at the precise time 
 into the temple, that the child there presented was the 
 long-expected Messiah, even the Redeemer of Israel. In 
 an ecstasy of joy he embraced the heavenly infant in his 
 arms, and exclaimed, " Lord, now lettest thou thy ser- 
 vant depart in peace, according to thy word : for mine 
 eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast pre- 
 pared before the face of all people ; a light to lighten 
 
36 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." Luke 
 ii. 29-32.* 
 
 A certain good prophetess, called Anna, who had a 
 long time waited for the redemption of Israel, entering 
 the temple at the instant in which Simeon exulted in the 
 birth of the heavenly Infant, and finding that he was 
 the promised Messiah, likewise joined with him in 
 praising God, and went forth and declared the glad tidings 
 of salvation to all the faithful in those parts. 
 
 Having, in every respect, complied with the ceremo- 
 nies and rites contained in the law of Moses, Joseph 
 and Mary, with the child Jesus, " returned to Galilee, 
 to their city Nazareth." They did not, however, long 
 abide there, for having adjusted their affairs, they re- 
 turned again to Bethlehem, the place of our Lord's 
 nativity. 
 
 This step appears to have been pursued in conse- 
 quence of their opinion that it was necessary, in order 
 to his being acknowledged the Messiah, sent by God, 
 that he should reside some time in the place of his 
 birth. Whatever was their motive for removal, it is 
 evident, from Scripture, that while they were in Beth- 
 
 * The songs of Mary, Zacharias, and Simeon, as critics have observed, 
 are consecutive in subject as they are continuous in time. Where the 
 Virgin ends, Zacharias begins ; where Zacharias ends, Simeon begins. 
 The Virgin gives vent to her immediate feelings, and her subject closes 
 with the birth of the Messiah. Zacharias opens a prospective though 
 limited field of vision : he begins with the gracious visitation of 
 Messiah's birth, and ends with the guidance of the Jewish people into 
 the way of peace. But Simeon altogether passes by the first gathering of 
 Jewish converts : he commences with the removing of the vail from the 
 understanding and affections of the Gentiles, and concludes with the 
 final manifestation of the divine glory, when, after th fulness of the 
 Gentiles shall have come in, "all Israel shall be saved." JeWs Sacred 
 Literature. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 37 
 
 lehem, with their Son, certain Eastern philosophers, 
 called Magi, or wise men, on account of the appearance 
 they had seen, went to Jerusalem, and inquired for the 
 King of the Jews, declaring they had seen his star in 
 their own quarter, and were come to pay him the adora- 
 tion due to his dignity.* 
 
 Various conjectures have been formed by the learned 
 concerning this star, which is said to have appeared in 
 the east ; some think it was the Spirit of God, others 
 an angel, some a comet, others a luminous appearance, 
 etc. A modern writer thinks it was the glory that sur- 
 rounded the angels who had appeared to the shepherds 
 of Bethlehem on the night of the blessed Lord's nativity. 
 
 * The word Magus is of Persian origin, and (in the plural) denotes 
 wise men, philosophers, astronomers. They lived in colleges, under a 
 common master, and observed common laws, devoted to the higher 
 branches of study, and masters of all the science of their time. These 
 colleges were found in Persia, Arabia, and Babylon, and it is not quite 
 clear from which of these eastern countries the Wise Men came, who 
 came to inquire after the new-born King of the Jews. 
 
 But it is worthy of remembrance here that Daniel, from whom we 
 have the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks of years, was made head of 
 the colleges of the Magi in Babylon, and that those under him could 
 hardly be ignorant of so remarkable a prophecy, or of its proper inter- 
 pretation in reference to the Messiah, and the time of his coming. A 
 tradition of this, at least, would be likely to descend from age to age, 
 blended very like^ with the ancient oracle of Balaam, (lumbers 
 xxiv. 17.) 
 
 I .shall see Him, but not now ; 
 I shall behold Him, but not nigh ; 
 There shall come a Star out of Jacob, 
 And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel. 
 
 When, further, we remember that these learned heathen connected 
 astrology with their astronomical studies, and so were constantly 
 watching the aspects of the heavens, and seeking to understand their im- 
 port, we shall not wonder at the conclusion to which they were providen- 
 tially led on this occasion, 
 
38 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 But to leave this subject, as not immediately apper- 
 taining to our purpose. The whole city of Jerusalem 
 was aroused at the unexpected appearance of the Eastern 
 Magi ; an event which much perplexed the tyrant 
 Herod, whose ambitious mind maintained the utmost 
 aversion to the thought of a rival or competitor, and 
 consequently could not brook a report that favored the 
 news of the birth of the King of the Jews. 
 
 Disguising, however, his sentiments, he received the 
 Magi with seeming respect, attended to the design of 
 their errand with affected complacency, and, to gratify 
 their curiosity, summoned a general council, and de- 
 manded of them where Christ should be born. The coun- 
 cil kept him not long in suspense ; for, well remember- 
 ing the prophets had particularly foretold the place of 
 his birth, they replied to the demand of the monarch, 
 " In Bethlehem in Judea ; " and, to confirm their answer, 
 cited prophetic authority : "And thou Bethlehem, in 
 the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes 
 of Juda ; for out of thee shall come a Governor, that 
 shall rule my people Israel." (Matt. ii. 6.) The tyrant 
 king, in consequence of the reply from the supreme 
 council of the nation, directed the Magi to Bethlehem, 
 as the place, according to ancient prophecy, designed 
 for the honor of Christ's nativity, earnestly entreating 
 them at the same time, immediately on their finding 
 out the child, to send him word, -that he might repair 
 thither and pay his adoration to him also. 
 
 But this was mere pretence, and vile hypocrisy ; for 
 so far was Herod from entertaining any religious regard 
 for the infant Jesus, that he vowed in his heart to 
 destroy him as soon as he should be found ; looking on 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 39 
 
 him as designed for a temporal prince, who should 
 expel him, or his descendants, from the throne of Judea, 
 instead of a prince whose kingdom was wholly spiritual, 
 and whose throne was not to be established upon earth, 
 but in the heavenly Jerusalem. 
 
 Although we may have many stronger proofs of the 
 divinity of our Saviour's mission than his miraculous 
 preservation from the designs of the ambitious Herod, 
 yet this was very remarkable. The tyrant, in this case, 
 acted with the utmost subtlety ; he declined accompany- 
 ing the wise men in person ; nor did he even send 
 attendants with them, who, under the guise of honoring 
 them, might have secretly informed him of the abode of 
 the Messiah. In short, he acted with such apparent in- 
 difference as if he had no peculiar reason for despatch- 
 ing them on the occasion. 
 
 However, the Magi, having obtained the intelligence 
 they sought in Jerusalem, went forward, under the 
 guidance of the same star that conducted them from 
 their own country. It had left them on their arrival 
 in Judea, which was the cause of their directing their 
 course to the capital, in order to seek that information 
 which, by the desertion of the star, became requisite. 
 Thus it appears the design of the Almighty in direct- 
 ing the Eastern Magi to the capital of Judea was, that 
 the whole nation might be made acquainted with the 
 cause of their journey. 
 
 Guided to the feet of their Spiritual King in Beth- 
 lehem, the Wise Men, worshipped him, and presented 
 their gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, warned 
 of God not to go back to Herod at Jerusalem, they 
 returned to their own land by another way- 
 
40 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 It is natural and reasonable to suppose that the end 
 of the divine wisdom, in directing these Magi to the 
 kingdom of Judea to worship the child Jesus, was not 
 merely to gratify the curiosity of the wise men, because 
 the event promoted many other very important designs. 
 
 It contributed, moreover, to a valuable purpose, in 
 that the offerings of the wise men procured a subsist- 
 ence for the holy family in Egypt, whither they had 
 to fly, in order to escape the vengeance of the enraged 
 king. For no sooner had the wise men departed from 
 Bethlehem, than Joseph was warned by a heavenly 
 messenger of the barbarous purpose of Herod, and com- 
 manded to flee into Egypt with the young child and 
 his mother. 
 
 Joseph, in obedience to the Almighty's command, 
 rose that very night and prepared to go into Egypt, 
 " and was there until the death of Herod ; that it 
 might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the 
 prophet, Out of Egypt have I called my Son." * This 
 prophecy, which is quoted from Hosea, seems originally 
 to refer to the Israelites ; though the evangelist's refer- 
 ence will be amply justified by considering that the 
 prophetic language alludes to the subjection of the 
 Israelites to great hardships, and their deliverance from 
 the same by an Almighty hand. Now, as the departure 
 of the holy family into Egypt was in obedience to the 
 divine command, in order to protect the holy Jesus from 
 the incensed Herod, the application of the prophet, 
 " Out of Egypt have I called my Son," appears very 
 just, as well as elegant. 
 
 * u Fulfilled," f.- ., accomplished in a higher and more perfect 
 manner. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 41 
 
 The King of Judea waited with the most earnest ex- 
 pectation the return of the wise men, anxious to glut 
 his resentment on the innocent Jesus ; till, from their 
 long delay, he began to suspect a delusion, and that 
 his designs were frustrated by some extraordinary inter- 
 position of Providence. \ 
 
 At length, irritated by disappointment, he resolved 
 to accomplish by cruelty a resolution he could not effect 
 by art, and accordingly issued orders to a large party of 
 soldiers to go throughout Bethlehem and the neighbor- 
 ing villages, and massacre all the children whom they 
 could find therein, from two years old and under, think- 
 ing that the infant Jesus, whom as a prince he both 
 envied and dreaded, would fall in the general slaughter.* 
 But the heavenly child was sheltered from above ; nor 
 was the relentless king permitted to impede the design 
 of an Almighty Creator. However, the places through 
 which the soldiers carried the destructive sword exhib- 
 ited such scenes of horror and distress as could not fail 
 to pierce every soul not entirely lost to humanity : no 
 sound was heard but the affecting cries of parents, the 
 groans of expiring babes, and a general imprecation of 
 vengeance on the merciless tyrant. But he did not 
 long survive his cruel decree, being swept from his throne 
 
 * Bethlehem was six miles south of Jerusalem. Its population was 
 small ; for in reference to this very time, the prophet calls it "little 
 among the thousands of Judah." Hence the number of male infants 
 under two years of age was quite limited, probably not exceeding 
 thirty. Josephus does not mention this massacre among the more 
 atrocious cruelties of Herod, but it is referred to by Macrobius, a 
 heathen writer, as an event which drew forth the severe comments of 
 Augustus Caesar, especially as the execution of Herod's son, Aiitipater, 
 occurred about the same time. 
 
42 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 by a nauseous disease, to answer for his conduct at the 
 bar of a tremendous Judge.* 
 
 The tyrant Herod being cut off from the face of the 
 earth, Joseph was directed by a heavenly messenger to 
 return to the land of Israel. The good old man obeyed 
 the Almighty's command, and appears to have had a great 
 desire of residing in Judea, and very probably in Beth- 
 lehem ; but hearing that Herod was succeeded in his 
 throne by his son Archelaus,f and fearing that he might 
 
 * The death of Herod took place at Jericho, in the month of March, 
 about a year and three months after the birth of Jesus, probably within 
 three months after the massacre of the innocent babes of Bethlehem. 
 So swiftly judgment followed upon that bloody attempt to take the life 
 of the infant Saviour. 
 
 f It is one of the marvels of Providence that the removal of Arche- 
 laus and the annexation of Judea to Syria as a Roman province, was 
 done by Augustus Csesar, at the earnest request of the Jewish people 
 themselves. Such were their fears that he would walk in the steps of 
 his father, Herod, that they, under the protection of Yarns, Presi- 
 dent of Syria, presented this request the very year Archelaus came to 
 the government, and ten years before it was granted, Augustus. being 
 then unwilling to set aside altogether the will of Herod. But ten 
 years of trial convinced the Emperor of his unfitness for power, and 
 he yielded to the renewed accusations and solicitations of the Jewish 
 people. 
 
 Cyrenius (or Quirinus) was then President of Syria, and one of his 
 first acts on the annexation of Judea to his province, was to carry 
 into effect the taxing begun twelve years before, but then suspended. 
 To this the people yielded at first without murmuring ; but when 
 Cyrenius returned to Syria, leaving Coponius, a weak man, as gov- 
 ernor of Judea under him, a terrible insurrection broke out in Galilee 
 against the tax, which brought great distress upon the country before 
 it was subdued by the Romans. This was the year before Jesus was 
 twelve years of age. Coponius was soon removed, and was succeeded 
 by Marcus, Rufus, Gratus, and Pilate, under the last of whom our 
 Lord was crucified. 
 
 Archelaus was condemned at Rome, his property confiscated, and he 
 was banished to Yienne, in Gaul. Thus the great obstacles to our 
 Saviour's attendance at the annual feasts of the Jews at Jerusalem was 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 43 
 
 pursue the barbarous design of his father, he directed 
 his course another way ; and being warned again by a 
 heavenly vision, he retired into Galilee, then under 
 the government of a more mild and benevolent prince, 
 called Antipas, and took up his habitation at Nazareth, 
 where the particular circumstances which attended the 
 birth of the blessed Jesus were not generally known. 
 The evangelist affirms that Joseph, with the infant and 
 his mother, resided in Nazareth, where the holy Jesus 
 spent his youth " that it might be fulfilled which was 
 spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene," 
 L e., exposed to every token of contempt and ridicule ; 
 of which this appellation at that time was a remarkable 
 instance. 
 
 removed, and he henceforth could go up regularly with Joseph and 
 Mary from his twelfth year. 
 
 But the voluntary surrender of their liberties to the Komans was a 
 fatal event to the Jews. Odious taxes, arbitrary and rapacious gov- 
 ernors, wanton insults to their religion, new political parties and ani- 
 mosities, the rejection of Christ and trust in false Messiahs, led them 
 at last into that rebellion which finally destroyed the nation. 
 
44 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 STATE OF OUR LORD'S CHILDHOOD AND PRIVATE LIFE HIS 
 INTERVIEW WITH THE JEWISH DOCTORS MISSION, CHAR- 
 ACTER, AND DOCTRINE OF THE BAPTIST BAPTISM OF 
 
 CHRIST, AND VISIBLE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ON 
 THAT SOLEMNITY. 
 
 THE precise circumstances of our Lord's childhood and 
 life, previous to his public ministry, cannot be ascer- 
 tained from the writings of any of the evangelists, 
 which can be relied on as authentic. All we can gather 
 from them is, that the faculties of his mind were en- 
 larged according to the growth of his body, insomuch 
 that he arrived at the very perfection of heavenly 
 wisdom. 
 
 As his parents were poor, he had not the advantage 
 of a finished education ; and he seems to have received 
 no other instruction than what his parents gave him in 
 conformity to the Jewish law.* But supernatural 
 abilities amply compensated for the deficiency of natural 
 acquirements, and he gave instances in his earliest years 
 of amazing penetration and consummate wisdom. 
 
 According to the Mosaic institution, his parents an- 
 nually went up to Jerusalem, and, when he arrived at 
 the age of twelve years, carried him with them to that 
 city, in order that he might early imbibe the precepts of 
 religion and virtue.f In this place the holy Jesus tarried 
 
 * See especially Deut. vi. 4-9. 
 
 f Jerusalem is about sixty miles south of Nazareth by the most direct 
 route through Samaria. By the sea coast, or through Perea on the east 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 45 
 
 without the knowledge, and consequently the consent, of 
 his parents,* who departed with the rest that were going 
 toward Galilee; and, thinking that he was gone forward 
 with some of their relations or acquaintances, they con- 
 tinued their journey, not doubting but that they should 
 overtake him on the road, or meet with him at the 
 place where they had appointed to lodge. But on their 
 arrival, not finding the child in the village, nor among 
 their relations, they returned to Jerusalem, much 
 troubled, and, after a most anxious search of three 
 days, found him in the temple, sitting among the 
 learned doctors, who were amazed at the wisdom of 
 his questions, and the pertinence of his replies ; which 
 
 of the Jordan (the route preferred by the more bigoted Jews, to avoid 
 the Samaritans), the distance was nealy doubled. 
 
 With what interest must Jesus at the age of twelve have visited for 
 the first time the Holy City ! With what delightful awe must he have 
 entered the temple for worship ! With what eager hopes of instruc- 
 tion must he have sat down at the feet of the learned masters of Israel ! 
 If he failed to find what he sought, it was not for want of the modesty, 
 docility, and thirst for knowledge so befitting and beautiful in the 
 young, as the sequel of the inspired record shows. 
 
 * This does not appear to have been intentional on the part of Jesus. 
 The incident evidently marks his intense absorption in the studies and 
 inquiries connected with the word of God, arising from the impulse 
 of the Holy Spirit. In this divine employment he counted not time. 
 He preferred it above his chief joy. Nor would he willingly leave 
 such a signal opportunity of gaining and imparting the lessons of 
 holy wisdom, until actually sought out and summoned by his parents. 
 So much, indeed, seems evident from his answer to his mother, " How 
 is it that ye sought me ? Wist ye not that I must be in my Father's 
 house and about His business ? " But though he thus asserted the 
 duty of obedience to the impulse of the Holy Spirit over all inferior 
 claims, he did not hesitate to obey them also " in the Lord ; " remaining 
 in willing subjection to them " until the time appointed of the Father," 
 which was eighteen years longer. What a lovely and perfect example 
 to the young / 
 
46 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 were greatly superior to what they could expect from 
 one of his tender years and mean education. 
 
 These doctors, or expounders of the law among the 
 Jews, always taught the people publicly on the three 
 great festivals ; and it was on one of these public occa- 
 sions that the blessed Jesus gave such manifest proofs 
 of his wisdom and penetration as astonished all the 
 beholders, many of whom thought he must be something 
 more than human. 
 
 Many people of more speculation than piety may be 
 induced to inquire the cause which prevented the Evan- 
 gelists giving us an exact detail of the transactions of 
 our blessed Saviour's life, from the twelfth year of his 
 age till the time of his public ministry. To such we 
 answer that the design of the sacred writers being to 
 instruct rather than amuse, they consulted our spiritual 
 interests more than our humor and caprice ; and thus, 
 therefore, the wisdom of God, by whose inspiration they 
 wrote, demands our admiration, in that they passed 
 over less important parts of our Saviour's life, which 
 would have swelled their Gospels to an enormous bulk, 
 fit only for the perusal of the studious, and those per- 
 sons who have much vacant time. Whereas the four 
 Gospels, as they are written, make only a small volume, 
 which is convenient for carriage, for reading, for the 
 memory to retain, as well as adapted by the plainness 
 of its style to the meanest capacities ; notwithstanding 
 which they contain all the important transactions of our 
 Saviour's life, such as those which relate to his media- 
 torial office, and the design of his incarnation, which was 
 to teach us the things which belong to our eternal peace 
 and happiness ; to instruct us in his heavenly doctrines 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 47 
 
 as our prophet ; to offer himself a sacrifice upon the cross 
 as our priest, and to burst the chains of death and trium- 
 phantly ascend into heaven, as king and head of the 
 church. The omissions, therefore, can be of no real 
 consequence, since "these are written that ye might 
 believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and 
 that, believing, ye might have life through his name." 
 
 During the obscure state of our blessed Redeemer at 
 Nazareth, the emperor Augustus died at Campania, after 
 a long reign of above forty years, to the general regret 
 of the whole Roman empire. He was succeeded by 
 Tiberius, his son, a prince of very different temper of 
 mind from his predecessor. The emperor, in the second 
 year of his reign, recalled Rufus from the government 
 of Judea, and sent Valerius Gracchus (Gratus) to succeed 
 him. After reigning eleven years, Gracchus was re- 
 called, and succeeded by Pontius Pilate, a person resem- 
 bling in disposition his master Tiberius, who was 
 malicious, cruel, and covetous. 
 
 Soon after Pontius Pilate was appointed to the govern- 
 ment of Judea, John the Baptist began to open his 
 commission for preparing our Saviour's way before him, 
 according as was appointed, by preaching " the baptism 
 of repentance for the remission of sins." Sacred history 
 has not informed us of the manner in which the Baptist 
 spent the former part of his life ; but, according to an- 
 cient tradition, Elizabeth, hearing of Herod's barbarous 
 massacre of the infants of Bethlehem, fled into the 
 wilderness to secure the infant John from the relentless 
 cruelty of that inhuman monster, and there nurtured 
 him with all the tenderness of a-n affectionate mother. 
 John the Baptist was about eighteen months old when 
 
48 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 his mother fled with him into the wilderness, within 
 forty days after which she died. 
 
 John proved very successful in his ministry, as he 
 enforced the doctrine of repentance because the kingdom 
 of heaven was at hand : persons of all degrees and pro- 
 fessions flocked to him, confessed their sins, were baptized 
 in Jordan,* and submitted to whatever the prophet pre- 
 scribed as necessary to obtain an inheritance in that 
 kingdom the approach of which he came to declare. 
 Among the crowds were many of the Pharisees and 
 Sadducees, some of whom confessed their sins and were 
 likewise baptized in Jordan, f 
 
 * Lieutenant Lynch of the United States navy, who, in 1848, explored 
 the river Jordan from its source to its mouth, tells us that though it is 
 but sixty miles in a direct line south from the sea of Galilee to the 
 Dead Sea, it is two hundred miles by the winding course of the stream. 
 The width of the river varies, at different points, from seventy-five to 
 two hundred feet, and its depth from three feet to twelve. Its waters 
 are cool and soft. It may be crossed in ordinary seasons at several 
 fords. Judges iii. 28. 
 
 f The Pharisees were the Tmditionists, the Sadducees, the Rationalists 
 of the day. The former valued themselves on their orthodoxy, the 
 latter on their liberalism. The Pharisees paid the greatest attention to 
 pious appearance, the Sadducees were satisfied of their superiority to 
 vulgar prejudice. The one boasted of his venerable forms of religion, 
 the other of the reasonableness of his opinions. The Pharisees re- 
 proached the Sadducees for heterodoxy, the Sadducees retorted upon 
 them by the charge of bigotry. Both courted power ; but the chief 
 object of the Pharisee was the praise of men, while that of the Saddticee 
 was pleasure. The former were superstitious, the latter skeptical. 
 Pride was the ruling sin of the Pharisee, profligacy marked the charac- 
 ter of the Sadducee. The Pharisees were covetous, the Sadducees 
 cruel. Under the profession of piety, both were equally remote from 
 the religion of the heart, and opposed alike to the spiritual claims of 
 the Law and the sovereign grace of the Gospel. 
 
 The reader, by turning to the twenty-first chapter of this volume, 
 will find full details of their peculiar tenets, as given by Joseph us and 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 49 
 
 The conversion of the Pharisees surprised the Baptist, 
 knowing that they maintained a high opinion of their 
 own sanctity, for which reason it was very astonishing 
 that they should express any desire of obtaining a re- 
 mission of their sins. In short, he was much surprised 
 to find the whole nation so affected by his threatenings, 
 especially as he knew they expected salvation on account 
 of their being of the seed of Abraham a conceit which 
 they cherished, and which they seem to have derived 
 from a misinterpretation of the following passage : 
 " Thus saith the Lord, who giveth the sun for a light, 
 by day, and the ordinance of the moon and the stars for 
 a light by night ; who divideth the sea when the waves 
 thereof roar ; the Lord of Hosts is his name : If those 
 ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then 
 'the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation 
 before me forever. Thus saith the Lord : If the heaven 
 above can be measured and the foundation of the earth 
 searched out beneath, I will also cast off the seed of 
 Israel for all that they have done." 
 
 But the Baptist, to curb their arrogance, called them 
 the "offspring of vipers," instead of the children of 
 
 others. With few exceptions, as appears from the evangelical and 
 civil history of the time, they were, as expounders of the Divine law, 
 "fools and blind," as professors of religion, "hypocrites," and as 
 members of society, "'a generation of vipers," equally subtle and 
 venomous. Hence the chief success of John was not among these sects, 
 although they were attracted for a time to his solemn and thrilling min- 
 istry. "Many of the children of Israel did he turn to the Lord their 
 God," but they were of the humbler classes. " And all the people that 
 heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the 
 baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel 
 of God against themselves, being not baptized of him." Such is the 
 explicit testimony of our Lord himself. Luke vii. 29, 30. 
 4 
 
50 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Abraham. Perhaps the Pharisees and Sadducees applied 
 to John for baptism, thinking by that means to avoid 
 the danger they might incur from being the avowed 
 enemies of the Messiah, whom they expected to come in 
 all the pomp of royalty, and to maintain his superiority 
 by force of arms. 
 
 Throughout the whole of the Baptist's ministration, 
 he happily adapted his discourses to the circumstances 
 and capacities of the various people he addressed, and 
 took every pious means to prepare them for the recep- 
 tion of the promised Messiah, who was shortly to appear 
 among them in the glorious character of Saviour and 
 Redeemer of Israel. 
 
 Thus, by a life of inflexible virtue, discourses nervous 
 and pathetic, exhortations sincere and fervent, -and re- 
 bukes honest and courageous, the Baptist became* 
 renowned throughout the region of Judea. Such was 
 the admiration of the people at his life and doctrine 
 that, from the vision of his father, Zacharias, in the 
 temple, the arrival of the Magi at Jerusalem, and the 
 prophecies of Simeon (circumstances recent in their 
 memories), they began to conjecture that John might be 
 the promised Messiah, and were even ready to pro- 
 nounce him the Redeemer of Israel ; so that, had he 
 aspired to worldly dignity, he might, for a time, have 
 shone in all the grandeur of human pomp, and claimed 
 a regard superior to the sons of men. But, pious in 
 principle and humble in heart, he could not arrogate 
 honors of which he was conscious of his unworthiness ; 
 and therefore honestly undeceived his numerous followers 
 by assuring them that, so far from being the glorious 
 Person promised, he was only his forerunner; and that 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 51 
 
 such was his own inferiority that he was unworthy of 
 doing his most menial offices. " I indeed baptize you 
 with water ; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet 
 of whose shoes I am unworthy to loose." Luke iii. 16. 
 
 During the time of the Baptist's continuance at 
 Bethabara, the blessed Jesus left his retirement at 
 Nazareth, arid previous to his public ministry, repaired 
 to the banks of the river Jordan, where John was 
 executing his commission for him, in order to be thus 
 baptized by him. We cannot impute this conduct of 
 our Lord to any necessity there. was of his conforming 
 to the institution of baptism, for purity needs no cleans- 
 ing : it is therefore evident that his motive was to add 
 a sanction to that ordinance, forever after appointed to 
 be the initiating rite of Christianity, "Go, baptize all 
 nations," etc. 
 
 It appears that John immediately, as it were by a 
 prophetic revelation, knew the Saviour of the world; 
 for we find from the evangelist that he acknowledged 
 his superiority, and declined the office : " I have need 
 to be baptized of thee ; and comest thou to me ? " Our 
 Lord's answer, though short, is very full and expressive : 
 " Suffer it to be so now ; for thus itr becometh us to 
 fulfil all righteousness." As if he had said, Regard not 
 the precedence at this time, but perform thy office ; ' for 
 it is necessary that we should, in the minutest point, 
 conform to the divine will by which this institution is 
 enjoined. 
 
 This remonstrance removed the objections of John, 
 and he baptized the immaculate Jesus in the river 
 Jordan in the presence of numerous spectators. 
 
 When the ceremony was performed, as he needed 
 
52 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 not the instructions usually given on the occasion, he 
 went up straightway out of the water, and, kneeling on 
 the bank of the river, fervently addressed his Almighty 
 Father for an abundant effusion of his Holy Spirit, as 
 he was now entering on his public ministry, the pre- 
 lude of his important mission the end of which was 
 the salvation of mankind. 
 
 His prayer Was heard, his request was granted, and 
 an immediate attestation of the divine pleasure given 
 by a visible ray of glory around him, proceeding from 
 the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, and an audible 
 voice pronouncing these words, "This is my beloved 
 Son, in whom I am well pleased." This voice resem- 
 bled not any human sound, but was loud and awful, like 
 the thunder of heaven, in order to strike with rever- 
 ence the surrounding multitude, and publicly declare the 
 holy mission of the promised Messiah. 
 
 The blessed Jesus was declared in the Old Testament 
 to be the Son of God, but was on this occasion declared 
 by the Almighty himself to be the long expected de- 
 liverer of Israel. Thus all who were present at this 
 marvellous descent of the Holy Spirit were amply con- 
 vinced of the divine mission of our blessed Lord by an 
 infallible testimony from above. This remarkable 
 event tended much more to the glory of the Messiah 
 than all the prophecies, as it was in some measure a real 
 display of what they could only picture in the dark. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 53 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 COMMENCEMENT OF OUR SAVIOUR'S MINISTRY HIS TEMPTA- 
 TION IN THE WILDERNESS DEPUTATION OF THE SANHE- 
 DRIM TO JOHN THE BAPTIST FIRST MIRACLE WROUGHT 
 BY THE BLESSED JESUS. 
 
 THE great Redeemer, having thus complied with the 
 institution of baptism, and received a most convincing 
 testimony of his heavenly Father's approbation, by the 
 miraculous descent and effusion of. the Holy Ghost upon 
 him while praying on the banks of the Jordan in the 
 presence of a multitude of spectators, entered on his 
 public ministry at the age of thirty years, according to 
 the custom of the priests among the Jews. 
 
 It was apprehended by the people that, as he had 
 just begun his public office, he would repair to Jerusa- 
 lem, the seat of power and grandeur, in order to display 
 to the mighty and the learned his miraculous abilities 
 and effulgent glories. 
 
 But, averse to human praise, the heavenly-minded 
 Jesus preferred solitude to the noise and hurry of mor- 
 tal life : he therefore retired into the wilderness in order 
 to prepare himself, by fasting, meditation, prayer, and 
 sustaining temptation, for the important work on which 
 he was entering the salvation of mankind. 
 
 To promote this grand design, the evangelists write 
 that his retirement into the wilderness was in conse- 
 quence of the immediate direction of the Divine Spirit. 
 Though solitude itself is melancholy, the blessed Jesus 
 added to the dismal scene by retiring on a barren spot 
 
54 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 surrounded by high and craggy mountains and forming 
 a dark and gloomy chaos. 
 
 The Saviour of the world has not only been exposed 
 to poverty and ridicule, but also to the most trying 
 temptation of Satan ; that, as the Captain of our salva- 
 tion has undergone the same, we ought not to faint 
 when we are tempted, but, like him, be able to with- 
 stand the fiery darts of the devil. 
 
 It doubtless appears highly proper, in order that our 
 blessed Lord and Master might both enter upon and 
 .prosecute his ministry with more glory to himself and 
 advantage to mankind, that he should previously over- 
 come the most subtle arts of that deceiver who, under 
 the mask of a serpent, seduced our first parents and in- 
 volved them and their posterity in one common ruin.* 
 
 The peculiar devices of the old serpent to tempt the 
 Son of God during the time of his fasting are not re- 
 corded in Holy Writ, and consequently they cannot be 
 ascertained. 
 
 But, at the expiration of the forty days, when the 
 blessed Jesus had endured the keenest hunger, the 
 tempter, to make proof of the divinity of his mission, 
 insolently demanded why he bore the sensations of 
 hunger, since, if he was the Son of God, he must have 
 
 * How just and forcible are the remarks of Mr. Robertson : " You 
 must remember his soul was preparing for his work ; he was forecasting 
 the trials of his life ; his spirit was silently acquiescing in and recog- 
 nizing his destiny ; and one by one dismissing the alternatives which 
 suggested themselves a life of ease instead of hardness : rashness and 
 distrustful impetuosity instead of the slow, patient toil of years, and 
 after that of centuries ; homage to l the splendid majesty of wrong ' 
 expediency in some form or other to make the kingdoms of the world 
 his owur instead of uncompromising worship of the good." 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 55 
 
 power to change the stones of that dreary wilderness 
 into bread ; and, by so marvellous a transmutation, he 
 might have the satisfaction of knowing the truth of 
 what was said concerning him at his baptism. * 
 
 But our blessed Saviour repelled his device by citing 
 the words of Moses, which implied that God, whenever 
 it seemed good in his sight, could, by extraordinary 
 means, provide for the support of the human race. 
 66 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word 
 of God." Luke iv. 4. 
 
 Satan, being defeated in his effort, took him to the 
 top of a very high mountain,*)* and, thinking to work on 
 him by another artifice, showed him a bright view of 
 all the kingdoms of the world, with all their alluring 
 glories, promising him universal empire over the whole 
 if he would bow down and yield him the honor of the 
 benefaction. 
 
 But observe his accursed pride and arrogance in pro- 
 mising that which is the gift of God alone universal 
 empire over the earth ; and requiring what was due to 
 none but the Supreme religious homage. J This blas- 
 
 * " What was the temptation ? To use Divine power to procure com- 
 fort ; to choose abundance instead of stones ; a life of ease instead of the 
 hard rock on which the highest must repose in this world. "Robertson. 
 
 f Our author here follows the order of St. Luke in preference to 
 that of Matthew and Mark. We cannot but think the latter order 
 of the temptations the most natural, especially as it then closes 
 with the stern rebuke of our Lord, which drives the Tempter from his 
 presence. 
 
 t No one has pointed out the force of this temptation so clearly as 
 Neander in his Life of Christ: " Herein was the temptation that the 
 Messiah should not develop his kingdom gradually and in its pure 
 spirituality from within, but establish it at once as an outward domin- 
 ion ; and that although this could not be accomplished without the use 
 of an evil agency, the end would justify the means. We find here the 
 
56 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 phemy, as well as insolence, incited the blessed Jesus to 
 exert his divine authority and command him, in a per- 
 emptory manner, to desist ; citing this special injunc- 
 tion from sacred writ, " Thou shalt worship the Lord 
 thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Thus re- 
 pelled, he repeated the attempt, and, having taken our 
 Lord to Jerusalem, placed him on the pinnacle of the 
 temple, and, by a taunt of insolence, urged him to prove 
 the truth of his mission by casting himself down from 
 thence ; citing, as an encouragement for him to comply 
 with his desire, a text from the Psalms : " If thou be the 
 Son of God, cast thyself down ; for it is written, He 
 shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in 
 their hands shall they bear thee up, lest at any time 
 thou dash thy foot against a stone." Matt. iv. 6. But 
 our Saviour soon baffled this attempt by another apt 
 quotation from Scripture : " Thou shalt not tempt the 
 Lord thy God." Matt. iv. 7. Thou shalt not provoke 
 the Lord, either by disobeying his command or by an 
 impertinent curiosity to know more concerning his mind 
 and will than he is pleased to reveal. :i: 
 
 principle that to try to establish Messiah's kingdom as an outward, 
 worldly dominion, is to wish to turn the kingdom of God into the kingdom 
 of the devil, and to employ that fallen intelligence which pervades all 
 human sovereignties, only in a different form, to found the kingdom 
 of Christ." 
 
 * The scene of this temptation, the pinnacle, or rather battlement 
 of the temple, deserves consideration. By the Jewish law, the roof of 
 every private dwelling, for the safety of the inmates, was to be sur- 
 rounded by a wall or parapet ; and, according to Josephus, this was the 
 case with the temple. On the east side, where the descent was perpen- 
 dicular into the deep valley of the Kedron, the top of this parapet was 
 not far from six hundred feet, and one standing there could scarcely 
 see the objects below from the dizzy height. What a spot was this for 
 the purpose of the Tempter ! And observe, he urges the Son of God 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 57 
 
 Thus baffled in all his arts and devices by the wisdom 
 and power of the Son of God, he departed from him, 
 and a host of celestial spirits, despatched from the re- 
 gions of bliss, came and ministered refreshment to our 
 Saviour after his victory over the great enemy of his 
 Father and of mankind. 
 
 Hence, notwithstanding the ridicule of the infidel, 
 Christians may derive great encouragement to fight man- 
 fully against the flesh, the world, and the devil, under 
 the banner of the great Captain of their salvation, who is 
 ever ready to supply them with spiritual armor to sustain 
 the combat with that inveterate and subtle foe whose 
 devices he has experienced being in every respect 
 tempted like them.* 
 
 to this act of arrogant presumption by a quotation from the Scripture, 
 so artfully cited and mutilated as to make it seem a promise of Divine 
 support in the most unwarrantable undertaking. The words " in all 
 thy ways," which are evidently intended to restrict the promise to the 
 course of duty, wisdom and prudence, are dropped in the quotation of 
 the passage by the devil, who here shows himself an expert in "wrest- 
 ing the Scriptures." Let us so study the Scriptures, that we may be 
 able, like our Lord, to detect the artifices of the Tempter, when he 
 comes to us in the form of an angel of light. 
 
 To act without a Divine warrant in the word of God, or without 
 prayer for Divine direction in our daily affairs ; to borrow from former 
 self-denial a plea for present indulgence, or a proud presumption 
 of the Divine favor in all our projects, right or wrong, wise or un- 
 wise, is to fall into the snare of the devil. When we see "the sons 
 of God " marry merely for beauty ; Noah overcome by excess ; Lot 
 dwelling in Sodom for gain ; Uzzah touching the ark of the covenant ; 
 David gazing from the roof of his palace into the batli of his neighbor, 
 well may we continually pray, " Lead us not into temptation." 
 
 * Temptation varies its form with age, sex, talents, temperament, 
 condition, and social relations ; and we may sometimes regard our 
 own temptation as quite peculiar, and without any precedent in the 
 experience of Christ. But in this thought we forget his perfect 
 humanity, his representative character, and exquisite sensibility and 
 
58 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 During the time of our Saviour's retirement in the 
 wilderness, his faithful harbinger, the Baptist, being 
 assured, from the miraculous descent of the Holy Spirit 
 and other concurring testimonies, that Jesus was the 
 promised and long-expected Messiah, continued publish- 
 ing his mission to the multitude ; so that the rulers in 
 Jerusalem received information of the surprising events 
 that had happened in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, before 
 they saw the blessed Jesus, in confirmation of whose 
 mission and doctrine they were effected. Prompted by 
 curiosity, they despatched a deputation of priests and 
 Levites to the Baptist, to demand of him who he was ; 
 whether he was the Messiah or Elias, or a prophet risen 
 from the dead to precede the Messiah, the powerful 
 Prince so earnestly expected by the whole nation of 
 Israel. 
 
 The Baptist frankly replied that he was not the Mes- 
 siah whom they expected, nor Elias, who, as they had 
 vainly thought, would personally appear among them, 
 nor any other prophet risen from the dead ; but, at the 
 same time, hinted to them that, though he was not 
 Elias himself, yet he was that person spoken of by the 
 prophet Isaiah, and him of whom he thus prophesied : 
 " The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare 
 ye the way of the Lord : make straight in the desert a 
 highway for our God." Isa. xl. 3. 
 
 The priests and Levites, not sufficiently gratified with 
 this reply of the Baptist, demanded of him why he as- 
 sumed the power of baptizing the people if he was 
 neither the Messiah, nor Elias, nor any of the ancient 
 
 sympathy. When tempted to any sins of the flesh, we must think of his 
 hunger ; to any sins of the spirit, of his position on the temple ; to any 
 sins of society, of his undazzled survey of all the glories of the world. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 59 
 
 prophets risen from the dead.* To this demand, John 
 answered, I indeed baptize to show the necessity of re- 
 pentance : but my baptism is only that of water, and 
 wholly ineffectual of itself to the remission of sins ; but 
 that washing foretold by Zechariah is of sovereign effect :*j* 
 it is not my province, but solely that of the Messiah, 
 who is actually upon earth and among you, though 
 ye know him not, because he hath not yet manifested 
 himself to the world. The Messiah is so far exalted be- 
 yond me in power and dignity that I am not worthy to 
 do him the meanest offices. 
 
 The day after the departure of the priests and Levites 
 from Bethabara, our blessed Lord left the wilderness 
 and repaired thither himself, while John was yet bap- 
 tizing and preaching the doctrine of repentance. 
 
 The Baptist, as his grand business was to direct all 
 persons to the Messiah for life and salvation in and 
 through him, embraced this seasonable opportunity of 
 pointing him out to the multitude : " Behold the Lamb 
 of God, which taketh away the sins of the world ! " Lest 
 the attending crowd should surmise that it had been 
 previously concerted between Jesus and John, that the 
 former should assume, and the latter give him, the ap- 
 pellation of Messiah, he publicly and solemnly declared 
 that he was, equally with them, ignorant of the preten- 
 
 * This seems to settle the question, often discussed on other grounds, 
 whether the baptism of John belonged to the Levitical dispensation, 
 and was administered by John as a priest. The very inquiry here pro- 
 posed by the delegation from Jerusalem, shows that they did not at all 
 regard it in that light, but rather as a new institute which could be 
 administered rightfully only by a new Divine commission. Such a 
 commission John expressly claimed. 
 
 t See Zech. xiii. 1. 
 
DO LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 sions of Jesus to that high character * till he saw the 
 descent of the Holy Ghost, and heard him pronounced, 
 in the most awful manner, the Son of God : " And John 
 bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from 
 heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew 
 him not : but He that sent me to baptize with water, 
 the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the 
 Spirit descending and remaining, the same is he which 
 baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bare 
 record that this is the Son of God." John i. 3234. 
 
 The Baptist having made this declaration, the Messiah 
 left Bethabara, but returned the day following; and 
 John, happening to stand with two of his followers on 
 the bank of the river Jordan, pointed to him as he passed, 
 and, in a pious rapture, repeated what he had addressed 
 to the multitude the preceding day : " Behold the Lamb 
 of God ! " It is hence imagined that these two disciples 
 or followers of the Baptist were absent at the time of 
 the descent of the Holy Ghost, and for that reason this 
 method was taken of pointing out to them the venerable 
 person of the Redeemer of the world. 
 
 Animated with an ardent desire of hearing, as well as 
 seeing, this extraordinary person, they left John and 
 followed Jesus, who, conscious of their design, turned 
 about, and, with the utmost affability, gave them an 
 
 * This is by no means inconsistent with the language of John to Jesus 
 before the baptism. He might have heard enough of the character of 
 Jesus from others, to feel his own inferiority ; or the prophetic impulse 
 might have suddenly anticipated the evidence which was afterward 
 given by the appointed sign. He, therefore, spoke then as he/<fft, without 
 the certainty of knowledge which was necessary to assure both himself 
 and others of the Messiahship of Jesus. Not till the Spirit descended visi- 
 bly upon Jesus, did John know him, beyond a doubt, as the Son of God. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 61 
 
 invitation to the place of his residence. The evangelist 
 John informs us that one of these disciples was Andrew, 
 the brother of Simon Peter ; and it is conjectured from 
 his silence that himself was the other ; for it is remark- 
 able that, in his writings, he has studiously concealed his 
 own name. Be that as it may, it is abundantly evident 
 that the testimony of the Baptist, added to the tokens 
 he had from the blessed Jesus in the course of his con- 
 verse with him, amply satisfied Andrew that he was 
 indeed the promised Messiah, the Saviour and Redeemer 
 of a lost and perishing world. 
 
 Andrew soon after found his brother Peter and brought 
 him to our blessed Lord, who immediately called him by 
 his name, telling him that he should afterward be called 
 Cephas (which signifies a rock), from his firm resolution 
 of mind, and also because he should contribute toward 
 the foundation of the Christian church. 
 
 Some time after, Jesus met with Philip, an inhabitant 
 of the town of Bethsaida, and said unto him, " Follow 
 me." Philip immediately obeyed the divine command, 
 having heard of the character and mission of our blessed 
 Saviour. It is supposed that this disciple was present 
 at the miraculous descent of the Holy Spirit on our Lord 
 at his baptism, which being admitted, his compliance with 
 his call is no matter of admiration. 
 
 Philip, meeting with Nathanael, an inhabitant of Cana, 
 a town in Galilee, informed him of the actual coming 
 of the long-expected Messiah, that great Deliverer of 
 Israel spoken of by Moses and the ancient prophets, 
 "Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael 
 was assured, from the predictions concerning the Mes- 
 j that he was to be descended from the line of David 
 
62 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 and born in the city of Bethlehem, and therefore dis- 
 covered an amazement at his being called Jesus of Naza- 
 reth : " Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ? " * 
 Can that most contemptible of places, Nazareth, be sup- 
 posed to have given birth to the mighty Saviour, the 
 Prince of Peace, especially as it was expressly foretold 
 by the prophet that he was to be born in Bethlehem, the 
 city of David ? 
 
 Notwithstanding the improbability of such an event, 
 Nathanael listened to Philip, and determined on an ex- 
 amination of the person whom he said was the promised 
 Messiah. Accordingly, under his direction, he repaired 
 to the blessed Jesus, who, knowing his character, saluted 
 him on his approach with this honorable appellation : 
 " Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile ! " 
 
 Nathanael, amazed at our Lord's pertinent address, as 
 he had never before seen him, asked by what means 
 he obtained such precise knowledge of him. Our Lord 
 replied, he had seen him under the fig-tree. Probably 
 Nathanael had been praying under the fig-tree, and been 
 overheard by our Lord, who, from the substance of his 
 prayer, thus concluded his character ; for when the blessed 
 Jesus informed him that he gave him that* character on 
 account of what had passed under the fig-tree, Nathanael 
 perceived that he knew not only what had passed at a 
 distance, but had access to the inmost thoughts of the 
 heart, a property not alloted to mortals, and therefore 
 exclaimed, with rapture, " Rabbi, thou art the Son of 
 God, thou art the King of Israel." 
 
 * Nothing could more mark the meanness and general bad reputa- 
 tion of Nazareth than this language of Xathansel, who lived within a 
 few miles of the place. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 63 
 
 Our Saviour then told him he should hereafter have 
 much stronger testimonials of the divinity of his mis- 
 sion, when he should be eye-witness to what the old 
 patriarch Jacob had before seen in a vision the angels 
 of heaven descending and ascending, to attend the per- 
 son and execute the commands of the Son of Man : an 
 appellation our blessed Lord assumed, not only as con- 
 sidering his humanity, but in order to fulfil most per- 
 emptorily that remarkable prediction of the prophet 
 Daniel concerning him : " I saw in the night visions, 
 and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the 
 clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and 
 they brought him near before him. And there was 
 given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all 
 people, nations, and languages should serve him; his 
 dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not 
 pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be 
 destroyed." Dan. vii. 13, 14. 
 
 The great Redeemer, having attested the divinity of 
 his mission by many incontestable evidences, and made 
 five disciples, departed for Galilee, where, soon after his 
 arrival, he was invited, with his mother and disciples, 
 to a marriage-feast at Cana, a place near Nazareth. At 
 these nuptials there happened to be a scarcity of wine, 
 and his mother, who interested herself in the conduct 
 of the feast, and was therefore desirous that every thing 
 should be done with decorum, applied to her Son, hop- 
 ing he would be able to remedy the defect. She had 
 doubtless conceived he had the power of working mira- 
 cles, an,d was therefore desirous that he would give proof 
 of his ability in the presence of her friends, who were 
 assembled at the marriage. 
 
64 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Addressing herself, therefore, to her Son, she told him 
 " They have no wine." Our Lord gently reproved her, 
 in these words : " Woman, what have I to do with thee ? * 
 mine hour is not yet come : " that is, The time or period 
 of my public ministry is not yet arrived ; nor is it time 
 for me to display rny supernatural powers. 
 
 Notwithstanding this mild reproof, his mother still 
 entertained an opinion that he would interest himself in 
 behalf of her and the company, and therefore ordered 
 the servants punctually to obey his commands. 
 
 Our blessed Lord, being assured that working a mir- 
 acle would greatly tend to confirm the faith of his young 
 disciples, exerted his divine power, by ordering the ser- 
 vants to fill six water-pots, containing each about twenty 
 gallons, with water ; which was no sooner done than the 
 whole was converted int6 excellent wine, f 
 
 He then ordered them to draw, and bear to the 
 
 * There is nothing necessarily harsh in the word "woman," as here 
 used by our Lord. Even on the cross, when most tenderly committing 
 his mother to the care of his beloved disciple, he used the same word 
 in his address to her. Yet here, in connection with the words which 
 follow, it takes a tone of solemn majesty ; as if he had said, " Kemem- 
 ber, my mother, what you are, and that in the higher relation I sustain 
 to my heavenly Father, I must act, not under your dictation, but 
 solely -in obedience to his commission/' What a protest was this 
 against that false confidence, amounting to actual idolatry, which has 
 since been taught in the intercession of Mary ! 
 
 t It was an ancient tradition, that this marriage took place at the 
 house of Cleophas, or Alpheus, the brother-in-law of the Virgin, or at 
 least her near relation, and that the bridegroom was his son, " Simon, 
 the Canaanite," afterward one of our Lord's apostles. If so, then it 
 naturally accounts for the presence of Jesus, and for the interest ex- 
 pressed by Mary in the w r ant of wine sufficient for the feast, which, as 
 usual, was of a week's duration. But it will not account for our Lord's 
 consent to put forth his miraculous power for the relief of their 
 poverty, nor for the great quantity furnished, which far exceeded the 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 65 
 
 governor of the feast; who, being ignorant of the 
 miracle that had been wrought, and astonished at the 
 preference of this wine to that which had been served 
 up at the beginning of the feast, addressed himself to 
 the bridegroom, in the hearing of the whole company, 
 telling him that, contrary to the usual custom, he had 
 reserved the best wine to the last; at the same time 
 commending so judicious a practice, as a plain proof of 
 his approbation of his friends present at the entertain- 
 ment. The bridegroom was equally surprised at the 
 address of the governor of the feast, and the occasion of 
 it, which was effected by the supernatural power of our 
 blessed Lord. 
 
 This miracle, which was the first wrought by Jesus, 
 confirmed the faith of his followers, and spread his re- 
 nown through the adjacent country. On leaving Cana 
 he departed toward Jerusalem, to attend the approach- 
 ing Passover. 
 
 demand for the occasion, and must have been an ample supply for 
 domestic use for a long time to come. Higher motives governed his 
 action in this case. 
 
 The true design of the miracle was threefold : 1. To give a new 
 sanction to marriage under the Christian dispensation ; 2. To manifest 
 the Saviour's glory as the sovereign Lord of nature ; and 3. To confirm 
 the faith of his disciples in his divine mission, and his power to help 
 in every time of need. 
 
 This miracle shows that the use of wine, under some circumstances, 
 and in some degree, is lawful. But it does not prove its habitual use 
 as a beverage obligatory, or even expedient, where it is likely to become 
 a snare to ourselves or a stumbling-block to others. So the question 
 of Temperance is finally decided by Christian love, in Romans xiv. 21. 
 5 
 
66 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 EXPULSION OF THE PROFANERS OF THE TEMPLE JESUS 
 CONVERSES WITH NICODEMUS BAPTIZES IN JUDEA IN- 
 STRUCTS A POOR SAMARITAN HEALS A SICK PERSON AT 
 
 CAPERNAUM RETIRES AGAIN TO NAZARETH, AND IS 
 
 EXPELLED THENCE BY HIS IMPIOUS COUNTRYMEN. 
 
 OUR blessed Lord, immediately on his arrival at Jeru- 
 salem, repaired to the temple, where he was shocked at 
 beholding a place dedicated to the solemn service of 
 Almighty God so prostituted to purposes of fraud and 
 avarice, and become the resort of traders of every kind. 
 It is evident there must have been a grand market for 
 oxen, sheep, and doves at such times, for Josephus tells 
 us that no less than two hundred and fifty-six thousand 
 victims were offered at one passover.* 
 
 Such abuse, could not long escape his notice or cor- 
 rection, having an absolute right to chastise so flagrant 
 a perversion of a place that, strictly speaking, was his 
 own. " The Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come 
 
 * The Passover was the chief annual festival of the Jewish nation. 
 It was appointed and kept on the very night they left Egypt, to com- 
 memorate the wonderful deliverance they experienced, when the Angel 
 of the Lord passed through the land, and slew all the first-born of the 
 Egyptians. Every Hebrew house was passed over unharmed, because, 
 by divine appointment, it was sprinkled with the blood of a lamb. 
 The festival fell on the fourteenth day of the month Kisan, which 
 corresponds to parts of March and April, according to the day of the 
 full of the moon. It was attended by the people from all quarters 
 with great zeal, and was continued for eight days, including two Sab- 
 baths Jerusalem was densely crowded on these occasions. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 67 
 
 to HIS temple; even the Messenger of the Covenant, 
 whom ye delight in : behold, he shall come, saith the 
 Lord of Hosts." 
 
 Accordingly, the blessed Jesus, whose pious soul was 
 vexed at their profanation of the sacred place, 'drove 
 out the traders, and overset the tables of the money- 
 changers, saying unto them that sold doves, " Take these 
 things hence ; make not my father's house a house of 
 merchandise." 
 
 These mercenary wretches appear to have been struck 
 at once with a consciousness of their guilt and the severity 
 of our Lord's reproof, so they immediately departed with- 
 out making the least resistance. But, our Lord's con- 
 duct in this affair carrying with it every token of zeal, 
 for which the ancient prophets were so remarkable, the 
 Jewish Council assembled, and determined to inquire by 
 what authority he attempted such a reformation, requir- 
 ing at the same time a demonstrative proof of the divinity 
 of his commission. 
 
 To gratify their curiosity, * our Lord referred them 
 only to the miracle of his own resurrection : "-Destroy," 
 said he, probably laying his hand on his breast, " this 
 temple, and I will raise it up in three days." The 
 rulers, mistaking his meaning, imagined that he referred 
 to the superb and lofty temple finished by Herod, and 
 
 * It strikes us that this answer of Jesus was designed not to gratify 
 curiosity at all, but rather to intimate his prophetic knowledge of the 
 malice and murder already hidden in their guilty hearts, and which 
 time so fully developed when they put him to death. The original 
 word here used by Christ, denotes the inner sanctuary the immediate 
 dwelling-place of Deity and is, hence, peculiarly appropriate to his 
 body as the shrine of the Invisible God. " For in him dwelleth all the 
 fulness of the Godhead bodily." Col. ii. 9. 
 
68 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 therefore told him such a destruction was highly improb- 
 able, nor had they the least reason to think he could 
 possibly rebuild in three days that magnificent structure, 
 which had been finished at immense expense and was 
 the labor of so many years. * 
 
 Though the blessed Jesus declined compliance with 
 the request of the mighty and noble among the inhabi- 
 tants of Jerusalem, he wrought several miracles in the 
 presence of the whole people, in order to confirm the 
 doctrines he delivered and prove the divinity of his 
 mission. 
 
 As there had not been any miracles wrought amongst 
 them for a considerable time, j- though many were re- 
 corded in their sacred books, they beheld our blessed 
 Lord with amazement and veneration ; and numbers 
 were satisfied that he was the long-promised Messiah, 
 " the desire of all nations," so often foretold by the ancient 
 prophets. For wise reasons, however, he did not pub- 
 licly declare that he was the Great Prophet, as he knew 
 
 * The temple had been repaired and adorned but a short time before 
 by Herod, at great expense, to conciliate the Jews as well as to gratify 
 his own vanity. He little thought he was thus fitting it up for the more 
 worthy reception of the Messiah. The work was begun in the twenty- 
 first year of his reign, and in eight years the body of the house was 
 finished ; but all the outworks, including syme new foundations, with 
 the courts, corridors, and chambers, were not completed till nearly 
 thirty years after his death, that is, forty-six years in all, up to the 
 commencement of our Lord's ministry. Some, however, understand 
 the forty-six years here mentioned as referring to the time that elapsed 
 from the laying of the foundations of the second temple, till its com- 
 pletion under the hands of Zerubbabel, and Joshua the high priest. 
 
 t From the time of Malachi the prophet a period of four hundred 
 and thirty-four years" sixty-two weeks " in the language of Daniel's 
 famous prophecy. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 69 
 
 that the faith of numbers was yet but weak, and that, 
 consequently, many would desert his cause when they 
 found he was opposed by the Sanhedrin, or great Council 
 of the nation, and did not set up a worldly kingdom, as 
 they thought the expected Messiah was to do. 
 
 But the miracles wrought by the holy Jesus did not 
 excite the wonder and astonishment of the common and 
 illiterate class of the people alone. Nicodemus, a prin- 
 cipal person among them, impartially reflecting on his 
 wondrous works, so astonishing in their nature, so 
 demonstrative in their proof, so salutary in their effect, 
 so happily adapted to the confirmation of his doctrines, 
 and so perfectly agreeable to the attributes of the Deity, 
 as well as the predictions of the ancierit prophets con- 
 cerning the Messiah, " the Sun of righteousness, who 
 was to rise with healing in his wings," was perfectly 
 assured that nothing less than Omnipotence itself could 
 produce such wonders, and thence, like many others of 
 his countrymen, almost concluded that Jesus was of a 
 truth the Son, and sent of God which last term is the 
 meaning of the word Messiah. But scruples still arose 
 in his mind when, on the other hand, he considered the 
 obscurity of his birth arid the meanness of his appear- 
 ance, so different from the exalted notions the people 
 of the Jews always entertained concerning this powerful 
 Prince, who was to erect his throne in the mighty city 
 of Jerusalem and subject to his dominion all the states 
 and kingdoms of the earth. To obviate, therefore', 
 these scruples, and solve these perplexing doubts, Nico- 
 demus resolved on an interview with the blessed Jesus ; 
 but, choosing to conceal his visit from the other mem- 
 bers of t'.ie Sanhedrin, who were greatly averse to his 
 
70 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 person and doctrine, he chose the night as most convenient 
 for that purpose. 
 
 His salutation of the mighty Redeemer of Israel was 
 tnis : " Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come 
 from -God : for no man can do these miracles that thou 
 doest, except God be with him." John iii. 2. Rabbi, 
 I am sufficiently convinced that thou art immediately 
 sent as a teacher from on high ; for nothing less than 
 power divine could enable thee to perform the miracles 
 which thou hast wrought in the presence of multitudes. 
 But this salutation by no means implies that Nicodemus 
 thought Jesus the great promised Messiah, even the 
 Redeemer of Israel ; nor could he obtain that knowledge 
 effectually till it was revealed to him by the blessed 
 Spirit of God. 
 
 We may observe that our Saviour, waiving all form- 
 ality and circumlocution, which tend to no real profit, 
 immediately preaches to this disguised rabbi the first 
 great doctrine of Christianity, regeneration : " Verily, 
 verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again he 
 cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus, I declare 
 unto thee, as a truth of the last importance : verily, 
 verily, unless a man be regenerated in the spirit of his 
 mind, have his will and affections transferred from 
 earthly to spiritual objects, he cannot see the kingdom 
 of God, which is holy and spiritual in its nature and 
 enjoyments. 
 
 This was a mysterious doctrine to the rabbi, whose 
 religious views extended no further than to rites and 
 ceremonies, and were bounded by time and space. Be- 
 sides, he thought the very position of our Lord an 
 absurdity in terms. " How can a man be born when 
 
UFE OF CHRIST. 71 
 
 he is old ? Can he enter a second tirne into his mother's 
 womb, and be born?" Our Lord replies to this ques- 
 tion, " Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, 
 he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The re- 
 generation which I preach unto you is not of a bodily, 
 but of a spiritual nature : unless a man embraces the 
 Christian religion and doctrines, whose initiating ordi- 
 nance is baptism, and becomes a subject of divine grace, 
 he cannot be the subject of that glory, which consists 
 not in earthly splendor and the gratification of the 
 meaner passions, but in an exemption from whatever is 
 earthly, sensual, and devilish, and the prosecution of 
 whatever is heavenly, holy, and spiritual. " That 
 which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is 
 born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto 
 thee, Ye must be born again ; " wonder not at my doc- 
 trine of regeneration, which is designed to inform you 
 that you derive no excellence from your boasted descent 
 from Abraham as such, you are merely earthly, sub- 
 ject to sins and infirmities of every kind as well as to 
 show that you must undergo a spiritual mental regener- 
 ation, a renovation of the heart, which changes the 
 whole man and fits you for the participation of heavenly 
 blessedness. 
 
 This important work is likewise spiritual in its opera- 
 tion, unseen by mortal eyes, being wrought on the 
 mind or heart of man by the powerful influence of the 
 Holy Spirit, which changes his nature, and, with respect 
 to eternal things, makes him another, a new creature. 
 " The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearett 
 the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it 
 
72 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the 
 Spirit." 
 
 Notwithstanding this explanation of the blessed Jesus, 
 Nicodemus was so prepossessed with partiality toward 
 the Jews, who, on account of their alliance to Abraham, 
 thought they were the people of God, entitled to heaven, 
 and consequently in no need of this new operation of 
 the mind, called regeneration, that he again demanded, 
 "How can these things be?" The divine instructor 
 then reproves his dulness and misapprehension of what 
 he had so clearly explained and- propounded to him, 
 especially as he was himself a teacher of the people, 
 and one of the great Council of the nation. " Art thou 
 a master of Israel, and knowest not these things ? " The 
 doctrines I deliver are not fiction and mere surmise, but 
 founded on eternal truth, immediately revealed from 
 God, and consistent with the will of Heaven. I am 
 witness to the same, and therefore affirm that such testi- 
 mony is sufficient to render them valid. But your preju- 
 dices still prevail, nor can your belief be conquered by 
 all the arguments I can advance. " We speak that we 
 do know, and testify that we have seen ; * and ye receive 
 not our witness." 
 
 * It would seem from this emphatic language of our Lord, that he 
 had personally witnessed the great change which he denominates the 
 New Birth. This shows that it was already visible in its effects on 
 individuals of his .acquaintance. And who could these individuals be, 
 if not the disciples of John, including those who had already become 
 his own personal followers Andrew and Peter, James and John, Philip 
 and Nathaniel V This accords with the prophecy of the Angel as to 
 the effect of the ministry of John the Baptist : " Many of the children 
 of Israel shall he tt<,rn to the Lord Jiis God; " for such conversion to God 
 certainly implies regeneration. See Luke i. 16 ; 1 John ii. 29. 
 
 If this be so, it shows conclusively the great mistake of those who 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 73 
 
 If ye thus reject the first principles of the Christian 
 religion, such as the necessity of regeneration, or the in- 
 fluence of the Spirit of God upon the heart of man, how 
 will ye believe the sublimer truths I shall hereafter 
 deliver concerning the kingdom of God, or state of the 
 saints in glory ? If I inform you of spiritual transac- 
 tions in this lower world, and ^e believe not, how can 
 ye believe if I tell you of those things which relate 
 solely to another and heavenly state ? But, to confirm 
 your belief in what I have delivered, know that my 
 assured knowledge of these things is derived from the 
 Father of Light, the God of Truth, by whom I am in- 
 vested with gifts superior to any of the ancient prophets. 
 No man hath ascended the regions of immortality, and 
 descended from thence, but " the Son of Man : " conse- 
 quently, no man but " the Son of Man " can, with truth 
 and certainty, reveal the immediate will of the Father, 
 who is in heaven. .Your great lawgiver Moses ascended 
 not there: Mount Sinai was the summit of his eleva- 
 tion ; whereas the Son of Man, who was in heaven, and 
 came down from thence with a divine commission to 
 sinful mortals, had the most clear and convincing proofs 
 of the will of his Almighty Father, penetrated into the 
 designs of infinite wisdom and grace, and consequently 
 must be higher than any prophet, being in a peculiar 
 sense the Prophet of the most high God, or Angel of the 
 Presence. 
 
 This divine preacher, who spake as no man ever 
 
 confound the baptism of the Holy Ghost with regeneration ; for that 
 gracious enlargement and overflow of the spiritual life was an event 
 yet future, reserved till the day of Pentecost, to glorify the ascended 
 Saviour. John vii. 39 ; xvi. 7. Acts i. 4, 5 ; ii. 1-4. 
 
74 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 spake, likewise labors to eradicate the favorite principle 
 of the Jews : I mean, that of confining all blessings, 
 temporal and eternal, to their own nation and people ;, 
 as well as to show the vanity of their expecting the ap- 
 pearance of the Messiah in pomp and magnificence.* 
 
 To effect this glorious design, he lays open to the 
 rabbi that it was agreeable both to the doctrines of 
 Moses, as well as to the will of God, that the Redeemer, 
 in this state of mortality, should be exposed to poverty 
 and distress of every kind ; that his conquests were not 
 to be of a temporal nature, but over the hearts and wills 
 of mankind ; that his throne was not to be established 
 in the earthly, but heavenly Jerusalem ; previous to 
 which he was to shed his blood, as, by virtue of the 
 same, all of every nation and kingdom throughout the 
 earth might pass into the heavenly world, and there, 
 provided they relied on his merits and conformed their 
 lives to the doctrines he preached, forever enjoy that 
 summit of bliss which through his sufferings was pro- 
 vided for them, by God himself, to all eternity. 
 
 This is the sum and substance of Christianity; this 
 is the sum and substance of what our blessed Lord 
 preached to Nicodemus, that great ruler and teacher of 
 the Jews ; a sermon comprehending the whole of what 
 need be taught, notwithstanding religion is at this day 
 
 * How completely the Jews of that age (with few exceptions, as 
 Zacharias and Simeon), had lost sight of the grand spiritual mission of 
 their nation, and of the Messiah himself, is seen in this very narrow- 
 ness and bigotry of spirit. Had they read the promises to their fathers 
 aright ; had they at all entered into the true spirit of their own Psalms 
 and of their prophets, they must have perceived that in the seed of Abra- 
 ham "all the families of the earth were to be blessed," and would have 
 exulted, like Paul, afterward in the glorious prospect. Rom. xv. 9-12. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 75 
 
 rent to pieces by sectaries, each of whom invents some 
 new-fangled doctrine, suggested by ignorance, presump- 
 tion, or both united. 
 
 God Almighty, the Father, out of his own unsup- 
 plicated, unmerited grace and mercy to the sinful race 
 of men, sent his only-begotten Son to purchase eternal 
 life, through the effusion of his own blood, for all of 
 every nation and kingdom throughout the earth who 
 should believe in him ; that is, who should believe in 
 the divinity of his mission, the efficacy of his atonement, 
 and, in consequence of that faith, conform to the rules 
 of his Gospel. " Only let your conversation be as be- 
 come th the gospel of Christ." Condemnation, justly 
 passed on all transgressors of the law of God (which are 
 all mankind) can alone be averted, according to the 
 divine institution, the propriety of which it is the height 
 of impiety and presumption to call in question, by faith 
 in the blessed Jesus. Such a faith we have just ex- 
 plained. " He that believeth on him is not condemned ; 
 but he that believeth not is condemned already, because 
 he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten 
 Son of God." 
 
 It appears from the future conduct of Nicodemus, 
 that, instead of supposing Jesus to be only " a teacher 
 come from God," he was now fully convinced that he was 
 the " Messiah, the Kedeemer of Israel ; " for he after- 
 ward constantly espoused his cause in the great Council 
 of the nation ; and, when his countrymen put him to an 
 ignominious death, he, together with Joseph of Arima- 
 thea, conveyed him to burial, when all others had for- 
 saken him. 
 
 The time of the passover at Jerusalem being expired. 
 
76 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Jesus, together with his disciples, withdrew into the 
 remote parts of Judea,* where he continued a consider- 
 able time, preaching the kingdom of God, and baptizing 
 the new converts. John the Baptist being also at the 
 same time baptizing in the river Enon,-)- a dispute arose 
 
 * It does not appear from the record that Jesus was in any obscurity 
 during his first six months' ministry in Judea. On the contrary, it is 
 affirmed that in this period, u he made and baptized more disciples than 
 John," who had then modestly withdrawn from the Jordan to Enon. 
 
 t Enon is nowhere mentioned as a river in the Scriptures, nor, so far 
 as we are aware, by any modern traveller. It is remarkable that no 
 ancient writer appears to have identified the spot. Jerome indeed 
 says, it was about eight miles south of Scythopolis (the ancient Beth- 
 shan), yet as no such town as Salim was in that neighborhood, his 
 opinion lacks confirmation. All this proves the place was obscure. 
 
 The name Enon signifies a fountain " The Dove's Fountain" 
 either from its soft, murmuring noise, or from being the resort of those 
 beautiful birds. Three things are said by the Evangelist to aid us in 
 finding the spot, at once so obscure, and yet so important as the scene 
 of the Baptist's last labors arid last public testimony to Christ. 1. It 
 was near to a town called Salim. 2. There was much water there. 
 3. It was not far from Jerusalem ; for a debate arose between John's 
 disciples and the Jews of that city, which was referred to him for 
 decision, and was the occasion of his most explicit testimony to the 
 honor of Jesus, as from above and above all, the Head and Bridegroom 
 of the Church. John iii. 25-36. 
 
 All these conditions unite to fix the place in the valley of the Cherith, 
 a tributary of the Jordan ; about six miles northeast of Jerusalem, and 
 twelve northwest of Jericho. Dr. Barclay, the discoverer of the spot, 
 describes it as a most secluded and charming spot, in a valley called 
 by the Arabs, Wady Fa-ran, or "the Valley of Delight," about a mile 
 from the ruins of Zaleim, or Salim, which are on the summit of a hill 
 to the north. Enon consists of a succession of beautiful fountains, 
 broad and deep, cool and clear, shaded, by overhanging trees. This is 
 undoubtedly the spot where Elijah was hidden in the time of Ahab, 
 and where the Baptist, for a season, retired from Bethabara, which 
 was in the jurisdiction of Herod the Tetrarch, perhaps after that 
 prince had taken offence at his just reproof. The evidence furnished 
 oy Dr. Barclay seems to command the general consent of modern 
 critics. See his " City of the Great King," Philadelphia, 1858. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 77 
 
 between his disciples and certain Jews concerning the 
 preference of the baptism of Jesus. 
 
 Being unable to decide the point, they referred it to 
 the opinion of John ; on which the pious Baptist imme- 
 diately declared that he was only the harbinger of the 
 great Messiah, who baptized not only with water but 
 with the Holy Spirit ; adding that his own ministry was 
 on the decline, as the beauty of the morning star, the 
 harbinger of the sun, decreases when that fountain of life 
 but dawns in the chambers of the east. 
 
 The Baptist likewise mentioned to his disciples and 
 hearers many circumstances tending to prove the divin- 
 ity of the mission of the holy Jesus, and the important 
 design of his incarnation : " He that believeth on the 
 Son hath eternal life ; but he that believeth not the Son 
 shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on 
 him." 
 
 The Baptist, having publicly preached the great doc- 
 trine of salvation through faith in Jesus, departed from 
 the wilderness of Judea, where he had continued a 
 considerable time, and went into Galilee, often repairing 
 to the court of Herod, who esteemed, or affected to es- 
 teem, both his preaching and person.* But John, being 
 
 * Herod Antipas, here mentioned, was the son of Herod the Great, 
 by his Samaritan wife, Malthace. On the death of his father, he was 
 appointed by Augustus Caesar to the government of Galilee, and of 
 Perea, the region east of the lower Jordan. Hence, our Saviour 
 belonged by residence to his jurisdiction, and John the Baptist at 
 Bethabara, also, for the time. His first wife, daughter of Aretas, king 
 of Arabia, he divorced, in order to marry Herodias, the wife of his 
 brother Philip, whom he had seduced from her husband. Philip bore 
 the cruel wrong in silence, but Aretas waged war against him, and 
 defeated him with great slaughter. This, Josephus tells us, was 
 regarded by the Jews as a judgment of God on Herod for his crimes 
 against Philip, his divorced wife, and John the Baptist, whom Hero- 
 
78 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 faithful in his ministry, could not fail to remonstrate on 
 the injustice and impiety of a known practice of Herod, 
 which was his cohabiting with Herodias, his brother 
 Philip's wife ; and, thereby incurring the displeasure of 
 that ambitious woman, he was at her instance cast into 
 prison, and there reserved for future destruction. 
 
 While these things happened in Galilee, our blessed 
 Lord continued preaching in the wilderness,* whither 
 great numbers resorted, attracted by curiosity to see the 
 miracles which fame reported he daily wrought. The 
 success of his ministry exciting the envj^ of the hypo- 
 critical tribe of the Pharisees, our blessed Lord thought 
 proper to retire into Galilee, in order to promote the de- 
 sign of his mission in those parts, f 
 
 In the course of his journey, being weary of travelling 
 in so warm a country, and excessively thirsty, he sat 
 down in Samaria by a celebrated well given by the old 
 patriarch Jacob to his son Joseph, while his disciples 
 were gone to the city Sychar to procure provisions. 
 
 While the humble Jesus was sitting by the well-side, 
 a woman, a native of the country, came with her 
 
 dias had persuaded him to kill, after he had long "heard him gladly, 
 and done many things because of him ; for he knew he was a just and 
 holy man." As this last act was really against his conscience, it filled 
 Herod with remorse and misery. To complete his punishment, Hero- 
 dias persuaded him to go to Rome to get his title of Tetrarch elevated 
 to that of King (which he sometimes was called by courtesy) ; but the 
 result of his journey was his ruin, as the Emperor Claudius, on com- 
 plaint of his own brother, Herod Agrippa I., decreed his deposition, 
 and banishment to Lyons, in Gaul. Thus Herodias, for whom he had 
 sacrificed his honor and conscience at first, became his evil genius and 
 scourge to the end of life a fearful example that "the way of the 
 transgressors is hard." 
 
 * See first note, page 76. 
 
 + This was just after John's imprisonment, about January, A. D. 31. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 79 
 
 pitcher to fetch water ; and our Lord requested of her 
 to give him to drink. The appearance of Jesus aston- 
 ished the woman, because she knew him to be a Jew, 
 and the Samaritans were held in the utmost, contempt 
 by those people, who, indeed, arrogated a preference to 
 all nations upon earth. But, though she knew him to 
 be a Jew, she knew not that he was the Son of God, 
 full of grace and truth, divested of human prejudices, 
 and the very essence of humility and every virtue. As 
 the design of his mission and incarnation was to promote 
 the real happiness of mankind, he embraced every 
 opportunity of enforcing his salutary doctrines; and 
 therefore, though his thirst was extreme, he delayed 
 its gratification, in order to inform this woman, though 
 of an infamous character, of the means by which she 
 might obtain living water, or, in other words, eternal 
 life. As the best method to eifect this purpose, he gave 
 her to understand that, had she known the character of 
 the suppliant, she would have eagerly satisfied his desire, 
 and been rewarded by a gift the most invaluable 
 even living water, issuing from the well of eternal sal- 
 vation. 
 
 The woman, taking his words in the common accepta- 
 tion, imagining that he suggested his power of supplying 
 her with water flowing from a perpetual spring, which 
 jn that parched climate appeared impossible, demanded 
 of him if he was vested with a power superior to their 
 father Jacob, who dug this well, drank out of it with 
 his family, and left it for the benefit of posterity * 
 
 * A common Jew would have indignantly denied the claim of the 
 Samaritans to a descent from Jacob. But Jesus passed it by without 
 remark that he might not be diverted from his great object. 
 
80 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 The Saviour and friend of mankind, stiil benign in 
 his purpose toward this poor sinner, replied that all 
 who drank of the water of Jacoh's well would thirst 
 again, it being but a temporary allay of a desire incident 
 to human nature ; whereas those who drank of the 
 water which he was ready to dispense should never 
 thirst ; because that water flowed from the inexhausti- 
 ble Fountain of Divine Grace, and could not be drained 
 but with immensity itself. 
 
 Though this great Preacher of Israel, by a simple and 
 natural allegory, displayed the power of divine grace, 
 the woman, ignorant of the allusion and meaning of the 
 blessed Jesus, desired of him that water, trial she might 
 not thirst in future, nor have occasion to come to Jacob's 
 well daily for water. 
 
 To show her the nature of sin, and thereby create in 
 her soul desires after the water of life, the blessed Jesus, 
 by some pertinent questions and replies, evinced his 
 knowledge of her infamous course of life, and by that 
 means convinced her that he acted under an influence 
 more than human. To evade, however, the present 
 subject of discourse, which filled her with a degree of 
 awe and fear, she proposed for discussion a case long 
 warmly contested between the Jews and Samaritans :* 
 
 * The Samaritans of that age were the descendants of a mixed race 
 of Jews and Gentiles a poor remnant of the ten tribes who had been 
 carried away by Shalmanezar, king of Assyria, and colonies of heathen 
 tribes transported from different parts of his empire. Their faith and 
 worship was mixed, like their origin : u they feared Jehovah, and wor- 
 shipped their idol gods. " On the return of the Jews from the captivity, 
 and the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem, they were necessarily 
 excluded from the temple worship, and hence became bitter enemies of 
 the Jews. They built a temple of their own on Mount Gerizim, where 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 81 
 
 Whether Mount Gerizim, or the city of Jerusalem, was 
 destined by God as the place peculiarly set apart for re- 
 ligous worship. Our blessed Lord replied to this in- 
 significant question, that it was not the place, but the 
 manner, in which adoration was offered to the Father 
 of Spirits, that rendered such worship acceptable; ob- 
 serving that " God is a Spirit, and they that worship him 
 must worship him in spirit and in truth." John iv. 24. 
 
 In consequence of this reply to her, which apparently 
 referred to things spiritual and eternal, she informed the 
 blessed Jesus of her expectation of the arrival of the 
 promised Messiah, who should punctually inform them 
 concerning these points, so long and indecisively con- 
 tested. 
 
 Our Lord, embracing the opportunity of preaching 
 himself to this poor woman as the Saviour of sinners, 
 replied, without hesitation, " I that speak unto thee am 
 he." 
 
 While Jesus continued talking with the woman, his 
 disciples returned, and approached him at the very time 
 when he told the woman that he was the Messiah. 
 Though they were astonished at his condescension in 
 
 they offered sacrifices according to the Mosaic law, adhering to the 
 Pentateuch, but rejecting all other parts of Scripture. 
 
 About B. c. 120, John Hyrcanus, king of the Jews, conquered them 
 and burned their temple, which only increased their animosity. They 
 still contended that Mount Gerizim was the proper place for temple 
 worship, because it was " the mount of blessing," although the altar 
 erected by Joshua was not on Gerizim, but on Mount Ebal. Hence the 
 language of the woman of Samaria on this occasion a hundred and 
 fifty years after their temple had been destroyed. In common with the 
 Jews, they expected the Messiah, but rather in the character of the great 
 " Prophet " than of the great " King. " Dent, xviii. 15-19; John iv. 2o. :.'>. 
 
 The tenderness of Jesus toward this despised people on all occasions, 
 is a remarkable and beautiful feature of his character. 
 6 
 
82 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 conversing with an inhabitant of Samaria, and even of 
 instructing her in the doctrines of religion, none pre- 
 sumed to ask him why he conversed with one who was 
 an enemy to the Jews and the worship in the temple of 
 Jerusalem. But the woman, hearing Jesus call himself 
 the Messiah, left the pitcher, and ran into the city, to 
 publish the glad tidings, that the great Deliverer of 
 mankind was then sitting by the well of Jacob, and had 
 told her all the secret transactions of her life. This 
 report astonished the Samaritans, and at the same time 
 roused their curiosity to see a person foretold by Moses 
 and the prophets, and of whose appearance there was 
 then so universal an expectation. 
 
 The disciples, on their return, set before their Master 
 the provisions they had purchased ; but he, wholly ab- 
 sorbed in meditation, refused the refreshment so highly 
 requisite, telling them that he had "meat to eat that 
 they knew not of." This unexpected answer surprised 
 his disciples, who, understanding his words in their 
 natural sense, asked one another whether any person 
 had, during their absence, supplied him with provisions. 
 But Jesus soon explained the mystery, by telling them 
 that he did not mean natural, but spiritual, food ; that 
 to execute the commission he had received from his 
 Father was far better to him than meat or drink ; and 
 the satisfaction he was going to receive from the con- 
 version of the Samaritans much greater than any sen- 
 sual enjoyments. 
 
 Many of the Samaritans were now near Jesus, who, 
 lifting up his eyes, and seeing the ways crowded with 
 people coming to him from the city, stretched out his 
 benevolent hands toward them, and addressed his disci- 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 83 
 
 pies in the following manner : " Say not ye, There are 
 yet four months, and then corneth harvest ? Behold, I 
 say unto you, Lift up your eyes, arid look on the 
 fields; for they are white already to harvest." John iv. 
 35. Behold yonder multitudes, how they are throng- 
 ing to hear the word, which has only a few minutes 
 been sown in their hearts ! It is not, therefore, always 
 necessary to wait with patience for the effect, which 
 sometimes immediately follows the cause. To gather 
 this spiritual harvest, and finish the work of him that 
 sent me, is my proper food ; adding, for the encourage- 
 ment of his disciples, As you have labored with me in 
 this harvest, so shall you participate in the great recom- 
 pense of eternal rewards : " He that reapeth receiveth 
 wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal ; that both 
 he that soweth, and he that reapeth, may rejoice 
 together." John iv. 36. 
 
 Many of the people had been so affected at the words 
 of the woman that they were fully persuaded Jesus could 
 be no other than the great Messiah.; accordingly, their 
 first request was that he would deign to take up his 
 residence in their city. The compassionate Redeemer 
 of the human race so far complied as to stay with them 
 two days an interval which he spent in preaching to 
 them the kingdom of God ; so that the greatest part of 
 the city embraced the doctrines of the gospel, and, at his 
 departure, said unto the woman, " Now we believe, not 
 because of thy saying ; for we have heard him ourselves, 
 and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of 
 the world." John iv. 42. 
 
 Having accomplished his gracious design in Samaria, 
 
84 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Jesus continued his journey to Galilee, * to exercise his 
 ministry and preach there the kingdom of God ; telling 
 the people that the time was now accomplished which 
 had been predetermined by Omnipotence for erecting the 
 happy kingdom of the Prince of Peace, f Mark i. 15. 
 
 Our Lord had performed several miracles at Jerusalem 
 during the passover, at which the inhabitants of Galilee 
 were present. His preaching was therefore at first at- 
 tended with vgreat success ; for they listened attentively 
 to his doctrine, and received it with particular kindness 
 aud courtesy especially the people of Cana, where he 
 had turned the water into wine. 
 
 During his residence in that city, a nobleman of Caper- 
 naum came to him, requesting, with great humility and 
 reverence, that he would come down and heal his son, 
 who was at the point of death. Our blessed Saviour 
 readily complied with the latter part of his request ; but, 
 to remove a prejudice they had conceived, that it was 
 necessary to be personally present in order to restore 
 the sick person to health, he refused to go down to 
 Capernaum, dismissing the father with this assurance, 
 that his son was restored to health : " Go thy way ; thy 
 son liveth." John iv. 50. The nobleman obeyed the 
 
 * Galilee, in the time of Christ, embraced all of Palestine north of 
 Samaria and west of the Jordan. It was under the government of 
 Herod Antipas, or Herod the Tetrarch, and was divided into Upper or 
 Northern Galilee, which was quite mountainous, and Lower or 
 Southern Galilee, which was quite fertile and populous. The latter 
 was the residence of Jesus ; it comprehended the four tribes of Issarhar, 
 Asher, !N"aphtali 1 and Zebulon, and contained over four hundred towns 
 and villages, the least of which, according to Josephus, had a popula- 
 tion of fifteen hundred souls. Here our Lord chiefly labored for about 
 eighteen months, full one-half of his public ministry. 
 
 f See note page 17. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 85 
 
 word of Jesus, and immediately departed for his own 
 house ; but before his arrival he was met by his ser- 
 vants, with the joyful news that his son was recovered. 
 On this the father inquired at what time they perceived 
 an alteration for the better, and from their answer was 
 satisfied that immediately after the words were spoken 
 by the blessed Jesus the fever left him, and he was re- 
 covered in a miraculous manner. This amazing instance 
 of his power and goodness abundantly convinced the 
 nobleman and his family that Jesus was the true 
 Messiah, the great Prophet so long promised to the 
 world. 
 
 After some stay in the city and neighborhood of Cana, 
 Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had spent the greater 
 part of his youth, and, as his constant custom was, went 
 to the Synagogue on the Sabbath day, and read that 
 celebrated prediction of the Messiah in the prophet 
 Isaiah : " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because 
 he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor ; 
 he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach 
 deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to 
 the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to 
 preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Luke iv. 18, 
 19. 
 
 It should be remembered that our blessed Saviour read 
 this passage in the original Hebrew, which was then a 
 dead language, and, as he had never been taught letters, 
 could do it only by inspiration from abovo. ::: But he 
 
 * There is great force in this remark. For although the Septuagint 
 Greek version was in extensive use, in the time of Christ in tin' syna- 
 gogues of Egypt and other foreign parts, it seems highly probable, if 
 not certain, that in all parts of Palestine, not settled by Greek colonies. 
 
86 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 did more : he explained the passage with such strength 
 of reason and beauty of expression that the inhabitants 
 of Nazareth, who well knew he had never been initiated 
 into the rudiments of learning, heard him with astonish- 
 ment. But, as he performed no miracle in their city, 
 they were offended at him. Perhaps they thought the 
 place of his residence should have been his peculiar care, 
 and, as he could with a single word heal the sick at a 
 distance, not a single person in Nazareth should have 
 been afflicted with any kind of disease. That they really 
 entertained sentiments of this kind seems plain from our 
 Saviour's own words : " Ye will surely say unto me, Phy- 
 sician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in 
 Capernaum, do also here in thy country ; " evidently 
 alluding to the great and benevolent miracle he had 
 wrought on the nobleman's son. 
 
 But the holy Jesus, by enumerating the miracles that 
 Jehovah had done in behalf of the widow of Sarepta, who 
 was a heathen, and the inhabitant of an idolatrous city, 
 in the time of famine, when many widows in Israel per- 
 ished with hunger, and of Naaman the Syrian, who was 
 cured of his leprosy by the prophet Elisha, when num- 
 bers of Jews, afflicted with the same loathsome disease, 
 were suffered to continue in their uncleanness, suffi- 
 ciently proved that the prophets had on some extraor- 
 dinary occasions wrought miracles in favor of those 
 
 the Hebrew text was preserved and read in the synagogues. But as 
 the vernacular tongue of the Jews of Palestine, at that time, was 
 Aramean, or Syro-Chaldee, a corruption of the pure Hebrew, it became 
 necessary to interpret the original text to the people, as well as to ex- 
 pound the meaning, as was done from the time of Ezra. Nehemiah viii. 8. 
 Hence the wonder of the Jews at the ability of Jesus to do this : " How 
 knoweth this man letters having never learned V " John vii. 15. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 87 
 
 whom the Israelites, from a fond conceit of their being the 
 peculiar favorites of Heaven, judged unworthy of such 
 marks of particular favor. The people were so incensed 
 at this reply, that forgetting the sanctity of the Sabbath, 
 they hurried him through the streets " to the brow of 
 the hill whereon their city was built," intending to cast 
 him headlong down the precipice. But the Son of God 
 defeated their cruel intentions, by miraculously con- 
 founding their sight and withdrawing from the fury of 
 these wretched people. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OUR LORD PROCEEDS TO CAPERNAUM ADDS TO THE NUMBER 
 
 OF HIS FOLLOWERS PROCLAIMS THE GOSPEL IN GALILEE 
 
 PREACHES TO A NUMEROUS AUDIENCE HIS WELL-KNOWN 
 AND EXCELLENT DISCOURSE UPON THE MOUNT. 
 
 THE holy Jesus, aggrieved by the cruel Nazarenes, 
 departed from them, arid visited Capenraum, the capital 
 of Galilee (on the borders of the Lake of Gennesaret), 
 which was a place highly convenient for his design ;* 
 
 * Capernaum was situated at the northern part of that lovely region 
 called Gennesaret, on the western shore of the sea of Galilee. It was 
 sheltered from the north winds by a semi-circle of hills, and its delici- 
 ous climate and soil brought together, within a district of ten square 
 miles, the various products of the temperate zone and the tropics the 
 grape and the fig, the walnut and the palm. The lake spread out 
 before the prospect, blue and beautiful, to the abrupt boundary of its 
 eastern hills and its waters abounded with the finest fish in the world. 
 
88 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 for, besides the numerous inhabitants of the city, the 
 trading towns on the lake were crowded with strangers, 
 who, after hearing the doctrine of the gospel preached 
 by the great Redeemer of mankind, would not fail to 
 spread in their respective countries the happy tidings of 
 salvation. 
 
 While Jesus tarried at Capernaum, he usually taught 
 in the synagogues on the Sabbath day, preaching with 
 such energy of power as greatly astonished the whole 
 congregation. He did not, however, constantly confine 
 himself to that city; the adjacent country was often 
 blessed with his presence and cheered with the heavenly 
 words of his mouth. 
 
 In one of the neighboring villages he called Simon 
 and Andrew, who were following their occupation of 
 fishing on the lake, to accompany him. These disci- 
 ples, who had before been acquainted with him, readily 
 obeyed the heavenly mandate, and followed the Saviour 
 of the world. Soon after, he saw James and John, who 
 were also fishing on the lake, and called them also. Nor 
 did they hesitate to follow the great Redeemer of man- 
 kind ; and, from their ready compliance, there is reason 
 to believe that they, as well as Simon and Andrew, 
 were acquainted with Jesus at Jordan, unless we sup- 
 pose (which is far from being improbable) that their 
 readiness proceeded from the secret energy of his power 
 upon their minds. But, however this be, the four dis- 
 ciples accompanied our blessed Saviour to Capernaum, 
 and soon after to different parts of Galilee. 
 
 How long our Lord was on this journey cannot be 
 determined : all the evangelists have mentioned is, that 
 he wrought a great number of miracles on diseased 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 89 
 
 persons, and that the fame of these wonderful works 
 drew people from Galilee, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond 
 Jordan. Nor was the knowledge of these miracles con- 
 cealed from the heathen, particularly the inhabitants 
 of Syria ; for they also brought their sick to Galilee to 
 be healed by him. Consequently, the time our blessed 
 Saviour spent in these tours must have been considera- 
 ble, though the evangelists have said very little con- 
 cerning it. 
 
 But, whatever time was spent in these benevolent 
 actions, the prodigious multitudes which flocked to him 
 from every quarter moved his compassion toward those 
 who were bewildered in the darkness of ignorance, and 
 determined him to preach to them " the words of eter- 
 nal life." 
 
 For this blessed purpose, he ascended a mountain in 
 that neighborhood ; and, placing himself on an eminence, 
 from whence he could be heard by throngs of people at- 
 tending him, he inculcated, in an amazingly pathetic 
 manner, the most important points of religion.* 
 
 * The Sermon on the Mount was probably delivered in the spring of 
 A. D. 31, and ranks next in importance, if not in time, to the call of the 
 Twelve Apostles. 
 
 The place where such vital words were first uttered, is still called the 
 Mount of Beatitudes. It rises at no great distance northwest of Caper- 
 naum, and commands a fine view of the sea of Galilee from shore to shore. 
 From its peculiar form it is called Hairem Hattin, or the Horns of Hattin, 
 having two summits with a depression between them. The ascent is 
 steep and rocky, but the depression between the summits afforded ample 
 room for the great Teacher and the multitudes that followed him. 
 
 At this season of the year the landscape was diversified with all the 
 beauty of spring in that delicious climate, and the charms of Nature 
 lent all their aid to the lessons of truth and grace, which fell from the 
 lips of Jesus. Here might be seen in one direction the red newly 
 ploughed soil, there the yellow or whitening harvest, ripening in the 
 
90 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 He opened his excellent sermon with the doctrine of 
 happiness a subject which the teachers of wisdom have 
 always considered as the principal object in morals, and 
 employed their utmost abilities to convey a clear idea 
 of it to their disciples, but differed very remarkably with 
 regard to the particulars in which it consisted. The 
 Jews were in general persuaded that the enjoyments of 
 sense were the sovereign good. Riches, conquest, liber- 
 ty, mirth, women, fame, revenge, and other things of 
 the same kind, afforded them such pleasures that they 
 wished for no better in the Messiah's kingdom, which 
 they all considered as a secular one, and that a " golden," 
 instead of a "sceptre of righteousness," would have 
 been the " sceptre of his kingdom."' Nay, some of the 
 disciples themselves retained for a time the like kind of 
 notion, till they were convinced of their mistake by the 
 spirit, word, and conduct of their divine Master. 
 
 Our Lord and Master, therefore, to show his hearers 
 in general, and his disciples in particular, the grossness 
 of their error, declared, that the highest happiness of 
 
 sun, prophetic of the fruits to spring from the Saviour's doctrine in 
 after years, when the handful of corn planted by Him on the tops of 
 the mountains shall yield a product that shall shake like Lebanon. Yon- 
 der are fields green with grass or springing grain, while lower still the 
 gorgeous hues of the lily of the valley suggest to the mind the Hand 
 that arrays them in more than the glory of Solomon, and overhead the 
 blue air is ringing with the music of the birds, who, without storehouse 
 or barn, proclaim to the world the ceaseless bounty of an ever-watchful 
 Providence. From scenes and objects like these did the great Teacher 
 illustrate and enforce his wondrous lessons lessons, which must have 
 become forever after associated in the minds of his hearers with the 
 circumstances of the time and with the scenery of the place. But it 
 was the lessons themselves which chiefly riveted their thoughts ; from 
 the circumference of creation he struck to the centre of their hearts, 
 and " He spoke as one having authority, and not as the Scribes/' 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 91 
 
 man consisted in the graces of the Spirit, because from 
 the possession and exercise of them, the purest pleasures 
 result ; pleasures which satisfy even the Almighty him- 
 self, and constitute his ineffable felicity. 
 
 The rich, the great, the proud, said the Redeemer of 
 mankind in whom the wisdom of God was fully dis- 
 played, are not happy, as you imagine ; they are always 
 wishing for what they cannot obtain ; and their disap- 
 pointments are poisoned arrows, festering in their 
 breasts. On the contrary, the poor in spirit are the truly 
 happy, who, depending on divine grace for the supply of 
 their spiritual wants, discharge the duties of their sta- 
 tion, whatever it be, with virtue and integrity. " Blessed 
 are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of 
 heaven." 
 
 The jocose and flighty are not the happy, but on the 
 contrary, the afflicted, provided they rightly improve 
 their afflictions; that is, if they are excited by them to 
 mourn for their sins, forsake their wicked courses, and 
 seek a better life. Affliction awakens the most serious 
 thoughts in the mind; composes it into a grave and 
 settled frame, very different from the levity inspired by 
 prosperity : it gives a fellow-feeling of the sorrows of 
 others ; and makes it thoroughly sensible of the danger 
 of departing from God, the source and centre of all its 
 joys. " Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall 
 be comforted." 
 
 Nor are the passionate happy ; but, on the contrary, 
 the meek. Those who have subdued their temper can 
 patiently bear provocation, and are strangers to that de- 
 structive passion, envy. " Blessed are the meek : for 
 they shall inherit the earth." 
 
92 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Men, through vanity and blindness, consider those as 
 happy who enjoy the pleasures of this life, by rioting in 
 luxury and excess. But this is far from being the case ; 
 on the contrary, those are the truly happy AY ho have 
 the most vehement desire of treading the paths of virtue 
 and religion. For they, by the assistance of the Holy 
 Spirit, shall obtain every thing they desire. " Blessed 
 are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness : for 
 they shall be filled." 
 
 Forgiveness, not resentment, for injuries done, is the 
 spring of happiness ; and those who are of a humane 
 and beneficent disposition, rejoice when they can per- 
 form a benevolent action, especially to their fellow-mor- 
 tals in distress; the pleasure is godlike; it is divine. 
 " Blessed are the merciful : for they shall obtain 
 mercy." 
 
 Sensuality, is a subjection to the appetite ; only those 
 who have mortified their carnal appetites, enjoy an in- 
 ward purity of rnind. With what delight do we behold 
 the glories of the sun, and contemplate the beautiful 
 scenes of nature that surround us ! But what propor- 
 tion has this to the ineffable delights that must fill tho 
 minds of those who behold the great Creator himself. 
 " Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see 
 God." 
 
 The tyrants and conquerors of the earth, who disturb 
 the peace of mankind, are far from happy : it falls to the 
 share of those who love their fellow-creatures, and do 
 all in their power to promote peace and harmony among 
 the children of men. " Blessed are the peace-makers : 
 for they shall be called the children of God." 
 
 Nor does happiness consist in liberty and ease, if those 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 93 
 
 privileges are purchased at the expense of virtue. Those 
 who have suffered the severest trial that human nature 
 is capable of sustaining, from purity of heart, and for 
 conscience' sake, shall be honored with the highest re- 
 wards in the blissful mansions of eternity. " Blessed 
 are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake : 
 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 Contentment is not to be expected from the applause 
 of the world ; but will be the portion of those who are 
 falsely reviled for their righteousness, and share in the 
 affronts offered to God himself; for by these persecu- 
 tions the prophets of all ages have been distinguished. 
 " Blessed are ye when men shall revile } r ou, and perse- 
 cute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you 
 falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad : 
 for great is your reward in heaven : for so persecuted 
 they the prophets which were before you." Matthew 
 v. 11, 12. 
 
 These are the declarations, with regard to happiness, 
 made by the Son of God : and surely we may believe 
 the words of him who came down from heaven ; and 
 who, in compassion to our infirmities, took upon him- 
 self our nature ; and to redeem us from the power of 
 sin and death, offered himself a sacrifice on the cross, 
 and thereby opened to us the gates of eternal life. 
 
 Having shown in what true happiness consisted, our 
 Saviour addressed himself to his disciples, and explained 
 their duty as the teachers appointed to conduct others 
 in the paths that lead to eternal felicity, and excited 
 them to diligence in dispensing the salutary influences 
 of their doctrine and example, that their hearers might 
 honor and praise the great Creator of heaven and earth, 
 
94 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 who had been so kind to the children of men. As his 
 definition of happiness was very different from what the 
 Jews were accustomed to hear from the Scribes and 
 Pharisees,* he thought proper to declare that he was not 
 come to destroy the moral precepts contained in the law 
 and the prophets, but to fulfil or confirm them. 
 
 Nothing is so steadfast as the eternal truths of moral- 
 ity : the heavens may pass away, and the whole frame 
 of nature be dissolved, but the rules of righteousness 
 shall remain immutable and immortal. And, therefore, 
 he ordered his disciples, on the severest penalties, to 
 enforce, both by preaching and example, the strict ob- 
 servance of all the moral precepts contained in the sacred 
 writings, and that in a much greater breadth than they 
 were taken by the teachers of Israel ; and, in consider- 
 
 * The Scribes are often mentioned in conjunction with the Pharisees 
 in the Xew Testament. But they were not a separate sect in religion, 
 they were only a distinct profession, devoted to the cultivation of letters; 
 writers, or literary men. Most of them were of the priestly tribe of Le vi. 
 These constituted the class of learned men ; some transcribed, studied, 
 and expounded the Scriptures, and were hence called " lawyers," or 
 teachers of the law. Members of the great Sanhedrin, or Jewish Senate, 
 were often chosen from this class. They sprang up after the release 
 from the Babylonish Captivity, and hence had been flourishing for more 
 than five hundred years at the birth of our Lord. On them it specially 
 devolved to preserve the sacred text from all errors and corruptions. 
 
 An inferior class of Scribes were public notaries in the Sanhedrin 
 and courts of justice, keepers of genealogies in the temple, and regis- 
 ters in the synagogues. 
 
 As a body, however, the Scribes w^re held in high repute among the 
 people, and one of them even won the commendation of Christ for his 
 correct view of the Law of God. Mark xii. 28. As expounders of the 
 Law, they are said to " sit in Moses' seat," Matt, xxiii. 2 ; but their 
 best teachings were wanting in the enforcement of a good example, 
 and their teaching in general was radically defective in depth and 
 spiritual insight. Mutt. v. 20 ; vii. 9. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 95 
 
 ation of the frailties of human nature, taught them that 
 excellent form of prayer which has baen used by Chris- 
 tians of most denominations to this very day : * " Our 
 Father," &c. 
 
 If earthly parents are called fathers, the Almighty 
 has the best title from every creature, and particularly 
 from men, being the Father of their spirits, the Maker 
 of their bodies, and the continual Preserver of both. 
 '' Father" is the most magnificent title invented by poets 
 and philosophers in honor of their gods : it conveys the 
 most lively idea possible to the human breast. As it is 
 used by mankind in general, it marks the essential 
 character of the true God ; namely, that he is the First 
 Cause of all things, or the Author of our being, and at 
 the same time conveys a strong idea of the tender love 
 he bears to his creatures, whom he nourishes with an 
 affection and protects with a watchfulness infinitely 
 superior to that of an earthly parent. The name of 
 Father also teaches us that we owe our being to God, 
 points out his goodness and mercy in upholding us, and 
 expresses his power in giving us the things we ask. 
 Nor is this all : we are likewise taught to give our 
 Maker the title of Father, that our sense of the tender 
 relation in which he stands to us may be confirmed, our 
 
 * Nothing in the New Testament appears to teach us that our Saviour 
 designed to limit us to these very words as a stated form of prayer. 
 And yet considered merely as a form, the world might be challenged to 
 produce anything half so comprehensive and concise. Considered as 
 a model, or index of the subjects of petition acceptable to God, can 
 anything be conceived more suggestive than the nature, order, and 
 relative rank of these petitions ? The glory of God and the salvation 
 of mankind take precedence of every domestic or personal concern. 
 Our bodily wants how limited ! Our spiritual wants how various and 
 how great ' 
 
96 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 faith in his power and goodness strengthened, our hopes 
 of obtaining what we ask in prayer cherished, and our 
 desire of obeying and imitating him quickened ; for the 
 light of nature teaches us that it is disgraceful in chil- 
 dren to degenerate from their parents, and that they 
 cannot commit a greater crime than to disobey the 
 commands of an indulgent father. 
 
 Lastly, we are commanded in the plural number to 
 call him Father (and that even in our secret addresses 
 to the throne of grace), to put us in mind that we are 
 all brethren, the children of one common Parent, and 
 that we ought to love one another with sincerity, as we 
 pray not for ourselves only, but for all the human race. 
 
 " Who art in heaven.'' The words do not suppose 
 the presence of God confined : he is present everywhere, 
 about our paths, about our bed, and narrowly 
 inspecteth every action of the sons of men. But they 
 express his majesty and power, and distinguish him 
 from those we call fathers upon earth, and from false 
 gods, which are not in heaven, the happy mansion of 
 bliss and felicity, where the Almighty, who is essen- 
 tially present in every part of the universe, gives more 
 especial manifestation of his presence to such of his 
 creatures as he hath exalted to share with him in the 
 eternal felicities of the heavenly Jerusalem. 
 
 " Hallowed be thy name." By the name of God the 
 Hebrews understood God himself, his attributes, and his 
 works; and therefore the meaning of the petition is, 
 May thy existence be universally believed, thy perfec- 
 tions loved and imitated, thy works admired, thy 
 supremacy over all things acknowledged, thy providence 
 reverenced and confided in ! Mav all the sons of men 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 97 
 
 think so highly of his divine majesty, of his attributes, 
 of his works, and may we so express our veneration for 
 God, that his glory may be manifested in every corner 
 of the world ! 
 
 "Thy kingdom come." Let the kingdom of the 
 Messiah be extended to the utmost parts of the earth, 
 that all the children of men "may become one fold 
 under one shepherd, Jesus Christ the righteous." 
 
 " Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven/' May 
 thy will, thou great Father of the universe, be made 
 known to us by the light of thy glorious gospel, and 
 thy Holy Spirit so bestowed, that we may be enabled to 
 imitate the angels of light, by giving as sincere, univer- 
 sal, and constant obedience to thy divine commands 
 as they. 
 
 " Give us this day our daily bread." Give us from 
 time to time such wholesome and proper food that we 
 may be enabled to worship thee with cheerfulness and 
 serve thee with vigor. 
 
 "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." 
 The Almighty, as Supreme Governor of the universe, 
 has a right to support his government by punishing 
 those who transgress his laws. The suffering of punish- 
 ment, therefore, is a debt which sinners owe to the 
 divine justice ; so that when we ask God, in prayer, to 
 forgive our debts, we beg that he would be mercifully 
 pleased to remit the punishment of all our sins, and 
 that, laying aside his displeasure, he would receive us 
 into favor and bless us with life eternal. In this peti- 
 tion, therefore, we confess our sins and express the sense 
 we have of their guilt, namely, that they deserve death 
 and surely nothing can be more proper than such a con- 
 7 
 
98 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 fession in our addresses to God ; because humility and 
 a sense of our un worthiness, when we ask favors of 
 the Almighty, whether spiritual or temporal, have a 
 tendency to draw forth the goodness of God in bestow- 
 ing them upon us. 
 
 The terms of this petition are worthy our notice : 
 ".Forgive us only as we forgive." We must forgive 
 others if we hope ourselves to be forgiven, and are per- 
 mitted to crave from God such forgiveness only as we 
 grant to others ; so that, if we do not forgive even our 
 enemies, we seriously and solemnly implore the Almighty 
 to condemn us to the punishment of eternal death. How 
 remarkably careful, therefore, should men be to purge 
 their hearts from all rancor and malice before they enter 
 the temple of the Almighty to offer up their prayers to 
 the throne of grace ! 
 
 "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us 
 from evil." That is, do not lead us into such temptations 
 as are too hard for human nature ; " but deliver us," by 
 some means, from the evil, either by removing the 
 temptation, or increasing our strength to resist it. This 
 petition teaches us to preserve a sense of our own inabil- 
 ity to repel and overcome the solicitations of the world, 
 and of the necessity there is of our receiving assistance 
 from above, both to regulate our passions and enable us 
 to prosecute a religious life. 
 
 " For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the 
 glory, forever." Because the government of the universe 
 is thine forever, and thou alone possessest the power of 
 answering our manifold petitions, and because the glory 
 of thine infinite perfections remains eternally with thee, 
 therefore all men ought to hallow thy name, submit 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 99 
 
 themselves to thy government, and perform thy will, 
 and, in an humble sense of their dependence, seek from 
 thee the supply of their wants, the pardon of their sins, 
 and the kind protection of thy providence. 
 
 This is emphatically called the Lord's prayer, because 
 delivered by the Son of God himself; and therefore we 
 should do well to understand it thoroughly, that when 
 we enter the temple of the Lord, and address him in 
 solemn prayer, we may have hopes that he will grant 
 our petitions. And, above all, not to harbor in our 
 breasts the least envy or malice against any who have 
 offended us ; for it is only on a supposition that we have 
 forgiven others that we may have the least reason to 
 hope of obtaining forgiveness from the Great Creator. 
 
 The divine Preacher proceeded to disclose the great 
 duty of fasting, in which he directed them not to follow 
 the hypocrites, in disfiguring their faces and clothing 
 themselves in the melancholy weeds of sorrow, but each 
 to be chiefly solicitous to appear before God as one that 
 truly fasteth. Then will the Almighty, who constantly 
 surrounds us, and is acquainted even with the most 
 secret thoughts of our hearts, openly bestow upon us 
 the reward of a true penitence : mortification, contrition, 
 and humility he can discern, without the external appear- 
 ance of sorrow arid repentance. It must, however, be 
 remembered that our blessed Saviour is here speaking 
 of private fasting, and to this alone his directions are to 
 be applied ; for when we are called upon to mourn over 
 public sins or calamities it ought to be performed in the 
 most public manner. 
 
 Heavenly-mindedness was the next virtue inculcated 
 by the blessed Jesus ; and this he recommended with 
 
100 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 peculiar earnestness, because the Jewish doctors were 
 in general strangers to this grace, in which he was 
 desirous his followers should be clothed, as being the 
 most excellent ornament for a teacher of righteousness. 
 This virtue is strenuously recommended by our blessed 
 Saviour, by showing the deformity of its opposite, cove- 
 tousness, which has only perishable things for its object. 
 " Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where 
 moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break 
 through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures 
 in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, 
 and where thieves do not break through and steal. For 
 where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." 
 Matt. vi. 19-21. 
 
 More solid happiness will accrue from depositing your 
 treasures in heaven, than in laying them up on earth, 
 where they are subject to a thousand disasters, and even 
 at best can remain only for a short series of years; 
 whereas those laid up in heaven are permanent, and 
 will lead to a "crown of glory that fadeth not away, 
 eternal in the heavens." Nor let any man be so foolish 
 as to think he can place his heart on the happiness of 
 a future life when his treasures are deposited in this 
 vale of misery ; for wherever are laid up the goods which 
 his soul desire th, there his heart and affections will also 
 remain. If, therefore, ye are desirous of sharing in the 
 joys of eternity, you must lay up your treasures in the 
 " mansions of my Father's kingdom." 
 
 Lest they should imagine it was possible to be both 
 heavenly-minded and covetous at the same time, he as- 
 sured them that this was fully as absurd as to imagine 
 that a person could at the same time serve and divide 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 101 
 
 his affections equally between two masters of opposite 
 characters ; for either he will hate the one and love the 
 other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other : 
 " Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matt. vi. 24. 
 
 To strengthen this doctrine, he added a few plain, 
 evident instances of the power, perfection, and extent 
 of God's providence, in which his tender care for the 
 least and weakest of his creatures shines with a remark- 
 able lustre, demonstrating the wise and parental atten- 
 tion of the Deity to all the creatures of his hand. He 
 desired them to observe the birds of the air, the lilies, 
 and even the grass of the field leading his most illiter- 
 ate hearers to form a more elevated and extensive idea 
 of the divine government than the philosophers had 
 attained ; who, though they allowed in general that the 
 world was governed by God, had very confused notions 
 of his providence with regard to every individual crea- 
 ture and action. He taught them that the Almighty 
 Father of the whole is the guardian and protector of the 
 universe; that every action is subject to his will, and 
 nothing left to the blind determination of chance.* 
 
 * " There is no foundation for the usual distinction between a gene- 
 ral and a particular Providence ; for so intimate are the natural 
 dependencies of animate and inanimate creation, that no providence 
 can be general, which includes not every individual being ; and the 
 same arguments which prove that God takes notice of any thing, prove 
 that his providence extends equally to all. 
 
 " It is common enough to hear the providence of God generally and 
 indistinctly acknowledged in extraordinary events, especially in those 
 which bear with them an impressive character of moral retribution. 
 But this is very different from the habitual enduring persuasion of the 
 unlimited and uninterrupted providence of God in every thing which 
 attends the Christian ; in sorrow and in joy, in security and in danger, 
 in private and in public, in our business and our devotions, in youth 
 and in age, in time and in eternity. " J. 8. Bucknenster. 
 
102 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 And if we direct our lives according to the divine will, 
 we have surely no reason to be anxious about the neces- 
 saries of life. " Behold," says the blessed Jesus, " the 
 fowls of the air : for they sow not, neither do they reap, 
 nor gather into barns ; yet your heavenly Father feedeth 
 them. Are not ye much better than they ? " Matt. vi. 
 26. 
 
 Be ye anxiously solicitous to obtain the happiness of 
 the life to come ; and all the good things of this life 
 shall, in the course of divine Providence, be -added unto 
 you. Matt. vi. 33. 
 
 Our Lord then prohibited all rash and uncharitable 
 censure, either with regard to the characters of others in 
 general, or their actions in particular : -lest, in doing so, 
 both God and man resent the injury. "Judge not, 
 that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye 
 judge, ye shall be judged : and with what measure ye 
 mete, it shall be measured to you again." Matt. vii. 
 1,2. 
 
 An entire reformation in themselves, in particular, is 
 absolutely necessary in those whose office it is to reprove 
 and reform their brethren. And surely, nothing can be 
 more preposterous, than to condemn in others what we 
 practice ourselves; or to set up for reformers of the 
 world, when we ourselves are contaminated with the 
 most enormous vices. With what countenance can we 
 undertake to rebuke others for small faults, when we 
 are ourselves plunged in the most detestable pollutions ? 
 Well might the Redeemer of the world say, " Thou 
 hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye ; 
 and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out 
 of thy brother's eye." Matt. vii. 5. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 103 
 
 Our blessed Saviour added : " Give not that which is 
 holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before 
 swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn 
 again and rend you." Matt. vii. 6. Do not reprove men 
 of a snarling disposition, as the attempt, instead of having 
 the happy effects intended, will but provoke them to 
 pursue their wickedness with greater boldness than 
 ever. You may warn others against their company and 
 example, you may weep over them, and you may pray 
 to your heavenly Father for them; but you cannot 
 reprove them with safety, or any hopes of success. 
 
 Lest the disciples should think that these precepts 
 were not to be attained by human nature, he directed 
 them to apply to God for the assistance of his Spirit, to; 
 gether with all the other blessings necessary to their 
 salvation ; adding the noblest precept of morality that 
 was ever delivered by any teacher, " All things whatso- 
 ever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even 
 so to them ; for this is the law and the prophets." Matt, 
 vii. 12. How clear a rule of duty is this, and how easy 
 and applicable to practice ! Look into your own breast, 
 and do as you would be done by, in the same condi- 
 tion. 
 
 Having enforced these heavenly precepts, he exhorted 
 them to place an humble dependence on the Spirit, to 
 strive to practice the precepts of religion, however diffi- 
 cult the task might appear. " Enter ye in at the strait 
 gate ; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that 
 leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in 
 thereat. Because strait is the gate and narrow is the 
 way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find 
 it" Matt. vii. 13, 14. How strait indeed is the gate 
 
104 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 and narrow is the way that leadeth to life ! In the 
 way nothing is to be found that flatters the flesh, but 
 many things that have a tendency to mortify it poverty, 
 fasting, watching, injuries, chastity, sobriety. And with 
 regard to the gate, it receives none that are puffed up 
 with the glory of this life, none that are indulging in 
 luxury ; it does not admit those that love riches or are 
 encumbered with the goods of this world. None can 
 pass through it but those who renounce all worldly lust 
 and are resolved to forsake all sin. There is, however, 
 no reason for us to despair of entering through this 
 heavenly portal : if we sincerely endeavor, the assistance 
 of the Holy Spirit will be freely given us, and we 
 shall safely pass through the " strait gate," and pursue 
 our journey with ease along the "narrow path" till 
 we arrive at the blissful mansions of the heavenly 
 Canaan. 
 
 But lest evil-minded men, under the mask of piety 
 and religion, should endeavor to draw them from the 
 paths of righteousness, our blessed Saviour cautioned his 
 disciples to beware of such persons, and carefully make 
 the strictest scrutiny into their lives and doctrines. 
 
 Our Lord closes his sermon with the parable of the 
 houses built on different foundations; intimating that 
 the bare knowledge, or the simple hearing, of the 
 divinest lessons of the truth ever delivered nay, even 
 the belief of these instructions, without the practice of 
 them is of no manner of importance. Keligion vital 
 and practical religion, resting on the immutable author- 
 ity of Christ alone, is the foundation which can so 
 firmly establish us that we cannot be shaken by all the 
 tempests of afflictions, temptations, and persecutions of 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 105 
 
 the present age. It is this foundation alone, which, like 
 a flinty rock on the eternal basis of the mountains, can 
 support us in the day of trial. This alone can enable us 
 to frustrate the attempts of men and devils, and patiently 
 endure all the troubles of mortality. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 OUR BLESSED LORD CURES THE LEPROSY AND PALSY CASTS 
 
 OUT A DEVIL SUCCORS THE MOTHER-IN-LAW OF PETER, 
 
 AND AFTERWARD PURSUES HIS JOURNEY THROUGH THE 
 COUNTRY OF GALILEE. 
 
 THE great Preacher of Israel, having finished his ex- 
 cellent discourse, came down from the mountain, sur- 
 rounded by a multitude of people, who had listened with 
 astonishment to the doctrines he delivered, which were 
 soon confirmed by divers miracles. A ' leper met him 
 in his way to Capernaum, and being, doubtless, ac- 
 quainted with the wondrous works he had already per- 
 formed, threw himself, with great humility, before the 
 Son of God, using this remarkable expression : " Lord, 
 if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." 
 
 The species of leprosy common among the Jews and 
 the other Eastern nations was equally nauseous and in- 
 fectious ; but this was so far from preventing the blessed 
 Jesus from approaching so loathsome an object, that it 
 
106 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 \ 
 
 increased his pity : he even touched him ; but, instead 
 of being polluted himself, the leper was instantly cleansed; 
 and he departed glorifying God. 
 
 The evangelist adds that Jesus forbade him to tell 
 any person what had been done, but repair immedi- 
 ately to the priest and offer the gift commanded by 
 Moses. 
 
 Having performed the cure on the leper, our blessed 
 Lord proceeded to Capernaum; but as he entered the 
 city hi was met by a Roman centurion, who represented 
 to him, in the most pathetic manner, the deplorable 
 condition of his servant, who was grievously afflicted 
 with a palsy. The compassionate Eedeemer of the 
 world listened attentively to his complaint, and imme- 
 diately told him he would come and heal him. The 
 centurion thought this a great condescension to one who 
 was not of the seed of Jacob, and therefore told him 
 that he did not mean he should give himself the trouble 
 of going to his house, as this was an honor he had not 
 the least reason to expect, he being confident that his 
 word alone would be sufficient diseases and devils being 
 as much subject to his commands as his soldiers were to 
 him.* 
 
 Our Lord was amazed at these words ; not that he 
 was ignorant of the centurion's faith, or the basis on 
 which it was built : he well knew the thoughts of his 
 heart long before he uttered his request; but he was 
 filled with admiration at the just and exalted idea the 
 Roman officer had conceived of his power; and, to make 
 his faith the more conspicuous, he gave it the praise it 
 
 * A Roman garrison was stationed at Capernaum and in other cities 
 of Galilee, to prevent disturbances. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 107 
 
 so justly deserved : " Verily, I say unto you, I have not 
 found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Matt. viii. 10. 
 
 This centurion doubtless relied upon the miracle Jesus 
 had before wrought upon the nobleman's son ; but the 
 excellency and peculiarity of it consisted in applying the 
 most grand ideas of superior power to Jesus, who ac- 
 cording to outward appearance was only one of the sons 
 of men. 
 
 This exalted faith induced the blessed Jesus to de? 
 clare the gracious intentions of his Almighty Father 
 with regard to the Gentiles ; namely, that he would as 
 readily accept their faith as that of the Jews, and place 
 them with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom 
 of heaven ; while those who boasted of being the off- 
 spring of these great patriarchs, but fell far short of the 
 heathen in faith, should be excluded from the blissful 
 seats of Paradise. " And I say unto 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 outer darkness : there shall be weeping and 
 gnashing of teeth." Matt. viii. 11, 12. 
 
 Having thus addressed the multitude, the blessed Jesus 
 turned himself to the centurion, and said, " Go thy 
 way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee." 
 The idea thou hast conceived of my power is just, though 
 remarkably great ; as a reward for thy faith I grant the 
 petition thou hast asked of me. " And," the evangelist 
 adds, a his servant was healed in the selfsame hour." 
 Matt. viii. 13. 
 
 On the succeeding Sabbath, our Saviour went into 
 the Jewish Synagogue at Capernaum, and taught the 
 
108 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 people, delivering his instructions in so graceful and ele- 
 gant a manner that they were all astonished ; and, to 
 increase their admiration, one of the congregation, pos- 
 sessed with an unclean spirit, cried out, in a terrible man- 
 ner, " Let us alone : what have we to do with thee, 
 thou Jesus of Nazareth ? Art thou come to destroy us ? * 
 
 * Nothing marks more strongly the Sadducean spirit of this age, 
 than the levity or scorn with which many treat the revealed doctrine 
 of the existence and agency of Evil Spirits a doctrine pervading the 
 entire sacred volume from the time of Moses and Job to the Apocalypse 
 of St. John. Whatever superstitious notions or customs may have 
 been grafted upon it among the Heathen, the Jews, or Christians, the 
 Scriptural doctrine is totally free from them ; but it there stands forth 
 as a stupendous and solemn fact, inseparably interwoven with human 
 history. We are told of their creation and fall ; their confederacy and 
 government ; many of their names, numbers, and orders ; their mali- 
 cious designs and employments ; their great intelligence and subtlety ; 
 their fearful, though limited power ; their prepared punishment ; the 
 new hazards their influence adds to human probation, though man is 
 still justly responsible for following their instigations, and is, without 
 repentance and faith in the Redeemer, liable to share their doom. 
 They tempt by terror and bodily torture, as well as by seductive errors, 
 as we see in the case of Job and of the demoniacs of the New Testa- 
 ment. None are more fully under the power of evil spirits than those, 
 who, in the face of such various and ample testimony, deny their 
 existence and agency. 
 
 But why, it has been said, was their power in bodily possession so 
 prominent in Palestine, just in the age of Christ V Suppose we were 
 unable to answer, it would only prove that it belongs to the immense 
 class of unexplained, but undeniable facts. Yet if it were the object 
 of the manifestation of the Son of God " to destroy the works of the 
 devil," this may suggest the true solution. In all other parts of the 
 world, Satan had succeeded in establishing idolatry securely, by the 
 power of the State ; in Palestine alone idolatry was resisted. There, 
 too, was the centre where Christ was to strike the blow designed to 
 shatter and overthrow the whole kingdom of evil. How natural, then, 
 if that fallen Intelligence understood so much as this, that he should 
 there muster his main forces to resist the onset, and that the All Wise 
 should permit it for the very purpose of making his defeat the more 
 conspicuous and decisive. (Compare Luke xi. 14-22 with x. 17-20.) 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 109 
 
 I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God." 
 Mark i. 24. 
 
 But the blessed Jesus, who wanted the testimony of 
 no such confessors, commanded him to keep silence, and 
 immediately come out of the man which command the 
 evil spirit instantly obeyed, to the great surprise and 
 astonishment of all the spectators. 
 
 The enemies of the gospel have always endeavored 
 to depreciate our Saviour's miracles, pretending that no 
 more is meant by a person possessed of a devil than that 
 he was afflicted with some loathsome disease, and that 
 because sepulchres were considered as polluted places, 
 therefore whenever any melancholy person frequented 
 them they were said to be possessed with unclean 
 spirits. 
 
 To this objection namely, that the demoniacs were 
 in reality nothing more than persons afflicted with some 
 loathsome disease we reply, it is evidently false, the 
 evangelists having taken care to be very particular on 
 this head. * " They brought unto him all sick people 
 that were taken with divers diseases, and those which 
 
 That Satan did know the design of the Saviour, and that his fallen 
 subordinates understood and feared it too, is quite evident from the 
 outcry of the unclean spirit, "Art thou come to destroy us ? " 
 
 * It should not be forgotten that one of the evangelists (Luke) was 
 an educated physician, and that he well understood the difference be- 
 tween real lunacy or epilepsy and demoniac possessions, so clearly dis- 
 tinguished in the sacred narrative. That certain effects of the one 
 resemble those of the others, proves nothing as to the identity of the 
 causes. In order to prove this, all the symptoms must coincide ; which 
 here is not the case. Demoniac possession stands distinctly apart in 
 the New Testament from any form of disease whatever ; and it were 
 idle to say that He whose word controlled it, did not understand its 
 nature, and refer it to its real cause. On this subject absolute unbelief 
 of the history, or absolute belief of it in every part, as bearing the 
 stamp of Divine authority, is alone consistent. 
 
110 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 were possessed with devils, and those which were luna 
 tic, and those that had the palsy ; and he healed them." 
 Matt. iv. 24. " He gave to the apostles power over 
 unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner 
 of sickness and all manner of disease." Matt. x. 1. 
 And, accordingly, " he healed many that were sick of 
 divers diseases, and cast out many devils." Mark i. 34. 
 
 Having performed this astonishing miracle in the 
 synagogue, our Lord returned to Peter's house, where he 
 found his wife's mother sick of a fever. At his rebuke 
 the fever immediately left her, so that she arose and ad- 
 ministered to him. After sunset the door of the house 
 was thronged by crowds of people seeking relief, and the 
 compassionate Saviour healed them all ; thus fulfilling 
 the prophecy, " He took our infirmities and bare our 
 sicknesses." 
 
 But the vast concourse of people that now gathered 
 round him in Capernaum began to be troublesome, and 
 he retired into a desert, whither the multitude soon fol- 
 lowed him and entreated him never to depart from them. 
 
 But, as this request was inconsistent with the design 
 of his mission, he, for the first time, refused their request, 
 and " preached in the synagogues of Galilee." Luke 
 iv. 44. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. HI 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 JESUS CONFIRMS HIS MISSION BY PRODUCING A MIRACULOUS 
 DRAUGHT OF FISHES CURING THE LEPROSY A SECOND 
 TIME APPEASING THE BOISTEROUS WAVES CASTING 
 DEVILS OUT OF DIVERS PERSONS GRIEVOUSLY POSSESSED. 
 
 OUR blessed Lord, having spread his glorious doctrine 
 throughout Galilee, returned to Capernaum, followed by 
 such numbers of people that he found it necessary to 
 step into Peter's ship, from whence he taught the multi- 
 tude, who stood on the shore listening with great atten- 
 tion to his doctrine. 
 
 Having concluded his discourse, he turned himself to 
 Simon Peter, desiring him to launch out farther from 
 the shore and let down his net ; on which the disciple 
 told him of the unsuccessful pains they had taken during 
 the whole night, but added that he would, in obedience 
 to his command, make one trial more. Nor had he any 
 cause to repent ; for the net was no sooner in the lake 
 than they found it so full of large fishes that it was in 
 danger of breaking. 
 
 This success after such fruitless toil astonished Peter, 
 who, falling down at the feet of Jesus, cried out, " De- 
 part from me ; for I am a sinful man, Lord." He was 
 conscious of the many sins he had been guilty of, and 
 therefore afraid of being in the company of so divine a 
 person, lest some offence might have exposed him to more 
 than ordinary chastisement. 
 
 But the benevolent Redeemer of mankind removed 
 his fears by telling him that from thenceforth the em- 
 
112 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 ployment for him and his companions should be far 
 more noble : they should catch men ; that is, they should 
 turn them from the crooked paths of iniquity to the 
 straight road leading to the heavenly mansions. 
 
 In one of the cities through which he passed, he found, 
 " a man full of leprosy," who, seeing Jesus, fell on his 
 face, and besought him, saying, " Lord, if thou wilt, thou 
 canst make me clean." 
 
 It was the custom in Judea for the priest to banish 
 from society those who were afflicted with a contagious 
 leprosy. The disease of this person, therefore, was of a 
 less pestilential kind, as he was suffered to join the 
 conversation of men. His case, however, excited the pity 
 of the compassionate Jesus, who immediately cleansed 
 him, ordered him to repair to Jerusalem, and, after 
 showing himself to the priest, offer the gifts commanded 
 by Moses, giving him the same admonition he had done 
 to others namely, not to tell any man what had been 
 done for him. But the blessing he had received was so 
 great and unexpected, that, instead of concealing, he 
 published everywhere the great things Jesus had done 
 for him, which brought such crowds to the Son of God 
 that he was obliged to retire from Capernaum into the 
 wilderness, to refresh his body with rest and his spirit 
 with prayer and meditation. 
 
 The generality of commentators suppose that this 
 leper, and the other mentioned in the previous chapter, 
 are one and the same person ; but this is a mistake. 
 The former was cured in the fields, the latter in the 
 city. After cleansing the first, Jesus went to Caper- 
 naum and healed the centurion's servant; but after 
 curing the latter he retired into the wilderness, to shun 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 113 
 
 the prodigious crowds which soon gathered round him 
 from the leper's publishing everywhere the miracle Jesus 
 had wrought for him. 
 
 Our blessed Lord, finding all his endeavors to conceal 
 himself in the desert would be in vain, ordered his dis- 
 ciples to accompany him to the other side of the lake, 
 upon which a certain Scribe who happened to be present 
 declared he would follow him ; but Jesus, who well 
 knew that his desire was only to gain the profits and 
 advantages of an earthly kingdom which he supposed 
 the Messiah would establish, told him, if he intended 
 nothing more by following him than to improve his 
 worldly fortune, he would find himself wretchedly mis- 
 taken. " The foxes have holes," said the blessed Jesus to 
 this teacher of Israel, " and the birds of the air have 
 nests ; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his 
 head." Matt. viii. 20. 
 
 The disciples, having prepared the ship, took on board 
 their Master, and departed for the other side of the lake, 
 attended by many boats full of people, who were de- 
 sirous of hearing his heavenly discourses and of being 
 spectators of his astonishing works. But Jesus, being 
 fatigued with the labors of the day, set himself down at 
 the stern of the ship and fell asleep. 
 
 The weather, which had till now been calm and 
 serene, suddenly changed.* A terrible storm came on, 
 
 * The sea of Galilee is a beautiful sheet of water, about fourteen 
 miles long, and seven in breadth. It lies in a deep basin, surrounded 
 by hills from five hundred to one thousand feet high. It is one hun- 
 dred and sixty-five feet in depth. Though protected from the winds, 
 in some degree, by its sheltered situation, it is liable to sudden gusts, 
 that sweep down the gorges of the hills, and often rise into violent 
 tempests. Modern travellers, venturing out on the lake, have been 
 overtaken in the same manner as is here described, 
 8 
 
114 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 and the rising waves dashed impetuously against the 
 ship, threatening every moment to bury them all in the 
 bowels of the deep. The darkness of night increased 
 the horrors of the tempest. Now they were carried on 
 the top of the mountainous waves and seemed to touch 
 the skies, then plunged to the bottom of the deep, while 
 the foaming billows roared horridly above them. In 
 vain the disciples exerted their utmost strength : the 
 storm continued to increase, and baffled all the efforts 
 of human exertion ; the waves broke over the ship, the 
 waters rushed in, and she began to sink. All hope of 
 escaping had vanished ; despair seized every individual, 
 and they were on the brink of perishing, when they ran 
 to Jesus, crying out, "Master, Master, we perish!" 
 Their vehement cries roused him from his sleep. He 
 raised his hand, so often employed in acts of mercy and 
 benevolence, and, with a stern and awful voice, rebuked 
 the boisterous elements. The raging sea instantly 
 obeyed his command. The aerial torrent stopped short 
 in its impetuous course, and became as silent as- the 
 grave, while the mountainous waves sunk at once into 
 their beds, and the surface of the deep became as smooth 
 as polished marble. 
 
 The disciples had before seen their great Master per- 
 form many miracles, and, therefore, had abundant 
 reason to rely wholly on his power and goodness. But 
 in the excitement of the moment, they seem to have 
 forgotten the power of their Master, and when human 
 effort failed, to have abandoned all hopes of life. The 
 blessed Jesus, therefore, very justly rebuked them : 
 " Why are ye fearful, ye of little faith ? " Why should 
 ye doubt of my power to protect you ? The voyage was 
 
STILLING THE TEMPEST 
 

LIFE OF CHRIST. 115 
 
 undertaken at my command, and therefore you should 
 have been confident that I would not suffer you to perish 
 in it. The confused disciples, unable to recover from 
 their astonishment, answered nothing, but could not 
 help saying to one another, " What manner of man is 
 this, that even the winds and the sea obey him ! " Matt, 
 viii. 22. Never before had he appeared to them so 
 awful and so loving a being as in this time of terrible 
 trial. 
 
 Soon after the storm was allayed, they arrived in the 
 country of Gadara,* and, on their landing, two men, 
 possessed with devils, came from the tombs to meet 
 Jesus. One of them, who was more furious than the 
 other, had been often bound with chains and fetters, but 
 to no purpose, being always broken with great fury, so 
 that no man attempted further to restrain him. Being 
 therefore at liberty, he shunned the society of men, 
 wandering day and night in deserted places among the 
 sepulchres or caverns where the dead were deposited, 
 crying and making the most dismal complaints, and 
 cutting himself with stones. 
 
 The disciples were terrified at the approach of these 
 furious mortals; but Jesus soon dissipated their fears, 
 commanding, while the men were at a distance, the 
 devils to come out of them. The heavenly mandate 
 was no sooner given than they fell on their faces, crying 
 out, " What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of 
 
 * The city of Gadara lay about seven miles southeast of the sea of 
 Galilee, on the range of hills, whose steep precipices touch* d its shore. 
 It belonged to the tribe of Gad, but many Greeks were mingled among 
 its inhabitants in the time of Christ. The ruins of ancient tombs are 
 still found on the hill-side, memorable for the fierce dcmoiiia.cs who 
 infested them, and whose deliverance by Jesus is here recorded. 
 
116 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 the Most High God ! " Mark v. 7. "Art thou come to 
 torment us before the time ? " Matt. viii. 29. "I adjure 
 thee by God that thou torment me not ! " Mark v. 7. 
 The apostate spirits well knew the power of the Son of 
 God, and trembled lest he should immediately cast them 
 into the torments prepared for them, and not suffer them 
 to continue roving through the earth till the day of judg- 
 ment, when they shall be condemned to eternal punish- 
 ment in the sight of the whole creation.* 
 
 Jesus, being willing that the torments suffered by 
 these miserable men should be known before he healed 
 them, asked one of the devils his name, who answered, 
 " Legion, for we are many" (Mark v. 9), begging, at the 
 same time, that he would not command them to repair 
 into the abyss, or bottomless pit, but suffer them to enter 
 a herd of swine feeding at a distance. 
 
 How subtle are the wiles of the devil ! The power of 
 the Son of God he knew was not to be resisted ; but he 
 could not help envying the benevolent miracles he had 
 wrought for the sons of men, and was therefore willing 
 to prevent as much as possible their good effects on the 
 miserable people of this country. This was the true 
 reason why he begged leave to enter the herd of swine : 
 he knew he could destroy them ; and this he hoped 
 would render our blessed Saviour odious to the wicked 
 inhabitants of Gadara. 
 
 Though Jesus well knew his crafty design, yet he 
 permitted the devils to enter the swine, that his disci- 
 ples, and others who were with him, might be fully con- 
 vinced these unhappy persons were really possessed by 
 apostate spirits, and at the same time give them a ter- 
 
 * See the note on page 10a 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 117 
 
 rible instance of their power when free from all re- 
 straint. 
 
 The divine permission was no sooner granted, than 
 the spectators beheld, at a distance, the torments of these 
 poor creatures, with' what amazing rapidity they ran to 
 the confines of the lake, leaped from the precipices into 
 the sea, and perished in the waters ; while the persons 
 who a moment before were raving and cutting themselves 
 in the most shocking manner became at once meek and 
 composed, having recovered entirely the exercise of their 
 reason. 
 
 The keepers of the herd, terrified at this astonishing 
 miracle, ran into the city, publishing in every part the 
 cure of the men possessed with the devils, and the de- 
 struction of the swine. 
 
 This surprising report threw the inhabitants into the 
 greatest consternation : they left the city to be spectators 
 of so wonderful an event; but when they saw the men 
 who had been possessed sitting at the feet of Jesus, 
 decently clothed and in their right minds, their fear 
 was increased. For, knowing they had trespassed in 
 keeping the swine (which was contrary to the law of 
 Moses), they dreaded a more severe punishment; and, 
 being ignorant of the goodness of Jesus, though he had 
 given them so remarkable a proof of it in the cure of 
 these wretched mortals, they besought him that he 
 would leave their country. 
 
 There prevailed a custom among the heathen, when 
 any illustrious hero had delivered his country from its 
 enemies or from any other great evil, to erect proud 
 columns to his memory ; his statue was seen in every 
 place : altars blazed to his glory ; they honored him with 
 
118 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 the high appellation of " saviour," and thought nothing, 
 not even divine honors, too great to confer upon him. 
 But when Christ had removed a monster from the Gada- 
 renes more formidable and fearful than any in heathen 
 history, even a legion of devils, and rendered the way 
 by which no man could pass before secure from danger, 
 instead of being received by them as a Saviour, and as 
 the Son of God, with the acclamations and hosannas 
 of the people, he was besought to depart out of their 
 coasts. Stupid people ! they had indeed lost their herd 
 of swine, but surely the valuable gift they had received, 
 in two of their countrymen and fellow-creatures being 
 delivered from the tyranny of Satan, was better than the 
 cattle on a thousand hills, and merited at least their 
 thanks and acknowledgments. 
 
 The request of the Gadarenes was, however, complied 
 with by the blessed Jesus, who, entering the ship, 
 returned to the country from whence he came, leaving 
 them a valuable pledge of his love, and us a noble 
 pattern of perseverance in well-doing, even when our 
 kindnesses are condemned or requited with injuries. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 119 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OUR LORD PROCEEDS IN ACTS OF MERCY AND BENEVOLENCE 
 
 ADDS MATTHEW TO THE NUMBER OF DISCIPLES CASTS OUT 
 
 AN &VIL SPIRIT PASSES AGAIN THROUGH GALILEE SE- 
 LECTS TWELVE FROM AMONG HIS DISCIPLES, AS HIS CON- 
 STANT FOLLOWERS AND COMPANIONS, AND ADDRESSES THE 
 MULTITUDE IN AN EXCELLENT DISCOURSE. 
 
 THE return of our Saviour and his disciples to Caper- 
 naum was no sooner published than such throngs of 
 people were gathered together that the house could not 
 contain them, nor even the court before it. He, how- 
 ever, preached the words of eternal life to the listening 
 audience, among whom were many Pharisees and doc- 
 tors of the law, who, from the fame of his miracles, were 
 come from all quarters to hear him. 
 
 He not only addressed them in the most nervous and 
 pathetic manner, in order to inculcate the doctrines he 
 delivered, but also performed such astonishing miracles 
 as ought to have removed all their scruples with regard 
 to the truth of his mission. 
 
 Among other instances he gave of his divine power 
 was that of restoring a man to perfect health who had 
 long been afflicted with the palsy, and was reduced by 
 that terrible disease to the most melancholy condition, 
 being unable to move any member of his body, but 
 seemed rather an emaciated carcass than a man. This 
 miserable object was brought on his bed by four persons, 
 who, being unable to enter by the door, on account of 
 the multitude, carried him to the top of the house, 
 
120 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 which, like the other roofs in that country, was flat and 
 had a battlement round it, according to the direction 
 given by Moses. Deut. xxii. 8. 
 
 On these roofs there was a kind of trap-door, by which 
 they came out of the houses upon the roofs, where they 
 spent a considerable part of the day. It was also com- 
 mon to have a flight of stairs from the garden to the 
 roof, and by these the persons seem to have carried the 
 sick of the palsy, but finding the door fastened, forced it 
 open and uncovered the roof, and through the opening 
 let down, by ropes, the sick of the palsy, lying on his 
 bed, into the midst of the company, before Jesus ; who, 
 seeing the faith of the friends of this afflicted person, 
 had compassion on him, and spake aloud, " Son, be of 
 good cheer : thy sins are forgiven thee." * 
 
 The Scribes, taking offence at this saying, cried out, 
 This man speaketh blasphemy; for he appropriates that 
 to himself which is solely the province of Omnipotence. 
 " Who can forgive sins, but God only ? " They were 
 ignorant that the person who uttered such gracious 
 words was the Son of God, and, consequently, had the 
 power of forgiving the sins of the human race. 
 
 But our Lord, who had recourse to the most secret 
 recesses of the heart, and was willing to show them that 
 he was really endued with the Spirit of God. said to 
 them, " Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts ? For 
 whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy 
 sins be forgiven thee ; or to say, Arise, and take up thy 
 bed and walk ? " These were questions beyond the abili- 
 ties of the haughty Scribes to answer, and they held 
 
 * The text reads, " Jesus seeing their faith. " This expression seems 
 properly to include the faith of the sick man, as well as that of his 
 friends. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 121 
 
 their peace. The blessed Jesus then added that the 
 miracle he was going to perform would sufficiently de- 
 monstrate that he had not usurped what did not in the 
 strictest manner belong to him. And, turning himself 
 from those bigoted teachers of Israel toward the sick of 
 the palsy, he said unto him, "Arise ; take up thy bed,* 
 and go unto thine house." Matt. ix. 6. 
 
 Nor was this divine mandate any sooner given than 
 the man was restored to his former health and strength, 
 and, to the astonishment of all present, rose, took up 
 his bed, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 
 And all the people, when they saw this great work, ex- 
 pressed the highest degree of surprise, mixed with admi- 
 ration for the great honor the Almighty had conferred 
 on human nature : " They glorified God, who had given 
 such power unto men." But with regard to the Scribes 
 and Pharisees, though they must have been confounded 
 at this miracle, yet they still continued in their unbe- 
 lief; an instance which should awaken in us the most 
 serious thoughts, as it abundantly demonstrates that the 
 palsy of the soul is a much more deplorable disease than 
 the palsy of the body. 
 
 The blessed Jesus, having wrought this miracle, re- 
 
 * The bed of this sufferer, probably, was like that of the soldier, and 
 the poorer sort in all countries, nothing more than a blanket, or the 
 coarse outer garment, which was equally adapted by its form and tex- 
 ture to be used as a mantle by day and a bed by night. Exod. xxii. 
 26, 27. It could, therefore, be carried with ease, and could not be 
 justly classed among the "burdens " forbidden on the Sabbath. 
 
 Beds in the East were of three sorts. 1. The divan, or raised sofa, 
 around the side of a room. 2. The mattress, or bed, somewhat resem- 
 bling oii own, spread upon a bedstead. Deut. iii. 11; 1 Sam. xix. 
 13-15. 3. The outer garment above described. Deut. xxiv. 13. 
 
122 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 paired to the sea-side, and taught a multitude of people. 
 What the subject of his sermon was, the evangelists 
 have not told us ; but it was, doubtless, like the rest, 
 calculated to promote the eternal welfare of mankind. 
 
 His discourse being ended, he returned to the city, 
 arid in his way saw Matthew, or Levi, the son of 
 Alpheus, a rich publican,* sitting in his office, where the 
 customs were levied, at the port of Capernaum, whom he 
 ordered to follow him. Matthew immediately obeyed 
 the summons, and followed the Saviour of the world, to 
 pursue a far more honorable and important employment 
 being afterward both an apostle and evangelist. 
 
 Some little time after his call, he made a splendid en- 
 tertainment for his Master, inviting all the publicans he 
 knew, hoping that by hearing the heavenly conversa- 
 tion of Christ they might also repent and embrace the 
 doctrines of the gospel. 
 
 The self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees, who considered 
 all men as sinners except themselves, especially the pub- 
 licans, were highly offended that one who called himself 
 
 * Publicans were the revenue officers under the Roman Government. 
 They consisted of two classes, the principals and the subordinates. 
 Some of the former (among whom was Zaccheus) were of highly respec- 
 table character ; but the latter were, as a class, infamous for their 
 rapacity, corruption, and cruelty. 
 
 Among the Jews of our Saviour's time the Publicans were peculiarly 
 odious, because they collected taxes for the Roman Government, which 
 was offensive to their pride as foreign, and to their religion as heathen. 
 Many even pleaded Deut. xvii. 15, as justifying a refusal to pay taxes 
 to the Emperor of Rome ; a perverse doctrine, repudiated by Christ in 
 his admirable answer to the Pharisees and Herodians. Matt. xxii. 21. 
 The conversion of Matthew (or Levi), and the association of Jesus 
 with the Publicans, at the feast which he provided, was therefore 
 excessively offensive to the Pharisees. The parable of the Pharisee 
 and the Publican is a striking picture of their discordant feelings. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 123 
 
 a prophet should so far demean himself as to be seen in 
 the company of such men, and asked his disciples, with 
 an air of insolence, in the hearing of all the guests, how 
 their Master could sit down at the same table with pub- 
 licans and sinners. 
 
 Our Lord replied to this artful question, that the sick 
 only had need of a physician, and desired them to reflect 
 seriously on the prophet Hosea's declaration : " I will 
 have mercy and not sacrifice." The turning sinners into 
 the path of righteousness, which is the highest act of 
 benevolence, is far more acceptable to the Almighty 
 than all the ceremonies of the law of Moses so highly 
 magnified by your fraternity, who on many occasions 
 observe them at the expense of charity ; adding, " I am 
 not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repent- 
 ance." The chief object of my attention is the conver- 
 sion of sinners. 
 
 This answer, however satisfactory to an unprejudiced 
 person, was far from being so to the Scribes and Phari- 
 sees, who, joining with some of John's disciples then 
 present, returned to Matthew's house, and demanded of 
 Jesus why his disciples wholly neglected to fast -a duty 
 often performed both by the rulers of Israel and the dis- 
 ciples of John. To this the blessed Jesus replied, It is 
 not a proper season for the friends of the bridegroom to 
 fast and afflict themselves while they enjoy his com- 
 pany; "but the days will come when the bridegroom 
 shall be taken away from them ; and then they shall 
 fast." The various calamities and afflictions that shall 
 attend them after the departure of their Master shall 
 cause them to fast ; which they shall repeat as often as 
 the circumstances of distress and danger with which 
 
I 
 
 124 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 they will be surrounded shall require ; and added, that 
 to have obliged his disciples to observe the precepts of 
 frequent abstinence at a time when he was employing 
 them to preach the "gospel, by. which all the legal cere- 
 monies of the law were to be abolished, would have been 
 as absurd as to sew a new piece of cloth upon a rotten 
 garment, which would only make the rent worse ; or to 
 put new wine into old leathern bottles, which on the 
 first fermentation of the liquor would burst ; indicating 
 that infant virtue must not immediately be put to the 
 greatest trials, lest it be destroyed by the severity of the 
 exercise. 
 
 During this controversy between our Lord and the 
 haughty Scribes and Pharisees in Matthew's house, 
 Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came running to him, 
 in all the agonies of grief, and, in the presence of the 
 whole company, fell on the ground before him, beseech- 
 ing that he would come and heal his daughter, who lay 
 at the point of death. 
 
 When did the beneficent Jesus deny his gracious 
 assistance to those who implored it of him ? He imme- 
 diately arose, and followed the ruler toward his house, 
 surrounded by a great multitude of people, who were 
 desirous of seeing so great a miracle. 
 
 But, as he passed through the street, a woman who 
 had for twelve years been afflicted with an issue or flux 
 of blood, and had spent her whole substance on physi- 
 cians to no purpose, "came behind him, and touched 
 the hem of his garment; for she said within herself, If 
 I may but touch his clothes, I shall be well." Nor was 
 she deceived ; for no sooner had she touched the border 
 of the garment of the Son of God than her issue of blood 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 125 
 
 dried up ; and she felt, by the return of her health and 
 strength, and other agreeable sensations that accompany 
 such sudden changes from painful diseases to perfect 
 health, that the cure was absolutely complete. 
 
 But this transaction could not be concealed : the 
 blessed Jesus knew the whole, and her secret thoughts, 
 before she put them into practice, and, pleased with the 
 opinion this woman had entertained both of his power 
 and goodness, would not by any means suffer it to pass 
 unapplauded. Accordingly, he turned himself about, 
 and asked, " Who touched me ? " He well knew the 
 person, but asked this question for the fuller manifesta- 
 tion of the woman's faith, and that he might have an 
 opportunity of instructing and comforting her. 
 
 His disciples, being ignorant of what had passed, were 
 surprised at the question. " Thou seest," said they to 
 their Master, "the multitude thronging and pressing 
 thee; and sayest thou, Who touched me?" They could 
 not distinguish between the spiritual and corporeal 
 touch, nor knew that such efficacious virtue had gone 
 out of their Master. Jesus, however, persisted in know- 
 ing who it was that had done the thing ; and the woman, 
 finding it in vain to conceal her action any longer, came 
 to him trembling, and told him all. Perhaps the un- 
 cleanness of her distemper was the reason of her fear, 
 thinking he would be offended even at her touching the 
 hem of his garment. But the divine Physician, far from 
 being angry, spoke to her in the kindest manner, and 
 commended her faith, on which account he had con- 
 sented to heal her plague: "Daughter, be of good 
 comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole." Matt. 
 ix. 22. 
 
126 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Such a miraculous incident must doubtless have greatly 
 strengthened the ruler's faith ; for, behold, a virtue little 
 inferior to that of raising the dead issues from the 
 border of Christ's garment, and heals a disease which for 
 the space of twelve years had baffled all the skill of the 
 healing art and defied the power of medicine. Indeed, 
 the faith of this ruler had great need of the strongest 
 confirmation ; for news was brought him that his daugh- 
 ter was even now dead, and therefore it was needless 
 for him to give any further trouble to Jesus not in the 
 least suspecting he had power to recall the departed 
 spirit and to reanimate the breathless body. 
 
 This message was a terrible blow to the affectionate 
 parent. His only daughter, who a few days before was 
 in the bloom of youth, was now a pale and lifeless 
 corpse, and with her all his joys and comforts were fled. 
 But Jesus, commiserating his grief, desired him to be 
 comforted, promising that his daughter should be re- 
 stored. 
 
 On his coming to the ruler's house, he found it full of 
 mourners, who made terrible lamentations, a sufficient 
 demonstration that the damsel was really dead ; and, 
 accordingly, when our blessed Saviour desired the 
 mourners to cease their funeral ceremonies, as the maid 
 was not dead, but sleeping, they laughed him to scorn. 
 
 It is necessary to remark in this place that the Jew r s, 
 when they spoke of' a person's death, styled it sleep, so 
 to intimate their belief that his spirit existed in the 
 happy scenes of paradise, and their hopes of a future re- 
 surrection to life eternal. But the blessed Jesus used 
 the word with remarkable propriety, to signify that 
 though she was now locked in the cold embrace of death, 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 127 
 
 yet he was going to release her from the power of the 
 king of terrors, with the same ease as a person is awaked 
 from sleep. Thus our blessed Saviour, in the very man- 
 ner of performing a miracle, modestly declined the 
 honor that would undoubtedly result from a work so 
 greatly superior to all the powers of men. 
 
 Having thus briefly addressed the mourners, he en- 
 tered the chamber where the damsel was lying, but 
 suffered none to follow him except Peter, James, and 
 John, together with the father and mother of the damsel. 
 Probably his reason for suffering these only to be spec- 
 tators of so stupendous a work was that they might have 
 an opportunity of examining the whole transaction in 
 the most careful manner, and be thence enabled after- 
 ward to report it upon the fullest conviction and with 
 every circumstance of credibility. 
 
 The blessed Jesus now approached the body, took her 
 by the hand, and, with a gentle voice, said, "Maid, 
 arise." The heavenly command was instantly obeyed : 
 the damsel arose, as from a sleep, and with all the ap- 
 pearance of health and vigor : for Jesus commanded to 
 give her something to eat^a plain proof that she did 
 not appear in the weak and languishing ^condition of a 
 person worn out with disease, or even like one who had 
 fainted away a circumstance that abundantly proves 
 the greatness and perfection of the miracle. It is there- 
 fore no wonder that her parents should be astonished at 
 so stupendous a work, the fame of which was soon spread 
 through all the neighboring country, though Jesus, who 
 was in every sense above }:ra : se, and therefore never 
 courted it, had strictly charged them that they should 
 tell no man what was done. 
 
128 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 These instances of power did the blessed Jesus display 
 to convince the world that those who die in him are not 
 dead, and that he hath the keys of life and death. 
 Those also of the present age, who believe that the soul 
 sleeps with the body till the resurrection, will do well 
 to consider the expression of the evangelist, " Her spirit 
 came again" (Luke viii. 55), which , sufficiently shows 
 that the soul exists separately when the body is laid in 
 the chambers of the grave. 
 
 Our blessed Saviour, having performed this benevolent 
 miracle, left the ruler's house, and was followed through 
 the streets by two blind men, imploring assistance. Nor 
 did they implore in vain : the Redeemer of mankind 
 was, and still is, always ready to grant the petitions of 
 those who apply to him fbr relief. Accordingly, he was 
 no sooner entered into a house, to avoid the thronging 
 multitude, than he touched their eyes, and said, "Ac- 
 cording to your faith, be it unto you " (Matt. ix. 29), and 
 immediately the invaluable gift of sight was bestowed 
 upon them. 
 
 The blind men were so overjoyed at beholding the 
 light, that, though our Saviour charged them to keep 
 the miracle a secret, they published his fame in every 
 part of the country, being unwilling to conceal what, in 
 gratitude for so great a mercy, they thought themselves 
 obliged to divulge. 
 
 The men who had thus miraculously received their 
 sight being departed, the multitude brought to him a 
 dumb man possessed with a devil. So moving a sight 
 could not fail of attracting a compassionate regard 
 from the Saviour of the world, who, being never weary 
 of well doing, immediately cast out the apostate spirit; 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 129 
 
 on which the dumb man recovered the use of his speech, 
 and spoke in a very rational' manner to the multitude, 
 who with one voice declared that such wondrous works 
 were never wrought by any of the old prophets : " It 
 was never so seen in Israel." Matt. ix. 33. These 
 works did not remove the prejudice of the. Pharisees, 
 who, being unable to deny the miracles, insinuated that 
 he did it by a power received from Beelzebub, the prince 
 of the devils. A poor pretence, indeed ! and it did not 
 escape the animadversion it deserved from the Saviour 
 of the world, as we shall see in a succeeding chapter. 
 Well might the prophet Isaiah cry out, "Who hath 
 believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the 
 Lord revealed ? " 
 
 But all their calumnies could not provoke the meek 
 and merciful Jesus to cease from performing these com- 
 passionate offices for the children of men. On the 
 contrary, he exerted himself still more and more to 
 promote the prosperity of the whole human race. 
 Accordingly, he left Capernaum, and travelled through 
 the country in search of miserable objects, on which 
 he might confer happiness and peace, visiting "all the 
 cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and 
 preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every 
 sickness and every disease among the people." Matt, 
 ix. 35. 
 
 On his return from this tour to Capernaum, he was 
 attended by a great number of people, who expressed a 
 more than common desire to hear the doctrine of the 
 gospel an incident abundantly sufficient to engage the 
 attention of this divine Teacher, who was ever careful 
 9 
 
130 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 to cultivate the latent seeds of virtue, and cherish the 
 least appearance of piety arid religion. 
 
 It was not this desire of the people alone that excited 
 his compassion toward them : he well knew they were 
 wholly destitute of spiritual teachers; for the Scribes 
 and Pharisees, who ought to have instructed them, were 
 blind, perverse, and lazy guides, who, instead of seeking 
 the glory of the Almighty, made it their whole business 
 to support and augment their own. They magnified 
 the ritual ceremonies and traditions, but took no care 
 to inspire the people with a love of virtue : " to do jus- 
 tice, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God," were 
 no parts of their doctrine. The small appearance of 
 religion they entertained was wholly hypocritical ; and 
 the disputes carried on with so much bitterness between 
 the factions of the Pharisees and Sadducees distracted the 
 minds of the people. 
 
 The inhabitants of Judea were truly in a deplorable 
 state, which called loudly for the compassion of the Son 
 of God, who always regarded the descendants of Jacob 
 with the most tender affection. He saw the sheep of 
 Israel scattered on the barren wastes of error and super- 
 stition, without a shepherd to lead them to the heavenly 
 pastures of the law and the prophets. He saw, he com- 
 miserated their distress, and resolved to provide some 
 remedy for it. Accordingly, he directed his disciples to 
 intercede with the Almighty, who, by his servants the 
 prophets, had sown the seeds of piety and virtue in the 
 minds of the Jews, that he would not suffer the rich har- 
 vest to be lost for want of laborers. " The harvest," 
 said the blessed Jesus to his disciples, " truly is plente- 
 ous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 131 
 
 Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into 
 his harvest." Matt. iv. 37, 38. 
 
 To these gracious acts he added the most powerful 
 of all intercessions to the throne of grace his own pre- 
 vailing prayer and, accordingly, ascended to the top 
 of a mountain, and there spent the night in making the 
 most powerful petitions in behalf of the lost sheep of 
 Israel to his heavenly Father. 
 
 Having spent the night in this pious exercise, he lost 
 no time in putting his beneficent intentions in execu- 
 tion ; for no sooner had darkness withdrawn her sable 
 vail, and the blushing rays of the morn adorned the 
 chambers of the east, than the benevolent Redeemer of 
 mankind called his disciples to him, and chose twelve, 
 whom he named Apostles, to be with him, and that he 
 might send them forth to preach. He ordered them to 
 be with him, that they might learn from his own mouth 
 the doctrines they were to preach to the whole world ; 
 that they might see his glory, and the transcendent 
 glory of the virtues which adorned his human life ; that 
 they might be witnesses of all the wondrous works he 
 should perform during his residence in this vale of misery, 
 and by which his mission from the courts of heaven was 
 to be fully demonstrated.* 
 
 These twelve persons, thus qualified, were to supply 
 the people with that spiritual food they so greatly 
 wanted, both while their Master continued here below, 
 and after his ascension to the right hand of power. 
 And, that nothing might be wanted to render their 
 preaching acceptable to the people, and confirm the im- 
 portant doctrines they delivered, he invested them with 
 
 * See- note, page 474. 
 
132 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 full power to cure all diseases, cast out devils, and even 
 to raise the dead. 
 
 All these persons being illiterate Galileans, and, at 
 first, destitute of the qualifications necessary to the dis- 
 charge of their duty, integrity alone excepted, were the 
 most unlikely persons in the world to confound the 
 wisdom of the wise, baffle the power of the mighty, 
 overturn the many false religions which then flourished 
 everywhere, under the protection of the civil govern- 
 ment, and in short, to reform the manners of mankind, 
 then universally corrupted. 
 
 Yet the religion which these illiterate Galileans taught 
 through the world, exhibited a far juster notion of things 
 than the Grecian and Roman philosophers were able to 
 attain, though their lives were spent in study and con- 
 templation. Hence, by its own intrinsic splendor, as 
 well as by the glory of its miracles, and the energy of 
 the Holy Spirit, this religion appeared to be wholly 
 original and divine. 
 
 It was, therefore, with the highest wisdom that the 
 foundations of the Church were laid in the labors of a 
 few illiterate fishermen; for it irresistibly demonstrated 
 that the immense fabric was at first raised, and is still 
 sustained, by the hand of the Almighty. 
 
 After appointing the twelve Apostles, he came down 
 from the mountain, and was joyfully received by the 
 multitudes of people who were waiting for him in the 
 plain and pressed to touch him, well knowing that if 
 they could only touch the hem of his garment they 
 should be healed of whatever distemper they were 
 aiflicted with a sufficient reason why they were con- 
 
' LIFE OF CHRIST. 133 
 
 tinually waiting for him and were willing to accompany 
 him even to the remotest corners of the wilderness. 
 
 The preaching and miracles of our Lord were attended 
 to, not by the low and vulgar only, but persons of the 
 first rank and character came from distant parts of the 
 country to converse with him, hear his doctrine, and be 
 spectators of his wonderful works. It therefore evi- 
 dently appears that persons of all ranks were desirous 
 of following him ; and their desire could be founded 
 on nothing but the truth of his doctrines and mira- 
 cles. 
 
 After healing all the sick among the multitude, he 
 turned toward his disciples, and delivered a divine dis- 
 course, something like that he had before preached to 
 them on the mountain ; but in the former he only pro- 
 nounced blessings, whereas in the latter he added curses 
 also ; and in this principally it differs from that recorded 
 by St. Matthew. We shall therefore only select a few 
 passages from the sermon now delivered, as we have 
 given a larger paraphrase on the other. 
 
 " Woe unto you that are rich ! for ye have received 
 your consolation." Luke vii. 24. Riches, considered 
 in themselves, by no means render us the objects of the 
 Almighty's hatred, unless accompanied by those vices 
 which too often flow from an opulent fortune, as luxury, 
 convetousness, and the like. The woe, therefore, is here 
 denounced against those only who are contaminated with 
 these vices ; for those who make a proper use of their 
 wealth, arid possess the virtues which should accompany 
 affluence, have no share in the malediction. 
 
 " Woe unto you that are full I for ye shall hunger." 
 The pain ye shall suffer in a future life shall be sharp 
 
134 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 and excruciating. The opportunities you have neglected 
 of doing good to your afflicted brethren in this life 
 shall then be remembered with the most poignant grief 
 and bewailed with the most bitter lamentations. 
 
 " Woe unto you that laugh now ! for ye shall mourn 
 and weep." This malediction of our blessed Saviour is 
 not inconsistent with the apostle's precept, which com- 
 mands Christians always to rejoice. Neither is the 
 mirth against which the woe is here denounced to be 
 understood of that constant cheerfulness of temper which 
 arises in the breasts of true Christians from the comfort- 
 able and cheerful doctrine with which they are enlight- 
 ened by the gospel, the assurance they have of recon- 
 ciliation with God, and the hope they have of everlasting 
 life, and the pleasure they enjoy in the practice of the 
 duties of religion ; but it relates to that turbulent carnal 
 mirth, that excessive levity and vanity of spirit, which 
 arises not from any solid foundation, but from sensual 
 pleasures, or those vain amusements of life in which the 
 giddy and gay contrive to spend their time that sort 
 of mirth which dissipates thought, leaves no time for 
 consideration, and gives them an utter aversion to all 
 serious reflections. Persons who constantly indulge 
 themselves in this kind of mirth shall weep and mourn 
 eternally, when they are excluded from the joys of 
 heaven and banished forever from the presence of God, 
 by the light of whose countenance all the righeous are 
 enlivened and made transcendently happy. 
 
 "Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you ! 
 for so did their fathers to the false prophets." Woe 
 unto you, if, by propagating such doctrines as encourage 
 men in sin, you shall gain to yourselves * the applause 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 135 
 
 and flattery of the generality of men ! for thus in old 
 times did the false prophets and deceivers, who, accom- 
 modating their doctrines to the lusts and passions of 
 men, gained their applause, but incurred the wrath and 
 displeasure of a just and all-seeing God. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF OUR LORD'S GLORIOUS DOCTRINES BENEFI- 
 CENT ACTS AND ASTONISHING MIRACLES WROUGHT IN CON- 
 FIRMATION OF THE DIVINITY OF HIS MISSION, AND THE 
 EXTENDING OF HIS HEAVENLY KINGDOM. 
 
 THE divine Preacher having closed this excellent 
 sermon, repaired to Capernaum, and was met by certain 
 messengers from a centurion, desiring him to come 
 and heal a servant who was dear to him and ready to 
 die. 
 
 This centurion, from the account given of him by the 
 evangelist, seems to have been a proselyte to the Jewish 
 religion, as he was a lover of the sons of Jacob and had 
 erected for them a place of worship ; and accordingly 
 the inhabitants of Capernaum strongly espoused his cause 
 on this occasion, saying, " that he was worthy for whom 
 he should do this. For he loveth our nation, and he 
 hath built us a synagogue." Luke vii. 4, 5. 
 
 There was not the least danger that this petition 
 
136 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 would be rejected by the blessed Jesus, who sought all 
 occasions of doing good to the children of men. Ac- 
 cordingly, he very readily accompanied the messengers ; 
 but before he came to the house he was met by some 
 of the centurion's friends, who expressed the high idea 
 that officer entertained of his power, and desired that he 
 would not take the trouble of coming to his house, as a 
 word was abundantly sufficient to perform the cure. At 
 this message Jesus turned himself about, arid said to the 
 multitude, " I say unto you, I have not found so great 
 faith, no, not in Israel." Luke vii. 9. 
 
 The persons, having delivered their message, returned 
 to the house, and found the servant, who had been sick, 
 perfectly recovered. 
 
 Having thus miraculously healed the centurion's ser- 
 vant, he repaired to Peter's house to eat bread ; but the 
 multitude came - again together, and surrounded the 
 house in a tumultuous manner, demanding, in. all 
 probability, that he would heal their sick ; and it was 
 not without difficulty they were dispersed by his 
 friends. 
 
 The multitude being dispersed, Jesus called unto him 
 the twelve apostles he had before chosen, and delivered 
 them such instructions as he thought necessary to ena- 
 ble them to discharge the duties of this important com- 
 mission. 
 
 " Go," said their heavenly Master, " and preach, 
 saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand." Publish 
 in every corner of Judea the glad tidings of the gospel, 
 and the near approach of the Messiah's kingdom not a 
 temporal, but a spiritual empire, consisting of righteous- 
 ness and peace. 
 

LIFE OF CHRIST. 137 
 
 To inure them to those hardships and dangers which 
 were to attend them in their preaching after the death 
 of their Master, our Lord forbade them to provide any 
 thing for their journey teaching them to rely wholly 
 on the providence of God for support in every distress, 
 and to have recourse to his protection in every danger. 
 
 Our Lord's disciples had perhaps flattered themselves 
 with the pleasing expectation that the glad tidings they 
 were going to publish, and the miraculous cures they 
 were enabled to perform, would procure them an honor- 
 able reception wherever they came. Their Master, how- 
 ever, told them the event would not in any manner 
 answer their expectations, but that they were every- 
 where to be despised, persecuted, delivered into the 
 hands of the rulers, and punished as wicked men. But 
 at the same time he promised them the aid of the 
 Almighty, and. gave them instructions how to behave in 
 every particular. He added that those who rejected 
 their message should be treated with severity by the 
 Great Judge of all the earth ; but those who received 
 them kindly, and gave even a cup of cold water to the 
 least of his disciples for their Master's sake, should not 
 fail of receiving a large reward. 
 
 Having received this commission and being sent out 
 two by two, for mutual counsel and help, the apostles 
 visited all parts of Palestine, where the Jews inhabited, 
 preaching the doctrine of repentance, working miracles 
 for its confirmation, and particularly healing the sick, 
 while our blessed Lord continued the course of his min- 
 istry in Galilee. 
 
 The apostles being returned from their tour, Jesus 
 went to Nain, a town situated near Endor, about two 
 
138 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 miles south of Mount Tabor, attended by many of his 
 disciples and a great multitude of his people. 
 
 On their coming to the entrance of the city, a melan- 
 choly scene presented itself to the eyes of Jesus and his 
 followers : " Behold, there was a dead man carried out, 
 the only son of his mother, and she was a widow." 
 Luke vii. 12. Who would not have imagined that God 
 had indeed " forgotten to be gracious, and, in his anger, 
 shut up his tender mercies " from this poor widow, suf- 
 fering under the heaviest load, and laboring under the 
 most oppressive burden of distress? Deprived of her 
 son, her only, son, in the flower of his youth, when he 
 might have repaid his mother's toils and been to her in 
 the place of a husband of that husband she had long 
 since lost, and whose loss was supportable only through 
 the comfort of this child, the surviving image of his 
 departed father, the balm of her grief, the hope of her 
 afflicted soul who now shall administer consolation to 
 this solitary widow, to this lonely parent, bereaved of 
 her husband, deprived of her child? What misery can 
 be more complicated ? What can be more natural than 
 that she should " refuse to be comforted," that she should 
 " go down to the grave with mourning," and visit the 
 chambers of death, the residence of the beloved remains 
 of her husband and her son, with inconsolable sorrow ? 
 
 Toward this receptacle of mortality, that dreary waste 
 of forgetfulness, the mournful funeral was now, with 
 slow and solemn pomp, advancing, when the compas- 
 sionate Redeemer of mankind met the melancholy pro- 
 cession, composed of a long train of her weeping neigh- 
 bors and relations, who pitied her distress, sympathized 
 with her in this great affliction, and were melted with 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 13iJ 
 
 compassion at her deplorable circumstances. But sighs 
 and tears were all they had to offer : relief could not be 
 expected from a human being : their commiseration, 
 though grateful to her oppressed soul, could neither re- 
 store the husband nor the son : submission and patience 
 were the only lessons they could preach or this afflicted 
 daughter of Israel learn. 
 
 But, though man was unable to relieve the distresses 
 of this disconsolate widow, the Saviour of the world, 
 who beheld the melancholy procession, was both able 
 and willing to do it. There was no need of a powerful 
 solicitor to implore assistance from the Son of God : his 
 own compassion was abundantly sufficient. When the 
 Lord saw her, he had compassion on her : he both sought 
 the patient and offered the cure unexpectedly. " Weep 
 not," said the blessed Jesus to this afflicted woman. 
 Alas ! it had been wholly in vain to bid her refrain from 
 tears, who had lost her only child, the sole comfort of 
 her age, without ministering the balm of comfort to heal 
 her broken spirit. This our Redeemer well knew : and 
 therefore, immediately advancing toward the corpse, 
 " he touched the bier." The pomp of the funeral was 
 instan tly stopped ; silence closed every ihouth, and ex- 
 pectation filled the breast of every spectator. But this 
 deep suspense did not long continue : that glorious voice, 
 which shall one day call our dead bodies from the grave, 
 filled their ears with these remarkable words : " Young 
 man, I say unto thee, arise." Nor was this powerful 
 command uttered without its effect. " He spake, and it 
 was done:" he called with authority, and immediately 
 "he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And 
 he restored him to his mother." He did not show him 
 
140 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 around to the multitude, but, by a singular act of mod- 
 esty and humanity, delivered him to his late afflicted, 
 now astonished and rejoicing, mother, to intimate that 
 in compassion to her great distress he had wrought this 
 stupendous miracle. 
 
 A holy and awful fear fell on all who heard and saw 
 this astonishing event ; " and they glorified God, saying 
 that a great prophet is risen up amongst us, and that 
 God hath visited his people." 
 
 Here it must be observed that, as this miracle is liable 
 to no objection, it therefore abundantly proves that the 
 power of the blessed Jesus was truly and absolutely 
 divine. He met this funeral procession by accident. It 
 was composed of the greatest part of the inhabitants of 
 the city, who bewailed the disconsolate state of the 
 afflicted widow, and therefore well knew that the youth 
 was really dead. The powerful word which called the 
 breathless body to life was delivered in an audible voice, 
 before all the company, and even at the very gate of 
 the city, the place of public resort. 
 
 This miracle, with others amply attested, abundantly 
 evinces the truth of our Saviour's mission, and that he 
 was indeed the Son of God, the Redeemer of mankind. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 141 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE CHARACTER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST CLEARED AND JUSTI- 
 FIED BY THE BLESSED JESUS- HE VISITS SIMON, THE 
 PHARISEE DISPLAY OF OUR LORD'S HUMILITY AND CONDE- 
 SCENSION. 
 
 WE have taken notice, in a foregoing chapter, that 
 Herod, incensed at the honest freedom of the Baptist in 
 reproving his adulterous commerce with Herodias, his 
 brother Philip's wife, had cast him into prison; and 
 in this confinement he still continued, though his disci- 
 ples were suffered to visit and converse with him. In 
 one of these visits they had given him an account of 
 our Saviours having elected twelve apostles to preach 
 the gospel, and of his miracles, particularly of his rais- 
 ing to life the daughter of Jairus and the son of the 
 widow of Nain. On hearing these wonderful relations, 
 the Baptist despatched two of his disciples to Jesus, to 
 ask him this important question : " Art thou he that 
 should come, or do we look for another ? " 
 
 Accordingly, the disciples of John came to Jesus, and 
 proposed the question of their master, at the very time 
 when he " cured many of their infirmities and plagues, 
 and of evil spirits ; and to many that were blind he gave 
 sight." Jesus, therefore, instead of directly answering 
 their question, bade them return and inform their mas- 
 ter what they had seen : " Go," said he, " and show 
 John again those things which ye do hear and see : the 
 blind receive their sight, and the lame walk ; the lepers 
 are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, 
 
142 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 and the poor have the gospel preached to them." Matt, 
 xi. 4, 5. Go tell your master that the very miracles 
 the prophet Isaiah so long since foretold should be 
 wrought by the Messiah you have yourselves seen per- 
 formed. 
 
 It appears from the Scriptures that the Baptist, 
 through the whole course of his ministry, had borne 
 constant and ample testimony to our Saviour's divine 
 mission, that he exhorted those who came to him to 
 rest their faith not on himself, but on " him that should 
 come after him," and that as soon as he was acquainted 
 who Jesus was, by a visible descent of the Holy Ghost 
 and a voice from heaven, he made it his business to dis- 
 pose the Jews in general, and his own disciples in par- 
 ticular, to receive and reverence him, by testifying 
 everywhere that he was the " Son of God, the Lamb of 
 God, who came down from heaven and spake the words 
 of God, and to whom God had given the Spirit not by 
 
 measure." 
 
 The Baptist, therefore, well knew who Jesus \vas, 
 and consequently did not send his disciples to ask this 
 question, to solve any doubt in his mind. But it was 
 doubtless in part to satisfy his own disciples, that Jesus 
 was the Messiah so long expected by the Jews, and to 
 engage them to follow a more perfect Master, especially 
 as he was on the point of leaving the world. But, 
 besides this, the question had actually some reference to 
 himself, and may intimate his wonder, that while Jesus 
 was sending out twelve apostles to preach, with the 
 power of working miracles, no miracle was wrought in 
 his behalf to release him from prison, that he might 
 return to the work of preaching. In this view the 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. , 143 
 
 answer of Jesus, at the close, has a personal as well as 
 general application : " And blessed is he whosoever shall 
 not be offended in me:" as if he had said, When you 
 have informed your master of what you have seen and 
 heard, tell him that he would do well not to be offended, 
 either at the choice of the apostles, or that no miracle 
 has been wrought for his release. 
 
 Lest the people, from this conversation, should infer 
 any thing unfavorable to the character of the Baptist, 
 he took occasion to praise his invincible courage and 
 constancy. John was no " reed shaken by the wind," 
 no fawning parasite in "the palaces of kings;" "but a 
 prophet; nay, more than a prophet. For this is he 
 of whom it is written, ' Behold, I send my messenger 
 before thy face, which shall prepare the way before 
 thee;'" nevertheless, he added, " he that is least in the 
 kingdom of heaven is greater than he : " that is, the least 
 apostle or preacher of the Gospel constantly attending 
 on Jesus, is much better acquainted with his character, 
 disposition, and doctrine, than the Baptist who had only 
 transiently seen him. 
 
 Having thus shown the greatness of the Baptist, and 
 wherein he was surpassed by the disciples, our blessed 
 Saviour took occasion from thence to blame the per- 
 verseness of the age in rejecting both the Baptist's tes- 
 timony and his own. 
 
 It seems that the Scribes and Pharisees, seeing their 
 pretended mortifications eclipsed by the real austerity 
 of the Baptist, affirmed that his living in the deserts, 
 his shunning the company of men, the coarseness of his 
 clothing, the abstemiousness of his diet, and the other 
 severities he practised, were the effects of his being pos- 
 
144 9 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 sessed by an evil spirit or of a religious melancholy. 
 " For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they 
 say, He hath a devil." Matt. xi. 18. 
 
 On the other hand, they would not listen to the 
 heavenly doctrines preached by Christ, because he did 
 not separate himself from society attributing his free 
 manner of living to a certain looseness of disposition, 
 though they well knew that he observed the strictest 
 temperance himself, and never encouraged the vices of 
 others, either by dissimulation or example : " The Son 
 of man came eating and drinking ; and they say, Behold 
 a man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publi- 
 cans and sinners. But Wisdom is justified of her chil- 
 dren." Matt. xi. 19. 
 
 He next proceeded to upbraid the several cities where 
 his most wonderful works had been performed. For 
 though they had heard him preach many awakening 
 sermons, and seen him perform such astonishing miracles 
 as would have converted Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, cities 
 infamous for their impiety, contempt of religion, pride, 
 luxury, and debauchery, yet so great was their obstinacy, 
 that they persisted in their wickedness, notwithstanding 
 all he had done to convert them from the evil of their 
 ways. " Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee, 
 Bethsaida! for if the mighty works which were done in 
 you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have 
 repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say 
 unto you, It shall be more tolerable fore Tyre and Sidon 
 at the day of judgment than for you. And thoUj Caper- 
 naum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought 
 down to hell ; for if the mighty works which have been 
 done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have re- 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 145 
 
 mained unto this day. But I say unto you, That it 
 shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day 
 of judgment than for thee." Matt. xi. 21, etc. 
 
 Having denounced these judgments on the cities 
 which had neglected to profit by his mighty works, he 
 concluded his discourse with these heavenly words : 
 " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
 and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, 
 and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and 
 ye shall find rest unto your soiils. For my yoke is easy, 
 and my burden is light." Matt. xi. 28, eto. 
 
 Having concluded this public address, one of the 
 Pharisees (named Simon) desired he would " eat with 
 him." The blessed -Jesus accepted the invitation, ac- 
 companied him to his house, and sat down to meat. 
 
 He had not been long at the table before a woman 
 who had lately left the paths of vice for those of virtue 
 placed herself behind him, and, from a deep conviction 
 of her former crimes, and the obligations she owed the 
 Saviour of mankind for bringing her to a sense of them, 
 shed such torrents of tears that they flowed down on his 
 feet. But, observing that her tears had wet the feet of 
 her beloved Instructor, she wiped them with the hairs 
 of her head, kissed them with the most ardent affection, 
 and anointed them with precious ointment she had 
 brought for the purpose. 
 
 It was a custom among the inhabitants of the East to 
 pour fragrant oils on the heads of such guests as they 
 intended particularly to honor, while they sat at meat ; 
 and probably the woman's original intention was to 
 anoint Jesus in the usual manner. But, being exceed- 
 ingly humble on account of her former crimes, she could 
 10 
 
146 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 not presume to take that freedom with him, and there- 
 fore poured it on his feet, to express at once the great- 
 ness of her love and the profoundness of her humility. 
 The Pharisee, who had attentively observed the woman, 
 concluded from thence that our Saviour could not be a 
 prophet. " This man," said the Pharisee to himself, u if 
 he were a prophet, would have known who and what 
 manner of woman this is that toucheth him ; for she is 
 a sinner." Luke vii. 39. 
 
 But, though Simon spoke this only in his heart, his 
 thoughts were not concealed from the Great Redeemer 
 of mankind, who, to convince him that he was a prophet, 
 and that he knew not only the character of men, but 
 even the secret thoughts of their hearts, immediately 
 conversed with him on the very subject he had been re- 
 volving in his mind. He did not, indeed, expose him 
 before the company by relating what he had said in 
 secret, but, with remarkable delicacy pointed out to 
 Simon alone the unreasonableness of his thoughts. 
 " Simon," said the blessed Jesus, " I have somewhat to 
 say unto thee. There was a certain creditor which had 
 two debtors : the one owed live hundred pence, and the 
 other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he 
 frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which 
 of them will love him most ? Simon answered and said, 
 I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he 
 said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged." And then 
 immediately he applied this parable to the subject of the 
 woman, on which the Pharisee had so unjustly reasoned 
 with himself. " Simon," continued our Saviour, " seest 
 thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou 
 gavest me no water for my feet : but she hath washed 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 147 
 
 my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of 
 her head. Thou gavest me no kiss : but this woman, 
 since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my 
 feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint : but this 
 woman hath anointed my feet with ointment." Luke 
 vii. 40-46. 
 
 This woman's kind services were in no danger of 
 losing their reward from the blessed Jesus, who possessed 
 the softer and finer feelings of human nature in their 
 utmost perfection. Accordingly, he added, in pursu- 
 ance of so kind an invitation he had before made to 
 weary and heavy-laden sinners, " Wherefore I say unto 
 thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven ; for she 
 loved much : * but to whom little is forgiven, the same 
 loveth little." Luke vii. 47. 
 
 The blessed Jesus, having thus commended the con- 
 duct of the woman to the company, and rebuked with 
 great delicacy the unjust suspicions of Simon, turned 
 himself to the woman, and, in the kindest manner, as- 
 sured her that " her sins were forgiven." But the power 
 he assumed in forgiving sins greatly offended the Jews, 
 who, not being acquainted with his divinity, considered 
 his speech as derogatory to the honor of the Almighty. 
 Jesus, however, contemned their malicious murmurs, 
 and repeated his assurance, telling the woman that her 
 faith had saved her, and bade her depart in peace. 
 
 The next day Jesus travelled from Capernaum to 
 different parts of Galilee, going " throughout every city 
 and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of 
 
 * The conjunction " for," in this place, denotes (as the whole context 
 shows) not the moral ground of forgiveness, but the logical evidence 
 arising from its effect. 
 
148 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 the kingdom of God." Luke viii. 1. That is, he dex 
 clared to the people the welcome tidings of the 
 Almighty's being willing to be reconciled to the children 
 of men on condition of their repentance and embracing 
 the gospel of the grace of God. Leaving Galilee, he 
 repaired to Jerusalem to keep the passover, being the 
 second feast of that kind since his public ministry.*- In 
 
 * In a popular work of this kind, it has not been thought proper to 
 say much in the notes on difficulties which different Harmonists have 
 found in arranging the artless narratives of the Evangelists into chro- 
 nological order. We do not think our author always successful in this 
 matter. 
 
 The following outline of the chronology of our Lord's Ministry is 
 important to be kept in view, adopting, for convenience, the dates of 
 Archbishop Usher : 
 
 Christ is baptized A. D. 29, in October. Six months after, lie attends 
 his first Passover at Jerusalem, April, A. D. 30. John ii. Most of that 
 year (from the summer to winter) he spends in Judea, teaching and 
 baptizing disciples. About January, A. D. 31, after John is imprisoned, 
 he returns through Samaria into Galilee. John iii. iv. Three months 
 later, he attends his second Passover at Jerusalem. John v. On his 
 return to Galilee, he chooses the Twelve, and labors there for over a 
 year and a half, or to the Feast of Tabernacles, October, A. b. 32, when 
 he leaves Galilee finally, and goes up privately to Jerusalem. John vii. 
 The next four months is spent chiefly in Perea, east of the Jordan, in 
 Herod's jurisdiction, visiting Jerusalem only at the feasts. John 
 viii.-x. In February, A. D. 33, he is recalled from Perea to Bethany, 
 and raises Lazarus, retiring for a short time to the city of Ephraim 
 (John xi.), whence, by the way of Jericho, he goes up to Jerusalem to 
 attend his fourth and last Passover, in April, A. D. 33. Thus his whole 
 Ministry, from his baptism to his death, was extended through three 
 years and a half, divided as above. Whether he attended the Passover 
 of A. D. 32 is unknown ; but is rendered probable, by his care punc- 
 tually to fulfil the whole laws notwithstanding the deadly hostility of 
 the Jewish rulers. 
 
 The real problem of the Harmony is to fix the different acts, 
 miracles, discourses, and parables of Jesus in their proper order, within 
 these leading divisions of time and place. The more accurately this is 
 done, the more impressive do they appear, as each derives new light 
 from its connection with the rest. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 149 
 
 this journey he was accompanied by certain pious 
 women, " who ministered to him of their substance." 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MIRACULOUS CURE EFFECTED AT THE POOL OF BETHESDA 
 REPROOF OF THE SUPERSTITION OF THE JEWS IN CONDEMN- 
 ING THE PERFORMANCE OF NECESSARY WORKS ON THE 
 
 SABBATH DAY AFTER DOING MANY ACTS OF MERCY AND 
 
 WONDER, OUR BLESSED LORD IS VISITED BY HIS MOTHER 
 AND HIS BRETHREN, AND MAKES A SPIRITUAL REFLECTION 
 ON THAT INCIDENT. 
 
 OUR Lord had no sooner entered the ancient city of 
 Jerusalem, so long famous for being the dwelling-place 
 of the Most High, than he repaired to the public bath 
 or pool, called in the Hebrew tongue " Bethesda," that 
 is, " the house of mercy," on account of cures wrought 
 there by the salutary effects of the water at certain 
 seasons. This bath was surrounded by five porches or 
 cloisters, in which those who frequented the place were 
 sheltered both from the heat and cold, and were particu- 
 
 If the above views are correct, it will follow that our author has 
 crowded into the first three mouths of our Lord's ministry in Galilee, 
 after John's imprisonment, a mass of events which might more than 
 fill a year. Although, therefore, the Passover he describes in the next 
 chapter is really the second, it belongs to a much earlier period in th 
 history ; as far back as chapter vi. or vii. 
 
150 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 larly serviceable to the diseased and infirm who crowded 
 thither to find relief in their afflictions. 
 
 These porches were now filled with a " great multi- 
 tude of impotent folk of blind, halt, withered waiting 
 for the moving of the water. For an angel went down 
 at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water : 
 whosoever then first after the troubling of the 'water 
 stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he 
 had."* Johnv. 3, 4. 
 
 Among these objects of pity was one who had labored 
 under his infirmity no less than thirty-and-eight years. 
 The length and greatness of this man's afflictions, w r hich 
 were well known to the Son of God, were sufficient to 
 excite his tender compassion and make him happy to 
 demonstrate that his power of healing was infinitely 
 superior to the sanative virtue of the waters : while the 
 rest were suffered to remain in their afflictions. 
 
 Had not our Lord at this time restored any of them 
 to health, he would not have acted contrary to the general 
 account which the evangelists give of his goodness on 
 other occasions namely, " that he healed all who came 
 to him." For such diseased persons who left their habi- 
 tations through a persuasion of his power and kindness 
 
 * Dr. Kobinson thinks the pool of Bethesda is the same as that now 
 called the "Fountain of the Virgin," in the lower part of the Valley 
 of Jehoshaphat, just southeast of Jerusalem. This pool is of great 
 antiquity, fifteen feet long, and five or six wide, and is reached by 
 descending two flights of steps. Its waters rise and fall at irregular 
 intervals, but possess no curative power. Hence, it would seem, that 
 if such power existed in the days of Christ, it was of supernatural 
 origin, and of a transient character, as described in the text. How 
 marked is the superiority of that spiritual fountain opened by the 
 Saviour, which heals the soul of sin and uncleanness, and which never 
 ceases to flow. Zech. xiii. 1. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 151 
 
 were proper objects of mercy; whereas the sick in the 
 cloisters of Bethesda were no more so than the other 
 sick throughout the whole country, whom he .could have 
 cured with a single word of his mouth, had he been 
 pleased to have uttered it. 
 
 Our compassionate Lord now approached the man 
 whom he had singled out as the person on whom to 
 manifest his power : he asked him whether he was de- 
 sirous of being made whole a question which must 
 have induced the man to declare publicly his melan- 
 choly case in the hearing of the multitude, and conse- 
 quently rendered the miracle more conspicuous. And, 
 as this was done on the Sabbath day, our blessed Saviour 
 seems to have wrought it to rouse the sons of Jacob 
 from their lethargy, and convince the inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem that the long-expected Messiah was now come 
 and had actually visited his people. 
 
 The distressed mortal, beholding Jesus with a sorrow- 
 ful countenance, and understanding that he meant his 
 being healed by the sanative virtue of the waters, 
 answered, " Sir, I have no man when the water is trou- 
 bled to put me into the pool ; but while I am coming, 
 another steppeth down before me." John v. 7. But 
 the compassionate Redeemer of mankind soon convinced 
 him that he was not to owe his cure to the salutary 
 nature of the waters, but to the unbounded power of the 
 Son of God, and accordingly said to him, " Rise : take 
 up thy bed and walk." No sooner was the heavenly 
 mandate uttered than the impotent man, to the aston- 
 ishment of the multitude, " was made whole, and took 
 up his bed, and walked." John v. 9. 
 
 This great and miraculous cure could not fail of having 
 
152 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 a great effect on the spectators; and his carrying his 
 bed on the Sabbath day which the Jews considered as 
 a profanation of that day of rest* tended greatly to 
 spread the fame of the miracle over the whole city. Nor 
 did the man scruple to obey the commands of his kind 
 Physician : he well knew that the person who had the 
 power of working such miracles must be a great prophet, 
 and consequently, that his injunction could not be sinful. 
 He therefore thought that he gave a sufficient answer to 
 those Jews who told him it was not lawful to carry his 
 bed on the Sabbath day, to say, " He that made me 
 whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed and 
 walk." John v. 11. He that restored my strength in 
 an instant, and removed with a single word a disease 
 that had many years afflicted me, commanded me at the 
 same time to take up my bed and walk ; and surely a 
 person endued with such power from on high would 
 not have ordered me to do any thing but what is truly 
 right. 
 
 The votaries of infidelity should remember that this 
 signal miracle was performed in an instant, and even 
 when the patient did not expect any such favor, nor 
 even know the person to whom he owed it. No one, 
 therefore, can pretend that imagination had any share 
 in performing it. In short, the narrative of this miracle 
 of -mercy sufficiently proves that the person who did it 
 was really divine. 
 
 The Jews had long expected the Messiah ; but they 
 had expected him to appear as a temporal prince, who 
 would not only restore the former lustre of the throne 
 
 * See the note on page 121. 
 

 
 
 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 153 
 
 of David, but indefinitely augment it, and even place it 
 over all the kingdoms of the earth. And hence they 
 were unwilling to acknowledge Jesus for their Messiah, 
 notwithstanding the proofs of his mission were undenia- 
 ble, because they must, in so doing, have abandoned all 
 their grand ideas of a temporal kingdom. Our blessed 
 Saviour, therefore, desired them to consult their own 
 Scriptures, particularly the writings of the prophets, 
 where they would find the character of the Messiah dis- 
 played and be fully convinced they were all fulfilled in 
 his person. 
 
 He also gave them to understand that the proofs of 
 his mission were as full and clear as possible, being sup- 
 ported by the actions of his life, which in all things 
 agreed with his doctrines ; for he never sought the ap- 
 plause of men, or assumed secular power, but was always 
 innocent and humble, though he well knew that these 
 virtues made him appear little in the eyes of those who 
 had no idea of a spiritual kingdom, but expected that 
 the Messiah would appear in all the pomp of secular 
 authority. 
 
 In short, the fatal infidelity of the Jewish doctors was 
 principally owing to their pride. They had long filled 
 the minds of the people with grand ideas of the glory 
 and power of the Messiah's kingdom ; they had repre- 
 sented him as a potent prince, who was to appear at once 
 adorned with all the ensigns of power ; and therefore to 
 have ascribed that august character to a mere Teacher 
 of righteousness, destitute even of the ordinary advan- 
 tages of birth, fortune, and erudition, would have been 
 so plain a confession of their ignorance of the Scriptures 
 
154 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 as must have exposed them to the ridicule and contempt 
 of the whole people.* 
 
 Our blessed Saviour added that he himself should not 
 only be their accuser to the God of Jacob for their infi- 
 delity, but Moses, their great legislator, in whom they 
 
 * The earliest promises of the Messiah did not speak of him dis- 
 tinctly as a King. As "the Seed of the Woman," he was to be the 
 victorious Antagonist of the Tempter ; as "the Seed of Abraham," he 
 was to be the Benefactor of the world; as the " Shiloh, " he was to 
 make peace between God and man ; as the great " Prophet " like unto 
 Moses, he was to speak the words of God with supreme and final 
 authority. But when David filled the throne of Israel, the Messiah, 
 as his son, was for the first time expressly announced in his kingly 
 character and glory. Thus in Psalm ii., "I have set my King upon 
 my holy hill of Sion." Psalm xlv. is a magnificent description of Mes- 
 siah as the King and Bridegroom of the Church. In Psalm Ixxii., the 
 blessings of his reign are described as universal, and as including the 
 sum of human desire and expectation. In Psalm ex., he appears as 
 David's " Lord " at the right hand of the Father ; exercising his three- 
 fold office of King, Prophet, and Priest, by an irrevocable decree, in 
 the midst of enemies who are to become his footstool. In Isaiah ix., 
 he is adored as the Son of God, clothed in the most glorious titles, 
 and establishing his throne in righteousness and peace, and ever- 
 increasing joy. In Daniel vii., he is seen as the "Son of man," ap- 
 proaching the Ancient of days, and receiving a kingdom which shall 
 hold dominion over all nations, languages, and tongues. 
 
 On these and the like prophecies of the Messiah's glory, the Jewish 
 people fastened their eyes with a gaze so intense and exclusive, that 
 they quite overlooked the other class of prophecies, which foretold his 
 previous rejection, sufferings, and death; as Psalm viii., xvi., xxii., 
 Ixix., and above all Isaiah liii., and Daniel ix. 26. Even the more 
 spiritual among them, while looking for spiritual blessings from the 
 Messiah, failed to perceive that "Christ must first suffer these things, 
 and then enter into his glory ; " while the worldly men of the nation 
 desired nothing but "the glory of his kingdom," as interpreted by 
 worldly minds. To them the great mystery of the Incarnation was 
 nothing ; the infallible Prophet, the Pattern of holiness, the spotless 
 Lamb of God, the all-atoning, interceding Priest, was nothing ; because 
 they knew not their spiritual needs ; because "the vail was upon their 
 hearts. " The " brightness of the Father's glory " was to them " with- 
 out form or comeliness." 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 155 
 
 trusted, would join in that unwelcome office; for by 
 denying him to be the Messiah they denied the writings 
 of that prophet. " For had ye," added he, " believed 
 Moses, ye would have believed me ; for he wrote of me. 
 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe 
 my words?" John v. 46, 47. 
 
 Thus did the blessed Jesus assert himself to be the 
 Son of God, the great Judge of the whole earth, and the 
 Messiah promised by the prophets, and at the same time 
 gave them such convincing proofs of his being sent from 
 God that nothing could be said against them. 
 
 Convincing as these proofs were, yet they did not in 
 the least abate the malice of the Scribes and Pharisees ; 
 for the very next Sabbath, upon his disciples plucking 
 a few ears of corn as they passed through the fields, and 
 eating the grain after rubbing it out in their hands, they 
 again exclaimed against this violation of the Sabbath. 
 But our blessed Saviour soon convinced them of their 
 error, by showing, both from the example of David and 
 the constant practice of their own priests, who never 
 omitted the necessary works of the temple on the Sab- 
 bath day, that works of necessity were often permitted, 
 even though they broke a ritual command ; that acts of 
 mercy were the most acceptable services to God of any 
 whatever ; that it was inverting the order of things to 
 suppose that " man was made for the Sabbath, and not 
 the Sabbath for the benefit of man ; " adding that, if the 
 service of the temple should be said to claim a particular 
 dispensation from the law of the Sabbath, he and his 
 disciples, whose business of promoting the salvation of 
 mankind was of equal importance, might justly claim 
 the same exemption, as they were carrying on a much 
 
156 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 nobler work than they who attended on the service of 
 the temple. Thus did our blessed Saviour prove that 
 works of mercy should not be left undone, though 
 attended with the violation of some of the most sacred 
 institutions of the ceremonial law.* 
 
 * It has long been disputed among divines whether the law of the 
 Sabbath be a ceremonial or a moral law. Perhaps the true solution of 
 the difficulty lies in the fact that it was both. 
 
 As instituted, like Marriage, at the beginning of creation, as a 
 weekly season of rest and devotion, and divine blessing for man (Gen. 
 ii. 1-3) ; as founded in the relations of men to God and to each other, 
 as religious and social beings (Mark ii. 27) ; as incorporated in the 
 Decalogue with the other moral commandments (Exodus xx. 11), it 
 certainly seems to partake of a moral character, and hence is of uni- 
 versal and perpetual obligation. On the other hand, as incorporated 
 with the civil and ceremonial code prescribed for the Jewish people, it 
 partook of a civil and ceremonial character, both as to the day to be 
 observed and the modes of its observance. Thus the picking up of 
 sticks, lighting a fire, gathering food, bearing burdens, and the like 
 (when not matters of real necessity), \vere ceremonial peculiarities of 
 the Jewish code, like many other regulations attached to the original 
 law of Marriage. 
 
 To these strictly Jewish regulations, were added many superstitious 
 customs and false' constructions of the Scribes and Pharisees in the 
 time of Christ ; under which they sought to accuse him and his disciples 
 of breaking the Sabbath. It was to these chiefly our Lord referred 
 when, as Lord of the Sabbath, he expounded its true moral force and 
 authority. 
 
 All merely Jewish peculiarities, whether of law or construction, 
 were, of course, limited to that people, and perished witli their national 
 constitution. On believers in Christ of other nations, they were never 
 in force ; and our Saviour's general rule governs all cases : " It is law- 
 ful to do good on the Sabbath day." 
 
 Every Christian, who receives Christ as the Lord of the Sabbath, 
 will own his entire authority to expound the moral law of the Sabbath ; 
 to determine the day, the grounds, and the modes of its observance, 
 Independent of all connections with Jewish law, civil or ceremonial. 
 Under him it reverts to its purely moral character, as fixed at the 
 Creation, and enjoined in the Decalogue (Matt. v. 19) ; the day of the 
 week only being changed, to conform to the new grounds of Christian 
 worship, in hanor of the glorious Resurrection of our Lord. If the 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 157 
 
 Soon after this dispute with the Scribes and Pharisees, 
 our blessed Saviour entered one of the synagogues of 
 Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, and found there a man 
 whose right hand was withered. 
 
 The .Pharisees, who observed the compassionate Jesus 
 advance toward the man, did not doubt but he would 
 heal him, and therefore watched him attentively, that 
 they might have something to accuse him with the 
 people. Their malice had arrived at that monstrous 
 pitch that they determined to injure his reputation, by 
 representing him as a Sabbath-breaker, if he dared to 
 heal the man, while they themselves were profaning it 
 by an action which would have polluted any day; 
 namely, of seeking an opportunity of destroying a person 
 who had never injured them, but done many good 
 actions for the sons of Jacob, and was continually labor- 
 ing for their eternal welfare. 
 
 The Saviour of the world was not unapprized of these 
 malicious intentions. He knew their designs, and de- 
 fied their impotent power by informing them of the 
 benevolent action he designed though he well knew 
 they would exert every art they were masters of in order 
 to put him to death. 
 
 Therefore, when our Saviour ordered the man to show 
 himself to the whole congregation, in order to excite 
 their pity, these hypocritical teachers declared, in the 
 strongest terms, the unlawfulness of his performing even 
 
 seventh day of creation was holy, and blessed for man, as man, though 
 it fell on the first day after man was made ; if the seventh day of 
 Israel's observance (as determined for that nation by the special 
 miracle of the manna) was to the devout Jew of every age a glory and 
 delight ; how much more will " the first day of the week," on which 
 our Life arose, be dear and sacred to every Christian heart. Matt, 
 xxviii. 1-8 ; Acts xx. 7 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2 ; Rev. i. 10. 
 
158 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 such beneficent actions on the Sabbath : " Is it lawful to 
 heal on the Sabbath day?"* They did not, however, 
 ask this question with an intention to hinder him from 
 performing the miracle. No : they had a very different 
 intention than that of accusing him. For they hoped 
 he would have declared openly that such actions were 
 lawful, or, at least, make no reply to their demands, 
 which they would have construed into an acknowledg- 
 ment of what they asserted. 
 
 Nor did our Lord fail to expose their malice and 
 superstition ; and accordingly asked them, " Is it lawful 
 on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do evil ? to save 
 life, or to destroy it?-" Luke vi. 9. Is it not more lawful 
 for me on the Sabbath day to save men's lives than for 
 you to seek my death without the least provocation ? 
 This severe rebuke would admit of no answer; and 
 therefore they held their peace, pretending not to under- 
 stand his meaning. He therefore made use of an argu- 
 ment which stupidity itself could not fail of understand- 
 ing, and which all the art of these hypocritical sophists 
 was unable to answer. " What man," said the blessed 
 Jesus, "shall there be among you that shall have one 
 sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day will 
 he not lay hold on it and lift it out ? How much then 
 is a man better than a sheep ? Wherefore it is lawful 
 to do well on the Sabbath day." Matt, xii. 11, 12. 
 
 The former question they pretended not to under- 
 stand, and therefore held their peace ; but this argument 
 effectually exposed them, though they were determined 
 not to be convinced. This unconquerable obstinacy 
 
 * See the foregoing note. 
 

 LIFE OF CHRIST. 159 
 
 grieved the spirit of the meek, the benevolent Jesus, who 
 beheld them with anger,* that, if possible, an impression 
 might be made either on them or the spectators. 
 
 But, at the same time that he testified his displeasure 
 toward the Pharisees, he uttered words of comfort to the 
 lame man, bidding him stretch forth his hand ; and he no 
 sooner obeyed the divine command than it was restored 
 whole as the other. 
 
 This astonishing work, performed in the midst of a 
 congregation many of whom doubtless knew the man 
 while he labored under this infirmity, and in the pres- 
 ence of his most inveterate enemies, must certainly have 
 had a great effect on the minds of the people, especially 
 as they saw it had effectually silenced the Pharisees, 
 who had nothing to offer, either against the miracle 
 itself or the reasoning and power of him who had per- 
 formed it. 
 
 But though these whited sepulchres, as our blessed 
 Saviour justly termed them, were silenced by his argu- 
 ments and astonished at his miracles, yet they were so 
 far from abandoning their malicious intentions that they 
 joined their inveterate enemies the Herodians and the 
 Sadducees, in order to consult how they might destroy 
 him well knowing that if he continued his preaching 
 
 * Anger, in its pure state, is nothing more than that quick displeasure 
 which springs up in a just mind at the sight of wrong doing. Hence, 
 it may exist without sin, as in the heart of the holy Jesus. Hence, 
 also, the injunction to Christians, " Be ye angry, and sin not." Eph. 
 iv. 26. Yet so seldom is it found in a just and pure state in imperfect 
 man, that it is often classed among the sinful passions which Chris- 
 tians must put away, lest they grieve the Holy Spirit. Eph. iv. 31. 
 Hence, too, our Saviour's solemn warnings against the indulgence of 
 anger without adequate cause. Matt. v. --. 
 
160 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 and working of miracles the people would wholly follow 
 him, and their own power soon become contemptible. 
 Jesus, however, thought proper to prevent their mali- 
 cious designs by retiring into Galilee and there pursuing 
 his benevolent purposes. 
 
 This retreat could not, however, conceal him from the 
 multitude, who nocked to him from all quarters, bring- 
 ing with them the sick and maimed, who were healed 
 and sent away in peace. 
 
 Soon after this, as Jesus was disputing with the Phari- 
 sees, he was informed that his mother and brethren, or 
 kinsmen, were without, desiring to speak to him; upon 
 which the blessed Jesus stretched out his hands toward 
 his disciples, and said, " Behold my mother and my 
 brethren ! For whosoever shall do the will of my 
 Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and 
 sister, and mother." Matt. xii. 49, 50. This glorious 
 truth should be stamped on the minds of all believers, 
 as it shows that every one, of what nation or kindred 
 soever, who is brought into subjection to the will of God, 
 is allied to the blessed Jesus and entitled to the salvation 
 of God. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 161 
 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 OUR LORD DELIVERS MANY REMARKABLE PARABLES, AND 
 EXPLAINS SEVERAL OF THEM HE RETURNS TO NAZA- 
 RETH, AND COMMISSIONS THE TWELVE APOSTLES, WHOM 
 HE HAD BEFORE SELECTED AS HIS CONSTANT ATTEND- 
 ANTS AND FOLLOWERS, TO DISPERSE AND PREACH THE 
 GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN DIVERS PLACES 
 CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 THE miraculous power of our blessed Lord, both in 
 performing the most astonishing acts and confuting the 
 most learned of the Pharisaical tribe, who endeavored 
 to oppose his mission and doctrine, brought together so 
 great a multitude that he repaired to the sea-side, and, 
 for the better instruction of the people, entered into a 
 ship, and the whole multitude stood on shore. Being 
 thus conveniently seated, he delivered many precepts 
 of the utmost importance, beginning with the parable of 
 the Sower who cast his seed on different kinds of soil, 
 the products of which were answerable to^ the nature of 
 the ground some yielding a large increase, others 
 nothing at all. By this striking similitude the blessed 
 Jesus represented the different kinds of hearers, and the 
 different manner in which they were affected by the 
 truths of religion. Some wholly suppressed the doctines 
 delivered; in others they produced the fruit of right- 
 eousness in a different proportion.* And surely a more 
 
 * As there are three varieties of unfruitful hearers, so there are three 
 varieties of fruitful hearers specified by our Lord. All the former, 
 11 
 
162 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 proper parable could not have been delivered, when such 
 multitudes came to hear his discourses, and so few prac- 
 tised the precepts or profited by the heavenly doctrines 
 they contained. 
 
 The parable being finished, his disciples asked why 
 he taught the people in parables ; to which he answered, 
 " Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of 
 the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 
 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall 
 have more abundance; but whosoever hath not, from 
 him shall be taken away even that he hath.* Therefore 
 speak I to them in parables : because they seeing see 
 not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they under- 
 stand." Matt. xiii. 11, etc. As if he had said, You, 
 my beloved disciples, who are of an humble; docile tem- 
 per, and are willing to use means and resort to me for 
 instruction and the explanation of the truths I deliver, 
 to you it shall be no disadvantage that they are deliv- 
 ered in parables. Besides, my discourses are plain and 
 
 whether skeptical, superficial, or secular in mind, lack the one thing 
 an honest and good heart ; and, hence, do not understand the word of 
 Christ either in its moral glory or its practical personal application. 
 In a word, they lack that faith which overcomes the world, and there- 
 fore the world overcomes them. Whereas all the latter class of fruit- 
 ful hearers, are fruitful just in proportion as they understand the word, 
 and receive it into honest and good hearts ; that is, just in proportion 
 to the power of their faith. " Flesh and blood hath not revealed this 
 unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven." Matt. xvi. 17. 
 
 * That is to say, from those wh,o lack an honest and good heart, 
 where faith can take root, shall the means of information and the 
 influences of the Holy Spirit, and the opportunities of salvation be 
 taken away. John xii. 34, 35. All hearers of the word have these 
 means for the time, but not forever. Their removal is a terrible 
 calamity. Prov. i. 24-33. John iii. 19. 
 

 LIFE OF CHRIST. . 163 
 
 intelligible to all unprejudiced minds : truth will shine 
 through the vail in which it is arrayed, and the shadow 
 will guide you to the substance. But these proud, these 
 self-conceited Pharisees, who are so blinded by their own 
 prejudices that they will neither hear nor understand a 
 thing plainly delivered, to them I preach in parables, 
 and hide the great truths of the gospel under such met- 
 aphorical robes as will ever conceal them from persons 
 of their own temper. They have, therefore, brought 
 upon themselves this blindness, that in seeing they see 
 not, and this wilful deafness, that in hearing they hear 
 not, neither do they understand. 
 
 The blessed Jesus added that there was no reason for 
 their being surprised at what he had told them, as it had 
 long before been predicted by the prophet Isaiah, (i By 
 hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand ; and 
 seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. For this 
 people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of 
 hearing, and their eyes have they closed ; lest at any 
 time- they should see with their eyes, and hear with their 
 ears, and should understand with their heart, and should 
 be converted, and I should heal them." Matt. xiii. 14, 
 15. There is some variation in the words as quoted by 
 the evangelist and those found in Isaiah ; but the import 
 of both is the same, and may be paraphrased in the fol- 
 lowing manner : The sons of Jacob shall indeed hear the 
 doctrines of the gospel, but not understand them, and 
 see the miracles by which these doctrines are confirmed, 
 without perceiving them to be wrought by the finger of 
 God ; not because tne evidences produced by the Mes- 
 siah are insufficient, but because the corruption of their 
 hearts will not suffer them to examine and weigh these 
 
164 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 evidences; for the sins of this people have hardened 
 their hearts ; their pride and vanity have shut their ears ; 
 and their hypocrisy and bigoted adherence to tradition 
 and forced interpretations of the law and the prophets 
 have closed their eyes, lest the brilliant rays of truth 
 should strike their sight with irresistible force, and the 
 powerful voice of Divine Wisdom rouse their attention 
 and command their assent they being unwilling to be 
 directed to the paths of righteousness, which lead to the 
 heavenly Canaan. 
 
 Such are the reasons given by our blessed Saviour for 
 his teaching the people by parables ; and, to enhance 
 the great privilege his disciples enjoyed, he added that 
 many patriarchs and prophets of old, had earnestly de- 
 sired to see and hear these things which they now saw 
 and heard, but were denied that favor God having, till 
 then, showed them to his most eminent saints in shadows 
 only, and as they lay brooding in the womb' of futurity. 
 
 Our Lord, having by these means excited the desire 
 of his disciples, proceeded to explain to them the parable 
 of the Sower. Having ended the interpretation of this 
 awakening parable, he continued his discourse to his 
 disciples, explaining to them, by the similitude of a 
 lighted lamp, the use they were to make of all the ex- 
 cellent instructions they had and should receive from 
 him. 
 
 Having explained these parables to his disciples, he 
 turned himself to the multitude on shore, and, in his 
 usual endearing manner, delivered the parable of the 
 enemy sowing tares among the wheat. 
 
 He spoke another parable concerning the seed that 
 sprang up secretly, representing the gradual and silent 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 165 
 
 progress of the Gospel. He informed them, under this 
 similitude, that the husbandman does not, by any effi- 
 cacy of his own, cause the seed he casts into the ground 
 to grow ; but leaves it to be nourished by the teeming 
 virtues of the soil, and by the enlivening rays of the 
 sun; so in the same manner Jesus and his apostles, 
 having taught men the doctrine of true religion, were 
 not by any miraculous force to constrain the will, far 
 less by the terrors of fire and sword, to interpose visibly 
 in the assistance of it ; but suffer it to spread by the 
 secret influences of the Holy Spirit, till it attains its 
 full effect. The ministers of religion must not, how.- 
 ever, from hence, imagine that religion will grow with- 
 out their carefully and importunately, " night and day," 
 pressing its precepts upon the minds of -their hearers. 
 Mark iv. 26. 
 
 The next parable he spake to the multitude was that 
 of the mustard-seed, which, though very small when 
 sown, becomes, in Palestine and other parts of the East, 
 a full-spreading tree intimating to his audience, under 
 this similitude, that, notwithstanding the gospel would 
 at first appear contemptible, from the ignominy flowing 
 from the crucifixion of its Author, the strictness of its 
 precepts, the weakness of the persons by whom it was 
 preached, and the small number and mean condition of 
 those who received it, yet, being founded on truth itself,* 
 it would increase to an astonishing magnitude, filling the 
 whole earth, and affording a spiritual nourishment to all 
 persons of all nations, who should enjoy all the privi- 
 leges of the Messiah's kingdom equally with the Jews. 
 
 Our blessed Saviour concluded his discourse to the 
 multitude with the parable of the leaven, to intimate 
 
166 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 the influence of the doctrine of the gospel on the minds 
 of particular persons. " The kingdom of heaven is like 
 unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three 
 measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." Matt, 
 xiii. 33. 
 
 While Jesus was thus employed in his heavenly Father's 
 business, his mother and brethren came a second time, 
 desiring to see him. In all probability, they feared that 
 the continued fatigue of preaching would injure his 
 health, and were, therefore, desirous of taking him with 
 them, that he might refresh himself. But the blessed 
 Jesus, who was never weary of doing good, answered his 
 indulgent parent as before : " My mother and my breth- 
 ren, are these which hear the word of God, and do it." 
 Luke. viii. 21. 
 
 Night approaching, Jesus dismissed the multitude, and 
 returned to the house in Capernaum where he abode, 
 and there explained to his disciples the parable of the 
 tares in the field. The husbandman, said our blessed 
 Saviour, is the Son of man ; the field, the Christian 
 church, planted in different parts of the world ; the 
 w r heat are those that believe in Christ, who obey the 
 precepts of the gospel and are supported by the influen- 
 ces of the Holy Spirit ; and the tares, the bad professors, 
 seduced into the paths of vice by the temptations of the 
 -devil. Our blessed Lord, therefore, by this parable, 
 represented the mixed nature of the church on earth, 
 the dismal end of the hypocrites, and those who forget 
 God : for these may deceive for a time, by assuming the 
 robes of virtue and religion, yet they will not fail, sooner 
 or later, to betray themselves, and show that they are 
 only wolves in sheep's clothing. At the same time, 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 167 
 
 however sincerely we may wish to see the church freed 
 from her corrupted members, we must not extirpate them 
 by force,* lest, being deceived by outward appearances, 
 we also destroy the wheat, or sound members. We must 
 leave the distinction to that awful day, when the great 
 Messiah will descend to judgment ; for then, a final sepa- 
 ration will be made the wicked cast into torments that 
 will never have an end ; but the righteous received into 
 life eternal, where they " shall shine forth as the sun in 
 the kingdom of their Father." Matt. xiii. 43. 
 
 Our Lord, on this occasion, delivered the parables of 
 the treasure hid in the field, and of the pearl of great 
 price. The former was designed to teach us that some 
 meet with the gospel as it were by accident, and without 
 seeking after it, agreeably to the prediction of the 
 prophet, that God is " found of them that seek him 
 not." But, with regard to the latter, it was designed to 
 intimate that men sometimes take the utmost pains to 
 become acquainted with the great truths of the gospel. 
 And surely the similitudes, both of the treasure and 
 pearl, are very naturally used to signify the gospel the 
 former, as it enriches all who possess it, and the latter, 
 because it is more precious than rubies. 
 
 But, that the disciples might expect that the Christian 
 church would, in time, consist of a mixed multitude of 
 
 * Force is not discipline, but persecution. How does this parable 
 condemn the whole system and practice of persecution, or as it lias 
 been called by bloody men, "the extirpation of heretics." Christian 
 discipline, as taught in the Xew Testament by Christ and his Apostles, 
 is a very different thing, and is to be faithfully executed on all .offenders, 
 according to the law and the evidence, by every church of Christ. 
 Matt. v. 23, 24 ; xviii. 15-85. Rom. xvi. 17, 18. 1 Cor. v. 1-13. 2 Cor. 
 iL 6-9. 2 Thes. iii. 6-15. Titus iii. 10, 11. 
 
168 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 people, the good blended with the bad, in such a manner 
 that it would be difficult to separate them, he compared 
 it to a net cast into the sea, which gathered fish of every 
 kind, good and ' bad ; which were separated when the 
 net was drawn to land that is, at the last great day of 
 accounts, when the righteous will be conveyed to life 
 eternal, and the wicked cast into everlasting misery.* 
 
 Our blessed Saviour, having finished these parables, 
 asked his disciples if they understood them ; and, upon 
 their answering in the affirmative, he added, that every 
 teacher of the gospel ought to resemble a person whose 
 house was completely furnished, and who brought " forth . 
 out of his treasures things new and old." 
 
 Soon after, Jesus left Capernaum and repaired to 
 Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and preached 
 in the synagogue the glad tidings of the kingdom of 
 God ; but his townsmen, though astonished at 'his doc- 
 trine, could not overcome the prejudices they had con- 
 ceived against him on account of the obscurity of his 
 family, and thence refused to own him for the Messiah. 
 Our Saviour, finding them the same incorrigible persons 
 as when he visited them before, departed from them, and 
 taught in the neighboring villages. They, in common 
 with all the Jews, were strangers to the true character 
 of the Messiah, whom they considered as a temporal 
 prince, and therefore could not bear that a person so 
 mean as Jesus appeared to be should ' perform works 
 
 * This parable is not to be so strained in its interpretation, as to sanc- 
 tion the indiscriminate reception of all into the Christian church irre- 
 spective of the evidence of repentance and faith ; for this would contra- 
 dict the doctrine and practice of Christ himself (John iv. 1, 2) and of 
 his Apostles. Acts ii. 37-42, 47. It can only mean, therefore, that the 
 perfect discrimination impossible now, shall be made in the final judg- 
 ment hereafter. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 169 
 
 peculiar to that idol of their vanity, a glorious, trium- 
 phant, secular Messiah. 
 
 While our Lord remained in the neighborhood of 
 Nazareth, he sent out his disciples to preach in different 
 parts of Galilee, and to proclaim the glad tidings that 
 God was then going to establish the kingdom of the 
 Messiah, wherein he would be worshipped in spirit and 
 in truth. And, in order that they might confirm the 
 doctrines they delivered, and prove that they had re- 
 ceived their commission from the Son of God, they were 
 endowed with the power of working miracles.* How 
 long they continued their preaching cannot be known ; 
 but it is reasonable to think they spent a considerable 
 time in it, preaching in several parts of Judea. 
 
 The miracles which the apostles wrought raised the 
 expectations of men higher than ever : the people were 
 astonished to see the disciples of Jesus perform so many 
 miracles, and thence concluded that our Saviour must 
 be greater than any of the old prophets, who could not 
 transmit the power they enjoyed to others. This extra- 
 ordinary circumstance could not fail of spreading his 
 fame through all the country : it even reached the ears 
 of Herod the Tetrarch, who, fearing a person of such 
 extraordinary abilities, was very uneasy ; which some 
 of his courtiers, observing, endeavored to remove, tellr 
 ing him that one of the old prophets was risen from the 
 dead ; but this did not satisfy him, and he declared that 
 he believed it was John the Baptist risen from the 
 
 * The Mission of the Twelve Apostles is to be distinguished from 
 their appointment, which was more than a year before this. All the 
 intervening time they were in a course of theological training. Their 
 Mission is dated by Bobinson in February A. D. 32. 
 
170 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 dead: "And he said unto his servants. This is John 
 the Baptist : he is risen from the dead, and therefore 
 mighty works do show forth themselves in him." Matt. 
 xiv. 2. 
 
 The evangelists, having on this account mentioned 
 John the Baptist, inform us that Herod had put him to 
 death ; but when this happened is uncertain.* 
 
 It has already been observed that Herod had cast 
 John into prison for his boldness in reproving him for 
 the unlawful affinity in which he lived with his brother's 
 wife. The sacred writers have not told us how long he 
 continued in prison ; but it is plain, from his two disci- 
 ples, who came from him to our Saviour, that his fol- 
 lowers did not all forsake him in his melancholy condi- 
 tion. Nay, Herod himself both respected and feared 
 him, knowing that he was highly and deservedly 
 beloved by the people : he consulted him often, and in 
 many things followed his advice. But Herodias, his 
 brother's wife (with whom he lived in so shameful a 
 manner), being continually uneasy, lest Herod should be 
 prevailed upon to set him at liberty, sought all opportuni- 
 ties to destroy him ; and at last an incident happened 
 which enabled her to accomplish her intentions. 
 
 The king having on his birthday made a great feast 
 for his friends, she sent her daughter Salome, whom 
 she had by Philip, her lawful husband, into the saloon, 
 
 * We know not, it is true, the date of Herod's birthday, on which he 
 gave the fatal order for the death of John, but that it fell not far from 
 the beginning of the year (A. D. 32) seems evident from several concur- 
 ring circumstances. The return of the Twelve from their first mission 
 tour is fixed by Dr. Robinson, in April of that year, and it appears at 
 that time to have been a recent occurrence, of which every one was 
 talking, and from the shock of which Herod's guilty conscience had 
 not yet recovered. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 171 
 
 to dance before the king and his guests. Her per- 
 formance was remarkably elegant, arid so charmed Herod 
 that he promised, with an oath, to give her whatsoever 
 she asked. 
 
 Having obtained so extraordinary a promise, she 
 ran to her mother, desiring to know what she should 
 ask, and was instructed by that wicked woman to re- 
 quire the head of John the Baptist. Her mother's 
 desire doubtless surprised Salome, as she could not pos- 
 sibly see the use of asking what could be of no service 
 to her. But Herodias would take no denial, peremp- 
 torily insisting on her demanding the head of the Bap- 
 tist. Accordingly, she returned to Herod, saying, " I 
 will that thou give me by-and-by, in a charger, the head 
 of John the Baptist." 
 
 So cruel a request thrilled every breast : the gayety 
 of the king vanished ; he was vexed and confounded. 
 But, being unwilling to appear either rash, fickle, or 
 false, before a company of the first persons of his king- 
 dom for rank and character, he commanded the head 
 to be given her not one of the guests having the 
 courage to speak a single word in behalf of an innocent 
 man, or attempt to divert Herod from his mad purpose, 
 though he gave them an opportunity of doing it, by sig- 
 nifying to them that he performed his oath merely out 
 of regard to the company. Thus Herod, through a mis- 
 placed regard to his oath and his guests, committed a 
 most unjust and cruel action an action that will for- 
 ever brand his memory with dishonor and render his 
 very name detestable to the latest posterity. 
 
 Soon after the command was given, the head of that 
 venerable prophet, whose rebukes had struck Herod 
 
172 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 with awe in the loosest moments, and whose exhorta- 
 tions had often excited him to virtuous actions, was 
 brought, pale and bloody, in a charger, and given to 
 the daughter of Herodias in the presence of all the guests. 
 
 The young lady eagerly received the bloody present, 
 and carried it to her mother, who enjoyed the whole 
 pleasure of revenge, and feasted her eyes with the sight 
 of her enemy's head, now silent and harmless. But she 
 could not silence the * name of the Baptist ; it became 
 louder, filling the earth and heavens, and publishing to 
 every people and nation this woman's baseness and 
 adultery. 
 
 Thus fell that great and good man, John the Baptist, 
 who was proclaimed by our blessed Saviour himself to 
 be " more than a prophet." Josephus tells us that his 
 whole crime consisted in exhorting the Jews to the love 
 and practice of virtue, and in the first place to piety, 
 justice, and regeneration or newness of life not by the 
 bare abstinence from this or that particular sin, but by 
 an habitual purity of mind and body. 
 
 It may not be improper on this occasion to hint that 
 the history of this birthday, transmitted to posterity in 
 the Scriptures, stands a perpetual beacon, to warn the 
 great, the gay, and the young to beware of dissolute 
 mirth. Admonished by so fatal an example, they should 
 be careful to maintain, in the midst of their jollity, an 
 habitual recollection of spirit, lest reason at any time, 
 enervated by the pleasures of sense, should slacken the 
 rein of wisdom or let it drop, though only for a moment ; 
 because their headstrong passions, ever impatient of 
 control may catch the opportunity, and rush with them 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 173 
 
 into follies or crimes whose consequences will be un- 
 speakably perhaps eternally bitter. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 OUR LORD ADDS TO THE CONFIRMATION OF HIS MISSION AND 
 DOCTRINE BY WORKING A MIRACLE IN THE WILDERNESS 
 
 OF BETHSAIDA THE PEOPLE, STRUCK WITH THE POWER 
 
 AND GRACE OF THE BLESSED JESUS, PROPOSE TO RAISE 
 
 HIM TO THE EARTHLY DIGNITY OF KING PETER, BY MEANS 
 
 OF HIS BLESSED MASTER, PERFORMS A MIRACLE IN WALKING 
 UPON THE SEA. 
 
 THE disciples were so alarmed at the cruel fate of the 
 Baptist, whose memory they highly revered, that they 
 returned from their mission and assisted in performing 
 the last offices to the body of their old master many 
 of the apostles having been originally the disciples of 
 John. As soon as the pious rites were over, they 
 repaired to Jesus, and told him all that had hap- 
 pened.* 
 
 * It is evident that our author understands the words, "his disci- 
 ples," in Matt. xiv. 17, of the disciples of Jesus, *. e., the apostles. It 
 is true, they had all formerly been the disciples of John (see Acts i. 21, 
 -2) ; but the context here evidently refers to those disciples of John 
 who had remained, up to the time of his death, attached more or less 
 closely to his person. During his imprisonment, they would not for- 
 sake him ; but after bestowing upon his corpse a solemn burial, they 
 did him still higher honor as a true Prophet and the special witness to 
 
174 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Their compassionate Master, on hearing this melan- 
 choly news, retired with them by the sea into a desert 
 place belonging to Bethsaida,* that by retirement, medi- 
 tation, and prayer they might be refreshed and recruited 
 for their spiritual labors, and at the same time leave an 
 example to us, that we should often retire from the noise 
 and hurry of the world and offer up the most fervent 
 prayers to our heavenly Father. 
 
 But the multitude attended so closely that the depar- 
 ture was not long concealed ; and great numbers of 
 people repaired to the place where they supposed Jesus 
 and his disciples had secluded themselves. Struck with 
 the greatness of his miracles on those that were sick, 
 and anxious to hear more instruction from the mouth of. 
 so divine a teacher, no difficulties were too great for 
 them to surmount, nor any place too retired for them to 
 penetrate, in search of their admired Preacher. 
 
 Nor was the beneficent Saviour of the world regard- 
 less of their pious esteem. He saw them, and was 
 "moved with compassion" toward them, because they 
 were as sheep not having a shepherd, multitudes of peo- 
 ple without a pastor, a large harvest without laborers 
 
 the Messiah, by going to Jesus, and enrolling themselves as his follow- 
 ers. In this way the great end of John's ministry was accomplished. 
 John iii. 25-30. 
 
 * There were two cities of this name, one on the northwest, and the 
 other on the northeast side of the sea of Galilee. The former was the 
 birth-place and abode of Philip, Andrew, and Peter, and was about a 
 mile south of Capernaum ; the latter was east of the Jordan before it 
 enters the sea, and about three miles back from the shore, from which 
 it is separated by a plain of great fertility. The desert here referred 
 to, lay some distance south of it. 
 
 This Bethsaida was in Gaulonitis, out of the dominion of Herod 
 Antipas, and was under the government of his brother Philip. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 175 
 
 motives abundantly sufficient to excite compassion in the 
 Son of God. 
 
 The situation of these numerous throngs of people, 
 scattered abroad, without a guide, without a guardian, 
 a flock of defenceless sheep, without a single shepherd 
 to defend them from the jaws of the infernal wolf, was 
 truly deplorable : therefore, the blessed Jesus, that 
 " Good Shepherd who came to lay down his life for the 
 sheep," was moved with pity toward them : the same 
 pity which brought him from the courts of heaven, for 
 the sake of his lost and wandering sheep in the desert, 
 now brought him to this multitude of people, whom he 
 instructed in the doctrines of eternal life, and, with his 
 usual goodness, healed all the sick among them. 
 
 Intently devoted to teaching and healing of the people, 
 our blessed Saviour did not perceive the day to wear 
 away, and that the greatest part of it was already spent ; 
 but his disciples, too auxious about the things of this 
 world, thought proper to advise him of it as if the Son 
 of God wanted any directions from man. The day, said 
 his disciples, is now far advanced, and the place a soli- 
 tary desert, where neither food nor lodging can be pro- 
 cured : it would therefore be convenient to dismiss the 
 people, that they may repair to the towns or villages on 
 the borders of the wilderness and provide themselves 
 with food and lodging, for they have nothing to eat. 
 
 But our Lord prevented that trouble, by telling them 
 there was no necessity for sending the people away to 
 procure victuals for themselves, as they might satisfy 
 the hunger of the multitude by giving them to eat, and 
 at the same time, to prove what opinion his disciples 
 entertained of his power, addressed himself to Philip, 
 
176 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 who was well acquainted with the country, and said, 
 " Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat ? " 
 
 Philip, astonished at the seeming impossibility of 
 procuring a supply for so great a multitude with the 
 small sum of money which he knew was their all, and 
 forgetting the extent of his Master's power, answered, 
 " Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for 
 them that every one of them may take a little." John 
 vi. 7. 
 
 Our blessed Saviour might now have put the same 
 question to Philip that he did on another occasion : 
 " Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou 
 not known me, Philip ? " John xiv. 9. Hast thou be- 
 held so many miracles, and art still ignorant that I can 
 supply food, not only for this people, but for all the sons 
 of men, and for the " cattle upon a thousand hills ? " 
 
 But he contented himself with answering, " Give ye 
 them to eat." The twelve, not yet comprehending the 
 design of their Master, repeated the objection of Philip, 
 but added that they were willing to expend their whole 
 stock, in order to procure as large a supply as possible. 
 " Shall we go," said they, " and buy two hundred 
 pennyworth of bread, that they may eat ? " 
 
 But this was by no means the design of their Great 
 Master, who, instead of making a direct answer to their 
 question, asked them, " How many loaves have ye ? " 
 How much provision can be found among this multi- 
 tude ? Go and see. 
 
 The disciples obeyed the command of their Master ; 
 and Andrew soon returned, to inform him that the 
 whole stock amounted to no more than five barley loaves 
 and two small fishes a quantity so inconsiderable that 
 
THE MlRAc 1 DRAUGHT OF. FISHES. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 177 
 
 it scarcely deserved notice.- "What are they," said the 
 disciples, " among so many ? " What, indeed, would 
 they have been among such a multitude of people, if 
 they had not been distributed by the creating hand of 
 the Son of God ? 
 
 Jesus, notwithstanding the smallness of the number, 
 ordered them to be brought to him, and immediately 
 commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, with 
 which the place abounded, directing his disciples at the 
 same time to range them in regular order, by hundreds 
 and fifties in a company, each company forming a square 
 containing a hundred in rank and fifty in file, that the 
 number might be more easily ascertained and the people 
 more regularly served. 
 
 The multitude being seated, Jesus took the loaves and 
 fishes into his hands, in sight of all the people, that 
 they might be convinced of the small quantity of pro- 
 visions that were then before them, and that they could 
 only expect to be fed by his supernatural power. But 
 that hand, which had constantly sustained nature, could 
 now easily multiply these five loaves and two fishes ; for, 
 as the Psalmist elegantly observes, " He openeth his 
 hand, and filleth all things living with plenteousness." 
 Accordingly, he looked up to heaven, returned thanks 
 to God, the liberal giver of all good things, for his infi- 
 nite beneficence in furnishing food for all flesh, and for 
 the power he had conferred on him of relieving mankind 
 by his miracles, particularly for that he was about to 
 work. This done, he blessed them ; and so peculiarly 
 efficacious was his blessing that these five barley loaves 
 and two fishes were multiplied into a quantity sufficient 
 to supply the wants of five thousand men, besides wo- 
 
 12 
 
178 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 men and children, who, on the most favorable supposi- 
 tion, must amount to an equal number. " And Jesus 
 took the loaves; and, when he had given thanks, he 
 distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them 
 that were set down ; and likewise of the fishes, as much 
 as they would." John vi. 11. 
 
 Thus did the compassionate and powerful Redeemer 
 feed at least ten thousand people with five barley loaves 
 and two small fishes, giving a magnificent proof both of 
 his power and goodness. For, after all had eaten to sat- 
 isfy, they took up twelve baskets full of the broken 
 pieces a much larger quantity than was at first set be- 
 fore our Lord to divide. 
 
 The people, when they had seen the Saviour of the 
 world perform so stupendous a miracle, were astonished 
 above measure, and, in the height of their transport, 
 purposed to take Jesus by force and make him a king, 
 concluding that he must then assume the title of the 
 Messiah, whose coming they had so long earnestly ex- 
 pected, and under whose reign they hoped to enjoy all 
 kinds of temporal felicity. 
 
 But our Lord, well knowing the intentions of the mul- 
 titude, and the inclinations of his disciples to second 
 them, ordered the latter to repair immediately to their 
 boat and sail to Bethsaida, while he sent away the mul- 
 titude. They would, it seems, gladly have detained the 
 people, with whom they fully agreed in sentiments, and 
 even lingered till he constrained them to get into the 
 boat, so fully were they still possessed of the opinion 
 that their Master was to take the reins of government 
 and become a powerful prince over the house of Jacob. 
 
 The people suffered the disciples to depart without 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 179 
 
 the least remorse, as they saw that Jesus did not go 
 with them. 
 
 Perhaps they imagined he was sending them away to 
 provide such things as they had need of. Nor did they 
 refuse to disperse when he commanded them, purposing 
 to return in the morning, as we find they actually did. 
 
 Having thus sent the disciples and the multitude 
 away, Jesus himself repaired to the summit of a moun- 
 tain, spending the evening in heavenly contemplation 
 and ardent prayers to his Almighty Father. 
 
 But the disciples, meeting with a contrary wind, could 
 not continue their course to Bethsaida, which lay about 
 two leagues to the northward of the desert mountain 
 where the multitude were miraculously fed. The} 7 , how- 
 ever, did all in their power to land as near that city as 
 possible, but were tossed up and down all the night by 
 the tempest; so that in the fourth watch, or between 
 three and six o'clock in the morning, they were yet 
 above a league from the shore. 
 
 Their divine Master beheld from the mountain their 
 distressed situation ; but they were ignorant of his pre- 
 sence, though he was coming to their relief. Such was 
 the state of the disciples : they were tossed by boister- 
 ous waves, and opposed in their course by the rapid cur- 
 rent of the wind, so that all hopes of reaching the place 
 intended were vanished ; when, behold, their heavenly 
 Master, to assist them in this distressful situation, comes 
 to them, walking on the foaming surface of the sea, 
 
 Their Lord's approach filled them with astonishment : 
 they took him for an apparition, and shrieked for 
 fear. Their terrors were, however, soon removed : their 
 great and affectionate Master talked to them, with the 
 
180 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 sound of whose voice they were perfectly acquainted. 
 "Be of good cheer/' said the blessed Jesus : " It is I : 
 be not afraid." 
 
 Peter, a man of warm and forward temper, beholding 
 Jesus walking on the sea, was exceedingly amazed, and 
 conceived the strongest desire of being enabled to per- 
 form so wonderful an action. 
 
 Accordingly, without the least reflection, he imme- 
 diately begged that his Master would bid him come to 
 him on the water. He did not doubt but that Jesus 
 would gratify his request, as it sufficiently intimated 
 that he would readily undertake any thing, however 
 difficult, at the command of his Saviour. But it 
 appeared that his faith was too weak to support him to 
 that height of obedience to which he would have will- 
 ingly soared. To convince this forward disciple of the 
 weakness of his faith, and render him more diffident of 
 his own strength, our blessed Saviour granted his re- 
 quest. He ordered him to come to him upon the 
 water. 
 
 Peter joyfully obeyed his divine Master : he left the 
 boat, and walked on the surface of the sea. But the 
 wind, increasing, made a dreadful noise, and the bois- 
 terous waves at the same time threatened to overwhelm 
 him. His faith now staggered; his presence of mind 
 forsook him ; he forgot that his Saviour was at hand ; 
 and in proportion as his faith decreased the waters 
 yielded, and he sunk. In this extremity he looked 
 around for his Master, and on the very brink of being 
 swallowed up, cried, " Lord, save me ! " His cry was 
 not disregarded by his compassionate Saviour : " he 
 stretched forth his hand and caught him, and said unto 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 181 
 
 him, thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou 
 doubt?" 
 
 Peter was convinced, before he left the ship, that it 
 was Jesus who was coming to them on the water : nor 
 did he even doubt it when he was sinking, because he 
 then implored his assistance. But when he found the 
 storm increase, and the billows rage more terribly than 
 before, his fears suggested that either his Master would 
 be unable or unwilling to support him amid the frightful 
 blasts of the tempest. 
 
 This miracle alarmed the disciples ; for, though they 
 had so lately seen the miracle of the five loaves, they 
 did not seem to have formed a proper idea of his power ; 
 but, being persuaded that he could be no other than 
 the expected Messiah, they " came and worshipped him, 
 saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God." Matt, 
 xiv. 33. 
 
 Our Saviour seems to have confirmed this miracle by 
 working another ; for the evangelists tell us that he had 
 no sooner entered the ship and hushed the violence of 
 the storm, than they arrived at the place whither they 
 were going. "Then they willingly received him into 
 the ship ; and immediately the ship was at the land, 
 whither they went." John vi. 21. 
 
 When our Lord disembarked, the inhabitants of the 
 neighboring country ran to him, bringing with them all 
 those that were sick ; and they were all healed. It 
 must be remembered that, though Jesus ordinarily re- 
 sided in the neighborhood of Capernaum, yet he had been 
 absent ever since his visiting Nazareth ; and therefore 
 it is natural to think that the inhabitants, on his return, 
 would not omit the opportunity of bringing their sick in 
 
182 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 such prodigious crowds, that it seems our Saviour did 
 not pay particular attention to each of them, and this 
 was the reason of their beseeching him " that they might 
 only touch the hem of his garment : and as many as 
 touched were made perfectly whole." Matt. xiv. 36. 
 
 The virtue of that power by which he wrought these 
 miracles, lay not in his garments, for then the soldiers 
 who seized them at his crucifixion might have wrought 
 the same miracles ; but it was because Jesus willed it 
 to be so. It was now the acceptable time, the day of 
 salvation, foretold by Isaiah; and Christ's power was 
 sufficient to remove any distemper whatsoever. 
 
 No sooner did the cheering rays of light appear than 
 the multitude left their retreats and searched for Jesus 
 in every part of the mountain, to the summit of which 
 they had seen him retire. Finding their search in vain, 
 they concluded he must have departed to the other side. 
 Accordingly they repaired to Capernaum, where they 
 found him in the synagogue teaching the people, and 
 could not help asking him, with some surprise, " Rabbi, 
 how earnest thou hither ? " 
 
 Jesus solemnly replied, " Verily, verily, I say unto 
 you, ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles, but 
 because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labor 
 not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which 
 endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man 
 shall give unto you; for him hath God the Father 
 sealed." By the miracle of the loaves my Father has 
 testified my mission, and typified the true, the spiritual, 
 the heavenly bread, of which the manna was but a sym- 
 bol. That was sufficient only for a single nation ; this 
 is sufficient for all the children of men. "I am the 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 183 
 
 bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hun- 
 ger, and he that believeth in me shall never thirst." 
 
 Because I do not affect the authority and pomp of an 
 earthly monarch, you reject me as an impostor. Your 
 unbelief does not proceed from want of evidence, as you 
 vainly pretend, but from the perverseness of your own 
 dispositions, which may in time perhaps be overcome : 
 for " all that the Father giveth me, shall come to me," 
 and, however obstinate for a season, they shall yet be- 
 lieve in the Son of God. Nor will I ever reject any 
 that come to me, however low their circumstances may 
 be, however vile they may appear in their own eyes, or 
 however greatly their violence against my doctrine may 
 have been excited. I came down from heaven not to 
 act according to the common method of human passions, 
 which excite men to return evil for evil, but to bear 
 with them, to try all possible means to bring them to 
 repentance and lead them in the strait paths of virtue 
 to the mansions above. It is the will of my Father to 
 bestow eternal life on all who believe in me, and there- 
 fore I will raise them up at the last day. 
 
 These things and more Jesus spoke in the hearing of 
 all the people of the synagogue at Capernaum. He 
 even went so far as to say that he would give his flesh 
 in sacrifice for the life of the world ; and in allusion to 
 the customs of the Jews, and their notions of feasting 
 upon their sacrifices, added ; " My flesh is meat indeed, 
 and my blood is drink indeed. Except ye eat the flesh 
 and drink the blood of the Son of man, ye have no life 
 in you." 
 
 The self-sufficient and self-righteous Jews were so 
 offended at this doctrine that, though they had professed 
 
184 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 to be his followers, they went away, and would hear 
 him no more. Jesus said to the twelve, " Will ye also go 
 away ? " Peter answered for all : " Lord, to whom shall 
 we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we 
 believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of 
 the living God." John vi. 68, 69. 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 PHARISAICAL SUPERSTITION SEVERELY REPRIMANDED THE 
 GREAT REDEEMER CONTINUES TO DISPLAY HIS POWER AND 
 BENEVOLENCE IN THE RELIEF OF SEVERAL OBJECTS OF 
 AFFLICTION GUARDS HIS DISCIPLES AGAINST THE PRE- 
 VAILING ERRORS AND FALLACIES OF THE SCRIBES AND 
 PHARISEES PROCEEDS ON THE WORKS OF HIS HEAVENLY 
 FATHER. 
 
 THE Pharisees were sensible they could not perpetrate 
 their malicious designs upon him on that occasion ; they 
 therefore followed him, hoping to find something by 
 which they might accuse him, and at length ventured 
 to attack him for permitting his disciples to eat 'with un- 
 washed hands, because, in so doing, they transgressed 
 the tradition of the elders. 
 
 Moses had, indeed, required external cleanness as a 
 part of their religion, but it was only to signify how 
 careful the servants of the Almighty should be to purify 
 themselves from all uncleanness, both of flesh and 
 spirit. These ceremonial institutions were, in process 
 


LIFE OF CHRIST. 185 
 
 of time, prodigiously multiplied : and the Pharisees, who 
 pretended to observe every tittle of the law, considered 
 it as a notorious offence to eat bread with unwashed 
 hands, though at the same time they suffered the more 
 weighty precepts of the law to be neglected and forgotten. 
 To expose the absurdity of such superstitious customs, 
 our Saviour applied to them the words of the prophet 
 Isaiah : " This people honoreth me with their lips, but 
 their heart is far from me ; " adding, that all their wor- 
 ship was vain, and displeasing to the Almighty, while 
 they praised themselves, and imposed upon others the 
 frivolous precepts of man's invention, and at the same 
 time neglected the eternal rules of righteousness ; and, 
 to remove all objections that might be brought against 
 this imputation of gross profaneness in the Pharisees, he 
 supported it by a very remarkable instance. God, said 
 the Saviour of the world, hath commanded children to 
 honor their parents, and to maintain them when reduced 
 to poverty by sickness, age, or misfortunes ; promising 
 life to such as obey this precept, and threatening death 
 to those who disregard it. But, notwithstanding the 
 peremptory commandment of Omnipotence, you teach 
 that it is more sacred in children to enrich the temple 
 than to nourish their parents, although reduced to the 
 utmost necessity ; pretending that what is offered to the 
 Great Parent of the universe is much better bestowed 
 than what is given to the support of our earthly parents ; 
 making the honor of God absolutely different from the 
 happiness of his creatures. Nay, ye teach that it is no 
 breach of the commandment for a man to suffer his 
 parents to perish, provided he has given what ought to 
 nourish them to the temple at Jerusalem. Thus have 
 
186 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 ye concealed, under the cloak of piety, the most horrid, 
 the most unnatural crime any person can commit. 
 
 Having thus reproved the Pharisees, he called the 
 multitude to him and desired them to reflect on the 
 absurdity of the precepts inculcated by the Scribes. 
 These hypocrites, said he, solicitous about trifles, neglect 
 the great duties of morality, which are of eternal obliga- 
 tion. They shudder with horror at unwashed hands, 
 but are perfectly easy under the guilt of a polluted con- 
 science, though they must be sensible that "not that 
 which goeth into the mouth defileth the man ; but that 
 which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man." 
 Matt. xv. 11. 
 
 The haughty Pharisees were highly offended at his 
 speaking in a degrading manner of their traditions. And 
 the apostles, who would gladly have reconciled their 
 Master and the Pharisees, insinuated to Jesus that he 
 ought to have acted in another manner. To which our 
 Saviour answered, " Every plant which my heavenly 
 Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up." Matt, 
 xv. 13. As if he had said, You have no cause to fear 
 their anger, as both they and their doctrine shall perish 
 together, for neither of them came from God : adding, 
 " Let them alone : they be blind leaders of the blind. 
 And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the 
 ditch." Matt. xv. 14. 
 
 His disciples, not fully comprehending this doctrine, 
 desired their Master to explain it. This our Saviour 
 complied with, and showed them that meats, being of a 
 corporeal nature, could not defile the mind of man, nor 
 render him polluted in the sight of the Almighty, unless 
 they were used to excess or in opposition to the com- 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 187 
 
 mandment of God; and even then the pollution arose 
 from the man, and not from the meat. But, on the con- 
 trary, that which proceedeth out of the mouth of a man 
 comes from his heart and really polluteth his mind.* 
 
 These doctrines of truth could not fail of irritating 
 the Pharisees, as they tended to strip them of the mask 
 with which they concealed their deformity and rendered 
 themselves so venerable in the eyes of the vulgar ; and 
 therefore their plots were levelled against his reputation 
 and life. 
 
 Jesus, to avoid their malice, retired to the very bor- 
 ders of Palestine, to the coast of those two celebrated 
 Gentile cities, Tyre and Sidon,^ proposing there to con- 
 
 * This doctrine, that all sin proceeds from the heart of man even 
 when it consists in following the evil suggestions of others is not new. 
 It pervades the Old Testament Scriptures, and is inseparable from all 
 just views of the spirituality of God and of his law. The ceremonial 
 law, as well as the moral, was designed to keep the people in continual 
 remembrance of it in every form, so far as types could do it, until 
 Christ came ; and yet the Pharisees (like the Traditionists of all ages) 
 were perfectly blind to it, and multiplied outward ceremonies as the 
 substitutes for inward purity and love. Hence, the pungent rebukes 
 of our Lord, and his solemn re-affirming of the great principle, that 
 Human Traditions, whatever guise they assume, and however ancient 
 and almost universal they become, can never be accepted by the 
 Searcher of hearts as a part of his service, or as obedience to his will. 
 " In vain do ye worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments 
 of men." Mark vii. 7. 
 
 f Tyre and Sidon were the chief cities of Pho3nicia (or Phenice, as 
 it is written in the Xew Testament), a maritime region on the eastern 
 border of the Mediterranean sea, about two hundred miles in length, 
 and from ten to fifty in breadth. Tyre, near the mouth of the river 
 Leontes, was its southern extremity, and Laodicea (or Itakia), where 
 Lebanon joins the Anzeyry mountains, bounds it on the north. This 
 fertile and well-watered region abounded witli magnificent cities, in 
 the time of our Saviour, enriched by commerce, but enervated by 
 idolatry, luxury, and vice. Of these cities, Tyre and Sidon, at the 
 narrow southern extremity, were the principal. Sidon (or Zidon), the 
 
188 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 ceal hknself for a time ; but he could not be hid. It 
 was as impossible for the Sun of righteousness to be con- 
 cealed where he came with his healing wings and mes- 
 sage of peace, as it is for the sun in the firmament when 
 he riseth in all his glory, I' as a bridegroom cometh out 
 of his chamber, and as a giant rejoiceth to run his course." 
 For a certain woman of Canaan, having heard of him, 
 determined to implore his assistance. She was, indeed, 
 one of the most abject sort of Gentiles, a Canaanite, 
 one of that detested race with which the Jews would 
 have no dealings, nor even conversation ; but, notwith- 
 standing all these discouraging circumstances, she threw 
 herself, as an humble petitioner, on the benevolent mer- 
 cies of the Son of God. Strong necessity urged her on, 
 and insuperable distress caused her to be importunate. 
 Alas ! unhappy parent ! her only daughter, her beloved 
 child, had an unclean spirit and was grievously vexed 
 with a devil. When her case was so urgent and her 
 woes so poignant, who can wonder that she was impor- 
 tunate and would take no refusal from this divine Per- 
 son, who she knew was able to deliver her ? Accordingly 
 
 most ancient of all, it is said, was founded by Zidon, the first-born son 
 of Canaan. This whole splendid region fell within the lot of the tribe 
 of Ashur, but was never possessed by the Israelites. The cities were 
 confederate and powerful, and were governed by their own kings, even 
 in the days of David and Solomon. They were first conquered by 
 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who took Tyre after a siege of 
 thirteen years' duration, and laid it in ruins. Still the insular city, 
 or port, remained, and rose into eminence in the time of the Persians. 
 This also was taken, after a seven months' siege, by Alexander the 
 Great, who employed the ruins of the old city to build a causeway to 
 the new (which was on an island four miles out from the shore), 
 stormed and burned it. Again it rose from its ashes, and became 
 more flourishing than Sidon, under the Greeks and Romans. Phoenicia 
 was attached to the province of Syria, in our Saviour's time, and 
 hence the woman of Canaan is called a Syro-Phcenician. Mark vii. 26. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 189 
 
 she came ; she besought him ; she cried, saying, " Have 
 mercy upon me, Lord, thou Son of David, have 
 mercy." I plead no merits : as a worthless, suffering 
 wretch, I entreat only the bowels of thy mercy ; I en- 
 treat it, for I believe thee to be the Son of David, the 
 promised Messiah, the much desired Saviour of the 
 world ; have mercy on me, for the case of my child and 
 her distresses are my own : " My daughter is grievously 
 vexed with a devil." Matt. xv. 22. 
 
 Is it not, at the first view, astonishing that* such a 
 petitioner should be apparently rejected, and that by a 
 bountiful Redeemer, who kindly invited all that were 
 heavy laden to come to him ? who promised never to 
 cast out any that would come, and whose business it 
 was " to go about doing good ? " 
 
 We, however, find that he answered this woman not 
 a word : he did 'not, in appearance, take the least notice 
 either of her or her distress. But this silence did not 
 intimidate her: she still cried, she still besought, she 
 still importunately pressed her petition, so that the very 
 disciples were moved with her cries and became her ad- 
 vocates. They themselves, though Jews, besought their 
 Master to dismiss this petitioner, to grant her request 
 and send her away. 
 
 But Jesus soon silenced them by an answer agreeable 
 to their own prejudices: "I am not sent," said he, 
 " but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." * To 
 this the disciples readily assented ; and, as they had a 
 
 * The personal ministry of Christ was purposely devoted to the Jew- 
 ish nation, though his salvation was designed, in due time, to reach 
 every people. Samaritans and Greeks found him accessible and gracious, 
 and confessed him as " the Saviour of the world. " John iv. 4:2 ; xii. 20-32. 
 
190 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 high opinion of the Jew's prerogative, were so well sat- 
 isfied with the answer that we hear them pleading no 
 more for this lost, this miserable Gentile. 
 
 But this soothed not her griefs : it was her own cause ; 
 and what is immediately our own concern animates us 
 to the most zealous application. Somewhat encouraged 
 that she was the subject of discourse, she ventured to 
 approach the Saviour of the world, though she well 
 knew that the law actually forbade such an intercourse ; 
 yet she'came ; she worshipped " this Son of David," she 
 confessed again his divinity, and prayed, saying : " Lord, 
 help me." 
 
 The compassionate Saviour now condescended to 
 speak to her, but with words seemingly sufficient to 
 have discouraged every further attempt nay, to have 
 filled her with bitter dislike to his person, though she 
 had conceived such high arid noble notions of his mercy 
 and favor : " It is not meet," said he, " to take the 
 children's bread and cast it to the dogs." Matt. xv. 26. 
 It is not justice to deprive the Jews, who are the chil- 
 dren of the covenant, the descendants of Abraham, of 
 any part of those blessings which I came into the 
 world to bestow, especially on you, who are aliens and 
 strangers from, the commonwealth of Israel. 
 
 This answer, though seemingly severe, could not 
 shake her humility nor overcome her patience : she 
 meekly answered, " Truth, Lord ; yet the dogs eat of 
 the crumbs which fall from their Master's table." Matt, 
 xv. 27. Let me enjoy that kindness which the dogs of 
 any family are not denied ; from the plenty of miracu- 
 lous cures which thou bestowest on the Jews, drop this 
 one to me, who am a poor distressed heathen ; for they 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 191 
 
 will suffer no greater loss by it than the children of a 
 family do by the crumbs which are cast to the dogs. 
 Our Lord, having put the woman's faith to very severe 
 trial, and well knowing that she possessed a just notion 
 of his power and goodness, as well as of her own un- 
 worthiness, wrought with pleasure the cure she solicited 
 in behalf of her daughter, and at the same time gave 
 her faith the praise it so justly deserved : "0 woman, 
 great is thy faith : be it unto thee even as thou wilt. 
 And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." 
 Matt. xv. 28. 
 
 After performing this miracle, Jesus returned to the 
 Sea of Galilee, through the region of Decapolis.* In this 
 country, a man was brought to him who was deaf and 
 had an impediment in his speech. Objects in distress 
 were always treated with benevolence by the holy Jesus ; 
 but, as the people now thronged about him, in expecta- 
 tion that he would soon establish his kingdom, he 
 thought proper to take the man with his relations, 
 aside from the multitude ; after which he put his fingers 
 in his ears and touched his tongue, that the deaf man, 
 who could not be instructed by language, might know 
 from whence all his benefits flowed. He then " looked 
 up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Eph- 
 
 * Decapolis Cas the name denotes in Greek) was the region of the ten 
 cities Gadar^ T P^lla, Gerasa, Scythopolis, Hippos, Philadelphia, Dios, 
 Raphanse, Ortogos. and Damascus. It lay south of the Sea of Galilee, 
 on both sides of the Jordan, but chiefly on the east, toward the ford 
 Jabbok. Though belonging to Israel, it was settled quite largely by 
 foreigners, and hence its foreign name. Jesus had visited the neighbor- 
 hood of Gadara once before, and the Gadarenes had desired him to 
 depart out of their coasts. The testimony of the restored demoniac 
 seems to have prepared a better reception for him this time. Mark v. 
 18-20 
 
192 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 phatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears 
 were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, 
 and he spake plain. And he charged them that they 
 should tell no man." Mark vii. 34, 35, 36. 
 
 But, notwithstanding they were enjoined to secrecy, 
 the man, or his relations, published it in every part of 
 the country, doubtless thinking they could not be too 
 lavish in the praises of so great a benefactor, especially 
 as the modesty with which he had performed the cure 
 abundantly demonstrated that his sole view was the 
 benefit of the human race. 
 
 Miracles like these could not fail of astonishing the 
 spectators, especially those performed upon the dumb ; 
 for it must be remembered that he not only conferred 
 on those the faculty of hearing, and pronouncing articu- 
 late sounds, but conveyed at once into their minds the 
 whole language of their country ; they were instantly 
 acquainted with all the words it contained, their signifi- 
 cation, their forms, their powers, and their uses : at the 
 eame time . they enjoyed the habit of speaking it both 
 fluently and copiously. This was surely enough to 
 demonstrate to the most stupid that such works could 
 have been effected by nothing less than infinite power, 
 " The multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to 
 speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and 
 the blind to see ; and they glorified the God of Israel." 
 Matt. xv. 31. 
 
 The various works performed by the blessed Redeemer 
 detained the multitude in the desert with him three 
 days, during which time they consumed all the provi- 
 sions they had brought into this solitary place. But 
 Jesus would not send them away fasting, lest any who 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 193 
 
 had followed him so far from their habitations should 
 faint in their return. Accordingly he again exerted his 
 almighty power, to feed the multitude a second time in 
 the wilderness. 
 
 After feeding the multitude miraculously, Jesus retired 
 into a district called Dalmanutha, a part of the territory 
 of Magdala.* Here he was visited by the Pharisees, 
 who, having heard that he had a second time fed the 
 multitude miraculously, were fearful that the common 
 people would acknowledge him for the Messiah : and 
 therefore determined openly and publicly to confute his 
 pretensions to that character. 
 
 In order to do this, they boldly demanded of him 
 a sign from heaven : for it must be remembered, that the 
 Jews expected the Messiah would make his first public 
 appearance in the clouds of heaven, and in a glorious 
 manner establish a temporal kingdom. This opinion 
 they founded on the following prophecy of Daniel, which 
 they understood literally : f " I saw in the night visions, 
 
 * Magdala was a city of some note on the west side of the Sea of 
 Galilee, about midway between Tiberias and Capernaum, being about 
 three miles distant from each. It was the residence of Mary Magdalen, 
 a woman of wealth, who having been delivered from a terrible demoniac 
 possession by our Saviour, afterward devoted herself most gratefully to 
 his service. Dalmanutha was the district around Magdala, as Gennes- 
 sareth was around Capernaum, but more hilly and less fertile. 
 
 f A literal interpretation may sometimes be a perverse one, and so it 
 was here. For the prophet did not describe the Son of man as coming 
 from heaven to earth (as they imagined), but as ascending from earth 
 to heaven to receive his mediatorial throne ; and this he did literally 
 after his resurrection from the dead. 
 
 There is a class of Christian interpreters in our day, who commit the 
 same mistake, and yet claim to be literal interpreters. Undoubtedly, 
 Christ will come at his Second Advent in the clouds of heaven in like 
 13 
 
194 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 and, behold^ one like the Son of man came with the 
 clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and 
 they brought him near before him. And there was 
 given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all 
 people, nations, and languages, should serve him. His 
 dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not 
 pass away ; and his kingdom that which shall not be 
 destroyed." Daniel vii. 13, 14. 
 
 It is therefore evident that the Pharisees, by desiring 
 Jesus to show them a sign from heaven, meant that he 
 should demonstrate himself to be the Messiah, by corning 
 in a visible and miraculous manner from heaven, and 
 wresting with great pomp the sceptre of David from the 
 hands of the Romans. 
 
 Their disposition was absolutely incorrigible; so that 
 Jesus sigtied deeply in his spirit, and declared that the 
 sign they sought should never be given them ; and that 
 the only sign they were to expect was that of the prophet 
 Jonas, or the miracle of his own resurrection : a sign 
 indeed much greater than any shown by the ancient 
 prophets; and consequently a sign which demonstrated 
 that Jesus was far superior to them all. "A wicked 
 and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there 
 shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet 
 Jonas." Matt. xvi. 4. 
 
 Having thus reproved the impertinent curiosity of the 
 Pharisees, he departed with his disciples, and entered 
 into a ship ; and as they sailed, he cautioned them to 
 beware of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees, 
 which he termed leaven, from its pernicious influence in 
 
 manner as he ascended (Acts i. 11) ; but the vision of Daniel in ques- 
 tion does not refer to the Second Advent, but to the Ascension of Christ. 
 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 195 
 
 filling the minds of men with pride, and other irregular 
 passions. 
 
 On his landing at Bethsaida, they brought unto him 
 a blind man, desiring that he would heal him. Jesus 
 accordingly took the man by the hand, and led him out 
 of the city, and having spit upon his eyes, and put his 
 hands upon him, asked him if he saw aught ? To which 
 the man answered, " I see men as trees walking." A 
 very proper expression to convey an idea of the indis- 
 tinctness of his vision. Jesus then- put his hands again 
 upon him, and he was restored to sight, " and saw every 
 man clearly." 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE BLESSED JESUS DELEGATES POWER TO PETER, ONE OF 
 HIS DISCIPLES PRONOUNCES THE FINAL JUDGMENT OF 
 THE WORLD, AND IS AFTERWARD TRANSFIGURED UPON 
 THE MOUNT. 
 
 JESUS, having displayed his power and goodness in re- 
 storing the blind man to his sight, departed from Beth- 
 saida, and returned to the territory of Cesarea Philippi, 
 where, being desirous of proving in some measure the 
 faith of the apostles, he asked them, saying, " Whom 
 do men say that I, the Son of man, am ? And they said, 
 Some say thou art John the Baptist ; some Elias ; and 
 others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets." Matt. xvi. 
 13, 14. 
 
 The people in general mistook the character of our 
 Saviour. Jesus was therefore desirous of hearing what 
 
196 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 idea his disciples formed of his character, as they had 
 long enjoyed the benefit of his doctrine and miracles, 
 and accordingly asked them what they themselves un- 
 derstood him to be. To this question Simon Peter re- 
 plied, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." 
 Our Saviour acknowledged the title, telling Peter that 
 God alone had revealed the secret* to him. And in 
 allusion to his surname, Peter, which signifies a rock, 
 our Saviour promised that upon himself, as the founda- 
 tion (and by means of this very faith and confession 
 which Peter had* just made, of his being "the Christ, 
 the Son of the living God"), he would build his Church, 
 and that he should have a principal hand in establishing 
 the Messiah's kingdom, never to be destroyed. " Other 
 foundation can no man lay." 1 Cor. iii. 11. On him 
 may our souls rest, and the fiercest tempest shall rage 
 in vain! "And I say also unto 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 unto thee the keys of the kingom of heaven : 
 and whatsoever thou shalt blind on earth shall be bound 
 in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth 
 shall be loosed in heaven." Matt. xvi. 18, 19.f 
 
 * This does not imply that Jesus had hitherto kept his Messiahship a 
 secret, for this is contrary to the facts recorded by the Evangelists ; but 
 that this great truth so mysterious to the mass of the nation, and so 
 unwelcome to worldly minds, had been made plain and precious to his 
 renewed heart by the power of divine grace. This is in accordance 
 with the general current of Scripture . 1 Cor. xii. 3 ; John vi. 44, 45, 
 65 ; Matt. xi. 25, 26. It must be remembered, however, that Peter 
 spoke not for himself alone, but for the rest of the apostles, as before, 
 at Capernaum. John vi. 67-69. 
 
 f It is important to remark, that what is here promised to Peter, is 
 "io peculiar power, or personal prerogative (as many contend), but a 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 197 
 
 Having delegated this power to Peter, our Saviour 
 strictly forbade his disciples to tell any man that he 
 was the Messiah ; because it had been foretold by the 
 prophets that he should be rejected by the rulers of 
 Israel as a false Christ, and suffer the pains of death 
 (Matt. xvi. 20), circumstances which could not fail of 
 giving his followers great offence. As they did not yet 
 understand the true nature of his kingdom, therefore he 
 thought proper to let every man form a judgment of his 
 mission from his doctrine and miracles. 
 
 The foregoing discourses had doubtless filled the apos- 
 tles with lofty imaginations, and therefore our Saviour 
 thought proper to acquaint them with his sufferings, in 
 order to check any fond expectation of temporal power. 
 Peter, however, was greatly displeased to hear his 
 Master talk of dying at Jerusalem, when he had just 
 before acknowledged the title of Messiah. Accordingly, 
 he rebuked him for the expression, which he was so bold 
 as to think unguarded. But Jesus, turning himself 
 about, said to Peter, " Get thee behind me, Satan : thou 
 art an offence to me ; for thou savorest not the things 
 that be of God, but those that be of men." Matt, 
 xvi. 23. 
 
 Peter's conduct, in this respect, arising from an im- 
 moderate attachment to earthly objects, our Saviour 
 
 privilege shared in common with him, not only by his fellow apostles, 
 but by all professed believers in the Church of Christ, in every land 
 and age. See Matt, xviii. 17, 18. " The keys of the kingdom of 
 heaven " are contained in the Gospel of Christ, and every man who 
 rightly understands and opens the Gospel, whether in doctrine, disci- 
 pline, experience, or practice, uses these keys. Thus Peter first used 
 them to the Jews on the day of Pentecost, and to the Gentiles in the 
 house of Cornelius. Acts ii. 10. This is the only " primacy " Peter 
 ever had. 
 
198 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 thought proper to declare publicly that all who intended 
 to share with him the glory of the heavenly Canaan 
 must deny themselves; that is, they must be always 
 ready to renounce every worldly pleasure, and even life 
 itself, when the cause of religion requires it : he also 
 told them that in this world they must expect to meet 
 with troubles and disappointments, and that whoever 
 intended to be his disciple, must " take up his cross and 
 follow him." 
 
 Thus did the blessed Jesus fully explain to his disci- 
 ples the true nature of his kingdom, and at the same 
 time intimated that though they had already undergone 
 many afflictions, yet they must expect still more and 
 greater, which they must sustain wuth equal fortitude, 
 following their Master in the footsteps of his afflictions. 
 This duty, however hard, was absolutely necessary : 
 because by losing their temporal life they would gain 
 that which was eternal : " For whosoever shall save his 
 life shall lose it ; but whosoever will lose his life for my 
 sake, the same shall save it." Luke ix. 24. "For 
 what is a man profited, if he should gain the whole 
 world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man 
 give in exchange for his soul?" Matt. xvi. 26. 
 
 To add to the weight of this argument, and to enforce 
 the necessity of self-denial, our Saviour particularly de- 
 clared that a day was fixed for distributing rewards and 
 punishments to all the human race, and that he himself 
 was appointed by the Father as universal Judge, so that 
 his enemies could not flatter themselves with the hope 
 of escaping the punishment they deserved, nor his friends 
 be afraid of losing their eternal reward. " Whosoever, 
 therefore, shall be ashamed of me, and my words, in this 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 190 
 
 adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the 
 Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of 
 his Father, with the holy angels." Mark viii. 38. 
 
 About eight days after this discourse, our blessed 
 Saviour, being with the multitude in the country of 
 Cesarea Philippi,* left them in the plain, and, accompanied 
 by Peter, James, and John, ascended an exceedingly 
 high mountain. ) 
 
 In this solitude, while Jesus was praying with these 
 
 * Cesarea Philippi, the capital of Trachonitis, under Philip the 
 Tetrarch, was formerly called Paneas. It was rebuilt and enlarged by 
 Philip, and named Cesarea in honor of Tiberius Caesar. To distinguish 
 it from Cesarea on the Mediterranean, built by Herod the Great, it was 
 called Cesarea Philippi. It was situated on an elevated plateau, near 
 the eastern sources of the Jordan, about three miles east of Dan, and 
 about twenty miles north of the Sea of Galilee. Mount Herinon, 
 robed in snow, rises on the north, to the altitude of ten thousand feet, 
 towering far above all the mountains of Syria, and forming the north- 
 eastern boundary of Palestine. 
 
 t This "high mountain," being in the neighborhood of Cesarea 
 Philippi, is not Mount Tabor, but Mount Hennon, as is now generally 
 agreed. Tabor was fifty miles distant, was but about twelve hundred 
 feet high, and in the time of Christ was fortified, and held by a Roman 
 garrison. All these circumstances combine to discredit the tradition 
 that Mount Tabor was the scene of the Transfiguration, while every 
 thing conspires to show that Mount Hennon, the grandest mountain in 
 Syria or Palestine, was selected for that grand event. It is the loftiest 
 summit of the range of Lebanon, and is three thousand feet higher 
 than Mount Sinai in Arabia. In some places Hennon is called Sion 
 (not Ziou), Sirion, and Shenir. Deut. iii. 8 ; iv. 39. 
 
 From a hill north of Xazareth, Dr. Hackett saw Mount Hennon on 
 the northeast, and says, " It rose immensely above every surrounding 
 object." How familiar, then, must it have been to the eye of Jesus 
 from his youth ! And, if we may suppose it to be "the exceeding high 
 mountain " from which Satan tempted him by a view of the glory of 
 this world, how fitly was it chosen for the display of the brighter 
 glories of another world I 
 
200 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 three disciples, he was transfigured : his face became 
 radiant and dazzling ; it shone like the sun in his me- 
 ridian clearness. At the same time, his garments ac- 
 quired a snowy whiteness, far beyond any thing human 
 art could produce a whiteness bright as the light, arid 
 sweetly refulgent, but in a degree inferior to the radiance 
 of his countenance. 
 
 Thus, as it were, for an instant, the Son of God, 
 during his state of humiliation, suffered the glory of his 
 divinity to shine through the vail of human nature with 
 which it was covered ; and, to heighten the grandeur 
 and solemnity of the scene, Moses, the great lawgiver 
 of Israel, and Elijah, a zealous defender of the law, ap- 
 peared in the beauties of immortality the robes in which 
 the inhabitants of the heavenly Canaan are adorned. 
 The disciples, it seems, did not see the beginning of this 
 transfiguration : happening to fall asleep,* at the time 
 of prayer, they lost that pleasure, together with a great 
 part of the conversation which these two prophets held 
 with the only-begotten Son of God. 
 
 They, however, understood that the subject was his 
 meritorious suffering and death, by which he was to re- 
 deem the world ; a subject that had, a few days before, 
 given great offence to his disciples, particularly to Peter. 
 At beholding the illustrious sight, the disciples were 
 greatly amazed : but, the forwardness of Peter's disposi- 
 tion prompting him to say something, he uttered he 
 
 * This drowsiness, at such a time would seem incredible, or at least 
 highly culpable, did we not recollect the great fatigue which followed 
 the ascent of so high a mountain, and the solemn silence of nature 
 around them. It was not the only instance in which " the spirit was 
 willing, but the flesh was weak." 
 

 THE LAX I) n { REST. 
 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 201 
 
 knew not what : " Master," said he, " 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." Mark 
 ix. 5. 
 
 This disciple imagined that Jesus had now assumed 
 his proper dignity; that Elias was come, according to 
 Malachi's prediction, and the Messiah's kingdom was at 
 length begun. Accordingly, he thought it was necessary 
 to provide some accommodations for his Master and his 
 august assistants, intending, perhaps, to bring the rest 
 of the disciples, with the multitude, from the plain be- 
 low, to behold his matchless glory. This, he thought, 
 was much better for his Master than to be put to death 
 at Jerusalem, concerning which Jesus had been talking 
 with the messengers from heaven, and the design of 
 which Peter could not comprehend. 
 
 But " while he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud over- 
 shadowed them ; and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, 
 which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
 pleased : hear ye him." * Matt. xvii. 5. 
 
 When the three disciples heard the voice, which, like 
 the roaring thunder, burst from the cloud, and was such as 
 
 * The appearance of Moses and Elias, the one the giver and the 
 other the defender of the Law, seems evidently designed to show, by 
 their united testimony, that the Law and the Prophets were fulfilled 
 and honored in the death of Jesus for our sins ; and their disappear- 
 ance, followed by the voice from heaven, proclaimed that all their 
 authority was henceforth to be absorbed in the higher teachings of the 
 Son of God. The Mosaic and Christian Dispensations find their true 
 point of union in HIM, "whose decease was about to be accomplished 
 at Jerusalem." 
 
 Peter would have built u three tabernacles ; " but while he speaks, 
 Moses and Elias vanish, and the Lord of glory remains alone. Taber- 
 nacle, and altar, and worship, belong only to him ; nor shall any one 
 arise to rival or supersede him, who is forever " the Head of all princi- 
 pality and power.'' Col. ii. 9, 10. 
 
202 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 * 
 
 mortals were unaccustomed to hear, they fell on then 
 faces and continued in that posture till Jesus approached, 
 raised them up. and dispelled their fears, saying unto 
 them, " Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had 
 lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only." 
 Matt. xvii. 7, 8.* 
 
 Jesus, having continued all night with his three dis- 
 ciples on the mountain, returned to the plain early in 
 the morning, charging them to conceal what they had 
 seen till after he was risen from the dead. He well 
 knew that the world, and even his own disciples, were 
 not yet able to comprehend the design of his Transfigu- 
 ration, and that if it had been published before his 
 resurrection, it might have appeared incredible ; because 
 nothing but afflictions and persecutions had hitherto 
 attended him. He was truly " a man of sorrows, and 
 acquainted with grief." 
 
 *A11 the events in this chapter, according to Dr. Robinson, occurred 
 in May A. D. 32, nearly a year before the Crucifixion. They were all 
 designed to prepare the apostles for that, to them, most mysterious 
 close of our Lord's personal ministry, by establishing their faith in 
 him as a suffering and redeeming Messiah. That death of ignominy, 
 which they on earth dreaded above all things, was shown to be the 
 object of deepest interest to the inhabitants of heaven, and essential 
 to the Saviour's highest glory, as well as our salvation. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 203 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 OUR SAVIOUR RELIEVES A YOUTH TORTURED WITH A DUMB 
 SPIRIT CONFORMS CHEERFULLY TO THE CUSTOM OF THE 
 COUNTRY, BY PAYING THE TRIBUTE REPROVES THE PRIDE 
 OF HIS DISCIPLES, AND DELIVERS SOME EXCELLENT MORAL 
 PRECEPTS. 
 
 WHEN our Lord approached the descent of the moun- 
 tain, accompanied by his three disciples, he saw a great 
 multitude surrounding the nine who continued in the 
 plain, and the Scribes disputing with them. The people, 
 seeing Jesus coming down from the mountain, ran to 
 him and saluted him with particular reverence. After 
 which, Jesus asked the Scribes what was the subject of 
 their debate with his disciples. To which one of the 
 multitude answered, " Master, I have brought unto thee 
 my son, who hath a dumb spirit : and wheresoever he 
 taketh him, he teareth him; and he foameth and 
 gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away : and I spake 
 to thy disciples that they should cast him out ; and they 
 could not." Mark ix. 17, 18. 
 
 This answer, being made by one of the multitude, 
 and not by the Scribes, to whom the question was di- 
 rected, indicates that they had been disputing with the 
 disciples on their not being able to cure this afflicted 
 youth : perhaps their making this unsuccessful attempt 
 had given the Scribes occasion to boast that a devil was 
 at length found which neither they nor their Master 
 could conquer. This seems to be indicated by the 
 manner in which our Saviour addressed himself to these 
 
204 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 arrogant rulers. " 0, faithless generation ! " says he, 
 " how long shall I be with you ? how long shall I suffer 
 you ?" Must I always bear with your infidelity ? After 
 speaking in this manner to the Scribes, he turned him- 
 self to the father of the young man. and said, " Bring 
 thy son hither." But no sooner was he brought in 
 sight of his deliverer, than the evil spirit attacked him, 
 as it were, with double fury : " The spirit tare him ; 
 and he fell on the ground, and wallowed, foaming." 
 Mark ix. 20. 
 
 Jesus could easily have prevented this attack ; but he 
 permitted it that the minds of the spectators might be 
 impressed with a more lively idea of this youth's dis- 
 tress. And for the same reason probably it was that he 
 asked the father how long he had been in this deplora- 
 ble condition. To which the afflicted parent answered, 
 " Of a child : and ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, 
 and into the waters, to destroy him ; but if thou canst 
 do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us." 
 Mark ix. 21, 22. 
 
 The inability of our Lord's disciples to cast out this 
 spirit had greatly discouraged the afflicted father ; and 
 the exquisite torture of his son, and the remembrance of 
 its long continuance, so dispirited him that he began to 
 fear this possession was even too great for the power of 
 Jesus himself, as the Scribes had probably before affirmed, 
 and therefore could not help expressing his doubts and 
 fears. But Jesus, to make him sensible of his mistake, 
 said to him, " If thou canst believe, all things are pos- 
 sible to him that believeth." On which the father cried 
 out, with tears, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine un- 
 belief." The vehement manner in which he spake 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 205 
 
 causing the crowd to gather from every quarter, Jesus 
 rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, " Thou dumb 
 and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and 
 enter no more into him." Mark ix. 25. 
 
 No sooner was the powerful exit pronounced than the 
 spirit, with a hideous howling, and convulsing of the 
 suffering patient in the most deplorable manner, came 
 out, leaving the youth senseless and without motion, till 
 Jesus, taking him by the hand, restored him to life, and 
 delivered him, perfectly recovered, to his father. 
 
 The nine disciples, during this whole transaction, re- 
 mained silent. They were, doubtless, mortified to think 
 that they had lost, by some fault of their own, the power 
 of working miracles, lately conferred upon them by their 
 Master, and, for this reason, were afraid to speak to 
 him in the presence of the multitude. But when they 
 came into the house, they desired Jesus to inform them 
 why they had failed in their attempt to heal that re- 
 markable youth. To which Jesus answered, " Because 
 of your unbelief." But, to encourage them, he described 
 the efficacy of the faith of miracles : " If ye have faith 
 as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this moun- 
 tain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove ; 
 and nothing shall be impossible unto you." Matt, 
 xvii. 20. Nothing shall be too great for you to accom- 
 plish, when the glory of God and the good of the church 
 are concerned, provided you have a proper degree of 
 faith : even yonder mountain, which bids defiance to the 
 storm and smiles at the attacks of its mingled horrors, 
 shall, at your command, leave its firm basis and remove 
 to another place.* 
 
 * If the mountain here referred to was Mount Hermon, as is proba- 
 
206 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 The expulsion of the dumb spirit seems to have aston- 
 ished the disciples more than any other miracle they had 
 seen their Master perform ; so that our Saviour found it 
 necessary to moderate their high admiration of his 
 works, by again predicting his own death, and retiring 
 for a time into the most unfrequented parts of Galilee. 
 
 After a short tour through the desert part of Galilee, 
 Jesus returned into Capernaum, the place of his general 
 residence. Soon after his arrival, the tax-gatherers 
 came to Peter, and asked him whether his Master would 
 pay the tribute. That disciple, it seems, had promised 
 that Jesus would satisfy their demand, but, on a more 
 mature consideration, feared to ask him concerning his 
 paying taxes, on any pretence whatever.* 
 
 Jesus was, however, no stranger to what had hap- 
 pened, and the fear of Peter to ask him, and therefore 
 turned his discourse to this subject, by saying unto him, 
 " What thinkest thou, Simon ? of whom do the kings of 
 the earth take custom or tribute ? of their own children 
 or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. 
 Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free ;" 
 insinuating that, as he was himself the Son of the Great 
 
 ble, what new force does it give to this remarkable declaration. See 
 the last two notes. 
 
 * It does not appear obvious why Peter should fear to speak to Jesus 
 on paying the temple tax to the collectors. He had doubtless always 
 paid it before, and therefore Peter at once answered the collectors in 
 the affirmative. Why then did he afterward doubt V Was it that their 
 money was exhausted during their long tour in Northern Galilee V Or 
 was it that his new ideas, derived from the Transfiguration, made him 
 doubt whether it was to be paid any more ? Probably both motives 
 were combined ; and the words of Jesus supply a full answer to both 
 his difficulties. The other disciples may have paid already, so that he 
 only and Jesus were concerned in the question. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 207 
 
 King, to whom heaven, earth, and the sea belong, he 
 was not bound to pay tribute to any monarch whatever, 
 because he held nothing by a derived right. Or, if we 
 suppose this contribution was made for the service and 
 reparation of the temple, he meant that, as he was the 
 Son of that omnipotent Being to whom the tribute was 
 paid, he could have justly excused himself. But the 
 blessed Jesus was always careful not to give offence, 
 and therefore sent Peter to the lake, with a line and 
 hook, telling him that in the mouth of the first fish that 
 came up he should find a piece of money equal to the 
 sum demanded of them .both.* " Notwithstanding, lest 
 we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast the 
 hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and 
 when thou hast opened his mouth thou shalt find a piece 
 of money : that take, and give unto them for me and 
 thee." Matt. xvii. 27. 
 
 Our Lord took this extraordinary method of paying 
 the tribute money in this manner, because the miracle 
 was of such a kind as could not fail to demonstrate that 
 he was the Son of the Great Monarch worshipped in the 
 temple and who rules the universe. In the very manner, 
 therefore, of paying this tribute, he showed Peter that 
 he was free from all taxes, and at the same time gave 
 
 * The silver stater (whose value was equal to the Jewish shekel) 
 would just pay the temple tax for two. 
 
 That the exact sum required for both would be found in the first fish 
 caught found in the mouth, and not in the belly presupposes omni- 
 science in Jesus. It shows further that not only did "the winds and 
 the sea obey him," but " whatsoever passeth through the paths of the 
 seas." Ps. viii. 8. The very coin is specified in the original language 
 of Jesus the Greek stater a coin equal in value to four Roman denarii, 
 or one Jewish shekel. The temple tax was a half shekel for each. 
 
208 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 this useful lesson to his followers, that, when the property 
 is affected only in a small degree, it is better to recede a 
 little from their just right than to offend their brethren 
 or disturb the state by obstinately insisting on it. 
 
 The disciples, convinced that it was in vain to conceal 
 the subject of the debate that had happened on the way, 
 drew near to their Master, desiring him to decide a 
 point which had often given occasion to disputes : 
 " Who," said they, " is the greatest in the kingdom of 
 heaven?" Matt, xviii. 1. Jesus, to check these foolish 
 emulations in his disciples, called a little child unto him, 
 arid placed him in the midst, that they might consider 
 him attentively, and said unto them, " Verily I say 
 unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little 
 children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." 
 Matt, xviii. 3. Unless ye be humbled by the power of 
 divine grace, and brought to a due sense of the vanity 
 of all earthly preferments, riches and honors, and 
 become meek and humble in spirit, ye shall be so far 
 from becoming the greatest in my kingdom, that ye 
 shall never enter its borders. But whosoever shall be 
 satisfied with the station in which God has placed him, 
 receive with meekness all the divine instructions, how- 
 ever contrary to his own inclinations, and prefer others 
 to himself, that man is really the greatest in my king- 
 dom. "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as 
 this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of 
 heaven." Matt, xviii. 4. 
 
 It appears, from circumstances, that James and John, 
 the sons of Zebedee, were principally concerned in this 
 debate, for we find that John endeavored to divert it by 
 telling his Master that they had seen one casting out 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 209 
 
 devils in his name, and had forbidden him, because he 
 did not join himself to their company; to which Jesus 
 replied. " Forbid lim not : for there is no man which 
 shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak 
 evil of me." Mark ix. 39. 
 
 You should, added the blessed Jesus, consider that 
 every one who does not persecute us is a friend : " For 
 whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink, in my 
 name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, 
 he shall not lose his reward." Mark ix. 41. 
 
 But, on the other hand, the least discouragement 
 given to his disciples in the propagation of the gospel, 
 come from what quarter it will, shall be punished with 
 the greatest severity. "And whosoever shall offend 
 one of these little ones that believe in rne, it is better 
 for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, 
 and he were cast into the sea." Mark ix. 42. 
 
 And from this saying, Jesus inferred that it was more 
 advantageous to deny ourselves the highest enjoyments 
 of this world, and to part with every thing, however 
 precious, represented by a hand, a foot, or an eye, than 
 by these to cause the weakest of his friends to stumble. 
 And as they were to be the salt of the earth, it was requi- 
 site they should themselves be filled with the spiritual 
 salt of all the graces, and particulary the holy salt of 
 love and peace. 
 
 Pride is the source of numberless sins ; and therefore 
 the blessed Jesus cautioned his disciples, in the most 
 solemn manner, to beware of that vice ; assuring them, 
 that the meanest child is an object of the care of Provi- 
 denoe ; and " that their angels dc always behold the face 
 of my Father which is in heaven." 
 
210 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 To show the concern of his Almighty Father for the 
 least of his reasonable creatures, and the great value he 
 sets upon the souls of the human race, our Saviour told 
 them, that he not only gave his highest angels charge 
 concerning them, but had also sent his only begotten 
 Son to seek and to save that which was lost ; and would 
 share in the joy which the heavenly beings are filled 
 with on their recovery. Matt, xviii. 12, 13, 14. 
 
 Having thus addressed the offending party, he turned 
 himself toward his disciples, and gave them instructions 
 with regard to the offended. " If thy brother shall 
 trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between 
 thee and him alone ; if he shall hear thee, thou hast 
 gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then 
 take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of 
 two or three witnesses, every word may be established. 
 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the 
 church ; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be 
 unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." Matt, 
 xviii. 15, 16, 17. 
 
 If the offending brother continues impenitent after all 
 the methods above described are tried, his guilt is bound 
 the faster upon him; because, by the precepts of the 
 gospel, none but penitents can obtain pardon. 
 
 Our blessed Saviour also added, as an encouragement 
 to good men, that if they continued earnest in their en- 
 deavors to bring sinners to repentance, and offered up 
 their prayers to the Almighty for assistance, he would 
 always grant their petitions, provided they were agree- 
 able to the wise ends of his providence. " Again I say 
 unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as 
 touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 211 
 
 for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where 
 two or three are gathered together in my name, there 
 am I in the midst of them." Matt, xviii. 19, 20. 
 
 Peter had before heard his Master speak of the doc- 
 trine of frequent forgiveness, and thought it a strange 
 doctrine which obliged him to forgive offences seven 
 times repeated ; but our blessed Saviour told him that 
 he was very greatly mistaken : that he never intended 
 to limit forgiveness to seven times, but that it ought to 
 be extended even to seventy times seven. 
 
 This excellent moral precept he enforced by the para- 
 ble of the two servants, debtors to one lord ; in order to 
 show the necessity of forgiving the greatest injuries in 
 every case where the offending party is sensible of his 
 fault, and promises amendment; because on this condi- 
 tion alone, our heavenly Father will forgive our offences. 
 
 So likewise, added the Son of God, " shall my heavenly 
 Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts for- 
 give not every one his brother their trespasses." Matt, 
 xviii. 34, 35. And surely this awful threatening ought 
 to strike the minds of fierce and implacable men with 
 terror. For whatever they may think, it will certainly, 
 in its full extent, be inflicted upon all who refuse to 
 obey the dictates of divine mercy, and forgive not only 
 their fellow-servants, but every brother in Christ, who, 
 through weakness or inadvertence, may have done them 
 an injury either in person or property. 
 
212 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 OUR BLESSED LORD QUITS GALILEE FINALLY HE GOES UP 
 PRIVATELY TO JERUSALEM ADDRESSES THE MULTITUDE 
 AT THE SOLEMN FEAST OF TABERNACLES EXEMPTS THE 
 WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY FROM THE PUNISHMENT AN- 
 NEXED BY THE JEWS TO THAT CRIME ESCAPES FROM 
 THE SNARES LAID FOR HIM BY THE INVETERATE SCRIBES 
 AND PHARISEES. 
 
 THE great Redeemer, having finished his Father's 
 work in Galilee, departed into Judea. * The Feast of 
 Tabernacles now drew on, at which all the males of the 
 Jewish nation, capable of travelling, repaired to Jerusa- 
 lem, and dwelt in the tabernacles, or booths made of the 
 boughs of trees, in commemoration of their fathers having 
 had no other habitation during their forty years' sojourn- 
 ing in the wilderness, f To this feast some of the kins- 
 men of the blessed Jesus desired he would accompany 
 them and there show himself openly to the whole nation 
 of the Jews. They did not themselves believe that he 
 was the great Prophet so long expected, and therefore 
 
 * The reader should clearly notice the important fact that this de- 
 parture of Jesus from Galilee was final. Jesus did indeed meet his 
 disciples in Galilee after his resurrection ; but his public ministry in 
 that region closed at this time, and was transferred to Judea and Perea, 
 for the remaining six months of his life. This fact gives new interest 
 to the words recorded in Luke ix. 51-62. 
 
 f The Feast of Tabernacles fell on the fifteenth day of the Jewish 
 month Tisri, and corresponded nearly to the last days of October with 
 us. It was also called the Feast of Harvest, and was celebrated like 
 the Passover for eight days, the first and eighth of which were Sab- 
 baths, or holy days. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 213 
 
 condemned the method he pursued in his public ministry 
 as altogether absurd.* " If thou do these things, show 
 thyself to the world. For neither did his brethren be- 
 lieve in him." John vii. 3-5. 
 
 " My time," said the blessed Jesus to these unbeliev- 
 ing relations, " is not yet come ; but your time is always 
 ready. The world cannot hate you ; but me it hateth, 
 because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. 
 Go ye up unto this feast : I go not up yet unto this feast ; 
 for my time is not yet full come." John vii. 618. As 
 if he had said, You may repair to the capital whenever 
 you please ; the Jews are your friends, you have done 
 nothing to displease them ; but the purity of the doctrine 
 I have preached to them, and the freedom with which I 
 have reproved their hypocrisy and other enormous 
 crimes, have provoked their malice to the utmost height, 
 and therefore, as the time of my sufferings is not yet 
 come, it is not prudent for me to go so soon to Jerusalem. 
 
 There was also another reason why our blessed Saviour 
 refused to accompany these relations to the Feast of Tab- 
 ernacles : the roads were crowded with people, and these, 
 
 * Unbelief is always attended with its natural penalty of short- 
 sightedness. The methods of divine wisdom are beyond its range and 
 comprehension, yet it presumes to judge and to dictate, as if it held 
 the seat of infinite authority. Had these unbelieving kinsmen of Jesus 
 been able to see but two weeks ahead, they might have spared their 
 bitter taunts on this occasion. The plan of the Redeemer was timed 
 to the very hour, and he was actually prepared to take the bold step at 
 that very feast, to which they, as it were, dared him. But lie chose to 
 do it in a private way, that enabled him to escape the crowds pressing 
 up to Jerusalem, and to despatch seventy more of his disciples under a 
 solemn commission to prepare his way in Perea and Judea. Luke x. 
 1-16. This accomplished, he took the direct route through Samaria to 
 Jerusalem, and suddenly appeared there in the midst of the feast. 
 
214 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 gathering around him and accompanying him to Jerusa- 
 lem, would, doubtless, have given fresh offence to his 
 enemies, and have in a great measure prevented his 
 miracles and doctrines from having the desired effect. 
 He therefore chose to continue in Galilee till the crowd 
 were all gone up to Jerusalem, when he followed, as it 
 were, in secret, neither preaching nor working miracles 
 by the way, so that no crowd attended him to the feast.* 
 
 The road from Galilee to Jerusalem lay through Sa- 
 maria, and the inhabitants were those who entertained 
 the most inveterate hatred against all who worshipped 
 in Jerusalem. Jesus, being no stranger to this disposi- 
 tion of the Samaritans, thought proper to send messen- 
 gers before him, that they might, against his arrival, 
 find reception for him in one of the villages. The pre- 
 judiced Samaritans, finding the intention of his journey 
 was to worship in the temple at Jerusalem, refused to 
 receive either him or his disciples into their houses. 
 
 The messengers, being thus disappointed, returned to 
 Jesus, and gave him an account of all that had passed ; 
 at which James and John were so exceedingly incensed 
 that they proposed to their Master to call fire from 
 heaven, in order to destroy such inhospitable wretches ; 
 alleging, in excuse for such violent proceedings, the ex- 
 ample of the prophet Elijah : " Lord, wilt thou that we 
 command fire to come down from heaven and consume 
 them, even as Elias did ?" Luke ix. 54. 
 
 Our Lord, desirous of displaying an example of hu- 
 mility on every occasion, sharply rebuked them for en- 
 tertaining so unbecoming a resentment for this offence : 
 
 * See the foregoing note. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 215 
 
 "Ye know not," said he, "what manner of spirit ye 
 are of." Ye are ignorant of the sinfulness of the dispo- 
 sition ye have now expressed ; nor do ye consider the 
 difference of times, persons, and dispensations. The 
 severity exercised by Elijah on the men who came from 
 Ahab to apprehend him was a just reproof of an idola- 
 trous king and people, very proper for the times, and 
 very agreeable to the characters both of the prophet who 
 gave it and of the offenders to whom it was given, and, 
 at the same time, not unsuitable to the Mosaic dispen- 
 sation. But the gospel breathes a very different spirit ; 
 and the intention of the Messiah's coming into the world 
 was not to destroy, but to save, the lives of the children 
 of men. 
 
 Ye wise of this world, who reject saving knowledge, 
 behold here an instance of patience, under a real and un- 
 provoked injury, which you cannot parallel among all 
 your boasted heroes of antiquity ! an instance of pa- 
 tience which expressed infinite sweetness of disposition, 
 and should be imitated by all the human race, especially 
 by those who call themselves the disciples of Christ. 
 
 As our blessed Saviour's ministry was from this time 
 till its final period to be confined to Judea and the 
 countries beyond Jordan, it was necessary that some 
 harbingers should be sent into every town and village 
 he was to visit, to prepare his way. Accordingly, he 
 called seventy disciples unto him, and, after instructing 
 them in the duties of their mission and the particulars 
 they were to observe in their journey, he sent them into 
 different parts of the country, to those particular places 
 whither he himself intended to follow them and preach 
 the doctrines of the gospel to the inhabitants. Our 
 
216 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Lord, according to his own declaration, despatched these 
 disciples on the same important message as he had done 
 the twelve before. 
 
 The harvest was plenteous in Judea and Perea, as 
 well as in Galilee, and the laborers also few ; and, being 
 nevermore to preach in Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Caper- 
 naum, the cities wherein he had usually resided, he re- 
 flected on the reception he himself had met with from 
 the inhabitants of those cities. He foresaw 'the terrible 
 consequences that would flow from their rejecting his 
 doctrine and the many kind offers he had made them. 
 He was grieved for their obstinacy; and, in the over- 
 flowing tenderness of his soul, he lamented the hardness 
 of their hearts. " Woe," said he, " unto thee, Chora- 
 zin ! woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! for if the mighty works 
 had been done in Tyre and Sidon which have been done 
 in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in 
 sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for 
 Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And 
 thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be 
 thrust down to hell." Luke x. 13-15. To which our 
 Saviour added, as some consolation to his disciples, " He 
 that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you 
 despise th me ; and he that despiseth me despiseth him 
 that sent me." Luke x. 16. 
 
 Such a token of heavenly regard could not fail of 
 comforting the Seventy and alleviating their minds 
 when thinking of the ill usage they expected to meet 
 with during the course of their mission. They well 
 knew that the preaching of Christ himself had been 
 often despised, and often unsuccessful, with respect to 
 many of his hearers; and therefore they had no very 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 217 
 
 great reason to expect that they should find a more 
 welcome reception than their Master. 
 
 As Jesus did not go up openly to Jerusalem, so neither 
 did he, on his arrival, repair to the temple and there 
 preach openly to the people. This gave occasion to 
 several disputes among the Jews with regard to his 
 character. Some affirmed that he was a true prophet, 
 and that his absenting himself from the feast could only 
 be owing to accident; while others as confidently as- 
 serted that he only deceived the people, and paid no re- 
 gard to the institutions they had received from Heaven. 
 
 But about the middle of the feast Jesus appeared openly 
 in the temple, and taught the people, delivering his doc- 
 trines with such strength of reasoning, and elegance of 
 expression, that his very enemies were astonished, know- 
 ing that he had never enjoyed the advantage of a learned 
 education. " Now, about the midst of the feast, Jesus 
 went up into the temple, and taught. And the Jews 
 marvelled, saying : How knoweth this man letters, 
 having never learned?" John vii. 14, 15. 
 
 To which the Redeemer of mankind replied: My doc- 
 trine was not produced by* human wisdom : the sages of 
 the world were not my instructors : I received it from 
 Heaven ; it is the doctrine of the Almighty, whose mes- 
 senger I am : " My doctrine is not mine, but his that 
 sent me." John vii. 16. Nor can he who is desirous of 
 practising the doctrines I deliver, if he will lay aside his 
 prejudices and sincerly desire to be taught of God, be 
 at a loss to know from whom my doctrines are derived ; 
 because he will easily discern whether they are conform- 
 able to the will of man or of God. It is not difficult 
 to discover an impostor because all his precepts tend to 
 
218 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 advance his own interest and gratify his pride ; whereas 
 all the doctrines delivered by a true prophet have no 
 other end than the glory of God, however contrary they 
 may prove to himself. " He that speaketh of himself 
 seeketh his own glory; but he that seeketh his glory 
 that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness 
 is in him." John vii. 18. 
 
 The Scribes and Pharisees were highly provoked at 
 this attachment of the common people to Jesus ; and 
 accordingly, on the last and great day of the feast, they 
 met in council, and sent several officers to apprehend 
 him and bring him before them. 
 
 Jesus, during these transactions in the Council, con- 
 tinued in the temple, teaching the people. My ministry, 
 said he to the multitude, is drawing near its period; 
 and therefore you should, during the short time it has 
 to last, be very careful to improve every opportunity of 
 hearing the word; you should listen with the greatest 
 attention to every discourse, that your minds may be 
 stored with the truths of the Almighty, before I return 
 to my Father ; for after my departure you skall earnestly 
 wish for the same opportunities of seeing me and hearing 
 my instructions, but shall never obtain them. " Yet a 
 little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that 
 sent me. Ye shall seek me and shall not find me ; and 
 where I am, thither ye cannot come." John vii. 33, 34. 
 
 The Jews, who did not understand that our blessed 
 Saviour alluded to his own death, resurrection, and 
 ascension to the right hand of the Majesty on high, 
 whither their sins would not permit them to follow him, 
 wondered at this doctrine, and imagined that he intended 
 to leave Judea and preach to their brethern dispersed 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 219 
 
 among the Gentiles. But if he did go and preach among 
 the Gentiles, they thought it was not impossible for them 
 to follow him thither : " Then said the Jews among 
 themselves, What manner of saying is this that he said, 
 Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me ; and where I 
 am, thither ye cannot come ? " John vii. 35, 36. 
 
 While the Divine Teacher was thus instructing the 
 people in the temple, the water from Siloam was brought 
 in, according to the appointment of the prophets Haggai 
 and Zechariah, part of which they drank with loud 
 acclamations, in commemoration of the mercy showed to 
 their fathers, who were relieved by a stream which 
 miraculously flowed from a rock and refreshed a whole 
 nation then ready to perish with thirst in a dreary and 
 sandy waste ; and the other part they poured out as a 
 drink-offering to the Almighty, accompanying it with 
 their prayers for the former or latter rain to fall in its 
 season; the whole congregation singing the following 
 passage : " With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells 
 of salvation." Isaiah xii. 3. 
 
 It was the custom of the blessed Jesus to deliver 
 spiritual instructions in allusion to many occurrences 
 that happened ; and, accordingly, he took this oppor- 
 tunity of inviting, in the most affectionate manner, all 
 who were desirous of knowledge or happiness to come to 
 him and drink, alluding to the ceremony they were then 
 performing. And, to encourage all such as were desirous 
 of believing in him, he promised them the gift of the 
 Holy Spirit, \vhich he represented under the similitude 
 of a river flowing out of their hearts. " In the last day, 
 that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, 
 If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. 
 
220 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, 
 out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." John 
 vii. 37, 38. 
 
 During this discourse to the people, the officers from 
 the Council came to apprehend him ; but, hearing that 
 the topic he was discussing was a singular one, and he 
 seemed to deliver his discourse with remarkable fervor, 
 their curiosity induced them to listen some time before 
 they laid hands on him. But the eloquent manner in 
 which he delivered his subject appeased their rage ; the 
 sweetness of his disposition, and the plainness and 
 perspicuity of his discourse, elucidated the beauties of 
 truth, and caused them to shine before the understand- 
 ing with their native lustre. Accordingly, his very 
 enemies, who were come from the Council on purpose to 
 apprehend him, were astonished; the greatness of the 
 subject, made, as it were, visible by the divine speaker, 
 filled their understandings ; the warmth and tenderness 
 with which he delivered himself penetrated their hearts ; 
 they felt new and uncommon emotions, and being over- 
 whelmed with the greatness of their admiration, were 
 fixed in silence and astonishment : they condemned 
 themselves for having undertaken the office, and soon 
 returned to the rulers of Israel without performing it. 
 
 If our Lord had pleaded for his life before the officers 
 of the Council who were sent to apprehend him, the 
 success of his eloquence, even in that case, had been 
 truly wonderful ; but in the case before us it surely was 
 superior to all praise, for, in a discourse addressed to 
 others, and even on a spiritual subject, it disarmed a 
 band of inveterate enemies and made them his friends. 
 
 Nor were the officers the only persons affected by this 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 221 
 
 discourse ; for many others declared he must be one of the 
 old prophets, and others that he was none other than the 
 Messiah himself. Some, however, led away with the 
 common mistake that he was born at Nazareth, asked, 
 with disdain, if the Messiah was to come out of Galilee, 
 and whether they would acknowledge a Galilean for the 
 Messiah, when the Scriptures absolutely declared that 
 he was to be born in Bethlehem, the native town of his 
 father David. " Many of the people, therefore, when 
 they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the 
 prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some 
 said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee ? Hath not the 
 Scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David, 
 and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was ? " 
 John vii. 40-42. 
 
 Such were the dissensions on this subject, that some 
 of his enemies, knowing that the officers were sent to 
 apprehend him, threatened to lay hands on him; but 
 the Almighty would not suffer them to execute their 
 wicked design : " And some of them would have taken 
 him; but no man laid hands on him." John vii. 44. 
 
 The officers now returned to the Council, and were 
 asked why they had not brought Jesus of Nazareth. 
 To whom the officers answered, " Never man spake like 
 this man." This reply enraged the Council, who re- 
 viled them for presuming to entertain a favorable opin- 
 ion of one whom they had pronounced an impostor. It 
 is strange, said they, that you, who are not ignorant of 
 our sentiments concerning this person, should entertain 
 a favorable idea of him. Have any persons of rank, or 
 any celebrated for their knowledge of the laws, believed 
 on him ? Are not his followers the lower orders of the 
 
222 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 people, who are totally ignorant of all the prophecies 
 concerning the Messiah ? The officers made no answer 
 to the railing accusations of their masters. But Nico- 
 demus, a member of the Council, arraigned their con- 
 duct in a very poignant manner: "Does our law," says 
 he, "condemn, any man before he has been heard?"* 
 They had before condemned their officers for being igno- 
 rant of the law, when it appeared they were themselves 
 far more ignorant, in pretending to condemn a person 
 before they had proved him guilty. They were acting 
 directly contrary to the fundamental principles of the 
 law of equity at the time they boasted of their profound 
 knowledge of its precepts. 
 
 Incensed at this reprimand of Nicodemus, they asked 
 him, with an air of disdain and surprise, if he was also 
 one of those mean persons who had joined together to 
 support the pretences of a Galilean, though the Scrip- 
 tures had plainly said that Bethlehem was the place of 
 the Messiah's nativity ; adding that if he refused to 
 listen to them he should soon be convinced that the 
 great prophet mentioned by Moses was not to be born in 
 Galilee. " Art thou also of Galilee ? Search and look ; 
 for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." John vii. 52. f 
 
 * This is the first time we hear of Nicodemus after his private inter- 
 view with Jesus. John iii. 1-20. Here, after two years and a half, he 
 appears in his seat in the Sanhedrin, confronting the injustice of that 
 body, and all but confessing himself a disciple, of the Son of God. The 
 words of Jesus were not wholly lost upon him. A new element has 
 entered the great Council of the nation, the element of faith and jus- 
 tice, and it breaks up its former unanimity in overbearing wrong. 
 Here is a rallying point for others who are inclining to the right. 
 Joseph of Arimathea at least supports him, and the Council breaks up 
 in disorder. 
 
 t The effects of partial knowledge (when the whole is necessary to a 
 sound judgment) are quite conspicuous in both parties of this learned 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 223 
 
 Having made this reply to Nicodemus, the Council 
 broke up, and Jesus, who knew their malicious inten- 
 tions, retired to the Mount of Olives, where- he spent 
 the night with his disciples. 
 
 Our blessed Lord, early the following morning, re- 
 turned to the temple and again taught the people. The 
 Scribes and Pharisees now determined to render him 
 odious to the multitude, or obnoxious to the Roman 
 governor, and therefore placed before him a woman who 
 had been taken in the act of adultery, desiring his 
 opinion what punishment she ought to suffer. " This 
 woman," said they to Jesus, "was taken in adultery, in 
 the very act. Now, Moses in the law commanded us 
 that such should be stoned ; but what sayest thou ? " 
 John viii. 4, 5. 
 
 Had our Lord disapproved the sentence of the law, 
 they would, doubtless, have represented him to the mul- 
 titude as a person who contradicted Moses and favored 
 adultery which could not have failed of rendering him 
 odious to the people. On the other hand, had he 
 ordered her to be stoned, it would have afforded a 
 plausible pretence for accusing him to the Roman 
 governor as a person who stirred up the people to rebel- 
 lion the Romans having now taken the power of life 
 and death into their own hands. 
 
 But Jesus, who well knew their malicious intentions, 
 
 body, on this occasion. The majority were right in the position that 
 the Messiah must be born in Bethlehem, but wrong in the conclusion 
 that Jesus was no t born there. Perhaps the minority were not pre- 
 pared at the time to prove it from the record of his birth. But when 
 the majority declared that, "Out of Galilee ariseth no prophet," they 
 must have forgotten that Galilee was the birthplace of Jonah, or in 
 the heat of the moment, wilfully ignored it. 
 
224 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 made no answer, but "stooped down, and with his 
 finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them 
 not." John viii. 6. They, however, still continued 
 pressing him to give an answer ; and, at last, Jesus (in 
 allusion to the law, which ordered that the hands of the 
 witnesses by whose testimony an adulterer was con- 
 victed should be the first upon him) said, " He that is 
 without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." 
 Let those who are remarkably zealous for having justice 
 executed upon others at least take care to purify them- 
 selves from all heinous crimes. 
 
 This reply had its desired effect. The hypocritical 
 Scribes and Pharisees were convicted of sin by their own 
 consciences, so that they immediately retired, fearing 
 Jesus would have made their particular sins public. 
 u And they which heard it, being convicted by their 
 own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the 
 eldest, even unto the last." John viii. 9. The woman's 
 accusers being all retired, Jesus told her that as no man 
 had pronounced sentence of death upon her, neither 
 would he pronounce it, but charged her to be very care- 
 ful for the future to avoid the temptations which had in- 
 duced her to commit so black a crime. 
 
 The wisdom, knowledge, and power of our blessed 
 Saviour were eminently displayed on this occasion : his 
 wisdom, in defending himself against the malicious at- 
 tempts of his, enemies; his knowledge, in discovering 
 the secrets of their hearts ; and his power, in making 
 use of their own consciences to render their, artful inten- 
 tions abortive. 
 
 It was therefore with remarkable propriety that the 
 great Redeemer of mankind now called himself the 
 
LIFE OE CHRIST. 225 
 
 " light of the world : " as if he had said, I am the spirit- 
 ual sun, that dispels the darkness of ignorance and 
 superstition in which the minds of men are immersed, 
 and discovers the path that leads to eternal life ; nor 
 shall any who follow me ever be involved in darkness. 
 " I am the light of the world : he that followeth mo 
 shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of 
 life." Johnviii. 12. 
 
 This assertion of our Lord highly provoked the Phari- 
 sees, who told him he must be a deceiver, because he 
 boasted of himself. To which the great Redeemer of 
 mankind replied : You are not to imagine that I called 
 myself the light of the world, from a principle of pride 
 and falsehood: that title justly belongs to me; nor 
 would you yourselves refuse to acknowledge it, did you 
 know from what authority I received my commission, 
 and to whom, when I have executed it, I must return. 
 But of these things ye are totally ignorant, and therefore 
 judge according to outward appearance, and condemn 
 me because I do not destroy those who oppose me, as 
 you vainly think the Messiah will do those who shall 
 refuse to submit to his authority. But the design of 
 the Messiah's coming is very different from your mista- 
 ken notions ; he is not come to destroy, but to save, the 
 children of men. " Though I bear record of myself, yet 
 my record is true; for I know whence I came, and 
 whither I go ; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and 
 whither I go. Ye judge after the flesh : t judge no man.'* 
 John viii. 14, 15. He added that, if he should condemn 
 any person for unbelief, the condemnation would be just, 
 because his mission was true, being confirmed by his own 
 testimony and that of his Almighty Father, the God of 
 
 15 
 
226 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Jacob, by whose authority, and agreeably to whose will, 
 all his sentences would be passed : "And yet if I judge, 
 my judgment is true ; for I am not alone, but I and the 
 Father that sent." John viii. 16. 
 
 Having thus asserted the divinity of his mission, and 
 shown that his judgment was just, he proceeded to inform 
 them that his Father himself bare witness to the truth 
 of his mission. You cannot, said he, justly complain, 
 even if I should punish you for your unbelief, because 
 you are, by your own laws, commanded to believe the 
 testimony of two witnesses that iny mission evidently is 
 true. For the actions of my life, which are perfectly 
 agreeable to the character of a messenger from Heaven, 
 bear sufficient witness of me ; and the Father, by the 
 miracles he has enabled me to perform, beareth witness 
 of me ; ye are therefore altogether culpable in objecting 
 to my mission. " It is also written in your law that the 
 testimony of two men is true. I am one that beareth 
 witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth 
 witness of me." John viii. 17, 18. 
 
 The Jews then asked him, Where is thy Father, the 
 other witness to whom thou appealest ? Jesus replied, 
 Your conduct sufficiently demonstrates that ye are 
 strangers both to me and my Father; for, had ye known 
 who I am, ye must have also known who it is I call my 
 Father; had ye been convinced that I am the Messiah, 
 ye must have also been convinced that the Father is no 
 other than that Omnipotent Being who created and up- 
 holds all things by the word of his power. Then said 
 they unto him, " Where is thy Father ? Jesus answered, 
 Ye neither know me, nor my Father : if ye had known 
 me, ye should have known my Father also." John 
 viii. 19. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 227 
 
 This discourse, the evangelist tells us, was held in the 
 treasury, a court of the temple where the chests were 
 placed for receiving the offerings of all those who canie 
 to worship in the temple, and therefore must have been 
 a place of great resort, being frequented by all, even the 
 priests and rulers. But, notwithstanding the public 
 manner in which our blessed Saviour now asserted his 
 claim to the character of the Messiah, no man attempted 
 to seize him Providence not suffering them to put their 
 malicious designs in execution, because his hour, or the 
 time of his suffering, was not yet come. 
 
 The debate being ended, Jesus again repeated what 
 he had before told them : namely, that he should shortly 
 depart from them, and that they should then seek him, 
 but not be able to find him. " I go my way, and ye 
 shall seek me, and shall die in your sins : whither I go 
 ye cannot come." John viii. 21. As if he had said : 
 After rny ascension into heaven, when the Roman armies 
 shall spread horror and desolation in every corner of the 
 land, ye shall then earnestly wish for the coming of the 
 Messiah, in expectation of being delivered by his power- 
 ful arm from your cruel enemy ; but ye shall then find 
 your mistake ; ye shall die in your sins, and be forever 
 excluded from the mansions of happiness. 
 
 The Jews by no means comprehended the departure 
 of which our Lord told them. They even fancied he 
 would destroy himself, because they thought the only 
 retreat where they could not find him was the gloomy 
 habitation of the grave. To which the blessed Jesus 
 replied, Your vile insinuation discovers at once the 
 wickedness of your hearts and the baseness of your ori- 
 ginal. Ye are from the earth, and therefore subject to 
 
228 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 all the evil passions that infect human nature, the 
 source of temptation to every sin. Ye therefore must 
 believe that I am the bread of life, the heavenly manna, 
 the light of the world, the true Messiah, if ye are desi- 
 rous of being cleansed from those pollutions which flow 
 from your earthly origin; but if you still continue in 
 your unbelief you shall die in your sins. 
 
 The Jews now, in order to vindicate themselves, de 
 manded what sort of a person he pretended to be. To 
 which Jesus answered : " Even the same that I said 
 unto you from the beginning," that is, at the beginning 
 of this discourse, " the light of the world ; " adding, " I 
 have many things to say, and to judge of you; but he 
 that sent me is true ; and I speak to the world those 
 things which I have heard of him." John viii. 26. 
 
 This discourse, however plain it may appear, was not 
 understood by the perverse Jews : they did not perceive 
 that he spake to them of the Father. But Jesus told 
 them, that when they crucified him, they would be con- 
 vinced by the miracles accompanying and following that 
 awful hour the resurrection from the dead, the effusion 
 of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, and the destruction 
 of the Jewish nation who he was, and the Father that 
 sent him. " When ye have lifted up the Son of -man, 
 then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing 
 of myself; but as my Father hath taught me I speak 
 these things." John viii. 28. 
 
 He added that, though he should be crucified and a 
 malefactor, that punishment would not be inflicted on 
 him as a consequence of being deserted by his Father ; 
 because he would never leave him in any period of his 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 229 
 
 sufferings, or even at the hour of his death, as he always 
 acted agreeably to his will. 
 
 These words induced many of the people to believe 
 him to be the Messiah. Perhaps by lifting him up they 
 did not understand his crucifixion, but his ascension to 
 the throne of David ; and hence supposed that he now 
 entertained sentiments worthy of the Messiah, and were 
 therefore very ready to acknowledge him as such and 
 believe the doctrine he had delivered concerning his 
 mission. But Jesus told them that if they persevered 
 in the belief and practice of his word they should in 
 reality become his disciples, have a title to that honor- 
 able appellation, be fully instructed in every doctrine of 
 the gospel, and forever freed from the slavery of sin and 
 its consequences. " If ye continue in my word, then 
 are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the 
 truth, and the truth shall make you free." John viii. 
 31, 32. 
 
 The Jews on hearing him mention that they should 
 be made free, answered, " We be Abraham's seed, and 
 were never in bondage to any man." This assertion, if 
 taken literally, was absolutely false, the whole nation 
 at that very time being in bondage to the Komans ; nor 
 were their ancestors any strangers to slavery, having 
 severely felt the hand of tyranny in Egypt, Assyria, 
 and Babylon. The expression, therefore, according to 
 some writers, must be taken in a metaphorical sense, to 
 signify spiritual bondage : it was a freedom by truth, a 
 freedom in respect of religion, which they now asserted. 
 They meant that they were the descendants of illustrious 
 ancestors, and during the worst of times, had preserved 
 sentiments in religion and government worthy the pos- 
 
230 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 terity of Abraham ; nor had the hottest persecution of 
 the Assyrian kings been able to compel them to embrace 
 the religion of the heathen.* In respect of truth, " We 
 were never in bondage to any man : how sayest thou, 
 Ye shall be made free?." 
 
 In answer to this question, Jesus told them that those 
 who gave themselves up to the practice of sin and the 
 gratification of their sinful appetites were absolute slaves ; 
 and how far they might deserve that appellation it was 
 incumbent on them to consider. " Verily, verily, I say 
 unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of 
 sin." And as a slave cannot be assured of the contin- 
 uance of his master's favor, or be certain of abiding con- 
 tinually in the family, so my Father can, when he 
 pleases, discard such habitual sinners, and deprive you 
 of the external economy of religion, of which you so 
 highly boast, as you have, through sin, rendered your- 
 selves bondmen to his justice. If ye are desirous of be- 
 coming the children of God, and of remaining forever in 
 his family, you must submit to the authority of his Son 
 and embrace his doctrine, which will induce him to 
 adopt you as co-heirs with himself. It is he only that 
 can make you free indeed, and place you in the city of 
 the heavenly Jerusalem, without the least danger of 
 
 * The general phrase, "Assyrian Kings, "here includes Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, King of Babylon, Darius the Mede, and Antiochus Epiphanes, 
 King of Syria, all of whom, at different times, held dominion over the 
 territory of ancient Assyria, and by persecuting edicts put the fidelity of 
 the Jews to the true God to the extreme limit of mortal trial. Daniel 
 and his three friends were delivered from death only by special miracle, 
 designed for the conviction of the heathen ; but multitudes, in the 
 time of the Maccabees, cheerfully underwent torture and death for the 
 sake of their religion. Heb. xi. 33-38. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 231 
 
 being removed. I well know that you are, in a natural 
 sense, the seed of Abraham, but, in a moral one, the 
 offspring of Satan ; for many of you are desirous of de- 
 stroying me, because I enjoy a greater degree of sanctity 
 than you are willing to acquire. "I know that ye are 
 Abraham's seed ; but ye seek to kill me, because my 
 word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have 
 seen with my Father ; and ye do that which ye have 
 seen with your father. They answered and said unto 
 him, Abraham is our father." John viii. 37-39. 
 
 Notwithstanding their claim to immediate descent 
 from the father of the faithful, Jesus told them that if 
 they were the spiritual progeny of Abraham they would 
 resemble that great and good man in his righteousness, 
 and therefore, instead of endeavoring to take away the 
 life of a person who came with a revelation from God, 
 they would believe on him, in imitation of Abraham, 
 who was justly styled the father of the faithful, and the 
 friend of God. "If ye were Abraham's children, ye 
 would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill 
 me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have 
 heard of God : this did not Abraham." John viii. 39, 40. 
 
 The Jews, incensed at our Lord, rushed on him and 
 attempted to stone him; but Jesus, by miraculously 
 concealing himself, passed unhurt through the* crowd, 
 and retired out of the temple. With what patience did 
 our blessed Redeemer bear, and with what "meekness 
 of wisdom" did he answer, the most virulent and oppro- 
 brious language ! And shall we too keenly resent the 
 reflections that are thrown upon us? May but our 
 consciences witness for us, and we need not fear all that 
 are against us 
 
232 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 OUR LORD CONTINUES TO WORK MIRACLES IN CONFIRMATION 
 OF HIS MISSION AND DOCTRINE CALLS FORTH AND SENDS 
 
 OUT SEVENTY DISCIPLES PREACHES TO THE PEOPLE OF 
 
 JUDEA, BY WAY OF PARABLE. 
 
 THE great Preacher of Israel, having defeated the 
 cruel designs of the obstinate Jews, in passing on his 
 way, saw a man who had been blind from his birth. 
 The sight of so affecting an object could not fail to excite 
 the compassion of the benevolent Saviour of mankind. 
 Nor could the affronts and indignities he had just re- 
 ceived from the Jews hinder him from " working the 
 works of him that sent him," and dispensing blessings 
 on that rebellious and ungrateful nation. Accordingly, 
 he beheld this poor blind man, not with a transient 
 view, but fixed on him the eyes of pity and presented 
 him with the riches of his adorable love. 
 
 The disciples, observing the affectionate regard of 
 their Master to this object of compassion, and probably 
 imagining that he was going to extend his usual mercy 
 to this unfortunate object, asked their Master whether 
 his blindness was occasioned by his own sin, or the sin 
 of his parents. They had often heard their Master say 
 that afflictions were commonly the punishment of par- 
 ticular sins, and had learned, from the law of Moses, 
 that sin was the fruitful source of evil, and that the 
 Lord punished the iniquities of the fathers upon the 
 children. Their Master kindly answered that neither 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 233 
 
 his own * nor the sins of the parents were the immediate 
 cause of this peculiar affliction, but that he was born 
 blind " that the works of God should be made manifest 
 in him," particularly his sovereignty in bringing him 
 blind into the world, his power in conferring the faculty 
 of sight upon him, and his goodness in bearing witness 
 to the doctrine by which men are to be saved. 
 
 We may learn, by this pertinent reply of the Saviour 
 of the world, that a curious inquiry into the cause of 
 
 * The hypothesis of the pre-existence, fall, and transmigration of 
 souls, is of heathen origin, of great antiquity, and of very wide diffu- 
 sion. It probably sprang up in Egypt, as it is found in the hieroglyphic 
 "Book of the Dead," laid on the breasts of mummies, embalmed 
 (according to Mr. Gliddon) four thousand years ago, or before the age 
 of Abraham. Thence it spread into Europe and into Asia, where it 
 forms at this day a leading element in the doctrine of Buddhism. 
 
 As a philosophical theory to account for the origin of evil it has 
 little value, or rather none whatever, though a few modern thinkers in 
 the Christian church have endeavored to revive it. For, 1. It is 
 unnecessary. 2. It is but a supposition, unsupported by any positive 
 facts. 3. It merely removes the difficulties farther back without 
 relieving them. 4. It generates a mass of superstition, by an unavoida- 
 ble necessity. 5. It sets aside or contradicts the plain teachings of 
 Scripture. 6. No mind, trained in the truth of Divine Revelation, and 
 accustomed to revere it as of supreme authority, can adopt this theory 
 without loosening the foundations of evangelical faith. 
 
 Yet it seems, from the form of the inquiry proposed by the disciples 
 of Jesus in the case of the blind man, that this heathen doctrine was 
 not entirely unknown to them, and that it blended in their imagination 
 with a doctrine more Scriptural -the connection of children with their 
 parents. The answer of our Lord denies altogether the heathen doc- 
 trine, and mercifully limits the application of the true doctrine to 
 obvious and ascertainable causes. "What a world of mischief and 
 misery is thus swept away ! Moreover, by teaching us to regard the 
 evils of birth not merely as deplorable accidents, but as special elements 
 of human trial and occasions of developing new forms of virtue and of 
 Divine beneficence, it forms and nourishes the habit of searching for 
 the hidden good entwined with the tangled web of human life. 
 
234 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 afflictions in other men may be safely avoided, and that 
 we ought to suppose every calamity subservient to the 
 glory of Omnipotence never imputing to their personal 
 sins whatever miseries we behold in others, lest, like 
 the disciples in the present case, we assign to sin what 
 owes its origin to the glory of our Maker. 
 
 Having assigned the cause of this person's blindness, 
 namely, " that the works of God should be made mani- 
 fest in him," Jesus added, " I must work the works of 
 him that sent me while it is day : the night cometh 
 when no man can work," John ix. 4 ; intimating to his 
 disciples, and all the sons of men, his unwearied labor 
 in the work of his Almighty Father. In this he was 
 employed day and night during the time of his sojourn- 
 ing in the flesh. To this alone he directed all his 
 thoughts and all his intentions. This he esteemed even 
 as his meat and drink; and for this he suffered the 
 neglect of his ordinary food, that he might finish the 
 blessed, the benevolent work of human salvation a 
 work to accomplish which he left the courts of heaven, 
 and, during the execution of it, went about doing good. 
 
 It was now the Sabbath day, and the blessed Jesus 
 told his disciples that they need not be surprised to see 
 him work miracles of that kind on the Sabbath day. 
 For, though they should imagine that he might defer 
 them till the day of rest was over, his time on earth 
 was so short that it was necessary for him to embrace 
 every opportunity that offered of working miracles. 
 Perhaps he chose to perform this work on the Sabbath 
 because he knew the Pharisees would, for that reason, 
 inquire into it with the utmost attention, and con- 
 sequently render it more generally known. But, how- 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 235 
 
 ever this be, our blessed Saviour, who was now going 
 to confer sight on one that was born blind, took occasion 
 from thence to speak of himself as one appointed to give 
 light also to the minds of men involved in darkness : 
 " As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the 
 world." John ix. 5. 
 
 Having declared the salutary design of his coming 
 into the world, " he spat on the ground, and made clay 
 of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man 
 with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool 
 of Siloam * (which is, by interpretation, Sent). He 
 went his way, therefore, and washed, and came seeing." 
 John ix. 6, 7. 
 
 This miraculous operation could not fail of producing 
 a general curiosity and surprise : it induced those who 
 had seen this blind man in his dark and deplorable con- 
 dition to be very particular in their inquiries into the 
 means of so singular a miracle. It was doubtless the 
 subject of general conversation, and, it is natural to 
 
 * The Pool of Siloam (or Shiloh) is situated at the base of the hill 
 Ophel, a spur of Mount Moriah on the southeast of Jerusalem. It is now 
 an artificial stone reservoir, fifty-three feet long, eighteen broad, and 
 nineteen deep. Steps descend into it to the surface of the water, which 
 is allowed to run off when three or four feet from the bottom. It is 
 fed by the fountain of the same name, issuing from the cliff above the 
 pool. The water flows softly, is sweet and clear, and is used for wash- 
 ing clothes, and other public purposes. 
 
 The use of the clay on this occasion was so singular, that we naturally 
 ask why Jesus should resort to it, instead of curing him with a word. 
 It had several advantages : 1. It made a special trial for the man's 
 faith and obedience in going to the pool to wash. 2. It attracted gene- 
 ral attention to his extraordinary case. 3. It allowed Jesus opportu- 
 nity to retire from the excited crowd. 4. It added special force to the 
 blind man's subsequent testimony to Jesus, whom he had heard and 
 Jelt, but had not yet seen. 
 
236 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 think, should also have proved the means of a general 
 conversation ; but, as it too frequently happens, a per- 
 verse curiosity prevented its salutary effects upon their 
 souls. Unbelief, and hardness of heart, led some of them 
 even to doubt of the plainest fact a fact the most evi- 
 dent and indisputable, and plainly the work of the 
 Divinity and others, to persecute at once both the 
 object and the author of it ! " The neighbors, therefore, 
 and they which before had seen him that he was blind, 
 said, Is not this he that sat and begged ? Some said, 
 This is he ; others said, He is like him ; but he said, I 
 am he." John ix. 8, 9. The man, transported with 
 gratitude and joy, and perceiving his neighbors to doubt 
 the identity of his person, proclaimed himself to be the 
 very same whom they lately saw begging in total dark- 
 ness. I am he thus wonderfully blest with sight by 
 the peculiar mere}' of the Almighty ! I am he who 
 was blind from my birth, whom ye have all seen and 
 many relieved in my miserable distress ! * I am he who 
 was, even from my mother's womb, involved in total 
 darkness, but now enjoy the enlivening light of day. 
 
 So ingenuous an acknowledgment of the fact excited 
 their curiosity to know how this admirable effect was 
 produced. " How were thine eyes opened ? " To this 
 question he readily replied, " A man that is called Jesus 
 made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, 
 Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash ; and I went and 
 washed, and I received sight." John ix. 11. They 
 then asked him where the person was who had per- 
 formed so stupendous a work. To which the man 
 answered, " I know not ;" for Jesus had retired while 
 the man went to wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 237 
 
 probably to avoid the applauses which would naturally 
 have been given him, and which, we see through the 
 whole gospel, he generally studied to avoid. 
 
 The neighbors, either stimulated by envy or excited 
 by a desire of having the truth of this extraordinary 
 event searched to the bottom, brought the man before 
 the Council, as the proper judges of this affair. Accord- 
 ingly, he was no sooner placed before the assembly than 
 the Pharisees began to question him, " how he had re- 
 covered his sight." Not daunted by this awful assembly, 
 though terrible to a man of his mean circumstances, he 
 boldly answered, " He put clay on mine eyes, and I 
 washed, and do see." John ix. 15. 
 
 On hearing this account of the miracle, the Pharisees 
 declared that the author of it nrnst be an impostor, be- 
 cause he had, by performing of it, violated the Sabbath 
 day. But others, more candid in their way of thinking, 
 gave it as their opinion that no deceiver could possibly 
 work a miracle of that kind, because it was too great 
 and beneficial for an evil being to have either the inclina- 
 tion or power to perform. 
 
 The court being thus divided in their opinions with 
 regard to the character of Jesus, they asked the man 
 himself what he thought of the person who had con- 
 ferred on him the blessing of sight. To which he plainly 
 and boldly answered, " He is a prophet." But the Jews, 
 wanting to prove the whole a cheat, started another 
 objection, namely, that this person was not born blind, 
 though all his neighbors had really testified to the truth 
 of it. Accordingly, they called his parents, and asked 
 them whether he was their son, if he had been born blind, 
 and by what means he had obtained his sight. To which 
 
238 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 they answered that he was truly their son, and had been 
 born blind ; but with regard to the manner in which he 
 received his sight, and the person who had conferred it 
 on him, they could give no information : their son was 
 of age, and he should answer for himself. " These 
 words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews ; 
 for the Jews had agreed already that if any man did 
 confess that he was Christ he should be put out of the 
 synagogue." John ix. 22. 
 
 The seventy disciples, having received their instruc- 
 tions, and the power of working miracles, from the 
 Messiah, departed to execute their important commission 
 in the cities and villages of Judea and Perea. And, 
 after visiting the several places, publishing the glad 
 tidings of salvation, and" working many miracles in con- 
 firmation of their mission, they returned to their Master 
 with great joy, saying, " Lord, even the devils are subject 
 unto us through thy name ! " 
 
 From this appeal, it seems that they knew not the 
 extent of their delegated power, and were pleasingly 
 surprised to find the apostate spirits trembling at their 
 command. To which their great Master replied, "I 
 beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." You will 
 be no longer astonished that the devils are subject to 
 the power I have given you, when I tell you their prince 
 is not able to stand before me ; and accordingly, when I 
 first put on ,the vail of human nature, to destroy him 
 and his works, I saw him, with the swiftness of the 
 lightning's flash fall from heaven : adding, in order to 
 increase their joy, and prove that he had really cast 
 Satan down from the seat of heaven, that he would 
 increase their power. " Behold," says he, " I give unto 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 239 
 
 you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over 
 all the power of the enemy ; and nothing shall by any 
 means hurt you." Luke x. 19. 
 
 Lest they should exult beyond measure in the honor 
 thus conferred on them, which was merely temporary, 
 our Lord adds, " Notwithstanding, in this rejoice not, 
 that the spirits are subject unto you ; but rather rejoice 
 because your names are written in heaven." Luke x. 20. 
 
 Nor could the blessed Jesus reflect on the unsearchable 
 wisdom and goodness of the divine dispensations to 
 mankind, without feeling extraordinary joy ; so that his 
 beneficent heart overflowed with strains of gratitude : 
 "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, 
 that thou hast hid these things from the wise and pru- 
 dent, and hast revealed them unto babes : even so, 
 Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." Luke x. 21. 
 
 When the seventy disciples had executed their com- 
 mission, Jesus was met in the way by a certain lawyer, 
 or scribe, who, being desirous of knowing whether the 
 doctrines preached by Jesus were the same with those 
 before delivered by Moses, asked him, What he should 
 do to inherit eternal life ? It is really amazing that any 
 mortal should ask a question like this with a view to 
 tempt, not to be instructed. This was, however, the 
 case ; but the blessed Jesus, though no stranger to the 
 most secret thoughts of the heart, did not reply, as he 
 had before done to the Pharisees, " Why temptest thou 
 me, thou hypocrite?" He turned the scribe's weapons 
 against himself: What, says he, is written in the law, 
 of which thou professest thyself a teacher ? " How 
 readest thou?" That law will teach thee what thou 
 must do, and happy will it be for thee if thou compliest 
 
240 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 with its precepts. The scribe answered, It is there 
 written, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
 thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
 strength, and with all .thy mind ; and thy neighbor as 
 thyself." Luke x. 27. 
 
 Our Lord then shows the strength and spirituality of 
 the law : " Thou hast answered right : this do, and thou 
 shalt live." Perform these commands, and thou hast 
 fulfilled the duties of an Israelite; for on these two 
 commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 
 
 Where is the man that can fulfil the law? The 
 lawyer, who in all probability expected no such answer, 
 being conscious of his defects, and consequently of the 
 impossibility of obtaining eternal life on those condi- 
 tions, was willing, as the sacred historian informs us, " to 
 justify himself;" was willing to stifle the rising sugges- 
 tions of his own conscience, and, at the same time, to 
 make a show of his own devotion ; and, in order to do 
 this, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" a 
 question very likely to be asked by a bigoted Jew, whose 
 narrow notions led him to despise all who were not of 
 his own fold all who were not the natural descendants 
 of his father Abraham. 
 
 To remove their obstinate attachment to their own 
 principles, open their hearts to a more generous and 
 noble way of thinking, and show them the only founda- 
 tion of true love, and the extensive relation they and all 
 mankind stand in to each other, our Saviour delivered 
 the following most beautiful and instructive parable : 
 
 A certain person, in his journey from Jerusalem to 
 Jericho,* had the misfortune to fall into the hands of 
 
 * The city of Jericho lay in the deep valley of the Jordan, eighteen 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 241 
 
 robbers, who, not content with taking his money, stripped 
 him of his raiment, beat him in a deplorable manner, 
 and left him for dead. While he .continued in this 
 miserable condition, utterly incapable of assisting him- 
 self, a certain priest happened to travel the same road, 
 " and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 
 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came 
 and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.'* 
 So little compassion had these ministers of religion for a 
 brother in the most deplorable circumstances of distress, 
 that they continued their journey, without offering to 
 assist so miserable an object, notwithstanding their sacred 
 characters obliged them to perform, on every occasion, 
 the tender offices of charity and compassion. It was a 
 brother, a descendant of Abraham, in distress, and there- 
 fore, these hypocrites could offer no reasons to palliate 
 their inhumanity. Their stony hearts could behold the 
 affecting object of an unfortunate Israelite, lying on the 
 road naked and cruelly wounded, without being the 
 least affected with his distress. 
 
 miles northeast from Jerusalem. Its climate is tropical, and hence it 
 was called "the city of palm trees." Between it and the river lay 
 "the plain of Jericho," seven miles wide, and anciently very fruitful. 
 Behind it, to the north and west, rose up a chain of steep and lofty 
 hills, one of which, Quarantana, is from twelve hundred to fifteen hun- 
 dred feet high, and takes its name from being supposed to be the scene 
 of our Lord's forty days' fast and temptation. 
 
 The road from Jericho to Jerusalem is singularly wild, steep, and 
 toilsome, as it ascends about three thousand feet in eighteen miles ; 
 and winds among desolate hills and deep ravines, volcanic rocks, nar- 
 row denies, and gloomy caverns. These places have been, in ancient 
 as well as in modern times, the haunts of robbers ; so that few venture 
 to traverse the road except in caravans, or with a military guard. This 
 fact gives a singularforce to the parable of the Good Samaritan. 
 16 
 
242 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Though these teachers of religion were hypocrites, and 
 wholly destitute of grace and charity, compassion glowed 
 in the heart of a Samaritan, who, coming to the spot 
 where this helpless object lay, rari to him ; and though 
 he found him to be a person of a different nation, and 
 one who professed a religion opposite to his own, yet 
 the hatred which had been instilled into his mind from 
 his earliest years, and every objection arising from the 
 animosity subsisting between the Jews and Samaritans, 
 were immediately silenced by the tender sensations of 
 pity awakened by the sight of such complicated distress ; 
 his bowels yearned toward the miserable object ; though 
 a Jew, he flew to him, and assisted him in the most 
 tender manner.* 
 
 It was the custom in these eastern countries for trav- 
 ellers to carry their provision with them ; so that this 
 compassionate Samaritan was enabled, though in the 
 desert, to give the wounded man a little wine to recruit 
 his spirits. He also bound up his wounds, pouring into 
 them wine and oil, placed him on his own beast, and 
 walked himself on foot to support him. In this manner 
 he conducted him to an inn, took care of him during 
 the night, and in the morning, when business called him 
 to pursue his journey, recommended him to the care of 
 the host, left what money he could spare, and desired 
 that nothing might be denied him; for whatever was 
 expended he would repay at his return. 
 
 Having finished the parable, Jesus turned himself to 
 
 * If we bear in mind that our Lord, only a short time before, had 
 been very ill treated in a Samaritan village, because his face was set 
 toward Jerusalem, we cannot fail to admire the kindness to that 
 despised people which breathes through this parable, and has made the 
 history of the "Good Samaritan " immortal. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 243 
 
 the lawyer, and asked him, " Which now of these three, 
 thinkest thou, was neighbor to him that fell among 
 thieves ? " The lawyer, struck with the truth and evi- 
 dence of the case, replied, without the least hesitation, 
 " He that showed mercy unto him." Upon which Jesus 
 replied, " Go, and do thou likewise." Perform all the 
 good offices in thy power, extend thy kindness to every 
 one who stands in need of thy assistance, whether he 
 be an Israelite, a heathen, or a Samaritan. Consider 
 every man as thy neighbor in respect to works of charity, 
 and make no inquiry with regard to his country or reli- 
 gion, but with regard to his circumstances. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE HUMBLE JESUS RESIDES WITH MARTHA AND MARY, TWO 
 OBSCURE WOMEN OF BETHANY IMPROVES A CIRCUMSTANCE 
 WHICH OCCURRED AT THE FEAST OF DEDICATION PRE- 
 SCRIBES A MODE OF PRAYER TO HIS DISCIPLES AND FUTURE 
 FOLLOWERS REVISITS SOME OF THE PHARISAICAL TRIBE. 
 
 THE Feast of Dedication * approaching, Jesus turned 
 his course toward Jerusalem, and in the evening came 
 
 * Besides the three annual religious festivals the Passover, Pente- 
 cost, and the feast of Tabernacles established by divine authority at 
 the beginning of their national existence, the Jews observed two others 
 of later origin, in commemoration of two great events in their national 
 history. These were the Feast of PITRIM (or Lots), which dates from 
 the year of their deliverance from the deadly plots of Hainan (Esther 
 ix. 17-82) ; and the Feast of Dedication, which dates from the cleans- 
 
244 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 to the house of Martha and Mary, the sisters of Laza- 
 rus, at Bethany.* Martha was desirous of expressing 
 her regard for the divine guest by providing for him 
 and his disciples the best entertainment in her power. 
 But her sister, who was of a more contemplative dispo- 
 sition, sat at the feet of Jesus, listening with the utmost 
 attention to his doctrine ; for the great Redeemer of 
 mankind never omitted any opportunity of declaring 
 the gracious offers of the Almighty and his unspeakable 
 love for the children of men. Martha, being greatly 
 fatigued with the burden of the service, complained to 
 Jesus of the little care Mary took to assist her. " Lord, 
 dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve 
 alone ? Bid her therefore that she help me." Luke x. 40. 
 But Martha's officiousness incurred our Lord's reproof, 
 who commended Mary for her attentive application to 
 his doctrine : " Martha, Martha, thou art careful and 
 troubled about many things : but one thing is needful : 
 and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not 
 be taken away from her."f Luke x. 41. 
 
 ing and restoration of the temple, after its three years of pollution by 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, B. c. 164. 
 
 The Feast of Purim was celebrated in March, the Feast of Dedica- 
 tion in December, of our reckoning. The former was held for two 
 days only ; the latter for eight. The celebration of these feasts, though 
 not obligatory, like those of divine institution, drew together vast 
 crowds of the people to the Temple at Jerusalem, and furnished a fit- 
 ting occasion for the Redeemer to instruct them in the great truths of 
 salvation. 
 
 * Bethany was a small village about two miles from Jerusalem, on 
 the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, on the road to Jericho. 
 
 Nothing in this passage apprises us that this was the Saviour's first 
 visit to this interesting family, as is generally supposed. On the con- 
 trary, the language of the evangelist John indicates a friendship of 
 long standing. John xi. 5. 
 
 t Both Martha and Mary appear to have been women of sincere 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 245 
 
 When Jesus repaired to Jerusalem to celebrate the 
 Feast of Dedication, he was informed that the beggar he 
 had restored to sight had been, by the Council, cast out 
 of the synagogue.* This information excited the pity 
 of the Son of God ; and he resolved to make him full 
 amends for the injury he had suffered. It was not long 
 before he met the suffering person, and said to him, 
 " Dost thou believe on the Son of God ? He answered 
 and said, Who is he. Lord, that I might believe on him ? 
 Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and 
 it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I 
 believe. And he worshipped him." John ix. 35. 
 
 We have hinted before that the beggar was thoroughly 
 convinced the person who opened his eyes was a mes- 
 senger from heaven. It is therefore no wonder that, 
 as soon as he knew Jesus was the person who had per- 
 formed so great a work, he readily believed him to be 
 the Son of God. 
 
 Our Saviour, having thus given the poor man ample 
 
 piety ; but in this case our Saviour's reproof is too emphatic to leave a 
 doubt of his displeasure -at her anxious preparations for his entertain- 
 ment. In comparison with her sister she was worldly-minded. Jesus 
 would have .been far better pleased with a simple meal, and more 
 elevated spiritual tastes in her soul. This is the very point of the pas- 
 sage, and it is of every-day application. "The good part" here, is 
 increase of piety by closer communion with Christ, and this cannot be 
 had unless we redeem the time from worldly cares. 
 
 * The cure of this blind man was in October, on the last day of the 
 Feast of Tabernacles. It seems a long time to suppose that Jesus did 
 not make himself known to him until the Feast of Dedication, three 
 months after. We rather incline to believe that these events and dis- 
 courses belong to the day of the cure ; and this seems to be the opinion 
 of the best critics, as Olshausen and others. The miraculous escape 
 of Jesus, and the more marvellous cure of the man born blind, diverted 
 for the time the outbreak of fury that would have taken the life of 
 the Redeemer. 
 
246 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 proof of his Messiahship, directed his discourse to the 
 people and said unto them, " For judgment I am come 
 into this world ; that they which see not might see, and 
 that they which see might be made blind." John ix. 39. 
 The meaning of our Saviour, though he alluded to the 
 blind man, was spiritual. He did not intend to repre- 
 sent the design of his coming, but the effect it would 
 have on the minds of men ; as it would demonstrate 
 what character and disposition every person possessed. 
 The humble, the docile, and the honest, though they 
 were immersed in the night of darkness with regard to 
 religion and the knowledge of the Scriptures, should be 
 enlightened by his coming, as the blind man had enjoyed 
 the invaluable gift of sight from his hands ; but those 
 who were wise, learned, and enlightened in their own 
 opinion, should appear in their true character, absolutely 
 ignorant, foolish, and blind. 
 
 The Pharisees who happened to be present when he 
 spake these words to the people, imagined that he in- 
 tended to throw a reflection on their sect, which the 
 common people, from their skill in the law, held in 
 great veneration. Accordingly, they asked him, with 
 disdain, " Are we blind also ? " Dost thou place us, who 
 are teachers, and have taken such pains to acquire the 
 knowledge of the Scriptures, on a level with the vulgar ? 
 To which Jesus answered, " If ye were blind, ye should 
 have no sin : but now ye say, We see ; therefore your 
 sin remaineth." If ye had not enjoyed the faculties 
 and opportunities of discerning the proofs of my mission, 
 you might have been considered as blind, but as ye are 
 superior to the vulgar in point of learning, and at the 
 same time, your hearts averse from acknowledging the 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 247 
 
 truth, your enlightened understanding will only aggra- 
 vate your guilt. 
 
 Having condemned the obstinacy and prejudice of the 
 sect in rejecting the most evident tokens of the divinity 
 of his mission, he continued the reproof, by describing 
 the character of a true and false teacher. It was our 
 Lord's custom always to allude to objects before him ; 
 and, being now in the outer courts of the temple, near 
 the sheep, which were there exposed to sale for sacri- 
 fice, he compared the teachers among the Jews to shep- 
 herds, and the people to sheep a metaphor often used 
 by the old prophets. He considered two kinds of bad 
 shepherds, or teachers the one, who, instead of enter- 
 ing in by the door to lead the flocks to the richest pas- 
 tures, entered some other way, with an intention only 
 to kill, to steal, and to destroy ; the other, who, though 
 they entered by the door to feed their flocks, with the 
 dispositions of hirelings, yet when the wolf appeared 
 they deserted the sheep, having no love for any but them- 
 selves. By the former he plainly alluded to the Phari- 
 sees, who had cast the man born blind out of the 
 synagogue for no other reason than because he would 
 not act contrary to the dictates of his conscience and 
 agree with them in declaring Jesus to be an impostor.* 
 But though they had cast him out of their church, 
 Christ received him into his, which is the true church, 
 
 * There were many synagogues in Jerusalem (forty, it is said), but 
 they were all under the general care and government of the Sanhedrin. 
 Hence, exclusion from one implied exclusion from all, as they were 
 subject to a general law throughout Palestine, if not beyond its bounda- 
 ries. When Saul of Tarsus went to Damascus as a persecutor, he took 
 letters from the high priest at Jerusalem, though Damascus was 
 beyond the limits of Palestine. 
 
248 - LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 the spiritual enclosure, where the sheep go in and out 
 and find pasture. 
 
 To illustrate the allusion, it should be observed that 
 the sheep which were brought to be sold were enclosed 
 in little folds, within the outer court of the temple ; so 
 that the shepherd himself could not enter till the porter 
 had opened the door. And from this circumstance the 
 following parabolical discourse may be easily understood : 
 " Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not 
 by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some 
 other way, the same is -a thief and a robber." John 
 x. 1. Believe me, that whosoever, in any age of the 
 church, assumed the office of a teacher, without a com- 
 mission from me, was a thief and a robber ; and in the 
 present age he is no better who assumes that office with- 
 out my commission, and particularly without believing 
 on me. " But he that entereth in by the door is the 
 shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth ; 
 and the sheep hear his voice ; and he calleth his own 
 sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he 
 putteth forth his own sheep he goeth before them, and 
 the sheep follow him ; for they know his voice." John 
 x. 2-4. 
 
 The doctrine here inculcated is, that good men are 
 obedient to the instructions of true and faithful teachers, 
 who, in every case, show them their duty with the 
 greatest plainness, not concealing it because it may be 
 disagreeable to their inclinations. 
 
 The Feast of Dedication being now over, Jesus de- 
 parted from Jerusalem, and retired into the parts of 
 Perea beyond Jordan.* Here his ministry was attended 
 
 * Perea was that large district east of the river Jordan, which was 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 249 
 
 with great success ; for the inhabitants of the country, 
 remembering what had been told them by John the 
 Baptist concerning Jesus, and being sensible that the 
 doctrine and miracles of our blessed Saviour were fully 
 equal to what the Baptist had foretold, firmly believed 
 him to be the Messiah. 
 
 According to this supposition, which seems to be the 
 most agreeable to reason, the inhabitants of these coun- 
 tries enjoyed the doctrines and miracles of the Son of 
 God for a very considerable time. But, however this 
 may be, the evangelist tells us that while he was execu- 
 ting his ministry beyond Jordan he happened to pray 
 publicly, with such fervency that one of his disciples, 
 who was exceedingly affected both with the matter and 
 manner of his address, begged he would teach them to 
 pray. " And it came to pass, that as he was praying 
 in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples 
 said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also 
 taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye 
 pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed 
 be thy name : Thy kingdom come : Thy will be done, 
 as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our 
 daily bread : and forgive us our sins ; for we also forgive 
 
 originally allotted to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe 
 of Manasseh. For three hundred years before the Assyrian captivity, 
 it was extended by conquest eastward to the very banks of the Euphrates 
 an extreme breadth of more than a hundred miles. 1 Chron. v. 10-22. 
 The boundaries of Perea in our Saviour's time are not easily defined, 
 as the vast region "beyond Jordan," as it was termed, was broken up 
 into several divisions, under different jurisdictions, from Mount Her- 
 mon on the north to Mount Seir on the south. Perea itself was under 
 the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas, from the Sea of Galilee to the 
 Dead Sea. 
 
250 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 every one that is indebted to us : and lead us not into 
 temptation ; but deliver us from evil." Luke xi. 1 4. 
 
 Soon after our blessed Saviour cast out a devil, wben 
 some who were present ascribed the miracle to Beelzebub. 
 "And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. 
 And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the 
 dumb spake ; and the people wondered. But some of 
 them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the 
 prince of the devils." Luke xi. 14, 15. However strange 
 this argument may seem, and however weak and absurd 
 it must appear to impartial judges, yet it had a con- 
 siderable effect on illiterate persons, especially on those 
 whose prejudices and interests it favored. The Phari- 
 sees pretended that as Jesus had all along been at great 
 pains to oppose the traditions which most of the teach- 
 ers of that age considered as the essentials of religion 
 and the principal branches of piety, he must be a very 
 wicked person. 
 
 They also insisted that a false prophet had the power 
 of working signs and wonders, and thence that our Sa- 
 viour performed all his miracles by the assistance of 
 evil spirits, with an intention to turn the people from 
 the worship of the true God. 
 
 Another pretended reason for ascribing his miracles 
 to evil spirits was that the demons themselves, when 
 they departed out of the persons possessed, honored him 
 with the title of Messiah. 
 
 Their arguments, though evidently founded on false- 
 hood, contributed largely to the infidelity of the Jews ; 
 and however we may be surprised that such weak rea- 
 sons should have any effect, considering what multitudes 
 were witnesses of the many miracles the blessed Jesus 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 251 
 
 performed on the sick of all sorts ; on the blind, the deaf, 
 the dumb, the maimed, the lame ; on paralytics, lunatics, 
 demoniacs, and other miserable objects nay, on the 
 dead, whom he raised again to life, on the winds and 
 the seas, in a word, on every part of nature yet expe- 
 rience hath abundantly convinced us that, notwithstand- 
 ing all these evidences, their own superstitious opinions 
 fixed that headstrong people in their infidelity. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 EXPLANATION OF THE ORIGIN AND OPINIONS OF THE DIFFER- 
 ENT SECTS AMONG THE JEWS OUR LORD TEACHES THE 
 
 MULTITUDE BY PLAIN DISCOURSE, AND ALSO BY PARABLES. 
 
 HAVING undertaken to write the history of the life of 
 our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we cannot 
 omit a distinct account of the different sects of the Jews, 
 a people with whom he was most intimately concerned, 
 both as a necessary elucidation of many circumstances, 
 as well as an important verification of many things 
 foretold concerning the Messiah. 
 
 Josephus reckons four principal sects among the Jews 
 namely, the Pharisees, the Sadducees (called also 
 Herodians), the Essenes, and the Galileans. The evan- 
 gelists, however, mention only two, the Pharisees and 
 Sadducees. 
 
 The rise of the Pharisees is unknown. They claim, 
 indeed, the celebrated Hillel for their founder. He is 
 
252 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 by some supposed to have lived during the pontificate 
 of Jonathan, about a hundred and fifty years before the 
 birth of Christ; but others, with more reason, suppose 
 that he was cotemporary with the famous Someas, who 
 lived about the time of Herod, long before whom the 
 sect of the Pharisees was in high repute. It is, there- 
 fore, probable that they claim Hillel rather as an orna- 
 ment than as the author of the sect. 
 
 One of the most famous tenets of the Pharisees was 
 that of an Oral Tradition handed down from Moses, and 
 to which they attributed the same divine authority as 
 to the sacred books. This being strenuously opposed by 
 the Sadducees and Samaritans, rendered these equally 
 detested by them. But none more incurred their hatred 
 than the blessed Jesus, who embraced every occasion of 
 reproving them for the unjustifiable preference they 
 gave this pretended tradition to the written word of 
 God, and also, for condemning those as apostates worthy 
 of death, who did not pay the same or even a greater 
 regard to the former than to the latter. 
 
 Another tenet they embraced, in opposition to the 
 Sadducees, was that of the existence of angels, the im- 
 mortality of the soul, the resurrection of the dead, and 
 future rewards. But, with regard to the last, they ex- 
 cluded all who were notoriously wicked from having any 
 share in the happiness of eternity ; supposing that, as 
 soon as death had put a period to their lives, their souls 
 were conveyed into everlasting punishment. 
 
 A third tenet was, that all things were subject to fate, 
 or, as some expressed it, to the heavens. It is not easy 
 to conceive what they meant by this : Josephus, indeed, 
 will have it that they designed to reconcile the fatalism 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 253 
 
 of the Essenes with the free will of the Sadducees, but 
 a certain learned prelate seems to have proved that they 
 attribute all to fate, or to that chain of causes to which 
 the Creator has subjected all things from the beginning ; 
 among which the influence of the heavenly bodies was 
 considered the principal. This tenet of the Pharisees 
 was, therefore, a source of dislike to the doctrines 
 delivered by the blessed Jesus, as these affirm that men 
 are the authors of their own unbelief, disobedience, and 
 obstinacy, and consequently answerable for that, and all 
 the train of evils these vices draw after them. 
 
 But the most distinguished character of the Pharisees, 
 and that which rendered them more obnoxious to the 
 just censures of our blessed Saviour, was their superero- 
 gatory attachment to the ceremonial law ; their frequent 
 washings, fastings, and prayings; their giving alms 
 publicly, seeking for proselytes, scrupulous tithings, 
 affected gravity of dress, gesture, and mortified looks ; 
 their building the tombs of the prophets, to tell the world 
 that they were more righteous than their ancestors, who 
 murdered them, though they were themselves plotting 
 the death of One greater than all the prophets ; their 
 over-scrupulous observance of the Sabbath, to the exclu- 
 sion of the works of the greatest charity, and many 
 others of the like nature ; while they were wholly neg- 
 ligent of the moral and eternal law of mercy and justice, 
 of charity and humility, and the like indispensable 
 virtues. The very best of them contented themselves 
 with abstaining from the actual commission of any enor- 
 mous act, while they indulged themselves in the most 
 wicked thoughts and desires. Nay, some, more hard- 
 ened in their vices, made no scruple not only of covet- 
 
254 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 ing, but destroying poor widows' houses, of committing 
 the vilest oppressions, injustice, and cruelties, and of 
 encouraging these enormities in their followers, under 
 the specious cloak of religion and sanctity. Well, there- 
 fore, might the great Redeemer of mankind compare 
 them to whited sepulchres, beautiful indeed without, but 
 within full of rottenness and corruption. 
 
 The last erroneous opinion we shall mention of the 
 Pharisees (common, indeed, to all the other sects, but 
 more exactly conformable to their haughty, rapacious, 
 and cruel temper), was their expectation of a powerful, 
 conquering Messiah, who was to bring the whole world 
 under the Jewish yoke; so that there was scarce an 
 inhabitant of Jerusalem, however mean, that did not 
 expect to be made a governor of some opulent province 
 under that wonderful prince. How unlikely was it, 
 then, that the preaching of the meek and humble Jesus, 
 whose doctrine breathed nothing but humility, peace, 
 sincerity, and contempt of the world, and universal love 
 and beneficence, should ever be relished by that proud, 
 that covetous, that hypocritical sect, or even by the 
 rest of the people, while these their teachers so strenu- 
 ously opposed it. 
 
 The sect of the Sadducees is said to have been foun- 
 ded by Saddoc, a disciple of Antigonus of Socho. Their 
 chief tenet was, that our serving God ought to be free 
 either from fear of punishment or from hope of reward.* 
 
 * A worldly, skeptical spirit never lacks plausible pretexts. One of 
 these was found in opposition to the superstitions of the Pharisees, 
 especially those engendered by their Oral Tradition. This opposition, 
 in itself essentially just, was altogether perverted, by the Sadducees, 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 255 
 
 They added that God was the only immaterial being ; 
 in consequence of which they denied the existence of 
 angels, or any spiritual substances, except the Almighty 
 himself. It is therefore no wonder that the Sadducees 
 took every opportunity of opposing and ridiculing the 
 doctrine of the resurrection. 
 
 Another of their tenets, equally opposite to the Phari- 
 sees and to the doctrine of Christ, was, that man was 
 constituted absolute master of all his actions, and stood 
 in no need of any assistance to choose or act : for this 
 reason, they were always very severe in their sentences 
 when they sat as judges. They rejected all the preten- 
 ded oral traditions of the Pharisees, admitting only the 
 texts of the sacred books, and preferred those of Moses 
 to all the rest of the inspired writings. They are 
 charged with some other erroneous tenets by Josephus 
 and the Talmudists ; but those already mentioned are 
 abundantly sufficient for the purpose. The Christian 
 doctrine of a future life, universal judgment, eternal 
 rewards and punishments, to men whom a contrary 
 doctrine had long soothed into luxury and an overgrown 
 fondness for temporal happiness, which they considered 
 as the only reward for their obedience, must of necessity 
 appear strange and frightful, and, as such, could not 
 
 into a rejection of the most vital truths. Another pretext was found 
 in the disinterested nature of true virtue, which justly demands our 
 obedience to God and love to man on the primary ground of moral 
 obligation. But this was perversely construed by the Sadducees, as if 
 virtue could admit no consideration of consequences, no support under 
 trial from a divine promise of reward, or from dread of divine punish- 
 ment. That the descendants of Abraham should fall into such errors, 
 and yet profess to believe the Scriptures, is a clear proof that the spirit 
 of faith was utterly wanting. Indeed it is remarkable, that while 
 some of the Pharisees embraced Christianity, we do not read of the 
 conversion of a single Sadducee. 
 
256 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 fail of meeting with the strongest opposition from them ; 
 especially if we add, what Josephus observes, that they 
 were, in general, men of the greatest quality and 
 opulence, and, consequently, too apt to prefer the 
 pleasures and grandeur of this life to those of another.* 
 
 The sect of Galileans, or Gaulonites, f so called from 
 Judas the Galilean or Gaulonite, appeared soon after the 
 banishment of Archelaus, when his territories were 
 made a Roman province and the government given to 
 Coponius. For, some of the Jews considering this as an 
 attempt to reduce them to slavery, Judas took advan- 
 tage of their discontent ; and Augustus furnished them 
 with a plausible pretence for an insurrection, by issuing 
 about this time a second edict for surveying the whole 
 province of Syria, and laying on it a proportional tax. J 
 Judas, therefore, who was a man of uncommon ambition, 
 took; occasion- from this incident to display all his elo- 
 quence, in order to convince the Jews that such a sub- 
 mission was nothing less than base idolatry, and placing 
 men on a level with the God of Jacob, who was the 
 only Lord and Sovereign that could challenge their 
 obedience and subjection. The party which he drew 
 after him became so considerable that they threw every 
 
 * See note page 48. 
 
 t Gaulonitis was a district of Palestine north of the Sea of Galilee, 
 and east of the Jordan before it enters the sea. It belonged to the 
 jurisdiction of Philip the Tetrarch in the time of Christ, but its exact 
 boundaries cannot be defined. In a loose sense, it might be said .to 
 belong to Galilee, and the name of this fanatical sect shows that such 
 was the popular acceptance. Acts v. 37. 
 
 t See note page 31. 
 
 \ The close connection between religious fanaticism and rebellion is 
 strongly illustrated in the history of this pernicious sect. 
 
LJFE OF CHRIST. 257 
 
 thing into confusion, laid the foundation for those 
 frightful consequences that ensued, and which did not 
 end but with the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 
 The Essenes, though not mentioned by the evan- 
 gelists, made a very considerable sect among the Jews, 
 and are highly celebrated by Josephus, Philo, Pliny, 
 and several Christian writers, both ancient and modern.* 
 It is impossible to trace their origin, or even the 
 etymology of their name. This, however, is certain 
 that they were settled in Judea in the time of Jonathan, 
 the brother and successor of Judas Maccabeus, about a 
 hundred and fifty years before Christ. 
 
 The Essenes distinguished themselves by their rules 
 and manner of life, into the laborious and contem- 
 plative. The former divided their time between prayer 
 and labor, such as the exercise of some handicraft, or 
 the cultivation of some particular spot of ground, where 
 they planted and sowed such roots, grain, etc., as served 
 for their food ; and the latter, between prayer, 
 contemplation, and study. In this last they confined 
 
 * Even Eusebius, in his Life of Constantine, goes so far as to claim 
 them as a sect of Christians. But he lived in an age when the general 
 corruption of public manners made a life of ascetic seclusion for reli- 
 gious purposes appear saintly, without much regard to Christianity. 
 
 The truth is, the Essenes were a small body of recluses, who lived 
 near the borders of the Dead Sea, almost totally estranged from society. 
 They were a sect of Mystics, whose outward character was respectable, 
 like that of the Shakers in modern times, but whose doctrines and 
 spirit had no tincture of the Gospel of Christ. Instead of deriving 
 their doctrines from the Scriptures, they made void the authority of 
 the Scriptures by arbitrary and allegorical interpretations. Their im- 
 portance is entirely overrated by the writers mentioned above, although 
 we may hope that some of them, like Luther in his cell, did find in the 
 Bible a light that ted them to Jesus. 
 17 
 
258 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 themselves to the sacred books and morality, without 
 troubling themselves with any branch of philosophy. 
 Both the contemplative and laborious had their syna- 
 gogues, their stated hours for prayer, for reading, and 
 expounding the sacred books. The latter was always 
 performed by the elders, who were seated at the upper 
 end of the synagogue, according to their seniority ; while 
 the younger, who were permitted to read the lessons, 
 were placed at the lower. Their expositions were 
 generally of the allegorical kind, in which they seem 
 to have exceeded all their Jewish brethren. But they 
 paid the greatest regard to the five books of Moses, and 
 considered that lawgiver as the head of all the inspired 
 penmen : they even condemned to immediate death 
 whoever spoke disrespectfully either of him or his 
 writings. Upon this account they studied, read, and 
 expounded him more than all the rest, and seem to 
 have drawn their religion chiefly from the Pentateuch. 
 The doctrines and expositions of the elders were received 
 with implicit faith, and in their practice they conformed 
 with an entire submission to all their sect. 
 
 With respect to their faith, they believed in the 
 existence of angels, the immortality of the soul, and a 
 future state of rewards and punishments, like the 
 Pharisees, but seem to have had no notion of the 
 resurrection. They considered the souls of men as 
 composed of a most subtle ether, which, immediately 
 after their separation from the cage or prison, as they 
 called it, were adjudged to a place of endless happiness 
 or misery; that the good took their flight over the 
 ocean, to some warm or delightful regions prepared for 
 them, while the wicked were conveyed to some cold, 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 259 
 
 intemperate climate, where they were left to groan under 
 an inexpressible weight of misery. They were likewise 
 entirely opposed to the Sadducean doctrine of free-will, 
 attributing all to an eternal fatality or chain of causes. 
 They were averse to all kinds of oaths, affirming that 
 a man's life ought to be such that he may be credited 
 without them. The contemplative sort placed the 
 excellency of their meditative life in raising their minds 
 above the earth and placing their thoughts on heaven : 
 when they had attained this degree of excellency, they 
 acquired the character of prophets. 
 
 In their practice they excelled all the other sects in 
 austerity. If we may credit Philo, it was a funda- 
 mental maxim with them, upon their entrance into the 
 contemplative life, to renounce the world and to divide 
 among their friends and relations their properties and 
 estates. They never ate till after sunset, and the best 
 of their food was coarse bread, a little salt, and a few 
 stomach-herbs. Their clothing was made of coarse wool, 
 plain, but white : they condemned all sorts of unctions 
 and perfumes as luxurious and effeminate. Their beds 
 were hard and their sleep short. Their heads, or supe- 
 riors, were generally chosen according to seniority, 
 unless there started up among the brotherhood some 
 more conspicuous for learning, piety, or prophetic spirit/ 11 
 Some of them, indeed, were so contemplative that they 
 
 * The Apostle Paul is, by some, supposed to refer to this Jewish sect 
 in Col. ii. 23. This seems, on the whole, doubtful ; yet something of 
 their spirit seems to have made its appearance in Paul's time at Colosse 
 (A. D. 63), and penetrated into the Christian church. Perhaps some of 
 the Jewish Essenes from Egypt had come to Colosse, and under the 
 name of Christians, broached their peculiar opinions in opposition to 
 the supreme authority of Christ. The whole chapter is important in 
 this view. 
 
260 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 never stirred* out of their cell ? or even looked out of 
 their window, during the whole week, spending their 
 time in reading the sacred books and writing comments 
 upon them. On the Sabbath day they repaired to their 
 synagogues early in the morning, and continued there 
 the whole day in prayer, singing psalms, or expounding 
 
 the sacred books.* 
 
 Having endeavored to explain the origin and tenets 
 of the several sects among the Jews, we now return to 
 the history of our blessed Saviour, whom we left 
 preaching in the country beyond Jordan, where he was 
 surrounded by an innumerable multitude of people. 
 
 In the audience of this vast assembly, he gave his 
 disciples, in general, a charge to beware of the leaven 
 of the Pharisees namely, hypocrisy because all 
 their actions would be brought to light either in this 
 world or in that which is to come; and he therefore 
 exhorted them to be very careful never to do any thing 
 which could not bear the light, but to let the whole of 
 their behavior be honest, just, and good. " Beware ye 
 of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For 
 there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed ; 
 neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore what- 
 soever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the 
 light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear, in 
 closets, shall be proclaimed upon the housetops." Luke 
 xii. 1-3. 
 
 This argument against hypocrisy he used as a reason 
 for their acquiring another quality, which would much 
 
 * These four sects represent the Traditionists, the Reactionists, the 
 Fanatics, and the Mystics of all nations and ages. Christianity stands 
 against them all like a tower, four square. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 261 
 
 better serve all the ends they could propose namely, 
 an undaunted resolution in the performance of their 
 duty, founded on a firm confidence in God, who would 
 bring to light the most secret word and thought, pub- 
 licly condemn the wicked, and justify his faithful 
 servants and children. 
 
 Fear not, said he, the malice of the human race ; it 
 can extend no farther than the destruction of the body ; 
 your soul may bid defiance to their impotent rage. But 
 dread the displeasure of that Almighty Being, who, 
 after he has destroyed the body, is able to confine the 
 soul in eternal torments. -Remember all things are in 
 his power, and that nothing happens without his per- 
 mission : he provides for the meanest of his creatures, 
 and surely you may think yourselves under his protec- 
 tion, who numbers the very hairs of your head; nor 
 can your enemies touch one of them without his per- 
 mission. Luke xii. 4, etc. 
 
 Our Lord, to animate his followers to perseverance, 
 admonishes them to look forward unto the general 
 judgment when he would acknowledge them as his 
 servants, provided they acknowledged him in this world 
 as their Master, and cheerfully and constantly obeyed 
 his commands. But if they were ashamed of him, and 
 his doctrine, before the sons of men, he would disown 
 them before the celestial host. And that those who 
 reviled the Spirit, by whom they performed their 
 miracles, should be punished by the Almighty, in pro- 
 portion to the malignity of their crime, which is greater 
 than that of reviling the Son of God himself, because it 
 will be impossible for them to repent. 
 
 While our blessed Saviour was delivering these 
 
262 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 exhortations t*o his disciples, a certain person among the 
 multitude begged him that he would interpose his 
 authority with his brother, in order to oblige him to 
 divide their paternal inheritance between them: but as 
 this decision properly belonged to the magistrates, our 
 blessed Saviour, who came into the world to redeem the 
 souls of mankind, and to purchase for them an eternal, 
 not a temporal inheritance, declined the office. He, 
 however, embraced the opportunity of giving his hearers 
 the most solemn caution against covetousness ; declaring, 
 that neither the length nor happiness of human life had 
 any dependence on the largeness of possessions. " Take 
 heed, and beware of covetousness ; for a man's life con- 
 sisteth not in the abundance of the things which he 
 po&sesseth." Luke xii. 15. 
 
 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, " The 
 ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully : 
 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I 
 do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits ? 
 And he said, This will I do : I will pull down my barns, 
 and build greater : and there will I bestow all my fruits 
 and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou 
 hast much goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease, 
 eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, 
 Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee : 
 then whose shall these things be which thou hast pro- 
 vided?" Luke xii. 16, etc. 
 
 " So is he," added our blessed Saviour, " that layeth 
 up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." 
 Thus shall he be taken away from all his soul desireth ; 
 thus shall he be torn from all his temporal prospects 
 and pleasures. None of his beloved enjoyments shall 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 263 
 
 follow him; naked as he came shall he depart out 
 of the world, nor shall all his riches be able to 
 procure him the least comfort or respite in these scenes' 
 of terror. 
 
 Having spoken this parable, our Lord proceeded to 
 caution his disciples against anxious cares for the things 
 of this world, from a consideration that the care of God's 
 providence extends to every part of the creation. He 
 added, that as God had destined them to everlasting 
 happiness in a future life, he would surely provide for 
 them all the necessaries of the present. " Fear not, 
 little flock ; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give 
 you the kingdom." Luke xii. 33, 34. 
 
 Having thus recommended to them the disengagement 
 of their affections from the things of this world, he 
 exhorted them to labor after improvement in grace. 
 "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights 
 burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait 
 for their Lord, when he shall return from the wedding, 
 that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open 
 unto him immediately." Luke xii. 35, 36. 
 
 " There were present, at that season, some that told 
 him of the Gajileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled 
 with their sacrifices;"* thinking that Providence, for 
 some extraordinary crime, had suffered these Galileans 
 to be murdered at the altar. 
 
 But our Lord showed them the error of their opinion 
 and inference concerning this point, it being no indica- 
 tion that these Galileans were greater sinners than their 
 countrymen because they had suffered so severe a 
 
 * Josephus mentions this fact with some detail, but gives us no pre- 
 cise note of time. 
 
264 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 calamity, and at the same time exhorted them to im- 
 prove such instances of calamity, as incitements to their 
 own repentance ; assuring them, that if they neglected 
 so salutary a work, they should all likewise perish. 
 "And Jesus answering, said unto them, Suppose ye, 
 that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, 
 because they suffered such things? I tell you, nay; 
 but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." 
 Luke xiii. 2, etc. 
 
 He illustrated this doctrine, by putting them in mind 
 of the eighteen persons on whom the tower of Siloani 
 fell ;* showing them, by this instance, the folly of inter- 
 preting the dispensations of Providence in that manner ; 
 for though this calamity seemed to flow immediately 
 from the hand of God, yet, in all probability, it had 
 involved the people who were remarkable for their piety 
 and goodness. " Or those eighteen upon whom the 
 tower in Siloam fell, and slew them : think ye that they 
 were sinners above all men that dwelt at Jerusalem ? 
 I tell you, nay ; but, except ye repent, ye shall all like- 
 wise perish." Luke xiii. 4, 5. 
 
 To rouse them from their indolence, and to induce 
 them to seek the aid of God's grace and sjpirit, he added 
 the parable of the fig-tree, which the master of the vine- 
 yard, after finding it three years barren, ordered to be 
 destroyed : but was spared one year longer at the earnest 
 solicitation of the gardener. Luke xiii. 6, etc. 
 
 During Jesus' abode in the country of Perea, he 
 
 . 
 
 * The tower of Siloam is not mentioned elsewhere, but it doubtless 
 was erected near the fountain or pool of Siloam. It was probably 
 designed to guard these important sources of water supply from falling 
 into the hands of an enemy. See note page 235. 
 
/,/,- </// .,,^' ///'xv //// ///, ,,,/,/ /<"///,./, //-/;/ / 
 . /y/^/X^v.'V SsH^ //-' /////- 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 265 
 
 observed, while he was preaching in one of the syna- 
 gogues, on the Sabbath day, a woman who, during the 
 space of eighteen years, had been unable to stand upright. 
 A daughter of Israel laboring under so terrible a dis- 
 order, could riot fail of attracting the compassion of the 
 Son of God. 
 
 He beheld this affecting object : he pitied her deplor- 
 able condition, he removed her complaint. She who 
 came into the synagogue bowed down with an incurable 
 infirmity, was, by the all-powerful word of the Son 
 of God, .restored to her natural health, and returned 
 to her house upright, and full of vigor. 
 
 Such a display of divine power and goodness, instead 
 of exciting the gratitude, so highly offended the master 
 of the synagogue, that he openly testified his displeasure, 
 and reproved the people as Sabbath-breakers, because 
 they came on that day to be healed. " There are six 
 days," said this surly ruler to the people, " in which 
 men ought to work : in them therefore come and be 
 healed, and not on the Sabbath day." Luke xiii. 14. 
 
 But our blessed Saviour soon silenced this hypocritical 
 Pharisee, by showing that he had not deviated from 
 their own avowed practice. They made no scruple of 
 loosing their cattle, and leading them to water on the 
 Sabbath day, because the mercy of the action sufficiently 
 justified them for performing it. And surely his action 
 of loosing, by a single word, a woman, a rational creature, 
 a daughter of Abraham, that had been bound by an 
 incurable distemper during the tedious interval of eigh- 
 teen years, was abundantly justified; nor could this 
 bigoted ruler have thought otherwise, had not his reason 
 been blinded by his superstition. "And when he had 
 
266 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 said these things all his adversaries were ashamed, and 
 all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that 
 were done by him." Luke xiii. 15, etc. 
 
 From this instance we may form some idea of the 
 pernicious effects of superstition, which is capable of 
 extinguishing reason, banishing compassion, and of eradi- 
 cating the most essential principles and feelings of the 
 human breast. 
 
 Our Lord, having reproved the superstition of the 
 ruler of the synagogue, and observing the acclamations 
 of the people, then proceeded to demonstrate the reason 
 and truth which so effectually supported his kingdom. 
 For he repeated the parables of the grain of mustard 
 seed and of the leaven, to show the efficacious operations 
 of the gospel upon the minds of the children of men, 
 and its rapid progress through the world, notwithstand- 
 ing all the opposition of its most inveterate enemies. 
 
 The great Redeemer having now planted the seeds of 
 the gospel in the country of Perea, crossed the Jordan, 
 and travelled by slow journeys toward Jerusalem, 
 preaching the gospel in every village, and declaring the 
 glad tidings of salvation to all the inhabitants of those 
 countries. 
 
 While he was thus laboring for the salvation of man- 
 kind, one of the persons who accompanied him asked 
 him, " Lord, are there few that be saved ? " Jesus told 
 him that a small number only of the Jews would be 
 saved ; exhorting him to embrace the offers of mercy 
 before it was too late ; for that many, after the period 
 of their trial was concluded, and their state finally and 
 irreversibly determined, should earnestly desire these 
 benevolent offers, but should be denied their request. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 267 
 
 " Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many, I 
 say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be 
 able. When once the master of the house is risen up, 
 and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand with- 
 out, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open 
 unto us ; and he shall answer, and say unto you, I know 
 you not, whence ye are." Luke xiii. 24, 25. 
 
 Immediately after, certain of the Pharisees came to 
 him, and told him that unless he departed thence, 
 Herod would destroy him. But this concern for his 
 safety was altogether feigned, and their real design no 
 other than to intimidate him ; hoping by that means to 
 induce him to leave the country, and retire into Judea, 
 where they did not doubt but the chief priests would find 
 some method of putting him to death. Perhaps Herod 
 himself was privy to this message, and desired that Jesus 
 should leave his territories, though the agonies he had 
 suffered on account of John the Baptist hindered him 
 from making use of force. That this was really the case 
 seems evident from the answer our blessed Saviour made 
 to the Pharisees. " Go ye," said he to these hypocriti- 
 cal Israelites, "and tell that fox, Behold I cast out 
 devils, and I do cures to-day and to-morrow, and the 
 third day I shall be perfected.* Nevertheless, I must 
 
 * No commentator that we have seen has noticed that the days here 
 spoken of by our Saviour, as necessary to finish his work in Perea, cor- 
 respond precisely to the days that Jesus remained there after he had 
 been apprised of the sickness of his friend Lazarus in Bethany. John 
 xi. 6, 7. Can there be a doubt that the time is the same, though men- 
 tioned in different connections by the two evangelists, Luke and John ? 
 As Jesus would not yield his sense of duty and abandon his appointed 
 work in Perea to any threats of Herod's sinister designs, so neither 
 would he give it up to save the life of his friend or to relieve the anxiety 
 
68 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 walk to-day and to-morrow, and the day following : for 
 it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem." 
 Luke xiii. 32, 33. 
 
 Having given this answer to the Pharisees, he reflect- 
 ed on the treatment the prophets had received from the 
 inhabitants of Jerusalem ; pathetically lamented their 
 obstinacy, and the terrible desolation that would in a 
 short time overtake them. "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 
 which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are 
 sent unto thee ; how often would I have gathered thy 
 children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under 
 her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is 
 left unto you desolate." Luke xiii. 34, 35. 
 
 of his sorrowing sisters. Designing to raise Lazarus from the dead 
 under the most trying circumstances, he did not even begin his jour- 
 ney to Bethany until he knew his death had taken place, and even then 
 travelled so slowly that he did not arrive at Bethany until four days 
 after the burial. Not that he loitered idly on the way, but that every- 
 where, as he passed from place to place, he was beset by the multitudes, 
 who sought his presence for instruction or healing. If he went up as 
 late as March, A. D. 33 at the Feast of Purim these moving masses 
 would accumulate on their way to Jerusalem. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 269 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE BLESSED JESUS ACCEPTS THE PHARISEE'S INVITATION 
 DELIVERS DIVERS PARABLES, REPRESENTING THE REQUI- 
 SITES FOR ADMITTANCE INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD THE 
 
 CAR.E OF THE REDEEMER FOR EVERY ONE OF HIS PEOPLE 
 
 THE RECEPTION OF A PENITENT SINNER, AND THE PUNISH- 
 MENT OF MISUSING THE BENEFITS OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 OUR Saviour was invited by one of the Pharisees to 
 his house. Though he knew that this invitation arose 
 not from a generous motive, yet, as he never shunned 
 any opportunity of doing good, even to his most impla- 
 cable enemies, he accepted it. 
 
 At his entering the Pharisee's house, they placed be- 
 fore him a man that had a dropsy, doubtless with an 
 intention to accuse him for healing on the Sabbath day 
 being persuaded that he would work a miracle in 
 favor of so melancholy an object. Jesus, who knew the 
 secret thoughts of their hearts, asked the lawyers * 
 and Pharisees whether it was " lawful to heal on the 
 Sabbath day." But they refusing to give any answer 
 to the question, Jesus laid his hand on the diseased per- 
 son, and immediately his complexion returned, his body 
 was reduced to its ordinary dimensions, and his former 
 health and strength renewed in an instant. 
 
 So surprising a miracle might surely have convinced 
 these Pharisees that the author must have been endued 
 with power from on high ; but, instead of being per- 
 
 * The lawyers *were the same as the Scribes, t. e., teachers of the 
 Jewish law. 
 
270 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 suaded that he was a person sent from God, who labored 
 only for the benefit of the children of men, they were 
 contriving how they might turn this miracle to his dis- 
 advantage. Our Lord, however, soon disconcerted their 
 projects, by proving that, according to their own avowed 
 practice, he had done nothing but what was truly law- 
 ful. " Which of you," said he, " shall have an ass or an 
 oxen fall into a pit, and will not straightway pull him 
 out on the Sabbath day ? " If a calamity happens to one 
 of your beasts, you make no scruple of assisting it on the 
 Sabbath, though the action may be attended with con- 
 siderable labor; and surely I may relieve a descendant 
 of Abraham, when nothing more is requisite than touch- 
 ing him with my hand. This argument was conclusive, 
 and so plain that the grossest stupidity must feel its force, 
 and the most virulent malice could not contradict it. 
 
 As the entertainment approached, our blessed Lord 
 had an opportunity of observing the pride of the Phari- 
 sees, and remarking what an anxiety each of them ex- 
 pressed to obtain the most honorable place at the table. 
 Nor did he let their ridiculous behaviour pass without 
 a proper animadversion in which he observed that 
 pride generally exposed a person to many affronts, and 
 that humility is the surest method of gaining respect. 
 " When thou art bidden," said he, " of any man to a 
 wedding, sit not down in the highest room ; lest a more 
 honorable man than thou be bidden of him, and he that 
 bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man 
 place ; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest 
 room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in 
 the lowest room ; that when he that bade thee cometh, 
 he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher : then shalt 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 271 
 
 them have worship in the presence of them that sit at 
 meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall 
 be abased ; and he that humbleth himself shall be ex- 
 alted." Luke xiv. 8, etc. 
 
 Having thus addressed the guests in general, he turned 
 to the master of the house, and said unto him, " When 
 thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, 
 nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich 
 neighbors ; lest they also bid thee again, and a recom- 
 pense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, 
 call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind." 
 Luke xiv. 12, 13. Be very careful not to limit thy hos- 
 pitality to the rich, but let the poor also partake of thy 
 bounty. "And thou shalt be blessed ; for they cannot 
 recompense thee ; for thou shalt be recompensed at the 
 resurrection of the just." Luke xiv. 14. 
 
 One of the Pharisees, enraptured with the delightful 
 prospect of the happiness good men enjoyed in the 
 heavenly Canaan, cried out, " Blessed is he that shall 
 eat bread in the kingdom of God ! " Blessed is he who, 
 being admitted into the happy regions of Paradise, shall 
 enjoy the conversation of the inhabitants of those heav- 
 enly countries ; as those spiritual repasts must regale 
 and invigorate his mind beyond expression. In answer 
 to which our blessed Saviour delivered the parable of 
 the Marriage Supper, representing, by the invitation of 
 the guests, the doctrine of the gospel, and the success 
 those beneficent invitations to the great feast of heaven 
 should meet with among the Jews ; foretelling that, 
 though it was attended with every inviting circumstance, 
 they would disdainfully reject it, and prefer the pleasures 
 of a temporal existence to those of an eternal state ; 
 
272 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 while the Gentiles, with the greatest cheerfulness, would 
 embrace the beneficent offer, and thereby be prepared to 
 sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the happy 
 mansions of the kingdom of heaven. But, as this para- 
 ble was afterward spoken by our blessed Saviour in the 
 temple, we shall defer our observations on it till we come 
 to the history where it was again delivered. 
 
 When Jesus departed from the Pharisee's house, great 
 multitudes of people thronged around him to hear his 
 doctrine, but mistook the true intention of it, expecting 
 he was going to establish the Messiah's throne in Jeru- 
 salem and render all the nations of the world tributary 
 to his power. The benevolent Jesus therefore took this 
 opportunity to undeceive them, and to declare, in the 
 plainest terms, that his kingdom was not of this world, 
 and, consequently, that those who expected, by following 
 him, to obtain temporal advantages, would find them- 
 selves wretchedly mistaken, as, on the contrary, his 
 disciples must expect to be persecuted from city to city, 
 and hated of all men for his name's sake ; though it was 
 requisite for those who would be his true followers to 
 prefer his service to the richest grandeur and pleasure 
 of the world, and to show, by their conduct, that they 
 had much less respect and value for the dearest objects 
 of their affection than for him. " If any man come to 
 me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and 
 children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own 
 life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever 
 does not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be 
 my disciple." Luke xiv. 26. 
 
 And in order to induce them to weigh this doctrine 
 attentively in their minds, he elucidated it with two 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 273 
 
 opposite cases that of an unthinking builder and of a 
 rash warrior. The former was obliged to leave the 
 structure unfinished, because he had foolishly begun 
 the building before he had computed the cost ; and the 
 latter, reduced to the dilemma of being ingloriously 
 defeated, or meanly suing for peace previous to the 
 battle, having rashly declared war before he had consid- 
 ered the strength of his own and his enemy's army. 
 " So likewise, whosoever he be of you," added the blessed 
 Jesus, " that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot 
 be my disciple." Luke xiv. 33. 
 
 The publicans and sinners, roused by the alarming 
 doctrine of our Lord, listened to it attentively. This 
 opportunity was readily embraced by the great Redeemer 
 of mankind, who not only condescended to preach to 
 them the happy tidings of eternal life, but even accom- 
 panied them to their own houses, that, if possible, the 
 seeds of the gospel might take root in their hearts. But 
 this condescension of the meek and humble Jesus was 
 considered, by the haughty Pharisees, as an action too 
 mean for the character of a prophet. They murmured, 
 and were highly displeased at a condescension which 
 ought to have given the greatest joy. But Jesus soon 
 showed them their mistake, by repeating to them the 
 parables of the Lost Sheep and Piece of Money; intimating 
 thereby the great care all prophets and pastors ought to 
 take of those committed to 'their care, and the obligation 
 they lie under of searching diligently for every wander- 
 ing sinner, whose conversion is a grateful offering to the 
 Almighty. " There is joy in the presence of the angels 
 of God over one sinner that repenteth." Luke xv. 10. 
 
 To illustrate this doctrine still further, and show to 
 
 18 
 
274 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 the greatest sinner the willingness of God to receive him 
 into his grace and favor, if convinced of his unworthy 
 and lost condition in himself and imploring forgiveness 
 through the merits of Jesus Christ, and the renewal of 
 his heart by the efficacious influences of his spirit, he 
 delivered the expressive parable of the Prodigal Son. 
 Luke xv. 
 
 There are three expositions given of this instructive 
 representation, each of which seems to have some place 
 in the original design, for it should be observed, and 
 carefully remembered, that the parables and doctrines 
 of our Saviour are by no means to be confined absolutely 
 to one single point of view, since they frequently have 
 relation to different objects, and consequently prove the 
 riches and depth of the manifold wisdom of God.* 
 
 * This general principle (called by the learned Tholuck the compre- 
 hensive principle of interpretation) is undoubtedly a sound one ; but 
 it requires great prudence in its use, or it will degenerate into vain 
 imaginations, and fritter away the very substance of divine Revela- 
 tion. Least of all, is it applicable to the study of the parables ; which 
 being in their nature vailed in a certain degree of obscurity, yet have 
 but one proper meaning ; and that one we are bound to take and adhere 
 to, as the true teaching of Christ. The moment we permit ourselves to 
 depart from this principle, we cut loose from the authority of Christ, 
 and conscience is left free to float in the dazzling mists of human fancy 
 till wrecked on the most fatal rocks. 
 
 This is not mere theory. The old Jewish rabbis had a saying, that 
 " every sentence of Scripture contains a mountain of sense, "and the 
 result was what is called the dynamic principle of interpretation, i. e., 
 that every sentence has as many meanings as can be put upon it by the 
 ingenuity, of the expositor. Thence came that mass of " Jewish fables '' 
 which crowd the Talmuds, and mislead that blinded people to this day. 
 Some of the early Christian writers fell into the same vortex of folly. 
 Our author has given us two specimens of this treatment of the beau- 
 tiful parable of the Prodigal Son ; which expositions, while possibly 
 teaching no false doctrine, have not the slightest claim, on any just 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 275 
 
 In this parable, for instance, the great and principal 
 doctrine, intended to be particularly inculcated, is, that 
 sinners, upon their repentance and faith, are gladly re- 
 ceived into favor ; or that there is joy in heaven over 
 one sinner that repenteth. There are, however, two 
 other applications of this parable : the first is that of 
 the greatest part of the ancients, who expounded it of 
 Adam. He was made in the image of God, and endowed 
 with many other excellent gifts, which he might have 
 used happily, had he been content to stay in his Father's 
 house ; but, like this younger brother, who foolishly de- 
 sired his portion of goods to himself, that he might be 
 his own master and under no confinement or restriction, 
 he was unwilling to remain under the obedience of the 
 divine precept ; he was desirous of having a free use of 
 things in Paradise, and by the devil's instigation affected 
 a wretched independency, which caused him to break 
 the divine command, and eat of the forbidden tree, to 
 obtain the knowledge of good and evil. Thus he lost 
 for himself and his posterity the substance put at first 
 into his possession ; but his heavenly Father, on his and 
 his posterity's return, hath provided such grace and com- 
 passion for them that they may be reinstated in their 
 former place and favor. And the same grace not being 
 granted to the higher order of intellectual beings, the 
 fallen spirits, is the cause of their murmuring against 
 
 ground, to be regarded as the meaning of Christ. He has the good 
 sense to distinguish the real meaning, as fixed by the occasion and con- 
 text ; but is too ready to endorse the strained and unwarranted fancies 
 of some of the ancient "fathers," so-called. What sort of fathers 
 were they, who neither founded the Church, nor fed it on "the purs 
 milk of the word ? " 1 Pet. ii. 1, 2 ; 2 Cor. ii. 17. 
 
276 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 God and men, represented by the answer of the elder 
 brother in this parable. 
 
 Others, secondly, with a much greater show of proba- 
 bility, expound this parable of the two people, the Jews 
 and Gentiles, who have both one Father, even God; 
 and while they both continued in their Father's house, 
 the true church, they wanted for nothing : there was 
 plenty of food for the soul, there was substance enough 
 for them both. But the latter, represented by the 
 younger brother, possessed of his share of knowledge, 
 went into a strange country, left God, and spent his 
 substance, the evidence and knowledge of the Almighty, 
 fell into idolatry, and wasted all he had in riotous living 
 all his knowledge of God in the loose and absurd cere- 
 monies of idolatry. Then, behold, a mighty famine 
 arose in that land : the worship of the true God was 
 banished the country. In this dreadful dearth and 
 hunger, he joined himself to the devil, and worked all 
 " uncleanness with greediness." But, finding nothing to 
 satisfy his spiritual hunger, this prodigal, long estranged 
 from his Father, reflecting on this spiritual famine and 
 his own severe wants, humbly confessed his faults, re- 
 turned to his offended Father, was readmitted into favor, 
 and blessed with the privileges of the gospel. But the 
 elder brother, the Jewish Church, daily employed in the 
 field of legal ceremonies, and who had long groaned un- 
 der the yoke of the law, seeing the Gentiles received 
 into the covenant of the gospel, obtain the remission of 
 sins and the hope of everlasting life, murmured against 
 the benevolent acts of the Almighty. God, however, 
 out of his great compassion, pleaded pathetically the 
 cause with the elder brother, offered him all things, 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 277 
 
 upon supposition of his continuing in his obedience, and 
 declared that he had delivered the nation from the 
 heavy yoke of the ceremonial law. 
 
 Thus the parable has a very clear and elegant expo- 
 sition, the murmuring of the elder brother is explained 
 to us without the least difficulty ; and as the offence of 
 receiving the Gentiles to pardon and peace, through 
 Jesus Christ, was so great a stumbling-block to the Jews, 
 it is natural to imagine that our Saviour intended to 
 obviate and remove it by this excellent parable.* 
 
 It is, however, evident, both from the context and 
 the occasion of delivering it, that the third interpreta- 
 tion is the first in design and importance. The publi- 
 cans and sinners drew near to hear Jesus. This gave 
 occasion to a murmuring among the Pharisees; and, 
 upon their murmuring, our Saviour delivered this and 
 two other parables, to show that, if they would resemble 
 God and the celestial host, they should, instead of 
 murmuring, rejoice at seeing sinners willing to embrace 
 the doctrines of the gospel, because there is joy, in the 
 presence of God and his angels, "over one sinner that 
 repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons 
 that need no repentance." 
 
 The obstinacy and malicious temper of the Pharisees, 
 who opposed every good doctrine, made a deep impre*- 
 sion on the mind of the blessed Jesus : he did not, 
 therefore, content himself barely with justifying his 
 receiving sinners, in order to their being justified and 
 
 * The best that can be said of these two expositions is, that they are 
 ingenious applications of the parable to illustrate other truths than the 
 one so clearly and beautifully taught in it. What that is our author 
 proceeds to show, and to that our attention should be confined if we 
 \vould see its admirable pertinence to the occasion. 
 
278 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 saved through him, but, in the presence of the Scribes 
 and Pharisees, turned himself to his disciples, and deliv- 
 ered the parable of the Artful Steward, as an instance of 
 the ingenuity shown by the children of this world in 
 embracing every opportunity and advantage for improv- 
 ing their interests. " There was," said he, " a certain 
 rich man which had a steward ; and the same was accused 
 unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called 
 him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of 
 thee ? Give an account of thy stewardship ; for thou 
 mayest be no longer steward." Luke xvi. 1, 2. 
 
 This reprimand of his lord, and the inward convic- 
 tion of his own conscience that the accusation was just, 
 induced him to reflect on his own ill management of 
 his lord's affairs, and in what manner he should support 
 himself when he should be discharged from his service. 
 "What shall I do?" said he, "for my lord taketh 
 away from me the stewardship ? I cannot dig ; to beg 
 I am ashamed." Luke xvi. 3. 
 
 In this manner he deliberated with himself, and at 
 last resolved on the following expedient, in order to 
 make himself friends who would succor him in his 
 distress : " I am resolved what to do, that, when I am 
 put out of my stewardship, they may receive me into 
 their houses. So he called every one of his lord's debt- 
 ors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest 
 thou unto my lord ? And he said, An hundred meas- 
 ures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and 
 sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to 
 another, And how much owest thou ? And he said, An 
 hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, 
 Take thy bill and write fourscore." Luke xvi. 4, etc. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 279 
 
 To illustrate this parable, we beg leave to observe that 
 the riches and trade of the Jews, originally, consisted 
 principally in the products of the earth : they were, if 
 we may be allowed the expression, a nation of farmers 
 and shepherds ; so that their wealth, chiefly, arose from 
 the produce of their flocks and herds and the fruits of 
 the earth, their corn, their wine, and their oil. 
 
 Thus, the steward, to secure the friendship of his 
 lord's tenants, bound them to him under a lasting obli- 
 gation ; and his master, when he heard of the proceed- 
 ings of his steward, commended him, not because he 
 acted honestly, but because he acted sagaciously : he 
 commended the art and address he had shown in produ- 
 cing a future subsistence ; he commended the prudence 
 and ingenuity he had used with regard to his own 
 interest, and to deliver him from future poverty and 
 distress. " For the children of this world," added the 
 blessed Jesus, " are in their generation wiser than the 
 children of light." They are more prudent and careful, 
 more anxious and circumspect, to secure their possessions 
 in this world, than the children of light are to secure 
 in the next an eternal inheritance. " And I say unto 
 you, Make to yourselves friends of the, mammon of un- 
 righteousness ; that, when ye fail, they may receive you 
 into everlasting habitations." Luke xvi. 9. 
 
 This advice of our Saviour is worthy our most serious 
 attention ; the best use we can make of our riches being 
 to employ them in promoting the salvation of others. 
 For, if we use our abilities and interests in turning sin- 
 ners from the evil of their ways, if we spend our wealth 
 in this excellent service, from pure motives and to the 
 glory of God, we shall have the good-will of all the 
 
280 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 heavenly beings, who will greatly rejoice at the conver- 
 sion of sinners, and, with open arms, receive us into the 
 mansions of felicity. 
 
 But this is not the whole application our Saviour 
 made of this parable. He added, that if we made use 
 of our riches in the manner he recommended, we should 
 be received into those everlasting habitations, where all 
 the friends of virtue and religion reside ; because, by 
 our fidelity in managing the small trust of temporal 
 advantages committed to our care, we show ourselves 
 worthy and capable of a much greater trust in heavenly 
 employments. 
 
 And if, while ye are God's stewards and servants, ye 
 desert your trust, and become slaves to the desire of 
 riches, you can expect no other than to be called to a 
 strict account of your stewardship ; covetousness being 
 as absolutely inconsistent with a true concern for the 
 cause of Christ, as it is for a man to undertake at one 
 and at the same time to serve two masters of contrary 
 dispositions, and opposite interests. " No servant can 
 serve two masters ; for either he will hate the one and 
 love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and 
 despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." 
 Luke xvi. 13. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 281 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 JESUS REBUKES THE INSOLENT DERISION OF THE PHARISEES- 
 DESCRIBES, BY A PARABLE, THE NATURE OF FUTURE RE- 
 WARDS AND PUNISHMENTS, AND ENFORCES THE DOCTRINE 
 OF MUTUAL FORBEARANCE. 
 
 THE doctrines delivered by our Lord, being so repug- 
 nant to the avaricious principles of the Pharisees, they 
 derided him as a visionary speculatist, who despised the 
 pleasures of this world, for no other reason than because 
 he was not able to procure them. It is, therefore, no 
 wonder that men who had shown such a complication 
 of the very worst dispositions should receive a sharp 
 rebuke from the meek and humble Jesus; accordingly, 
 he told them that they made, indeed, specious pretences 
 to extraordinary sanctity, by outwardly shunning the 
 company of sinners, while in private they made no scru- 
 ple of having society with them, or even of joining with 
 them in their wickedness. "Ye are they which justify 
 yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts." 
 Ye may, indeed, cover the foulness of your crimes with 
 the painted cloak of hypocrisy, and in this disguise de- 
 ceive those who look no further than the outside, but 
 ye cannot screen your wickedness from the penetrating 
 eye of Omnipotence, to whom all things are naked and 
 exposed, and who judges of things, not by their appear- 
 ances, but according to truth ; it is, therefore, no won- 
 der that he often abhors both persons and things that 
 are held by men in the highest estimation : " for that 
 
282 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in 
 the sight of God." 
 
 But the Pharisees, like the Sadducees, stupefied and 
 intoxicated with sensual pleasures, were deaf to every 
 argument, how powerful soever, provided it was levelled 
 against their lusts. In order to illustrate this truth, 
 confirm his assertion, and rouse these hypocritical rulers 
 from their lethargy, he spoke the awakening parable of 
 the Rich Man and the Beggar. 
 
 " There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in 
 purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. 
 And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, which 
 was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed 
 with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table ; 
 moreover," so great was his misery, so exquisite his dis- 
 tress, " the dogs came and licked his sores." Thus 
 wretched in life, the Almighty at last released him : 
 " the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into 
 Abraham's bosom." Nor could the rich man's wealth 
 rescue him from the same fate : " the rich man also died, 
 and was buried." But behold now the great, the awful 
 change ! " In hell he lifted up his eyes, being in tor- 
 ments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and" the late 
 despised and afflicted " Lazarus in his bosom." In this 
 agony of pain and distress, he cried to Abraham, his 
 earthly father, begging that he would take pity on him, 
 and send Lazarus to give him even the least degree of 
 relief, that of dipping the tip of his finger in water to 
 cool his tongue, for his torment was intolerable. "Father 
 Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he 
 may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my 
 tongue ; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 283 
 
 said, Son, remember that thou in thy life time receivedst 
 thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things ; but 
 now he is cornfortrd, and thou art tormented. And 
 besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf 
 fixed ; so that they which would pass from hence to you, 
 cannot : neither can they pass to us that would come 
 from thence." Luke xvi. 24, etc. 
 
 The miserable wretch, finding it impossible to procure 
 any relief for himself, was desirous of preserving his 
 thoughtless relations from the like distress. " Then he 
 said, I pray thee, therefore, father, that thou wouldst 
 send him to my father's house : for I have five brethren ; 
 that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into 
 this place of torment." Luke xvi. 27, 28. This also 
 was a petition that could not be granted. It is too late 
 to hope for relief, when the soul is cast into the bottom- 
 less pit. They may learn, said Abraham, the certainty 
 of the immortality of the soul from the books of Moses 
 and the prophets, if they will give themselves the trou- 
 ble to peruse them attentively. To which the miserable 
 object replied, that the books of Moses and the prophets 
 had been ineffectual to him, and he feared would be so 
 to his brethren. But if one actually arose from the dead, 
 and appeared to them, they would certainly repent, and 
 embrace those offers of salvation they had before slighted. 
 " Nay, father Abraham ; but if one went unto them from 
 the dead, they will repent." But Abraham told him, 
 that in this he was greatly mistaken, for that if they re- 
 fused to believe the evidence of a future state, contained 
 in the writings of Moses and the prophets, the testimony 
 of a messenger from the dead would not be sufficient 
 to convince them. " If they hear not Moses and the 
 
284 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one 
 rose from the dead." 
 
 This truth, asserted by Abraham, has been abundantly 
 proved by undeniable facts ; from whence it has appeared, 
 that those who will not be convinced by a standing reve- 
 lation, will not be convinced, though one rose from the 
 dead. These very Jews, to whom our Saviour spoke, 
 were remarkable instances of this truth ; they were fully 
 assured, that another Lazarus was, by the power of 
 Christ, raised from the dead, after he had lain several 
 days in the tomb : a fact which they were so far from 
 being able to disprove, that they attempted to kill 
 Lazarus; as if, by this wicked action, they could have 
 destroyed his evidence. Nay, they had a still more 
 lively proof, in the resurrection of Jesus himself, which 
 they were so far from being able to deny, that they 
 bribed the soldiers to spread that senseless tale, that his 
 disciples came by night and stole him away. So true 
 were Abraham's words, that they who believe not Moses 
 and the prophets, which testify of Christ and his eternal 
 redemption, would not be persuaded, though one rose 
 from the dead. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 OUR LORD IS APPLIED TO IN BEHALF OF LAZARUS CURES 
 TEN PERSONS OF THE LEPROSY IN PEREA, AND RE- 
 STORES LAZARUS TO LIFE. 
 
 SOON after our blessed Saviour had finished these 
 discourses, one of his friends, named Lazarus, fell sick 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 285 
 
 at Bethany, a village about two miles from Jerusalem, 
 and far from the countries beyond Jordan, where Jesus 
 was now preaching the gospel. The sisters of Lazarus, 
 finding his sickness was of a dangerous kind, thought 
 proper to send an account of it to Jesus ; being firmly 
 persuaded that he who had cured so many strangers, 
 would readily come and give health to one whom he 
 loved in so tender a manner. " Lord," said they. 
 " behold, he whom thou lovest is sick : " they did not 
 add', Come down and heal him, make haste and save 
 him from the grave : it was sufficient for them to relate 
 their necessities to their Lord, who was both able and 
 willing to help them from their distress. 
 
 6f When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is 
 not unto death." This declaration of the benevolent 
 Jesus, being carried to the sisters of Lazarus, must have 
 strangely surprised them, and exercised both theirs and 
 his disciples' faith ; since it is probable that, before the 
 messenger arrived at Bethany, Lazarus had expired. 
 Soon after, Jesus positively assured his disciples that 
 "Lazarus was dead."* 
 
 The evangelist, in the beginning of this account, tells 
 us that Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus, 
 and also that after he had received the message he abode 
 two days in the same place where he was. His design 
 in this might be to intimate that his lingering so long 
 after the message came, did not proceed from a want of 
 concern for his friends, but happened according to the 
 counsels of his own wisdom. For the length of time 
 which Lazarus lay in the grave put his death beyond 
 all possibility of doubt, removed every suspicion of 
 
 * See note page 267. 
 
286 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 fraud, and consequently afforded Jesus a fit opportunity 
 of displaying the love he bore to Lazarus, as well as his 
 undoubted resurrection from the dead. His sisters, in- 
 deed, were, by this means, kept awhile in painful 
 anxiety on account of their brother's life, and at last 
 pierced by the sorrows of seeing him die ; yet they must 
 surely think themselves abundantly recompensed by the 
 evidence, according to the gospel, from this astonishing 
 miracle, as well as by the inexpressible surprise of joy 
 they felt, when they again received their brother from 
 the dead. 
 
 Jesus having declared his resolution of returning into 
 Judea, Thomas, conceiving nothing less than destruction 
 from such a journey, yet unwilling to forsake his Master, 
 said, " Let us also go, that we may die with him." 
 Let us not forsake our Master in this dangerous journey, 
 but accompany him into Judea, that, if the Jews, whose 
 inveteracy we are well acquainted with, should take 
 away his life, we may also expire with him.* 
 
 The journey to Judea being thus resolved on, Jesus 
 departed with his disciples on his way to Bethany. 
 " And as he entered into a certain village, there met 
 him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off; and 
 they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have 
 mercy on us. And when he saw them he said unto 
 them, Go, show yourselves unto the priests. And it 
 came to pass, that as they went they were cleansed." 
 Luke xvii. 12-14. 
 
 * This is the first remark recorded of Thomas, and it speaks well for 
 his love to his Master. If he was slow to believe, he was quick to feel, 
 full of generous sympathy, and fearless of impending danger when the 
 path of duty was clear 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 287 
 
 Among these miserable objects, one of them was a 
 native of Samaria, who, perceiving that his cure was 
 complete, came back, praising God for the great mercy 
 he had received. He had before kept at a distance from 
 our Saviour ; but, being now sensible that he was en- 
 tirely clean, he approached his benefactor, that all might 
 have an opportunity of beholding the miracle, and fell 
 on his face at his feet, thanking him, in the most humble 
 manner, for his condescension in healing him of so terri- 
 ble a disease. Jesus, in order to intimate that those 
 who were enlightened with the knowledge of the truth 
 ought, at least, to have shown as great sense of piety 
 and gratitude as this Samarian, asked, " Were there 
 not ten cleansed ? but where are the nine ? There are 
 not found that returned to give glory to God, save this 
 stranger." Luke xvii. 17, 18. 
 
 Jesus and his disciples now continued their journey 
 toward Bethany, where he was informed, by some of the 
 inhabitants of that village, that Lazarus was not only 
 dead, as he had foretold, but had now lain in the grave 
 four days. The afflicted sisters were overwhelmed with 
 sorrow ; so that many of the Jews from Jerusalem came 
 to comfort them concerning their brother. 
 
 It seems the news of our Lord's coming had reached 
 Bethany before he arrived at the village ; for Martha, 
 the sister of Lazarus, being informed of his approach, 
 went out and met him ; but Mary, who was of a more 
 melancholy and contemplative disposition, sat still in 
 the house. No sooner was Martha come into the 
 presence of Jesus, than, in an excess of grief, she poured 
 forth her complaint : Lord, said she, if thou hadst com- 
 plied with the message we sent thee, I well know that 
 
288 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 thy interest with heaven had prevailed : my brother 
 had been cured of his disease and preserved from the 
 chambers of the grave. 
 
 Martha, doubtless, entertained a high opinion of our 
 Saviour's power : she believed that death did not dare 
 to approach his presence ; and, consequently, if Jesus 
 had arrived at Bethany before her brother's dissolution, 
 he had not fallen a victim to the king of terrors. But 
 she imagined it was not in his power to heal the sick at 
 a distance ; though, at the same time, she seemed to 
 have some dark and imperfect hopes that our blessed 
 Saviour would still do something for her. " But I 
 know," said she, " that even noiv, whatsoever .thou wilt 
 ask of God, God wilt give it thee." She thought that 
 Jesus could obtain whatsoever he desired by prayer, and 
 therefore did not found hopes on his power, but on the 
 power of God, through his intercession. She doubtless 
 knew that the great Redeemer of mankind had raised 
 the daughter of Jairus, and the widow's son at Nain, 
 from the dead, but seems to have considered her brother's 
 resurrection as much more difficult, probably because he 
 had been longer dead. 
 
 But Jesus, who was willing to encourage this imper- 
 fect faith of Martha, answered : " Thy brother shall rise 
 again." As these words were delivered in an indefinite 
 sense with regard to time, Martha understood them only 
 as an argument of consolation drawn from the general 
 resurrection, and accordingly answered : " I know that 
 he shall rise again at the resurrection at the last day." 
 She was firmly persuaded of that important article of 
 the Christian faith, the " resurrection of the dead ;" at 
 which important hour she believed her brother would 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 289 
 
 rise from the dust. And here she seems to have termi- 
 nated all her hopes, not thinking that the Son of God 
 would call her brother from the sleep of death. Jesus, 
 therefore, to instruct her in the great truth, replied, " I 
 am the resurrection and the life." I am the author of 
 the resurrection, the fountain and giver of that life they 
 shall then receive, and therefore can with the same ease 
 raise the dead now as at the last day. " He that be- 
 lieveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ; 
 and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never 
 die. Believest thou this?" To which Martha answered, 
 " Yea, Lord ; I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son 
 of God, which should come into the world." I believe 
 that thou art the true Messiah, so long promised by the 
 prophets, and therefore believe that thou art capable of 
 performing every instance of power that thou art pleased 
 to claim. 
 
 Martha now left Jesus, and called her sister, accord- 
 ing to his order. Mary no sooner heard that Jesus was 
 come than she immediately left her Jewish comforters, 
 who increased the weight of her grief, and flew to her 
 Saviour. The Jews, who suspected she was going to 
 weep over the grave of her brother, followed her to that 
 great Prophet who was going to remove all her sorrows. 
 Thus the Jews, who came from Jerusalem to comfort 
 the two mournful sisters, were brought to the grave of 
 Lazarus and made witnesses of his resurrection. 
 
 As soon as Mary approached the great Redeemer of 
 mankind, she fell prostrate at his feet, and, in a flood of 
 tears, poured out her complaint : " Lord, if thou hadst 
 been here my brother had not died." No wonder the 
 compassionate Jesus was moved at so affecting a scene : 
 
 19 
 
290 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 on this side stood Martha, pouring forth a flood of tears ; 
 at his feet lay the affectionate Mary, weeping and 
 lamenting her dear departed brother ; while the Jews, 
 who came to comfort the afflicted sisters, unable to con- 
 fine their grief, joined the common mourning, and mixed 
 their friendly tears, in witness of their love for the de- 
 parted Lazarus, and in testimony to the justice of the 
 sisters' grief for the loss of so amiable, so deserving a 
 brother. Jesus could not behold the affliction of these 
 two sisters and their friends without having a share in 
 it himself: his heart was melted at the mournful scene : 
 " he groaned in spirit, and was troubled." 
 
 To remove the doubts and fears of these pious women, 
 he asked them where they had buried Lazarus not 
 that he was ignorant where the body of the deceased 
 was laid ; he who knew that he was dead, when so far 
 distant from him, and could raise him up by a single 
 word, must have known where his remains were depos- 
 ited to which they answered : " Lord, come and see." 
 The Son of God, to prove that he was not only so, but 
 a most compassionate man, and to show us that the 
 tender affections of the human heart, when kept in due 
 bounds, and that friendly sorrow, when not immoderate 
 and directed to proper ends, are consistent with the 
 highest sanctity of the soul, joined in the general mourn- 
 ing. He wept even at the time he was going to give 
 the most ample proof of his divinity. 
 
 By his weeping, the Jews were convinced that he loved 
 Lazarus exceedingly ; but some of them interpreted this 
 circumstance to his disadvantage ; or, according to their 
 mean way of judging, they fancied he had suffered him 
 to fall by the stroke of death for no other reason in the 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 291 
 
 world but for want of power and affection to rescue him. 
 " Could not this man," said they, " which opened the 
 eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should 
 not have died ? " 
 
 Our Lord, regardless of their question, but grieving 
 for the hardness of their hearts and blindness of their 
 infidelity, groaned within himself as he walked toward 
 the sepulchre of the dead. At his coming to the grave, 
 he said, "Take ye away the stone." To which Martha 
 answered, " Lord, by this time he smelleth ; for he hath 
 been dead four days." She meant to intimate that her 
 brother's resurrection was not now to be expected ; but 
 Jesus gave her a solemn reproof, to teach her that there 
 was nothing impossible with God, and that the power 
 of the Almighty is not to be circumscribed within the 
 narrow bounds of human reason. " Said I not unto 
 thee, that if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the 
 glory of God ? " i. e., Have but faith, and I will display 
 before thee the power of Omnipotence. 
 
 The objections of Martha being thus obviated, she, 
 with the rest, awaited the great event in silence, and, 
 in pursuance with the command of the Son of God, took 
 away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. 
 Jesus had, on many* occasions, publicly appealed to his 
 own miracles as the proofs of his mission, though he did 
 not usually make a formal address to his Father before 
 lie worked those miracles. But, being now to raise 
 Lazarus from the dead, he prayed for his resurrection, 
 to convince the spectators that it could not be effected 
 without an immediate interposition of the Divine power. 
 " Father," said he, " I thank thee that thou hast heard 
 me. And 7 know that thou hearest me always ; but 
 
292 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 because of the people which stand by, I said it, that 
 they may believe that thou hast sent me."* John 
 xi. 41, 42. 
 
 After returning thanks to his Father for this oppor- 
 tunity of displaying his glory, " he cried with a loud 
 voice, Lazarus, come forth." This loud and efficacious 
 call of the Son of God awakened the dead ; the breath- 
 less clay was instantly reanimated ; and he who had 
 lain four days in the tomb obeyed immediately the 
 powerful sound. "And he that was dead came forth 
 bound hand and foot with grave-clothes ; and his face 
 was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto 
 them, Loose him, and let him go." John xi. 44. It 
 would have been the least part of the miracle had Jesus 
 by his powerful word unloosed the napkin wherewith 
 Lazarus was bound; but he brought him out in the 
 same manner as he was lying, and ordered the specta- 
 tors to loose him, that they might be the better convinced 
 of the miracle ; for in taking off the grave-clothes they 
 had the fullest evidence both of his death and resurrec- 
 tion. For, on the one hand, the manner in which he 
 was swathed must soon have killed him if he had been 
 alive when buried; which consequently demonstrated, 
 beyond all exception, that Lazatus had been dead 
 several days before Jesus called him again to life; 
 besides, in stripping him the linen probably offered, 
 both to their "eye and smell, abundant proofs of his 
 
 * This is the only miracle recorded of Jesus which was prefaced by 
 audible prayer. Yet the communion of spirit between the Son of God 
 and the Father who sent him, was constant and uninterrupted. John 
 v. 19-21. It was to manifest this fact to others on this great occasion 
 that Jesus thus spoke. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 293 
 
 putrefaction, and by that means convinced them that 
 he had not been in a swoon, but was really dead. On 
 the other hand, by his lively countenance appearing 
 when the napkin was removed, his fresh color, and his 
 active vigor, those who came near and handled him 
 must be convinced that he was in perfect health, and 
 had an opportunity of proving the truth of the miracle 
 by the closest examination. 
 
 There is something exceedingly beautiful in our 
 Lord's behavior on this occasion : he did not utter one 
 upbraiding word, either to the doubting sisters or the 
 malicious Jews, nor did he let fall one word of triumph 
 or exultation : " Loose him, and let him go," were the 
 only words we have recorded. He was on this, as on 
 all other occasions, consistent with himself, a pattern 
 of perfect humility and modesty. 
 
 Such was the astonishing work wrought by the Son 
 of God at Bethany ; and in the resurrection of Lazarus, 
 thus corrupted, and thus raised by the powerful call of 
 Jesus, we have a striking emblem and glorious earnest, 
 of the resurrection of our bodies from the grave at the 
 last day, when the same powerful mandate which spoke 
 Lazarus again into being shall collect the scattered parti- 
 cles of our bodies arid raise them to immortality. 
 
 Such an extraordinary power, displayed before the 
 face of a multitude, and near to Jerusalem, even over- 
 came the prejudices of some of the most obstinate among 
 them. Many believed that Jesus could be no other than 
 the great Messiah so long promised ; though others, who 
 still expected a temporal prince, and therefore were un- 
 willing to acknowledge him for their Saviour, were filled 
 with indignation, particularly the chief priests and 
 
294 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 elders. "Then gathered the chief priests and the 
 Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this 
 man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all 
 men will believe on him; and the Romans shall come 
 and take away both our place and nation." John xi. 
 47, 48. The common people, astonished at his miracles, 
 will, if we do not take care to prevent it, certainly set 
 him up for the Messiah; and the Romans, under pre- 
 tence of a rebellion, will deprive us both of our liberty 
 and religion. Accordingly, they came to a resolution 
 to put him to death. This resolution was not, however, 
 unanimous ; for Nicodeinus, Joseph of Arimathea, and 
 other disciples of our Saviour, then members of the 
 council, urged the injustice of what they proposed to do, 
 from the consideration of his miracles and innocence. 
 But Caiaphas, the high-priest, from a principle of human 
 policy, told them that the nature of government often 
 required certain acts of injustice in order to secure the 
 safety of the state. "Ye know nothing at all, nor con- 
 sider that it is expedient for us that one man should 
 die for the people, and that the whole nation perish 
 not." * John xi. 49, 50. 
 
 * The evangelist John calls this a prophecy (unconscious to the 
 wicked high-priest in its highest sense), because it was the recognition 
 of the fundamental principle of Christ's redeeming sacrifice, as related 
 to the government of God and the salvation of men. Only in that 
 relation there was no injustice committed when "the Lord laid upon 
 him the iniquity of us all ; " since Christ of his own accord " offered 
 himself for us." and ''suffered the just for the unjust, that he might 
 bring us to God." Isaiah liii. 6 ; Ephes. v. 2 ; 1 Pet. iii. 18. 
 
 Thus the whole Jewish nation, as represented by the high-priest in 
 its highest council, while actuated by the most selfish spirit of enmity 
 to the Eedeemer, was eventually led to endorse the great principle of 
 the Atonement SUBSTITUTIOXAL SUFFERING. How truly it may be 
 said of God, " He taketh the wise in their own craftiness ! " 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 295 
 
 The council, having thus determined to put Jesus to 
 death, deliberated, for the future, only upon the best 
 methods of effecting it, and, in all probability, agreed to 
 issue a proclamation promising a reward to any person 
 who would deliver him into their hands. For this 
 reason, our blessed Saviour did not now go up to Jerusa- 
 lem, though he was within two miles of it, but went to 
 Ephraim, a city on the borders of the wilderness,* where 
 he abode with his disciples, being unwilling to go far 
 into the country, because the Passover, at which he was 
 to suffer, was now at hand. 
 
 CHAPTER XXY. 
 
 THE GREAT PROPHET OF ISRAEL FORETELLS THE RUIN OF 
 THE JEWISH STATE, AND ENFORCES MANY IMPORTANT 
 DOCTRINES BY PARABLE HE BLESSETH THE CHILDREN, 
 AS EMBLEMS OF THE HEAVENLY AND CHRISTIAN TEMPER 
 AND DISPOSITION. 
 
 WHILE the blessed Jesus remained in retirement at 
 Ephraim, he was desired by some of the Pharisees to 
 inform them when the Messiah's kingdom would com- 
 mence. Nor was their anxiety on that account a matter 
 of surprise ; for, as they entertained very exalted notions 
 
 * This town lay about seventeen miles north and east of Jerusalem, 
 beyond the boundary line of Judea. It was five miles northeast of 
 Bethel in the border of Samaria. In 2 Chron. xiii. 19, 20, it is men- 
 tioned in connection with Bethel, as a city of some importance. 
 
296 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 of his coming in pomp and magnificence, it was natural 
 for them to be very desirous of having his empire 
 speedily erected. But our Saviour, to correct this mis- 
 taken notion, told them that the Messiah's kingdom did 
 not consist in any external form of government, erected 
 in some particular country by the terror of arms, and 
 desolation of war ; but in the subjection of the minds of 
 men, and in rendering them conformable to the laws of 
 the Almighty, which was to be effected by a new dis- 
 pensation of religion, and this dispensation was already 
 begun. It was, therefore, needless for them to seek in 
 this or that place for the kingdom of God ; as it had 
 been already preached among them by Christ and his 
 Apostles, and confirmed by innumerable miracles. " The 
 kingdom of God," said he, " cometh not with observa- 
 tion. Neither shall they say, Lo here, or lo there ; for 
 behold, the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 
 xvii. 20, 21. 
 
 Having thus addressed the Pharisees, he turned him- 
 self to his disciples, and in the hearing of all the people 
 prophesied the destruction of the Jewish state ; whose 
 administration, both religious and civil, was the chief 
 difficulty that opposed the erection of his kingdom. 
 Luke xvii. 23. 
 
 Having foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, and 
 warned them against mistakes as to his second coming, 
 our blessed Saviour spake the following parable, in order 
 to excite them to a constant perseverance in prayer, and 
 not to be so weary and faint in their minds, as to neglect, 
 or wholly omit, this necessary duty. 
 
 There was in a city, said the Saviour of the world, 
 a judge, who, being governed by atheistical principles, 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 297 
 
 had no regard to the precepts of religion, and being 
 very powerful did not regard what was said of him by 
 any man : so that all his decisions were influenced 
 merely by passion or interest. In the same city wa,s 
 also a widow, who, having no friends to assist her, was 
 absolutely unable to defend herself from the injuries, or 
 procure redress for any she had received. In this deplo- 
 rable situation, she had recourse to the unjust judge, in 
 order to obtain satisfaction for some oppressive wrong 
 she had lately received ; but the judge was so abandoned 
 to pleasure, that he refused, for a time, to listen to her 
 request; he would not give himself the trouble to 
 examine her case, though the crying injustice pleaded 
 so powerfully for this distressed widow. She was not, 
 however, intimidated by his refusal; she incessantly 
 importuned him, till, by repeated representations of 
 her distress, she filled his mind with such displeasing 
 ideas, that he was obliged to do her justice, merely to 
 free himself from her importunity. " Though," said he 
 to himself, " I fear not God, nor regard man, yet 
 because this widow trouble th me, I will avenge her, 
 lest, by her continual coming, she weary me." Luke 
 xviii. 4, 5. 
 
 "Hear," said the blessed Jesus, "what the unjust 
 judge saith ; and shall not God avenge his own elect, 
 which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long 
 with them ? I tell you, that he will avenge them speed- 
 ily." Luke xviii. 6, etc. As if he had said, if this 
 man, though destitute of the fear either of God or man, 
 was thus prompted to espouse the cause of the widow, 
 shall not a righteous God, the Father of his people, 
 avenge on the wicked the many evils they have done 
 
298 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 unto them, though he bare long with them? Certainly 
 he will, and that in a most awful manner. 
 
 Our blessed Saviour having thus enforced the duty of 
 prayer, in this expressive parable, asked the following 
 apposite question : " Nevertheless, when the Son of man 
 cometh, shall he find faith on the earth ? " As if he 
 had said, notwithstanding all the miracles I have 
 wrought, and the excellent doctrines I have delivered, 
 shall I find at my second coming, that faith among the 
 children of men there is reason to expect ? Will not 
 most of them be found to have abandoned the faith, and 
 wantonly ask, " where is the promise of his coming?" 
 
 The blessed Jesus next rebuked the self-righteous 
 Pharisees. But as these particulars are better illustra- 
 ted by their opposites, he placed the character of this 
 species of men in opposition to those of the humble ; 
 describing the reception each class met with from the 
 Almighty, in a parable of the Pharisee and Publican, 
 who went up together to the temple, at the time when 
 the sacrifice was offered, to direct their petitions to the 
 God of their fathers. Luke xviii. 12. 
 
 Specious as the Pharisee's behavior may seem, his 
 prayer was an abomination to the Lord ; while the poor 
 Publican, who confessed his guilt, and implored mercy, 
 was justified in the sight of God, rather than this arro- 
 gant boaster. 
 
 This parable sufficiently indicates that all the sons of 
 men stand in need of mercy. Both the strict Pharisee 
 and the despised Publican, with the whole race of man- 
 kind, are sinners; and consequently all must implore 
 pardon of their benevolent Creator. We must all ascend 
 to the temple, and there pour forth our prayers before 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 299 
 
 the throne of grace ; for there he has promised ever to 
 be present, to grant the petitions of all who ask in sin- 
 cerity and truth, through the Son of his love. 
 
 These parables were spoken in the town of Ephraim : 
 and during his continuance in that city, the Pharisees 
 asked him, Whether he thought it lawful for a man to 
 put away his wife for every cause ? Our Saviour had 
 twice before declared his opinion of this particular, once 
 in Galilee, and once in Perea ; it is therefore probable 
 that the Pharisees were not ignorant of his sentiments, 
 and that they asked that question then, to find an oppor- 
 tunity of incensing the people against him, well know- 
 ing that the Israelites held the liberty which the law 
 gave them of divorcing their wives as one of their chief 
 privileges. But however that be, Jesus was far from 
 fearing the popular resentment, and accordingly declared 
 the third time against arbitrary divorces. " And I say 
 unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it 
 be for fornication, and shall marry another, cominitteth 
 adultery. And whoso marrieth her which is put away, 
 doth commit adultery." Matt. xix. 9. "And if a woman 
 shall put away her husband, and be married to another, 
 she committeth adultery." Mark x. 10, etc. 
 
 The practice of unlimited divorces, which prevailed 
 among the Jews, gave great encouragement to family 
 quarrels, were very destructive of happiness, and hin- 
 dered the education of their common offspring. Besides, 
 it greatly tended to make their children lose that rever- 
 ence for them which is due to parents, as it was hardly 
 possible for the children to avoid engaging in the quarrel. 
 
 Our Lord's prohibition, therefore, of these divorces is 
 
300 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 founded on the strongest reasons, and greatly tends to 
 promote the welfare of society. 
 
 Our Saviour having, in the course of his ministry, 
 performed innumerable cures, in different parts of the 
 country, several persons, thinking, perhaps, that his 
 power would be as great in preventing as in removing 
 distempers, or certainly in securing their spiritual good, 
 brought their children to him, desiring that he would 
 put his hands upon them and bless them. The disciples, 
 however, mistaking the intention, were angry with the 
 persons, and rebuked them for endeavoring to give this 
 trouble to their Master. But Jesus no sooner saw it, 
 than he was greatly displeased with his disciples, and 
 ordered them not to hinder parents from bringing their 
 children to him. " Suffer little children to come unto 
 me, and forbid them not : for of such is the kingdom of 
 God." Luke xviii. 16. 
 
 Such are those, in a spiritual light, who are brought 
 to a sense of their sins, and humbled for them in the 
 sight of God. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 301 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 OUR LORD DEPARTS FROM HIS RETIREMENT DECLARES THE 
 ONLY WAY OF SALVATION SHOWS THE DUTY OF IM- 
 PROVING THE MEANS OF GRACE BY THE PARABLE OF 
 
 THE VINEYARD PREDICTION OF HIS SUFFERING, AND 
 
 CONTENTION OF THE DISCIPLES ABOUT PRECEDENCE IN 
 HIS KINGDOM. 
 
 THE period of our blessed Saviour's passion now 
 approaching, he departed from Ephraim, and repaired, 
 by the way of Jericho, toward Jerusalem ; but before 
 he arrived at Jericho, a ruler of the synagogue came 
 running to him, and kneeling down before him, asked 
 him, " Good Master, what . good thing shall I do, that 
 I may have eternal life?" Matt. xix. 16. 
 
 Though this young ruler pretended to pay great honor 
 to our dear Redeemer, yet the whole was no more than 
 a piece of mockery. For though he styled him "good," 
 yet he did not believe that he was sent from God, as 
 sufficiently appears from his refusing to observe the 
 counsel given him by Jesus : nor could his artful insinu- 
 ations escape the piercing eye of the great Saviour of the 
 world. Our blessed Saviour, therefore, willing to make 
 him sensible of his secret desire of possessing the riches 
 of this world, told him, that if he aimed at perfection, 
 he should distribute his possessions among the poor and 
 indigent, and become his disciple. " If thou wilt be 
 perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, 
 and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and come and 
 
302 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 follow me. But when the young man heard that 
 saying, he went away sorrowful : for he had great pos- 
 sessions." Matt. xix. 21, 22. 
 
 This melancholy instance of the pernicious influence 
 of riches over the minds of the children of men, induced 
 our blessed Saviour to caution his disciples against 
 fixing their minds on things of such frightful tendency, 
 by showing how very difficult it was for a rich man to 
 procure a habitation in the regions of eternal happiness. 
 " Verily, I say untc you, that a rich man shall hardly 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say 
 unto you, It is easier for a camel " (i. e. a cable, or large 
 rope) " to go through the eye of a needle, than for a 
 rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his 
 disciples heard it they were exceedingly amazed, saying, 
 Who then can be saved ? But Jesus beheld them, and 
 said unto them, With men this is impossible, but with 
 God all things are possible." Matt. xix. 23, etc. By 
 the assistance of grace, which the Almighty never refuses 
 to those who seek it with their whole heart, it is 
 possible. 
 
 This answer of the blessed Jesus was, however, far 
 from satisfying his disciples, who had, doubtless, often 
 reflected with pleasure on the high posts they were to 
 enjoy in their Master's kingdom. Peter seems particu- 
 larly to have been disappointed : and therefore addressed 
 his Master, in the name of the rest, begging him to 
 remember that his Apostles had actually done what the 
 young man had refused. They had abandoned their 
 relations, their friends, their possessions, and their 
 employments, on his account : and therefore desired to 
 know what reward they were to expect for these 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 303 
 
 instances of their obedience ? To which Jesus replied, 
 that they should not fail of a reward, even in this life ; 
 for immediately after his resurrection, when he ascended 
 to his Father, and entered on his mediatorial office, 
 they should be advanced to the honor of judging the 
 twelve tribes of Israel ; that is, of spiritually ruling tie 
 church of Christ, which they were to plant in different 
 parts of the earth. " Yerily, I say unto you, that ye 
 which have followed me in the regeneration, when the 
 Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also 
 shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes 
 of Israel." Matt. xix. 28. 
 
 Having given this answer to Peter, he next mentioned 
 the rewards his other disciples should receive, both in 
 this world and in that which is to come. They, said he, 
 who have forsaken all for my sake, shall be no losers in 
 the end. Divine Providence will take care they have 
 every thing valuable that can be given them by their 
 relations, or they could desire from large possessions. 
 They shall, indeed, be fed with the bread of sorrow, but 
 this shall produce joys to which all the earthly pleasures 
 bear no proportion ; and, in the end, obtain everlasting 
 life. Things shall then be reversed, and those who 
 have been reviled and contemned on earth, for the sake 
 of the gospel, shall be exalted to honor, glory and 
 immortality : while the others shall be consigned to 
 eternal infamy. " But many that are first shall be last, 
 and the last shall be first." Matt. xix. 30. 
 
 To excite their ardent pressing forward in faith and 
 good works, our Lord relates the parable of the house- 
 holder, who, at different hours of the day, hired laborers 
 to work in his vineyard. 
 
304 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 The glorious gospel, with all its blessings, was be- 
 stowed entirely by the free grace of God, and without 
 any thing in men to merit it; besides, it was offered 
 promiscuously to all, whether good or bad, and embraced 
 by persons of all characters. The conclusion of the 
 parable deserves our utmost attention ; we should medi- 
 tate upon it, and take care to make our calling and 
 election sure. Matt. xx. 1-16. 
 
 After Jesus had finished these discourses, he continued 
 his journey toward Jerusalem, where the chief priests 
 and elders, soon after the resurrection of Lazarus, had 
 issued a proclamation, promising a reward to any one 
 who should apprehend him. In all probability, this was 
 the reason why the disciples were astonished at the 
 alacrity of our Lord during this journey, while they 
 themselves followed him trembling. Jesus, therefore, 
 thought proper to repeat the prophecies concerning his 
 sufferings, in order to show his disciples that they were 
 entirely voluntary : adding, that though the Jews should 
 put him to death, yet, instead of weakening, it should 
 increase their faith, especially as he would rise again, 
 the third day, from the dead. " Behold we go up to 
 Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the 
 prophets concerning the Son of man, shall be accom- 
 plished : For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, 
 and shall be mocked and spitefully entreated, and spitted 
 on : and they shall scourge him, and put him to death ; 
 and the third day he shall rise again." Luke xviii. 32, 33. 
 
 As this prediction manifestly tended to the confirma- 
 tion of the ancient prophecies, it must have given the 
 greatest encouragement to his disciples, had they under- 
 stood and applied it in a proper manner ; but they did 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 30-"3 
 
 not. " And they understood none of these things ; and 
 this saying was hid from them ; neither knew they the 
 things which were spoken."* 
 
 The sons of Zebedee were so ignorant, that they 
 thought their Master, by his telling them that he would 
 rise again from the dead, meant that he would then erect 
 his empire, and accordingly begged that he would confer 
 on them the chief posts in his kingdom ; which they 
 expressed by desiring to be seated, the " one on his 
 right hand, and the other on his left," in allusion to his 
 placing the twelve apostles upon twelve thrones, judging 
 the tribes of Israel. 
 
 But Jesus told them they were ignorant of the nature 
 of the honor they requested; and since they desired to 
 share with him in glory, asked them if they were willing 
 to share with him also in his sufferings. "Ye know 
 not what ye ask ; are ye able to drink of the cup that 
 I shall drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that 
 I am baptized with ?" Matt. xx. 22. 
 
 The two disciples, ravished with the prospect of the 
 dignity they were aspiring after, replied, without hesita- 
 tion, that they were both able and willing to share any 
 hardship their Master might meet with, in the way to 
 the kingdom. To which he answered that they should 
 certainly share with him his troubles and afflictions : 
 "Ye shall drink, indeed, of my cup, and be baptized 
 
 * The blinding power of early prejudice, confirmed in each individual 
 by the prejudices of the community, and the concurrent teachings of, 
 the learned expositors of the Scriptures, was never more strikingly 
 exemplified than here. Even faith in the Son of God often fails to 
 pierce through the thick vail so firmly woven, until aided by some new 
 ifluence of the Holy Spirit, or that development of divine Providence 
 rtrich has been happily called, in our time, " the logic of events." 
 20 
 
306 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 with the baptism I am baptized with ; but to sit on my 
 right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give but unto 
 them for whom it is prepared by my Father." Matt. 
 xx. 23. 
 
 This ambitious request of the two brothers raised the 
 indignation of the rest of the disciples, who, thinking 
 themselves equally deserving the principal posts in the 
 Messiah's kingdom, were highly offended at the arro- 
 gance of the sons of Zebedee. Jesus, therefore, in order 
 to restore harmony among his disciples, told them that 
 his kingdom was very different from those of the present 
 world, and the greatness of his disciples did not, like 
 that of secular princes, consist in reigning over others 
 in an absolute and despotic manner. "Ye know that 
 the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, 
 and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 
 But it shall not be so among you ; but whosoever will 
 be great among you, let him be your minister; and 
 whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your 
 servant : even as the Son of man came not to be minis- 
 tered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom 
 for many." Matt. xx. 25, etc. Ye know that rank 
 and precedence pass for merit of character here; but 
 Christian greatness and spiritual precedence consist in 
 humility, love, and labor, of which Christ your Saviour 
 was made an eminent pattern. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 307 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE BENEVOLENT SAVIOUR RESTORES SIGHT TO THE BLIND AT 
 
 JERICHO KINDLY REGARDS ZACCHEUS, THE PUBLICAN 
 
 DELIVERS THE PARABLE OF THE SERVANTS ENTRUSTED 
 WITH THEIR LORD'S MONEY ACCEPTS THE KIND OFFICES 
 
 , OF MARY MAKES A PUBLIC ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM. 
 
 JESUS, with his disciples, and the multitude that 
 accompanied him, were now arrived at Jericho, a famous 
 city of Palestine, and the second in the kingdom. Near 
 this town, Jesus cured two blind men, who sat by the 
 road begging, and expressed their belief in him as the 
 Messiah. " And as they departed from Jericho, a great 
 multitude followed him. And behold, two blind men, 
 sitting by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus 
 passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, 
 thou Son of David. And the multitude rebuked them, 
 because they should hold their peace : but they cried 
 the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son 
 of David." Matt. xx. 29, etc. 
 
 The importunate request had its desired effect on the 
 Son of God. He stood still, and called them to him, 
 that by their manner of walking, spectators might be 
 convinced they were really blind. As soon as they 
 approached him, he asked them, What they requested 
 with such earnestness? They say, "Lord, that our 
 eyes may be opened." This request was not made in 
 vain ; their compassionate Saviour touched their eyes, 
 
308 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 and immediately they received sight, and followed him, 
 glorifying and praising God.* 
 
 Zaccheus, chief of the Publicans, having often heard 
 the fame of our Saviour's miracles, was desirous of seeing 
 his person ; but the lowness of his stature preventing 
 him from satisfying his curiosity, "he ran before, and 
 climbed up a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to 
 % pass that way." As Jesus approached the place where 
 he was, " he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, 
 Zaccheus, make haste, and come down, for to-day I must 
 abide at thy house." Luke xix. 5. 
 
 The Publican expressed his joy at our Lord's conde- 
 scending to visit him, took him to his house, and showed 
 him all the marks of civility in his power. But the 
 people, when they saw he was going to the house of a 
 Publican^ condemned his conduct, as not comformable to 
 the character of a prophet. Zaccheus seems to have 
 heard these unjust reflections; and, therefore, was wil- 
 ling to justify himself before Jesus and his attendants : 
 " And Zaccheus stood, and said unto the Lord, Behold, 
 Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor ; and if I 
 have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, 
 I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, 
 This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as 
 he also is a son of Abraham." Luke xix. 8, etc. 
 
 Our Saviour, further to convince the people that the 
 
 * Mark mentions but one of these blind men, probably because the 
 case of Bartimeus was so much more generally known to the people. 
 His conciseness of style often shows itself by selecting only the more 
 striking example out of several mentioned together by the other 
 evangelists. There is nothing like contradiction in this. It is rather 
 a striking and original mode of confirmation by an independent witness 
 of all that is material to the point in hand the miraculous power of 
 . Jesus. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 309 
 
 design of his mission was to seek and to restore life and 
 salvation to lost and perishing sinners, adds, " The Son 
 of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." 
 While Jesus continued in the house of ^accheus, the 
 Publican, he spake a parable to his followers, who sup- 
 posed, at his arrival in the royal city, he would erect the 
 long-expected kingdom of the Messiah. "A certain 
 nobleman," said he, " went into a far country to receive 
 for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his 
 ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said 
 unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, 
 and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have 
 this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, that 
 when he was returned, having received the kingdom, 
 then he commanded those servants to be called unto 
 him, to whom he had given the money, that he might 
 know how much every man had gained by trading. 
 Then carne the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained 
 ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well, thou good 
 servant : because thou hast been faithful in a very little, 
 have thou Authority over ten cities. And the second 
 came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. 
 And he said likewise to him, Be thou ,also over five 
 cities. And another came, saying, Lord, behold here is 
 thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin ; for 
 I feared thee, because thou art an austere man : thou 
 takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that 
 thou didst not sow. And he said unto him, Out of thine 
 own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou 
 knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid 
 not down, and reaping that I did not sow : Wherefore, 
 then, gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at 
 
310 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 my coming I might have required mine own with usury ? 
 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him 
 the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds 
 (and they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds). 
 For I say unto you, That unto every one that hath shall 
 be given; and from him which hath not, even that he 
 hath shall be taken away from him. But those, mine 
 enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, 
 bring hither, and slay them before me." Luke xix. 
 12, etc. 
 
 After speaking this parable, Jesus left the house of 
 Zaccheus, the Publican, and continued his journey to 
 Jerusalem, where he proposed to celebrate the Passover ; 
 he was earnestly expected by the people, who came 
 up to purify themselves, and who began to doubt 
 whether he would venture to come to the feast. 
 
 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, 
 and repaired to the house of Lazarus, whom he had 
 raised from the dead. " There they made him a supper, 
 and Martha- served ; but Lazarus was one of them that 
 sat at the table with him. Then took Mar/ a pound of 
 ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the 
 feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair : and the 
 house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then 
 said one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, 
 which should betray him, Why was not this ointment 
 sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 
 This he said, not that he eared for the poor : but because 
 he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put 
 therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone; against the 
 day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 311 
 
 always ye have with you ; but me ye have not always." 
 John xii. 2, etc. 
 
 As Bethany was not above two miles from Jerusalem, 
 the news of his arrival was soon spread through the 
 capital, and great numbers of the citizens came to see 
 Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead, together 
 with the great Prophet who had wrought so stupendous 
 a miracle, and many of them were convinced both of 
 the resurrection of the former, and the divinity of the 
 latter ; but the news of their conversion, together with 
 the reason of it, being currently reported in Jerusalem, 
 the chief priests were soon sensible of the weight so great 
 a miracle must have on the minds of the people ; and 
 therefore determined, if possible, to put both Jesus and 
 Lazarus to death. 
 
 Our blessed Lord, though he knew the design of 
 the Jews upon him, also knew that it became him to 
 fulfil all righteousness; and was so far from declining 
 to visit Jerusalem, that he even entered it in a public 
 manner. When they " were come to Bethphage* unto tho 
 Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto 
 them, Go unto the village over against you, and straight- 
 way ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her : loose 
 them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say 
 aught unto you, ye shall say, the Lord hath .need of 
 them, and straightway he will send them. All this was 
 done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the 
 prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, 
 thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an 
 
 * Bethphage was a small village at the foot of Mount Olivet, on the 
 eastern side, toward Jericho. It was near Bethany, and was famous 
 for the abundance of its figs 
 
312 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples 
 went and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought 
 the ass and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and 
 they set him thereon. And a very great multitude 
 spread their garments in the way : others cut down 
 branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way. 
 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, 
 cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David : blessed is 
 he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the 
 highest." Matt, xxi. 1-3, etc. 
 
 The prodigious multitude that now accompanied Jesus 
 filled the Pharisees and great men with malice and envy, 
 because every method they had taken to hinder the 
 people from following Jesus had proved ineffectual. 
 " The Pharisees, therefore, said among themselves, 
 Perceive ye how ye avail nothing? Behold, the 
 world is gone after him." John xii. 19. 
 
 But when our blessed Saviour drew near the city of 
 Jerusalem, surrounded by. the rejoicing multitude, not- 
 withstanding the many affronts he had there received, 
 he beheld the city, and with a divine generosity and 
 benevolence which nothing can equal, wept over it, 
 and, in the most pathetic manner, lamented the calami- 
 ties which he saw were coming upon it, because its 
 inhabitants were ignorant of the time of their visitation, 
 " If," said he, " thou hadst known, even them, at least 
 in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! 
 but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days 
 shall come upon .thee, that thine enemies shall cast a 
 trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep 
 thee in on every side. And shall lay thee even with 
 the ground, and thy children within thee ; and they 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 313 
 
 shall not leave in thee one stone upon another ; because 
 thou knewest not the time of thy visitation." Luke 
 xix. 42, etc. 
 
 Behold here, ye wondering mortals, behold an example 
 of generosity infinitely superior to any furnished by the 
 heathen world ! 
 
 When Jesus, surrounded by the multitude, entered 
 Jerusalem, the whole city was moved on account of the 
 prodigious concourse of people that accompanied him, 
 and their continual acclamations. Jesus rode imme- 
 diately to the temple ; but it being evening, he soon 
 left the city, to the great discouragement of the people, 
 who expected he was immediately to have taken into 
 his hands the reins of government. "And Jesus 
 entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple ; and when 
 he had looked round about upon all things, and now the 
 even-tide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the 
 twelve." Mark xi. 11. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 JESUS PRONOUNCES A CURSE UPON THE FIG TREE EXPELS 
 
 AGAIN THE PROFANERS OF THE TEMPLE ASSERTS HIS 
 
 DIYINE AUTHORITY, AND DELIVERS TWO PARABLES. 
 
 AT the earliest dawn our blessed Saviour left Bethany 
 to visit again the capital of Judea. As he pursued his 
 journey, he saw, at a distance, a fig tree, which, from 
 its fulness of leaves, promised abundance of fruit. This 
 
314 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 inviting object induced him to approach it, in expecta- 
 tion of finding figs, for he was hungry, and the season 
 for gathering them was not yet arrived ; but on his 
 coming to the tree, he found it to be really barren : 
 upon which the blessed Jesus said to it, " Let no fruit 
 grow on thee henceforward forever." Matt. xxi. 19. 
 
 Being disappointed in finding fruit on the fig tree, our 
 blessed Saviour pursued his journey to Jerusalem ; and, 
 on his arrival, went straightway to the temple, the outer 
 court of which he again found full of merchandise. A 
 sight like this vexed his meek and righteous soul, so 
 that he drove them all out of the temple, overturned the 
 tables of the money changers, and the seats of them 
 that sold doves, and would not suffer any vessel to be 
 carried through the temple, "saying unto them, It is 
 written, My house is the house of prayer, but ye have 
 made it a den of thieves." Luke xix. 46. 
 
 Having dispersed this venal tribe, the people brought 
 unto him the blind, the lame, and the diseased, who 
 were all healed by the Son of God ; so that the very 
 children, when they saw the many miraculous cures he 
 performed, proclaimed him to be the great Son of David, 
 the long expected Messiah. 
 
 Such behavior not a little incensed the Pharisees : 
 but they feared the people, and therefore only asked 
 him, if he heard what the children said? insinuating 
 that he ought to rebuke them, and not suffer them thus 
 to load him with the highest praises. But Jesus, instead 
 of giving a direct answer to their question, repeated a 
 passage out of the eighth Psalm. " Have ye never read, 
 Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou 
 ordained strength?" Giving them to understand, that 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 315 
 
 the very least of God's works have been made instru- 
 mental in spreading his praise. 
 
 During the time the blessed Jesus remained in the 
 temple, certain proselyted Greeks,* who came up to 
 worship at Jerusalem, desired to see him, having long 
 cherished expectations of beholding the promised Mes- 
 siah. Accordingly, they applied to Philip, a native of 
 Bethsaida, who mentioned it to Andrew, and he told it 
 to Jesus. Upon which our blessed Saviour told his dis- 
 ciples that he should soon be honored with the conver- 
 sion of the Gentiles : " The hour is come," said he, 
 "that the Son of man should be glorified." But he 
 declared, that before this glorious event happened, he 
 must suffer death ; illustrating the necessity there was 
 of his dying, by the similitude of casting grain into the 
 earth. " Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn 
 of wheat fall into the ground, and die, it abideth alone : 
 but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." John xii. 
 24. Adding, that since it was absolutely necessary for 
 him, their Lord and Master, to suffer the pains of death 
 before he ascended the throne of his glory ; so they, as 
 his followers, must also expect to be persecuted and 
 spitefully used for his name's sake; but if they perse- 
 vered, and even resolved to lose their lives in his service, 
 he would reward their constancy with a crown of glory. 
 At the same time he intimated, that the strangers, if 
 their desire of conversing with him proceeded from a 
 hope of obtaining from him temporal preferments, would 
 find themselves sadly disappointed. " If any man serve 
 
 * Greeks, in the New Testament, represent all Gentiles in distinction 
 irom Jews. 
 
316 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 me, let him follow me ; and where I am, there shall 
 also my servant be : if any man serve me, him will my 
 Father honor." John xii. 26. 
 
 Our blessed Lord was now so affected, in the near 
 view of his cross, that he addressed his heavenly Father 
 for succor in his distress. " Now .is my soul troubled : 
 and what shall I say ? Father, save me from this hour : 
 but for this cause came I unto this hour." John 
 xii. 27. 
 
 Our blessed Lord having made a short prayer to his 
 Father, begged him to demonstrate the truth of his 
 mission, by some token which could not be resisted. 
 " Father, glorify thy name." Nor had he hardly uttered 
 these words, before he was answered by an audible 
 voice from heaven, " I have both glorified it, and will 
 glorify it again." 
 
 This voice was evidently preternatural, resembling 
 thunder in loudness, but sufficiently articulate to be 
 understood by those 'who heard our blessed Saviour pray 
 to his heavenly Father. And Jesus told his disciples 
 that it was not given for his sake, but to confirm them 
 in the faith of his mission. " This voice," said he, 
 " came not because of me, but for your sakes." It came 
 to confirm what I have told you relating to my suffer- 
 ings, death, resurrection, and the conversion of the 
 Gentile world to the Christian religion. 
 
 The kingdom of Satan shall be destroyed, and that 
 of the Messiah exalted. " Now is the judgment of this 
 world : now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 
 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all 
 men unto me." John xii. 31, etc. 
 
 The people, not understanding the force of this affir- 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 31 T 
 
 mation, replied, " We have heard, out of the law, that 
 Christ? abideth forever: and how sayest thou, the Son 
 of man must be lifted up?" John xii. 34. Our Lord, 
 in answer, told them, that they should soon be deprived 
 of his presence and miracles ; and, therefore, they would 
 do well to listen attentively to his precepts, firmly 
 believe the doctrines he delivered, and wisely improve 
 them to their eternal advantage ; for otherwise they 
 would be soon overtaken with spiritual blindness, and 
 rendered incapable of inheriting the promises of the 
 gospel. That while they enjoyed the benefit of his 
 preaching and miracles, which sufficiently proved the 
 truth of his mission from the Most High, they should 
 believe on him : for by that means alone they could 
 become the children of God. " Yet a little while is the 
 light with you ; for he that walketh in darkness knoweth 
 not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe 
 in the light, that ye may be the children of light." John 
 xii. 35, etc. 
 
 But notwithstanding the many miracles our great 
 Redeemer had wrought in presence of these perverse 
 and stiff-necked people, the generality of them refused 
 to own him for the Messiah ; being filled with the vain 
 expectations of a temporal prince, who was to rule over 
 all the kingdoms of the earth, and place his throne in 
 Jerusalem. Some, indeed, even of the rulers, believed 
 on him, though they thought it prudent to conceal their 
 faith, lest they should, like the blind man, .be excom- 
 municated, or put out of the synagogue ; valuing the good 
 opinion of men above the approbation of the Almighty. 
 
 Nevertheless, to inspire such as believed on him with 
 courage, he cried in the temple, " He that believeth on 
 
318 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me." 
 John xii. 44. He that acknowledges the divinity of 
 my mission, acknowledges the power and grace of God, 
 on whose special errand I am thus sent. Adding, he 
 that seeth the miracles I perform, seeth the operations 
 of that Omnipotent Power by which I act. I am the 
 Sun of righteousness, whose beams dispel the darkness 
 of ignorance in which the sons of men are involved, and 
 am come to deliver all who believe on me out of that 
 palpable darkness. You must not, however, expect 
 that I will at present execute my judgment upon those 
 who refuse to embrace the doctrines of the gospel ; for I 
 am not come to condemn and punish, but to save the 
 world, and consequently to try every gentle and winning 
 method to reclaim the wicked from the error of their 
 ways, and turn their feet into the paths of life and sal- 
 vation. They shall not, however, escape unpunished, 
 who neglect the instructions and offers of salvation now 
 made to them ; for the doctrines I have preached shall 
 bear witness against them at the awful tribunal of the 
 last day ; and as it has aggravated their sin, so shall it 
 then heighten their punishment. 
 
 While Jesus was thus preaching in the temple, a 
 deputation of priests and elders was sent from the 
 supreme council, to ask him concerning the nature of 
 the authority by which he acted, whether it was that 
 of a prophet, priest, or king, as no other person had a 
 right to make any alterations, either in church or state. 
 And if he laid claim to either of those characters, from 
 whom he received it ? But our blessed Saviour, instead 
 of giving a direct answer to the questions of the Phari- 
 sees, asked them another; promising, if they resolved 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 319 
 
 his question, he would also answer theirs. " I also will 
 ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in likewise 
 will tell you by what authority I do these things. The 
 baptism of John, whence was it ? from heaven or of 
 men ? " Matt. xxi. 24, etc. 
 
 This question puzzled the priests. They considered, 
 on the one hand, that if it was from God, it would 
 oblige them to acknowledge the authority of Jesus, 
 John having, more than once, publicly declared him to 
 be the Messiah ; and on the other, if they peremptorily 
 denied the authority of John, they would be in danger 
 of being stoned by the people, who, in general, consid- 
 ered him as a prophet.' They, therefore, thought it 
 the most eligible method to answer, that they could 
 not tell from whence John's baptism was. 
 
 Thus, by declining to answer the question asked them 
 by Jesus, they left him at liberty to decline giving the 
 council the satisfaction they had sent to demand. At 
 the same time they plainly confessed, that they w.ere 
 unable to pass any opinion on John the Baptist, not- 
 withstanding he claimed the character of a messenger 
 from God, and they had sent to examine his pretensions. 
 This was in effect, to acknowledge that they were inca- 
 pable of judging of any prophet whatsoever. Well, 
 therefore, might the blessed Jesus say, " Neither tell I 
 you by what authority I do these things." You have 
 no righ't to ask, since you have confessed you are unable 
 to judge ; and, therefore, I shall not satisfy your inquiry. 
 
 But because this deputation had said, that they were 
 ignorant from whence the baptism of John was, our 
 blessed Saviour sharply rebuked them, conveying his 
 reproof in the parable of the two sons commanded to 
 
320 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 
 
 ivork in their father's vineyard, and by asking their 
 opinion of the two, made them condemn themselves. 
 
 The blessed Jesus did not only rebuke them for 
 rejecting the preaching of the Baptist, but represented 
 the crime of the nation, in rejecting all the prophets 
 which had been sent since they became a nation ; among 
 the rest, the only begotten Son of the Most High ; 
 warning them, at the same time, of their danger, and 
 the punishment that would inevitably ensue, if they 
 continued in their rebellion. The outward economy of 
 religion, in which they gloried, would be taken from 
 them ; their relation to God, as his people, cancelled ; 
 and the national constitution destroyed : but because 
 these topics were extremely disagreeable, he delivered 
 them under the vail of a parable : " There was," said 
 he, " a certain householder which planted a vineyard, 
 and hedged it round about, and digged a wine-press in 
 it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and 
 went into a far country," etc. Matt. xxi. 38. 
 
 Shocked at this awful representation, the Phari- 
 sees exclaimed, " God forbid ; " surely these husbandmen 
 will not proceed to such desperate iniquity ; surely the 
 vineyard will not thus be taken from them. But to 
 confirm the truth of this, our Saviour added a remark- 
 able prophecy of himself, and his rejection, cxviii. 
 Psalm. " Did you never," said he, " read in the Scrip- 
 tures, The stone which the builders refused, is become 
 the head-stone of the corner ; this is the Lord's doing, it 
 is marvellous in our eyes ? " The rejection of the Mes- 
 siah by the Jews, and the reception he met- with among 
 the Gentiles, all brought to pass by the providence of 
 God, are wonderful events; and therefore I say unto 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 321 
 
 you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and 
 given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." 
 Matt. xxi. 38. 
 
 The chief priests and Pharisees being afraid to appre- 
 hend Jesus, he was at liberty to proceed in the offices 
 of his ministry. Accordingly he delivered another 
 parable, wherein he described, on the one hand, the bad 
 success which the preaching of the gospel was to meet 
 with among the Jews ; and, on the other, the cheerful 
 reception given it among the Gentiles. This, gracious 
 design of the Almighty, in giving the gospel to the 
 children of men, our blessed Saviour illustrated by the 
 behavior of a certain king, who, in honor of his son, 
 made a great feast, to which he invited many guests. 
 " The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, 
 which made a marriage for his son." This marriage 
 supper, or great feast, signifies the joys of heaven, 
 which are properly compared to an elegant entertain- 
 ment, on account of their exquisiteness and duration; 
 and are here said to be prepared in honor of the Son 
 of God, because they are bestowed on men in conse- 
 quence of his sufferings in their stead and behalf. 
 
 Some time before the supper was ready, the servants 
 went forth to call the guests to the wedding; i. e., 
 when the fulness of time approached, the Jews, as being 
 the peculiar people of God, were first called by John 
 the Baptist, and afterward by Christ himself; but they 
 refused all these benevolent calls of mercy, and rejected 
 the kind invitations of the gospel, though pressed by 
 the preaching of the Messiah, and his forerunner. 
 After our Saviour's resurrection and ascension, the apos- 
 tles were sent forth to inform the Jews that the gospel 
 21 
 
322 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 covenant was established, mansions in heaven prepared, 
 and nothing wanting but the cheerful acceptance of the 
 honor designed them. " Again he sent forth other ser- 
 vants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I 
 have prepared my dinner ; my oxen and my fatlings are 
 killed, and all things are ready : come unto the mar- 
 riage." But these messengers were as unsuccessful as 
 the former. The Jews, undervaluing the favor offered 
 them, mocked at the message ; and some of them, more 
 rude than the rest, insulted, beat, and slew the servants 
 that had been sent to call them to the marriage supper 
 of the Lamb. " But when the king heard thereof he was 
 wroth; and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed 
 those murderers, and burnt up their city." This part 
 of the parable plainly predicted the destruction of the 
 Jews by the Roman armies, called here the armies of 
 the Almighty, because they were appointed by him to 
 execute vengeance on that once favorite, but now rebel- 
 lious people. 
 
 The parable is then continued, as follows : The king 
 again sent forth his servants into the countries of the 
 Gentiles, with orders to compel all that they met with 
 to come into the marriage. This was immediately 
 done, and the wedding was furnished with guests ; but 
 when the king came into the apartment, " he saw there 
 a man which had not a wedding garment ; and he saith 
 unto him, Friend, how comest thou in hither, not having 
 a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then 
 said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, 
 and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness : 
 there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 323 
 
 many are called, but few are chosen." Matt. xxi. 
 11, etc. 
 
 By the conclusion of the parable, we learn that the 
 profession of the Christian religion will not save a man, 
 unless he acts from Christian principles. Let us, there- 
 fore, who have obeyed the call, and are by profession 
 the people of God, think often on that awful day, when 
 the king will come in to see his guests; when the 
 Almighty will, with the greatest strictness, view every 
 soul that lays claim to the joys of heaven. Let us 
 think of the speechless confusion that will seize such as 
 have not on the wedding garment, and of the inexorable 
 anxiety with which they will be consigned to weeping 
 and gnashing of teeth : and let us remember, that to 
 have seen for awhile the light of the gospel, and the 
 fair beamings of an eternal hope, will add deeper and 
 more sensible horrors to these gloomy caverns. On the 
 other hand, to animate and encourage us, let us antici- 
 pate the joyful hour which will consign us to bliss im- 
 mortal. 
 
324 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE BLESSED JESUS WISELY RETORTS ON THE PHARISEES 
 AND HERODIANS, WHO PROPOUND AN INTRICATE QUES- 
 TION TO HIM SETTLES THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT OF 
 
 THE LAW ENFORCES HIS MISSION AND DOCTRINE, AND 
 
 FORETELLS THE JUDGMENT THAT WOULD FALL UPON THE 
 PHARISAICAL TRIBE. 
 
 THIS representation of the state of the finally impeni- 
 tent, appearing to be levelled at the Pharisees, they im- 
 mediately concerted with the Herodians and Sadducees, 
 on the most proper method of putting Jesus to death. 
 It is sufficiently evident, that their hatred was now 
 carried to the highest pitch, because the most violent 
 enmity which had so long subsisted between the two 
 sects, was, on this occasion, suspended, and they joined 
 together to execute their cruel determination on the 
 Son of God. They, however, thought it most eligible 
 to act very cautiously, and endeavor, if possible, to catch 
 some hasty expression from him, that they might render 
 him odious to the people, and procure something against 
 him that might serve as a basis for a persecution. 
 
 Accordingly, they sent some of their disciples to him, 
 with orders to feign themselves just men, who main- 
 tained the greatest veneration for the divine law, and 
 dreaded nothing more than the doing any thing incon- 
 sistent with its precepts : and, under this specious cloak 
 of hypocrisy, to beg his determination of an affair that 
 had long lain heavy on their consciences ; namely, the 
 paying tribute to Csesar, which they thought inconsis- 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 325 
 
 tent with their zeal for religion. " Master," said they, 
 " we know that thou art true, and carest for no man : 
 for thou regardest not the person of man, but teachest 
 the way of God in truth. Tell us, therefore, what 
 thinkest thou, Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or 
 not?" Mark xii. 14. 
 
 But the blessed Jesus saw their secret intentions, and, 
 accordingly called them hypocrites, to signify that 
 though they made conscience, and a regard for the, 
 divine will, their pretence for proposing this question, 
 he saw through the thin vail that concealed their 
 design from the eyes of mortals, and knew that their 
 intention was to ensnare him. 
 
 He, however, did not decline answering their ques- 
 tion, but previously desired to see a piece of the tribute 
 money. The piece was accordingly produced, and 
 proved to be coined by the Romans. Upon which our 
 blessed Saviour answered them, since this money bears 
 the image of Caesar, it is his, and by making use of it, 
 you acknowledge his authority. But at the same time 
 that you discharge your duty to the civil magistrate, 
 you should never forget the duty you owe to your God ; 
 but remember, that as you bear the image of the great, 
 the omnipotent King, you are his subjects, and ought 
 to pay him the tribute of yourselves, serving him to the 
 very utmost of your power. 
 
 The Pharisees and their followers, under a pretence 
 of religion, often justified sedition ; but the Herodians, 
 in order to ingratiate themselves with the reigning 
 powers, made them a compliment of their consciences, 
 complying with whatever they enjoined, however oppo- 
 site their commands might be to the divine law. Our 
 
326 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Lord, therefore, adapted his answer to them both, 
 exhorting them, in their regards to God' and the magis- 
 trate, to give each his due ; there being no inconsistency 
 between their rights, when their rights only are insisted 
 on. 
 
 So unexpected an answer quite disconcerted and 
 silenced these crafty enemies. They were astonished, 
 both ' at his having discovered their design, and his 
 wisdom in avoiding the snare they had so artfully laid 
 for him. " When they had heard these words, they 
 marvelled, and left him, and .went their way." Matt, 
 xxii. 22. 
 
 Though our Lord thus wisely obviated their crafty 
 designs, enemies came against him from every quarter. 
 The Sadducees, who denied the doctrine of a future 
 state, together with the existence of angels and spirits, 
 came forward to the charge ; proposing to him their 
 strongest arguments against the resurrection, which they 
 deduced from the law given by Moses, with regard to 
 marriage. " Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife 
 of them is she ? for seven had her to wife." Luke xx. 
 28, etc. 
 
 The Sadducees considered it as a necessary conse- 
 quence of the doctrine of the resurrection, or a future 
 state, that every man's wife should be restored to him. 
 But this argument our blessed Saviour soon confuted. 
 He also observed, that the nature of the life obtained 
 in a future state made marriage altogether superfluous, 
 because in the world to come, men being spiritual and 
 immortal, like the angels, there was no need of natural 
 means to propagate or continue the kind. " Ye do err," 
 said the blessed Jesus, " not knowing the Scriptures, nor 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 327 
 
 the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither 
 marry nor are given in marriage." Matt. xxii. 29, 30. 
 " Neither can they die any more ; for they are equal 
 unto the angels, and are the children of God, being the 
 children of the resurrection." Luke xx. 36. Hence 
 we may observe, that good men are called the children 
 of the Most High, from their inheritance at the resur- 
 rection, and particularly on account of their being 
 adorned with immortality. 
 
 Having thus shown their folly and unbelief, he pro- 
 ceeded to show that they were also ignorant of the 
 Scriptures, and particularly of the writings of Moses, 
 from whence they had drawn their objection, by demon- 
 strating, from the very law itself, the certainty of a 
 resurrection, at least that of just men, and consequently, 
 quite demolished the opinion of the Sadducees, who, by 
 believing the materiality of the soul, affirmed that men 
 were annihilated at their death, and that their 'opinion 
 was founded on the writings of Moses. "Now," said 
 our Saviour, "that the dead are raised, even Moses 
 showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God 
 of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of 
 Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the 
 living; for all live unto him." Luke xx. 37, 38. 
 Consequently they were not annihilated, as you pretend, 
 but are still in being, and continue to be the servants of 
 the Most High. 
 
 This argument effectually silenced the Sadducees, and 
 agreeably surprised the people, to see the objection 
 hitherto thought impregnable totally abolished, and the 
 sect they had long abominated fully confuted. "And 
 
328 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at 
 his doctrine." Matt. xxii. 33. 
 
 Nor could even the Pharisees refrain from giving the 
 Saviour of mankind the praise due to his superlative 
 wisdom ; for one of the Scribes desired him to give his 
 opinion on a question often debated among their teach- 
 ers ; namely, which was the great commandment of the 
 law ? The true reason for their proposing this question, 
 was, to try whether he was as well acquainted with the 
 sacred law, and the debates that had arisen on different 
 parts of it, as he was in deriving arguments from the 
 inspired writers, to destroy the tenets of those who 
 denied a future state. 
 
 In order to understand the question proposed to our 
 blessed Saviour by the Scribe, it is necessary to observe, 
 that some of the most learned rabbis had declared, that 
 the law of sacrifice was the great commandment ; some 
 that it was the law of circumcision ; and others that 
 the law of meats and washings had merited that title. 
 
 Our blessed Saviour, however, showed that they were 
 all mistaken ; and that the great commandment of the 
 law is the duty of piety : and particularly mentioned 
 that comprehensive summary of it, given by Moses : 
 " Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord ; and 
 thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy t heart, 
 and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with 
 all thy strength. This is the first commandment." 
 Mark xii. 29, 30. 
 
 The first and chief commandment is, to give God our 
 hearts. The Divine Being is so transcendently amiable 
 in himself, and hath, by the innumerable benefits con- 
 ferred upon us, such a title to our utmost affection, that 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 329 
 
 no obligation bears any proportion to that of loving 
 him. The honor assigned to this precept proves, that 
 piety is the noblest act of the human mind ; and that 
 the chief ingredient in piety is love, founded on a clear 
 and extensive view of the divine perfections, a perma- 
 nent sense of his benefits, and a deep conviction of his 
 being the sovereign good, our portion and our happiness. 
 
 Our blessed Saviour having thus answered the ques- 
 tion put to him by the Scribe, added that the second 
 commandment was that which enjoined the love of our 
 neighbor. 
 
 This had, indeed, no relation to the lawyer's question 
 concerning the first commandment; yet our. blessed 
 Lord thought proper to show him which was the second, 
 probably because the men of this sect did not acknowl- 
 edge the importance and precedency of love to their 
 neighbors, or because they were remarkably deficient 
 in the practice of it, as Jesus himself ha<^ often found 
 in their attempts to kill him. " And the second is like 
 unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 
 
 Without love, a narrowness of soul will shut us up 
 within ourselves, and make all we do '.o others only as 
 a sort of merchandize, trading for ouv own advantage. 
 It is love only that opens our heart TO consider other 
 persons, and to love them on their own account, or 
 rather on account of God, who is love. 
 
 The Scribe was astonished at the justness of our 
 Saviours decisions, and anssvered, That he had deter- 
 mined rightly, since there is but one supreme God, 
 whom we must all adore : and if we love him above all 
 temporal things, and our neighbor as ourselves, we wor- 
 
330 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 ship him more acceptably than if we sacrifice to him 
 " all the cattle upon a thousand hills." 
 
 Our blessed Lord highly applauded the piety and 
 wisdom of this reflection, by declaring that the person 
 who made it was not far from the kingdom of God. 
 
 As the Pharisees, during the course of our Saviour's 
 ministry, had proposed to him many difficult questions, 
 with intent to prove his prophetical gift, he now, in his 
 turn, thought proper to make a trial of their knowledge 
 in the sacred writings. For this purpose he asked their 
 opinion of a difficulty concerning the Messiah's pedigree. 
 " What think ye of Christ ? Whose son is he ? They say 
 unto him, The son of David." Matt. xxii. 42. I know, 
 answered Jesus, you say Christ is the son of David ; but 
 how can they support their opinion, or render it consis- 
 tent with the words of David, who himself calls him 
 Lord? and " how is he his son?" It seems the Jewish 
 doctors did not imagine that their Messiah would be en- 
 dowed with any perfections greater than those that 
 might be enjoyed by human nature ; for though they 
 called him the Son of God, they had no notion that he 
 had a divine power from heaven, and therefore could 
 not pretend to solve the difficulty. 
 
 The latter question, however, might have convinced 
 them of their error. Since, he rules over not only those 
 of former ages, but even over the kings from whom he 
 was himself descended, and his kingdom comprehends 
 the men of all countries and times, past, present, and to 
 come ; the doctors, if they had thought accurately upon 
 the subject, should have expected in their Messiah a 
 king different from all other kings. Besides, he is to sit 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 331 
 
 at God's right hand, " till all his enemies are made his 
 footstool." 
 
 Such solid reasoning gave the people a high opinion 
 of his wisdom ; and showed them how far superior he 
 was to their most renowned rabbis, whose arguments to 
 prove their opinions, and answers to the objections 
 which were raised against them, were, in general, very 
 weak and trifling. Nay, his foes themselves, from the 
 repeated proofs they had received of the prodigious 
 depth of his understanding, were impressed with such 
 an opinion of his wisdom, that they judged it impossible 
 to entangle him in his talk. Accordingly, they left off 
 attempting it, and from that day forth, troubled him ,no 
 more with their insidious questions. 
 
 The above discourses greatly incensed the Scribes and 
 Pharisees, as they were pronounced in the hearing of 
 many of that order; it is, therefore, no wonder that 
 they watched every opportunity to destroy him. But 
 this was not a time to put their bloody designs in exe- 
 cution ; the people set too high a value on his doctrine, 
 to suffer any violence to be offered to his person ; and as 
 this was the last sermon he was ever to preach in public, 
 it was necessary that he should use some severity, as all 
 his mild persuasions proved ineffectual. 
 
 He therefore denounced, in the most solemn manner, 
 dreadful woes against them, not on account of the per- 
 sonal injuries he had received from them, but on account 
 of their excessive wickedness. 
 
 They were public teachers of religion ; and therefore 
 should have used every method in their power to recom- 
 mend its precepts to the people, and to have been them- 
 selves shining examples of every duty it enjoined : but, 
 
332 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 on the contrary, they abused every mark and character 
 of goodness for all the purposes of villany, and under 
 the cloak of a severe and sanctified aspect, they were 
 malicious, implacable, lewd, covetous, and rapacious. 
 In a word, instead of being reformers, they were the 
 corrupters of mankind, and consequently their wicked- 
 ness deserved the greatest reproof that could be given 
 by the great Redeemer of mankind. " Wo unto you, 
 Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye shut up the 
 kingdom of heaven against men ; for ye neither go in 
 yourselves, neither suffer ye them that were entering to 
 go in. "Wo unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! 
 for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make 
 long prayers ; therefore ye shall receive the greater 
 damnation. Wo unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo- 
 crites ! for ye compass sea and land to make one prose- 
 lyte, and, when he is made, ye make him twofold more 
 the child of hell than yourselves." Matt, xxiii. 
 13, etc. 
 
 He added that the Divine Being was desirous of 
 trying every method for their conversion, though all 
 these instances of mercy were slighted, and that they 
 must expect such terrible vengeance, as should be a 
 standing monument of the divine displeasure against all 
 the murders committed by the sons of men from the 
 foundation of the world. 
 
 Having thus laid before them their heinous guilt and 
 punishment, he was, at the thought of the calamities 
 which were soon to fall upon them, exceedingly moved, 
 and his breast filled with sensations of pity to such a 
 degree, that, unable to contain himself, he broke forth 
 into tears, bewailing the hard lot of the city of Jerusa- 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 333 
 
 lem : for as its inhabitants had more deeply imbrued 
 their hands in the blood of the prophets, they were to 
 drink more deeply of the punishment due to such crimes. 
 " Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the proph- 
 ets, and stoneet them which are sent unto thee, how 
 often would I have gathered thy children together, even 
 as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and 
 ye would not! Behold your house- is left unto you 
 desolate." 
 
 By the word " house," our blessed Saviour meant the 
 temple, which was from that time to be left unto them 
 desolate ; the glory of the Lord, which Haggai had pro- 
 phesied should fill the second house, was now departing 
 from it. Adding : " I say unto you, Ye shall not see me 
 henceforth, till je sliall say. Blessed is he that cometh 
 in the name of the Lord." Matt, xxiii. 39. As if he 
 had said, As ye have killed the prophets, and persecuted 
 me whom the Father hath sent from the courts of 
 heaven, and will shortly piit me, who am the Lord of 
 the temple, to death, your holy house shall be left deso- 
 late, and your nation totally deserted by me; nor shall 
 you see me any more till ye shall acknowledge the 
 dignity of my character, and the importance of rny mis- 
 sion, and say with the whole earth, " Blessed is he that 
 cometh in the name of the Lord." 
 
 Thus did the blessed Jesus strip the Scribes and 
 Pharisees of their hypocritical mask. He treated them 
 with severity, because their crimes were of the blackest 
 dye : and hence we should learn to be really good, and 
 not flatter ourselves that we can cover our crimes, with 
 the cloak of hypocrisy, from that piercing eye from 
 which nothing is concealed. 
 
334 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 The people could not fail being astonished at these 
 discourses, as they had always considered their teachers 
 as the most righteous among the sons of men. Nay, the 
 persons themselves, against whom they were levelled, 
 were confounded, because their own consciences con- 
 vinced them of the truth of every particular laid to their 
 charge. They therefore knew not what course to pur- 
 sue ; and in the midst of their hesitation, they let Jesus 
 depart without making any attempt to seize him, or 
 inflict on him any kind of punishment. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 OUR SAVIOUR COMMENDS EVEN THE SMALLEST ACT PROCEED- 
 ING FROM A TRULY BENEVOLENT MOTIVE PREDICTS THE 
 
 DEMOLITION OF THE MAGNIFICENT TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM, 
 .AND DELIVERS SEVERAL INSTRUCTIVE PARABLES. 
 
 JESUS, some time after, repaired with his disciples 
 into the court of the temple, called the treasury, from 
 several chests being fixed to the pillars of the portico 
 surrounding the court, for receiving the offerings of 
 those who came to worship in the temple. While he 
 continued in this court, he " beheld how the people cast 
 money into the treasury, and many that were rich cast 
 in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and 
 she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And 
 he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 335 
 
 Verily, I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast 
 more in than all they which have cast into the treasury. 
 For all they did cast in of their abundance ; but she of 
 her want did cast in all that she had, even all her 
 living." Mark xii. 41, etc. 
 
 Though the offering given by this poor widow was in 
 itself very small, yet, in proportion to the goods of life 
 she enjoyed, it was remarkably large ; for it was all she 
 had, even all her living. In order, therefore, to encour- 
 age charity, and show that it is the disposition of the 
 mind, not the magnificence of the offering, that attaches 
 the regard of the Almighty, the Son of God applauded 
 this poor widow, as having given more in proportion 
 than any of the rich. Their offerings, though great in 
 respect to hers, were but a small part of their estates ; 
 whereas her offering was her whole stock. And from 
 this passage of the gospel we should learn that the 
 poor, who in appearance are denied the means of doing 
 charitable offices, are encouraged to do all they can. 
 For, how small soever the gift may be, the Almighty, 
 who beholds the heart, values it, not according to what 
 it is in itself, but according to the disposition with which 
 it is given. 
 
 On the other hand, we should learn from hence that 
 it is not enough for the rich that they exceed the poor 
 in gifts of charity : they should bestow in proportion to 
 their income ; * and they would do well to remember 
 that a little given, where a little only is left, appears a 
 much nobler offering in the sight of the Almighty, and 
 
 * If this be a just rule in raising the national revenue, why is it not 
 equally just as the basis of a man's charities? 1 Cor. xvi. 2; 2 Cor. 
 viii. 13-16. Yet how few observe it I 
 
336 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 discovers a more benevolent and humane temper of 
 mind, than sums much larger bestowed out of a plenti- 
 ful abundance. 
 
 The disciples now remembered that their Master, at 
 the conclusion of his pathetic lamentation over Jerusa- 
 lem, * had declared that the temple should not any more 
 be favored with his presence, till they should say, 
 " Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." 
 A declaration of this kind could not fail of greatly sur- 
 prising his disciples ; and therefore, as he was departing 
 from the sacred structure, they desired him to observe 
 the beauty of the building, insinuating that they thought 
 it strange that he should intimate an intention of leaving 
 it desolate ; that so glorious a fabric, celebrated in every 
 corner of the earth, was not to be deserted rashly ; and 
 that they should think themselves supremely happy 
 when he, as the Messiah, and descendant of David, 
 should take possession of it and erect his throne in the 
 raidst of Jerusalem. And, as they went out of the tem- 
 ple, one of his disciples said unto him, " Master, see 
 what manner of stones and what buildings are here ! " 
 
 The eastern wall of the temple, which fronted the 
 Mount of Olives, whither the disciples, with their Mas- 
 ter, were then retiring, was built, from the bottom )f 
 the valley to a prodigious height, with stones of an in- 
 credible bulk, firmly compacted together, and therefore 
 made a very grand appearance at a distance. The 
 eastern wall is supposed to have been the only remains 
 of Solomon's temple, and had escaped when the Chal- 
 deans burnt it. But this building, however strong or 
 costly it appeared, our Saviour told them should be 
 
 * See page 333. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 337 
 
 totally destroyed. " Seest thou," said he, " these great 
 buildings ? there shall not be left one stone upon another 
 that shall not be thrown down." Mark xiii. 2. That 
 noble edifice, raised with much labor and at a vast ex- 
 pense, shall be razed to the very foundation.* The dis- 
 ciples, therefore, perceived that the whole temple was to 
 be demolished, but did not suspect that the sacrifices 
 were to be taken away, and a new mode of religion in- 
 troduced, which (by fulfilling the whole design of the 
 Levitical sacrifices, there offered, in the atonement of 
 Christ) rendered the temple unnecessary. They flat- 
 tered themselves that the fabric then standing, however 
 glorious it might appear, was too small for the numerous 
 worshippers who would frequent it when all the nations 
 of the world were subject to the Messiah's kingdom, and 
 was, therefore, to be pulled down, in order to be erected 
 on a more magnificent plan, suitable to the idea they 
 had conceived of his future empire. Filled -with these 
 pleasing imaginations, they received the news with 
 pleasure, meditating, as they walked to the mountain, 
 on the glorious things which were shortly to some to 
 pass. 
 
 When they arrived on the Mount of Olives, and 
 their Master had taken his seat on some eminence, from 
 
 * It appears to us rather a strain upon the words of Jesus to apply 
 them to the lower wall or substructure of the temple. Besides this 
 exegetical objection to it, there is a historical one was the wall ever 
 demolished in fact ? To say nothing of the immense arched ways and 
 vaults under the vast area, which still remain, there are in the outer 
 walls of the present area stones of vast size, evidently belonging to 
 the ancient walls. Near the southwest corner, as Dr. Kobinson and 
 Dr. Barclay both testify, certain huge stones mark the beginning of an 
 arch, a part of the stately bridge which anciently connected the tem- 
 ple with Mount Zion. 
 22 
 
338 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 whence they had a prospect of the temple and part of 
 the city, his disciples drew near, to know when the 
 demolition of the old structure was to happen, and what 
 were to be the signs of his coming, and of the end of the 
 world. " And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the 
 disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, 
 when shall these things be? and what shall be the 
 sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world ? " 
 Matt. xxiv. 3. 
 
 * Let the reader remark here, that however closely the idea of the 
 destruction of the temple might be associated in the minds of the 
 disciples with that of the Saviour's second coming, the questions pro- 
 posed by them are two, and perfectly distinct in their nature. The 
 first is simply a question of time, restricted by its terms to the events 
 just foretold : " When shall all these things be V" that is, when shall the 
 temple be destroyed ? The second is a question of evidence : " What 
 shall be the sign (evidence) of thy coming and of the end of the 
 world ? " It is of great importance to the understanding of the 
 Saviour's answers to keep these questions apart from each other. 
 
 Our Lord proceeds at once to reply to the first question, and con- 
 tinues it until it is fully disposed of. Matt. xxiv. 34. The allusion to 
 his second coming in verse 27, is merely cautionary, to distinguish it 
 from all false pretences, by the fact of its all-irradiating splendor. 
 The allusions to it in verses 29-31, are simply in the way of evidence ; 
 the judgment on the Jewish state being a sign of Christ being in 
 heaven, and of the certainty and solemnity of his final coming to 
 judgment. 
 
 The parable of the fig-tree belongs entirely to the signs of the 
 approaching destruction of the city and sanctuary, which was to fall 
 within the lifetime of the existing generation. But of that greater 
 event, his second coming, when "heaven and earth shall pass away " 
 (verse 35), he says expressly the time shall not be revealed : " But of 
 that day and hour knoweth no man ; no, not the angels of heaven, but 
 my Father only." Matt. xxiv. 36. The remainder of the discourse 
 turns upon a suitable preparation to meet him, and the holy watchful- 
 ness demanded of every generation of men by the uncertainty (as far 
 as we are concerned) of the time. 
 
 Experience abundantly proves that all attempts to determine the time 
 of our Lord's second advent have been fruitless and vain. Are they 
 not presumptuous also ? 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 339 
 
 The disciples, by this request, seemed desirous of 
 knowing what signs should precede the erection of that 
 extensive empire over which they supposed the Messiah 
 was to reign ; for they still expected he would govern a se- 
 cular kingdom. They, therefore, connected the demolition 
 of the temple with their Master's coming, though they 
 had not the least notion that he was to destroy the 
 nation and change the form of religious worship. They, 
 therefore, meant by the " end of the world," or, as the 
 words should have been translated, the end of the ages, 
 the period of the political government then executed by 
 the heathen procurators.* 
 
 Our blessed Saviour, therefore, was careful to con- 
 vince them of their mistake, by telling them that he 
 was not come to rule a secular empire, as they supposed, 
 but to punish the Jews for their perfidy and rebellion, 
 by destroying both their temple and nation. " Take 
 heed," said he, " that no man deceive you. For many 
 shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall 
 deceive many." 
 
 This caution was far from being unnecessary, because, 
 
 * The best key to determine the precise meaning of a writer in the 
 use of a particular word or phrase, is found by comparing all the pas- 
 sages in which he employs it. Now it happens that the original phrase, 
 translated "the end of the world," is used by Matthew three times 
 before, in reporting the language, of our Lord. Matt. xiii. 39, 40, 47. 
 There the connection of the words is such as to definitely fix the mean- 
 ing to the last day, or day of final judgment on all mankind. Why 
 any one can imagine that the very same words are used here in a different 
 meaning, or should have a different rendering, is not obvious on any 
 critical grounds. Indeed, the laws of language forbid it, unless some 
 peculiar and imperative reason requires us to depart from the estab- 
 lished signification. But no such reason can be shown. On the con- 
 trary, the discourse of our Lord to the end of the next chapter would 
 be unintelligible on any such supposition. 
 
340 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 though his disciples were to see their Master ascend into 
 heaven, they might take occasion, from the prophecy, 
 to think that he would appear again on earth, and 
 therefore be in danger of seduction by the false Christs 
 that should arise. " And when ye shall hear of wars, 
 and rumors of wars, see that ye be not troubled ; for all 
 these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." 
 Before this nation and temple are destroyed, terrible 
 wars will happen in the land : " For nation shall arise 
 against nation, and kingdom against kingdom ; and 
 there shall be famines and pestilences, and earthquakes, 
 in divers places." Matt. xxiv. 7. These are the pre- 
 ludes of the important event, forerunners of the evils 
 which shall befall this nation and people. At the same 
 time, you shall meet with hot persecutions : walk 
 therefore circumspectly, and arm yourselves-, both with 
 patience and fortitude, that you may be able to perform 
 your duty through the whole course of these persecu- 
 tions; for ye shall be brought before the great men of 
 the earth for my sake. " But when they shall lead 
 you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand 
 what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate ; but 
 whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak 
 ye : for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost." 
 Mark xiii. 11. 
 
 During this time of trouble and confusion, he told 
 them, the perfidy of mankind shall be so great toward 
 one another, that "brother shall betray the brother to 
 death, and the father the son ; and children shall rise 
 up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put 
 to death." The unbelieving Jews and apostate Chris- 
 tians shall commit the most enormous and inhuman 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 341 
 
 crimes. It is therefore no wonder that the perfidy and 
 wickedness of such pretended Christians should dis- 
 courage many disciples, and greatly hinder the propaga- 
 tion of the gospel. But he who lives by faith, during 
 these persecutions, and is not led away by false Chris- 
 tians, shall escape that terrible destruction which, like a 
 deluge, will overflow the land. And when Jerusalem 
 shall be surrounded with armies, pagan armies, bearing 
 on their standards the images of their gods, the " abomi- 
 nation of desolation " mentioned by the prophet Daniel, 
 then let him who readeth the predictions of that prophet 
 understand that the end of the city and sanctuary, to- 
 gether with the ceasing of sacrifices and oblations there 
 predicted, is come, and consequently the final period of 
 the Jewish polity.* " Then let them which are in 
 Judea flee to the mountains ; and let them which are 
 in the midst of it depart out."f Luke xxi. 21. "Let 
 
 * The particular prediction of Daniel here referred to, is found in 
 Dan. ix. 26, 27. The original language here differs little from the 
 Greek translation of the Seventy, then in general use. 
 
 ~Not only the temple and the city of Jerusalem were accounted holy 
 by the Jews, but the suburbs for several furlongs beyond. It was on 
 the heights of the surrounding hills that the Roman general, Cestius 
 Gallus, first pitched his army and planted his standards, which as they 
 contained the Roman eagles and the image of the emperor worshipped 
 by the soldiers, were counted by the Jews as idolatrous ensigns an 
 "abomination of desolation," or threatening desolation from the 
 heights they occupied. 
 
 t It might, at first thought, seem to be too late for Christians to flee 
 from the city after " it was compassed with armies." But we learn 
 from the testimony of Josephus, the Jewish historian, that, although 
 Cestius might then have captured the city, from some cause he suddenly 
 withdrew his army. He adds that as soon as the siege was thus unac- 
 countably abandoned, "many eminent persons fled from the city as 
 from a sinking ship." These persons, in part at least, perhaps wholly, 
 were Christians, who obeyed the prophetic direction of our Lord, and 
 
342 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 him which is on the housetop not come down to take 
 any thing out of his house ; neither let him which is in 
 the field return back to take his clothes." Matt. xxiv. 
 17,18. Then shall be fulfilled the awful predictions 
 of the prophet Daniel, and the dreadful judgments de- 
 nounced against the impenitent and unbelieving. In 
 those days of vengeance, the women who are with child, 
 and those who have infants hanging at their breasts, 
 shall be particularly unhappy, because they cannot flee 
 from the impending destruction. " But pray ye that 
 your flight be not in the winter," when the badness of 
 the roads and the rigor of the season will render speedy 
 travelling very troublesome, if not impossible ; " neither 
 on the Sabbath day," when you shall think it unlawful.* 
 " For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not 
 since the beginning of the world to this time, nor ever 
 shall be." This is confirmed by what Josephus tells us, 
 that no less than eleven hundred thousand perished in 
 the siege.*)- 
 
 fled across the Jordan to Fella, a city near the mountains of Gilead, 
 belonging to the jurisdiction of King Agrippa. Here they enjoyed pro- 
 tection for the four years of the terrible Jewish war. Agrippa took 
 part with the Komans, and was therefore friendly to the Christians. 
 
 * Christians might not generally regard their flight, at the command 
 of Christ, unlawful ; but a few might possibly be thus tempted to call 
 in question the supreme authority of the Lord of the Sabbath. The 
 real danger was that the unbelieving Jews would so regard it, and thus 
 interfere with their flight. 
 
 f This immense destruction of human life, in a single siege, is with- 
 out a parallel in the history of the world. It was made possible only 
 by the activity or strategy of Titus, in investing Jerusalem finally at 
 the time of the Passover, when a great part of the nation had gone up 
 to attend the great national feast ; and by the obstinate fury of the 
 parties within the city, neither of whom would consent to any terms 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 343 
 
 The heavenly prophet added that, except the days of 
 tribulation should be shortened, none of the inhabitants 
 of Jerusalem and Judea, of whom he was speaking, should 
 escape destruction ; in confirmation of which Josephus 
 tells us that the quarrels which raged during the siege 
 were so fierce and obstinate that both within the walls 
 of Jerusalem and without in the neighboring country, 
 the whole land was one continued scene of horror and 
 desolation ; and, had t'he siege continued much longer, 
 the whole nation of the Jews had been totally destroyed, 
 according to our Lord's prediction. " But," added our 
 blessed Saviour, " for the elect's sake, whom he hath 
 chosen, he hath shortened the days." By the elect are 
 meant such of the Jews as had embraced the doctrines 
 of the gospel, and particularly those who were brought 
 in with the believing Gentiles.* 
 
 As it is natural, in time of trouble, to look with eager 
 expectation for a deliverer, our blessed Saviour cautioned 
 his disciples not to listen to any pretences of that kind, 
 as many false Christs would arise and deceive great 
 numbers of the people a prediction that was fully ac- 
 complished during the terrible siege of Jerusalem by the 
 Romans ; so Josephus tells us that many ,arose, pretend- 
 ing to be the Messiah, boasting that they would deliver 
 the nation from all its enemies. And the multitude, 
 always too prone to listen to deceivers who promise 
 temporal advantages, giving credit to those deceivers, 
 
 of peace with the Romans, while they were daily murdering one 
 another. Add to these causes the false hopes of deliverance by the 
 Messiah, with which they were deluded to the last. 
 
 * This is true, no doubt. But if we turn to Romans xi. a further 
 and grander sense opens before us. See especially verses 23-36. 
 
344 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 became more obstinate in their opposition to the Romans, 
 and thereby rendered their destruction more severe and 
 inevitable. And what still increased the infatuation 
 of the people was their performing wonderful things 
 during the war; and, accordingly, Josephus calls them 
 magicians and sorcerers. Hence we see the propriety 
 of the caution given by the Son of God, who foretold 
 that " they should show great signs and wonders, inso- 
 much that, if it were possible, they would deceive the 
 very elect. But take heed ; behold, I have foretold you 
 all things." And, as the partisans of the false Christ 
 might pretend that the Messiah was concealed awhile 
 for fear of the Romans, and the weaker sort of Chris- 
 tians, without this warning, have imagined that Christ 
 was actually returned to deliver the nation in its ex- 
 tremity, and to punish their enemies, who now so 
 cruelly oppressed them, and that he would show him- 
 self as soon as it was proper, the blessed Jesus thought 
 proper to caution them against this particular : " Where- 
 fore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the 
 desert, go not forth ; behold, he is in the secret cham- 
 bers, believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out 
 of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall 
 also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. xxiv. 
 26, etc. The coming of the Son of man shall be like 
 lightning, swift and destructive.* But he will not come 
 personally : his servants only shall come, the Roman 
 
 * It is not the swiftness and destructiveness of the lightning on 
 which, our Lord fixes the attention here, so much as its sudden, 
 universal splendor. He will come, not locally and obscurely, but 
 in a blaze of glory which shall fill the world, arid leave no possible 
 doubt of his appearing. Rev. i. 7 ; 2 Thess. i. 7-10. 
 
THJE VISION O.F THE WHITE MORSE. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 345 
 
 armies, who by his command shall destroy this nation, 
 as eagles devour their prey. 
 
 Having thus given them a particular account of the 
 various circumstances which should precede the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem, he next described that catas- 
 trophe itself, in all the pomp of language and imagery 
 made use of by the ancient prophets when they foretold 
 the destruction of cities and kingdoms. " But in those 
 days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, 
 and the moon shall not give her light ; and the stars of 
 heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven 
 shall be shaken." Mark xiii. 24. "And upon the 
 earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and 
 the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, 
 and for looking after those things which are coining on 
 the earth." Luke xxi. 25, 26. 
 
 Whoever shall compare the prediction of our Saviour 
 with the history Josephus wrote of the war cannot fail 
 of being struck with the wisdom of Christ, and acknowl- 
 edge that his prediction was truly divine ; for, as the 
 Jewish nation was at this time in the most flourishing 
 state, the event here foretold appeared altogether im- 
 probable * Besides, the circumstances of the destruction 
 
 * Palestine, according to the estimate of Prof. Wines, was capable 
 tinder favorable circumstances, of supporting in comfort a population 
 of more than 40,000,000 (forty millions) of souls. In the times of the 
 Kings, if we may judge from the armies of Jehoshaphat and Ahab (2 
 Chron. xiv.), the population must have been ten or twelve millions. 
 
 From the descriptions of Josephus, we can hardly doubt that the 
 country, in the time of Christ and his apostles, had reached a density 
 of population, and a height of wealth, culture, and beauty, never 
 before attained. That height was the measure of its fall. 
 
 Had it only received, instead of despising and rejecting Jesus, how 
 
346 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 are very numerous and surprisingly great, and the whole 
 delivered without any ambiguity. It is, therefore, a 
 prophecy of such a kind as could never have been uttered 
 by any impostor, and consequently the person who de- 
 livered it was acquainted with the secret counsels of 
 heaven, and was truly divine. 
 
 It was natural also, as men were to undergo at the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem nearly the same miseries, and as the 
 passions which its approach would raise in their minds 
 were similar to those which will happen at the destruc- 
 tion of the world, it was natural I say for our blessed 
 Saviour on this occasion, to put his disciples in mind of 
 that judgment, and to exhort them to the faithful dis- 
 charge of their duty from the consideration of the sud- 
 denness of his coming to call every individual to account 
 after death. " Therefore be ye also ready ; for in such 
 an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." Matt. 
 xxiv. 34. 
 
 The striking representations of the last judgment he 
 has here given must greatly tend to rouse the con- 
 sciences of men from their lethargy, and consider, 
 before it be too late, " the things which belong to their 
 peace." 
 
 Then shall the kingdom of heaven, the gospel king- 
 dom, in the last dispensation of it, when the kingdom 
 of grace is going to be swallowed up in the kingdom of 
 glory, " be likened unto ten virgins, which took their 
 lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And 
 five of them were wise, and five were foolish." They 
 
 different might have been its destiny ! " If thou hadst known, even 
 thou at least in this thy day the things that belong unto thy peace ! 
 But now they are hid from thine eyes ! " 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 347 
 
 that were foolish took their lamps, but the wise put oil 
 in their vessels; knowing that it was uncertain when the 
 bridegroom would arrive, and that they might in all 
 probability wait long for his coming. Nor were they 
 mistaken ; for the bridegroom did not come so soon as 
 they expected. " While the bridegroom tarried, they 
 all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was 
 a great cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh ; go ye 
 out to meet him. Then all those virgins rose, and 
 trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the 
 wise, Give us of your oil ; for our lamps are gone out. 
 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be 
 not enough for us and you ; but go ye rather to them 
 that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went 
 to buy, the bridegroom came ; and they that were ready 
 went in with him to the marriage ; and the door was 
 shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, 
 Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, 
 Yerily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch, there- 
 fore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour when the 
 Son of man cometh." Matt. xxv. 6, etc. 
 
 In order to understand this parable, we must remem- 
 ber that it alludes to the custom of the Eastern people. 
 It was usual with them for the bridegroom to bring his 
 bride home in the evening, sooner or later, as the cir- 
 cumstances might happen ; and, that they might be 
 received properly at his house, his female acquaint- 
 ances, especially those of the younger sort, were in- 
 vited to come and wait with lamps till some of his 
 retinue, despatched before the rest, informed them that 
 he was near at hand ; upon which they trimmed their 
 lamps, went forth to welcome him, and conduct him, 
 
348 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 with his bride, into the house ; for which they were 
 honored as guests at the marriage feast, and shared in 
 the usual festivities. To ten such virgins our blessed 
 Saviour compares those to whom the gospel is preached ; 
 because this was the general number appointed to wait 
 on the bridegroom : and to these all Christian profes- 
 sors may be likened, who, taking their lamp of Chris- 
 tian profession, go forth to meet thy bridegroom ; that 
 is, consider themselves candidates for the kingdom of 
 heaven, and desire to be admitted, with Christ, the 
 celestial Bridegroom, into the happy mansions of im- 
 mortality. 
 
 We must remember that there always was, and always 
 will be, a mixture of good and bad in the church, till 
 the great day of separation arrives. The weakness 
 of the foolish is represented by their taking no oil 
 in their vessels, with their lamps; that is, the foolish 
 professors content themselves with the bare lamp of pro- 
 fession, and never think of furnishing it with the oil 
 of divine grace, the fruit of which is a life of holiness. 
 Whereas, the wise, well knowing that a lamp without 
 the supply of oil would be speedily extinguished that a 
 faith without love or holiness will be of no consequence 
 take care to secure a supply for themselves of the 
 divine grace, and to display in their lives the works of 
 love and charity. While those virgins, though differ- 
 ently supplied, waiting the coming of the bridegroom, 
 all slumbered and slept; that is, as some think, all 
 Christians, both good and bad, the sincere and the 
 hypocrite, lie down together in the sleep of death, and, 
 while the bridegroom delays his coming, slumber in the 
 chambers of the dust. But others suppose that this 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 349 
 
 argues the want of vigilance and care, even in the wise 
 as well as foolish ; that few, if any, are as attentive as 
 they ought to be to the coming of the Lord. 
 
 The Jews have a tradition that Christ's coming to 
 judgment will be at midnight; which agrees with that 
 particular in the parable, " At midnight there was a cry 
 made, Go ye out to meet him." But, however this be, 
 whether he will come at midnight or in the morning, it 
 will be awfully sudden and alarming. The great cry 
 will be heard to the end of* the earth ; the trumpet shall 
 sound, and the mighty archangel's voice pierce even the 
 bowels of the earth and the depths of the ocean : " Be- 
 hold, the bridegroom cometh : go ye out to meet him." 
 The graves, both earthly and watery, must surrender 
 their tenants, and all will then begin to think how they 
 may prepare themselves to find admittance to the mar- 
 riage-supper of the Lamb. "Then all those virgins 
 arose, and trimmed their lamps." But the foolish soon 
 perceived their folly : their lamps were gone out, totally 
 extinguished, and they had no oil to support the flame. 
 In like manner the hypocrite's hope shall perish. But 
 the wise were in much happier condition : they had oil 
 in their vessels, sufficient for themselves, bait none to 
 spare ; for when the foolish virgins would have procured 
 some from them they denied their request, fearing there 
 would not be enough for both. 
 
 There are here beautifully represented nominal and 
 sincere Christians. The former, having only the bare 
 lamp of a profession, and who have not been solicitous 
 to gain the oil of divine grace by a constant use of the 
 means assigned, will fare like the foolish virgins; while 
 the latter, whose hearts are filled with divine oil, will, 
 
350 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 like the wise virgins, enter into the joy of the Lord. 
 But the foolish, going to purchase oil, missed the bride- 
 groom, and, behold, " the door was shut." They at 
 last, however, reached the gate, and, with great impor- 
 tunity, cried, " Lord, Lord, open unto us." But he an- 
 swered and said, " Verily, I say unto you, I know you 
 not." As you denied me on earth, I deny you now : 
 depart from me; I know you not. How justly, there- 
 fore, did our blessed Saviour bid us all watch, that we 
 may be found ready whenever he cometh, or commands 
 by the king of terrors our attendance before his judg- 
 ment-seat ! Let us not refuse this kind invitation of 
 being constantly prepared to meet the heavenly Bride- 
 groom ; let us get our lamps filled with oil, that we may 
 be ready to follow our great Master into the happy man- 
 sions of the heavenly Canaan. 
 
 But, as this duty was of the utmost importance, oar 
 blessed Saviour, to show us more clearly the nature and 
 use of Christian watchfulness, to which he exhorts us 
 at the conclusion of the parable of the Ten Virgins, added 
 another, wherein he represented the different characters 
 of a faithful and slothful servant, and the difference of 
 their future acceptation. This parable, like the former, 
 is intended to stir us up to a zealous preparation for the 
 coming of our Lord, by diligence in the discharge of our 
 duty and by a careful improvement of our souls in holi- 
 ness, and, at the same time, to expose the vain pre- 
 tences of hypocrites, and to demonstrate that their fair 
 speeches and outward forms, without the power of god- 
 liness, will be of no service whatever in the last day of 
 account. 
 
 The Son of man, said he, may, with respect to his 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 351 
 
 final coming to judge the world, be likened unto " a man 
 travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, 
 and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he 
 gave five talents, to another two, and to another one ; 
 to every one according to his several ability;* and 
 straightway took his journey." Immediately, on his 
 master's departure, he who had received the five talents 
 lost no time, but traded with the same ; and his increase 
 was equal to his industry and application : he made 
 them other five talents. He that received two talents 
 did the same, and had equal success. But he that re- 
 ceived one, very unlike the conduct of his fellow-servants, 
 went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money, 
 idle, useless, unemployed, and unimproved. After a 
 long time, and at an hour when they did not expect it, 
 the lord of those servants returned, called them before 
 him, and ordered them to give an account of their 
 several trusts. Upon which, he that had received five 
 talents, as a proof of his fidelity, produced other five 
 talents, saying, " Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five 
 talents : behold, I have gained besides them five talents 
 more." Matt. xxv. 20. His lord, highly applauding 
 his industry and fidelity, said to him, " Well done, thou 
 good and faithful servant : thou hast been faithful over 
 a few things ; I will make thee ruler over many things : 
 enter thou into the joy of thy lord." Matt. xxv. 21. 
 
 In like manner, also, he that had received two talents 
 declared he had gained two others ; upon which he was 
 honored with the same applause, and admitted into the 
 
 * The talents here do not denote native abilities (from which they 
 ire distinguished), but the manifold means and opportunities of reli- 
 gious improvement and usefulness. 
 
352 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 same joy with his fellow-servant their master having 
 regard to the industry and fidelity of his servants, not 
 to the number of the talents only, but the greatness 
 of their increase. 
 
 After this, he that had received the one talent came, 
 and, with a shameful falsehood, to excuse his vile indo- 
 lence, said, " Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard 
 man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering 
 where thou hast not strewed; and I was afraid, and 
 went and hid thy talent in the earth : lo, there thou 
 hast that is thine."- Matt. xxv. 24, 25. The perver- 
 sion of even the smallest portion of his gifts greatly ex- 
 cited the resentment of his lord, who answered, " Thou 
 wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap 
 where I sowed not, and gather where I have not 
 strewed ! thou oughtest therefore to have put my money 
 to the exchangers, and then at my coining, I should 
 have received mine own with usury. Take, therefore, 
 the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath ten 
 talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, 
 and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath 
 not shall be taken away even that -which he hath.* 
 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer dark- 
 ness : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 
 Matt. xxv. 26, etc. 
 
 Such is the parable of the Talents, as delivered by our 
 blessed Saviour a parable containing the measures of 
 our duty to God, and the motives which enforce it, all 
 delivered in the plainest and simplest manner. But its 
 views are so extensive and affecting, that w r hile it in- 
 structs the meanest capacity, it engages reverence and 
 
 * The precious means and opportunities he has so wretchedly abused. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. . 353 
 
 attention from the greatest, and strikes an impression on 
 the most improved understanding. We are to consider 
 God as our Lord and Master, the Author and Giver of 
 every good gift, and ourselves as his servants or stewards, 
 who, in various instances and measures, have received 
 from his goodness such blessings and abilities as may fit 
 us for the several stations and offices of life to which his 
 providence may appoint us. But then we are to observe 
 that these are committed to us as a trust or loan, for 
 whose due management we are accountable to the 
 donor. If we faithfully acquit ourselves of this proba* 
 tionary charge, we shall receive far greater instances of 
 God's regard and favor ; but if we are remiss and negli- 
 gent we must expect to feel his resentment and dis- 
 pleasure. A time will come, and how near it may be 
 none of us can tell, when our great Master will demand 
 a particular account of every talent he hath committed 
 to our care. This time may, indeed, be at a distance ; 
 for it is uncertain when the king of terrors will receive 
 the awful warrant to terminate our existence here 
 below, yet it will certainly come, and our eternal happi- 
 ness or misery depends upon it ; so that we should all 
 have it continually in our thoughts, and engraven, 
 as with the point of a diamond, on the tables of our 
 hearts. 
 
 We learn farther from this instructive parable that 
 Infinite Wisdom hath intrusted men with differen- 
 talents, and adjusted them to the various purposes of 
 human life. But, though the gifts of men are unequal- 
 none can with justice complain : since whatever is be- 
 stowed, be it more or less, is a favor entirely unmerited. 
 Each then should be thankful, and satisfied with his 
 23 
 
354 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 portion, and, instead of envying the more liberal endow- 
 ments of others, apply himself to the improvement of his 
 own. And it should be observed that the difficulty of 
 the task is in proportion to the number of talents com- 
 mitted to each. He who had received five was to gain 
 other five ; and he who had received two was to account 
 for other two. Surely, then, we have no reason to com- 
 plain if our Master has laid on us a lighter burden, a 
 more easy and less service, than he has on others; 
 especially as our interest in the favor of the Almighty 
 does not depend on the number of our talents, but 
 on our diligence and application in the management 
 of them ; so that the moral design of this parable is, to 
 engage our utmost attention to improve such talents 
 as our heavenly Father hath thought proper to bestow 
 upon us. 
 
 Our blessed Lord closes his discourse, not by another 
 parable, but by a solemn picture of the last judgment, 
 with its everlasting issues. " When the Son of man," 
 said he, "shall come in his glory, and all the holy 
 angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of 
 his glory. And before him shall be gathered. all nations; 
 and he shall separate them, one from another, as a 
 shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and he 
 shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on 
 the left," Matt. xxv. 31. It is common, in the Old 
 Testament, to compare good men to sheep, on account 
 of their innocence and usefulness ; and wicked men to 
 goats, for their exorbitant lusts. Our blessed Saviour, 
 however, does not pursue the allegory farther, but de- 
 scribes the remaining, and indeed the greatest part of 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 355 
 
 this awful scene, in terms perfectly simple : so that 
 though the sense be profound, it is obvious. 
 
 Here the judgment of all nations. Gentiles as well as 
 Christians, is exhibited : and the particulars on which 
 these awful trials are to proceed displayed by the great 
 Judge himself. 
 
 Here we learn, that we shall be condemned or ac- 
 quitted, according as w r e have neglected or performed 
 w r orks of charity ; works which flow from the great prin- 
 ciples of faith and piety. But we must not understand 
 that such works merited this favor from the Judge; no, 
 all who are accepted at that day, whether heathens or 
 Christians, shall be accepted solely on account of the 
 righteousness of Christ, the true, the only meritorious 
 cause. 
 
 66 Then shall the king say unto them on his right 
 hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king- 
 dom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 
 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat : I was 
 thirsty, and ye gave me drink : I was a stranger, and 
 ye took me in : naked, and ye clothed me : I was sick, 
 and ye visited me : I was in prison, and ye came unto 
 me." Matt. xxv. 34, etc. 
 
 They, enraptured and amazed, shall then ask, with 
 great reverence and humility, when they performed 
 these services? as they never saw him in want, and 
 therefore could not assist him. " Lord, when saw we 
 thee an hungered, and fed thee ? or thirsty, and gave 
 thee drink ? When saw we thee a stranger, and took 
 thee in ? or naked, and clothed thee ? Or when saw we 
 
 Csick or in prison, and came unto thee ? And the 
 shall answer and say unto them, Verily, I 
 
356 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the 
 least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 
 Matt. xxv. 37, etc. This is truly astonishing! The 
 united wisdom of men and angels could never have dis- 
 covered a more proper method to convey an idea of the 
 warmth and force of the divine benevolence to the sons 
 of men, or offer a more forcible motive to charity, than 
 that the Son of God should, from his seat of judgment, 
 in presence of the whole race of mankind, and all the 
 hosts of blessed spirits from, the courts of heaven, declare 
 that all good offices done to the afflicted, for his sake, 
 are done to himself. 
 
 During the time of his dwelling with human nature in 
 this vale of tears, he suffered unspeakable injuries and 
 afflictions; and, therefore, considers all the distressed 
 virtuous as members of his body, loves them with the 
 utmost tenderness, and is so greatly interested in their 
 welfare, that he rejoices when they are happy, and 
 grieves when they are distressed. 
 
 Perhaps the true reason why the grand inquiry shall 
 rest solely on the performance of our Christian duties is, 
 that men, generally speaking, consider the neglect of those 
 duties as a matter of no great consequence, but dread 
 the commission of crimes. And hence it happens, that 
 while they keep themselves free from the latter, they 
 easily find excuses for the former. And as there is not 
 a more pernicious error, with regard to religion and 
 morality, than this, the blessed Jesus thought proper to 
 give such an account of the judgment as should prove 
 the most solemn caution against it. 
 
 The work of charity may, indeed, in some particular 
 cases, flow from other principles than those of a pious 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 357 
 
 and benevolent disposition, as from vanity, or even views 
 of interest ; but then it should be remembered, that a 
 common degree of hypocrisy will hardly engage men to 
 undertake them ; they are by far too weighty duties to 
 be sustained by those fa];e principles, and, therefore, are 
 seldom counterfeited. Consequently, wherever a genu- 
 ine, extensive, and permanent charity is found, we may 
 conclude, that there the love of God reigns. 
 
 Hence we learn that all pretences to goodness, with- 
 out a principle of grace wrought in the heart, avail noth- 
 ing in point of eternal salvation. At the same time, if 
 we consider it in its full light, it will give us no reason 
 to think well of ourselves, if we are wanting in our duty 
 to God ; and that we should not only be charitable, but 
 grateful also, just, temperate, and blameless in all our 
 dealings with mankind. 
 
 Since the duty we owe to God is the same in kind 
 "with that we owe to man in like circumstances, it will 
 undeniably follow, that true morality can never exist 
 where piety is wanting ; and that those who pretend to 
 morality, and are destitute of piety, render themselves 
 ridiculous. 
 
 The awful Judge himself has told us, that after he 
 has passed the happy sentence on the righteous, he will 
 pronounce the following sentence of condemnation upon 
 the wicked : " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlast- 
 ing fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I 
 was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat : I was thirsty, 
 and ye gave me no drink : I was a stranger, and ye took 
 me not in : naked, and ye clothed me not : sick, and in 
 prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also 
 answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hun- 
 
358 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 gered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in 
 prison, and did not minister unto thee ? Then shall he 
 answer them, saying, Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch 
 as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it 
 not to me." Matt. xxv. 41, etc. 
 
 It is remarkable, that our blessed Saviour has told 
 us, that the original design of Omnipotence was to 
 render man happy, not miserable ; a state of consum- 
 mate felicity was formed for the human race, at the 
 time they were created ; but the fire of hell was pre- 
 pared for the devil and his angels immediately after 
 their fall. And as wicked men joined with devils in 
 their sin of rebellion against the Almighty, they are 
 doomed to share with them in their punishment: a 
 punishment of the heaviest kind : a punishment of 
 devils. 
 
 After having represented the sentences that are to be 
 passed on the righteous and the wicked, our Saviour 
 closed the scene in the following manner : "And these 
 shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the 
 righteous into life eternal." Matt. xxv. 46. 
 
 Happy decision to the followers of the Lamb ! awful 
 sentence to the workers of iniquity ! may it excite us 
 to pray for that grace by which alone we shall obtain 
 the former ! 
 
LITE OF CHRIST. 359 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXI. 
 
 OUR BLESSED LORD IS ANOINTED BY A POOR BUT PIOUS 
 
 WOMAN THE PERFIDIOUS JUDAS CONSENTS TO BETRAY 
 
 HIS MASTER THE HUMBLE JESUS WASHES THE FEET OF 
 HIS DISCIPLES, AND FORETELLS THAT DISCIPLE WHO WAS 
 TO BETRAY HIM INTO THE HANDS OF HIS INVETERATE 
 ENEMIES. 
 
 WHEN our blessed Saviour had finished these dis- 
 courses, he added a short account of his own death, in 
 order to fortify his disciples against a greater trial than 
 they had yet met with ; namely, the sufferings of their 
 Master. u And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished 
 all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, Ye know 
 that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the 
 Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. 
 
 " Then assembled together the chief priests, and the 
 scribes, and the elders of the people, into the palace of 
 the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and consulted 
 that they might take Jesus by subtlety, and kill him. 
 But they said, Not on the feast-day, lest there be an 
 uproar among the people." Matt. xxvi. 1, etc. 
 
 The blessed Jesus used frequently to retire in the 
 evening from the city to the Mount of Olives, and there 
 spend the night, in some village or the gardens, either 
 to avoid falling into the hands of his enemies, or for 
 the sake of a little retirement. They did not, indeed, 
 presume to attack him while he was surrounded by his 
 followers in the daytime ; but, in all probability, had he 
 
360 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 lodged within the city, they would have apprehended 
 him during the darkness and silence of the night. 
 
 When the evening approached, our blessed Saviour, 
 with his disciples, repaired to Bethany, and entered the 
 house of Simon the leper probably one who experienced 
 the healing efficacy of his power. But, while he sat at 
 meat, a woman,* who had also, doubtless, been an object 
 of his mercy, came and poured a box of precious 
 ointment upon his head. This action displeased the 
 disciples, who knew that their Master was not delighted 
 with luxuries of any kind ; and therefore they rebuked 
 the woman, imagining that it would have been more 
 acceptable to the Son of God if the ointment had been 
 sold and the money distributed among the sons and 
 daughters of poverty and affliction. To reprove the 
 disciples, Jesus told them that it had pleased the Divine 
 Providence to order that there should always be persons 
 in necessitous circumstances, that the righteous might 
 never want occasions for exercising their charity ; but 
 that those who did not testify their love to him would 
 nevermore have the opportunity of doing it, as the time 
 of his ministry was near its period, when the king of 
 
 * As this woman is declared expressly to be no other than Mary the 
 sister of Lazarus (John xi. 2 ; xii. 5), and as the act was the overflow- 
 ing of her grateful love for the recent resurrection of her brother, it 
 seems proper to give her name. In the impassioned ardor of her feel- 
 ings, no offering less costly would have satisfied her soul ; and it is 
 worthy of remark that while the other evangelists mention only the 
 anointing of the Saviour's head, John adds, that she anointed his feet 
 also, and wiped them with the hair of her head. 
 
 There is doubtless room for discretion and choice in our ordinary 
 modes of testifying our love to the Kedeemer ; but this case brooked 
 no delay, and from the language of Jesus on this occasion, we learn 
 that nothing is really wasted w r hich is devoted to his glory, and is the 
 outgushing of a heart penetrated with gratitude for his mercies. Cold 
 criticism, in such a case, is as much out of season as snow in harvest. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 361 
 
 terrors should enjoy a short triumph over his body ; and 
 therefore this woman had seasonably anointed him for 
 his burial. And, to make them sensible of their folly 
 in blaming the woman for this expression of love to 
 him, he assured them that she should be highly 
 esteemed for this action in every part of the world, 
 and her memory live to the latest period of time. 
 
 Judas Iscariot (one of the twelve, having been more 
 forward than the rest in condemning the woman, 
 thought the rebuke was particularly directed to him), 
 stung with the guilt of his own conscience, arose from 
 the table, and went immediately into the city, to the 
 high priest's palace, where he found the whole Council 
 assembled. His passion would not suffer him to reflect 
 on the horrid deed he was going to commit : he imme- 
 diately promised, for the reward of thirty pieces of 
 silver, to betray into their hands his Lord and Master. 
 Having thus engaged with the rulers of Israel to put 
 into their hands a person who had often invited them, 
 in the most pathetic manner, to embrace the gracious 
 terms of the gospel offered by the Almighty, he sought 
 an opportunity to betray him in the absence of the 
 multitude. 
 
 Our Lord, who well knew that the time of his suffer- 
 ing drew nigh, desired, therefore, to celebrate the 
 passover with his disciples. He was now going to finish 
 the mighty work for which he came into the world, and 
 therefore would not neglect to fulfil the smallest partic- 
 ular of the law of Moses. He therefore sent two of 
 his disciples into the city to prepare a lamb and make 
 it ready for eating the passover ; telling them that they 
 should meet a man, bearing a pitcher of water, who 
 
362 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 would conduct them to his house and show them a large 
 upper room, furnished, where they were to make ready 
 for him. He was willing, in this last transaction, to 
 convince his disciples that he knew every thing that 
 should befall him ; that his sufferings were all foretold 
 by the Almighty ; and that they were all, on his own 
 part, submitted unto voluntarily. 
 
 When night approached, Jesus left Bethany, and, 
 every thing being ready for him at the time he eivtered 
 into the city, he sat down at the appointed hour. He 
 told his disciples, in the most affectionate manner, that 
 he had greatly longed to eat the passover with them 
 before he suffered, in order to show them the strongest 
 proofs of his love. These proofs were to give them a 
 pattern of humility and love, by washing their feet ; in- 
 structing them in the nature of his death, as a propitia- 
 tory sacrifice ; instituting the sacrament, in commemora- 
 tion of his sufferings ; comforting them by the tender 
 discourses recorded in John xiv., xv., xvi., in which he 
 gave them a variety of excellent directions, together 
 with many gracious promises ; and recommending them 
 to the kind protection of his heavenly Father. " With 
 desire I have desired to eat this passover with you 
 before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not any 
 more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom 
 of God." * 
 
 * In the kingdom of God, of which Jesus here speaks, a redemption 
 is accomplished for us, of which the deliverance of Israel from Egypt 
 was a striking type. u For Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us," 
 and through the sprinkling of his blood we are saved, while others 
 perish under the avenging stroke of the angel of doom. 1 Cor. v. 7 ; 
 1 Thess. v. 9, 10. The removal of all leaven shadowed forth the put- 
 ting away of all sin by repentance, and the eating of the sacrifice fore- 
 tokened the appropriation of his great atonement by a living faith. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 363 
 
 Having thus spoken, he rose from the table, laid aside 
 his garments, like a servant, and washed the feet of 
 his disciples without distinction, though one of them, 
 Judas Iscariot, was a monster of impiety that they 
 might at once behold a conjunction of love and humil- 
 ity, of self-denial and beneficence represented by a per- 
 son glorious beyond expression, their great Lord and 
 Master. He washed their feet (according to a custom 
 which prevailed in those hot countries), in order to 
 show them an example of the utmost humility and 
 condescension.* The omnipotent Son of the Father 
 lays every thing aside, that he may serve his followers ; 
 heaven stoops to earth, one abyss calls upon another, 
 and the miseries of man, which were almost infinite, are 
 exceeded by a mercy equal to the immensity of the 
 
 * There can be no question among Christians that this act of Christ 
 was in the highest degree exemplary. The only question is, whether it 
 was also institutional, as in the case of the Lord's Supper. On this it 
 may be noticed 1. That in the case of the Lord's Supper, its institu- 
 tion is afterward explicitly affirmed, and its observance by Christian 
 churches repeatedly recorded. Acts ii. 42 ; xx. 7 ; 1 Cor. x. 21 ; xi. 
 23-34. Now, nothing of this sort is recorded of the public washing of 
 feet. 2. Washing the feet of guests was a custom of private hospi- 
 talitydating from the earliest times. Abraham practised it. Gen. 
 xviii. 4. The ground of it was the fact that in eastern travelling the 
 feet were usually protected only by sandals, and hence required wash- 
 ing, both for the sake of cleanliness and of grateful coolness. It was 
 usually done by servants, and considered a menial office. 1 Sam. xxv. 
 41. This service was therefore regarded as a special favor or conde- 
 scension to the guests, when performed by the master or mistress of a 
 family. Now the only mention of the practice among Christians in the 
 New Testament is just in this way, as an act of private hospitality. 
 1 Tim. v. 10. It is classed with other "good works" of a domestic 
 and social character, which render an aged widow worthy of the confi- 
 dence and support of the church. Had the practice been public as an 
 institution, could -it have been mentioned in this way V 
 
364 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Almighty. He deferred this ceremony, which was a 
 customary civility paid to honorable strangers at the be- 
 ginning of their feast, that it might be preparatory to 
 the second, which he intended should be a feast to the 
 whole world, when all the followers of the blessed Jesus 
 should have an opportunity, in a spiritual manner, of 
 feeding on his flesh and drinking his blood. 
 
 When our blessed Saviour came to Peter, he modestly 
 declined it ; but his Master told him if he refused to sub- 
 mit implicitly to all orders he could have no part with 
 him. On which Peter cried out, " Lord, not my feet 
 only, but also my hands and my head." But Jesus 
 told him that the person washed had no reason to wash 
 any part of the body except the feet, which he might 
 have dirtied by walking from the bath, adding, " Ye are 
 all clean as to the outward laver, but not all as to the 
 inward and spiritual laver : for I well know that one of 
 you will betray me." 
 
 When our gracious Lord had finished this menial ser- 
 vice, he asked his disciples if they knew the meaning of 
 what he had done, as the action was purely emblemati- 
 cal. You truly, added he, style me Master and Lord ; 
 for I am the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. 
 But if T, your Master and your Lord, have condescended 
 to wash your feet, you surely ought to perform, with 
 the utmost pleasure, the humblest offices of love to one 
 another. I have set you a pattern of humility, and I 
 recommend it to you. 
 
 And certainly nothing can more effectually show us 
 the necessity of this heavenly temper of mind than its 
 being recommended to us by so great an example a 
 recommendation which in the present circumstances 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 365 
 
 was particularly seasonable ; for, the disciples having 
 heard their great Master declare that the kingdom of 
 heaven was at hand, their minds were filled with ambi- 
 titious thoughts. And therefore our blessed Saviour 
 added, Ye need not be ashamed to follow my example, 
 in this particular ; for no servant can think it beneath 
 him to condescend to perform those actions his Lord has 
 done before him. And, therefore, if he knows his duty, 
 he will be happy if he practises it. He, moreover, 
 added, that though he had called them all to the apos- 
 tleship, and knew the secret dispositions of every heart 
 before he chose them, they need not be surprised that 
 one among them should prove a traitor, as thereby 
 the Scripture would be fulfilled : " He that eateth bread 
 with me hath lifted up his heel against me." 
 
 Soon after Jesus had spoken these things, his heart 
 was greatly troubled to think that one of his disciples 
 should prove his enemy ; he complained of it at the 
 table, declaring that one of them should betray him. 
 This moving declaration greatly affected the disciples ; 
 and they began every one of them to say to their Mas- 
 ter, " Lord, is it I ? " But, Jesus giving them no decisive 
 answer, John, the beloved disciple, whose sweet disposi- 
 tion, with other amiable qualities, is perpetuated in the 
 peculiar love his great Master bore him, and was now 
 reclining on his bosom, asked him who among the dis- 
 ciples could be guilty of so detestable a crime. Jesus 
 told him that the person to whom he should give the 
 sop, when he had dipped it, was he who should betray 
 him. Accordingly, as soon as he had dipped the sop 
 in the dish, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, saying to 
 him at the same time, " That thou doest, do quickly." 
 
366 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Judas received the sop, without knowing any thing of 
 what his Master had told the beloved disciple ; nor did 
 any of the disciples, except John, entertain the least 
 suspicion that Judas was the person who would betray 
 their Master. 
 
 Jesus further declared that his death should be 
 brought about according to the decrees of Heaven, though 
 that would not in the least mitigate the crime of the 
 person who betrayed him ; adding, " It had been good 
 for that man if he had not been born." 
 
 As various conjectures have been formed concerning 
 the motives which induced the perfidious Judas cruelly 
 to deliver up his innocent Master into the hands of his 
 enemies, it may not be improper to cite those which 
 appear to be most probable, though the decision must 
 be entirely left to the reader.* 
 
 Some are of opinion that he was induced to commit 
 this villany by the resentment of the rebuke given him 
 by his Master for blaming the woman who came with 
 the precious ointment and anointed the head of Jesus 
 as he sat at meat in the house of Simon the leper. But 
 though this had, doubtless, its weight with the traitor, 
 yet it could not, I think, be his only motive ; because 
 the rebuke was given in general to all the disciples, 
 
 * We thitfk our author, in his treatment of this question, has furnished 
 a good example of what is called " comprehensive interpretation," as 
 all the motives separately specified probably had influence on the mind 
 of Judas. In the history of this man, so highly favored, so fully 
 enlightened, so richly endowed with apostolic gifts, so intimately 
 acquainted with the divine excellencies of Jesus, we may see the abso- 
 lute need of regenerating grace to turn religious advantages to a right 
 use, and that there is, in the striking language of Bunyan, " a way to 
 heU right by the door to heaven." 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 367 
 
 wh had certainly been forward with him in censuring 
 the woman. Nor can we imagine, even if he had been 
 rebuked alone, that so mild a reproof could provoke 
 any person however wicked, to the horrid act of 
 murdering his friend much less Judas, whose covetous 
 disposition must have disposed him to bear every thing 
 from his Master, from whom he expected the highest 
 preferment if he should openly declare himself the 
 Messiah and take the reins of government into his own 
 hands. 
 
 Others think that Judas betrayed his Master through 
 mere covetousness. ' But, if we understand by covetous- 
 ness the reward given by the priests, this opinion is 
 equally defective ; for the sum was too small for the 
 most sordid wretch to think equivalent to the life of a 
 friend especially when he expected from him the 
 highest posts and advantages. 
 
 Others attribute the perfidy of Judas to his doubting 
 whether his Master was the Messiah and that he 
 betrayed him in a fit of despair. But of all the 
 solutions this is the worst founded. For, if Judas 
 believed his Master to be an impostor, he must have 
 observed something in his behavior which led him to 
 form such an opinion of him ; and in that case he would 
 doubtless have mentioned it to the chief priests and 
 elders when he made the contract with them ; which it 
 is plain he did not, as they would have reminded him 
 of it when he came back and expressed his remorse for 
 what he had done. 
 
 In fine, the supposition that Judas believed his 
 Master to be an impostor is directly confuted by the 
 solemn declaration he made to the priests, when he 
 
368 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 declared the deepest conviction of the innocence of our 
 great Redeemer : "I have sinned," says he, " in betray- 
 ing innocent blood." 
 
 A more comprehensive view of the case is therefore 
 necessary. Judas probably acted from a mixture of 
 motives. 
 
 The evangelist, St. John, tells us that he was of so 
 covetous a disposition, as to steal money out of our 
 Lord's bag; and hence we have sufficient reason to 
 believe, that he first followed Jesus with a view of 
 obtaining riches, and other temporal advantages, which 
 he expected the Messiah's friends would enjoy. It like- 
 wise authorizes us to think that as he had hitherto 
 reaped none of these advantages, he might grow impa- 
 tient under the delay ; and the rather, as Jesus had 
 lately discouraged all ambitious views among his disci- 
 ples, and neglected to embrace the opportunity of 
 erecting that kingdom which was offered him by the 
 multitude, who accompanied him into Jerusalem with 
 shouts, and crying, Hosanna to the Son of David. His 
 impatience, therefore, becoming excessive, suggested to 
 him the thought of delivering his Master into the hands 
 of the council ; firmly persuaded that he would then be 
 obliged to assume the dignity of the Messiah, and con- 
 sequently be able to reward his followers. For as this 
 court was composed of the chief priests, elders, and 
 scribes, that is, the principal persons of the sacerdotal 
 order, the representatives of the great families, and the 
 doctors of the law ; the traitor did not doubt that his 
 Master, when brought before so august an assembly, 
 would assert his pretensions to the title of Messiah, 
 prove his claim to their full conviction, gain them over 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 369 
 
 to his interest, and immediately enter into his regal 
 dignity. And though he must be sensible that the 
 measures he took to compass his intention were very 
 offensive to his Master, yet he might think the success 
 of it would procure his pardon from so compassionate 
 a Master, and even recommend him to favor. In the 
 meantime, his project, however plausible it may appear 
 to one of his turn, was far from being free from diffi- 
 culty : and therefore, while he revolved it in his own 
 mind, many things might occur to stagger his resolution. 
 At length, thinking himself affronted by the rebuke of 
 Jesus, at the time when the woman anointed the head 
 of his Master, he was provoked to execute the resolution 
 he had formed of obliging him to alter his measures. 
 
 Therefore he went immediately into the city, to the pal- 
 ace of the high priest, where he found the council assem- 
 bled, consulting how they might take Jesus by subtlety, in 
 the absence of the multitude. To them he made known 
 his intention of delivering his Master into their hands ; 
 and undertook, for a small sum of money, to conduct 
 a band of armed men to the place where the Saviour 
 of the world usually spent the night with the disciples, 
 where they might apprehend him without the least 
 danger of a tumult. 
 
 He knew him to be thoroughly innocent, and 
 expected that he would have wrought such miracles 
 before the council as should have constrained them to 
 believe. Therefore, when he found that nothing of 
 this kind was done, and that the priests had passed the 
 sentence of condemnation upon him, and were carrying 
 him to the governor to get it executed, he repented of 
 his rash and covetous project, came to the chief priest 
 
 
 24 
 
370 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 and elders, the persons to whom he had betrayed him, 
 offered them their money again, and solemnly declared 
 the deepest conviction of his Master's innocence, hoping 
 that they would have desisted from the persecution. 
 But they were obstinate, and would not relent; upon 
 which his remorse rose to such a pitch, that, unable to 
 support the torments of his conscience, he went and 
 hanged himself. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 JESUS INSTITUTES THE SACRAMENT IN COMMEMORATION OF 
 HIS DEATH AND SUFFERINGS SETTLES A DISPUTE WHICH 
 AROSE AMONG HIS DISCIPLES PREDICTS PETER'S COWAR- 
 DICE IN DENYING HIS MASTER FORTIFIES HIS DISCIPLES 
 
 AGAINST THE APPROACHING SHOCK FORETELLS PETER'S 
 
 COWARDICE AGAIN PREACHES TO, AND PRAYS WITH HIS 
 
 DISCIPLES FOR THE LAST TIME PASSIONATE ADDRESS OF 
 
 OUR LORD TO HIS FATHER IN THE GARDEN. 
 
 THE Great Redeemer, ever mindful of the grand 
 design of his mission, even the salvation of lost and 
 perishing sinners, was not in the least affected by the 
 treachery of his apostate disciple ; for, knowing that he 
 must become a sacrifice for our sin, he instituted the 
 sacrament of his Supper, to perpetuate the memory of it 
 through all ages. Accordingly, as they were eating the 
 paschal supper, "Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and 
 brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 371 
 
 eat, this is my body." Matt. xxvi. 26. Observe this 
 rite no longer in remembrance of your deliverance from 
 Egypt,* but in remembrance of me, who, by dying for 
 you, will bring you out of the spiritual bondage a bon- 
 dage far worse than the Egyptian under which your 
 fathers groaned and will establish you in the glorious 
 liberty of the children of God. Do it in remembrance 
 of me, who, by laying down my life, will ransom you 
 from sin, from death, from hell, and will set open the 
 gates of heaven to you, that you may enter immortality 
 in triumph. 
 
 Having given the bread to his disciples, he also 
 took the cup, and gave it to them, saying, " Drink ye 
 all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, 
 which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Matt. 
 xxvi. 27, 28. 
 
 All of you, and all of my disciples, in all ages, must 
 drink of this cup, because it represents my blood shed 
 for the remission of the sins of mankind ; my blood, by 
 which the new covenant between God and man is rati- 
 fied. It is, therefore, my blood of the new covenant, so 
 that this institution exhibits to your joyful meditation 
 
 * The language of Jesus is here improperly made to refer to the 
 Passover, as if Christians were still to observe that feast only in new 
 relations to Christ. But that feast was about to be "fulfilled in the 
 kingdom of God," and its end being fulfilled, like the rest of the 
 shadows of Judaism, " it vanished away." It was never enjoined on 
 Christians as such, and its attempted enforcement in the churches of 
 the second century, first rent the unity of the Christian body. The 
 Lord's Supper is altogether a distinct institution, and not, like the 
 Passover, limited in its observance to a certain portion of the year. 
 When Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me," the connexion of 
 his words determines their reference to the Lord's Supper alone, which 
 was then instituted for all future time. 1 Cor, ii. 26. 
 
372 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 the grand basis of the hopes of the children of men, and 
 perpetuates the memory of it to the end of the world' 
 He added, " I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of 
 the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you 
 .in my Father's kingdom." Matt. xxvi. 29. 
 
 The manifestation of the Son of God is the most illus- 
 trious, the most momentous event that is possible to en- 
 gage the meditations of men. To his life and death, his 
 resurrection and ascension into glory, we are indebted 
 for our hopes and assurances of pardon, for our peace 
 and happiness. To procure our salvation, he made the 
 most amazing condescension from the dignity he enjoyed 
 with his Father, by putting on the vail of flesh ; he 
 poured divine instruction from his lips, and shone forth 
 with an all-perfect and all-lovely example. For our 
 benefit, he submitted to a course of the most cruel treat- 
 ment from his bitter enemies, to the agonies of the 
 cross, and to the stroke of the king of terrors. For our 
 happiness, he arose again with power and lustre, ascended 
 into the mansions of eternal happiness, manages our 
 affairs with the Father, and holds the reins of govern- 
 ment. With the greatest wisdom and goodness, the 
 beneficent Jesus instituted a rite that should recall his 
 love to our memories and awake each pious passion in 
 our breast ; a rite which, by the breaking of bread and 
 the pouring out of wine, should represent to us, in a 
 striking manner, that most signal proof of the affec- 
 tion both of him and his heavenly Father, when his 
 tender frame was exposed to wounds and bruises, when 
 streams of the most precious blood issued from his sacred 
 veins. 
 
 The important, the awful scene now approached 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 373 
 
 when the great work was to be finished. The traitor 
 Judas was gone to the chief priests and elders, for a 
 band of soldiers to apprehend him ; but this did not 
 discompose the Redeemer of mankind : he took occasion 
 to meditate on the glory that would accrue both to him- 
 self and his Almighty Father from those sufferings, and 
 spake of it to his disciples. " Now," said he, " is the 
 Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him." He 
 told them that, having already done honor to his Father 
 by the past actions of his life, and being about to honor 
 him still further by his sufferings and death, which 
 would display his perfections, particularly his infinite 
 love, to the human race, in the most astonishing and 
 amiable light, he was, in his turn, to receive honor 
 from his Father; intimating that his human nature was 
 to be exalted to the right hand of Omnipotence, and that 
 his mission from God was to be supported by irrefragable 
 attestations. 
 
 But, his disciples imagining that he spake of the 
 glory of a temporal kingdom, their ambition was again 
 revived, and they began to dispute, with as much keen- 
 ness as ever, which of them should be greatest in that 
 kingdom. This contention Jesus suppressed by the 
 arguments he had formerly used for the same purpose. 
 Among the Gentiles, said he, they are reckoned the 
 greatest who have the greatest power, and have exer- 
 cised it in the most absolute manner ; but your greatness 
 shall be very different from theirs : it shall not consist 
 in being unlimited with regard to tyrannical power, 
 even though it should be joined with an affectation of 
 titles, which denote qualities truly honorable ; but who- 
 soever desires to be great, or chief, among you, let him 
 
 
374 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 be so by his humility, and the service he renders to the 
 rest, in imitation of me, your Master, whose greatness 
 consists in this, that I am become the servant of you 
 all : adding, that as they had continued with him in his 
 temptation, he would bestow upon them such a kingdom 
 as his Father had appointed for him: At the same 
 time, to check their ambition, and lead them to form a 
 just notion of his kingdom, he told them that he was 
 soon to leave them, and that whither he was going they 
 could not at that time follow him ; for which reason, 
 instead of contending with one another which of them 
 should be greatest, they would do well to be united 
 among themselves in the happy bond of love. For. by 
 loving one another sincerely and fervently they would 
 prove themselves his disciples, to the conviction of man- 
 kind, who could not be ignorant that love was a distin- 
 guishing part of his character. 
 
 This is termed a new commandment, not because 
 mutual love had never been enjoined to mankind before, 
 but because they were to exercise it under a new rela- 
 tion, according to a new measure, and from new motives. 
 They were to love one another, in the relation of his 
 disciples, and in that degree of love which he had 
 showed to them ; for they were to lay down their lives 
 for their brethren.* 
 
 This excellent doctrine, however, did not make such 
 
 * The nature of brotherly love makes it truly and literally " a new 
 commandment." It is by no means the same thing as the universal 
 love of our neighbor enjoined in the moral law. It is something quite 
 distinct from that, and beyond it, as it must recognize Christian char- 
 acter as its peculiar object, and can have no existence except among 
 those who have been born of the Spirit. 1 John iii. 14. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 375 
 
 in impression on Peter, as the words which Jesus had 
 spoken concerning a place whither his disciples could not 
 come. He therefore replied by asking where he was 
 going. To which Jesus answered, u Whither I go, thou 
 canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me 
 afterward." 
 
 In order to make his disciples farther humble, watch- 
 ful, arid kindly affectionate one toward another, he 
 assured them that Satan was seeking to ruin them all 
 by his temptations : "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, 
 behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he might 
 sift you as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee that thy 
 faith fail not; and when thou art converted, strengthen 
 thy brethren." * Peter was greatly offended that his 
 Master should have singled him out as the weakest; for 
 so he interpreted his praying for him- particularly ; and 
 supposing that he mentioned Satan's seeking to sift him, 
 as the thing which would hinder him from following 
 his Master, replied, Why cannot I follow thee now ? Is 
 there any road more terrible than the dark valley of the 
 shadow of death ? Yet through these black and gloomy- 
 shades I am willing this moment to accompany thee. 
 
 Jesus, knowing his weak, though sincere resolution, 
 answered, Art thou so very confident of thine own 
 strength ? I tell thee that this very night, before the 
 cock crows, thou shalt thrice deny me to be thy Master. 
 
 * In this case the word " converted " has the meaning of restored. 
 Indeed such a recovery as that of Peter involved all the elements of 
 grace exercised in his original conversion from sin to God, except one. 
 There was in Peter, even in his aggravated sin, a root of living faith, 
 winch, through the prayer of Jesus, was preserved from total failure, 
 and which sprang up with new vigor in the confidence of his Saviour's 
 forgiving love. A restored and pardoned backslider cannot do too 
 much to strengthen his brethren, for he speaks from the depths of hia 
 own bitter experience. 
 
376 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Our blessed Saviour having finished what he had to 
 say to Peter in particular, turned himself to his other 
 disciples. When I sent you formerly, said he, to preach 
 the gospel, you may remember I ordered you to go 
 without any provision, either for your sustenance or de- 
 fence, assuring you, that though you would indeed meet 
 with great opposition, yet Providence would dispose 
 some men in all places to be your friends, and to fur- 
 nish you with all necessaries ; and x accordingly you 
 found that you wanted for nothing, but were wonderfully 
 supported, without any care or provision of your own, 
 in the whole journey, and finished your work with suc- 
 cess. But now the case is very different : the time of 
 that greatest trial and distress, whereof I have often 
 forewarned you, is just at hand : and you may now 
 make all the provision in your power, and arm your- 
 selves against it, as much as you are able. 
 
 The disciples, thinking their great Master meant that 
 they should arm themselves in a literal sense, and en 
 deavor to oppose the assaults that would shortly be 
 made upon them by the Jews, answered, " Lord, here 
 are two swords : " but the blessed Jesus, who only in- 
 tended to convey an idea of their approaching distress 
 and temptations, and to arm them against the sur- 
 prise, replied, " It is enough ; " you need not trouble 
 yourselves about any more weapons of this nature for 
 your defence.* 
 
 * " The Redeemer felt that it would be useless at such a moment to 
 
 enter into extended details For the disciples were too widely 
 
 mistaken to allow a hope of bringing them into a right position for 
 forming a proper judgment. He therefore says, ' It is enough,' as 
 we give an evasive answer to children, when we find the impossibility 
 of making ourselves Intelligible to them." Olshausen. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 377 
 
 As our blessed Saviour was now to be but a short 
 time with his disciples, he thought proper to take his 
 farewell of them, which he did in the most affectionate 
 manner. These melancholy tidings greatly troubled 
 them. They were unwilling to part with so kind a 
 friend, so dear a master, so wise a guide, and so profit- 
 able a teacher ; especially as they thought they should 
 be left in a forlorn condition, a poor and helpless prey 
 to the rage and hatred of a blind and malicious genera- 
 tion. They seemed willing to die with their Lord, if 
 that might be accepted. Why cannot I follow thee ? I 
 will lay down my life for thee ! was the language of one, 
 and even all of them ; but they could not support the 
 thought of a disconsolate separation. 
 
 Their great and compassionate Master, seeing them 
 thus dejected, endeavored to cheer their drooping 
 spirits ; " Let not your hearts be troubled." Listen 
 attentively to what I am going . to deliver for your 
 consolation : " I am going to prepare a place for you ; 
 I will come again and receive you to myself, that where 
 I am there ye may be also." A reviving word of prom- 
 ise. They were one day to meet again their dear, their 
 affectionate Master, in a place where they , should live 
 together to eternity. John xiv. 1, etc. 
 
 But death makes so vast a distance between friends, 
 and the disciples then knew so little of a future state, 
 that they seemed to doubt whether they should, after 
 their parting, meet their great Redeemer. They neither 
 knew the place where he was going, nor the way that 
 led to his kingdom : " Lord," said Thomas, " as we know 
 not whither thou goest, how can we know the way ? " 
 In answer to this question, he told them that he wa4 
 
378 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 " the way, the truth, and the life ; " as if he had said, 
 Through the propitiatory sacrifice I am about to offer, the 
 sacred truths I have delivered, and the divine assistance 
 which I shall hereafter dispense, you are to obtain that 
 happiness which I go to prepare for you in the house of 
 my Father. 
 
 Philip answered, Lord, show us but once the Father, 
 and we shall be fully satisfied. 
 
 Jesus replied, Have I been so long with you, Philip, 
 and yet thou art a stranger to him who sent me ? I 
 tell you, that to know one is to be acquainted with 
 both. 
 
 Surely, then, ye have matter sufficient to comfort and 
 support your spirits, under the thoughts of my departure 
 from you. Ye have abundant reason to believe that I 
 have power to perform all the promises I have made you ; 
 and the design of my departure is actually to perform 
 them. When I am returned to my Father, ye shall 
 soon receive sufficient pledges of my care and remem- 
 brance of you. Ye shall be endued with power not 
 only to perform the same works ye have seen me do, as 
 healing diseases, giving sight to the blind, casting out 
 devils, and the like, for the conviction of the Jews : but 
 even to do greater things than these ; to speak with all 
 kinds of tongues, and to propagate my religion among 
 the Gentiles, even through all the nations of the earth. 
 John xiv. 12. 
 
 And whatsoever ye shall ask of my Father, in my 
 name, as being my disciples, and in order to promote 
 the work of the gospel, shall certainly be granted you. 
 That God may be greatly glorified by the extraordinary 
 success and spreading of the religion of his Son, I say, 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 370 
 
 that whatsoever ye shall ask, I will take care, after my 
 return to the Father, that it shall be granted you. 
 
 The Father shall send you another advocate and 
 comforter, even his Holy Spirit, the author and teacher 
 of truth, who shall guide and direct, assist and comfort 
 you in all cases. This Spirit the sensual and corrupt 
 world cannot receive; having no knowledge of the 
 divine truths or disposition to be governed by them. 
 But ye know them, and are disposed to entertain them. 
 The Spirit of the Father is already within you, by his 
 secret and invisible efficacy ; and shall hereafter appear 
 in you openly, by great and visible manifestations.* 
 
 Thus, though I must depart from you, yet I do by 
 no means leave you comfortless. I leave you with a 
 promise of the Holy Spirit ; and I leave you in expecta- 
 tion also of my own return. For though, after a very 
 little while, I shall appear no more to the world, yet to 
 you I will appear again ; for I shall live again, and ye 
 also shall live with me. 
 
 When, therefore, I have conquered and triumphed 
 over death, ye shall understand more fully, and it shall 
 
 * This passage proves that the promise of the Spirit at Pentecost 
 was not his first regenerating influence (which the disciples had already 
 received), but rather a far higher measure of his influence a measure 
 worthy of the enthroned and glorified Son of God. Nor was this com- 
 munication of the Spirit to be a transient thing, but abiding in the 
 church in all ages, in a degree adequate to the personal preservation, 
 consolation, and efficiency of believers in every land and age, to the 
 end of the world. Hence the Gospel, as distinguished from the Law, 
 is called "the ministration -of the Spirit," and for that reason, the 
 permanent ministration of life, righteousness, light, liberty and 
 glory. 2 Cor. iii. 3-18. His energy is not always manifested to the 
 world, but is still latent in the church (1 John iv. 4) ; and faith and 
 prayer are the means appointed to call it into vigorous and victorious 
 actioa Luke xi. 13 ; Ephes. iii. 13-21 ; vi. 18-20. 
 
380 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 appear more visible, by great and manifest effects, that 
 I act in all things agreeably to my Father's will, and 
 am perfectly invested with his power ; and that ye in 
 like manner have my^ power and commission communi- 
 cated to you; so that there is a perfect unity and 
 communion between us. Only ye must remember, that 
 the one necessary condition on which all depends, is, 
 that ye continue steadfast and immovable to me, in your 
 faith and in your obedience to my commands. He, 
 and he only, who embraces my doctrine, and obeys and 
 practises it, shall be judged to be sincere in his love 
 toward me. And he who loves me in that manner, 
 shall be loved by my Father; and I myself also will 
 love him, and manifest myself to him. 
 
 Here Judas Thaddeus interrupted his Master, saying, 
 Lord, why wilt thou choose to manifest thyself to us, a 
 few particular persons, and not to the generality of the 
 world ? 
 
 Jesus replied, I have already told you the reason for 
 my acting in this manner ; because the generality of 
 the world are not disposed to obey my commandments, 
 the necessary condition of maintaining communion with 
 me. But ye are disposed to embrace my doctrine, and 
 to obey it; and, therefore, I manifest myself to you. 
 And whoever else will so love me as to keep my com- 
 mandments, him also will I and my Father love, and 
 will maintain communion with him, and all spiritual 
 blessings shall be poured down upon him, and he shall 
 be made partaker of happiness and eternal life. 
 
 On the contrary, whoever loves me not, that is, obeys 
 not my commandments, shall have no intercourse or 
 communion with me. Neither will my Father love or 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 381 
 
 honor him, or make any manifestations of himself to 
 him; for as my commandments are not my own, but 
 the Father's commandments ; therefore, whoever dis- 
 honors me my Father will look upon him as dishonoring 
 himself. 
 
 These things have I briefly spoken to you now, 
 according to the shortness of the time I am to continue 
 with you, and to comfort you for the present, against 
 my departure. But when the Comforter whom I prom- 
 ised you, is come, even the Holy Spirit, whom my 
 Father shall send you on my account, he shall instruct 
 you more fully, recalling to your remembrance what 
 you have forgotten, explaining what is yet obscure, and 
 supplying what is farther necessary to be taught you, 
 and to be understood by you. 
 
 In the meantime I take my leave of you, and my 
 blessing I leave with you : not formally, and after the 
 common fashion of the world, but affectionately and 
 sincerly ; retaining a careful remembrance of you, and 
 with an earnest desire and intention of returning again 
 speedily to you. If you loved me with a wise and 
 understanding affection, ye would rejoice, instead of 
 grieving at my present departure ; because I am going 
 to my Father, the supreme author of all glory and 
 happiness. 
 
 These things I have now told you before they come 
 to pass, that when ye see them happen, your faith in 
 me, and your expectation of the performance of all my 
 promises, may be confirmed and strengthened. The 
 time will not allow me to say much more to you 
 at present : my end draweth near, the ruler of this 
 world, the prince of the power of darkness, is at this 
 
382 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 instant employing all his wicked instruments to appre- 
 hend and destroy me.* Not that either the power of 
 the devil, or the malice of man, can at all prevail over 
 me, but because the time of rny suffering, according to 
 the appointment of divine wisdom, is arrived ; and that 
 I may demonstrate to the world my love and obedience 
 to my Father, I willingly submit myself to be put to 
 death by the hands of sinful and cruel men. Rise up, 
 let us be going, that I may enter on my sufferings. 
 
 Having thus spoken, they finished the supper with 
 singing a hymn, and went out to the Mount of Olives.f 
 On their arrival at the place which was to be the scene 
 of his sufferings, he desired them to fortify themselves 
 
 * The fearful prevalence of evil among men is implied in the title 
 here conferred on Satan, u the prince of this world." Parallel passages 
 elsewhere occur to indicate the same awakening thought. But here 
 the words of Jesus seem to indicate not merely the active agency 
 of Satan's instruments in compassing his betrayal and death, but 
 a final assault of that malignant spirit on his soul in the garden of 
 Gethsemane. To this agree the facts of his agony and bloody sweat, 
 and the words addressed to his enemies, " But this is your hour, and 
 the power of darknew. " Luke xxii. 52, 53. Compare Ephes. vi. 12, 13. 
 
 t This view of our author is not certain, and not without difficulties. 
 It compels us to suppose a division in the midst of our Lord's farewell 
 discourse not easily to be conceived, and assigns no convenient place 
 for what follows. But more than this, it conflicts directly with the 
 words of John himself (John xviii. 1), where the passing across the 
 Cedron to Gethsemane, at the foot of the Mount of Olives, is said to 
 have followed the closing prayer of Jesus. 
 
 The words, "Arise, let us go hence " (John xiv. 31), seem to have 
 led to the mistake. But it is better to suppose that the disciples were 
 too deeply affected to leave the room at the time, and resumed their 
 seats ; to which Jesus tenderly yielded and resumed his discourse. This 
 supposition is not at war with the positive testimony. Nothing could 
 be more natural, indeed, than this lingering, and reseating themselves 
 after rising to depart. It occurs among intimate friends every day. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 383 
 
 by prayer, and forewarned them of the terrible effects 
 his sufferings would have upon them ; they would make 
 them all stumble that very night, agreeably to the 
 prophecy of Zechariah : " I will smite the shepherd, 
 and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad." 
 To strengthen their faith, therefore, he not only men- 
 tioned his own resurrection, but told them they should 
 see him in Galilee, after he was risen from the dead. 
 
 On our blessed Saviour's mentioning the offence that 
 his disciples would take at his suffering, Peter recol- 
 lected what had been said to him in particular, before 
 they left the house. Grieved, therefore, afresh, to find 
 his Master entertain such thoughts of him, and being 
 now armed with a sword, the vehemence of his temper 
 urged him to boast a second time of his courageous and 
 close attachment to his Master. " Though all men," 
 said he, " should be offended because of thee, yet will I 
 never be offended." But Jesus, knowing that human 
 confidence and security were weak and frail, thought 
 proper to forewarn him again of his danger, and told 
 him that the cock should not crow before he had denied 
 him. 
 
 Peter, however, still continued to repeat his confi- 
 dence : I will die with thee, but never deny thee. The 
 disciples all joined with Peter in professing their fixed 
 resolution of suffering death rather than that they would 
 deny their Master ; but the event fully confirmed the 
 prediction of our Saviour. From hence we may learn 
 how ignorant men are of their own hearts, and that the 
 strongest resolutions in their own strength avail them 
 nothing. 
 
 The compassionate Redeemer of mankind, not will- 
 
384 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 ing to lose one single moment of the short time of his 
 ministry that yet remained, continued to instruct his 
 disciples in the great truths he came into the world to 
 explain ; and, from the vines which were growing round 
 him on the Mount of Olives,* he began his excellent dis- 
 course with the parable of the vine, to the following 
 import : 
 
 Hitherto, said the blessed Jesus, the Jewish church 
 and nation have been the peculiar care of Providence ; 
 as a choice and goodly vine, likely to bring forth much 
 fruit, is the special care of the husbandman. But 
 from henceforth my church, my disciples, and the pro- 
 fessors of my religion, of what country or nation so- 
 ever they be, shall become the people of God, and the 
 peculiar care of Divine Providence. I will be to them 
 the root and stock of a vine of which they are the 
 branches and my Father the husbandman and vine- 
 dresser. 
 
 As in the management of a choice vine the skilful 
 vine-dresser cuts off all barren and superfluous branches 
 that they may not burden nor exhaust the tree, and 
 prunes and dresses the fruitful branches, that they 
 may grow continually and so bear more fruit, thus, 
 in the government of my church, all useless, wicked, 
 and incorrigible members, my Father, sooner or later, 
 by his judgments, cuts off and destroys ; but those 
 who are sincerely pious and good, he, by the various 
 and merciful dispensations of his providence toward 
 them, tries, purifies, and amends, that they may daily 
 improve, and be more and more abundant in all good 
 works. 
 
 * See the foregoing note. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 385 
 
 Now ye, my apostles,* are such members as these, 
 being purified in heart and mind, and prepared for every 
 good work, by your lively faith in me, and sincere res- 
 olutions to obey my commands. Continue steadfastly 
 in this state, and then you may be sure of deriving all 
 spiritual blessings from me, as the branches receive sap 
 and nourishment from the vine. But, as a branch, with- 
 out continuing in the vine, cannot bear any fruit, but 
 presently dries up and perishes, so ye, unless ye continue 
 steadfast in your communion with me (by a lively faith 
 and sincere obedience, so as to receive grace and spiri- 
 tual blessings), can never bring forth any good fruit of 
 true holiness and righteousness, but will fall into vanity, 
 superstition and wickedness, and at last utterly perish. 
 
 If you continue in me, by believing my words, and 
 holding fast what ye believe, and obeying and practising 
 it accordingly, no power or malice, either of man or of 
 devils, shall be able to hurt you or oppose your doctrines. 
 For, though I be absent from you in body, I yet will 
 hear your prayers, and my Father himself aLso will hear 
 you ; and whatsoever ye shall ask, for the glory of the 
 Almighty, and -the propagation of my true religion in the 
 world, shall certainly be granted you. 
 
 But, above all things, carefully remember to demon- 
 strate your continuance in me by abounding in all good 
 works of holiness, righteousness, and charity. This is 
 the honor 'which my Father desires and expects from 
 you ; even as it is the glory and desire of the vine-dresser 
 
 
 * Although the apostles were members of Christ, it was not as apos- 
 tles, but as .disciples or believers. Whatever was said to them here, 
 belongs to every believer in Christ, if not in a primary, yet in a secondary 
 sense. Christ is equally the root arid support of all their spiritual life. 
 25 
 
386 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 that his vine should bring forth much fruit. And this 
 is the honor that I myself expect from you, that ye shall 
 prove yourselves to be really and indeed my disciples, 
 by imitating my example and obeying my commands. 
 This ye are bound to do, not only in duty, but in grati- 
 tude also ; for, as my Father hath loved me, so have I 
 also loved you ; and ye, in like manner, ought to love 
 me again, that you may continue to be loved by me. 
 But the way to express your love toward me, and to 
 continue to be loved by me, is to keep my command- 
 ments, even as I, by keeping my Father's commandments, 
 have expressed my love toward him, and continue to bo 
 loved by him. 
 
 These things have I spoken to you before my depar- 
 ture, that the comfort ye have taken in my presence 
 may be continued in my absence, and even increase 
 with the coming of the Holy Spirit,* as it will be 'upon 
 this condition, which I have so often repeated to you, 
 that you keep my commandments. And the principal 
 of these commandments is, that ye love one another; 
 not after the common fashion of the world, but in such 
 a manner as I have loved you ; nor can you be ignorant 
 what sort of love that is when I tell you tliat I am now 
 going to lay down my life for you. This is the highest 
 instance in which it is possible for a man to express his 
 love toward his greatest friends and benefactors; but 
 this I am now going to do for you and for all mankind. 
 I might, indeed, justly call you servants, considering the 
 infinite distance between me and you, and the obligation 
 ye have to obey my commandments ; but I have not 
 treated you as servants (who are not admitted into their 
 
 * See note on page 379. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 387 
 
 master's counsels), but as friends, revealing to you 
 the whole will of my Father with all freedom and 
 plainness. 
 
 I have, I say, behaved myself to you as to the 
 nearest friends. Not that you first obliged me, or did 
 any acts of kindness for me ; but I have freely, arid of 
 my own good pleasure, chosen you to be my apostles, 
 and the preachers of my gospel, that you may go and 
 declare the will of God to the world, and bring forth 
 much and lasting fruit, in the conversion of men to the 
 knowledge of the truth and to the profession and prac- 
 tice of true religion. In the performance of this work, 
 whatsoever ye shall ask of my Father, in my name, in 
 order to enable you to perform it effectually and with 
 full success, shall certainly be granted you. 
 
 Now, all these things which I have spoken unto 
 you concerning the greatness of my love toward you, 
 in choosing you to be my apostles, in revealing unto you 
 the whole will of my Father, and in laying down my 
 life for you, I have urged and inculcated upon you for 
 ihis reason chiefly, as I at first told you, that ye may 
 learn, after my example, to " love one another." 
 
 The world, indeed, you must expect, will hate and 
 persecute you on my account. But this you ought not 
 to be surprised or terrified at, knowing that it is no 
 worse treatment than I myself have met with before 
 you. Be not, therefore, surprised when you meet with 
 opposition; nor think to find better treatment in the 
 world than I myself have done. Remember what I 
 have already told you, that the disciple is not above his 
 master,, nor is he that is sent greater than he that sent 
 him. 
 
388 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 If men had generally and readily embraced my doc- 
 trine, you might, indeed, have had some reason to ex- 
 pect that they would willingly have received yours also. 
 But since I myself have suffered great indignities and 
 persecutions from wicked and perverse, from obstinate 
 and incorrigible men, only for opposing their vices, it is 
 highly reasonable that you should expect to undergo the 
 like treatment upon the like account. In all which suf- 
 ferings you will, moreover, have this further comfort- 
 able consideration to support you, that the justice of 
 your own cause, and the injustice of your persecutors', 
 will by that means most evidently appear ; seeing ye 
 are persecuted only for professing and preaching, in my 
 name, the doctrine of true religion, and they persecute 
 you only because they know not God, and out of mere 
 malice will not bear to be instructed in his commands. 
 
 Indeed, had not I appeared to the world with all po& 
 sible demonstrations of authority and truth, teaching 
 them a most holy and undeniable doctrine, sufficient to 
 reform their manners and amend their lives, and, more- 
 over, demonstrated my divine commission by such 
 proofs as ought to satisfy and convince the most doubt- 
 ing and suspicious minds, they might have had some 
 plea or excuse of ignorance for their unbelief. But 
 now, since all reasonable evidence has been offered 
 them, and proper methods used for their conversion and 
 salvation, and yet they wilfully and obstinately reject 
 these means of grace, it is plain they have no excuse for 
 their sin ; but they oppose and persecute you only 
 because they will not forsake their worldly lusts, and 
 out of mere malice will not bear to be instructed in the 
 commands of the Almighty. So that they who oppose and 
 
LIFE OF CiilUST. 389 
 
 persecute you, as they have before persecuted me, show 
 plainly that they are haters of God and of his most holy 
 commandments ; which is, as I have already told you, a 
 plain evidence of the justice of your own cause and of the 
 injustice of your persecutors'. If I had not, I say, done 
 such works among them as no man ever did, they might 
 indeed have had some appearance of excuse for their sin. 
 But it is no wonder, when men have given themselves 
 wholly up to be governed by worldly affections, pas- 
 sions, and vices, they should act contrary to all the 
 reason and evidence in the world ; for this is but the 
 natural consequence of obstinate and habitual wicked- 
 ness; and hereby is only fulfilled in me what holy 
 David long since prophetically complained of, that they 
 hated him without a cause. 
 
 But, notwithstanding all the opposition - that wicked 
 and incorrigible men will make against my doctrine, 
 there will not be wanting powerful promoters of it, who 
 shall effectually overcome all opposition. For the Com- 
 forter, whom, I said, I will send you from heaven, even 
 that " Spirit of truth " which corneth forth and is sent 
 from the Father, shall when he cometli, with wonder- 
 ful efficacy, bear testimony to the truth of my doctrine, 
 and cause it to be spread through the world with incredi- 
 ble success. Nay, and ye yourselves also, though now 
 so weak, fearful, and doubting, shall then very power- 
 fully bear testimony to the truth of all the things 
 whereof ye, having been all along present with me, 
 have been eye-witnesses from the beginning. 
 
 Thus have I warned you beforehand of the opposition 
 and persecution ye must expect to meet with in the 
 \vcrld, that when it cometh ye may not be surprised 
 
890 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 and terrified, so as to be discouraged thereby from per- 
 sisting in the performance of your duty. 
 
 Having finished his discourse, " Jesus lifted up his 
 eyes to heaven, and prayed/' with great fervency, to his 
 Father. (The prayer itself is recorded in the seven- 
 teenth chapter of John.) 
 
 His prayer being ended, Jesus and his disciples came 
 down from the Mount of Olives,* into a field below, 
 called Gethsemane, through which the brook Cedron 
 ran, and in it, on the other side of the brook, was a gar- 
 den, called the Garden of Gethsemane. Here he desired 
 his disciples to sit down till he should retire to pray, 
 taking with him Peter, James, and John, those three 
 select disciples whom he had before chosen to be wit- 
 nesses of his transfiguration, and now to be eye-witnesses 
 of his passion, leaving the other disciples at the garden 
 door, to watch the approach of Judas and his band 
 
 The sufferings he was on the point of undergoing 
 were so great that the very prospect of them excited 
 the exclamation, " My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even 
 unto death : tarry ye here, and watch." f On this great 
 occasion, he sustained those grievous sorrows in his 
 soul by which, as well as by dying on the cross, he 
 
 * See second note on page 382. 
 
 f The object of this watching was three-fold. 1. That they might 
 guard against surprisal from without and temptation within. 2. That 
 they might witness the agony of the great Sufferer, and give him their 
 united sympathy and prayers. 3 That they might be able to withstand 
 the terrible shock of their Lord's betrayal into the hands of his blood- 
 thirsty foes, who, under the sacred forms of justice, were about to con- 
 demn the spotless Son of God to a death of shame. How full of touch- 
 ing tenderness the question of Jesus, when he found them sleeping, 
 " What ! could ye not watch with me one hour V " Matt. xvi. 40. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 891 
 
 became a sin-offering and accomplished the redemption 
 of mankind. 
 
 He now withdrew from them about a stone's cast ; 
 for his human nature being overburdened beyond 
 measure, he found it necessary to retire and pray, that, 
 if it was possible, or consistent with the salvation of 
 the world, he might be delivered from the sufferings 
 which were then lying on him. It was not the fear of 
 dying on the cross which made him speak or pray in 
 such a manner. To suppose this would infinitely 
 degrade his character. Yet the blessed Jesus, whose 
 human nature was strengthened by being connected 
 with the divine, could not but shrink at the prospect 
 of such sufferings as he had to endure. He addresses 
 his Divine Father with a sigh of fervent wishes that 
 the cup might, if possible, be removed from him. In 
 the Greek, it is, " Oh that thou wouldst remove this 
 cup from me! " And having first knelt 'and prayed, he 
 fell prostrate on his face, accompanying his address 
 with due expressions of resignation, adding, imme- 
 diately, '" Not as I will, but as thou wilt." * 
 
 * We cannot be too thankful for this perfect example of prayer 
 under the most agonizing distress. The beloved^ Son of God utters no. 
 complaint of his Father, but flies to his bosom for relief. lie fears no 
 offence at his requests, as if they were in conflict with the foreknowl- 
 edge and determinate counsel of God, or a surrender of his own great 
 purpose in coming into the world to save sinners. lie asks, he entreats, 
 he implores relief, but only in a way consistent with his Father's will 
 and his Father's glory. With him he leaves his case in absolute sub- 
 mission. He totally sacrifices his own will to that of his Father, in 
 the full assurance that HE cannot and will not do wrong, and that his 
 sufferings shall not exceed, by a single iota, the measure required, 
 "that God might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in 
 Jesus." Horn. iii. 26. How should his example be endeared to us by 
 the fact that u he suffered for us, the just for the unjust, that he might 
 bring us to God / " 1 Pet. iii. 18. 
 
392 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 At length he obtained relief, being heard on account 
 of his perfect and entire submission to the will of his 
 heavenly Father. "And when he arose up from prayer, 
 and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping 
 for sorrow." This circumstance shows how much his 
 disciples were affected with their Master's sufferings. 
 The sensations of grief which they felt on seeing his 
 unspeakable distress so overpowered them that they 
 sank into a sleep. 
 
 Our blessed Saviour, for the last time, came to his 
 disciples, and, seeing them still asleep, he said, " Sleep 
 on . now, and take your rest : behold, the hour is at 
 hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands 
 of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at 
 hand that doth betray me." Matt. xxvi. 45, 46. The 
 event will soon be over which causes your sorrow : I 
 am betrayed, and ready to be delivered unto death. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 THE BLESSED REDEEMER IS TAKEN BY A BAND OF SOLDIERS 
 
 AT THE INFORMATION OF THE TRAITOR JUDAS HEALS A 
 
 WOUND GIVEN THE HIGH-PRIEST'S SERVANT BY SIMON 
 PETER FULFILMENT OF OUR LORD'S PREDICTION CONCERN- 
 ING PETER THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD IS ARRAIGNED 
 AT THE BAR OF THE SANHEDRIM, AND TRIED BY THE 
 JEWISH COUNCIL. 
 
 JUDAS, who had often resorted to the Garden of 
 Gethsemane with the disciples of our Lord, knowing 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 393 
 
 the spot and the usual time of his Master's repairing 
 thither, informed the chief priests and elders that the 
 time for apprehending Jesus was now come. They 
 therefore sent a band of soldiers with him, and servants 
 carrying lanterns and torches to show them the way ; 
 because, though it was always full moon at the passover, 
 the sky might, be dark with clouds, and the place whither 
 they were going was shaded with trees. At the same 
 time a deputation of their number accompanied the 
 band, to see that every one did his duty. 
 
 Judas having thus received a band of men and officers 
 from the chief priests and Pharisees, they went thither 
 with lanterns and torches and weapons ; for they were 
 exceedingly anxious to secure and get him into their 
 hands ; and the soldiers, having, perhaps, never seen 
 Jesus before, found it necessary that Judas should 
 distinguish him, and point him out to them by some 
 particular sign. When, therefore, they approached near 
 the spot, Judas (who was at the head of the band) 
 suddenly ran forward, and, coming up to Jesus, said, 
 " Hail, Master ! and kissed him.' And Jesus said unto 
 him, Friend, wherefore art thou come ? Betrayest thou 
 the Son of man with a kiss ? " Before, however, Judas 
 could make any reply, the band (who had fixed their 
 eyes on the person he had kissed) arrived immediately, 
 and surrounded Jesus. 
 
 Judas certainly concealed his treachery so well that 
 Peter did not suspect him, or it is probable he would 
 have struck at him rather than at Malchus, the high- 
 priest's servant. 
 
 The appointed time of our Lord's sufferings being now 
 come he did not, as formerly, avoid his enemies ; but, 
 
394 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 on the contrary, on their telling him they sought Jesus 
 of Nazareth, he replied, " I *im he ; " thereby intimating 
 to them that he was willing to put himself into their 
 hands. At the same time, to show them that they could 
 not apprehend him without his own consent, he, in an 
 extraordinary manner, exerted his divine power : he 
 made the whole band fall back, and threw them to the 
 ground. " Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that 
 should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, 
 Whom seek ye ? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. 
 Jesus said unto them, 1 am he ; and Judas also, who 
 betrayed him, stood with them. As soon, then, as he 
 had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and 
 fell to the ground." But the soldiers and the Jews, im- 
 agining perhaps that they had been thrown down by 
 some demon or evil spirit, with whom the Jews said he 
 was in confederacy, advanced toward him a second time. 
 " Then he asked again, Whom seek ye ? And they 
 said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I told you 
 that I am he ; " expressing again his willingness to fall 
 into their hands. " If, therefore, ye seek me, let these 
 go their way." If your business' be with me alone, suffer 
 my disciples to pass: for the party had surrounded them 
 also. He seems to have made this request to the soldiers, 
 that the saying might be fulfilled which he spake, " Of 
 them which thou gavest me have I lost none." For 
 as he always proportioned the trials of his people to 
 their strength, so here he took care that the disciples 
 should escape the storm which none but himself could 
 sustain. 
 
 At length some, more daring than the rest, rudely 
 caught Jesus and bound him ; upon which Peter drew 
 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 395 
 
 uis sword and smote off the ear of the high-priest's ser- 
 vant, w.ho probably was showing greater forwardness 
 than the rest in this business : " Then Simon Peter, 
 having a sword, drew it, and smote the high-priest's 
 servant, and cut off his right ear : the servant's name 
 was Malchus." The enraged disciple was on the pciiit 
 of singly attacking the whole band, when Jesus ordered 
 him to sheath his sword, telling him that his unseason- 
 able arid imprudent defence might prove the occasion 
 of his destruction. " Then said Jesus unto him, Put up 
 thy sword in its place ; for all they that take the sword 
 shall perish with the sword." Ma' 4 t. xxvi. 52. He told 
 him, likewise, that it implied both a distrust of God, 
 who can always employ a variety of means for the 
 safety of his people, and also his ignorance of the Scrip- 
 tures. " Thinkest thou," said he, " that I cannot now 
 pray to my Father, and he . shall presently give me 
 more than twelve legions of angels ? But how then 
 shall the Scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be ? " 
 Matt. xxvi. 53, 54. 
 
 The word " legion " was a Eoman military term, 
 eing a name which they gave to a body of five or six 
 thousand men ; wherefore, in regard that the band 
 which surrounded them was a Roman cohort, our Lord 
 might make use of this term, by way of contrast, to 
 show what an inconsiderable thing the cohort was in 
 comparison to the force he could summon to his assist- 
 ance more than twelve legions, not of soldiers, but of 
 angels. He was yet tenderly inclined to prevent any 
 bad consequences which might have followed from 
 Peter's rashness, by healing the servant, and adding, 
 in his rebuke to him, a declaration of his willingness tc 
 
396 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 suffer : " The cup which my Father hath given me, 
 shall I not drink it?" 
 
 The circumstance of his healing the ear of Malchus 
 by touching it, evidently implies that no wound or 
 distemper was incurable in the hand of Jesus ; neither 
 was any injury so great that he could not forgive. It 
 seems somewhat surprising that this evident miracle did 
 not make an impression upon the chief priests, 
 especially as our Lord put them in mind, at the same 
 time, of the other miracles ; for, having first said, 
 '* Suffer ye thus far ; and he touched his ear and healed 
 him," he added, " Be ye come out as against a thief, 
 with swords and staves ? When I was daily with you 
 in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me : 
 but this is your hour, and the power of darkness." Luke 
 xxii. 51, etc. And the disciples, when they saw their 
 Master in the hands of his enemies, forsook him, and fled, 
 according to his prediction ; notwithstanding they might 
 have followed him without any danger, as the priests 
 had no design against them. " Then all the disciples 
 forsook him, and fled. 
 
 " Then the band, and the captain and officers, took 
 Jesus, and bound him." But it was not the cord which 
 held him : his infinite love was by far the strongest 
 bond. He could -have broken those weak ties, and 
 exerted his divinity in a more wonderful manner ; he 
 could have stricken them all dead with as much ease 
 as he had before thrown them on the ground ; but he 
 patiently submitted to this, as to every other indignity 
 which they chose to offer him, so meek was he under 
 the greatest injuries. Having thus secured him, they 
 led him away. " And there followed him a certain 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 307 
 
 young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked 
 body ; and the young men laid hold on him, and he 
 left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked." This, 
 perhaps, was the proprietor of the garden, who, being 
 awakened by the noise, came out with the linen cloth 
 in which he had been lying cast round his naked 
 body, and having a respect for Jesus, followed him, 
 forgetting the dress he was in.* 
 
 They first led Jesus to Annas, father-in-law of Caia- 
 phas, who was the high-priest that year. Annas, 
 having himself discharged the office of high-priest, was 
 consequently a person of distinguished character, which, 
 together with his relation to the high-priest, made him 
 worthy of the respect they now paid him. But he 
 refused, singly, to meddle in the affair : they therefore 
 carried Jesus to Caiaphas himself, at whose palace the 
 chief priests., elders, and scribes were assembled, having 
 stayed there all night to see the issue of their stratagem. 
 This Caiaphas was he that advised the Council to put 
 Jesus to death, even admitting he was innocent, for the 
 safety of the whole Jewish nation. He seems to have 
 enjoyed the sacerdotal dignity during the whole course 
 of Pilate's government in Judea ; for he was advanced 
 to it by Valerius Gracchus, Pilate's predecessor, and was 
 divested of it by Vitellius, governor of Syria, after he 
 had deposed Pilate from his procuratorship. 
 
 The apprehending of their dear Master could not but 
 strike his disciples with horror and amazement. Though 
 he had forewarned them of that event, such was their 
 consternation that they fled different ways; some of 
 
 * Mark only mentions this fact. Might not he be the young man ? 
 
398 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 them, however, recovering out of the panic that had 
 seized them, followed the band at a distance, to see 
 what the issue would be. Of this number was Peter, 
 and another disciple, whom John has mentioned .without 
 giving his name, and who therefore is supposed to have 
 been John himself. This disciple, being acquainted at 
 the high-priest's, got admittance for himself first, and 
 soon after for Peter, who had come with him. " And 
 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. 
 That disciple was known unto the high-priest, and went 
 in with Jesus into the palace of the high-priest. But 
 Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that 
 other disciple, which was known unto the high-priest, 
 and spake unto them that kept the door, and brought 
 in Peter. And when they had kindled a fire in the 
 midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter 
 sat down amongst them." The maid-servant who kept 
 the door, concluding Peter to be a disciple also, followed 
 after him to the fire, and, looking earnestly at him, 
 charged him with the supposed crime. " Then said the 
 damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou 
 also one of this man's disciples ? " This blunt attack 
 threw Peter into such confusion that he flatly denied 
 his having any connection with Jesus ; replying, " I am 
 not," and adding, " I know not, neither understand I, 
 what thou sayest." As if he had said, I do not under- 
 stand any reason for your asking me such a question. 
 
 Thus, the very apostle who had before acknowledged 
 his Master to be the Messiah, the Son of the living 
 God, and had so confidently boasted of his fortitude 
 and firm attachment to him in the greatest dangers, 
 proved himself an arrant deserter of his cause upon 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 399 
 
 trial. His shameful fears were altogether inexcusable, 
 as the enemy who attacked him was one of the weaker 
 sex, and the terror of the charge was in a great measure 
 taken off by the insinuation made in it that John was 
 likewise known to be Christ's disciple ; for, as he was 
 known at the high-priest's, he was consequently known 
 in that character. "Art thou not also one of this man's 
 disciples?" Art thou not one of them, as well as he 
 who is sitting with you ? Nothing can account for this 
 conduct of Peter, but the confusion and panic which 
 had seized him on this occasion.* As his inward pertur- 
 bation must have appeared in his countenance and 
 gesture, he did not choose to stay long with the servants 
 at the fire. He went out, therefore, into the porch, 
 where he was a little concealed. " And he went into 
 the porch : after he had been some time there, another 
 maid saw him, and began to say to them that stood by, 
 This is one of them ; and he again denied, with an oath, 
 I know not the man ; " adding perjury to falsehood. 
 
 After Peter had been thus attacked without-doors, he 
 thought proper to return and mix with the crowd at 
 the fire. "And Simon Peter stood and wanned him- 
 self." From this circumstance, it is clear that the en- 
 suing was the third denial, and that Peter left the 
 
 * The vivid remembrance of the rash blow inflicted on Malchus, and 
 the apprehension that lie might be recognized and called to account for 
 it at any moment, distracted Peter's mind and for the time quite para- 
 lyzed the power of his faith. Even the inward strength of a good con- 
 science was gone, and utter mental confusion followed. Natural 
 courage failed in these trying circumstances, for want of the moral 
 basis on which it was accustomed to rally and rest. Tossed, like wheat 
 in the sieve of the Tempter, from sin to sin, without strength, purpose, 
 or prayer, he must have perished but for the love and intercession of 
 the suffering Saviour whom he so fearfully denied. 
 
400 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 porch, where the second denial happened, and was come 
 again into the hall. " Here one of the servants of the 
 high-priest (being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off) 
 saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? 
 Peter then denied again, and immediately the cock 
 crew." The words of Malchus's kinsman, bringing to 
 Peter's remembrance what he had done to that man, 
 threw him into such a panic that, when those who stood 
 by repeated the charge, he impudently denied it : " He 
 even began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not 
 this man of whom you speak." For when they heard 
 Peter deny the charge, they supported it by an argu- 
 ment drawn from the accent with which he pronounced 
 his answer. " Surely thou art one of them ; for ithpu 
 art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto; " so that 
 being pressed on all sides, to give his lie the better color 
 he profaned the name of God, by imprecating the bit- 
 terest curses on himself if he was telling a falsehood. 
 Perhaps he hoped by these acts of impiety to con- 
 vince them effectually that he was not the disciple of 
 the holy Jesus. 
 
 Thus, the apostle denied his Master three distinct 
 times, with oaths and asseverations, totally forgetting 
 the vehement protestations he had made, a few hours 
 before, that he would never deny him. He was prob- 
 ably permitted to fall in this manner, to teach us two 
 lessons : first, that the strongest resolutions formed in 
 our own strength cannot withstand the torrent of temp- 
 tation ; secondly, that the true disciples of Christ, though 
 they fall, may be brought to a conviction of their sin ; 
 for he no sooner denied ' his Master the third time than 
 the cock crew and first awakened in him a conscious- 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 401 
 
 ness of his sin. " And the Lord turned and looked' upon 
 Peter ; and Peter remembered the words of the Lord, 
 how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou 
 shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out and wept 
 bitterly." 
 
 When the band of soldiers arrived at the high-priest's 
 with Jesus, they found there all the chief priests and 
 scribes and the elders assembled : " And as soon as it was 
 day, the elders of the people, and the chief priests and the 
 scribes, came together, and led him into their council. 
 And the high-priest asked Jesus of his disciples and his 
 doctrine." He inquired of him what his disciples were ; 
 for what end he had gathered them ; whether it was to 
 make himself a king; and what the doctrine was which 
 he taught them. In these questions there was a great 
 deal of art ; for, as the crime laid to our Saviour's charge 
 was that he had set up for the Messiah and deluded the 
 people, they expected that he would claim that dignity 
 in their presence, and so would, on his own confession, 
 have condemned him without any further process. 
 This WHS unfair, as it was artful and ensnaring. To 
 oblige a prisoner on his trial to confess what might 
 take away his life was a very iniquitous method of pro- 
 ceeding ; and Jesus expressed his opinion thereof with 
 very good reason, and complained of it, bidding them 
 prove what they had laid to his charge with witnesses. 
 " Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world ; I 
 ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple, whither 
 the Jews always resorted ; and in secret have I said 
 nothing.* Why asked thou me ? ask them which heard 
 
 * Nothing different from what he had said in public. 
 26 
 
402 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 me what I have said unto them : behold, they know 
 what I said." 
 
 It was greatly to the honor of our blessed Redeemer 
 that all his actions were done in public, under the eyes 
 even of his enemies ; because, had he been carrying on 
 any imposture, the lovers of goodness and truth had 
 thus abundant opportunities of detecting him with pro- 
 priety : he, therefore, in his defence appealed to that 
 part of his character. But his answer was construed to 
 be disrespectful ; " for, when he had thus spoken, one 
 of the officers, which stood by, struck Jesus with the 
 palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high- 
 priest so ? " To which he meekly replied, with the 
 greatest serenity, " If I have spoken evil, bear witness 
 of the evil ; but if well, why smitest thou me ? " Show 
 me, prove before this court, wherein my crime consists, 
 or record it in the evidence on the face of my trial ; 
 which if you cannot, how can you answer for this inhu- 
 man treatment of a defenceless prisoner, standing 6n his 
 trial before the world and in open court ? Thus Jesus 
 became an example of his own precept, " Whosoever 
 shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the 
 other also" (Matt. v. 39), bearing the greatest injuries 
 with a patience that could not be provoked. 
 
 When the Council found that Jesus declined answer- 
 ing the questions whereby they expected to have drawn 
 from him an acknowledgment of his being the Messiah, 
 they proceeded to examine many witnesses to prove his 
 having assumed that character ; as they considered 
 such a pretension as blasphemy in his mouth, who, 
 being only a man, according to their opinion, could not, 
 without the highest affront of the Divine Majesty. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 403 
 
 pretend to the title of the Son of God, as it belonged 
 to the Messiah. 
 
 But in this examination they acted like interested 
 and enraged persecutors, rather than as impartial judges, 
 forming their questions in the most artful manner, in 
 order, if possible, to draw expressions from him which 
 they might pervert into suspicions of guilt, as some 
 foundation for condemning Jesus, who had so long and 
 faithfully labored for their salvation. 
 
 Their witnesses, however, disappointed them, some of 
 them disagreeing in their story, and others mentioning 
 things of no manner of importance. At last, two per- 
 sons agreed in their depositions : namely, in hearing 
 him say that he was able to destroy the temple of God, 
 and to raise it in three days. But this testimony was 
 absolutely false ; for our great Redeemer never said he 
 could destroy and build the temple of Jerusalem in 
 three days as they affirmed. It is true that, after 
 banishing the traders from the temple, when the Jews 
 desired to know by what authority he undertook to 
 make such reformation, he referred them to the miracle 
 of his resurrection ; bidding them " destroy this temple," 
 pointing, probably, to his body, " and in three days he 
 would raise it up." The witnesses therefore, either 
 through malice or ignorance, perverted his answer into 
 an affirmation that he was able to destroy and build 
 the magnificent temple of Jerusalem in three days ; and 
 the judges considered this assertion as blasphemy, 
 because it could only be done by the Divine power. 
 
 Out Saviour made no reply to the evidences that were 
 produced against him which greatly incensed the high- 
 priest, who, supposing that he intended, by his silence. 
 
404 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 to put an affront on the Council, rose from his seat, and 
 with great perturbation, demanded the reason of so 
 remarkable a conduct. " Answerest thou nothing ? said 
 he : What is it which these witness against thee ? " 
 And some of the Council added, " Art thou the Christ ? " 
 To which our blessed Saviour answered, If I should 
 tell you plainly, you would not believe me ; and if I 
 should demonstrate it to you by the most evident and 
 undeniable arguments, ye would neither be convinced 
 nor let me go. The high-priest, finding all his attempts 
 to trepan our Saviour in vain, said to him, I adjure 
 you solemnly, by the dreadful and tremendous name of 
 God, in whose presence you stand, that you tell me 
 plainly and truly whether you are the Messiah, the Son 
 of God. 
 
 The consequence attending the confession of the truth 
 did not intimidate the blessed Jesus; for, being adjured 
 by the chief magistrate, he immediately acknowledged 
 the charge ; adding, Ye shall shortly see a convincing 
 evidence of this truth, in that wonderful and unparal- 
 leled destruction which will fall upon the Jewish 
 nation ; in the quick and powerful progress which the 
 gospel shall make upon the earth; and, finally, in my 
 glorious appearance in the clouds of heaven at the last 
 day the sign you have so often demanded in confirma- 
 tion of my mission. 
 
 Upon our blessed Saviour's making this answer, a 
 number of them cried out at once, "Art thou the Son 
 of God ? " To which our great Redeemer replied, " Ye 
 say that I am ;" a manner of speaking among the Jews 
 which expressed a plain and strong affirmation of the 
 thing expressed. When the high-priest heard this 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 405 
 
 second assertion, be rent his clothes with great indigna- 
 tion, and said unto the Council, Why need we trouble 
 ourselves to seek for more witnesses ? Ye yourselves, 
 nay, this whole assembly are witnesses that he hath 
 spoken manifest and notorious blasphemy. What think 
 ye ? To which they all replied, that for assuming to 
 himself the character of the Messiah he deserved to be 
 put to death. 
 
 Then began the servants and common people to fall 
 upon him, as a man already condemned spitting upon 
 him, buffeting him, and offering all manner of rudeness 
 and indignities. They blindfolded him ; and some of 
 the Council, in order to ridicule him for having .professed 
 to be the Great Prophet, bade him exercise his prophet- 
 ical gift, in declaring who had smitten him. 
 
 Such was the treatment of the Son of God, the 
 Saviour of sinners, which, though derogatory to his 
 character, he bore with patience and resignation, leaving 
 his people an example to follow his steps and to submit 
 to the will of God in all things, nor murmur at any of 
 the dispensations of his providence. 
 
406 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR IS CARRIED BEFORE THE ROMAN 
 GOVERNOR THE TRAITOR JUDAS BECOMES HIS OWN EX- 
 ECUTIONER PILATE PUBLICLY ACQUITS JESUS AND REFERS 
 
 HIS CASE TO THE DECISION OF HEROD. 
 
 THE blessed Jesus being thus condemned by the unani- 
 mous * voice of the grand assembly, it was resolved to 
 carry him before the governor, that he likewise might 
 pass sentence on him. The Roman governors of Judea 
 generally resided at Cesarea ; but at the great feast they 
 came up to Jerusalem, to prevent or suppress tumults and 
 to administer justice, it being a custom for the Roman 
 governors of provinces to visit the principal towns under 
 their jurisdiction on this latter account. Pilate, being 
 accordingly come to Jerusalem some time before the 
 feast, had been informed of the great ferment among the 
 rulers, and the true character of the person on whose 
 account it was raised, for he entertained a just notion 
 af it: "He knew that for envy they had delivered 
 him." He knew the cause of their envy, was impressed 
 with a favorable opinion of Jesus, and wished, if possible, 
 to deliver him from his vile persecutors. 
 
 Early in the morning the Jewish Council brought 
 Jesus to the hall of judgment, or governor's palace. 
 They themselves, however, went not into the hall, but 
 
 * Not quite unanimous. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea pro- 
 tested against it, or at least did not consent to it. 
 
LIFE OF CURIST. 407 
 
 stood without, lest they should be defiled, and rendered 
 incapable of eating the passover. 
 
 Now Judas Iscariot, who had delivered his Master 
 into the hands of the Council, finding his project turn 
 out very differently from what he expected, was filled 
 with remorse for what he had done.* He saw all 
 his golden dreams of temporal honors and advantages 
 sunk at once to nothing ; he saw his kind, his indulgent 
 Master condemned and forsaken by all his followers. 
 He saw all this, and determined to make all the satis- 
 faction in his power for the crime he had committed. 
 Accordingly, he came and confessed openly his sin 
 before the chief priests and rulers, offered them the 
 money they had given him to commit it, and earnestly 
 wished he could recall the fatal transaction of the pre- 
 ceding night. It seems he thought this was the most 
 public testimony he could possibly give of his Master's 
 innocence. I have, said he, committed a most horrid 
 crime, by betraying an innocent man to death. But this 
 moving speech of Judas had no effect on the callous hearts 
 of the Jewish rulers. They affirmed that, however he 
 might think the prisoner innocent, and for that reason 
 had sinned in bringing the sentence of death upon his 
 
 * Kemorse is the proper term to express the feelings of Judas. The 
 original word used in reference to him is never used to express genuine 
 repentance, which is always "repentance toward God," and leads to 
 u faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." Acts xx. 21. Judas "repented 
 himself," that is, was terribly troubled about the consequences of his 
 crime, but thought it still in his power to counteract them by a confes- 
 sion to man and return of the money received. When these efforts 
 failed, he fell into despair. Peter weeps bitterly with the tenderness 
 of returning lov*e ; but Judas cannot weep, for he does not love the 
 Master he has so deliberately wronged and heartlessly betrayed. It is 
 the very contrast depicted by Paul in 2 Cor. vii. 10. 
 
4 US LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 head, they were not to blame ; because they knew him 
 a blasphemer, who deserved to die. " What is that to us ? " 
 said the}' : "see thou to that." Nay, they even refused 
 to take the money they had given him as a reward for 
 performing the base act of betraying his Master. 
 
 The deepest remorse now seized upon the wretched 
 Judas, and his soul was agitated by the horrors of 
 despair. The innocence and benevolence of his Master, 
 the many favors he himself had received from him, and 
 the kind offices he had done for the sons and daughters 
 of affliction, crowded at once into his mind and rendered 
 his torments intolerable. Racked with these agonizing 
 }xissions, and unable to support the misery, he threw 
 down the wages of his iniquity in the temple, and, 
 confessing at the same time his own sin and the in- 
 nocence of his Master, went away in despair, and hanged 
 himself. 
 
 Thus perished Judas Iscariot, the traitor, a miserable 
 example of the fatal influence of covetousness, and a 
 standing monument of Divine vengeance, to deter future 
 generations from acting in opposition to the dictates of 
 conscience through a love for the things of this world ; 
 for which this wTetched mortal betrayed his Master, his 
 Friend, his Saviour, and accumulated such a load of 
 guilt on himself as sunk his soul into the lowest pit of 
 perdition. 
 
 The pieces of silver cast down by Judas were gathered 
 up and delivered to the priests, who, thinking it unlaw- 
 ful to put them into the treasury, because they were the 
 wages of a traitor, agreed to lay them out in purchasing 
 the potter's field and making it a common burial-place 
 for strangers. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 409 
 
 We have already .observed that the chief priests and 
 elders refused to go themselves into the judgment- 
 hall, lest they should contract some pollution in the 
 house of a heathen, which would have rendered them 
 unfit for eating the passover. The same reason also 
 hindered them from entering the governor's palace, on 
 other festivals, when that magistrate attended in order 
 to administer justice: a kind of structure was there- 
 fore erected, adjoining to the palace, which served 
 instead of a tribunal or judgment-seat. This structure, 
 called in the Hebrew Gabbatha, was finely paved with 
 small pieces of marble of different colors, being always 
 exposed to the weather. One side of this structure 
 joined to the palace, and a cloor was made in the wall, 
 through which the governor passed to the tribunal. 
 By this contrivance the people might stand round the 
 tribunal in the open air, hear and see the governor 
 when he spake to them from the pavement, and observe 
 the whole administration of justice, without danger of 
 being defiled either by him or any of his retinue. 
 
 Before this tribunal the great Kedeemer of mankind 
 was brought, and the priests and elders having taken 
 their places around the pavement, the governor ascended 
 the judgment-seat and asked them what accusation they 
 had to bring against the prisoner. Though nothing 
 was more natural than for the governor to ask this 
 question, yet the Jews thought themselves highly 
 affronted by it, and haughtily answered, If he had not 
 been a very great and extraordinary malefactor, we 
 should not have given you this trouble at all, much less 
 at so unseasonable an hour. 
 
 Pilate then examined Jesus, and, finding he had not 
 
410 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 been guilty of rebellion or sedition, but that he was ac- 
 cused of particulars relating to the religion and customs 
 of the Jews, grew angry, and said, What are these 
 things to me ? Take him yourselves, and judge him ac- 
 cording to your own law ; plainly insinuating that, in 
 his opinion, the crime they laid to the prisoner's charge 
 was not of a capital nature, and that such punishments 
 as they were permitted by Caesar to inflict were adequate 
 to any misdemeanor that Jesus was charged with. But 
 this proposal of the Roman governor was absolutely re- 
 fused by the Jewish priests and elders, because it con- 
 demned the whole proceeding ; and therefore they an- 
 swered, We have no power to put any one to death, as this 
 man certainly deserves, who has attempted not only to 
 make innovations in our religion, but also to set up him- 
 self for a king. 
 
 The eagerness of the Jews to get Jesus condemned 
 by the Roman governor, who often sentenced malefac- 
 tors to be crucified, tended to fulfil the saying of our 
 great Redeemer, who, during the course of his minis- 
 try, had often mentioned what kind of death he was, by 
 the counsel of his Father, appointed to die. 
 
 Pilate, finding it impossible to prevent a tumult 
 unless he proceeded to try Jesus, ascended again the 
 judgment-seat, and commanded his accusers to produce 
 their accusations against him. Accordingly, they ac- 
 cused him of seditious practices, affirming that he had 
 used every method in his power to dissuade the people 
 from paying taxes to Caesar, pretending that he himself 
 was the Messiah, the great King of the Jews, so long 
 expected. But they brought no proof of these assertions. 
 They only insinuated they had already convicted him 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 411 
 
 of this assertion, which was absolutely false. Pilate, 
 however, asked him, Is it true what these men lay to 
 your charge, that you have indeed attempted to set 
 up yourself as King of the Jews ? 
 
 To which Jesus replied, Have you ever, during your 
 stay in this province, heard any thing of me that gave 
 you reason to suspect me of secret practices and seditious 
 designs against the government ? or do you ibund your 
 question only on the present clamor and tumult that is 
 raised against me ? If this be the case, be very careful 
 lest you be imposed on merely by the ambiguity of a 
 word ; for to be " King of the Jews " is not to erect a 
 temporal throne in opposition to that of Caasar, but a 
 thing of very different nature : the kingdom of the Mes- 
 siah is a heavenly kingdom. To which Pilate replied, 
 Am I a Jew ? Can I tell what your expectations are, 
 and in what sense you understand these words ? The 
 rulers and chiefs of your own people, who are the most 
 proper judges of these particulars, have brought you 
 before me as a riotous and seditious person : if this be 
 not the truth, let me know what is, and the crime thou 
 hast been guilty of. 
 
 Jesus answered, I have indeed a kingdom, and this 
 kingdom I have professed to establish. But then it is 
 not of this world, nor have my endeavors to establish it 
 any tendency to cause disturbances in the government. 
 For, had that been the case, my servants would not 
 have suffered me to have fallen into the 'hands of the 
 Jews. But I tell you plainly, my kingdom is wholly 
 spiritual.* I reign in the hearts of my people, and sub- 
 
 * This is not to be understood in so restricted a sense as to exclude 
 the Saviour's claim to a higher dominion in the heavenly world. 
 
412 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 due their wills and affections into a conformity to tho 
 will of God. You acknowledge, then, in general, 
 answered Pilate, that you have professed to be a king ? 
 To which the blessed Jesus replied, In the sense I have 
 told you, I have declared, and do now declare, myself 
 to be A KING. For this very end I was born, and for 
 this purpose I caine into the world, that I should bear 
 witness to the truth ; and whosoever sincerely loves and 
 is always ready to embrace the truth will hear my tes- 
 timony, and be convinced of it. Pilate answered, 
 " What is truth ? " and immediately went out to the 
 Jews, and said unto them, I have again examined this 
 
 Ephes. ii. 19-23. Even the dying thief recognized in Jesus the Lord 
 of that higher kingdom. Luke xxiv. 42. How far the resources of 
 that universal kingdom may be made to bear upon the advancement of 
 his spiritual kingdom on earth, we know not fully now (Matt, xxviii. 
 18-20) ; but this is certain, that they are never used to destroy its spiri- 
 tual character, and this is the point all important in our Lord's words 
 to Pilate. 
 
 The real question at issue before the Roman governor was, " Is Jesus 
 a king in any such sense as must involve rebellion against Caesar?" 
 Now on this point our Lord's answer is perfectly explicit, and entirely 
 consistent with his whole doctrine and deportment from the beginning 
 of his ministry. In fact, it was this spirituality of his kingdom that 
 most offended the Jewish people and stumbled his own disciples, who 
 could not reconcile it with the popular idea of the Messiah. Yet 
 Daniel had expressly foretold that Messiah's kingdom should be diverse 
 from all other kingdoms, particularly in this, that his people should be 
 "the people of the saints," i. e., a holy people. Dan. vii. 27. Hence 
 the words of Jesus to Nicodemus, on the need of a regenerating change 
 in all who would enter it, here and hereafter. John iii. 3. 
 
 That this spiritual nature of his kingdom was a point which admitted 
 no compromise, may be seen by reference to the remarks of Neander 
 in the note on p. 55, where he shows the issue involved in the tempta- 
 tion to receive from Satan's hands " all the kingdoms of the world and 
 the glory of them." Christ could die for the truth on this point, but 
 the diadem of Csesar could not tempt him to compromise or abandon it. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 413 
 
 man, but cannot find him guilty of any fault which, 
 according to the Roman law, is worthy of death. 
 
 The generous declaration made by the governor of the 
 innocence of our blessed Saviour had no effect on the 
 superstitious and bigoted Jews. They even persisted in 
 their accusations with more vehemence than before, 
 affirming that he attempted to raise a sedition in Galilee : 
 " He stirreth up," said they, " the people, beginning from 
 Galilee to this place." 
 
 Jesus, however, made no answer at all to this heavy 
 charge. Nay, he continued silent, notwithstanding the 
 governor himself expressly requested him to speak in his 
 own defence. A conduct so extraordinary in such cir- 
 cumstances astonished Pilate exceedingly; for he had 
 great reason to be persuaded of the innocence of our 
 dear Redeemer. The truth is, he was altogether igno- 
 rant of the divine counsel by which the whole affair 
 was directed. 
 
 There were many reasons which induced the blessed 
 Jesus not to make a public defence. He came into the 
 world purely to redeem lost and undone sinners, by 
 offering up himself a sacrifice for them ; but, had he 
 pleaded with his usual force, the people had, in all 
 probability, been induced to ask his release, and conse- 
 quently his death had been prevented. Besides, the 
 gross falsehood of the accusation, known to all the in- 
 habitants of Galilee, rendered any reply absolutely 
 needless. 
 
 In the meantime, the chief priests continued to accuse 
 him with great noise and tumult. And the meek and 
 humble Jesus still continuing mute, Pilate spake again 
 to him, saying, Wili thou continue to make no defence ? 
 
414 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Dost thou not hear how vehemently these men accuse 
 thee? But Pilate, recollecting what the chief priests 
 had said with regard to a sedition in Galilee, asked if 
 Jesus came out of that country ; and, on being informed 
 he did, he immediately ordered him to be carried to 
 Herod, who was also then in Jerusalem. The governor 
 supposed that Herod, in whose dominion the sedition 
 was said to have been raised, must be a much better 
 judge of the affair than himself; besides, his being a 
 Jew rendered him more versed in the religion of his 
 own country, and gave him greater influence over the 
 chief priests and elders : he therefore considered him as 
 the most proper person to prevail on the Jewish council 
 to desist from their cruel persecution. But if, contrary 
 to all human probability, he should, at their solicitation, 
 condemn Jesus, Pilate hoped to escape the guilt and in- 
 famy of putting an innocent person to death. He might 
 also propose, by this action, to regain Herod's friendship, 
 which he had formerly lost, by encroaching, in all prob- 
 ability, on his privileges. 
 
 But however that be, or whatever motive induced 
 Pilate to send our great Redeemer to Herod, the latter 
 greatly rejoiced at this opportunity of seeing Jesus, 
 hoping to have the pleasure of beholding him perform 
 some great miracle. In this he was, however, disap- 
 pointed; for, as Herod had apostatized from the 
 doctrine of John the baptist, to which he was once 
 probably a convert, and had even put his teacher to 
 death, the blessed Jesus, however liberal of his miracles 
 to the sons and daughters of affliction, would not work 
 them to gratify the curiosity of a tyrant, nor even 
 answer one of the many questions he proposed to him. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 415 
 
 Herod, finding his expectations thus cut off, ordered 
 the blessed Saviour to be clothed with an old robe, re- 
 sembling in color those worn by kings, and permitted 
 his attendants to insult him. From Herod's dressing 
 him in this manner, it evidently appears that the chief 
 priests and elders had accused him of nothing but his 
 having assumed the character of the Messiah ; for the 
 affront put upon him was plainly in derision of that 
 profession. 
 
 The other head of accusation namely, his having 
 attempted to raise a sedition in Galilee, on account of 
 tribute paid to Caesar they did not dare to mention, as 
 Herod could not fail of knowing it to be a gross and 
 malicious falsehood. And, no crime worthy of death 
 being laid to his charge, Herod sent him again to Pilate. 
 It seems that though he was displeased with the great 
 Redeemer of mankind for refusing to work a miracle 
 before him, yet he did not think proper to comply with 
 the wishes of his enemies. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 THE ROMAN GOVERNOR, FOR WANT OF EVIDENCE, PROPOSES 
 TO ACQUIT AND RELEASE JESUS THREE SEVERAL TIMES; 
 BUT, AT THE PRESSING INSTIGATION OF THE JEWS, HE 
 CONDEMNS AND DELIVERS HIM UP. 
 
 THE Roman Governor, in order to acquire popular 
 applause, used generally, at the Feast of the Passover, 
 
416 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 to release a prisoner nominated by the people. At this 
 feast there was one in prison, named Barabbas, who, at 
 the head of a number of rebels, had made an insurrec- 
 tion in the city and committed murder during the 
 confusion. 
 
 The multitude, being now assembled before the 
 governor's palace, began to call aloud on him to perform 
 the annual office of mercy customary at that festival. 
 
 Pilate, glad of this opportunity, told them that he 
 was very willing to grant the favor they desired, and 
 asked them whether they would have Barabbas or Jesus 
 released unto them. But, without waiting for an 
 answer, he offered to release Jesus, knowing that the 
 chief priests had delivered him through envy ; especially 
 as Herod had not found him guilty of the crimes laid to 
 his charge. 
 
 While these particulars were transacting, Pilate 
 received a message from his wife, then with him at 
 Jerusalem,* and who had that morning been greatly 
 affected by a dream, which gave her much uneasiness. 
 The dream had so great an effect on this Roman lady, 
 that she could not rest till she had sent an account of 
 it to her husband, who was then sitting with the tribunal 
 
 * Under the Emperor Tiberias, for the first time, the governors of 
 provinces were permitted to take their wives with them. According 
 to tradition, the name of this wife of Pilate was Claudia Porcula, and 
 it is supposed by some that she had secretly embraced the Jewish faith. 
 
 On the question whether her dream was natural or supernatural, 
 Calmet remarks : "As our Saviour was apprehended about midnight, 
 out of the city, and without Pilate's privity, and detained in the house 
 of Annas until it was day, there was no possibility of her having any 
 notice of it before she went to bed, and, therefore, we have the juster 
 reason to believe that this dream was sent providentially upon her, for 
 the clearer manifestation of our Lord's innocence." 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 417 
 
 on the pavement, and begged him to have no hand m 
 the death of the righteous person he was then judging. 
 
 The people had not yet determined whether they 
 would have Jesus or Barabbas released to them : there- 
 fore when Pilate received the message from his wife, 
 he called the chief priests and rulers together, and, in 
 the hearing of the multitude, made a speech to them, 
 in which he gave them an account of the examination 
 which Jesus had undergone, both at his own and 
 Herod's tribunal, declaring that in both courts it had 
 turned out honorably to his character ; for which reason 
 he proposed to them that he should be the object of the 
 people's favor. Pilate did the priests the honor of 
 desiring to know their inclination in particular, perhaps 
 with a design to soften their stony hearts, and, if possi- 
 ble, to move them for once to pity an injured but 
 innocent nran. But he was persuaded that, if pity was 
 absolutely banished from their callous breasts, his pro- 
 posals would have been acceptable to the people, who 
 he expected would embrace the first opportunity of 
 declaring in his favor ; yet in this he was disappointed. 
 They cried out, all at once, "Away with this man, and 
 release unto us Barabbas." 
 
 Pilate himself was astonished at this determination 
 of the multitude, and repeated his question; for he could 
 hardly believe what he had himself heard. But, on 
 their again declaring that they desired Barabbas might 
 be released, he asked them what he should do with 
 Jesus, which is called Christ. As if he had said, You 
 demanded that Barabbas should be released ; but what 
 shall I then do with Jesus ? You cannot surely desire 
 me to crucify him, whom so many of you have acknowl- 
 
 27 
 
418 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 edged as your Messiah? "But they cried, saying, 
 Crucify him! crucify him ! Then Pilate said unto them, 
 Why, what evil hath he done ? And they cried out 
 the more exceedingly, Crucify him ! " They were so 
 resolutely determined to. have him destroyed, that, not- 
 withstanding the governor urged them again and again 
 to desire his release, declared his innocence, and offered 
 several times to dismiss him, they would not hear it, 
 uttering their rage, sometimes in hollow, distant, 
 inarticulate murmurs, and sometimes in furious outcries 
 to such a pitch were their passions raised by the craft 
 and artful insinuations of the priests. Pilate, finding 
 it therefore in vain to struggle with their prejudices, 
 called for water, and washed his hands before the mul- 
 titude, crying out, at the same time, that the prisoner 
 had no fault, and that he himself was innocent of his 
 blood. 
 
 By this action and declaration Pilate seems to have 
 intended to make an impression on the Jewish populace, 
 by complying with the institution of Moses, which 
 orders, in case of an unknown murder, the elders of the 
 nearest city to wash their hands publicly, and say, 
 " Our hands have not shed this blood." Dent. xxi. 7. 
 And in allusion to this law, the Psalmist says, " I will 
 wash my hands in innocence." According, therefore, 
 to the Jewish rite, Pilate made the most solemn and 
 public demonstration of the innocence of our Redeemer, 
 and of his resolution of having no hand in his death. 
 But, notwithstanding the solemnity of this declaration, 
 the Jews continued inflexible, and cried out with one 
 voice, " His blood be on us and on our children." Dread- 
 ful imprecation ! it shocks humanity ! An imprecation 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 419 
 
 which brought on them the dreadful vengeance of 
 Omnipotence, and is still a heavy burden on that people ! 
 The governor, finding it impossible to alter their choice, 
 released unto them Barabbas. And, as it was the 
 general practice of the Romans to scourge those criminals 
 they condemned to be crucified, Pilot ordered the blessed 
 Jesus to be scourged before he delivered him to the 
 soldiers to be put to death. 
 
 The soldiers, having scourged Jesus and received orders 
 to crucify him, carried him into the pretorium, or com- 
 mon hall, where they added the shame of disgrace to the 
 bitterness of his punishment ; for, sore as he was by rea- 
 son of the stripes they had given him, they dressed 
 him in a purple robe in derision of his being King of 
 the Jews. Having dressed him in this robe of mock 
 majesty, they put a reed in his hand instead of a sceptre, 
 and, after plaiting a wreath of thorns, they put it on his 
 head for a crown, forcing it down in so rude a manner 
 that his temples were torn and his face disfigured with 
 his most precious blood. To the Son of God in this 
 condition the rude soldiers bowed the knee, pretending 
 to do it out of respect, but at the same time gave him 
 severe blows on the head, which drove the points of the 
 wreath afresh into his temples, and then spit on him, to 
 express their highest contempt. 
 
 The governor's office obliged him to be present at 
 this shocking scene of inhumanity. The sight of an 
 innocent and eminently holy person treated with such 
 shocking barbarity raised in his breast the most painful 
 sensations of pity. And though he had given sentence 
 that it should be as the Jews desired, and had delivered 
 our dear Redeemer to the soldiers to be crucified, he 
 
420 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 was in hopes that if he showed him to the people in 
 that condition they must relent, and earnestly petition 
 for him to be released. Filled with this thought, he 
 resolved to carry him out, and exhibit to their view a 
 spectacle capable of softening the most envenomed, 
 obdurate, and enraged enemy; and went out himself 
 and said unto them, Though I have sentenced this man 
 to die, and have scourged him as one that is to be cruci- 
 fied, yet I once more bring him before you, that I may 
 again testify how fully I am persuaded of his innocence, 
 and that ye may yet have an opportunity of saving his 
 life. 
 
 As soon as the governor had finished his speech, 
 Jesus appeared on the pavement, his hair, his face, his 
 shoulders all clotted with blood, and the purple robe 
 daubed with the spittle of the soldiers. And, that the 
 sight of Jesus in this distress might make the greater 
 impression on the people, Pilate, while coming forward, 
 cried out, " Behold the man ! " As if he had said, Will 
 nothing make you relent ? Have ye lost all the feelings 
 of humanity, and bowels of compassion ? Can you bear 
 to see the innocent, a son of Abraham, thus injured ? 
 But all this was to no purpose : the priests, whose rage 
 and malice had extinguished not only the sentiments of 
 justice and feelings of pity natural to the human heart, 
 but also that love which countrymen bear for each other, 
 no sooner saw Jesus than they began to fear the fickle 
 populace might relent, and therefore, laying decency aside, 
 they led the way to the multitude, crying out, with all 
 their might, Crucify him ! crucify him ! 
 
 Pilate, vexed to see the Jewish rulers thus obstinately 
 bent on the destruction of one from whom they had 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 421 
 
 nothing to fear that was dangerous either with regard 
 to their church or state, passionately told them that if 
 they would have him crucified they must do it them- 
 selves; because he would not suffer his people to murder 
 a man who was guilty of no crime. But this they also 
 refused, thinking it dishonorable to receive permission 
 to punish a person who had been more than once pub- 
 licly declared innocent by his judge. Besides, they con- 
 sidered with themselves that the governor might after- 
 ward have called it sedition, as the permission had 
 been extorted from him. Accordingly, they told him 
 that, even though none of the things alleged against 
 the prisoner were true, he had committed such a crime 
 in presence of the Council itself as by the law deserved 
 the most ignominious death. He had spoken blasphemy, 
 calling himself the Son of God a title which no mortal 
 could assume without the highest degree of guilt : " We 
 have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he 
 made himself the Son of God." 
 
 When Pilate heard that Jesus called himselt me Son 
 of God, his fear was increased. Knowing the obstinacy 
 of the Jews in all matters of religion, he was afraid they 
 would make a tumult in earnest ; or perhaps he was 
 himself more afraid than ever to take away his life, 
 because he suspected it might be true. He doubtless 
 remembered the miracles said to have been performed 
 by Jesus, and therefore suspected that he really was the 
 Son of God. For it was well known that the religion 
 which the governor professed directed him to acknowl- 
 edge the existence of demigods and heroes, or men de- 
 scended from gods. Nay, the heathen believed that 
 their gods themselves appeared upon earth in the forms 
 
422 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 of men. Reflections of this kind induced Pilate to go 
 again to the judgment-hall and ask Jesus from what 
 father he sprung, and from what country he came. 
 But our blessed Saviour gave him no answer, lest the 
 governor should reverse his sentence and absolutely 
 refuse to crucify him. Pilate marvelled greatly at 
 his silence, and said unto Jesus, Why dost thou re- 
 fuse to answer me ? You cannot be ignorant that 
 I am invested with absolute power either to release 
 or crucify you. To which Jesus answered, I well know 
 that you are Caesar's servant, and accountable to him 
 for your conduct. I forgive you any injury which, con- 
 trary to your inclination, the popular fury constrains 
 you to do unto me. Thou hast thy power "from 
 above," from the emperor; for which cause, the Jewish 
 high-priest, who hath put me into thy hands, and, by 
 pretending that I am Caesar's enemy, forces thee to 
 condemn me ; or, if thou refusest, will accuse thee as 
 negligent of the emperor's interest; he is more guilty 
 than thou. " He that delivered me unto thee hath the 
 greater sin." 
 
 This sweet and modest answer made such an impres- 
 sion on Pilate, that he went out to the people, and de- 
 clared his intention of releasing Jesus whether they 
 gave their consent or not ; upon which the chief priests 
 and rulers of Israel cried out, " If thou let this man go, 
 thou art not Caesar's friend : whosoever maketh himself 
 a king speaketh against Caesar." * If thou releasest the 
 prisoner, who hath set himself up for a king, and has 
 been accused of endeavoring to raise a rebellion in the 
 country, thou art unfaithful to the interests of the em- 
 
 * See note on page 411. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 423 
 
 peror thy master. This argument was weighty,* and 
 shook Pilate's resolution to the very basis.f He was 
 terrified at the thought of being accused to the emperor, 
 who in all affairs of government, always suspected the 
 worst, and punished the most minute crimes relative 
 thereto with death. The governor, being thus con- 
 strained to yield, contrary to his inclination, was very 
 angry with the priests for stirring up the people to such 
 a pitch of madness, and determined to affront them. 
 
 He therefore brought Jesus out a second time on to the 
 pavement, wearing the purple robe and crown of thorns, 
 and, pointing to him, said, " Behold your king ! " ridicul- 
 ing their national expectation of a Messiah. This 
 sarcastic expression stung them to the quick, and they 
 cried out, " Away with him ! crucify him ! " To which 
 Pilate answered, with the mocking air, " Shall I crucify 
 
 * The weight of this argument was not real, but relative only to the 
 character of Pilate. Had Pilate (who was thoroughly satisfied of the 
 innocence of Jesus) been a man of consistent virtue, he could have 
 easily faced his accusers on this charge before the emperor. But the 
 consciousness of many criminal acts in his administration made him 
 fear a general investigation before Tiberias, and to avoid it he preferred 
 to sacrifice the Son of God. That a man of his character should have 
 shown so much conscientiousness as he did, in declaring the entire 
 innocence of our Lord, is indeed wonderful, and marks the overruling 
 hand of Providence. 
 
 t " What a moment was that to the hapless pagan ! One expression 
 of an honest and bold determination to take a responsibility on himself 
 from which no Roman magistrate ought ever to have shrunk, one 
 righteous resolve to follow the dictates of his own conscience, and the 
 name of Pilate would never have held its melancholy place in the 
 Christian's creed as that of the irresolute and unjust judge, who, against 
 his own most solemn convictions, gave up to a death of agony and 
 shame one whom he knew to be innocent, and even dimly felt to be 
 divine. But that word was never spoken." Ellicott. 
 
424 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 your king ? * The ch'ief priests answered, We have no 
 king but Caesar." Thus did they publicly renounce 
 their hope of the Messiah, which the whole economy 
 of their religion had been calculated to cherish : they 
 also publicly acknowledged their subjection to the 
 Romans, and consequently, condemned themselves when 
 they afterward rebelled against the emperor. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 THE INNOCENT, IMMACULATE REDEEMER IS LED FORTH TO 
 MOUNT CALVARY AND THERE IGNOMINIOUSLY CRUCIFIED 
 BETWEEN TWO MALEFACTORS A PHENOMENON APPEARS 
 
 ON THE IMPORTANT OCCASION OUR LORD ADDRESSES HIS 
 
 FRIENDS FROM THE CROSS, AND GIVES UP THE GHOST. 
 
 THE solemn and awful period now approached when 
 the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world, was to un- 
 dergo the oppressive burden of our sins upon the tree, 
 
 * The name of Pontius Pilate is inseparably bound up with the 
 crucifixion of Christ in the history of the world. Speaking of Christ- 
 ians, the Roman historian Tacitus says, " The author of this name was 
 Christ, who was capitally punished, in the reign of Tiberias, by Pon- 
 tius Pilate." There can be no doubt that an official report of the whole 
 affair was transmitted by Pilate himself to the emperor, though, like 
 other records of the age, it has long since perished. 
 
 This weak and self -condemned judge prolonged his power but three 
 years by this fearful sacrifice of conscience. Accused, A. D. 36, by the 
 Samaritans, for other crimes, he was sent to Rome by Vitellius, gover- 
 nor of Syria, and thence banished to Vienne in Gaul, where he is said 
 to have committed suicide. What a meeting between him and ChrJust 
 must that be in the next world I 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 425 
 
 and submit unto death, even the death of the cross, that 
 we might live at the right hand of God forever and 
 ever. 
 
 Sentence being pronounced upon the blessed Jesus, 
 the soldiers were ordered to prepare for his execution 
 a command which they readily obeyed, and, after cloth- 
 ing him in his own garments, led him away to crucify 
 him. It is not said that they took the crown of thorns 
 from his temples : probably he died wearing it, that the 
 title placed over his head might be the better under- 
 stood. 
 
 It is not to be expected that the ministers of Jewish 
 malice remitted any of the circumstances of affliction, 
 which were ever laid on persons condemned to be cruci- 
 fied. Accordingly, Jesus was obliged to walk on foot 
 to the place of execution, bearing his cross. But the 
 fatigue of the preceding night, spent without sleep, the 
 sufferings he had undergone in the garden, his having 
 been hurried from place to place, and obliged to stand 
 the whole time of his trials ; the want of food, and the 
 loss of blood he had sustained, and not his want of 
 courage on this occasion, made him faint under the 
 burden of his cross. The soldiers seeing him unable to 
 bear the weight, laid it on one Simon, a native of Cyrene, 
 in Egypt, the father of Alexander and Rufus, well 
 known among the first Christians, and forced him to 
 bear it after the Redeemer of mankind. The soldiers 
 did not, however, do this out of compassion to the suf- 
 ferings of Jesus, but to prevent his dying with the 
 fatigue, and by that means eluding his punishment. 
 
 The blessed Jesus, in his journey to Calvary, was 
 followed by an innumerable multitude of people, par- 
 
426 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 ticularly of women, who lamented bitterly the severity 
 of his sentence, and showed all the tokens of sincere 
 compassion and grief. Jesus, who always felt the woes 
 of others more than he did his own, forgetting his distress 
 at the very time when it lay heaviest upon him, turned 
 himself about, and with a benevolence and tenderness 
 truly divine, said to them : " Daughters of Jerusalem, 
 weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your 
 children. For behold, the days are coming in which they 
 shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that 
 never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.* Then 
 shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us ; 
 and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things 
 in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry ? " f Luke 
 xxiii. 28, etc. 
 
 Being arrived at the place of execution, which was 
 called Golgotha, or the Place of Skulls, from the crimi- 
 nals' bones which lay scattered there, some of our Re- 
 deemer's friends offered him a stupefying potion, to 
 render him insensible to the ignominy and excruciating 
 pain of his punishment. But as soon as he tasted the 
 potion he refused to drink it, being determined to bear 
 
 * How would these touching words be recalled to mind at the siege 
 of Jerusalem! Mothers, shut up within the doomed city, saw their 
 sons slain by thousands, heaped one upon another often in the bloody 
 streets, and as the famine grew severe, as Josephus remarks, even envied 
 the dead who had perished by the sword ! Nay, more, mothers in the 
 madness of hunger, killed and devoured their own babes at the breast, 
 to prolong their own miserable lives ! And when the city was at last 
 taken by Titus and reduced to ashes, those miserable surviving mothers 
 saw their surviving sons sold into hopeless slavery if under the age of 
 seventeen, or if above that age, nailed by thousands to the cross ! 
 
 t That is to say, if the innocent thus suffer, what punishment must 
 await the guilty, under the righteous government of God ? 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 427 
 
 his sufferings, however sharp, not by intoxicating and 
 stupefying himself, but by the strength of patience, for- 
 titude, and faith. Jesus having refused the potion, the 
 soldiers began to execute their orders, by stripping him 
 quite naked, and in that condition began to fasten him 
 to the cross. But while they were piercing his hands 
 and his feet with nails, instead of crying out through 
 the sharpness of the pain, he calmly, though fervently, 
 prayed for them, and for all those who had any hand in 
 his death; beseeching his heavenly Father to forgive 
 them, and excusing them himself by the only circum- 
 stance that could alleviate their guilt their ignorance. 
 " Father," said the compassionate Redeemer of mankind, 
 " forgive them ; for they know not what they do." This 
 was infinite meekness and goodness, truly worthy of 
 the only-begotten Son of God; an example of forgive- 
 ness which, though it can never be equalled by any, 
 should be imitated by all. 
 
 But, behold, the appointed soldiers dig the hole in 
 which the cross is to be erected ! the cross is placed in 
 the ground ; the blessed Jesus lies on the bed of sorrows ; 
 they nail him to it his nerves break his blood distils 
 he hangs upon his wounds naked, a spectacle to 
 heaven and earth ! Thus was the only-begotten Son 
 of God, who came down from heaven to save the world, 
 crucified by his own creatures, and, to render the igno- 
 miny still greater, placed between two thieves ! " Hear, 
 heavens ! earth, earth, earth, hear ! The Lord 
 hath nourished and brought up children, and they have 
 rebelled against him." 
 
 It was usual for the crimes committed by malefactors 
 to be written on a white board, with black, and placed 
 
428 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 over their heads on the cross. In conformity to this 
 custom, Pilate wrote a title in the Hebrew, Greek, 
 and Latin languages, that all foreigners, as well as 
 natives, might be able to read it, and fastened it to the 
 cross, over the head of Jesus ; and the inscription was, 
 " This is the King of the Jews." But when the chief 
 priests and elders had read this title, they were greatly 
 displeased, because, as it represented the crime for which 
 Jesus was condemned, it insinuated that he had been 
 acknowledged for the Messiah. Besides, being placed 
 over the head of one who was dying by the most infa- 
 mous punishment, it implied that all who attempted to 
 deliver the Jews should perish in the same manner. 
 The faith and hope of the nation, therefore, being thus 
 publicly ridiculed, it is no wonder that the priests 
 thought themselves highly affronted, and accordingly 
 came to Pilate, begging that the writing might be altered. 
 But, as he had intended the affront in revenge for their 
 forcing him to crucify Jesus contrary both to his judg- 
 ment and inclination, he refused to grant their request : 
 " What I have written," said he, "I have written." 
 
 When the soldiers had nailed the blessed Jesus to the 
 cross and erected it, they divided his garments among 
 them. But his coat, or vesture, being without seam, 
 woven from the top throughout, they agreed not to rend 
 it, but to cast lots for it ; by which the prediction of the 
 prophet concerning the death arid sufferings of the 
 Messiah was fulfilled : " They parted my garments 
 among them, and for my vesture did they cast lots." A 
 sufficient indication that every circumstance of the death 
 and passion of the blessed Jesus was perfectly known 
 long before in the court of heaven; and, accordingly, 
 
THE RU C I F IX I N 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 429 
 
 his being crucified between two malefactors was expressly 
 foretold : " And he was numbered with the transgressors." 
 
 The common people of the baser sort, whom the vile 
 priests had incensed against the blessed Jesus by the 
 malicious falsehoods they had spread concerning him, 
 and which they pretended to found on the deposition of 
 witnesses the common people, I say, seeing him hang 
 in so infamous a manner upon the cross, and reading 
 the inscription placed over his head, expressed their 
 indignation at him by sarcastical expressions : " Ah ! 
 thou," said they, "that destroyest the temple; and buildest 
 it in three days, save thyself, and come down from the 
 cross ! " 
 
 But the common people were not the only persons 
 who mocked and derided the blessed Jesus while he 
 was suffering to obtain the remission of sins for all 
 mankind. The rulers, who now imagined they had 
 effectually destroyed his pretensions to the character of 
 the Messiah, joined the populace in ridiculing him, and, 
 with a meanness of soul which many infamous wretches 
 would have scorned, mocked him even while he was 
 struggling with the agonies of death. They scoffed at 
 the miracles by which he demonstrated himself to be 
 the Messiah, and promised to believe on him on con- 
 dition of his proving his pretensions by descending from 
 the cross : " He saved others," said they ; " himself he 
 cannot save : if he be the King of Israel, let him now 
 come down from the cross, and we will believe on him." 
 In the meantime, nothing could be more false and 
 hypocritical than this pretension of the stiff-necked 
 Jews ; for they afterward continued in their unbelief, 
 notwithstanding they well knew that he raised himself 
 
430 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 from the dead a much greater miracle than his coming 
 down from the cross would have been a miracle attested 
 by witnesses whose veracity they could not call in ques- 
 tion. It was told them by the soldiers whom they them- 
 selves placed at the sepulchre to watch the body, and 
 whom they were obliged to bribe largely to conceal the 
 truth. It is therefore abundantly evident that, if the 
 blessed Jesus had descended from the cross, the Jewish 
 priests would have continued in their infidelity, and, con- 
 sequently, that their declaration was made with no 
 other intention than to insult the Redeemer of mankind, 
 thinking it impossible for him now to escape out of their 
 hands. 
 
 The soldiers also joined in this general scene of 
 mockery : " If thou be the King of the Jews," said they, 
 " save thyself." If thou art the great Messiah expected 
 by the Jews, descend from the cross by miracle, and 
 deliver thyself from these excruciating torments. 
 
 Nor did even one of the thieves forbear mocking the 
 great Lord of heaven and earth, though laboring him- 
 self under the most racking pains and struggling with 
 the agonies of death. But the other exercised a most 
 extraordinary faith, even at the time when our great 
 Redeemer was in the highest affliction, mocked by men, 
 and hanged on the cross, as the most ignominious of 
 malefactors. This Jewish criminal seems to have enter- 
 tained a more rational and exalted notion of the Mes- 
 siah's kingdom than even the disciples themselves. 
 They expected nothing but a secular empire : * he gave 
 
 * This language does not seem exactly just to the disciples of Jesus. 
 For if so, wherein was their faith in Jesus worthy of the commenda- 
 tion it had always received from their divine Master as genuine, though 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 431 
 
 strong intimations of his having an idea of Christ's 
 spiritual dominion; for at the very time when Jesus 
 was dying on the cross he begged to be remembered by 
 him when he came into his kingdom : " Lord," said he, 
 " remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." 
 Nor did he make this request in vain : the great Re- 
 deemer of mankind answered him, " Verily, I say unto 
 thee, to-day shalt thou be with rne in Paradise." 
 
 But let us attentively consider the history of our 
 blessed Saviour's passion, as it offers to our view events 
 absolutely astonishing. For when we remember the 
 perfect innocence of our great Redeemer, the uncommon 
 love he bore to the children of men, and the many kind 
 and benevolent offices he did for the sons and daughters 
 of affliction when we reflect on the esteem in which 
 he was held all along by the common people, how cheer- 
 fully they followed him to the remotest corners of the 
 country, nay, even into the desolate retreats of the 
 wilderness, and with what pleasure they listened to his 
 discourses when we consider these particulars, I say, 
 we cannot help being astonished to find them at the 
 conclusion rushing all of a sudden into the opposite 
 
 weak and clouded with many of the popular prejudices of the times ? 
 Matt. xiii. 11, 16, 17 ; Luke xxii. 28 ; John vi. 68, 69 ; xiv. 17. 
 
 A careful consideration of all the evidence leads to the conclusion 
 that the disciples up to this time were combining with a true, divine, 
 and spiritual faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Saviour from sin, the 
 common notion that he was also to clothe himself with secular power 
 and dominion. In a word, that his kingdom was to be both spiritual 
 and secular at the same time. Under his dominion, universally and 
 immediately established by miraculous agency, none but just and holy 
 men were to be honored, and the wicked were to be universally put 
 down and punished. This twofold view alone accounts for all the facts, 
 and explains the apparent contradictions in their character. 
 
432 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 extreme, and all, as it were, combined to treat him with 
 the most barbarous cruelty. 
 
 When Pilate asked the people if they desired to have 
 Jesus released, his disciples, though they were very 
 numerous, and might have made a great appearance in his 
 behalf, remained absolutely silent, as if they had been 
 speechless or infatuated. The Roman soldiers, notwith- 
 standing their general had declared- him innocent, 
 insulted him in the most inhuman manner. The Scribes 
 and Pharisees ridiculed him. The common people, who 
 had received him with hosannas a few days before, 
 mocked him as they passed by, and railed at him as a 
 deceiver. Nay, the very thief on the cross reviled 
 him. This sudden revolution in the humor of the 
 whole nation may seem unaccountable. But, if we could 
 assign a proper reason for the silence of the disciples, 
 the principles which influenced the rest might be discov- 
 ered in their several speeches. The followers of the 
 blessed Jesus had attached themselves to him in expec- 
 tation of being raised to great wealth and power in his 
 kingdom,* which they expected would have been estab- 
 lished long before this time ; but, seeing no appearance 
 at all of what they had so long hoped for, they permit- 
 ted him to be condemned, perhaps because they thought 
 it would have obliged him to break the Roman yoke by 
 a miracle. 
 
 With respect to the soldiers, they were angry that 
 any one should pretend to royalty in Judea, where 
 Caesar had established his authority. Hence they in- 
 sulted our blessed Saviour with the title of king, and 
 paid him, in mockery, the honors of a sovereign. As 
 
 * See the preceding note. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 433 
 
 for the common people, they seem to have lost their 
 opinion of him, probably because he had neither con- 
 vinced the Council, nor rescued himself when they con- 
 demned him. They began, therefore, to consider the 
 assertion of his destroying the temple, and building it 
 in three days, as a kind of blasphemy, because it re- 
 quired a divine power to execute such an undertaking. 
 
 The priests and scribes were filled with the most im- 
 placable and diabolical malice against him, because he 
 had torn off their mask of hypocrisy and showed them 
 to the people in their true colors. It is therefore no 
 wonder that they ridiculed his miracles, from whence 
 lie derived his reputation. In short, the thief also 
 fancied that he might have delivered both himself and 
 them if he had been the Messiah ; but, as no such deliv- 
 erance appeared, he upbraided him for making preten- 
 sions to that high character. 
 
 But now, my soul, take one view of thy dying 
 Saviour breathing out his spirit upon the cross ! 
 Behold his unspotted flesh lacerated with stripes, by 
 which thou art healed ! See his hands extended and 
 nailed to the cross those beneficent hands which were 
 incessantly stretched out to unloose thy heavy burdens 
 and to impart blessings of every kind ! Behold his feet 
 riveted to the accursed tree with nails those feet which 
 always went about doing good, and travelled far and 
 near to spread the glad tidings of everlasting salvation ! 
 View his tender temples encircled with a wreath of 
 ttjorns, which shoot their keen afflicting points into his 
 blessed head that head which was ever meditating 
 peace to poor, lost, and undone sinners, and spent many 
 ft wakeful night in ardent prayer for their happiness ! 
 
 28 
 
434 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 See him laboring in the agonies of death, breathing out 
 his soul into the hands of his Almighty Father, and 
 praying for his cruel enemies ! Was ever love like 
 this? was ever benevolence so gloriously displaced? 
 
 But see ! the sun, that glorious luminary of heaven, 
 as it were, hides his face from this detestable action of 
 mortals, and is wrapped in the pitchy mantle of chaotic 
 darkness ! This preternatural eclipse of the sun continued 
 for three hours, to the great terror and astonishment of 
 the people present at the crucifixion of our dear Re- 
 deemer. And surely nothing could be more proper than 
 this extraordinary alteration in the face of nature, while 
 the Sun of righteousness was withdrawing his beams, 
 not only from the promised land, but from the whole 
 world ; for it was at once a miraculous testimony given 
 by the Almighty himself to the innocence of his Son, and 
 a proper emblem of the departure of him who was the 
 light of the world, at least, till his luminous rays, like 
 beams of the morning, shone out anew with additional 
 splendor in the ministry of his apostles. 
 
 Nor was the darkness which now covered Judea and 
 the neighboring countries, beginning about noon and 
 continuing till Jesus expired, the effect of an ordinary 
 eclipse of the sun. It is well known that this phenome- 
 non can only happen at the change of the moon ; 
 whereas the Jewish passover, at which our great Re- 
 deemer suffered, was always celebrated at the full. 
 Besides, the total darkness of an eclipse of the sun 
 never exceeds twelve or fifteen minutes ; whereas tfyis 
 continued full three hours. Nothing, therefore, but the 
 immediate hand of the Almighty Being, which placed 
 the sun in the centre of the planetary system, could 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 435 
 
 have produced this extraordinary darkness : nothing 
 but Omnipotence, who first lighted this glorious lumi- 
 nary of heaven, would have deprived it of its cheering 
 rays. Now, ye scoffers of Jesus, whose blood ye have 
 so earnestly desired, and wished it might fall upon you 
 and your children, behold, all nature is dressed in the 
 sable vail of sorrow, and, in a language that cannot be 
 mistaken, mourns the departure of its 'Lord and Master, 
 weeps for your crimes, and deprecates the vengeance of 
 heaven upon your guilty heads ! Happy for you that 
 this suffering Jesus is compassion itself, and even in the 
 agonies of death prays to his heavenly Father to avert 
 from you the stroke of his justice. 
 
 This preternatural eclipse of the sun was considered as 
 a miracle by the heathens themselves ; and one of them 
 cried out, " Either the world is at an end, or the God 
 of nature suffers." * And well might he use the expres- 
 sion ; for never since this planetary system was called 
 from its primitive chaos was known such a deprivation 
 of light in the glorious luminary of day. Indeed, when 
 
 * Suidas, author of a valuable Greek Lexicon (about A. D. 1020), 
 cites Dionysius the Areopagite, then at Hieropolis, in Egypt, .as expres- 
 sing himself to his friend, Apollophanes, upon this extraordinary 
 darkness of three hours' duration : " Either the Author of nature 
 suffers, or is sympathizing with some one who does "the words proba- 
 bly referred to above. The words, if authentic, are remarkable. 
 
 Meander tells us that this darkness is mentioned by two heathen 
 annalists, Thallus and Phlegon. The former, quoted by Julius 
 Africanus, a learned Christian historian of the third century (A. D. 220), 
 refers it to an eclipse of the sun ; but this, as Julius observes, is impos- 
 sible at the full of the moon. The latter, as quoted by Eusebius in his 
 Chronicle, says that in the fourth year of the 202d Olympiad (supposed 
 to be the year of Christ's death) there was a total eclipse of the sun, 
 so that "the stars were plainly visible at noonday." Phlegon lived 
 under Trajan and Hadrian. 
 
436 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 the Almighty punished Pharaoh for refusing to let the 
 children of Israel depart out of his land, and the sable, 
 vail of darkness was for three days drawn over Egypt, 
 the darkness was confined to a part of that kingdom ; 
 whereas this that happened at our Saviour's crucifixion 
 was universal.* 
 
 When the darkness began, the disciples naturally 
 considered it as a prelude to the deliverance of their 
 Master. For, though the chief priests, elders, and people 
 had sarcastically desired him to descend from the 
 accursed tree, his friends could not but be persuaded 
 that he who had delivered so many from incurable dis- 
 
 * Mark agrees with Matthew in saying "there was darkness over the 
 whole land." We are not warranted by the New Testament in extend- 
 ing it beyond Palestine, though it might have spread beyond into Syria 
 and Egypt. See the preceding note. 
 
 In the course of nature , darkness sometimes precedes a violent earth- 
 quake, as in this instance ; but the duration of this darkness and the 
 peculiar time and effects of this earthquake mark it not merely as 
 providential, but as miraculous. As the birth of Jesus was honored 
 by the appearance of a new star of light, it is but fitting that his death 
 should be signalized by a supernatural darkness, significant of so awful 
 an event. Such giand combinations of nature and grace, the physical 
 pud the spiritual world, are striking proofs of the moral government 
 of the universe by one Supreme Intelligence. 
 
 " While they (the Evangelists) thus specially notice this interval, it 
 may be observed that they maintain the most solemn reserve as to the 
 incidents by which it was marked. . . . The mysteries of those 
 hours of darkness, when with the sufferings of the agonized body 
 mingled the sufferings of the sacred soul, the struggles with sinking 
 nature, the accumulated pressure of the burden of a world's sin, the 
 momently more and more embittered foretastings of that which was 
 its wages and its penalty, the clinging desperation of the last assaults 
 of Satan and his mustered hosts, the withdrawal and darkening of the 
 Paternal presence mysteries such as these, so deep and so dread, it 
 was not meet that even the tongues of apostles should be moved to 
 speak of, or the pens of evangelists to record.." Ellicott. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 437 
 
 eases, who had restored limbs to the maimed and eyes 
 to the blind, who had given speech to the dumb and 
 called the dead from the chambers of the dust, might 
 easily save himself, even from the cross. When, there- 
 fore, his mother, his mother's sister, Mary Magdalene, 
 and the beloved disciple, observed the vail of darkness 
 begin to extend over the face of nature, they drew near 
 to the foot of the cross, probably in expectation that 
 the Son of God was going to shake the frame of the 
 universe, unloose himself from the cross, and take 
 ample vengeance on his cruel and perfidious enemies. 
 The blessed Jesus was now in the midst of his suffer- 
 ings ; yet when he saw his mother and her companions, 
 their grief greatly affected his tender breast, especially 
 the distress of his mother. The agonies of death, under 
 which he was now laboring, could not prevent his 
 expressing the most affectionate regard both for her and 
 for them. For, that she might have some consolation 
 to support her under the greatness of her sorrows, he 
 told her the disciple whom he loved would, for the sake 
 of that love, supply his place to her after he was taken 
 from them, even the place of a son ; and therefore he 
 desired her to consider him as such, and expect from 
 him all the duties of a child. " Woman," said he, 
 " behold thy son." 
 
 But now the moment when he should resign his soul 
 into the hands of his heavenly Father approached, and 
 he repeated, part, at least, of the twenty-second Psalm, 
 uttering, with a loud voice, these remarkable words : 
 " Eloi, eloi, lama sabacthani ? " that is, " My God, my 
 God, why hast thou forsaken me ? " 
 
 Some believe that our blessed Saviour repeated the 
 
438 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 whole psalm it having been the custom of the Jews, 
 in making quotations, to mention only the first words 
 of the Psalm or section which they cited. If so, as this 
 Psalm contains the most remarkable particulars of our 
 dear Kedeemer's passion, being, as it were, a summary 
 of the prophecies relating to that subject, by repeating 
 it on the cross, the blessed Jesus signified that he was 
 now accomplishing the things that were predicted con- 
 cerning the -Messiah. And as this Psalm is composed 
 in the form of a prayer, by pronouncing it at this time, 
 he also claimed of his Father the performance of all 
 the promises he had made, whether to him or to his 
 people. 
 
 Some of the people who stood by, when they heard 
 our blessed Saviour pronounce the first words of the 
 Psalm, misunderstood him, probably from their not 
 hearing him distinctly, and concluded that he called for 
 Elias. Upon which one of them filled a sponge with 
 vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink ; 
 being desirous to keep him alive as long as possible, to 
 see whether Elias would come to take him down from 
 the cross. But as soon as Jesus had tasted the vinegar 
 he said, " It is finished ; " that is, the work of man's 
 redemption is accomplished ; the great work, which the 
 only-begotten Son of God came into the world to 
 perform, is finished. In speaking these words, he cried 
 with an exceeding loud voice, and afterward addressed 
 his Almighty Father in words which form the best pat- 
 tern of a recommendatory prayer at the hour of death : 
 " Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." And, 
 having uttered these words, " he bowed his head and 
 yielded up the ghost." 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 430 
 
 But behold, at the very instant the blessed Jesus 
 resigned his soul into the hands of his heavenly Father, 
 the vail of the temple was miraculously rent from the 
 top to the bottom, probably in the presence of the priest 
 who burnt incense in the holy place, and who, doubtless, 
 published the account when he came out ; for our blessed 
 Saviour expired at tile ninth hour, the very time of 
 offering the evening sacrifice. 
 
 Nor was this the only miracle that happened at the 
 death of the great Messiah : the earth trembled from 
 its very foundation ; the flinty rocks burst asunder, and 
 the sepulchres hewn in them were opened ; and many 
 bodies of saints deposited there, awaked, after his resur- 
 rection, from the sleep of death, left the gloomy 
 chambers of the tomb, went into the city of Jerusalem, 
 and appeared unto many. 
 
 Nor did the remarkable particulars which attended 
 that awful period when Jesus gave up the ghost, affect 
 the natives of Judea alone. The Roman centurion who 
 was placed near the cross, to prevent disorders of any 
 kind, glorified the Almighty, and cried out, " Truly 
 this was the Son of God." And others who were with 
 them, when they beheld heaven itself bearing witness 
 of the truth of our great Redeemer's mission, smote 
 their breasts and retired. 
 
 Thus were demonstrated, by many awful tokens, the 
 truth, the divinity, and power of our Redeemer's 
 mission; even blind and obdurate Jews were struck 
 with horror, and fully convinced that the person they 
 had cruelly put to death was nothing less than the Son 
 and servant of God, the promised Messiah, the Saviour 
 of the world. 
 
440 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 THE BLESSED JESUS TREATED WITH INDIGNITY AFTER HIS 
 
 CRUCIFIXION A PIOUS PERSON BEGS HIS BODY FROM 
 
 PILATE IN .ORDER FOR INTERMENT. 
 
 IT was expressly forbidden by the law of Moses that 
 the bodies of those who were hanged should remain all 
 night on the tree. In conformity to this law, and 
 because the Sabbath was at hand, the Jews begged the 
 governor that the legs of the three persons crucified 
 might be broken, to hasten their death. To this request 
 Pilate readily consented, and, accordingly, gave the 
 necessary order to the soldiers to put it in execution. 
 But, on perceiving that Jesus was already dead, the 
 soldiers did not give themselves the trouble of breaking 
 his legs, as they had done those of the two malefactors 
 that were crucified with him. One of them, however, 
 either out of wantonness or cruelty, thrust a spear into 
 his side, and out of the wound flowed blood and water. * 
 
 * This flow of blood and water (serum) proves two things : 1. That 
 Jesus had been dead but a short time, else the blood in the 'heart would 
 have coagulated. 2. That had a particle of life remained in him such 
 a wound would have extinguished it. As the conversion of the Roman 
 centurion followed the death of Jesus, he cannot be suspected of a 
 design to deceive Pilate in his testimony ; and even if he had, the wan- 
 ton thrust of the soldier's spear would have defeated his design and 
 decided the fact. 
 
 The emblematical purpose of this flow of blood and water, as set 
 forth by the apostle John, is to indicate the union of the atonement 
 with the purifying influence of the Holy Spirit, in the plan of human 
 redemption. 1 John v. 6. 
 
 " May the water and the blood 
 From his wounded side that flowed, 
 Be of sin the double cure, 
 Save from wrath and make me pure." 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 441 
 
 This wound, therefore, was of the greatest importance 
 to mankind, as it .abundantly demonstrated the truth 
 of our Saviour's death, and consequently prevented all 
 objections that the enemies to our holy faith would 
 otherwise have raised against it. The evangelist adds 
 that the legs of our great Redeemer were not broken, 
 but his side was pierced, that two particular prophe- 
 cies might be fulfilled : " A bone of him shall not be 
 broken ; " and, " They shall look on him whom they 
 have pierced." 
 
 Among the disciples of Jesus was one called Joseph 
 of Arimathea, a person equally remarkable for his birth, 
 fortune, and office. This man, who was not to be intim- 
 idated by the malice of his countrymen, went boldly to 
 Pilate and begged the body of his great Master. He 
 had, indeed, nothing to fear from the Roman governor, 
 who during the whole course of our Saviour's trial had 
 shown the greatest inclination to release him ; but he 
 had reason to apprehend that this action might draw 
 upon him the malice of the rulers of the Jews, who had 
 taken such great pains to get the Messiah crucified. 
 However, the great regard he had for the remains of 
 his Master made him despise the malice of the Jews ; 
 being persuaded that Omnipotence would defend him 
 and cover his enemies with shame and confusion. And 
 he well knew that, if no friend procured a grant of the 
 body, it would be ignominiously cast out among the 
 executed malefactors. 
 
 Pilate was at first surprised at the request of Joseph, 
 thinking it highly improbable that he should be dead in 
 so short a time. He had, indeed, given orders for the 
 soldiers to break the legs of the crucified persons ; but 
 
442 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 he knew it was common for them to live several hours 
 after that operation was performed; for, though the 
 pain they felt must have been exquisite to the last 
 degree, yet, as the vital parts remained untouched, life 
 would continue some time in the miserable body. 
 
 The governor therefore called the centurion, to know 
 the truth of what Joseph had told him ; and, being con- 
 vinced from the answer of that officer, that Jesus had 
 been dead some time, he readily gave the body to 
 Joseph.* 
 
 This worthy counsellor, having obtained his request, 
 repaired to Mount Calvary, and being assisted by Nico- 
 demus, took the body down from the cross. The latter 
 was formerly so cautious in visiting Jesus that he came 
 to him by night. But in paying the last duties to his 
 Master he used no art to conceal his design ; he showed 
 a courage far superior to that of any of his disciples, 
 not only assisting Joseph in taking down the body of 
 Jesus from the cross, but bringing with him a quantity 
 of spices necessary in the burial of our Saviour. Accord- 
 ingly, they wrapped the body, with the spices, in fine 
 
 * The mention of Joseph of Arimathea as a rich man is made here, 
 evidently not with any design to do honor to him or to the cause he 
 espoused on that account, but because the fact makes the fulfilment of 
 a remarkable prophecy of Isaiah, which in our version reads : "And 
 he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death." 
 Isaiah liii. 9. More exactly : "And his grave was appointed with the 
 wicked, but he was with the rich man in (or after) his death." 
 Dr. Lowih and Barne*. 
 
 Now it was the well known custom of the Jews to bury executed 
 criminals in ground by themselves, as infamous and unclean, and sucli 
 certainly would have been the burial of Jesus (for "he was numbered 
 among the transgressors," Isaiah liii. 12), had not Joseph unexpectedly 
 applied to Pilate for permission to bury the body in his own new tomb ? 
 and obtained it, much to the chagrin of the Jews, his enemies. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 443 
 
 linen, and laid it in a new sepulchre, which Joseph had 
 hewn out of a rock for himself. This sepulchre was 
 situated in a garden near Mount Calvary ; and, in which 
 having carefully deposited the body of the blessed Jesus, 
 they fastened the door, by rolling to it a very large 
 stone. "And when Joseph had taken the body, he 
 wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own 
 new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock ; and he 
 rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and 
 departed." Matt, xxvii. 59, 60.* 
 
 The women of Galilee, who had watched their Re- 
 deemer in his last moments and accompanied his body 
 to the sepulchre, observing that the funeral rites were 
 performed in a hurry, agreed among themselves, as soon 
 as the Sabbath was past, to return to the sepulchre and 
 embalm the body of our Saviour, by anointing and 
 swathing him in the manner then common among the 
 Jews. Accordingly, they retired to the city and pur- 
 chased the spices necessary for that purpose, Nicodemus 
 having furnished only a portion of them.f 
 
 * If it be true, as Calmet affirms was the custom of the Jews, to 
 saturate the linen, in which the bodies of the dead were wrapped, with 
 the preparation of spicy perfumes, and then to closely swathe the 
 corpse, it must have been a matter of time and difficulty, on account 
 of the glue-like clinging of the linen, to remove it from the body. 
 
 Yet, though Nicodemus had bought (perhaps unknown to the women 
 of Galilee) a hundred pounds weight of rich aloes and myrrh, and used 
 it in swathing the body of Jesus at its burial, these linen clothes were 
 found not only removed but carefully disposed in order when the disci- 
 ples or Jesus first visited the sepulchre. How does this fact agree 
 with the story that the disciples had come by night, and hastily stolen 
 away the body, while the Koman guard were all sleeping, but liable to 
 awake any moment ? 
 
 t The fact that the women were able, after seeing the end of the 
 burial, to reach the city in season to purchase the additional spices 
 required before sunset, proves that the body of the Redeemer lay in 
 
444 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 During these transactions the chief priests and Phari- 
 sees, remembering that Jesus had more than once pre- 
 dicted his own resurrection, came to the governor and 
 informed him of it ; begging, at the same time, that a 
 guard might be placed at the sepulchre, lest his disci- 
 ples should carry away the body and affirm that he was 
 risen from the dead. This happened a little before it 
 was dark in the evening, called the next day that fol- 
 lowed, by the evangelists, because the Jewish day began 
 at sunset. 
 
 This request being thought reasonable by Pilate, he 
 gave them leave to take as many soldiers as they pleased 
 out of the cohort, which, at the feast, came from the 
 castle of Antonia and kept guard of the porticoes of the* 
 temple. For that they were not Jewish but Roman 
 soldiers whom the priests employed to watch the sepul- 
 chre, is evident from their asking them of the governor. 
 Besides, when the soldiers returned with the news of 
 our Saviour's resurrection, the priests desired them to 
 
 the tomb a part of Friday, the whole of Saturday, and (according to 
 Jewish reckoning) a large part of Sunday i. e. , from sunset of Satur- 
 day till near the morning dawn of Sunday, or the first day of the week. 
 It maybe said this is not literally "three days and three nights." 
 Matt. xii. 40. Be it so : but is it the part of candor or good sense to 
 press a popular expression of this sort into a LITERAL interpretation ? 
 Even the enemies of Jesus, when applying to Pilate after sunset for a 
 Roman guard, did not ask for it beyond the "third day ; " thus show- 
 ing how such expressions as " after three days " were generally under- 
 stood. Matt, xxvii. 62-66. 
 
 Had the gospel of Matthew been a fabrication, we may be sure he 
 would have so framed it as to avoid all such apparent discrepancies. 
 But a witness who aims to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing 
 but the 'truth, is not anxious to avoid them, for native honesty is 
 always artless. If rigorous scientific precision of language is demanded 
 in popular phrases, why not be consistent, and say that Jesus never 
 was buried at all " in the heart of the earth ? " Happily, there is yet 
 common sense in the world. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 445 
 
 report that his disciples had stolen him away while they 
 slept, and, to encourage 'them to tell the falsehood boldly, 
 promised that, if their neglect of duty came to the gov- 
 ernor's ears, proper methods should be used to pacify 
 him and deliver them from any punishment a promise 
 which there was no need of making to their own 
 servants. 
 
 The priests, having thus obtained a guard of Roman 
 soldiers, men long accustomed to military duties, and 
 therefore the most proper for watching the body, 
 set out with them to the sepulchre, and, to prevent 
 these guards from combining with the disciples in carry- 
 ing on any fraud, placed them at their post, and 
 sealed the stone which was rolled to the door of the 
 sepulchre. 
 
 Thus, what was designed to expose the mission and 
 doctrine of Jesus as rank falsehood and vile imposture 
 proved, in fact, the strongest confirmation of the truth 
 and divinity of the same that could possibly be given, 
 and placed what they wanted to refute (which was his 
 resurrection from the dead) even beyond c.- 
 
446 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 TWO PIOUS WOMEN GO TO VIEW THE SEPULCHRE OF THEIR 
 CRUCIFIED LORD AND SAVIOUR AN AWFUL PHENOMENON 
 HAPPENS A MINISTERING SPIRIT DESCENDS THE RE- 
 DEEMER BURSTS THE CHAIN OF DEATH AND RISES FROM 
 THE TOMB. 
 
 VERY early in the morning, after the Sabbath, Mary 
 Magdalene, and the other Mary, * came to visit the sep- 
 ulchre, in order to embalm our Lord's body ; for the per- 
 formance of which they had, in concert with several other 
 women from Galilee, brought ointments and spices. But 
 before they reached the sepulchre there was a great 
 earthquake preceding the most memorable event that 
 ever happened among the children of men, the resurrec- 
 tion of the Son of God from the dead. " For the angel 
 of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled 
 back the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and sat 
 upon it : his countenance was like lightning, and his 
 raiment white as snow ; and for fear of him the keepers 
 did shake, and became as dead men : " they fled into the 
 city, and the Saviour of the world rose from the dead, f 
 
 * Mary, the wife of Cleopas and mother of James and Joses. 
 
 t There is in Isaiah xxvi. 19 a remarkable prophecy, in which the 
 Messiah is represented as the speaker : " Thy dead men shall live : 
 together with my dead body shall they arise," etc. Now the evangelist 
 Matthew records a fact, which seems the exact accomplishment of this 
 prediction. He mentions it in connection with the earthquake at the 
 death of Jesus, but it evidently belongs more to the earthquake at his 
 
THE ANGEL AT THE DOOR OF THE SEPULCHRE 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 447 
 
 The angel, who had till then sat upon the stone, 
 quitted his station and entered into the sepulchre. In 
 the meantime, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary 
 were still on their way to the place, together with 
 Salome, who joined them on the road. As they pro- 
 ceeded on their way, they consulted among themselves 
 with regard to the method of putting their design of 
 embalming the body of their Master into execution ; 
 particularly with respect to the enormous stone which 
 they had seen placed there, with the utmost difficulty, 
 two days before. " Who," said they, " shall roll away 
 the stone from the door of the sepulchre ? " But, in the 
 midst of this deliberation about removing this great and 
 sole obstacle to their design (for it does not appear they 
 knew any thing of the guard), they lifted up their eyes 
 and perceived it was already rolled away. 
 
 Alarmed at so extraordinary and unexpected a cir- 
 cumstance, Mary Magdalene concluded that the stone 
 could not have been rolled away without some design, 
 and that those who rolled it away could have no other 
 intent than that of removing our Lord's body. Imagin- 
 ing, by appearances, that they had really done so, she 
 ran immediately to acquaint Peter and John of what she 
 had seen, and what she suspected; leaving Mary and 
 
 resurrection. "And the graves were opened ; and many bodies of the 
 saints, which slept, arose, and came out of their graves after his resur- 
 rection, and went into the holy city and appeared unto many." Matt, 
 xxvii. 52, 53. 
 
 These appear to have been the first, after Jesus himself, who arose 
 from the dead to immortal life. They seem not to have again dwelt 
 among mortal men, but after appearing awhile, like their risen Lord in 
 the circles of their friends, probably ascended with him to the world 
 of glory to grace his triumph over the grave. 
 
448 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Salome there, that, if the other women should arrivo 
 during her absence, they might acquaint them with their 
 surprise at finding the stone removed, and of Mary Mag- 
 dalene's running to inform the apostles of it. 
 
 In the meantime, the soldiers, who were terrified at 
 seeing an awful messenger from on high roll away the 
 stone from the door of the sepulchre and open it in 
 quality of a servant, fled into the city and informed the 
 Jewish rulers of these miraculous appearances. This 
 account was highly mortifying to the chief priests, as it 
 was a proof of our Saviour's resurrection that could not 
 be denied : they therefore resolved to stifle it immedi- 
 ately, and, accordingly, bribed the soldiers to conceal the 
 real fact, and to publish everywhere that his disciples 
 had stolen the body out of the sepulchre. 
 
 While Mary Magdalene was going to inform the dis- 
 ciples that the stone was rolled away from the mouth 
 of the sepulchre, and the body taken away, Mary and 
 Salome continued advancing toward the place, and at 
 their arrival found what they expected the body of 
 their beloved Master gone from the sepulchre, where it 
 had been deposited by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arima- 
 thea but at the same time beheld, to their great aston- 
 ishment, a beautiful young man in shining raiment, very 
 glorious to behold, sitting on the right side of the sepul- 
 chre. 
 
 Matthew tells us that it was the angel who had rolled 
 away the stone and frightened away the guards from 
 the sepulchre. It seems he had now laid aside the ter- 
 rors in which he was then arrayed, and assumed the 
 form and dress of a human being, in order that these 
 pious women, who had accompanied our Saviour during 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 449 
 
 the greatest part of the time of his public ministry, might 
 be as little terrified as possible. 
 
 But, notwithstanding his beauty and benign appear- 
 ance, they were greatly affrighted, and on the point of 
 turning back, when the heavenly messenger, to banish 
 their fears, told them, in a gentle accent, that he knew 
 their errand. " Fear not," said he, " for I know that 
 ye seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here ; for 
 he is risen, as he said ; " and then invited them to come 
 down into the sepulchre and view the place where the 
 Son of God had lain ; that is, to look on the linen clothes, 
 and the napkin that had been about his head, and which 
 he had left behind him when he arose from the dead ; 
 for to look at the place in any other view would not 
 have tended to confirm their faith of his resurrection. 
 The women, greatly encouraged by the agreeable news, 
 as well as the peculiar accent with which this blessed 
 messenger from the heavenly Canaan delivered his speech, 
 went down into the sepulchre, when, behold, another of 
 the angelic choir appeared. * They did not, however, 
 
 * Our author has here blended persons and incidents which belong 
 apart. He does not seem to notica that there were two distinct com- 
 panies of women who, independently of each other, prepared spices 
 and visited the sepulchre. The first company was composed of Mary 
 Magdalene, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Salome, the wife of Zebedee. 
 The second company was led by Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's 
 steward. Mary Magdalene left her two companions when she ran back 
 to apprize the disciples of the opening of the tomb ; and they entered 
 it at the invitation of the angel, and by him were sent away quickly to 
 announce the resurrection of the Lord. But their fears overcame 
 them so on the way that they hesitated, " and told no man anything " 
 until long afterward. Meantime Peter and John came in haste and 
 examined the tomb, saw the shroud and the napkin but nothing more, 
 and departed. Mary Magdalene alone remains, and to her Jesus first 
 appears. 
 
 Jesus, having sent her to his brethren with his message of love, 
 29 
 
450 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 yet seem to give sufficient credit to what was told them 
 by the angel ; and therefore the other gently reproved 
 them for seeking the living among the dead, with an 
 intention to do him an office due only to the latter, and 
 for not remembering the words which their great Master 
 himself had told them with regard to his own resurrec- 
 tion : "Why seek ye the living among the dead ? He is 
 not here, but is risen : remember how he spake unto you 
 when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man 
 must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be 
 crucified, and the third day rise again." 
 
 When the women had satisfied their minds by looking 
 at the place where the Lord had lain, and where nothing 
 was to be found but the linen clothes, the angel who 
 first appeared to them resumed the discourse, and bade 
 them go and tell his disciples, particularly Peter, the glacl 
 tidings of his Master's resurrection from the dead ; that 
 he was going before them to Galilee ; and that they should 
 there have the pleasure of seeing him. 
 
 The reason why the disciples were ordered to go into 
 
 appears to the two women (Mary Cteopas and Salome), who were still 
 lingering through fear; salutes anc. soothes them, and even permits 
 them to embrace his feet to assure them of the reality of his resurrec- 
 tion. Then, and not till then, "they ran with joy to bring his disciples 
 word." 
 
 During this interval, Joanna, with the second company of women, 
 bearing ointment and spices for embalming, arrives (probably from a 
 more remote part of the city), finds the sepulchre open, and enters it. 
 Two angels appear to this company, instead of one, reprove their un- 
 belief and forgetfulness of the words of Jesus in Galilee, and leave 
 them with this admonition, to return to the city of their own accord, 
 and give intelligence of what they have seen and heard to the assem- 
 bled disciples. 
 
 Here then are four distinct messages brought by the women ; the 
 first by Mary Magdalene, the second by her two companions, the third 
 by Mary Magdalene after seeing the risen Saviour, and the fourth by 
 Joanna and her friends. In Luke xxiv.lO,they are all mentioned together. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 451 
 
 Galilee, to meet their great and beloved Master, seems 
 to be this : they were most of them at Jerusalem, cele- 
 brating the passover; and it may be easily imagined 
 that, on receiving the news of their Lord's resurrection, 
 many, if not all, would resolve to tarry at Jerusalem, 
 in expectation of meeting him there ; a thing that must 
 have proved of great detriment to them at that time of 
 the year, when the harvest was about to begin, the 
 sheaf of first-fruits being always offered on the second 
 day of the passover week. In order, therefore, to pre- 
 vent their staying so long from home, the message was 
 sent directing them to return into Galilee, with full as- 
 surance that they should there have the pleasure of 
 seeing their Lord and Master, and by that means have 
 all their doubts removed, and be fully convinced that 
 he had patiently undergone all his sufferings for the sins 
 of mankind. The women, highly elated with the news 
 of their Lord's resurrection, left the sepulchre immedi- 
 ately, and ran to carry the disciples the glad tidings. 
 
 During these transactions at the sepulchre, Peter and 
 John, having been informed by Mary Magdalene that 
 the stone was rolled away and the body of Jesus not to 
 be found, were hastening to the grave, and missed the 
 women who had seen the appearance of angels. 
 
 The two disciples, being astonished at what Mary 
 Magdalene had told them, and desirous of having their 
 doubts cleared up, made all possible haste to the sepul- 
 chre ; and John, being younger than Peter, arrived at 
 the place first, but did not go in, contenting himself with 
 stooping down and seeing the linen clothes lying which 
 had been wrapped about the Saviour's body. Peter soon 
 arrived,, and went into the sepulchre, where he saw the 
 
452 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 linen clothes, and the napkin that was about his head 
 not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together 
 in a place by itself. Our Lord left the grave-clothes in 
 the sepulchre, probably, to show that his body was not 
 stolen away by his disciples, who, in such a case, would 
 not have taken time to strip it. Besides, the circum- 
 stance of the grave-clothes induced the disciples them- 
 selves to believe, when the resurrection was related to 
 them. But at that time they had no suspicion that he 
 was risen from the dead. 
 
 These two disciples, having thus satisfied themselves 
 that what Mary Magdalene had told them was really 
 true, departed ; but Mary, who had returned, remained 
 weeping at the door of the sepulchre. She had, it 
 seems, followed Peter and John to the garden, but did 
 not leave it with them, being anxious to find the body. 
 Accordingly, stepping down into the place to examine it 
 once more, she saw two angels sitting, the one at the 
 head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus 
 had lain. They were now in the same position as when 
 they appeared to the other women, but had rendered 
 themselves invisible while Peter and John were at the 
 sepulchre. 
 
 Mary, on beholding these heavenly messengers dressed 
 in the robes of light, was greatly terrified. But they, 
 in the most endearing accents, asked her, " Woman, 
 why weepest thou ? " To which she answered, " Because 
 they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where 
 they have laid him." On pronouncing these words, she 
 turned herself about, and saw Jesus standing near her ; 
 but the terror she was in, and the garments in which 
 he was now dressed, prevented her from knowing him 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 453 
 
 for some time. Jesus repeated the same question used 
 before by the angel. " Woman, why weepest thou ? " 
 To which Mary, who now supposed him to be the 
 gardener, answered, Sir, if his body be troublesome in 
 the sepulchre, and thou hast removed him, tell me 
 where he is deposited, and I will take him away. But 
 our blessed Saviour, willing to remove her anxiety, 
 called her by name, with his usual tone of voice ; on 
 which she immediately knew him, and, falling down 
 before him, would have embraced his knees, according 
 to that modesty and reverence with which the women 
 of the East saluted the men, especially those who were 
 their superiors in station. But Jesus refused this com- 
 pliment, telling her that he was not going immediately 
 into heaven. He was often to show himself to the dis- 
 ciples before he ascended ; so that she would have 
 frequent opportunities of testifying her regard to him. 
 And, at the same time, he said to her, " Go to my 
 brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to my Father 
 and your Father, and to my God arid your God." 
 
 Thus did the blessed Jesus contemplate, with a 
 singular pleasure, the work of redemption he had just 
 finished. The happy relation between God and man, 
 which had been long cancelled by sin, was now renewed. 
 
 The kindness of this message sent by our dear Re- 
 deemer to his disciples, will appear above all praise, if 
 we remember their late behavior. They had every one 
 of them forsaken him in the greatest extremity ; when 
 he was scourged and mocked by the Roman soldiers, 
 derided by his countrymen, and spitefully treated by 
 all, they hid themselves in some place of safety, and 
 preferred their own security to the deliverance of their 
 
454 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Master. When he fainted under the burden of his cross, 
 none of them were there to assist him. Simon, a Cyren- 
 ian, was compelled by the Roman soldiers to ease him 
 of his ponderous burden. But notwithstanding they 
 had refused to assist their Master during his sufferings 
 for the sins of the world, he graciously, he freely for- 
 gave them ; he assured them of their pardon, and called 
 them even by the endearing name of brethren. 
 
 How different was the conduct of the women ! Laying 
 aside the weakness and timidity natural to their sex, 
 they showed an uncommon magnanimity on this melan- 
 choly occasion. For, in contradiction to those of the 
 Jews, who so vehemently required Jesus to be crucified 
 as a deceiver, they proclaimed his innocence by tears, 
 cries, and lamentations, when they saw him led forth to 
 suffer on Mount Calvary ; accompanied him to the 
 cross, the most infamous of all punishments; kindly 
 waited on him in his expiring moments, giving him all 
 the consolation in their power, though at the same time 
 the 'sight of his sufferings pierced them to the heart; 
 and when he expired and his body was carried off, they 
 accompanied him to his grave, not despairing, though 
 they found he had not delivered himself, but to appear- 
 ance was conquered by death, the universal enemy of 
 mankind. Perhaps these pious women entertained some 
 faint hopes that he would still revive. Or, if they did 
 not entertain expectations of that kind, they at least 
 cherished a strong degree of love for their Lord, and 
 determined to do him all the honor in their power. 
 
 A faith so remarkably strong, a love so ardent, and 
 a fortitude so unshaken, could not fail of receiving dis- 
 tinguished marks of the divine approbation ; and they 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 455 
 
 were accordingly honored with the first news of Christ's 
 resurrection, had their eyes cheered with the first sight 
 of their beloved Lord after he rose, and preached the 
 joyful tidings of his resurrection to the apostles them- 
 selves. 
 
 The women, on their arrival, told as many of the 
 disciples as they could find, that they had seen at the 
 sepulchre the appearance of angels, who assured them 
 that Jesus was risen from the dead.* This new inform- 
 ation astonished the disciples exceedingly ; and, as they 
 had before sent Peter and John to examine into the 
 truth of what Mary Magdalene had told them concern- 
 ing the body being removed out of the sepulchre, so 
 they now judged it highly proper to send some of their 
 number to see the angels, and learn from them the 
 joyful tidings of that great transaction of which the 
 women had given them an account. That this was 
 really the case appears from what the disciples, in their 
 journey to Emmaus, told their great Lord and Master ; 
 namely, that when the women came and told them that 
 they had seen the angels, certain of their number went 
 to the sepulchre, and " found it even as the women had 
 said, but him they saw not." 
 
 The second deputation from the apostles did not go 
 alone; for, as Mary Magdalene returned to the sepul- 
 chre with Peter and John, who were sent to examine 
 the truth of her information, so the women who brought 
 an account of the appearance of angels, in all probability, 
 
 * The women here referred to must be Joanna and her company, as 
 they had not seen Jesus, but only the angel. Hence, it appears that 
 Salome and Mary Cleopas did not arrive till some time after them, for 
 the reason assigned in the preceding note, page 449. 
 
456 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 returned with those who were sent to be witnesses of the 
 truth of their report. Besides curiosity, they had an 
 errand thither : the angels had expressly ordered them 
 to tell the news to Peter in particular ; for which reason, 
 when they understood that he was gone to the sepulchre, 
 it is natural to think they would return with the disci- 
 ples to seek him. 
 
 About the time that the disciples and women set out 
 for the sepulchre, Peter and John reached the city, but, 
 passing through a different street, did not meet their 
 brethren. The disciples, having a great desire to reach 
 the place, soon left the women behind ; and, just as they 
 arrived, Mary Magdalene, having seen the Lord, was 
 coming away. But they did not meet her, perhaps, 
 because they entered the garden at one door, while she 
 was coming out at another. When they came to the 
 sepulchre, they saw the angels, and received from them 
 the news of their blessed Master's resurrection ; for St. 
 Luke tells us, " They found it even as the women had 
 said." Highly elated with what they saw, they departed, 
 and ran back to the city with such expedition that they 
 gave an account of what they had seen in the hearing 
 of the two disciples before Mary Magdalene arrived. 
 
 In the meantime, the first company of women, who 
 followed the disciples, happened to meet Peter and John. 
 But they had not gone far from the sepulchre before 
 Jesus himself met them, and said, " All hail ! " * On 
 which they approached their great Lord and Master, 
 held him by the feet, and worshipped him. The favor 
 of embracing his knees Jesus had before refused to Mary 
 Magdalene, because it was not then necessary ; but he 
 * See note on page 449. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST:. '457 
 
 granted it to the women, because, the angels' words hav- 
 ing strongly impressed their minds with the notion of 
 his resurrection, they might have taken his appearance 
 for an illusion of their own imagination, had he not per- 
 mitted them to touch him and convince themselves, by 
 the united reports of their senses, that he was their great 
 Lord and Master, who was then risen from the dead 
 after having suffered on the cross for the sins of man- 
 kind.* 
 
 This company of pious women, having tarried some 
 time with Jesus on the road, did not arrive with the 
 joyful tidings of their great Master's resurrection till 
 some time after Peter and John, and perhaps were over- 
 taken by Mary Magdalene on the road, unless we sup- 
 pose that she arrived a few minutes before them. 
 
 The disciples were now lost in astonishment at what 
 the women had related: they considered the account 
 they had before given them, of their having seen the 
 angels, as an improbability, and now they seem to have 
 considered this as something worse ; for the evangelist 
 tells us that they " believed them not." f 
 
 * By referring to the note on page 449 the reader will perceive that 
 this company of women is not that of Joanna but that of Salome, con- 
 sisting only of herself and Mary, the wife of Cleopas. 
 
 f The harmony of the four evangelists, in their brief and independent 
 accounts of the women of Galilee on this eventful morning, is singu- 
 larly perfect and beautiful, and will be understood and admired in pro- 
 portion as it is carefully studied. All the old difficulties arose from 
 supposing the two companies of women to be one and the same. From 
 the time of Gilbert West and Dr. Doddridge, in the first half of the 
 last century, there has been a general agreement of critics on this 
 point. 
 
 Modern infidels, who bring forward again the old, obsolete objections 
 to this part of the saored narrative, are entirely behind the age, and 
 only betray their ignorance or disingenuousness. After all, the testi- 
 
458 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Peter, indeed, to whom the angel had sent the mes- 
 sage, was disposed, by his sanguine temper, to give a 
 little more credit to their words than the rest ; possibly 
 because the messengers from the heavenly world had 
 done him the honor of naming him in particular. 
 Elated with the respect thus paid him, he immediately 
 repaired again to the sepulchre; hoping, in all proba- 
 bility, that his Master would appear to him, or, at least, 
 the angel who had so particularly distinguished him from 
 the rest of his disciples.* As soon as Peter arrived at 
 the sepulchre, he stooped down, and seeing the linen 
 clothes lying in the same manner as before, he viewed 
 their position, the form in which they were laid, and 
 returned, wondering greatly in himself at what had 
 happened. 
 
 mony of the women is not that on which our Christian faith rests. It 
 is true, but it did not carry conviction to the apostles themselves. 
 Indeed its chief value lies just here, that it proves that the apostles, 
 the proper witnesses, were not credulous men, but men who diligently 
 inquired for the truth, and even pushed their doubts to an unjustifiable 
 extreme. The evidence which satisfied such men, and made them con- 
 scientiously devote every earthly interest to the service of their risen 
 Redeemer and the salvation of their fellowmen, is that on which our 
 Christian faith relies : " God also bearing them witness both with signs 
 and wonders and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, 
 according to his own will." Heb. ii. 4. 
 
 * Our own impression of the feelings of Peter at this time is quite 
 different from the view here given. We cannot imagine him to have 
 so easily recovered from the profound grief into which he was plunged 
 by his reflections on his recent denial of his Lord. It seems to us we 
 have no right to regard him as elated by the particular mention of his 
 name in the angelic message. His humiliation was such that it inspired 
 anxiety as well as hope. He longed to see his Lord chiefly to make 
 full confession and be assured of pardon. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 459 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 JESUS APPEARS, ON DIVERS OCCASIONS, TO DIFFERENT DISCI- 
 PLES REPROVES AND CONVINCES THOMAS OF HIS UNBE- 
 LIEF SHOWS HIMSELF TO A GREAT NUMBER OF HIS FOL- 
 LOWERS IN GALILEE. 
 
 SOON after the women's first return to the disciples 
 with the news of their having seen the appearance of 
 angels who told them that Jesus had risen from the 
 dead, two of the disciples departed on their journey to 
 a village called Emmaus, about seven miles distant from 
 Jerusalem.* The concern they were in on account of 
 the death of their great and beloved Master was suffi- 
 ciently visible in their countenances ; and, as they pur- 
 sued their journey, talking one with another, and deba- 
 ting about the things that had lately happened among 
 them, concerning the life and doctrine, the sufferings 
 and death, of the holy Jesus, and of the report that was 
 just spread among his disciples of his, being that very 
 morning risen from the dead, Jesus himself overtook 
 them, and joined company with them. 
 
 As he appeared like a stranger,f they did not in the 
 
 * What drew these two disciples to Emmaus on a day so full of pro- 
 found interest to them as well as others, we cannot tell with certainty, 
 but most probably it was the home of one or both. 
 
 t Mark speaks of him as assuming on this occasion " another form." 
 This may mean no more than the change made in his appearance by a 
 garb which he was not accustomed to wear, and in which he was not 
 easily recognized by the downcast disciples. 
 
460 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 least suspect that their fellow-traveller was no other 
 than the great Redeemer of the sons of men. He soon 
 entered into discourse with them, by inquiring what 
 event had so closely engaged them in conversation, and 
 why they appeared so sorrowful and dejected, as if they 
 had met with some heavy disappointment. One of 
 them, whose name was Cleophas, being surprised at the 
 question, replied, Is it possible that you can be so great 
 a stranger to the affairs of the world as to have been at 
 "Jerusalem and not have heard the surprising events 
 that have happened there events that have astonished 
 the whole city, and are now the constant topic of con- 
 versation among all the inhabitants ? 
 
 Jjesus asked what surprising events he meant. To 
 which Cleophas replied, The transactions which have 
 happened 'concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who appeared 
 as a great prophet and teacher sent from God, and ac- 
 cordingly was highly venerated among the people for 
 the excellency of his doctrine, his humility of life, and 
 the number, benefit, and greatness of his miracles. 
 Our chief priests and elders, therefore, envying him as 
 one who lessened their authority over the people, appre- 
 hended him, and found means to put him to death. 
 But we firmly believed he would have proved himself 
 the Messiah, or great Deliverer ; and this persuasion we 
 a long time supported ; nor were we willing to abandon 
 it even when we saw him put to death. But it is now 
 three days since these things were done ; and therefore 
 we begin to fear we were mistaken. This very morn- 
 ing, indeed, a thing happened which extremely surprised 
 us, and we were very solicitous with regard to it. Some 
 women, who had entertained the same hopes and expec- 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 461 
 
 tations as we, going early in the morning to pay the last 
 duties to their Master, by embalming his body, returned 
 with great haste to the city, and informed us that they 
 had been at the sepulchre, but were disappointed in not 
 finding the body; and, to increase our surprise, they 
 added that they had seen the appearance of angels, who 
 had told them that Jesus was risen from the dead. 
 This relation seemed at first to us not probable, nay, 
 altogether incredible; but two of the company, going 
 immediately after to the sepulchre, found every thing 
 exactly as the women had reported : they saw the angels, 
 but heard not any thing of the body ; so that we are still 
 in doubt and perplexity with regard to this wonderful 
 event. 
 
 In reply, Jesus said, Why are ye so very averse to 
 believe all that the prophets have, with one voice, pre- 
 dicted of the Messiah ? Is it not clearly and very ex- 
 .pressly foretold, in all the prophetic writings, that it was 
 appointed by the council of Omnipotence for the Messiah 
 to suffer in this manner, and that, after sustaining the 
 greatest indignities, reproaches, and contempt, from the 
 malice and perverseness of mankind, and even undergoing 
 an ignominious and cruel death, he should be exalted to 
 a glorious and eternal kingdom ? Having said this, he 
 began at the writings of Moses and explained to them, 
 in order, all the principal passages, both in the books of 
 that great legislator and the writings of the other prophets, 
 relating to himself, his own sufferings, death, and glorious 
 resurrection. 
 
 And this he did with such surprising plainness, 
 clearness, and strength, that the two disciples, not yet 
 suspecting who he was, were as much amazed to find a 
 
462 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 stranger so well acquainted with all that Jesus did and 
 suffered as they at first wondered at his appearing to be 
 so totally ignorant of these transactions. They were 
 also astonished to hear him interpret and apply the 
 Scriptures to their present purpose with such readiness 
 and convincing clearness of argument as carried with it 
 a strange and unusual authority and efficacy. When, 
 therefore, they came to the village whither they were 
 going, and Jesus seemed as if he would have passed on 
 and travelled farther, they, desirous of his company, 
 pressed him, in the strongest manner, to tarry with them 
 that night, as it was then late. To this request the great 
 Redeemer of mankind consented ; and when they were 
 sat down to supper he took bread, and gave thanks to 
 God, and brake it, and gave it to them in the same 
 manner he used to do while he conversed with them 
 upon earth before his death. This engaged their atten- 
 tion, and, looking steadfastly on him, they perceived it 
 was their great and beloved Master. But they had then 
 no time to express their joy and astonishment to their 
 benevolent Redeemer; for he immediately vanished out 
 of their sight. 
 
 As soon as they found their Master was departed, they 
 said one to another, How slow and stupid were we be- 
 fore, not to know him upon the road, while he explained 
 to us the Scriptures when, besides the affability of his 
 discourse and the strength and clearness of his argument, 
 we perceived such an authority in what he said, and 
 such a powerful efficacy attending his words, and even 
 striking our hearts with affection, that we could not but 
 have known him (if we had not been remarkably stupid) 
 to have been the very same that used to accompany his 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 463 
 
 teaching and was peculiar to it! This surprising event 
 would not permit them to stay any longer in Emmaus. 
 They returned that very night to Jerusalem, and found 
 the apostles, with several other disciples, discoursing 
 about the resurrection of their Master; and, on their 
 entering the room, the disciples accosted them, saying, 
 " Tlie Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared unto 
 Simon." * 
 
 They had given little credit to the reports of the 
 women, supposing they were occasioned more by imagi- 
 nation than reality. But, when a person of Peter's 
 capacity and gravity declared he had seen the Lord, 
 they began to think that he was really risen from the 
 dead. And their belief was greatly confirmed by the 
 arrival of the two disciples from Emmaus, who declared 
 to their brethren how Jesus appeared to them on the 
 road, and how they discovered him to be their Master 
 by the circumstances before related. While the disci- 
 ples from Emmaus were thus describing the manner of 
 the appearance of Jesus to them, and offering arguments 
 to convince those who doubted the truth of it, their 
 great Master himself put an end to the debate, by 
 standing in the midst. of them, and saying, "Peace be 
 unto you." 
 
 This sudden appearance of our blessed Saviour greatly 
 terrified the disciples, who supposed they had seen a 
 spirit; f for, having secured the doors of the house where 
 
 * There were two Simons among the apostles Simon Peter and 
 Simon of Cana, called the Canaanite. The evidence is plain that here, 
 as in most cases, it refers to Simon Peter. In 1 Cor. xv. 5, Paul calls 
 him by his surname of Cephas. 
 
 f Probably the idea of a spirit (or phantom) entertained by the apos- 
 tles was as vague as it now is in the popular imagination of a ghost , 
 
464 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 they were assembled, for fear of the Jews, and Jesus 
 having opened the locks by his miraculous power, with- 
 out the knowledge of any in the house, it was natural 
 for them to think that a spirit only could enter. The 
 circumstance, therefore, of the doors being shut is very 
 happily mentioned by St. John ; because it suggests a 
 reason why the disciples took their Master for a spirit, 
 notwithstanding many of them were convinced that he 
 was really risen from the dead and were at that moment 
 conversing about his resurrection. But, to dispel their 
 fears and doubts, Jesus came forward and spoke to them 
 in the most endearing manner, showed them his hands 
 and feet, and desired them to handle him, in order to 
 convince themselves, by the united powers of their dif- 
 ferent senses, that it was he himself, and no spectre or 
 apparition. " Why are ye troubled," said the benevo- 
 lent Redeemer of mankind, " and why do thoughts arise 
 in your hearts ? Behold my hands and my feet, that it 
 is I myself: handle me and see, for a spirit hath not 
 flesh and bones as ye see me have." * These infallible 
 
 . ., a bodiless apparition of a real active being, representing the form 
 of one dead. In this last circumstance it differs from an angel. Like 
 every thing strange and mysterious to us, it naturally inspires awe and 
 alarm. 
 
 The vision of Eliphaz, in Job iv. 12-17, is strikingly illustrative of 
 this conception and of its effects. 
 
 * The apostles had as yet no idea of the powers of the resurrection- 
 body, and the sudden appearance in the room, by night, of a figure re- 
 sembling that of Jesus, struck them with instinctive terror, and this 
 gave place only by slow degrees to the strongest evidence of his bodily 
 identity. To behold that very form which a few days before they had 
 seen nailed to the cross and pierced by the soldier's spear, and then 
 taken from the cross and laid, mangled, motionless, and lifeless, in the 
 sepulchre, now alive, vigorous and active as ever, every wound healed, 
 every feature restored to its former familiar expression, every sense 
 exalted and instinct with the immortality of a higher world, yet capa- 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 465 
 
 proofs sufficiently convinced the disciples of the truth of 
 their Lord's resurrection ; and they received him with 
 rapture and exultation. But their joy and wonder had 
 so great an effect upon their minds, that some of them, 
 sensible of the great commotion they were in, suspended 
 their belief till they had considered the matter more 
 calmly. Jesus, therefore, knowing their thoughts, called 
 for meat, and ate with them, in order to prove more 
 fully the truth of his resurrection from the dead, 
 and the reality of his presence with them on this 
 occasion. 
 
 After giving this further ocular demonstration of his 
 having vanquished the power of death and opened the 
 tremendous portals of the grave, he again repeated his 
 salutation, "Peace be unto you;" adding, The same 
 commission that my Father hath given unto me I give 
 unto you : go ye, therefore, into every part of the world 
 and preach the gospel to all the children of men. 
 Then, breathing on them, he said, Receive ye the Holy 
 Ghost, to direct and assist you in the execution of your 
 commission. Whosoever embraces your, doctrine, sin- 
 
 ble of sympathy and social intercourse with men in the flesh all this 
 was too great, too marvellous to be taken into the human mind in a 
 moment with entire conviction. The change was stupendous. They 
 had seen more than once the dead raised to life by the voice of Jesus, 
 but that life was mortal as before. This, therefore, was a fact entirely 
 new, without precedent, and infinitely astonishing. Only as its reality 
 became clear could it become also delightful, elevating, assimilating. 
 Jesus stood before them, gazed on them, spoke to them, ate and drank 
 with them, gave them leave to handle him, and satisfy themselves that 
 it was he indeed their unchanging Friend, their forgiving Saviour, 
 their condescending Teacher, the Resurrection and the Life, the tri- 
 umphant Conqueror of Death, tlje First-Fruits of the coming harvest 
 of Glory from the grave ! 
 30 
 
466 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 cerely repents, and believes on me, ye shall declare unto 
 him the free forgiveness of his sins, and your declaration 
 shall be ratified and confirmed in the courts of heaven. 
 And whosoever either obstinately rejects your doctrine, 
 disobeys it, or behaves himself unworthily after he hath 
 embraced it, his sins shall not be forgiven him ; but the 
 censure ye shall pass upon him on earth shall be con- 
 firmed in heaven. 
 
 Thomas, otherwise called Didymus, was absent at the 
 meeting of the apostles; nor did this happen without 
 the special direction of Providence, that the particular 
 and extraordinary satisfaction which was afterward 
 granted him might be an abundant and undeniable tes- 
 timony of the truth of our blessed Saviour's resurrection 
 to all succeeding generations. The rest of the apostles, 
 therefore, told him that they had seen the Lord, and re- 
 peated to him the words he had delivered in their hear- 
 ing. But Thomas replied, This event is of such great 
 importance, that unless, to prevent all possibility of de- 
 ception, I see him with mine own eyes and feel him with 
 mine own hands, putting my fingers into the print of 
 the nails whereby he was fastened to the cross, and 
 thrust my hand into his side which the soldiers pierced 
 with the spear, I will not believe that he is really and 
 truly risen from the dead. 
 
 Thus have we enumerated, in the most explicit man- 
 ner, the transactions of that day on which the great 
 Redeemer of mankind arose from the dead; a day 
 highly to be remembered by the children of men, 
 throughout all generations. A day, in which was fully 
 completed and displayed the. conceptions lodged in the 
 breast of infinite Wisdom ! even those thoughts of love 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 467 
 
 and mercy, on which the salvation of the world 
 depended. Christians have therefore the highest reason 
 to solemnize this day with gladness, each returning 
 week, by ceasing from their labor, and giving up them- 
 selves to prayer, pious meditations, and other exercises 
 of religion. The redemption of mankind, which they 
 weekly commemorate, affords matter for eternal thought; 
 it is a subject impossible to be equalled, and whose lustre 
 neither length of time, nor frequent reviewing, can 
 either tarnish or diminish. 
 
 Eight days after the resurrection of our great Re- 
 deemer, the blessed Jesus showed himself again to his 
 disciples, while Thomas was with them, and upbraided 
 that disciple for his unbelief; but, knowing that it did 
 not, like that of the Pharisees, proceed from a wicked 
 mind, but from an honest heart, and a sincere desire of 
 being satisfied of the truth, he thus addressed himself 
 to his doubting disciple : " Thomas," said he, " since 
 thou wilt not be contented to rely on the testimony of 
 others, but must be convinced by the experience of 
 thine own senses, behold the wounds in my hands, and 
 reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and 
 doubt no longer of the reality of my resurrection." 
 Thomas was immediately induced to believe, by the 
 invitation of his dear Master, and being fully satisfied, 
 he cried out, I am abundantly convinced ; thou art 
 indeed my Lord, the very same that was crucified ; and 
 I acknowledge thine almighty power in having triumphed 
 over death, and worship thee as my God. To which 
 the blessed Jesus replied, " Because thou hast seen me, 
 Thomas, thou hast believed that I am really risen from 
 the dead. But blessed are they, who, without such 
 
468 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 evidence of the senses, shall, upon credible testimony, 
 be willing to believe and embrace a doctrine which tends 
 so greatly to the glory of God and the salvation of the 
 eons of men." 
 
 St. Luke adds (Acts i. 3), that the blessed Jesus 
 appeared on several other occasions to his disciples after 
 his resurrection, and by many clear and infallible proofs 
 (not mentioned by the evangelist), fully convinced them 
 that he was alive after his passion. But those which 
 are mentioned are abundantly sufficient to excite men 
 to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, the great 
 Messiah so often foretold by the ancient prophets ; and 
 by means of that belief they may attain everlasting life 
 in the happy regions of the heavenly Canaan. 
 
 Our blessed Saviour having, first by the angels, and 
 afterward in person, ordered his disciples to repair to 
 their respective habitations in Galilee, it is reasonable 
 to think they would leave Jerusalem as soon as possible. 
 This they accordingly did, and, on their arrival at their 
 respective places of abode, applied themselves to their 
 usual occupations; and the apostles returned to their 
 old trade of fishing on the lake of Tiberias. Here they 
 were toiling with their nets very early in the morning, 
 and saw Jesus standing on the shore, but did not then 
 know him to be their Master, as it was somewhat dark, 
 and they at a considerable distance from him. He, 
 however, called to them, and asked if they had taken 
 any fish. To which they answered they had caught 
 nothing. He then desired them to let down their nets 
 on the right side of the boat, and they should not be 
 disappointed. The disciples, imagining that he might 
 be acquainted with the places proper for fishing, did as 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 4:69 
 
 he directed them, and enclosed in their net such a pro- 
 digious multitude of fishes that they were not able to 
 draw it into the boat, but were forced to drag it after 
 them toward the shore. 
 
 It seems they had toiled all the preceding night to no 
 purpose; and therefore such remarkable success could 
 not fail of causing various conjectures among them with 
 regard to the stranger on the shore, who had given 
 them such happy advice. Some of the apostles declared 
 they could not imagine who he was ; but others were 
 persuaded that this person was no other than their great 
 and beloved Master. John was fully convinced of his 
 being the Lord, and accordingly told his thoughts to 
 Simon Peter, who, making no doubt of it, girded on his 
 fisher's coat and leaped into the sea, in order to get 
 ashore sooner than the boat could be brought -to land, 
 dragging after it a net full of large fishes. 
 
 When the disciples came ashore, they found a fire 
 kindled, and on it a fish broiling, and near it some bread. 
 But, neither being sufficient for the company, Jesus bade 
 them bring some of the fish they had now caught, and 
 invited them to eat with him. Thus did the blessed 
 Jesus prove again to his disciples the reality of his resur- 
 rection ; not only by eating with them, but by working 
 a miracle like that which, at the beginning of his minis- 
 try, had made such an impression upon them as dis- 
 posed them to be his constant followers. This was the 
 third time that Jesus appeared publicly to a great 
 number of his disciples in a body, besides showing him- 
 self several times to particular persons upon special 
 occasions. 
 
 When t'iey had eaten, Jesus reminded Peter how 
 
470' LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 diligent and zealous he ought to be in order to wipe off 
 the stain of his denying him when he was carried before 
 the high-priest : * " Simon, Son of Jonas," said our blessed 
 Saviour to him, " art thou more zealous and affectionate 
 in thy love toward me than the rest of my disciples ? " 
 To which Peter answered, " Yea, Lord, thou knowest 
 that I love thee." He was taught modesty and diffi- 
 dence by his late fall, and therefore would not compare 
 himself with others, but humbly appealed to his Master's 
 omniscience for the sincerity of his regard to him. Jesus 
 answered, " Express then thy love toward me by the 
 care of my flock committed to thy charge. Feed my 
 lambs ; feed my sheep/ Show thy love to me by pub- 
 lishing the great salvation I have accomplished, and 
 feeding the souls of faithful believers with that food 
 which never perishes, but endures forever and ever. 
 I well know, indeed," continued the blessed Jesus, " that 
 thou wilt continue my faithful shepherd even unto 
 death. For the time will come when thou, who now 
 girdest on thy fisher's coat voluntarily, and stretchest 
 out thy hand to come to me, shalt in thine old age 
 be girt by others, and forced to stretch out thy hands 
 against thy will, in a very different manner, for the sake 
 of thy constant profession of my religion." 
 
 By these last words Jesus signified the manner of 
 Peter's death, and that he should finally suffer martyr- 
 dom for the glory of God and testimony of the truth of 
 the Christian religion. ) 
 
 The time being now come when the disciples were 
 meet their great Lord and Master, according to the mes- 
 
 * See note, page 400. f See note, page 523. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 471 
 
 sages he had sent them by the women, and, in all prob- 
 ability, appointed at some former appearance not men- 
 tioned by the evangelists, the brethren set out for the 
 mountain in Galilee perhaps that on which he was 
 transfigured. * Here five hundred of them were gathered 
 together, expecting the joyful sight of their great Master 
 after he had triumphed over death and the grave, 
 some of them not having yet seen him after his resur- 
 rection. 
 
 They did not wait long before" Jesus appeared, on 
 which they were seized with rapture, their hearts over- 
 flowed with gladness, they approached their kind, their 
 benevolent Master, and worshipped him. Some few, 
 indeed, doubted it being natural for men to be afraid 
 to believe what they vehemently wished, lest they should 
 indulge themselves in false joys, which vanish like a 
 morning cloud. But Jesus afterward appeared frequently 
 to them and gave them full satisfaction, and instructed 
 them in many things relating to their preaching the 
 gospel, establishing the church, and spreading it through 
 the whole earth. 
 
 * It seems to have been the chief design of Christ, in his third ap- 
 pearing, to restore Peter to the public position he had forfeited by his 
 fall, before delivering the general commission at the appointed meet- 
 ing in Galilee. 
 
474 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 going to ascend to his Father ; for which reason they 
 might go courageously through all the world and preach 
 the gospel to every rational creature; that they who 
 believed should be admitted into his church by the rite 
 of baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Ghost, and be taught, in consequence of their 
 baptism, to obey all the precepts he had enjoined upon 
 them ; that such baptized believers should receive the 
 pardon of their sins, together with eternal life in the 
 happy mansions of his Father's kingdom, but, such as 
 refused to embrace the doctrines of the gospel should be 
 forever excluded from those happy regions, and have 
 their portion in the lake that burneth with fire and 
 brimstone ; that while they were employed in this work 
 he would be constantly with them, to assist them by 
 his Spirit and protect them by his providence. Finally, 
 that those who should, through their preaching, be 
 induced to believe, should themselves work most aston- 
 ishing miracles, by which the gospel should be propagated 
 with the greatest rapidity. Mark xvi. 17, 18.* 
 
 buried, and whence he rose, the Vanquisher of Death. For the last 
 time he had crossed the valley of the Kedron, and left behind him at 
 the foot of Olivet the garden of Gethsemane, the scene of his terrible 
 agony, and the dark background of a prospect rising upward to the 
 height of the eternal Paradise above. 
 
 Can we wonder if, full of tender emotion at the sight of these affect- 
 ing objects, he should turn his eyes once more on the faces of his disci- 
 ples and stretch out his hands and bless them ? 
 
 * Few readers of this passage, perhaps, have failed to ponder, at 
 times, the mooted question of the extent and duration of the promise 
 it involves. Were all believers to be characterized by these signs fol- 
 lowing in every age V 
 
 We think not. 'The terms of the promise are satisfied if the first 
 believers were generally endowed with such gifts, and if these gifts 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 475 
 
 When the blessed Jesus had spoken these things, he 
 lifted up his hands and blessed them. And in the action 
 of blessing them he was parted from them : in the midst 
 of the day a shining cloud received him out of their sight ; 
 that is, this brilliant cloud encompassed him about and 
 carried him up to heaven, not suddenly, but at leisure, 
 that they might behold him departing, and see the proofs 
 of his ascending into heaven, as he had promised them. 
 The cloud in which the blessed Jesus ascended was more 
 bright and pure than the clearest lambent flame, being, 
 as is supposed, no other than the Shekinah, or glory of 
 the Lord the visible symbol of the divine presence 
 which had so often appeared to the patriarchs of old, 
 which filled the temple at its dedication, and which, in 
 
 continued to be granted during the apostolic age. Our reasons for this 
 conclusion are : 1. We read of no such gifts of miracles except under 
 the immediate ministry of the apostles. Philip, the evangelist, had 
 received these gifts at Jerusalem, and exercised them in Samaria, but 
 could not confer them, as did Peter on his arrival there. Acts viii. 
 2. They do not appear to have been universally bestowed, even by 
 the hands of the apostles themselves. 1 Cor. xii-xiv. Hence, 3, it 
 would follow that in the generation succeeding the death of the last 
 of the apostles they would be rare, and gradually cease to be exercised. 
 4. The facts in the history of the early church accord with this view : 
 Christian writers in the latter part of the second century appeal to the 
 miracles wrought in their time, but do not claim the power for them- 
 selves ; and no authentic case of a miracle is reported in the third 
 century. 
 
 Nor is this to be ascribed merely to a decay of faith. For, 1. The 
 reason for them ceased after the divine origin of Christianity had been 
 sufficiently proved. 2. Were such evidence now needed, and such in- 
 spired channels open to convey them, we might expect their continu- 
 ance or renewal ; but not otherwise. 3. These gifts are represented 
 by Paul not only as far inferior in value to the graces of the heart, but 
 as destined to vanish away, while faith, hope, and charity remain. 1 
 Cor. xiii. And, 4. The pretence of miraculous powers is one of the 
 predicted signs of the Great Apostasy. 2 Thess. ii. ; Rev. xiii. This 
 fact should put us on our guard against imposture. 
 
476 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 its greatest splendor, could not be beheld with mortal 
 eyes, for which reason it is called the light inaccessible. 
 As he ascended, the flaming cloud that surrounded him 
 marked his passage through the air, but gradually lost its 
 magnitude in the eyes of those who stood below, till it 
 at last vanished, together with their beloved Master, out 
 of their sight. 
 
 In this illustrious manner did the great Redeemer of 
 mankind depart, after having finished the grand work 
 which he left the bosom of his Father to execute ; which 
 angels with joy described was to happen, and which, 
 through all eternity to come, shall, at periods the most 
 immensely distant from the time of its execution, be 
 looked back upon with inexpressible delight, by every 
 inhabitant of heaven ; for though the minute affairs of 
 time may vanish altogether and be lost, when they are 
 removed far back by the endless progression of duration, 
 this object is such that no distance, however great, can 
 lessen. 
 
 We shall conclude this chapter with a few observations 
 on the general conduct of our blessed Redeemer during 
 his abode with men on earth. 
 
 The human character of the blessed Jesus, as it 
 results from ibhe account given of him by the evangelists 
 (for they have not formally drawn it up), is entirely 
 different from that of all other men whatsoever; for 
 whereas they have selfish passions deeply rooted in their 
 breasts, and are influenced by them in almost every 
 thing they do, Jesus was so entirely free from them that 
 the most severe scrutiny cannot furnish one single action 
 in the whole course of his life wherein he consulted his 
 own interest only. No;- he was influenced by very 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 477 
 
 different motives : the present happiness and eternal 
 welfare of sinners regulated his conduct; and, while 
 others followed their respective occupations, Jesus had 
 no other business than that of doing the will of his 
 Father, and promoting the happiness of the sons of 
 men. Nor did he wait till he was solicited to extend 
 his benevolent hand to the distressed : " he went about 
 doing good," and always accounted it " more blessed to 
 give than to receive ; " resembling God rather than man. 
 Benevolence was the very life of his soul : he not only 
 did good to objects 'presented to him for relief, but he 
 industriously sought them out, in order to extend his 
 compassionate assistance. 
 
 It is common for persons of the most exalted faculties 
 to be elated with success and applause, or dejected by 
 censure and disappointments ; but the blessed Jesus was 
 never elated by the one or depressed by the other. He 
 was never more courageous than when he met with the 
 greatest opposition and cruel treatment, nor more hum- 
 ble than when the sons of men worshipped at his feet. 
 
 He came into the world inspired with the grandest 
 purpose that ever was formed that of saving from eter- 
 nal perdition, not a single nation, but the whole world 
 and in the execution of it went through the longest and 
 heaviest train of labors that ever was sustained, with a 
 constancy and resolution on which no disadvantageous 
 impression* could be made by any accident whatever. 
 Calumny, threatenings, bad success, with many other 
 evils constantly attending him, served only to quicken his 
 endeavors in this glorious enterprise, which he unceas- 
 ingly pursued, even till he had finished it by his death. 
 
 The generality of mankind are prone to retaliate 
 
478 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 injuries received, and all seem to take a satisfaction in 
 complaining of the cruelties of those who oppress them ; 
 whereas the whole of Christ's labors breathed nothing 
 but meekness, patience, and forgiveness, even to his 
 bitterest enemies and in the midst of the most excrucia- 
 ting torments. The words, " Father, forgive them, for 
 they know not what they do," uttered by him when his 
 enemies were nailing him to the cross, fitly express the 
 temper which he maintained through the whole course 
 of his life, even when assaulted by the heaviest provoca- 
 tion. He was destined to sufferings 'here below, in order 
 that he might raise his people to honor, glory, and im- 
 mortality in the realms of bliss above, and therefore 
 patiently, yea, joyftilly, submitted to all that the malice 
 of earth and hell could inflict. He was vilified that we 
 might be honored ; he died that we might live forever 
 and ever. 
 
 To conclude : the greatest and best men have discov- 
 ered the degeneracy and corruption of human nature, 
 and shown them to have been nothing more than men ; 
 but it was otherwise with Jesus. He was superior to 
 all the men that ever lived, both with regard to the 
 purity of his manners and the perfection of his holiness. 
 He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from 
 sinners. 
 
 Whether we consider him as a teacher or as a man, 
 " he did no sin, neither was guile found in liis mouth." 
 His whole life was perfectly free from spot or weakness ; 
 at the same time, it was remarkable for the greatest and 
 most extensive exercises of purity and goodness. But 
 never to have committed the least sin in word or deed, 
 never to have uttered any sentiment that could be cen- 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 479- 
 
 sured, upon the various topics of religion and morality 
 which were the daily subjects of his discourses, and that 
 through the course of a life filled with action, and led 
 under the observation of many enemies, who had always 
 access to converse with him, and who often came to find 
 fault, is a pitch of perfection evidently above the reach 
 of human nature ; and consequently he who possessed it 
 must have been divine. 
 
 Such was the Person who is the subject of the evan- 
 gelical history. If the reader, by reviewing his life, 
 doctrine, and miracles, as they are here represented to 
 him united in one series, has a clearer idea of these 
 things than before, or observes a beauty in his actions 
 thus linked together, which, taken separately, do not 
 appear so fully if he feels himself touched by the char- 
 acter of Jesus in general, or with any of his sermons or 
 actions in particular, thus simply delineated in writing 
 whose principal charms are the beauties of truth above 
 all, if his dying so generously for men strikes him with 
 admiration, or fills him with hope, in the prospect of 
 that pardon which is thereby purchased for the world 
 let him seriously consider with himself what improve- 
 ments he ought to make of the divine goodness. 
 
 Jesus, by his death, hath set open the gate of immor- 
 tality to the sons of men, and, by his word, spirit, and 
 example, graciously offers to make them meet for the 
 glorious rewards in the kingdom of the heavenly 
 Canaan, and to conduct them into the inheritance of 
 the saints in light. Let us therefore remember that, 
 being born under the dispensation of his gospel, we 
 have, from our earliest years, enjoyed the best means of 
 securing to ourselves an interest in that favor of God 
 
480 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 which is life, and that loving kindness which is better 
 than life. 
 
 We have been called to aspire after an exaltation to 
 the nature and felicity of the Almighty, exhibited to 
 mortal eyes in the man Christ Jesus, to fire us with the 
 noblest ambition. His gospel teaches us that we are 
 made for eternity, and that our present life is to our 
 future existence as infancy to manhood. But, as in the 
 former many things are to be learned, many hardships 
 to be endured, many habits to be acquired, and that by 
 a course of exercises which in themselves though pain- 
 ful, and possibly useless, to the child, yet are necessary 
 to fit him for the business and enjoyments of manhood, 
 so, while we remain in this infancy of human life, things 
 are to be learned, hardships to be endured, and habits 
 to be acquired by a laborious discipline, which, however 
 painful, must be undergone, because necessary to fit us 
 for the employments and pleasures of our riper existence 
 in the realms above; always remembering that, what- 
 ever our trials may be in this world, if we ask for God's 
 assistance he has promised to give it. Inflamed, there- 
 fore, with the love of immortality and its joys, let us 
 submit ourselves to our heavenly Teacher, and learn of 
 him those lessons which alone can render life pleasant, 
 death desirable, and fill our hearts with ecstatic joy. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 481 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 REMARKS ON THE PECULIAR NATURE OF THE CHRISTIAN 
 RELIGION, THE PRINCIPLES IT INCULCATES, AND ITS FIT- 
 NESS TO RENDER MEN HOLY AND HUMBLE HERE, AND 
 HAPPILY GLORIFIED HEREAFTER. 
 
 WE cannot close this delightful scene of the life of our 
 dear Lord and Saviour more comfortably than by con- 
 sidering the benefits resulting from a due attendance to 
 his doctrines by all who shall by faith receive and em- 
 brace the same. Probably none have been greater 
 enemies to the progress of religion than those who 
 delineate it in a gloomy and terrifying form, nor any 
 guilty of a more injurious calumny against the gospel 
 than those who represent its precepts as rigorous impo- 
 sitions and unnecessary restraints. 
 
 True religion is the perfection of human nature, and 
 the foundation of uniform exalted pleasure, of public 
 order, and private happiness. Christianity is the most 
 excellent and the most useful institution, having the 
 " promise of the life that now is and of that which is 
 to come." It is the voice of reason ; it is also the lan- 
 guage of Scripture, " The ways of wisdom are ways of 
 pleasantness, and all her paths are peace ; " and our 
 blessed Saviour himself assures us that his precepts are 
 easy and the burden of his religion light. 
 
 The Christian religion is a rational service, a worship 
 "in spirit and truth," a worship worthy of the majesty 
 of the Almighty to receive, and of the nature of man to 
 
 31 
 
482 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 pay. It comprehends all we ought to believe, and all 
 we ought to practice ; its positive rites are few, of plain 
 and easy significancy, and manifestly adapted to estab- 
 lish a sense of our obligation to God. The gospel places 
 religion, not in abstruse speculation and metaphysical 
 subtleties, not in outward show and tedious ceremony, 
 not in superstitious austerities and enthusiastic visions ; 
 but in purity of heart and holiness of life. The sum of 
 our duty, according to our great Master himself, consists 
 in the love of God and of our neighbor ; according to St. 
 Paul, in denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and in 
 living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present 
 evil world ; according to St. James, in visiting the father- 
 less and widows in affliction, and in keeping ourselves 
 unspotted from the world. This is the constant strain 
 and tenor of the gospel. This it inculcates most ear- 
 nestly, and on this it lays the greatest stress. 
 
 But is the Christian- system only a republication of the 
 law of nature, or merely a refined system of morality ? 
 No, certainly : it is a great deal more. It is an act of 
 grace, a stupendous plan of providence, designed for the 
 recovery of mankind from a state of degradation and 
 ruin to the favor of the Almighty, and to the hopes of a 
 happy immortality, through a Mediator. 
 
 Under this dispensation true religion consists in " re- 
 pentance toward God," and in " faith in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ," as the person appointed by the supreme author- 
 ity of heaven and earth to reconcile apostate man to his 
 offended Creator; as a Sacrifice for sin ; our vital Head 
 and governing Lord. This is religion, as we are Chris- 
 tians. And what hardship, what exaction, is there in 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 483 
 
 all this ? Surely, none. Nay, the practice of religion is 
 much easier than the servitude of sin. 
 
 Our rational powers, all will readily agree, are dread- 
 fully impaired, and the soul weakened by sin. The 
 animal passions are strong and corrupt, and oppose the 
 dictates of the Spirit of God ; objects of sense make power- 
 ful impressions on the mind. We are, in every situation, 
 surrounded with many snares and temptations. In such 
 a disordered state of things, we cannot please God till 
 created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works. We must 
 be born again born from above. 
 
 The God of all grace has planted in the human breast 
 a quick sense of good and evil a faculty which strongly 
 dictates right and wrong; and though, by the strength 
 of appetite and warmth of passion, men are often hur- 
 ried into immoral practices, yet in the beginning, espe- 
 cially when there has been the advantage of a good 
 education, it is usually with reluctance mid opposition 
 of mind. What inward struggles precede ! what bitter 
 pangs attend their sinful excesses ! what guilty blushes 
 and uneasy fears ! what frightful prospects and pale 
 reviews ! " Terrors are upon them, and a fire not 
 blown consurneth them." To make a mock of sin, and 
 to commit iniquity without remorse, is in some instances 
 an attainment that requires length of time and much 
 painful labor more labor than is requisite to attain that 
 salvation which is the glory of the man, the ornament 
 of the Christian, and the chief of his happiness. The 
 soul can no more be reconciled to acts of wickedness 
 and injustice, than the body to excess, but by suffering 
 many bitter pains and cruel attacks. The mouth of 
 conscience rrmy, indeed, be stopped for awhile by the 
 
484 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 noise of company and stifled by the entertainments of 
 sense ; but this principle of conscience is so deep-rooted 
 in human nature, and, at the same -time, her voice is so 
 clear and strong, that the sinner's arts will be unable 
 to lull her into a lasting security. When the hour of 
 calamity arrives, when sickness seizeth and death ap- 
 proaches the sinner, conscience then constrains him to 
 listen to her accusation, and will not suffer the temples 
 of his head to take any rest. " There is no peace to 
 the wicked ; " the foundations of peace are subverted ; 
 they are at utter enmity with their reason, with their 
 conscience, and with their God. 
 
 Not so is the case of true religion. For, when religion 
 pure and genuine forms the temper and governs the life, 
 conscience applauds, and peace takes her residence in 
 the breast. The soul is in its proper state. There is 
 order and regularity both in the faculties and actions. 
 Conscious of its own integrity, and secure of the divine 
 approbation, the soul enjoys a calmness not to be de- 
 scribed. But why do I call this happy frame mere calm- 
 ness ? the air may be calm, and the day overcast with 
 thick mists and dark clouds. The pious and virtuous 
 mind resembles a serene day enlightened and enlivened 
 with the brightest rays of the sun. Though all without 
 may be clouds and darkness, there is light in the heart 
 of a devout man : " He is satisfied with favor," and 
 " filled with peace and joy in believing." In the con- 
 cluding scene, the awful moment of dissolution, all is 
 peaceful and serene. The immortal part quits its tene- 
 ment of clay, with the well-grounded hope of ascending 
 to happiness and glory. 
 
 Nor does the gospel enjoin any duty but what is fit 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 4S5 
 
 and reasonable. It calls upon all its professors to prac- 
 tice reverence, submission, love, and gratitude to God ; 
 justice, truth, and universal benevolence to men ; and 
 to maintain the government of oar minds. And what 
 has any one to object against this ? From the least 
 to the greatest commandment of our dear Redeemer, 
 there is not one which impartial reason can find fault 
 with. "His law is perfect; his precepts are true and 
 righteous altogether." Not even those excepted which 
 require us " to love our enemies, to deny ourselves," and 
 to " take up our cross." To forgive an injury is more 
 generous and manly than to revenge it; to control a 
 licentious appetite, than to indulge it ; to suffer poverty, 
 reproach, and even death itself, in the sacred cause of 
 truth and integrity, is much wiser and better than by 
 base compliances to make " shipwreck of faith and a 
 good conscience." Thus in a storm on sea, 'or a confla- 
 gration on the land, a man with pleasure abandons his 
 slumber to secure his jewels. Piety and virtue are the 
 wisest and most reasonable things in the world, vice and 
 wickedness the most irrational and absurd. 
 
 The All-wise Author of our being hath so framed our 
 natures, and placed us in such relations/ that there is 
 nothing vicious but what is injurious, nothing virtuous 
 but what is advantageous to our present interest both 
 with respect to body and mind. Meekness and hu- 
 mility, patience and universal charity, the fruits of grace, 
 give a joy unknown to transgressors. 
 
 The divine virtues of truth and equity are the only 
 bands of friendship, the only supports of society. Tem- 
 perance and sobriety are the best preservatives of health 
 and strength ; but sin and debauchery impair the body, 
 
486 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 consume the substance, reduce to poverty, and form the 
 direct path to an immediate and untimely death. Now, 
 the chief excellency of all laws, and what will always 
 render their burden pleasant and delightful, is, that 
 they enjoin nothing unbecoming or injurious. 
 
 Besides, to render our duty easy, we have the exam- 
 ple, as well as the commands, of the blessed Jesus. The 
 masters of morality among the heathen gave excellent 
 rules for the regulation of men's manners; but they 
 wanted either the honesty or the courage to try their 
 own arguments upon themselves. It was a strong pre- 
 sumption that the yoke of the Scribes and Pharisees was 
 grievous, when they laid " heavy burdens upon men's 
 shoulders," which they themselves refused to touch with 
 one of their fingers. Not thus our great lawgiver, Jesus 
 Christ the righteous. His behavior was in all respects 
 conformable to his doctrine. His devotion toward God, 
 how sublime and ardent ! his benevolence toward men, 
 how great and diffusive ! He was in life an exact pat- 
 tern of innocence ; for he " did no sin, neither was guile 
 found in his mouth." In the Son of God incarnate is 
 exhibited the brightest, the fairest resemblance of the 
 Father that earth or heaven ever beheld ; an example 
 peculiarly persuasive, calculated to inspire resolution, 
 and to animate us to use our utmost endeavors to imi- 
 tate the divine pattern, the example of " the author and 
 finisher of our faith," of him "who loved us and gave 
 himself for us." Our profession and character as Chris- 
 tians oblige us to make his example the model of our 
 lives. Every motive of decency, gratitude, and interest 
 constrains us to tread the path he trod before us. 
 
 We should also remember that our burden is easy; 
 \ 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 487 
 
 because God, who " knoweth whereof we are made, who 
 considereth that we are but dust," is ever ready to 
 assist us. The heathen sages themselves had some 
 notion of this assistance, though guided only by the glim- 
 mering lamp of reason. But what they looked upon as 
 probable, the gospel clearly and strongly asserts. We 
 there hear the apostles exhorting, " Let us come boldly 
 to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and 
 find grace to help in time of need." We there hear the 
 blessed Jesus himself arguing in this convincing man- 
 ner : " If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts 
 unto you children, how much more shall your heavenly 
 Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ! " 
 
 Though we may not be able to explain the mode of 
 his operations, the Scriptures warrant us to assert, that, 
 when men are renewed .and prepared for heaven, it is 
 " through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the 
 truth." How enlivening the thought ! how encouraging 
 the motive ! We are not left to struggle alone with the 
 difficulties which attend the practice of virtue, in the 
 present imperfect state. To promote the happiness of 
 his people, every thing is done by Christ that is requisite, 
 his grace is all-sufficient, his Spirit is able to conduct us 
 through this vale of tears, to never-fading bliss. 
 
 We should also remember, that the great doctrine of 
 the gospel, concerning the propitious mercy of God to 
 all penitents, through Christ Jesus, greatly contributes 
 to the consolation of Christians. Let it be granted that 
 the hope of pardon is essential to the religion of fallen 
 creatures, and one of its first principles, yet, considering 
 the doubts and suspicions which are apt to arise in a 
 mind conscious of guilt, it is undoubtedly a great and 
 
488 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 inestimable favor to be relieved in this respect by a 
 messenger from Omnipotence himself. This is our hap- 
 piness. Here the gospel triumphs. With these assur- 
 ances it abounds. Upon this head the declarations of 
 our blessed Saviour and his apostles are so express and 
 full, that every one who believes them, and knows him- 
 self to be a true penitent, must banish every doubt and 
 fear, and rejoice with joy unspeakable, "Come unto me, 
 all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest." Matt. xi. 28. "All manner of sin and blas- 
 phemy shall be forgiven unto men.'' Matt. xii. 31. 
 " The blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin." 1 John 
 i. 7. What grace and favor is this ! Now our way is 
 plain before us, and the burden we are to bear is made 
 easy. Our sins are pardonable, if repented of and for- 
 saken. 
 
 Consider this, all ye who have never yet regarded 
 religion, but pursued a course of vice and sensuality all 
 your lives long. Though your conduct has been base, 
 to the last degree, your case is not desperate. The God 
 whom you have so highly offended commiserates your 
 errors, is ever ready to extend his pardoning mercy to 
 his mcwt degenerate creatures, upon their faith and re- 
 pentance, and " is in Christ Jesus reconciling the world 
 to himself, not imputing unto sinners their trespasses. 
 Let the wicked, therefore, forsake his way, and the un- 
 righteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto 
 the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ; arid to our 
 God, for he will abundantly pardon." Isaiah Iv. 7. 
 
 Another particular, which renders the Christian re- 
 ligion delightful, is its leading us to the perfect, eternal 
 life of heaven. It cannot be denied but that we may 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 489 
 
 draw from the light of nature strong presumptions of a 
 future state. The present existence does not look like 
 an entire scene, but rather like the infancy of human 
 nature, which is capable of arriving at a much higher 
 degree of maturity. But, whatever solid foundation the 
 doctrine of a future state may have in nature and 
 reason, certain it is, through the habitual neglect of re- 
 flection, and the force of irregular passions, this doctrine 
 was, before the coming of our blessed Saviour, very 
 much disfigured, and, in a great measure, lost among 
 the sons of men.* 
 
 In the heathen world, a future state of rewards and 
 punishments was a matter of mere speculation and un- 
 certainty sometimes hoped for, sometimes doubted of, 
 and sometimes absolutely denied.f The law of Moses, 
 
 * The doctrine of a future state of rewards and punishments, in some 
 form, enters into the religious creed of all civilized nations, ancient 
 and modern. It has ever apted upon the hopes and fears of mankind ; 
 but in the rejection or absence of Divine Revelation, it has been so 
 corrupted by fables, by priestcraft, poetry, or the false philosophy of 
 metempsychosis, as to have lost almost all its salutary effect in the 
 conscience and the life. 
 
 Modern Spiritism (miscalled Spiritualism) is but a revival of the 
 ancient heathen Necromancy, and is corrupting the whole doctrine of 
 the future life in the minds of its mystified and credulous disciples. 
 That some men of high station and culture embrace it only proves how 
 low pride can fall before the poor image of its own creation. 
 
 t Our author here refers not to the national creeds or popular beliefs 
 of the heathen world in the time of Christ, but to the speculations of 
 the philosophers of Greece and Rome for five hundred years before his 
 Advent. While Conscience still asserted the judgment of God in a 
 future life, Reason recoiled from the fabulous forms in which it was 
 generally taught, and sought for substantial evidence of its nature and 
 reality from every quarter, as by Socrates, Plato, Cicero, Seneca, Plu- 
 tarch, and others ; while many, like Epicurus and Polybius, doubted 
 or denied the evidence altogether. Among the Jews this latter class 
 was represented by the Sadducees. 
 
488 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 inestimable favor to be relieved in this respect by a 
 messenger from Omnipotence himself. This is our hap- 
 piness. Here the gospel triumphs. With these assur- 
 ances it abounds. Upon this head the declarations of 
 our blessed Saviour and his apostles are so express and 
 full, that every one who believes them, and knows him- 
 self to be a true penitent, must banish every doubt and 
 fear, and rejoice with joy unspeakable, "Come unto me, 
 all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest." Matt. xi. 28. "All manner of sin and blas- 
 phemy shall be forgiven unto men." Matt. xii. 31. 
 " The blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin." 1 John 
 i. 7. What grace and favor is this ! Now our way is 
 plain before us, and the burden we are to bear is made 
 easy. Our sins are pardonable, if repented of and for- 
 saken. 
 
 Consider this, all ye who have never yet regarded 
 religion, but pursued a course of vice and sensuality all 
 your lives long. Though your conduct has been base, 
 to the last degree, your case is not desperate. The God 
 whom you have so highly offended commiserates your 
 errors, is ever ready to extend his pardoning mercy to 
 his most degenerate creatures, upon their faith and re- 
 pentance, and " is in Christ Jesus reconciling the world 
 to hiraself, not imputing unto sinners their trespasses. 
 Let the wicked, therefore, forsake his way, and the un- 
 righteous man his thoughts ; and let him return unto 
 the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our 
 God, for he will abundantly pardon." Isaiah Iv. 7. 
 
 Another particular, which renders the Christian re- 
 ligion delightful, is its leading us to the perfect, eternal 
 life of heaven. It cannot be denied but that we may 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 489 
 
 draw from the light of nature strong presumptions of a 
 future state. The present existence does not look like 
 an entire scene, but rather like the infancy of human 
 nature, which is capable of arriving at a much higher 
 degree of maturity. But, whatever solid foundation the 
 doctrine of a future state may have in nature and 
 reason, certain it is, through the habitual neglect of re- 
 flection, and the force of irregular passions, this doctrine 
 was, before the coming of our blessed Saviour, very 
 much disfigured, and, in a great measure, lost among 
 the sons of men.* 
 
 In the heathen world, a future state of rewards and 
 punishments was a matter of mere speculation and un- 
 certainty sometimes hoped for, sometimes doubted of, 
 and sometimes absolutely denied.f The law of Moses, 
 
 * The doctrine of a future state of rewards and punishments, in some 
 form, enters into the religious creed of all civilized nations, ancient 
 and modern. It has ever apted upon the hopes and fears of mankind ; 
 but in the rejection or absence of Divine Revelation, it has been so 
 corrupted by fables, by priestcraft, poetry, or the false philosophy of 
 metempsychosis, as to have lost almost all its salutary effect in the 
 conscience and the life. 
 
 Modern Spiritism (miscalled Spiritualism) is but a revival of the 
 ancient heathen Necromancy, and is corrupting the whole doctrine of 
 the future life in the minds of its mystified and credulous disciples. 
 That some men of high station and culture embrace it only proves how 
 low pride can fall before the poor image of its own creation. 
 
 t Our author here refers not to the national creeds or popular beliefs 
 of the heathen world in the time of Christ, but to the speculations of 
 the philosophers of Greece and Rome for five hundred years before his 
 Advent. AVhile Conscience still asserted the judgment of God in a 
 future life, Reason recoiled from the fabulous forms in which it was 
 generally taught, and sought for substantial evidence of its nature and 
 reality from every quarter, as by Socrates, Plato, Cicero, Seneca, Plu- 
 tarch, and others ; while many, like Epicurus and Polybius, doubted 
 or denied the evidence altogether. Among the Jews this latter class 
 was represented by the Sadducees. 
 
490 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 t 
 
 though of divine origin, is chiefly enforced by promises 
 of temporal blessings ; and even in the writings of the 
 prophets a future immortality is very sparingly men- 
 tioned and obscurely represented ; but the doctrine of 
 out Saviour " hath brought life and immortality to 
 light." * 
 
 In the gospel we have a distinct account of another 
 world, attended with many engaging circumstances, 
 about which the decisions of reason were dark and con- 
 fused. We have the testimony of the Author of our 
 religion, who was raised from the dead, and who after- 
 ward, in the presence of his disciples, ascended into 
 heaven. In the New Testament it is expressly declared 
 that good men " when absent from the body are present 
 with the Lord." Here we are assured of the resurrec- 
 tion of the body in a glorious form clothed with 
 immortal vigor, suited to the active nature of the 
 animating spirit, and assisting its most enlarged opera- 
 tions and incessant progress toward perfection. Here 
 we are assured that " the righteous shall go into life 
 everlasting;" that they shall enter into the kingdom of 
 the heavenly Canaan, where no ignorance shall cloud 
 the understanding, no vice disturb the will. In these 
 regions of perfection, nothing but love shall possess the 
 soul, nothing but gratitude employ the tongue ; there 
 the righteous shall be united to an innumerable company 
 of angels, and to the general assembly and church of 
 
 * This phrase (2 Tim. i. 10) does not mean that Christ was the first 
 who- taught the reality of a future life (which is not true in fact), but 
 that he first threw a sure and steady light into the awful obscurities of 
 the future world ; revealing the way of salvation to the soul and the 
 resurrection of the body to incorruption and glory, of which he him 
 self was the first great example. 1 Cor. xv. 20, 50-58. 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 491 
 
 the first-born : there they shall see their exalted 
 Kedeemer at the right hand of Omnipotence, and sit 
 down with him on his throne ; there they shall be 
 admitted into the immediate presence of the supreme 
 Fountain of life and happiness, and, beholding his face, 
 be changed into the same image from glory to glory. 
 Here language, here imagination, fail me ! It requires 
 the genius, the knowledge, and the pen of an angel, to 
 paint the happiness and blissful scene of the New Jeru- 
 salem, which human eyes cannot behold till this mortal 
 body shall be purified from its corruption and dressed 
 in the 'robes of immortality : " Eye hath not seen, nor 
 ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart to con- 
 ceive the joys which God hath prepared for those that 
 love him." 
 
 What is the heaven of the heathen compared with 
 the heaven of the Christian ? The hope, the prospect 
 of this is sufficient to reconcile us to all the difficulties 
 that may attend our progress, to sweeten all our labors, 
 alleviate every grief, and silence every murmur. 
 
 But why, says the libertine, in the gayety of his heart, 
 should there be any difficulties or restraint at all ? God 
 hath made nothing in vain. The appetites .he hath 
 planted in the human breast are to be gratified. To 
 deny or restrain them is ignominious bondage ; but to 
 give full scope to every desire 'and passion of the heart, 
 without check or control, is true, manly freedom. 
 
 In opposition to this loose and careless way of reason- 
 ing, let it be considered that the liberty of a rational 
 creature doth not consist in an entire exemption from 
 all control, but in following the dictates of reason as 
 the governing principle, and in keeping the various 
 
492 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 passions in. due subordination. To follow the regular 
 motion of those affections which the wise Creator hath 
 implanted within us, is our duty ; but as our natural 
 desires, in this state of trial, are often irregular, we are 
 bound to restrain their excesses, and not to indulge 
 them but in a strict subserviency to the integrity and 
 peace of our minds and to the order and happiness of 
 human society established in the world. Those who 
 allow the supreme, command to be usurped by sensual 
 and brutal appetites may " promise themselves liberty," 
 but are truly and absolutely " the servants of corruption." 
 To be vicious is to be enslaved. We behold with pity 
 those miserable objects that are chained in the galleys 
 or confined in dark and loathsome dungeons ; but much 
 more abject and vile is the slavery of the sinner ! No 
 slavery of the body is equal to the bondage of the mind ; 
 no chains press so closely or gall so cruelly as the fetters 
 of sin, which corrode the very substance of the soul and 
 fret every faculty. 
 
 It must, indeed, be confessed that there are some 
 profligates so hardened by custom as to be past all 
 feeling, and who, because insensible of their bondage, 
 boast of this insensibility as a mark of their native 
 freedom, and of their happiness. Vain men ! they 
 might extol with equal propriety the peculiar happi- 
 ness of an apoplexy, or the profound tranquillity of a 
 lethargy. 
 
 Thus have we endeavored to place in a plain and 
 conspicuous light some of the peculiar excellences of 
 the Christian religion ; and from hence many useful 
 reflections will naturally arise in the mind of every 
 attentive reader. It is the religion of Jesus that hath 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 493 
 
 removed idolatry and superstition, and brought immor- 
 tality to light when concealed under the vail of darkness 
 almost impenetrable. This hath set the great truths 
 of religion in a clear and conspicuous point of view, and 
 proposed new and powerful motives to influence our 
 minds and to determine our conduct. Nothing is 
 enjoined to be believed but what is worthy of God, 
 nothing to be practised but what is friendly to man. 
 All the doctrines of the gospel are rational and consis- 
 tent; all its precepts are truly wise, just, and good. The 
 gospel contains nothing grievous to an ingenuous, rnind; 
 it debars us from nothing but doing harm to ourselves 
 or to our fellow-creatures, and permits us to range any- 
 where but in the paths of danger and destruction. It 
 only requires us to act up to its excellent commands, 
 and to prefer to the vanishing pleasures of sin the smiles 
 of a reconciled God, and " an eternal weight of glory." 
 And is this a rigorous exaction, a heavy burden not to 
 be endured? How can sinful mortals harbor so un- 
 worthy a thought ? 
 
 Surely no man who is a real friend to the cause of 
 virtue and to the interests of mankind can ever be an 
 enemy of Christianity, if he truly understands it and 
 seriously reflects on its wise and useful tendencj 7 . It 
 conducts us to our journey's end by the plainest and 
 securest path, where the " steps are not straitened, and 
 where he that runneth stu ruble th not." 
 
 Let us who live under this last and most gracious dis- 
 pensation of God to mankind " count all things but loss, 
 for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our 
 Lord," and not suffer ourselves, by the slight 'cavils of 
 unbelievers, to be " moved away from the hope of the 
 
49 i LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 gospel." Let us demonstrate that we believe the supe- 
 rior excellency of the Christian dispensation, by con- 
 forming to its precepts. Let us show that we are 
 Christians in deed arid in truth; not by endless disputes 
 about trifles, and the transports of a blind zeal, but by 
 abounding in those "fruits of righteousness which are, 
 through Jesus Christ, to the praise and glory of God." 
 
 From what has been said, we may clearly perceive 
 how groundless all those prejudices are which some con- 
 ceive against religion, as if it were a peevish, morose 
 scheme, burdensome to human nature and inconsistent 
 with the true enjoyment of life. Such sentiments are 
 too apt to prevail in the heat of youth, when the spirits 
 are brisk and lively and the passions warm and impetu- 
 ous ; but it is wholly a mistake, and a mistake of the 
 most dangerous tendency. The truth is, there is no 
 pleasure like that of a good conscience ; no real peace but 
 what results from the sense of the divine favor. This 
 ennobles the mind, and can alone support it under all 
 the various and unequal scenes of the present state of 
 trial. This lays the sure foundation of an easy, comfort- 
 able life, of a serene and peaceful death, and of eternal 
 joy and happiness hereafter; whereas vice is ruinous to 
 all our most valuable interests, spoils the native beauty 
 and subverts the order of the soul, renders us the scorn 
 of man, the rejected of God, and, without timely repen- 
 tance, will rob us of a happy eternity. Religion is the 
 health, the liberty, and the happiness of the soul ; sin is 
 the disease, the servitude, and destruction of it. 
 
 If this be not sufficient to convince you, let me lead 
 you into the chamber of an habitual rioter, the lewd 
 debauchee, worn out in the cause of iniquity, " his bones 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 405 
 
 full of the sins of his youth," that from his own mouth, 
 as he lies on his expiring bed, you may learn that " the 
 way of transgressors is hard," and that, however sweet 
 sin may be in the commission, it afterward " stings like 
 a serpent and bites like an adder." 
 
 I am going, reader, to represent to you the last mo- 
 ments of a person of high birth and spirits, of great parts 
 and strong passions, every way accomplished, but, un- 
 happily, attached to those paths which lead to vice and 
 destruction. 
 
 His unkind treatment was the cause of the death of 
 a most amiable wife, and his monstrous extravagance, 
 in effect, disinherited his only child. And surely the 
 death-bed of a profligate is next in horror to that abyss 
 to which it leads ! It has the most of hell that is visible 
 upon earth ; and he that hath seen it hath more than 
 faith to confirm him in his creed. I see now* (says the 
 worthy divine from whom I shall borrow this relation), * 
 for who can forget it ? Are there in it no flames and 
 furies? You are ignorant, then, of what a scared imagi- 
 nation can figure, what a guilty heart can feel ! How 
 dismal it is ! The two great enemies of soul arid body, 
 Sickness and Sin, sink and confound his friends : silence 
 and darkness are in the dismal scene. Sickness excludes 
 the light of heaven, and sin its blessed hope. Oh, double 
 darkness, more than Egyptian ! actually to be felt ! 
 
 The sad evening before the death of the noble youth 
 whose last hours suggested these thoughts, I was with 
 him. No one else was there but his physician, and an 
 
 * Dr. Young, author* of the celebrated "Night Thoughts," in his 
 "Centaur, not Fabulous." 
 
496 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 intimate acquaintance, whom he loved and whom he had 
 ruined. 
 
 At my coming he said : " You and the physician are 
 come too late : I have neither life nor hope. You both 
 aim at miracles. You would raise the dead ! " 
 
 " Heaven," I said, " was merciful." 
 
 "Or I could not," answered he, "have been thus 
 guilty. What has it not done to bless and to save me ? 
 I have been too strong for Omnipotence. I plucked 
 down ruin." 
 
 I said, " The blessed Redeemer " 
 
 " Hold, hold ! " said he ; " you wound me ! This is 
 the rock on which I split ! I denied his name !" 
 
 Refusing to hear anything from me or take anything 
 from his physician, he lay silent, as far as sudden darts 
 of pain would permit, till the clock struck. Then he 
 cried out, with vehemence, " Oh, time ! time! it is 'fit 
 thou shouldst strike thy murderer to the heart. How 
 art thou fled forever ! A month ! Oh, for a single week ! 
 I ask not for years though an age were too little for 
 the much I have to do." 
 
 On my saying to him, we could not do too much, that 
 Jieaven was a blessed place 
 
 " So much the worse," replied he : " 'tis lost ! 'tis 
 lost ! Heaven is to me the severest part of hell ! " 
 
 Soon after, I proposed prayer ; to which he answered : 
 " Pray, you that can. I never prayed. I cannot pray. 
 My conscience is too much wounded. I have deserted 
 my benevolent Maker, and my soul is enveloped in the 
 deepest horrors." 
 
 His friend, being much touched, even to tears, at this 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 497 
 
 (for who could forbear? I could not), he, with the most 
 affectionate look said : 
 
 "Keep those tears for thyself: I have undone thee. 
 Dost thou weep for me ? That is cruel. What can pain 
 me more ? " 
 
 Here his friend, too much affected, would have left 
 him. 
 
 " No," said he : " stay. You still may hope : there- 
 fore hear me. How madly have I talked ! how madly 
 hast thou listened and believed ! But to look on my pres- 
 ent state as a full answer to thee and to myself. This 
 body is all weakness and pain ; but my soul, as if stung 
 up by torment to greater strength and spirit, is full pow- 
 erful to reason, full mighty to suffer; and that which 
 thus triumphs within the jaws of mortality is, doubtless, 
 immortal. And, as for a Deity, nothing less than an 
 Almighty could inflict the pains I feel." 
 
 I was about to congratulate this passive, involuntary 
 confessor, in his asserting the two prime articles of his 
 creed, extorted by the rack of nature, when he thus 
 very passionately added : u No, no ! let me speak on. 
 I have not long to speak. My much-injured friend. 
 My soul, as my body, lies in ruins, in ' scattered frag- 
 ments of broken thought. Remorse for the past throws 
 my thoughts on the future ; worse dread of the future 
 strikes it back on the past. I turn, and turn, and find 
 no ray. Didst thou feel half the mountain that is on 
 me, thou wouldst struggle with the martyr for his stake, 
 and bless heaven for the flame. That is not an everlast- 
 ing flame. That is not an unquenchable fire ! " 
 
 How were we struck ! yet, soon after, still more. 
 With an .eye of distraction, with a face of despair, he 
 32 
 
498 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 cried out, " My principles have poisoned my friend ; my 
 extravagance beggared my boy; rny unkindness mur- 
 dered my wife ! And is there yet another hell ? thou 
 blasphemed yet indulgent Lord God ! hell itself is a 
 refuge if it hides me from thy frown." 
 
 Soon after, his understanding failed; his terrified 
 imagination uttered horrors not to be repeated or ever 
 forgotten ; and, before the sun (which I hope has seen 
 few like him) arose, this gay, young, noble, ingenuous, 
 accomplished, and most wretched mortal expired. 
 
 It must, indeed, be owned it sometimes happens that 
 men who have lived very wicked lives have gone out 
 of the world as they have lived in it, defying conscience 
 and deriding a future judgment as an idle fiction. But 
 these instances are very rare, and only prove that there 
 are monsters in the moral as well as the natural world. 
 
 It will perhaps be said that the sons of vice and riot 
 have pleasure in sensual indulgences. Allowed ; but it 
 is altogether of the lower kind, empty, fleeting, and 
 transient : " like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so 
 is the mirth of the wicked." It makes a noise and a 
 blaze for the present, but soon vanishes away into smoke 
 and vapor. 
 
 On the other hand, the pleasure of religion is solid 
 and lasting, and will attend us through all, even the 
 last, stage of life. When we have passed the levity of 
 youth, and have lost our relish for the gay entertainments 
 of sense, when old age steals upon us, and stoops us 
 toward the grave, this will cleave fast to us and give us 
 relief. It will be so far from terminating at death, that 
 it then commences perfect, and continually improves, 
 with new additions. 
 
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LIFE OF CHRIST. 499 
 
 Clad in this immortal robe, we need not fear the 
 awful summons of the king of terrors, nor regret our 
 retiring into the chambers of the dust. Our immortal 
 part will wing its way to the arms of its Omnipotent 
 Kedeemer, and find rest in the heavenly mansions of the 
 Almighty. And though our earthly part, this tabernacle 
 of clay, returns to its original dust and is dissolved, our 
 joy, our consolation, our confidence, is that " we have a 
 building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal 
 in the heavens." 
 
THE 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES, 
 
 ST. PETEE. 
 
 ST. PETER was born at Bethsaida, on the banks of the 
 lake of Gennesareth, called also the sea of Galilee, from 
 its being situated in that country, and the lake of Tibe- 
 rias, from that city being built on its banks. His 
 father's name was Jonah. He was at least ten years 
 older than his Master; the circumstances of his being 
 married, and in a settled course of life, when he first 
 became a follower of the great Messiah, and that author- 
 ity and respect the gravity of his person procured him 
 among the rest of the apostles, sufficiently declare this 
 conjecture to be just. 
 
 As he was a descendant of Abraham, he was circum- 
 cised according to the rites of the Mosaic law, and called 
 by his parents Simon or Simeon, a name common at 
 that time among the Jews. But after his becoming a 
 disciple of the blessed Jesus, the additional title of 
 Cephas was conferred upon him by his Master, to denote 
 the firmness of his faith; the word Cephas, in the 
 Syriac, the common language of the' Jews at that time, 
 signifying a stone or rock; and thence he is called, in 
 
 500 
 
DELIVERANCE OF PETER. 
 
ST. PETER. 501 
 
 Greek, Petros, and by us Peter, which implies the same 
 thing. 
 
 Simon Peter, in his youth, was brought up at Bethx 
 saida, to the trade of fishing on the lake, famous for dif 
 ferent kinds of fish, which excelled all others in the fine- 
 ness of their taste. He afterward removed to Capernaum, 
 where he settled ; for we find he had a house there when 
 our Saviour began his public ministry, and there he paid 
 tribute. 
 
 The business of Peter was both mean and toilsome ; it 
 exposed him to all the injuries of the weather, the tem- 
 pestuousness of the sea, and the darkness and horror of 
 the night, and all to acquire a mean livelihood for him- 
 self and family. But meanness of worldly degree is no 
 obstacle to the favor of God : nay, if we review the state 
 of Christianity, from its rise to the present period, we 
 shall find that its friends and votaries consist rather of 
 persons of humble and lowly stations of life, than of the 
 great, the dignified, and the opulent. 
 
 And herein are manifested the wise and admirable 
 methods used by Divine Providence, in making choice 
 of such mean and unlikely instruments in planting and 
 propagating the Christian religion in the world. Men 
 who were destitute of the advantages of education, and 
 brought up to the meanest employments, were chosen 
 to confound the wise, and overturn the learning of the 
 great. 
 
 We know, indeed, that his brother Andrew was a 
 follower of John the Baptist and was led by him to the 
 personal knowledge of Christ. 
 
 It is not enough to be happy alone : grace is a com- 
 municative principle, that, like the circles in the water, 
 
502 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 delights to multiply itself, and to diffuse its influences 
 all around, especially on those whom nature has placed 
 nearest to us. I have, said Andrew, with rapture to his 
 brother, found that eminent person so long and signally 
 foretold by the prophets, and whom all the devout and 
 pious among the sons of Jacob so earnestly expected. 
 
 Simon, who was one of those who waited for the re- 
 demption of Israel, ravished with the joyful news, and 
 impatient of delay, presently followed his brother ; and 
 on his arrival our blessed Saviour immediately gave him 
 a proof of his divinity; saluting him at first sight by his 
 name, and telling him both who he was, his name and 
 kindred, and what title should soon be conferred upon 
 him. 
 
 Peter was undoubtedly one of the disciples who were 
 with Jesus, at the marriage at Cana in Galilee, and after- 
 ward went with him into Judea, where he tarried the 
 first year of his ministry, and baptized. But he did not 
 become conspicuous until they returned to Galilee at the 
 beginning of the next year. 
 
 In order to avoid the prodigious throng of people, our 
 great Kedeemer, who might have commanded, was pleased 
 to entreat Peter, who had now returned to his boat, to 
 thrust off a little from the land, that he might instruct 
 the people. 
 
 Peter gladly complied with the request of his Master, 
 who delivered his heavenly doctrine to the people on 
 the shore. As soon as he had ended his discourse he 
 ordered Simon to row farther from the shore, and cast 
 his net into the sea. To which Simon answered, that 
 they had labored the preceding night, and had taken 
 nothing, and, if they could not then succeed, there 
 
ST. PETER. b03 
 
 were little hopes of it now, as the day was far less 
 proper for fishing than the night. But as his Master 
 was pleased to command, he 'would obey; and accord- 
 ingly he let down his net, when, to the astonishment 
 both of him and of his companions, so great a multitude 
 of fishes were enclosed, that they were obliged to call 
 their partners to their assistance. Amazed at this 
 miraculous draught of fishes, Simon Peter, in an ecstacy 
 of admiration, blended with awe and humility, fell 
 prostrate at his Master's feet, acknowledging himself a 
 vile and sinful man, and thinking himself unworthy of 
 being admitted into the presence of a person so imme- 
 diately sent from God. But the compassionate Son of 
 the Most High kindly removed his fears ; telling him 
 that this miracle was wrought to confirm his faith, and 
 indicate to him that the Almighty had appointed a more 
 noble employment for him, that of saving the souls of 
 the children of men. 
 
 From this time Peter and his companions became the 
 inseparable and constant disciples of the great Messiah, 
 living under the rules of his discipline and institutions. 
 
 The blessed Jesus, having entered upon his important 
 mission, thought proper to select some peculiar persons 
 from among his followers to be constant witnesses of his 
 miracles and doctrine, and who, after his departure, 
 might be entrusted with the care of building his church, 
 and planting that religion in the world, for which he 
 himself left the mansions of heaven and put on the vail 
 of mortality. All the evangelists, in their enumeration 
 of the apostles, constantly place St. Peter first. But we 
 must not on that account suppose that Peter was invested 
 with any personal prerogatives above his brethren. None 
 
504 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 of them -ever intimated an y such thing; and St. Paul 
 says expressly that he was not inferior to the very chief- 
 est apostle. * 
 
 These he afterward invested with the power of work- 
 ing miracles, and sent them into different parts of Judea, 
 in order to carry on with more rapidity the great work 
 which he himself had so happily begun. 
 
 Soon after his election, Peter, with James and John, 
 was permitted by the Saviour to be present at the rais- 
 ing to life of Jarius's daughter, a privilege enjoyed only 
 by these three apostles, and the parents of the child. 
 
 We have no farther account of St. Peter in particular, 
 till the night after our Saviour's miraculously feeding the 
 multitude in the wilderness. Jesus had ordered his dis- 
 ciples to take ship, and pass over to the other side, while* 
 he sent the multitude away. But a violent storm arising, 
 they were in great danger of their lives, when their Mas- 
 ter came unto them, walking on the surface of the bois- 
 terous billows with the same ease as if it had been dry 
 ground. 
 
 Peter, who was always remarkable for bold resolutions, 
 desired his- Master to give him leave to come to him on 
 the water ; and, on obtaining permission, he left the ship, 
 and walked on the sea to meet his Saviour. But wheh 
 he heard the deep roar around him, and the waves in- 
 crease, he began to be afraid ; and as his faith declined, 
 his body sunk in the water; so that in the greatest 
 agony he called for assistance to him who was able t J 
 
 * Peter's seniority of age goes far of itself to explain this. In natu- 
 ral gifts of speaking, also, he seems specially qualified to be a leader ; 
 while his characteristics impulsive in feeling, decisive in judgment, 
 demonstrative in utterance, and daring in action instinctively put 
 him in the front rank of the twelve. 
 
ST. PETER. 505 
 
 save. Nor was his cry in vain ; the compassionate Re- 
 deemer of 'mankind stretched out his hand, and again 
 placed him on the surface of the water, with this gentle 
 reproof, "O.thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou 
 doubt?" 
 
 The very next day, in the synagogue of Capernaum, 
 the Saviour's discourse gave such offence, that many of 
 his professed disciples "went back and walked no more 
 with him." Jesus said to the twelve, " Will ye also go 
 away?" Peter replied in behalf of them all, "Lord, to 
 whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life. 
 And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, 
 the son of the living God." This noble and explicit 
 confession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah, was not long 
 after repeated on a new occasion at Cesarea Philippi. 
 
 The inhabitants of Judea, who beheld with astonish- 
 ment the miracles wrought by the blessed Jesus, had 
 formed many conjectures concerning him. Our great 
 Redeemer was not ignorant of this : but being willing to 
 hear what account his disciples would give of the various 
 opinions of the people, asked them what the world said 
 concerning him ? To which they replied, that some took 
 him for John the Baptist, risen from the dead; some 
 thought him to be Elias, and others Jeremiah, or one of 
 the old prophets. He asked them what they themselves 
 thought of him : to which Peter, in the name of the rest, 
 answered, " Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God," 
 anointed and set apart by the Most High, to be the great 
 King, Priest, and Prophet of Israel. 
 
 This full and comprehensive declaration of Peter sat- 
 isfied the inquiry of our blessed Saviour, who answered : 
 " Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah ; for flesh and blood 
 
506 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is 
 in heaven." 
 
 The disciples then had no idea that their Master was 
 to suffer death for the sins of the world ; on the contrary, 
 they considered him as immortal, having imbibed the 
 opinion of the Scribes and Pharisees, "that Christ 
 abideth forever : " so that when the blessed Jesus told 
 them of the sufferings he must undergo at Jerusalem, 
 what affronts and indignities he must suffer, and be at 
 last put to death with all the acts of torture and dis- 
 grace, by a sentence of the Jewish Sanhedrin, Peter, 
 who could not endure the thought of his Master's suffer- 
 ing even the least punishment, much less those cruelties 
 he had mentioned, and at last death itself, interrupted 
 him very unseasonably, and said : " Be it far from thee, 
 Lord ; this shall not be unto thee." He considered these 
 sufferings as inconsistent with the character of the great 
 Messiah, whom he expected would restore the splendor 
 of the throne of David his father, and reduce all the 
 kingdoms of the earth to his obedience. But our blessed 
 Saviour, who came down from heaven to give his life a 
 ransom for the sins of the world, and who valued the 
 redemption of mankind infinitely more than his own 
 ease and safety, returned this sharp reproof: " Get thee 
 behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me." Thy 
 pernicious counsels in seeking to oppose the design for 
 which I purposely left the courts of heaven, are offen- 
 sive ; and thou " savorest not the things that be of God, 
 but those that be of men." 
 
 Some time after, the great Redeemer of the souls of 
 men, being to receive a specimen of his future glorifica- 
 tion, took with him three of his most intimate apostles, 
 
ST. PETER. 507 
 
 Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and went up into a 
 very high mountain, and while they were employed in 
 earnest addresses to the Almighty, he was transfigured 
 before them, an evident and sensible representation of 
 that state, when the just shall "walk in white robes, 
 and shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." 
 During this heavenly scene, the great prophets Moses 
 and Elias appeared in all the brightness and majesty of 
 a glorified state, familiarly conversing with him, and dis- 
 coursing of the death and sufferings he was shortly to 
 undergo, and his ascension to the heavenly regions of 
 bliss and happiness. 
 
 After this heavenly scene our blessed Lord travelled 
 through Galilee, and at his return to Capernaum, the 
 tax-gatherers came to Peter and asked him whether 
 his Master was not obliged to pay tribute ? When our 
 blessed Saviour was informed of this demand, rather 
 than give offence, he wrought a miracle to pay it. 
 
 The blessed Jesus proceeded to Bethany, from whence 
 he sent Peter and John, to make preparations for his 
 celebrating the passover. 
 
 Every thing being ready, our blessed Saviour and his 
 apostles entered the house, and sat down to the table. 
 But their great Master, who often taught them by exam- 
 ple as well as precept, arose from his seat, laid aside his 
 upper garment, took the towel, and pouring water into 
 a basin, began to wash his disciples' feet, to teach them 
 humility and charity, by his own example. But on his 
 coming to Peter, he would by no means admit his Master 
 to perform so mean and condescending an office. What ! 
 the Son of God stoop to wash the feet of a sinful mortal ! 
 A thought which shocked the apostle, who strenuously 
 
508 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. - 
 
 declared, " Thou shalt never wash my feet." But the 
 blessed Jesus told him. that if he washed him not ? he 
 could have no part with him; intimating, that this 
 action was symbolical, and signified the remission of 
 sins, and the purifying virtue of the Spirit of the Most 
 High, to be poured upon all true Christians. This 
 answer sufficiently removed the scruples of Peter, who 
 cried out, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands 
 and my head." Wash me in every part, rather than let 
 me lose my portion in thee. 
 
 Our great Redeemer now began the institution of his 
 Supper, that great and solemn institution, which he 
 resolved to leave behind him, to be constantly celebrated 
 in his church, as a standing monument of his love in 
 dying for mankind; telling them at the same time that 
 he himself was now going to leave them, and that 
 " whither he went, they could not come." Peter, not 
 well understanding what he meant, asked him whither 
 he was going. To which our great Redeemer replied, 
 that he was going to that place whither he could not 
 now, but should hereafter follow him : intimating the 
 martyrdom he was to suffer for his Master's religion. 
 Peter answered, that he was ready now to follow him, 
 even if it required him to lay down his life. This con- 
 fident presumption was not at all agreeable to the blessed 
 Jesus, who told him he had promised great things, but 
 would be so far from performing them, that before " the 
 cock crew " he would deny him thrice. 
 
 Supper being now ended, Jesus again put them in 
 mind how greatly ths things he was going to suffer would 
 offend them. To which Peter replied, that " though all 
 men should be offended because of him, yet he himself 
 

 ST. PETER. 509 
 
 would never be offended." How far will an indiscreet 
 zeal and affection transport even a good man into vanity 
 and presumption ! Peter questions the fidelity of others, 
 but never doubts his own : though his Lord had just 
 before reproved him for his self-sufficiency. 
 
 They now repaired to the garden of Gethsemane ; 
 and leaving the rest of the apostles near the entrance, 
 our blessed Saviour, taking with him Peter, James, and 
 John, retired into the most solitary part of the garden, 
 to enter on the preparatory scene of the great tragedy 
 that was now approaching. 
 
 . A band of soldiers, from the chief priests and elders, 
 preceded by the traitor Judas, to conduct and direct 
 them, rushed into the garden, and seized the great High- 
 Priest of our profession. Peter, whose ungovernable 
 zeal would admit of no restraint, drew his sword, and, 
 without the least order from his Master, struck at one 
 of the persons who seemed to be remarkably busy in 
 binding Jesus, and cut off his right ear. This zeal was 
 very offensive to his Master, who rebuked Peter, and 
 entreated the patience of the soldiers, while he miracu- 
 lously healed the wound. 
 
 Now the fidelity of the apostles, which they had urged 
 with so much confidence, was put to the trial. But, 
 alas ! instead of assisting or comforting their great 
 Master, they forsook him and fled. 
 
 Peter, who had followed the other disciples in their 
 flight, recovered his spirits, and being encouraged by his 
 companion, St. John, returned to seek his Master. iSee- 
 ing them leading him to the high-priest's hall., he 
 followed at a distance to know the event : but on his 
 coming to the door, was refused admittance, till one of 
 
510 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 the disciples, who was acquainted there, came out, and 
 prevailed upon the servant who kept the door, to let 
 him in. Peter, being admitted, repaired to the fire, 
 burning in the middle of the hall, round which the offi- 
 cers and servants were standing ; where being observed 
 by the maid-servant who let him in, she charged him 
 with being one of Christ's disciples: but Peter publicly 
 denied the charge, declaring that he did not know him, 
 and presently withdrew into the porch, where another 
 maid met him, and charged him with being one of the 
 followers of Jesus of Nazareth, which Peter denied, 
 and, the better to gain belief, ratified it with an oath. 
 
 About an hour after, a servant of the high-priest, 
 akin to him whose ear Peter had cut off, charged him with 
 being a disciple of Christ, and that he himself had seen 
 him in the garden with him : adding that his very speech 
 sufficiently proved that he was a Galilean. Peter, how- 
 ever, still denied the fact ; and, to his sin, ratified it not 
 only by an oath, but a solemn curse ' and execration, 
 that "he was not the person," and that "he knew not the 
 man." But no sooner had he uttered this denial (which 
 was the third time) than the " cock crew ; " at which 
 his Master turned about, and earnestly looked upon him 
 in a manner that pierced him to the heart, and brought 
 to his remembrance what his Saviour had more than 
 once foretold, namely, that he would basely and shame- 
 fully deny him. Peter was now no longer able to contain 
 his sorrow : he flew from the palace of the high-priest, 
 and " wept bitterly," passionately bewailing his folly, 
 and the aggravations of his sin. 
 
 We have in St. Peter an example for our instruction. 
 The opinion of his own strength proved his ruin. So 
 
ST. PETER. 511 
 
 dangerous and fatal is it to lean on our own understand- 
 ings; to be wise, good, and safe, in our own conceit; 
 when all our sufficiency, all our safety, is of God. 
 
 It is certain, from various circumstances, that Peter, 
 after the crucifixion of his Lord and Master, stayed at 
 Jerusalem, or at least in the neighborhood; for when 
 Mary Magdalene returned from the sepulchre to inform 
 the disciples that the stone was rolled away from the 
 door, and the body not to be found, Peter and John set 
 out immediately toward the garden. John, who was 
 the younger, arrived at the sepulchre first, looked into 
 it, but did not enter, either out of fear or reverence to 
 our Saviour. Peter came soon after, and resolutely 
 went into the sepulchre, where he found the linen clothes 
 lying together in one place, and the napkin that was 
 about his head wrapped together in another, a sufficient 
 indication that the body was not stolen away ; for had 
 that been the case, so much care and order would not 
 have been observed in disposing of the linen clothes. 
 
 But Peter did not wait long in suspense, with regard 
 to his great Lord and Master ; for the same day Jesus 
 appeared to him, to convince him that the crime he had 
 been guilty of, in denying him, was pardoned, and that 
 he was come, like the good Samaritan, to pour oil into 
 the wounded conscience. 
 
 Soon after the apostles prepared to obey the command 
 of their great Master, of retiring into Galilee : and we 
 find Peter, Nathanael, the two sons of Zebedee, and two 
 other disciples, fishing in the lake. 
 
 One morning early, having spent the whole night to 
 no purpose, they saw on the shore a grave person, who 
 called to them, and asked them if they had any meat ? 
 
512 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 To which they answered, No. Cast then, replied he, 
 the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. 
 They followed his directions, and caught a prodigious 
 number of large fish. Astonished at such remarkable 
 success, the disciples looked upon one another for some 
 time, till St. John told Peter that the person on the 
 shore was, doubtless, their great Lord and Master. 
 
 Peter threw himself into the sea, and swam to shore ; 
 his impatience to be with his dear Lord and Master not 
 suffering him to stay the few minutes necessary to bring 
 the ship to land. 
 
 When their repast was ended, our blessed Saviour 
 addressed himself particularly to Peter, urging him to 
 the utmost diligence in the care of souls : and because 
 lie knew that nothing but a sincere love to himself 
 could support him under the trouble and dangers of so 
 laborious and difficult an employment, he inquired of 
 him, whether he loved him more than the rest of the 
 apostles : mildly reproving him for his over-confident 
 resolution. Peter, whom fatal experience had taught 
 humility, modestly answered, that none knew so well 
 as Jesus himself the integrity of his affections. Thou 
 knowest the hearts of all men, nothing is hid from thee, 
 and therefore thou knowest that I love thee. The 
 question was three several times repeated by our blessed 
 Saviour, and as oftentimes answered by the apostle ; it 
 being but just, that he, who by a threefold denial had 
 given so much reason to question his affection, should now 
 by a, threefold confession, give more than common assur- 
 ance of his sincere love to his Master ; and to each of 
 these confessions our great Redeemer added this signal 
 trial of his affection, " Feed my sheep." Instruct and 
 
ST. PETER. 513 
 
 teach them with the utmost care, and the utmost ten- 
 derness. 
 
 The blessed Jesus haying thus engaged Peter to a 
 cheerful compliance with the dangers that might attend 
 the discharge of his office, particularly intimated to him 
 the fate that would attend him ; telling him, that when 
 he was young, he girt himself, lived at his pleasure, and 
 went wherever his fancy directed him ; but when he 
 should reach the term of old age, he should stretch forth 
 his hands, and another should gird and bind him, and 
 lead him whither he had no desire to go, intimating, as 
 the evangelist tells us, " by what death he should glorify 
 God." 
 
 Not long after, our blessed Saviour appeared to his 
 disciples at Jerusalem, to take his last farewell of those 
 who had attended him during his public ministry. He 
 led them out as far as Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, 
 where he briefly told them that they were the persons 
 he had chosen to be the witnesses, both of his death and 
 resurrection ; a testimony which they should publish in 
 every part of the world. In order to which, he would, 
 after his ascension into heaven, pour out his Spirit upon 
 them in an extraordinary manner, that they might be 
 the better enabled to struggle with that violent rage and 
 fury, with which the doctrine of the gospel would be 
 opposed by men and devils. Adding that, in the mean- 
 time, they should return to Jerusalem, and there wait 
 till those miraculous powers were given them from on 
 high. 
 
 The apostles, who beheld their Master visibly ascend 
 into heaven, were filled with a greater sense of his glory 
 than they had ever been while he conversed with them 
 
 33 
 
514 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 familiarly on the earth. And after solemn adoration to 
 him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, there 
 to wait for the accomplishment of their great Master's 
 promise. How sudden and complete a change was now 
 wrought in their minds ! They who were lately over- 
 whelmed with sorrow, at the very mention of their 
 Lord's departure from them, beheld him now with joy 
 and triumph ; they were fully satisfied of his glorious 
 advancement to the right hand of Omnipotence, and of 
 that peculiar care and providence which they were sure 
 he would exercise over them, in pursuance of those 
 great trusts he had committed to their care. 
 
 The apostles, tnough deprived of the personal pres- 
 ence of their dear Lord and Master, were indefatigable 
 in fulfilling the commission they had received from him. 
 The first object that engaged their attention, after their 
 return to Jerusalem, was to fill up the vacancy in their 
 number lately made by the unhappy fall and apostacy 
 of Judas. In order to-' this, they called together the 
 church, and entered into " an upper room," when Peter, 
 as president of the assembly, proposed to them the 
 choice of a new apostle. 
 
 After filling up the vacancy in the apostolic number, 
 they spent their time in prayer and meditation, till the 
 feast of Pentecost; when the promise of their great 
 Master in sending the Holy Ghost was fulfilled. The 
 Christian assembly were met as usual to perform the 
 public services of their worship, when suddenly a sound, 
 like that of a mighty wind, rushed in upon them ; repre- 
 senting the powerful efficacy of that divine Spirit which 
 was now to be communicated to them. After which 
 there appeared gentle flames of fire, which, in the shape 
 
ST. PETER. 515 
 
 of cloven tongues, descended and sat upon the head of 
 each of them, to denote that their enjoyment of this 
 gift should be constant and perpetual; and not like the 
 prophets of old, who were inspired only at some particu- 
 lar times and seasons. Upon this they were all imme- 
 diately tilled with the Holy Ghost, which, in an instant, 
 enabled them to speak fluently several languages they 
 had never learned, and probably never heard. 
 
 The report of so sudden and strange an event was 
 soon spread through every part of Jerusalem, which at 
 that time was full of Jewish proselytes, "devout men 
 of every nation under heaven, Parthians, Medes, Elarn- 
 ites, the dwellers in Mesopotamia and Judea, Cappadocia, 
 Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, the 
 parts of Libya and Cyrene," from Rome, from Crete, 
 and from Arabia. These no sooner heard of this miracu- 
 lous effusion of the Holy Spirit, than they flocked in 
 prodigious numbers to the Christian assembly, where 
 they were amazed to hear these Galileans speaking to 
 them in their own native languages, so various and so 
 very different from one another. Nor were their dis- 
 courses filled with idle stories, or the follies of a luxu- 
 riant fancy. No, they expatiated on the great and 
 admirable works of Omnipotence, and the mysteries of 
 the gospel, which human apprehension could never 
 discover. 
 
 This surprising transaction had different effects on the 
 minds of the people ; some attributing it to the effect 
 of a miracle, and others, mockingly, to the power and 
 strength of " new wine." Upon which the apostles all 
 stood up, and Peter, in the name of the rest, undertook 
 to confute this injurious calumny. 
 
516 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 The effect of his discourse was equally wonderful and 
 surprising ; for great numbers of those who before ridi- 
 culed the religion of Jesus now acknowledged him for 
 their Saviour, and flew to him for refuge from the im- 
 pending storm. And St. Luke tells us, that there were 
 that day added to the church no less than three thou- 
 sand souls, who were all baptized and received into the 
 flock of the great Shepherd of Israel, the bishop of our 
 souls. A quick and plentiful harvest indeed ! " This 
 was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." 
 
 Soon after this wonderful conversion, Peter and John, 
 going up to the temple about three in the afternoon, one 
 of the solemn hours of prayer, saw a poor impotent 
 cripple, near forty years of age, who had been lame 
 from his birth, lying at the " beautiful gate of the tem- 
 ple," and asking alms of those who entered the sacred 
 edifice. This miserable object moved their compassion ; 
 and Peter, beholding him with attention, said : The 
 riches of this world, the silver and gold, so highly cov- 
 eted by the sons of men, are not in my power to bestow ; 
 but I possess the gift of restoring life and health, in 
 the name of Jesus Christ, and am ready to assist thee. 
 And, thus saying, he healed him. 
 
 Peter, seeing the multitude gathering around them, 
 took the opportunity of speaking to them in the follow- 
 ing manner : " Men and brethren, this remarkable cure 
 should not excite your admiration of us, as if we had 
 performed it by our own power. It was wrought in the 
 name of Jesus of Nazareth, our crucified Master by 
 the power of that very Christ, that holy and just person, 
 whom you yourselves denied, and delivered to Pilate ; 
 nay, and preferred a murderer before him, when the 
 
ST. PETER. 517 
 
 governor was desirous of letting him go. But though 
 you have put him to death, yet we are witnesses that 
 He hath raised him again from the dead, and that he is 
 ascended into heaven, where he will remain till the great 
 and tremendous day of general restitution." 
 
 While Peter was speaking to the people in one part 
 of the temple, John was, in all probability, doing the 
 same in the other. And the success plainly indicated 
 how powerful the preaching of the apostles was five 
 thousand persons embracing the doctrines of the gospel, 
 and acknowledging the crucified Jesus for their Lord and 
 Saviour. 
 
 Such amazing success could not fail of exciting the 
 attention and envy of the rulers of Israel. Upon their 
 information, the captain of the temple seized on the 
 apostles and cast them into prison. 
 
 The next day they were carried before the Jewish 
 Sanhedrin ; and being asked by what power and authority 
 they had done this, Peter boldly answered : " Be it known 
 unto you, and to all, that this miracle was wrought wholly 
 in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom ye yourselves 
 have crucified and slain, and whom the Almighty hath 
 raised again from the dead. This is the stone which you 
 builders refused, and which is become the head of the 
 corner. Nor is there any other way by which you, or 
 any of the sons of men can be saved, but by this crucified 
 Saviour." 
 
 The boldness of the apostle was admired by all, even 
 by the court of the Sanhedrin. And it should be re- 
 membered, that these very judges were the persons who 
 had so lately condemned the blessed Jesus himself, and 
 had no other way of coloring their proceedings than by a 
 
518 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 second act of cruelty ; that the apostles did not charge 
 them with the crime of crucifying the Son of God in 
 secret, but in the open court of Judicature, and in the 
 hearing of all the people. 
 
 The labors of the apostles were crowned with abundant 
 success ; and it seems that such was the aversion of the 
 inveterate Jews to those who became converts to the 
 faith of Christ, that they were deprived of business in 
 their respective callings. For we find that the professors 
 of the religion of the holy Jesus sold their effects, and 
 brought the money to the apostles, that they might de- 
 posit it in one common treasury, and from thence supply 
 the several exigencies of the church. 
 
 But hypocrisy was not unknown among the professors 
 of religion, even in these primitive times. Ananias, and 
 his wife Sapphira, being detected by Peter, fell dead at 
 the apostle's feet, a divine warning to others. 
 
 But such instances of severity were very extraordinary : 
 the power of the apostles was generally exerted in works 
 of mercy and beneficence toward the sons and daughters 
 of affliction. They cured all kinds of diseases, and cast 
 out devils ; so that they brought the sick into the streets, 
 and laid them upon beds and couches, that the shadow 
 at least of Peter, as he passed by, might cover some of 
 them ; well knowing a single touch or word, from either 
 of the apostles, was sufficient to remove the most invete- 
 rate diseases. 
 
 The Christian doctrine had been propagated hitherto 
 without much violence or opposition, in Jerusalem, but 
 now a storm commenced with the death of the proto- 
 martyr Stephen, nor did it end but with the dispersion 
 of the disciples, by which means the glad tidings which 
 
ST. PETER. 519 
 
 had till now been confined to Judea, was preached to the 
 Gentile world, and an ancient prophecy fulfilled, which 
 says, " Out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word 
 of the Lord from Jerusalem." Thus does the Almighty 
 bring good out of evil, and cause the malicious intentions 
 of the wicked to redound to his praise. 
 
 The storm, though violent, being at length blown 
 over, the church enjoyed a time of calmness and secu- 
 rity ; during which, St. Peter went to visit the churches 
 lately planted in those parts, by the disciples whom the 
 persecution had dispersed. And at his arrival at Lydda,* 
 he miraculously healed JEneas, who had been afflicted 
 with the palsy, and confined to his bed eight years. Nor 
 was the success of his miracle confined to ^Eneas, and his 
 family ; the fame of it was blazed through all the neigh- 
 boring 'country, and many believed in the doctrine of 
 the Son of God. It was even known at Joppa,f a sea- 
 port town about six miles from Lydda, and the brethren 
 immediately sent for Peter, on the following melancholy 
 occasion : Tabitha, whose Greek name was Dorcas, a 
 woman venerable for her piety and extensive charity, 
 was lately dead. 
 
 At Peter's arrival he found her dressed for funeral 
 
 * Lydda was a village, or rather city, according to Josephus, situated 
 in the plain of Sharon, on the ancient road from Jerusalem to Caesarea, 
 some miles northeast of Ilamleh. 
 
 t Joppa (the modern Jaffa) was the principal seaport of Judea until 
 the time of Herod the Great ; who built a magnificent harbor and city 
 at Strato's Tower, and named it Caesarea, in honor of Augustus Caesar. 
 Joppa is a city of great importance, often mentioned in the New Testa- 
 ment, and is built on a promontory jutting out into the Mediterranean 
 sea. Its situation is quite picturesque. It is now, as of old, the port 
 of Jerusalem, thirty-five miles to the northwest, and is about to be 
 connected with that city by a railroad. 
 
520 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 solemnity, and surrounded by mournful widows, who 
 showed the coats and garments wherewith she had 
 clothed them, the monuments of her liberality. But 
 Peter put them all out, and kneeling down, prayed with 
 the utmost fervency ; then turning to the body, he com- 
 manded her to arise, and taking her by the hand, pre- 
 sented her in perfect health to her friends and others, 
 who were assembled to pay their last duties to so good 
 a woman. This miracle confirmed those who had newly 
 embraced the doctrine of Jesus, and converted many 
 more to the faith. After which he stayed a considerable 
 time at Joppa, lodging in the house of one Simon 3 a 
 tanner. 
 
 It was here that Peter had the remarkable vision and 
 the divine message, which summoned him to Caesarea,* 
 to " open the door of faith to the Gentiles," in the house 
 of Cornelius the Roman centurion. Acts x. 1, etc. 
 
 Peter, after having finished his visitation to the new 
 planted churches, returned to Jerusalem, and was inde- 
 fatigable in instructing the converts in the religion of 
 Jesus, and preaching the glad tidings of salvation to the 
 descendants of Jacob. But he did not long continue in 
 this pleasing course. Herod Agrippa,f in order to ingra- 
 
 * Caesarea, the civil capital of Judea at this time, was about thirty 
 miles north of Joppa, on the Mediterranean. Its inhabitants were 
 chiefly Greeks. It was the most splendid and populous city in Pales- 
 tine, and the residence of the Roman governor. See the preceding 
 note. Xow it is a mass of ruins, infested by serpents and beasts of prey. 
 
 t Herod Agrippa I. was the grandson of Herod the Great, and had 
 but recently been invested by Claudius Caesar with the sovereignty of 
 Judea in addition to Galilee, Samaria, and Perea, A. D. 43. He lived 
 but a short time after this. In the midst of his pomp at Cassarea, the 
 angel of the Lord smote him, and the first royal persecutor of the 
 Church of Christ " was eaten of worms and died." A. D. 44. 
 
ST. PETER. 521 
 
 tiate himself into the favor of the Jews, put the apostle 
 James to death, and finding the action was highly accept- 
 able to that stiff-necked people, he resolved to extend his 
 cruelty to Peter, and accordingly cast him into prison. 
 But the churches were incessant in their prayers to God 
 for his safety, and his great and beloved Master sent a 
 messenger from above, and released him from prison. 
 He therefore repaired to the house of Mary, where the 
 church was assembled, and offering up their prayers to 
 the throne of grace for his safety. On his knocking at 
 the door, a maid who came to let him in, knowing his 
 voice, ran back to tell them that Peter was at the door ; 
 which they at first considered as the effect of fancy. 
 But, on opening the door, they were convinced of their 
 mistake, finding that it was really Peter himself, who 
 briefly told them how he was delivered ; and desiring 
 them to inform his brethren of his being set at liberty, 
 retired to another place. 
 
 In the morning the officers came from Herod to the 
 prison, with orders to bring Peter out to the people, who 
 were gathered together to behold his execution. But 
 when they came to the prison, the keepers informed 
 them that the apostle had made his escape ; which so 
 exasperated Herod, that he commanded those who were 
 entrusted with the care of the prisoner to be put to 
 death. 
 
 As we have now related the principal transactions of 
 this apostle, that are founded on Scripture authority, 
 we shall have recourse to ancient historians for the resi- 
 due of his life. 
 
 St. Peter had preached the gospel in various parts of 
 the world, enlarging the kingdom of his great Master, 
 
522 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 and spreading the glad tidings of salvation among the 
 inhabitants of various countries; and among the rest 
 those of Babylon in the East, where he wrote his first 
 epistle, and in the West, to Rome, then the mistress of 
 the world. 
 
 Toward the latter end of the reign of Nero, when 
 Peter was in Rome, orders were given by that emperor 
 for apprehending him, together with his companion 
 Paul. 
 
 Ambrose tells us, that when the people perceived the 
 danger to which St. Peter was now exposed, they prayed 
 him to quit Rome, and repair for a while to some secure 
 retreat, that his life might be preserved for the benefit 
 of the church. Peter, with great reluctance, yielded to 
 their entreaties, and made his escape by night ; but as 
 he passed the gate, he was met by a person in the form 
 of his great and beloved Master, and on his asking him 
 whither he was going, answered, " To Rome, to be cru- 
 cified a second time : " which Peter taking for a reproof 
 of his cowardice, returned again into the city, and was 
 soon after apprehended, and cast, together with St. Paul, 
 into the Mamertime prison. Here they were confined 
 eight or nine months ; but spent their time in the exer- 
 cise of religion, especially in preaching to the prisoners, 
 and those who resorted to them. And during this con- 
 finement, 'it is generally thought, St. Peter wrote the 
 second epistle to the dispersed Jews, wherein he endeav- 
 ors to confirm them in the belief and practice of Christi- 
 anity, and to fortify them against those poisonous and 
 pernicious principles and actions which even then began 
 to break in upon the Christian church. 
 
 Nero at last returning from Achaia, entered Rome in 
 
ST. PAUL. 523 
 
 triumph ; and soon after his arrival, resolved that the 
 apostles should fall as victims and sacrifices to his cruel- 
 ties and revenge. Accordingly they were both condemned 
 by the cruel emperor of Rome : and St. Peter having 
 taken his farewell of the brethren, especially of St. Paul, 
 was taken from the prison and led to the top of the Vati- 
 can mount, near the Tiber, where he was sentenced to 
 surrender up his life on the cross. 
 
 At his coming to the place of execution, he begged 
 the favor of the officers, that he might not be crucified 
 in the common manner, but with his head downward ; 
 affirming that he was unworthy to suffer in the same 
 posture in which his Lord had suffered before him. This 
 request was accordingly complied with ; and the great 
 apostle St. Peter surrendered up his soul into the hands 
 of his great and beneficent Master, who came down from 
 heaven to ransom mankind from destruction, and open 
 for them the gates of the heavenly Canaan. 
 
 His body, being taken down from the cross, is said to 
 have been embalmed by Mercellimus, the presbyter, after 
 the manner of the Jews, and then buried in the Vatican, 
 near the Appian way, two miles from Rome. 
 
 ST. PAUL. 
 
 THIS great apostle of the Gentiles was a descendant 
 from the ancient stock of Abraham. He belonged to 
 the tribe of Benjamin, the youngest son of Jacob. Tarsus, 
 the place of his nativity, was the metropolis of Cilicia, 
 
524 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 and situated about three hundred miles distant from 
 Jerusalem ; it was exceedingly rich and populous and a 
 Roman municipium, or free corporation, invested with 
 the privileges of Rome by the two first emperors, as a 
 reward for the citizens' firm adherence to the Cgesars in 
 the rebellion of Crassus. St. Paul was therefore born a 
 Roman citizen, and he often pleads this privilege on his 
 trials. 
 
 It was common for the wealthy Jews of Tarsus to send 
 their children into other cities for learning and improve- 
 ment ; especially to Jerusalem, where they were so nu- 
 merous, that they had 1 a synagogue of their own, called, 
 the synagogue of the Cilicians. To this capital our 
 apostle was also sent, and brought up at the school of 
 that eminent rabbi, Gamaliel, in the most exact know- 
 ledge of the law of Moses. Nor did he fail to profit 
 by the instructions of that great master ; for he so dili- 
 gently conformed himself to the precepts, that, without 
 boasting, he asserts of himself, that touching the righteous- 
 ness of the law he was blameless, and defied even his 
 enemies to allege any thing to the contrary, even in his 
 youth. He joined himself to the sect of the Pharisees, 
 the most strict order of the Jewish religion, but, at the 
 same time, the proudest, and the greatest enemies to 
 Christ and his holy religion. 
 
 With regard to his double capacity, of Jewish extrac- 
 tion and Roman freedom, he had two names, Saul and 
 Paul; the former Hebrew, and the latter Latin. We 
 must also consider his trade of tent-making as a part of 
 his education ; it being a constant practice of the Jews 
 to bring up their children to some honest calling, that 
 
ST. PAUL. 525 
 
 in case of necessity, they might provide for themselves 
 by the labor of their own hands. 
 
 Saul having obtained a thorough knowledge of the 
 sciences cultivated by the Jews, and being naturally of a 
 very hot and fiery temper, became a great champion of 
 the law of Moses, and the tradition of the elders, which 
 he considered as zeal for God. 
 
 This rendered him impatient of all opposition to the 
 doctrines and tenets he had imbibed, and a vehement 
 blasphemer and persecutor of the Christians, who were 
 commonly reputed the enemies and destroyers of the 
 Jewish economy. 
 
 The first action we find him engaged in, was the dis- 
 putation he and his countrymen had with the martyr 
 Stephen, with regard to the Messiah. The Christian 
 was too hard for them in the dispute : but they were 
 too powerful for him in their civil interests : for being 
 enraged at his convincing arguments, they carried him 
 before the high-priest, who by false accusations con- 
 demned him to death. How far Saul was concerned in 
 this cruel action, it is impossible to say ; all we know is, 
 that he "kept the raiment of them that slew him." 
 
 The storm of persecution against the church being 
 thus begun, it increased prodigiously, and the poor 
 Christians of Jerusalem were miserably harassed and 
 dispersed. In this persecution our apostle was a princi- 
 pal agent, searching all the adjacent parts for the 
 afflicted saints, beating some in the synagogue, inflicting 
 other cruelties, confining some in prison, and procuring 
 others to be put to death. 
 
 But it was the will of Providence he should be em- 
 ployed in a work of a very different nature. For as he 
 
526 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 was travelling to Damascus,* to execute the commission 
 of the Jewish Sanhedrin, a refulgent light, far exceeding 
 the brightness of the sun, darted upon him ; at which 
 both he and his companions were terribly amazed and 
 confounded, and immediately fell prostrate on the ground. 
 While they lay in this state, a voice was heard, in the 
 Hebrew language, saying, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest 
 thou me?" To which Saul replied, " Who art thou, 
 Lord?" And was immediately answered, "I am Jesus, 
 whom thou persecutest: It is hard for thee to kick 
 against the pricks:' As if the blessed Jesus had said, 
 "All thy attempts to extirpate the faith in me will prove 
 abortive ; and, like kicking against the spikes, wound and 
 torment thyself." 
 
 Saul, convinced of his folly in having acted against 
 Jesus, whom he was now assured to be the true Mes- 
 
 * Damascus, the capital of lower Syria, is perhaps the oldest city in 
 the world (Gen. xiv. 15), and most beautifully situated, one hundred 
 and forty miles northeast of Jerusalem, in a fertile plain, southeast of 
 the eastern range of Lebanon. Its situation lias always commanded 
 an immense trade, and even now it contains one hundred and fifty 
 thousand inhabitants. It is watered by two perennial streams, the 
 Barada, on the north, and the Awig on the south the Abana and 
 Pharpar, so dear to Naaman ; so that, for a circuit of fifty miles 
 around, the country blooms like the garden of Eden. 
 
 Damascus has passed through many political changes. It was gov- 
 erned by its own kings till the time of David, who conquered it and 
 made it a part of his great empire. It was inherited by Solomon, but 
 lost by him. It was recovered by Jeroboam II. to Israel. It fell suc- 
 cessively into the hands of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, 
 Greeks, and "Romans ; but was for a short time taken from the Romans 
 by Aretas, King of Arabia, and held by him during Paul's second 
 visit. The Jews were very numerous in Damascus, and Christianity 
 early found a footing among them, about A. D. 35. 
 
 To crush it was the purpose of Saul of Tarsus at this time : to de- 
 fend, confirm, and diffuse it by his conversion was the will of God. 
 
ST. PAUL. 527 
 
 siah, asked, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" 
 On which the blessed Jesus replied, " Arise, and go 
 into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou 
 must do." 
 
 In the meantime our blessed Saviour appeared in a 
 vision to Ananias, a very devout and religious man, 
 highly esteemed by all the inhabitants of Damascus. 
 " And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the 
 street, which is called Straight,* and inquire in the 
 house of Judas, for one called Saul, of Tarsus : for 
 behold he prayeth, and hath seen in a vision a man 
 named Ananias, coming in and putting his hand on 
 him, that he might receive his sight." 
 
 Ananias, who was ever ready to obey the commands 
 of the Most High, startled at the name, having heard 
 of the bloody practices of Saul at Jerusalem, and what 
 commission he was now come to execute in Damascus. 
 He, therefore, suspected that his conversion was nothing 
 more than a snare artfully laid by him against the 
 Christians. But our blessed Saviour soon removed his 
 apprehensions, by telling him that his suspicions were 
 entirely destitute of foundation ; and that he had now 
 taken him, as a chosen vessel, to preach the gospel both 
 to the Jews and Gentiles, and even before the greatest 
 monarchs of the earth. At the same time he acquainted 
 him with the great persecutions Paul should undergo for 
 the sake of the gospel : " For I will show him how great 
 things he must suffer for my name's sake." 
 
 This quieted the fears of Ananias, w r ho immediately 
 repaired to the house of Judas, and, laying his hands 
 
 * This street, which runs through the city from east to west in a 
 straight line, is still called by the same name. 
 
528 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 upon Saul, addressed him in words to this effect : 
 " That Jesus," said he, " who appeared to thee in the 
 way, hath sent me to restore thy sight, and by the in- 
 fusion of his Spirit to give thee the knowledge of those 
 truths which thou hast blindly and ignorantly persecuted." 
 
 This speech was no sooner pronounced, than there 
 fell from his eyes thick films, resembling scales, and he 
 received his sight; and, after baptism, conversed with 
 the Christians at Damascus. He also, to their great aston- 
 ishment, preached the gospel, boldly asserting, "that 
 Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God ;" and proving it 
 to the Jews with such demonstrative evidence, that they 
 were confounded, and finding it impossible to answer 
 him, attempted to kill him. 
 
 The miraculous convert, at the instance of the divine 
 command, retired into Arabia, where he received a full 
 revelation of all the mysteries of Christianity ; for he 
 himself declares thai he conferred not with flesh and 
 blood. Having preached in several parts of that country 
 gome time, he returned again to Damascus, applying 
 himself, with the utmost assiduity, to the great work of 
 the ministry, frequenting the synagogues there, power- 
 fully confuting the objections commonly made against 
 Jesus of Nazareth, and converting great numbers of Jews 
 and Gentiles. 
 
 This irritated the Jews to the highest degree ; and at 
 length they found means to prevail on the governor of 
 Damascus * to have him put to death. 
 
 In this distress, his Christian friends, finding it impos- 
 sible for him to pass through either of the gates of the 
 city, let him down from one of their houses, through a 
 
 * Under Aretas, king of Arabia, a friend of the Jews. 
 
ST. PAUL. . 529 
 
 window, in a basket, over the wall, by which means 
 the cruel designs of his enemies were rendered abortive. 
 
 Having thus escaped from his malicious persecutors, 
 he repaired to Jerusalem, and, on his arrival, addressed 
 himself to the church. But they, knowing well the 
 former temper and principles of this great persecutor, 
 shunned his company, till Barnabas brought him to 
 Peter and to James, informing them of his miraculous 
 conversion, and that he had preached the gospel with 
 the greatest boldness in the synagogues of Damascus; 
 upon which they gladly received him, and familiarly 
 entertained him fifteen days. 
 
 During this interval, he was remarkably assiduous in 
 preaching the gospel of the Son of God, and confuting 
 the Hellenist Jews * with the greatest courage and reso- 
 lution. But snares were laid for him, as malice can as 
 easily cease to be, as to remain inactive. Being warned 
 by God, in a vision, that his testimony would not be 
 received at Jerusalem, he thought proper to depart, and 
 preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Accordingly, being 
 conducted by his brethren to Caesarea, he set sail 
 for Tarsus, his native city ; from whence he was soon 
 after brought, by Barnabas, to Antioch, in Syria,f to 
 
 * The Hellenist Jews were those who habitually spoke the Greek 
 language. They are called Grecians in Acts vi. 1, in distinction from 
 the Hebrews, '. <*., those who used only the Aramaean or later Hebrew. 
 The Hellenists had many synagogues in Jerusalem, among whom 
 Stephen had labored, and Paul had then resisted him, being himself a 
 Hellenist Jew. He was now most anxious to convince them of the 
 truth he had once opposed. 
 
 t Antioch, the metropolis of Syria under the Romans, was one of 
 
 the most populous and splendid cities of the empire. It ranked next 
 
 to Itome and Alexandria. It was founded by the Syro-Grecian kings, 
 
 on the southern bank of the Orontes, eighteen miles from its mouth, 
 
 34 
 
530 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 assist him in propagating Christianity in that city. In 
 this employment he spent one whole year, and had the 
 satisfaction of seeing the gospel flourish in a very re- 
 markable manner. 
 
 It was in Antioch that the disciples first acquired the 
 name of Christians, before which they were styled Naz- 
 arenes ; but this appellation soon prevailed all over the 
 world ; and the latter was in a few ages almost entirely 
 forgotten. It was in this city, also, the first mission to 
 the heathen world was established by the Holy Ghost, 
 and Barnabas and Paul sent out as the first missionaries. 
 
 The first place visited by Barnabas and Paul was 
 Seleucia,* where they did not continue long, but sailed 
 for Cyprus ; f and at Salamis, a great city in that island, 
 
 and contained at this time perhaps half a million inhabitants, chiefly 
 Greeks ; abounding in wealth, intellectual culture, and refinement, 
 combined with every form of heathen licentiousness and corruption. 
 Yet here grew up, under the labors of Barnabas, Paul, and others, the 
 most vigorous and generous church of primitive times. By the Roman 
 coast road, it was over four hundred miles north of Jerusalem. 
 
 * Seleucia, at the mouth of the river Orontes, was the seaport of 
 Antioch, being eighteen miles distant. The ruins of its harbor now 
 remain to attest its ancient greatness. It was on the west side of the 
 river, and fronted the lofty heights of Mount Casius. 
 
 t Cyprus was a large and beautiful island lying in the Mediterranean 
 sea, about fifty miles south of the Cilician coast. In a clear sky the 
 highlands of Cyprus are visible from the port of Seleucia. It was the 
 birthplace of Barnabas. The island was one hundred and forty miles 
 in length, by about fifty in breadth, half as large as .all Palestine, fruit- 
 ful, healthful, and populous. But it was dedicated to Venus, and its 
 heathen inhabitants were plunged in debauchery and vice. 
 
 The Christian missionaries landed at Salamis, a seaport on the south- 
 eastern extremity of the island, and thence travelled, probably, through 
 the great central valley road, to Paphos, the capital, on the northwestern 
 extremity. Here was the residence of the Roman Proconsul. Here 
 also was the celebrated temple of the Paphian Venus. But here 
 Christianity won its crowning victory in the conversion of the gover- 
 nor. 
 
ST. PAUL. 531 
 
 they preached in the synagogue of the Jews. From 
 thence they removed to Paphos, the residence of Ser- 
 gius Paul us, the Proconsul of the island, a man of great 
 wisdom and prudence, and made him a convert to the 
 faith. 
 
 St. Paul, after this remarkable success in Cyprus, 
 repaired to Perga, in Pamphylia,* and taking another 
 with him, in the room of Mark, who was gone to Jeru- 
 salem, travelled to Antioch, the metropolis of Psidia,f 
 where they preached with great success. 
 
 From Antioch, in Pisidia, they went to Iconium, J the 
 metropolis of Lycaonia, where they entered into the 
 synagogue of the Jews, notwithstanding the ill-treat- 
 ment they had met with- from the Jews in other places. 
 Driven at length from thence, they went to Lystra, 
 another city of Lycaonia, on the coast, where they 
 preached the gospel. 
 
 Among the converts at Lystra, was a man who had 
 been lame from his mother's womb, and never had 
 walked. But Paul, perceiving that he had faith to be 
 
 * Perga, the capital of western Pamphylia, was situated on the river 
 Oestrus, some distance from the coast. It was famous for a temple to 
 Diana. Here the Christian missionaries passed up the valley of the 
 Oestrus to the central uplands of Asia Minor. The region was rough 
 and dangerous, abounding in swollen streams and the haunts of robbers. 
 As they ascended to Pisidia on the north, the province of Cilicia was 
 on the right and Lycia on the left. 
 
 t Pisidia was a province in the mountain range of Taurus, consist- 
 ing of high table land. It lay between Phrygia and Lycaonia. 
 
 t Iconium was then one of the largest and most opulent cities of 
 Asia Minor. It is in a fertile plain, one hundred and thirty miles 
 north of the sea, and two hundred and sixty east of Constantinople. 
 Many Jews resorted thither for trade, and established their syna- 
 gogues. 
 
032 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 saved, thought proper to add the cure of his body to 
 that of his soul. 
 
 But the malice of the Jews still pursued them ; for 
 some of these bigoted Israelites coming from Antioch 
 and Iconium, exasperated and stirred up the multitude ; 
 so that those very persons who could hardly be restrained 
 from offering sacrifice to them, now used them like slaves, 
 stoning them in so cruel a manner that Paul was thought 
 to be dead ; and as such* they dragged him out of the 
 city ; but while the Christians of Lystra were attending 
 on his body, probably in order to carry him to the grave, 
 he arose, and returned with them into the city, and the 
 next day departed with Barnabas to Derbe, where they 
 preached the gospel, and converted many ; no danger 
 being able to terrify them from publishing the glad 
 tidings of salvation in every place. 
 
 They did not, however, long continue at Derbe, but 
 returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, Psidia, con- 
 firming the Christians of those places in the faith, ear- 
 nestly persuading them to persevere, and not to be dis- 
 couraged with those troubles and persecutions, which 
 they must expect would attend the profession of the 
 gospel. And that the affairs of the church might be 
 conducted with more regularity, they ordained elders and 
 pastors, to teach, to instruct, and to watch over them ; 
 and then left them to the protection of the Almighty, to 
 whose care they recommended them by prayer and 
 fasting. 
 
 After leaving Antioch, they passed through Pisidia, 
 and came to Pamphylia ; and after preaching the gospel 
 at Perga, they went down to Attalia, a seaport on the 
 coast of Pamphylia. 
 
ST. PAUL. 533 
 
 Having thus finished the circuit of their ministry, 
 they returned back to Antioch, in Syria, from whence 
 they at first departed. Here they summoned the church, 
 and gave them an account of their ministry, the success 
 it had met in different parts, and how great a door had 
 thus been opened for the conversion of the Gentile 
 world. 
 
 The controversy concerning the observation of Jewish 
 ceremonies in the Christian church, being decided in 
 favor of St. Paul, he and his companions returned back 
 to Antioch ; and soon after Peter himself came down. 
 On reading the decretal epistle in the church, the 
 converts conversed freely and inoffensively with the 
 Gentiles, till some of the Jews coming thither from Jeru- 
 salem, Peter withdrew his conversation, as if it had been 
 a thing unwarrantable and unlawful. By such a strange 
 method of proceeding, the minds of many were dissatis- 
 fied, and their consciences very uneasy. St. Paul, with 
 the greatest concern, observed it, and publicly rebuked 
 Peter, with that faithfulness and severity his unwarranta- 
 ble practice deserved, and with most happy effect. 
 
 Soon after this event Paul and Barnabas resolved 
 to visit the churches they had planted among the Gen- 
 tiles, and Barnabas was desirous of taking with them 
 his nephew Mark ; but this Paul strenuously opposed, as 
 he had left them in their former journey. This trifling 
 dispute arose to such a height, that these two great 
 apostles and fellow-laborers in the gospel parted : Barna- 
 bas taking Mark with him, repaired to Cyprus, his na- 
 tive country, and Paul having made choice of Silas, and 
 being recommended by the church to the care of divine 
 Providence, set forward on his intended journey. 
 
534 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 They first visited the churches of Syria and Cilicia, 
 confirming the people in the faith, by their instructions 
 and exhortations. Hence they sailed to Crete,* where 
 Paul preached the gospel. From hence Paul and Silas 
 returned back to Cilicia, and came to Lystra, where they 
 found Timothy, whose father was a Greek, but his 
 mother a Jewish convert, under all the advantages of a 
 pious and religious education, especially with regard to 
 the Holy Scriptures. This person St. Paul designed for 
 the companion of his travels, and a special instrument 
 in the ministry of the gospel. But knowing that his 
 being uncircumcised would prove a stumbling-block to 
 the Jews, he caused him to be circumcised ; being will- 
 ing, in lawful and indifferent matters, to conform him- 
 self to the tempers and apprehensions of men, in order 
 to save their souls. 
 
 St. Paul and his companions departed from Lystra, 
 passed through Phrygia, and the country of Galatia, 
 where the apostle was entertained with the greatest 
 kindness and veneration, the people looking upon him 
 as an angel sent immediately from heaven ; and being 
 by revelation forbidden to go into Asia r f he was com- 
 manded by a second vision to repair to Macedonia, to 
 
 * Crete (now called Candia) is a large island in the Mediterranean, 
 directly south of the ^Egean sea. It is larger than Cyprus. It was 
 probably settled by a colony from Egypt, but in the time of the apos- 
 tles was almost wholly Greek. They bore a very bad name for lying, 
 gluttony, and brutality. It once contained over a million of inhabi- 
 tants, and abounded in the riches of nature and art. Homer celebrates 
 it for its hundred cities. Its highest mountain, Ida, is seven thousand 
 feet high. 
 
 t Asia here denotes that southwestern province of Asia Minor, of 
 which Ephesus was the capital. It was settled by Greeks, and was 
 distinguished as Proconsular Asia. 
 
ST. PAUL. 535 
 
 preach the gospel. Accordingly our apostle prepared at 
 Troas * to pass from Asia into Europe. 
 
 Here St. Luke joined them, and became, ever after, 
 the inseparable companion of St. Paul, who being desirous 
 of finding the speediest passage into Macedonia, took 
 ship with his companions, Silas, Luke, and Timothy, 
 and came to Samothracia, an island in the ^Egean sea, 
 not far from Thrace ; and the next day he went to Nea- 
 polis, a port of Macedonia. Leaving Neapolis, they re- 
 paired to Philippi, the metropolis of that part of Mace- 
 donia, and a Roman colony, where they stayed some 
 days. 
 
 In this city, Paul, according to his constant practice, 
 preached in a proseucha, or oratory of the Jews, which 
 stood by the river side, at some distance from the city, 
 and was much frequented by the devout women of their 
 religion, who met there to pray, and hear the law. f 
 And after several days, as they were repairing to the 
 same place of devotion, there met them a damsel who 
 possessed a spirit of divination, by whom her masters 
 acquired very great advantage. This woman followed 
 Paul and his companions, crying out, " These men are 
 the servants of the most high God, which show unto us 
 
 * Troas, south of the Hellespont, on the eastern shore of the 
 sea, was a maritime city in the province of Mysia, north of Proconsu- 
 lar Asia. It was named after the ancient Troy of Homeric song, and 
 built up by the Greeks and Komans. 
 
 t Philippi lay in a spacious plain, ten miles northwest from Xeapo- 
 lis, which was its seaport. The plain was well watered by streams, of 
 which the one nearest the city was the Gangas ; the Strymon, on the 
 western side, being more remote. 
 
 The Jews were too few in the city to build a synagogue, but they 
 built a proneucJie, or place of prayer, by the river side, for the sake of 
 their ablutions. 
 
536 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 the way of salvation ! " Paul, at first, took no notice of 
 her, not being willing to multiply miracles without ne- 
 cessity. But when he saw her following them several days 
 together, he commanded the spirit, in the name of Jesus, 
 to come out of her. The evil spirit with reluctance 
 obeyed, and left the damsel that very instant. * 
 
 This miraculous cure proving a great loss to her 
 masters, who acquired large gains from her soothsaying, 
 they were filled with envy and malice against the apos- 
 tles ; and, by their instigation, the multitude arose and 
 seized upon Paul and his companions, hurried them be- 
 fore the Roman magistrates; accusing them of intro- 
 ducing many innovations which were prejudicial to the 
 state, and unlawful for them to comply with, as being 
 Romans. 
 
 The magistrates, being concerned for the tranquillity 
 of the state, and jealous of all disturbances, were very 
 forward to punish the offenders, against whom great num- 
 bers of the multitude testified ; and therefore commanded 
 the officers to strip them, and scourge them severely, as 
 seditious persons. 
 
 This was accordingly executed ; after which the apos- 
 tles were committed to close custody, the jailer receiving 
 more than ordinary charge to keep them safely ; and he 
 accordingly thrust them into the inner prison, and made 
 their feet fast in the stocks. But the most obscure dun- 
 geon, or the pitchy mantle of the night, cannot intercept 
 the beams of divine joy and comfort from the souls of 
 pious men. Their minds were all serenity ; and at mid- 
 
 * Christ refused testimony from evil spirits, because he would not 
 have his holy cause thus brought into disrepute. Paul acted, in this 
 case, upon the same principle. 
 
ST. PAUL. 537 
 
 night they prayed and sang praises so loud, that they 
 were heard in every part of the prison. Nor were their 
 prayers offered to the throne of grace in vain : an earth- 
 quake shook the foundations of the prison, opened the 
 doors, loosed the chains, and set the prisoners at liberty. 
 
 This convulsion of nature roused the jailer from his 
 sleep, and concluding from what he saw that all his pris- 
 oners were escaped, he was going to put a period to his 
 life ; but Paul, observing him, hastily cried, " Do thyself 
 no harm, for we are all here." The keeper was now as 
 greatly surprised at the goodness of the apostles, as he 
 was before terrified at the thoughts of their escape : and 
 calling for a light, he came immediately into the pres- 
 ence of the apostles, fell down at their feet, and took 
 them from the dungeon, brought them to his own house, 
 washed their stripes, and begged of them to instruct him 
 in the knowledge of that God who was so mighty to 
 save. 
 
 St. Paul readily granted his request, and replied, 
 That, if he believed in Jesus Christ, he might be saved 
 with his whole house ; accordingly, the jailer, with all 
 his family, were, after a competent instruction, baptized, 
 and received as members of the church of Christ. 
 
 As soon as it was day, the magistrates, either hearing 
 what had happened, or reflecting on what they had 
 done as too harsh and unjustifiable, sent their sergeant 
 to the jailer, with orders to discharge the apostles. The 
 jailer joyfully delivered the message, and bid them "de- 
 part in peace ; " but Paul, that he might make the magis- 
 trates sensible what injury they had done them, and 
 how unjustly they had punished them, without examina- 
 tion or trial, sent them word, that, as they thought 
 
538 LIVES OF. THE APOSTLES. 
 
 proper to scourge and imprison Romans, contrary to the 
 laws of the empire, he expected they should come them- 
 selves and make them some satisfaction. 
 
 The magistrates were terrified at this message. They 
 came therefore to the prison, and very submissively en- 
 treated the apostles to depart without any further dis- 
 turbance. 
 
 This small recompense for the cruel usage they had 
 received, was accepted by the meek followers of the 
 blessed Jesus. They left the prison, and retired to the 
 house of Lydia, where they comforted their brethren 
 with an account of their deliverance, and departed, 
 having laid the foundation of a very eminent church, 
 as it appears from St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians. 
 
 Leaving Philippi, Paul and his companions continued 
 their journey toward the west till they came to Thessa- 
 lonica, the metropolis of Macedonia, about a hundred 
 and twenty miles from Philippi.* On their arrival at 
 Thessalonica, Paul, according to his custom, went into 
 the synagogue of the Jews, and preached unto his 
 countrymen. His doctrine, however, was strenuously 
 opposed by the Jews, who would not allow Jesus to be 
 the Messiah, because of his ignominious death. 
 
 Accordingly, they gathered together a great number 
 of lewd and wicked wretches, intending to take Paul, 
 
 * Thessalonica, the metropolis of Macedonia, rises majestically from 
 the sea, and is still one of the greatest maritime cities on the ^gean, 
 with a population of seventy thousand souls. It is now called Salonica, 
 an abridgment of its former name. It is situated at the head of the 
 Thermean Gulf. It flourished greatly under the Romans, and the 
 church here planted by the apostle became a centre of light to distant 
 cities, and a generous contributor to the wants of the saints in Judea. 
 Two epistles of Paul were written to this church, A. D. 52. 
 
ST. PAUL. 539 
 
 and deliver him up to an incensed multitude. But in 
 this they were disappointed ; Paul and Silas being 
 removed from thence by the Christians, and concealed 
 in some other part of the city, and finally sent away by 
 night to Bersea, a city about fifty miles south of Thes- 
 salonica, but out of the power of their enemies. These 
 Jews were of a more ingenuous and candid temper than 
 those of Thessalonica ; and as they heard him, with 
 great reverence and attention, expound and apply the 
 Scriptures, so they searched diligently, whether his 
 proofs were proper and pertinent, and consonant to the 
 sense of the texts he referred to; and having found 
 every thing to be agreeable to what Paul had advanced, 
 many of them believed ; and several Gentiles, following 
 their example, became obedient to the faith, among 
 whom were several women of quality. The news of 
 this remarkable success was carried to Thessalonica, 
 and greatly incensed the inveterate enemies of the 
 gospel there, who accordingly repaired to Beraea, and 
 raised tumults against the apostle : so that Paul, to 
 avoid their fury, was forced to leave the town; but 
 Silas and Timothy, either less known or less envied, 
 continued still there. 
 
 Paul, leaving Beroea, under the conduct of certain 
 guides, it was said he designed to retire by sea out of 
 Greece, that his restless enemies might cease their perse- 
 cution ; but the guides, according to Paul's order, 
 brought him to Athens,* and left him after receiving 
 
 * Athens, the chief city of Attica, and "the eye of Greece," was 
 situated on the Saronic Gulf, five miles from the sea, on a plain gently 
 sloping to the southwest. Renowned alike for commerce, arms, arts, 
 letters, philosophy ; its colonies and its fame filled the ancient world. 
 
540 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 from him an order for Silas and Timotheus to repair to 
 him as soon as possible. 
 
 While St. Paul continued at Athens, expecting the 
 arrival of Silas and Timothy, he walked up and down, 
 to take a more accurate survey of the city, which he 
 found miserably overrun with superstition and idolatry. 
 
 Their superstitious practices grieved the spirit of the 
 apostle : accordingly, he exerted all his strength for 
 their conversion ; he disputed on the Sabbath days in 
 the synagogues of the Jews, and at other times took all 
 opportunities of preaching to the Athenians the coming 
 of % the Messiah to save the world. 
 
 This doctrine was equally new and strange to the 
 Athenians ; and though they did not persecute him as 
 the Jews did, yet his preaching Jesus was considered by 
 the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers f as a fabulous 
 - legend, and by the more sober part as a discovery of 
 some new gods, which they had not yet placed in their 
 temples : and though they were not unwilling to receive 
 any new deities, yet as the Areopagus, the supreme 
 
 Its great names are immortal, but it was ignorant of the true God, and 
 overrun with idolatry. Athens was called "the City of Minerva," and 
 the famous Parthenon was dedicated to her glory. 
 
 t The two most celebrated sects of Athenian philosophers were the 
 Stoics and Epicureans. The former were the followers of Zeno, and 
 their doctrine was that a wise man should be indifferent alike to good 
 and evil ; that all things are subject to fate, even the gods ; that pain 
 is no evil ; and that a man who proudly bears all the trials of life with- 
 out flinching is superior to the gods themselves. They admitted a 
 Paradise, and a possible immortality of the soul, but held the body not 
 worthy of a glorious resurrection. The latter, the followers of Epicu- 
 rus, placed all happiness in the free gratification of worldly desire, and 
 denied a God, a Providence, or a Future State. Bitterly as they were 
 opposed to each other, they were alike opposed to the principles and 
 spirit of Christianity. 
 
ST. PAUL. 541 
 
 court of the city, was to judge of all gods, to whom pub- 
 lic worship might be allowed, they brought him before 
 those judges, to give an account of his doctrine. 
 
 Paul, being placed before the judges of this high assem- 
 bly, readily gave them an account of his doctrine, in a 
 grave and elegant speech ; wherein, having commended 
 them for their religious dispositions, he took occasion, 
 from the altar inscribed to the " Unknown God," to make 
 a proper defence of his doctrine. " I endeavor," said he, 
 " only to explain that altar to you, and manifest the na- 
 ture of that God whom ye ignorantly worship. The true 
 God is he that made the world, and all things therein ; 
 and who, being Lord of all, dwells not in temples made 
 with hands, nor is to be worshipped in lifeless idols. As 
 he is the Creator of all things, he cannot be confined to 
 the workmanship of man, whether temples or statues ; 
 nor stand in need of sacrifices, since he is the fountain of 
 life to all things. He made from one common original 
 the whole race of mankind, and hath wisely determined 
 their dependence on him, that they might be obliged to 
 seek after him and serve him. A truth perceivable ia 
 the darkest state of ignorance, and acknowledged by 
 one of your own poets. If this be the nature of God, it 
 is surely the highest absurdity to represent him by an 
 image or similitude. The divine patience has been too 
 much exercised already with such gross abuses in re- 
 ligion, but now expects a thorough reformation, having 
 sent his Son Jesus Christ to make him known to the 
 world, and at the same time to inform them that he had 
 appointed a day of general judgment, when the religion 
 of mankind shall be tried by the test of the gospel, before 
 his only begotten Son, who is appointed sole judge of the 
 
542 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 quick and dead, and whose commission to that high office 
 hath been ratified by the Almighty, in raising him from 
 the dead." 
 
 On his mentioning the resurrection, some of the philoso- 
 phers mocked and derided him ; others, more modest, 
 but not satisfied with the proofs he had given, gravely 
 answered, " We would hear thee again of this matter." 
 After which Paul departed from the court ; but not with- 
 out some success : for a few of his distinguished auditors 
 believed and attended his instructions. 
 
 Thus boldly did this intrepid servant and soldier of 
 Jesus Christ assert the cause of his divine Master, among 
 the great, the wise, and the learned, and reason with 
 great persuasion and eloquence on the nature of God, and 
 the manner in which he has commanded his creatures to 
 worship him, even in spirit and in truth. 
 
 During St. Paul's stay at Athens, Timothy, according 
 to the order he had received, came to him, out of Mace- 
 donia, and brought an account that the Christians at 
 Thessalonica were under persecution from their fellow- 
 citizens, ever since his departure : at which St. Paul 
 was greatly concerned, and at first inclined to visit them 
 in person, to confirm them in the faith they had 
 embraced ; but being hindered by the enemies of the 
 gospel, he sent Timothy to comfort them, and put them 
 in mind of what they had at first heard, namely, that 
 persecution would be the constant attendant on their 
 profession. 
 
 On Timothy's departure, St. Paul left Athens, and 
 travelled to Corinth, a very populous place, and famous 
 for its trade. * 
 
 * Corinth, forty-six miles west of Athens, was the capital of all 
 Achaia, the residence of the Roman governor or Proconsul, and the 
 
ST. PAUL. 543 
 
 After some stay at Corinth, the apostle was joined by 
 Silas and Timothy, and disputed frequently in the syna- 
 gogue, reasoning and proving that Jesus was the true 
 Messiah. 
 
 During this stay at Corinth, he wrote his second epis- 
 tle to the Thessalonians, to supply his absence. In this 
 epistle he again endeavors to confirm their minds in the 
 truth of the gospel, and prevent their being shaken with 
 those troubles which the wicked and unbelieving Jews 
 would be continually raising against them. 
 
 St. Paul, on his leaving the church at Corinth, took 
 ship at Cenchrea, the port of Corinth, for Syria, taking 
 with him Aquila and Priscilla ; and on his arrival at 
 Ephesus, he preached awhile in the synagogue of the 
 Jews, promising to return to them, after keeping the 
 passover at Jerusalem. Accordingly, he again took 
 ship, and landed at Csesarea, and from thence travelled 
 to Jerusalem, where he kept the feast, visited the church, 
 and then repaired to Aritioch. Here he stayed some 
 time, and then traversed the countries of Galatia * and 
 Phrygia, confirming the newly converted Christians, till 
 
 most magnificent of Grecian cities. It was situated on the isthmus 
 that divides Southern from Northern Greece, midway between the 
 uEgean and Ionian seas, with a port on each : Cenchrea on the east 
 and? Sechseum on the west. Its Acropolis rose to the height of two 
 thousand feet, and afforded a splendid prospect. Its position for com- 
 merce was unrivalled, and its wealth overflowing. But its moral con- 
 dition was most debased and revolting, as may be judged from the fact 
 that Neptune and Venus were its tutelar deities, and that prostitution 
 was made a part of their religion. 
 
 * Galatia was a province of Asia Minor, lying between Pisidia on the 
 east and Phrygia on the west, on the high table land. Ancyra was its 
 capital, and it contained many populous cities. The inhabitants were 
 a mixed race of Gauls and Greeks, quick and ardent in temperament, 
 Paul's first labors among them had been eminently successful. 
 
544 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 he came to Ephesus,* where he fixed his abode for three 
 years, bringing with him Gains of Derbe, Aristarchus, 
 a native of Thessalonica, Erastus of Corinth, Timotheus, 
 and Titus. 
 
 Here he continued to preach the gospel ; by which 
 means the Jews and proselytes had an opportunity of 
 hearing the glad tidings of salvation; and because 
 miracles are the clearest evidence of a divine commission, 
 the Almighty was pleased to certify the doctrine which 
 St. Paul delivered by amazing and miraculous opera- 
 tions, many of which were of a peculiar and extra- 
 ordinary nature ; for he not only healed those who came 
 to him, but if napkins or handkerchiefs were only 
 touched by him, and applied to the sick, their diseases 
 immediately vanished, and the evil spirits departed out 
 of those that were possessed by them. 
 
 About this time the apostle wrote his epistle to the 
 Galatians ; for he had heard that, since his departure, 
 corrupt opinions had crept in among them, with regard 
 to the necessity of observing the legal rites. Here also 
 he wrote his first epistle to the Corinthians, and sent it 
 by the hands of Titus. 
 
 * Ephesus, the capital of Proconsular Asia (the ancient Ionia), was 
 situated on the river Cayster, about forty miles southeast of Smyrna. 
 Its trade and population were very great. It was the queen city of 
 Asia Minor, and specially celebrated for its magic arts and its magni- 
 ficent temple of Diana, counted as one of the seven wonders of the 
 world. It was the very centre of ancient superstition the throne of 
 Satan's power. Many Jews, however, had settled there, like Lot in 
 Sodom, for purposes of trade, and among them disciples of John the 
 Baptist from Judea, and disciples of Christ, banished from Rome by 
 the decree of Claudius Caesar, A. D. 50. Paul preached here for three 
 years, and the apostle John afterward made it the centre of his labors 
 for the last thirty years of his protracted life. 
 
ST. PAUL. 545 
 
 Soon after the great tumult at Ephesus, about the 
 goddess Diana, Paul called the Christians together, and 
 took his leave of them with the most tender expres- 
 sions of love and affection. He had now spent almost 
 three years at Ephesus, and founded there a very con- 
 siderable church. He first travelled about two hundred 
 miles northward, to Troas, before he took ship, expect- 
 ing to meet Titus there. But missing him, he proceeded 
 on his voyage to Macedonia. 
 
 On his arrival there, he preached the gospel in the 
 principal places, even as far as Illyricum, now called 
 Sclavonia. During this journey he met with many 
 troubles and dangers, "without were fightings, and 
 within were fears ; " but God, who comforteth those that 
 are cast down, revived his spirits by the arrival of Titus, 
 who gave him a pleasing account of the good effects his 
 epistle had produced at Corinth. 
 
 During the stay of Titus in Macedonia, Paul wrote 
 his second epistle to the Corinthians, and sent it to 
 them by Titus and Luke. 
 
 About this time also, some suppose, he wrote his first 
 epistle to Timothy, whom he had left at Ephesus. 
 
 During his stay in Greece, he went to Corinth, where 
 he wrote his famous epistle to the Komans, which he 
 sent by Phoebe, a deaconess of the church of Cenchrea, 
 near Corinth. 
 
 St. Paul being now determined to return into Syria, in 
 order to convey the contributions of the Gentile churches 
 to the brethren at Jerusalem, set out on his journey ; 
 but being informed that the Jews had formed a design 
 of killing and robbing him by the way, came to Philippi, 
 from whence he sailed to Troas, where he stayed seven 
 
 35 
 
546 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 days. Here he preached to them on the Lord's day, 
 and continued his discourse till midnight, being himself 
 about to depart in the morning. 
 
 On his arrival at Miletus,* he sent to Ephesus, to 
 summon the elders of the church ; and, on their coming, 
 reminded them of the manner in which he had conversed 
 among them, how faithfully and affectionately he had 
 discharged the offices of his ministry, and how inces- 
 santly he had labored for the good of the souls of men : 
 adding, that he had never failed to 'acquaint them, both 
 in public and private, with whatever might be useful 
 and profitable to them, urging both the Jews and Gen- 
 tiles to repentance, and reformation of life, and a hearty 
 perseverance in the faith of 'Christ : that he was now 
 going up to Jerusalem, where he was ignorant of what 
 might befall him, except what had been foretold him by 
 those who were endued with the prophetical gifts of the 
 Holy Ghost; namely, that afflictions and imprisonment 
 would attend him; but that this gave him no concern, 
 being willing to lay down his life whenever the gospel 
 required it, and fully determined to serve faithfully his 
 great Lord and Master. 
 
 St. Paul, having finished his touching discourse, 
 kneeled down, and joined with them in prayer; and they 
 all melted into tears, and, with the greatest expressions of 
 sorrow, attended him to the ship, grieving in the most 
 passionate manner for what he had told them, "that 
 they should see his face no more." 
 
 * Miletus was a maritime city, thirty miles to the south of Ephesus, 
 and near the mouth of the ancient river Meander. It was famous for 
 its antiquity, its many colonies, its distinguished men, and a temple of 
 Apollo Didymus. 
 
ST. PAUL. 547 
 
 Paul, with his companions, now departed from Mile- 
 tus, and arrived at Coos, from whence they sailed the 
 next day to Rhodes, a large island in the ^Egean sea. 
 Leaving this place, they came to Patara, the metropolis 
 of Lycia, where they went on board another vessel 
 bound for Tyre, in Phoenicia. On his arrival, he visited 
 the brethren there, and continued with them a week, 
 and was advised by some of them, who had the gift of 
 prophecy, not to go up to Jerusalem. But the apostle 
 would by no means abandon his design, or refuse to suf- 
 fer any thing, provided he might spread the gospel of 
 his Saviour. Finding all persuasions were in vain, they 
 jointly accompanied him to the shore, where he kneeled 
 down, and prayed with them; and, after embracing 
 them with the utmost affection, he went on board, and 
 came to Ptolemais, and the next day to Csesarea. 
 
 During their stay in this place, Agabus, a Christian 
 prophet, came thither from Judea, who, taking Paul's 
 girdle, bound his own hands and feet with it, signifying, 
 by this symbol, that the Jews would bind Paul in that 
 manner, and deliver him over to the Gentiles. Where- 
 upon both his own companions, and the Christians of 
 Caesarea, earnestly besought him that he would not go 
 up to Jerusalem. But the apostle asked them, if they 
 intended by these passionate dissuasives to add more 
 affliction to his sorrow. " For I am ready," continued he, 
 " not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem, for 
 the name of the Lord Jesus." 
 
 When the disciples found that his resolution was not 
 to be shaken, they importuned him no further, leaving 
 the event to be determined according to the pleasure of 
 the Most High. And, all things being ready, Paul and 
 
548 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 his companions set forward on their journey, and were 
 kindly and joyfully received by the Christians on their 
 arrival at Jerusalem. 
 
 While here the unbelieving Jews raised a tumult 
 against Paul, and would have beaten him to death, but 
 for the interference of Lysias, the captain of the Roman 
 guard, by whom he was sent down' to Csesarea for trial, 
 before Felix, the Roman governor. 
 
 Our apostle, soon after his arrival at Csesarea, encoun- 
 tered Tertullus,* who, in a short, but eloquent speech, 
 began to accuse him, charging him with sedition, heresy, 
 and the profanation of the temple. 
 
 The orator having finished his charge against the 
 apostle, Felix f told St. Paul that he was now at liberty 
 to make his defence, which he did. 
 
 Felix having thus heard both parties, refused to pass 
 any final sentence, till he had more fully advised about 
 it ; adding that St. Paul should be kept under a guard, but 
 at the same time enjoy the liberty of being visited by his 
 friends, and receiving from them any office of friendship. 
 
 * The Jews not being acquainted with the judicial forms of Roman 
 law, employed Roman or Greek advocates to plead for them. Tertullus 
 was an advocate of this class. The Greek language was often used 
 in Roman courts, as being more generally understood in the pro- 
 vinces. 
 
 f Felix was originally a slave, but was emancipated and elevated by 
 Claudius Caesar, who conferred on him his name* of Claudius. His 
 character, according to Tacitus, was base, licentious, and cruel. When 
 appointed governor of Judea (A. D. 52), he enticed Drusilla, sister of 
 Agrippa, from her husband, and married her. He exerted all his 
 energy to suppress robbers, but is charged with being in collusion with 
 them, and his avarice and oppression were intolerable. On his re- 
 turn to Rome (A. D. 60), he was tried and condemned for mal-admin- 
 istration. 
 
ST. PAUL. 549 
 
 Here Paul remained two years, until Felix was succeeded 
 by Festus. * 
 
 Some time after, king Agrippa, f who succeeded Herod 
 in the Tetrarchate of Galilee, and his sister Bernice, 
 came to Csesarea to visit the new governor. Festus em- 
 braced this opportunity of mentioning the case of our 
 apostle to king Agrippa, together with the remarkable 
 tumult this affair had occasioned among the Jews, and 
 the appeal he had made to Caesar. This account excited 
 the curiosity of king Agrippa, and he was desirous of 
 hearing himself what St. Paul had to say in his own 
 vindication. 
 
 Accordingly, the next day, the king and his sister, 
 accompanied with Festus the governor, and several other 
 persons of distinction, came into the court with a pompous 
 and splendid retinue, where the prisoner was brought 
 before them. On his appearing, Festus informed the 
 court how greatly he had been importuned by the Jews, 
 both at Csesarea and Jerusalem, to put the prisoner to 
 
 * Pontius Festus, who succeeded Felix in the government of Judea, 
 was a man of much better character. His administration is w r ell spoken 
 of by Joseph us, as vigorous and just. He died two years after he came 
 into office. To his justice Paul owed the success of his appeal to 
 CaBsar. 
 
 f Herod Agrippa II. (or the younger Agrippa) was the son of Herod 
 Agrippa I., the Herod who slew James, the brother of John. Acts xii. 
 He was educated at Rome, under the care of the Emperor Claudius, 
 who first gave him (A. D. 47) the small kingdom of Chalcis, but in A. D. 
 53 transferred him to the region east of the Jordan, over which his 
 father had reigned at first Abilene, Batanea, Trachonitis, and Aurani- 
 tis with the title of king. He took part with the Romans in the 
 Jewish war, and projected the Christians in his dominions. He died in 
 the third year of Trajan, A. D. 100, aged seventy. In Josephus and in 
 the New Testament he is called Agrippa only. 
 
 His sister Bernice was twice married, but later in life became the 
 mistress of Vespasian and Titus. 
 
550 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 death as a malefactor ; but having, on examination, found 
 him guilty of no capital crime, and the prisoner himself 
 having appealed unto Caesar, he was determined to send 
 him to Rome-; but was willing to have his cause debated 
 before Agrippa, that he might be furnished with some 
 material particulars to send with him ; it being highly 
 absurd to send a prisoner without signifying the crimes 
 alleged against him. 
 
 Festus having finished his speech, Agrippa told Paul 
 he was now at liberty to make his own defence ; and 
 silence being made, he delivered his famous speech, 
 particularly to Agrippa. (See Acts, xxvi.) 
 
 While the apostle thus pleaded for himself, Festus 
 cried out : " Paul, thou art mad ; too much study hath 
 deprived thee of thy reason." But Paul answered : " I 
 am far, most noble Festus, from being transported with 
 idle and distracted ideas. The words I speak are dic- 
 tated by truth and sobriety. And I am persuaded that 
 the king Agrippa himself is not ignorant of these things, 
 for they were transacted openly before the world. I am 
 confident, king Agrippa, that thou believest the prophets, 
 and therefore must know that all their predictions were 
 fulfilled in. Christ." To which Agrippa answered : " Thou 
 hast almost persuaded me to embrace the Christian 
 faith." Paul replied : " I sincerely wish that not only 
 thou, but also all that hear me this day, were not 
 almost, but altogether, the same as I myself, except being 
 prisoners." 
 
 It being now finally determined that Paul should be 
 sent to Rome, he was, with several other prisoners of 
 consequence, committed to the care of Julius, com- 
 mander of a company belonging to the legion of Augus- 
 
ST. PAUL. 551 
 
 tus ; and was accompanied in his voyage by St. Luke, 
 Aristarchus, Trophimus, and some others not mentioned 
 by the sacred historian. 
 
 In the month of September, they embarked on board 
 a ship of Adramyttium, and sailed to Sidon, where the 
 centurion courteously gave the apostle leave to go on 
 shore to visit his friends and refresh himself. 
 
 After a short stay they sailed for Cyprus, and arrived 
 opposite the Fair-Havens. Here the season being far 
 advanced, and Paul foreseeing it would be a dangerous 
 voyage, persuaded them to put in and winter there. 
 But the Roman centurion, preferring the opinion of the 
 master of the ship, and the harbor being at the same 
 time incommodious, resolved if possible to reach Phoe- 
 nice, a port of Crete, and winter there. But they soon 
 found themselves disappointed ; for the fine southerly 
 gale, which had favored them for some time, suddenly 
 changed into a stormy and tempestuous wind at north- 
 east, which blew with such violence that the ship was 
 obliged to drive before it ; and, to prevent her sinking, 
 they threw overboard the principal part of her lading. 
 
 In this desperate and uncomfortable condition they 
 continued fourteen days, and on the fourteenth night 
 the mariners discovered they were near some coast; 
 and therefore, to avoid the rocks, thought proper to 
 come to an anchor till the morning might give them 
 better information. 
 
 During the time they continued at anchor, waiting 
 for the light of the morning, St. Paul prevailed upon 
 them to eat and refresh themselves, they having fasted a 
 long time, assuring them they should all escape. 
 
 The country near which they were, was, as Paul had 
 
55:2 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 foretold, an island called Melita, now Malta, situated 
 between Sicily and Africa. Here they landed, and 
 met with great civility from the people, \\lio treated 
 them with humanity, and entertained them with every 
 necessary accommodation. But whilst St. Paul was 
 laying a few sticks on the fire, a viper, enlivened by the 
 heat, came from among the wood and fastened on his 
 hand. On seeing this, the inhabitants of the island 
 concluded that he was certainly some notorious mur- 
 derer, whom the divine vengeance, though it suffered 
 him to escape the sea, had reserved for a more public 
 and solemn execution. But when they saw him shake 
 off the venomous creature into the fire, and no manner 
 of harm ensue, they changed their sentiments, and cried 
 out " that he was a god." 
 
 After three months' stay in this island, the centurion 
 with his charge went on board the Castor and Pollux. 
 a ship of Alexandria, bound to Italy. They put in at 
 Syracuse,* where they tarried three days; then they 
 sailed to Rhegiutn ; and from thence to Puteoli. where 
 they landed and finding some Christians there, stayed. 
 
 * Syracuse, now called Siragisa, lies directly north of Malta, on the 
 eastern coast of Sicily. It has a noble and capacious harbor. The 
 city was much celebrated by the ancient writers for its irivat size, com- 
 merce, wealth, and enterprise, and as the birthplace of the famous 
 mathematician Archimedes. It contained three hundred thousand 
 inhabitants : now it has but thirteen thousand. 
 
 Rhegium (now called Reggio) is on the western coast of Calabria, in 
 the south of Italy, eight miles southeast from Messina in Sicily, across 
 the straits. It is still a flourishing seaport. 
 
 Puteoli is a maritime town on the western shore of Italy, just north 
 of the Bay of Naples, and about eight miles from that noble city. 
 It is now called Puzzuoli. It stands on a small peninsula, and contains 
 about fifteen thousand inhabitants. It is surrounded with splendid 
 scenery, by sea and land. Vesuvius towers in the distance on the 
 east 
 
ST. PAUL. 553 
 
 at their request, a week with them, and then set for- 
 ward on their journey to Rome. The Christians of this 
 latter city, hearing of the apostle's corning, went to meet 
 him as far as the distance of about thirty miles from 
 Rome, and others as far as the Apii-Forum, fifty-one miles 
 distant from the capital. They kindly embraced each 
 other, and the liberty he saw the Christians enjoy at 
 Rome, and the love they manifested to him, greatly 
 tended to enliven the spirits of the apostle. 
 
 Having refreshed himself after the fatigue of his 
 voyage, the apostle sent for the heads of the Jewish 
 consistory at Rome, and related to them the cause of 
 his coming, in the following manner : " Though I have 
 been guilty of no violation of the laws of our religion, 
 yet I was delivered by the Jews at Jerusalem to the 
 Roman governors, who more than once would have ac- 
 quitted UK; as innocent of any capital offence ; but, by the 
 perverseness of my persecutors, I was obliged to appeal 
 unto Caesar. Not that I had any thing to accuse my 
 nation of: I had recourse to this method merely to clear 
 my own innocence." 
 
 Having thus removed a popular prejudice, he added, 
 " That the true cause of his sufferings was, that their 
 own religion had taught him ' the belief and expectation 
 of a future resurrection/' 1 But his discourse had dif- 
 ferent effects on different hearers, some being convinced, 
 and others persisting in their infidelity. 
 
 For two whole years Paul dwelt at Rome, in a house 
 IK; had hired for his own use; wherein he assiduously 
 employed himself in preaching and writing for the good 
 of the church, especially his admirable epistle to the 
 He-brews. 
 
554 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 The Christians -of Philippi, hearing of St. Paul's 
 being at Rome, and not knowing what distress he might 
 be reduced to, raised a contribution for him, and sent it 
 by Epaphroditus ; by whom he returned an epistle to 
 them, wherein he gives some account of the state of his 
 affairs at Rome. 
 
 Here, also, he wrote his epistles to the Ephesians, 
 Colossians, and Philemon, and sent them by the hands 
 of Tychicus, and Onesimus, a converted slave. 
 
 By what means St. Paul was discharged from the 
 accusation the Jews brought against him, we have no 
 account in history ; but it is natural to suppose, that 
 not having sufficient proof of what they alleged, or 
 being informed that the crimes they accused him of 
 were no violation of the Roman laws, they durst not 
 im plead him before the Emperor, and so permitted him 
 to be discharged of course. But, by whatever means 
 he procured his liberty, he wrote his epistle to the 
 Hebrews before he left Italy, from whence he dates his 
 salutations. 
 
 The principal design of it is to magnify Christ and 
 the religion of the gospel above Moses and the Jewish 
 economy, in order to establish and confirm the con- 
 verted Jews in the firm belief and profession of Chris- 
 tianity, notwithstanding the trouble and persecutions 
 that would certainly attend them. 
 
 Having thus discharged his ministry, both by preach- 
 ing and writing, in Italy, St. Paul, accompanied by 
 Timothy, prosecuted his long intended journey into 
 Spain ; and, according to the testimony of several 
 writers, crossed the sea and preached the gospel in Britain. 
 
 What success he had in these western parts is not 
 
ST. ANDREW. 555 
 
 known: he, however, continued there eight or nine 
 months, and then returned again to the east, visited 
 Sicily, Greece, and Crete, and then repaired to Rome. 
 
 Here he met with Peter, and was, together with him, 
 thrown into prison, doubtless in the general persecution 
 raised against the Christians, under pretence that they 
 had set fire to the city. How long he remained in 
 prison is uncertain ; nor do we know whether he was 
 scourged before his execution. He was, however, al- 
 lowed the privilege of a Roman citizen, and therefore, 
 six months after writing his second epistle to Timothy, 
 was beheaded. 
 
 Being come to the place of execution, which was the 
 Aquse Salvige, three miles from Rome, he cheerfully, 
 after a solemn preparation, gave his neck to the fatal 
 stroke : and from this vale of misery passed to the 
 blissful regions of immortality, to the kingdom of his 
 beloved Master, the great Redeemer of the human race. 
 
 He was buried in the Via Ostiensis, about two miles 
 from Rome; and about the year 317, Constantine the 
 Great, at the instance of Sylvester, built a stately church 
 over his grave, adorned it with an hundred marble col- 
 umns, and beautified it with the most exquisite work- 
 manship. 
 
 ST. ASTDEEW. 
 
 THIS apostle was born at Bethsaida, a city of Galilee, 
 built on the banks of the Lake of Gennesaret, and was 
 son to John, or Jonas, a fisherman of that town. He 
 
556 LIYES OF THE APOSTLES 
 
 was brother to Simon Peter, but whether older or 
 younger is not certainly known, though the generality 
 of the ancients intimate that he was the younger. He 
 was brought up to his father's trade, at which he labored 
 till our blessed Saviour called him to be a fisher of men, 
 for which he was by some preparatory instructions quali- 
 fied, even before the appearance of the Messiah, under 
 John the Baptist. 
 
 In the number of his followers was our apostle, who 
 accompanied him beyond Jordan, when the Messiah, who 
 had some time before been baptized, came that way. 
 Upon his approach, the Baptist pointed him out as the 
 Messiah, styling him the Lamb of God, the true sacrifice 
 that was to expiate the sins of the world. As soon as the 
 Baptist had given this character of Jesus, Andrew and 
 another disciple, probably John, followed the Saviour of 
 mankind to the place of his abode. 
 
 After some conversation with him, Andrew departed, 
 and having found his brother Simon, informed him that 
 he had discovered the great Messiah, so long expected 
 by the house of Jacob, and accordingly brought him to 
 Jesus. They did not, however, stay long with their 
 Master, but returned to their calling. 
 
 Something more than a year after, Jesus, passing 
 along the shore, found Andrew and Peter fishing on the 
 sea of Galilee, where he fully satisfied them of the 
 greatness and divinity of his person, by a miraculous 
 draught of fishes, which they took at his command. He 
 now told them that they should enter on a different 
 series of labors, and instead of fish, should, by the effi- 
 cacy and influence of their doctrine upon the heart and 
 conscience, catch men ; commanding them to follow him, 
 
ST. ANDREW. 557 
 
 as his immediate disciples and attendants ; and accord- 
 ingly they left all and followed him. 
 
 After the ascension of the blessed Jesus into heaven, 
 and the descent of the Holy Ghost on the apostles, to 
 qualify them for their great undertaking, St. Andrew, 
 according to the generality of ancient writers, was chosen 
 to preach the gospel in Scythia, and the neighboring 
 countries. 
 
 Accordingly he departed from Jerusalem, and first 
 travelled through Cappadocia, Galatia, and Bithynia, 
 instructing the inhabitants in the faith of Christ, and 
 continued his journey along the Euxine sea, into the 
 deserts of Scythia. An ancient author tells us, that he 
 first came to Amisus,* where, being entertained by a 
 Jew, he went into the synagogue, preached to them con- 
 cerning Jesus, and from the prophecies of the Old Tes- 
 tament proved him to be the Messiah, and Saviour of 
 the world. Having converted many here, he settled 
 the times of their public meetings, and ordained them 
 pastors. 
 
 He went next to Trapezium, a maritime city on the 
 
 * Amisus was a large and beautiful Greek city in Pontus, on the 
 Amisian gulf. Trapezium (or Trapezus, now Trebisond) was a colony 
 of Greeks from Sinope. It lay on the south side of the Black sea, in 
 the northeast of Pontus. Nicca, or Nice, was a famous city of Bithy- 
 nia, on the Propontis, and gave its name to the first great Christian 
 Council assembled by Constantine, A. D. 325. Nicomedia, afterward 
 the residence of the Emperor Diocletian, was farther north in the same 
 province. Chalcedon was a flourishing city of Bithynia, in the north- 
 east corner of Asia Minor, opposite to Byzantium (Constantinople). 
 It was afterward the seat of a Christian Council, A. D. 451. Heraclea, 
 on the Euxine (or Black sea), was a Greek colony, famous for its navy, 
 its library, and rich temples. Amastris lay in the eastern part of 
 Paphlagonia. not far from Sinope. 
 
558 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 Euxine sea; from whence, after visiting many other 
 places, he came to Nice, where he staved two years, 
 preaching and working miracles with great success. 
 After leaving Nice, he passed to Nicomedia, and from 
 thence to Chalcedon, whence he sailed through the Pro- 
 pontis, came by the Euxine sea to Heraclea, and after- 
 ward to Amastris. In all these places he met with the 
 greatest difficulties, but overcame them by an invincible 
 patience and resolution. 
 
 He next came to Sinope, a city situated on the same 
 sea, and famous both for the birth and burial of King 
 Mithridates ; here he met with his brother Peter, and 
 stayed with him a considerable time. The inhabitants 
 of Sinope were mostly Jews, who partly from a zeal for 
 their religion, and partly from their barbarous manners, 
 were exasperated against St. Andrew, and entered into 
 a confederacy to burn the house in which he lodged. 
 But being disappointed in their design, they treated him 
 with the most savage cruelty, throwing him on the 
 ground, stamping upon him with their feet, pulling and 
 dragging him from place to place ; some beating him 
 with clubs, some pelting him with stones, and others, to 
 satisfy their brutal revenge, biting off his flesh with 
 their teeth ; till apprehending they had entirely de- 
 prived him of life, they cast him out into the fields. 
 But he miraculously recovered, and returned publicly 
 into the city ; by which and other miracles he wrought 
 among them, he converted many from the error of their 
 ways, and induced them to become disciples of the 
 blessed Jesus. 
 
 Departing from Sinope, he returned to Jerusalem; but 
 he did not continue loner in that neighborhood. He 
 
ST. ANDREW. 559 
 
 returned again to the province allotted him for the exer- 
 cise of his ministry, which greatly flourished through the 
 power of the divine grace that attended it. 
 
 He travelled over Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, 
 Achaia, and Epirus, preaching the gospel, propagating 
 Christianity, and then confirming the doctrine he taught 
 with signs and miracles. At last he came to Petrea, a 
 city of Achaia, where he gave his last and greatest tes- 
 timony to the gospel of his divine Master, sealing it with 
 his blood. 
 
 ^Egenas, proconsul of Achaia, came at this time to 
 Petrea,* where, observing that multitudes had abandoned 
 the heathen religion, and embraced the gospel of Christ, 
 he had recourse to every method, both of favor and 
 cruelty, to reduce the people to their old idolatry. The 
 apostle, whom no difficulties or dangers could deter from 
 performing the duties of his ministry, addressed himself 
 to the proconsul, calmly putting him in mind that, being 
 only a judge of men, he ought to revere him who was 
 the supreme and impartial Judge of all ; observing to him 
 that if he would renounce his idolatries, and heartily 
 embrace the Christian faith, he should, with him and 
 the numbers who had believed in the Son of God, receive 
 eternal happiness in the Messiah's kingdom. The pro- 
 consul answered, that he himself should never embrace 
 the religion he mentioned; and that the only reason 
 why he was so earnest with him to sacrifice to the gods 
 was that those whom he had everywhere seduced might, 
 by his example, be brought back to the ancient religion 
 they had forsaken. The apostle replied, that with re- 
 
 * More properly Patrse (the modem Patras), on the northwest corner 
 of the Peloponnesus or Morea. 
 
560 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 gard to himself, he might act as he pleased, and if he 
 had any torment greater than another, he might heap 
 that upon him ; as the greater constancy he showed in 
 his sufferings for Christ, the more acceptable he should 
 be to his Lord and Master. ^Egenas, after treating him 
 with very opprobrious language, passed sentence on him 
 that he should be put to death 
 
 He first ordered the apostle to be scourged, and seven 
 lie tors successively whipped his naked body ; but seeing 
 his invincible patience and constancy, he commanded 
 him to be crucified; but to be fastened tc the cross with 
 cords instead of nails, that his death might be more lin- 
 gering and tedious. 
 
 On his coming near the cross, he saluted it in the fol- 
 lowing manner : " I have long desired and expected 
 this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by 
 the body of Christ hanging on it, and adorned with his 
 members as with so many inestimable jewels. I there- 
 fore come joyfully and triumphing to it, that it may re- 
 ceive me as a disciple and follower of him, who once hung 
 upon it, and be the means of carrying me safe to my 
 Master, being the instrument on which he redeemed me." 
 
 After offering up his prayer to the throne of grace, 
 and exhorting the people to constancy and perseverance 
 in the faith he had delivered them, he was fastened to 
 the cross, on which he hung two whole days, teaching 
 and instructing the people in the best manner his 
 wretched situation would admit, being sometimes so 
 weak and faint as scarce to have the power of utterance. 
 
 In the meantime great interest was made to the pro- 
 consul to spare his life ; but the apostle earnestly begged 
 of the Almighty that he might now depart, and seal the 
 
ST. JAMES THE GREAT. 561 
 
 truth of his religion with feis blood. His prayers were 
 heard, and he expired on the last day of November, 
 but in what year is uncertain. 
 
 There seems to have been something peculiar in the 
 form of the cross on which he suffered. It was commonly 
 thought to have been a cross decussate, or two pieces of 
 timber crossing each other in the centre, in the form of 
 the letter X, and hence usually known by the name of 
 St. Andrew's cross. 
 
 His body being taken down from the cross, was de- 
 cently and honorably interred by Maximilla, a lady of 
 great quality and estate, and whom Nicephorus tells us, 
 was wife to the proconsul. 
 
 ST. JAMES THE GEEAT. 
 
 THIS apostle (who was surnamed the Great, by way 
 of distinction from another of that name) was the son 
 of Zebedee, and by trade a fisherman, to which he 
 applied himself with remarkable assiduity, and was ex- 
 ercising his employment, when the Saviour of the world, 
 passing by the sea of Galilee, saw him with his brother 
 in the ship, and called them both to be his disciples. 
 
 Soon after this he was called from the station of an 
 ordinary disciple to the apostolic office, and even 
 honored with some particular favors beyond most of the 
 apostles, being one of the three whom our Lord made 
 choice of as his companions in the more intimate trans- 
 actions of his life, from which the rest were excluded. 
 
 36 
 
562 LIVES OF THE AJPOSTLES. 
 
 Thus, with Peter and his brother John, he attended his 
 Master when he raised the daughter of Jairus from the 
 dead ; he was admitted to Christ's glorious transfigura- 
 tion on the mount; and when the holy Jesus was to 
 undergo his bitter agonies in the garden, as preparatory 
 sufferings to his passion, James was one of the three 
 taken to be a spectator of them. Nor was it the least 
 instance of that particular honor our Lord conferred on 
 these apostles, that at his calling them to the apostleship 
 he gave them a new name and title. Simon he called 
 Peter, or a rock ; and James and John, who were 
 brothers, Boanerges, or the sons of thunder. 
 
 Some think that this name was given them on account 
 of their bold preaching of the gospel, going on thunder- 
 ing in the ears of a drowsy and sleepy world. 
 
 But however this be, our blessed Saviour, doubtless, 
 alluded by this term to the disposition of these two 
 brothers, who seem to have been of a more fiery temper 
 than the rest of the apostles, of which we have this 
 memorable instance. When our Lord was determined 
 on his private journey to Jerusalem, at the Feast of 
 Tabernacles, he sent some of his disciples before him to 
 make preparations for his unexpected coming ; but, on 
 their entering a village of Samaria, they were rudely 
 rejected, from the old grudge that subsisted between the 
 Samaritans and Jews, and because the Saviour, by going 
 up to Jerusalem, seemed to slight their place of worship 
 on Mount Gerizim. This piece of rudeness and inhu- 
 manity was so highly resented by St. James and his 
 brother, that they came to Jesus, desiring to know if he 
 would not imitate Elias, by calling fire down from heaven 
 to consume this, barbarous, inhospitable people ? But 
 
ST. JAMES THE GREAT. 563 
 
 the holy Jesus soon convinced them of their mistake, by 
 telling them, that instead of destroying, he was come to 
 save the lives of the children of men. 
 
 Sophronius tells us, that after the ascension of the 
 blessed Jesus, this apostle preached to the dispersed 
 Jews: that is, to those converts who dispersed after the 
 death of Stephen. The Spanish writers will have it, that 
 after preaching the gospel in several parts of Judea and 
 Samaria, he visited Spain, where he planted Christianity, 
 and appointed some select disciples to perfect what he 
 had begun : but if we consider the shortness of St. James' 
 life, and that the apostles continued in a body at Jerusa- 
 lem, even after the dispersion of the other Christians, we 
 shall find it difficult to allow time sufficient for so tedious 
 and difficult a voyage as that was in those early ages ; 
 and therefore it is safest to confine his ministry to Judea 
 and the adjacent countries. 
 
 Herod Agrippa I., who was a bigot to the Jewish re- 
 ligion, as well as desirous of the favor of the Jews, be- 
 gan a violent persecution of the Christians, A. D. 44, and 
 his zeal animated him to pass sentence of death on James 
 immediately. As he was led to the place of execution, 
 it is said, the officer that guarded him to the tribunal, or 
 rather his accuser, having been converted by that remark- 
 able courage and constancy shown by the apostle at the 
 time of his trial, repented of what he had done, came and 
 fell down at the apostle's feet, and heartily begged par- 
 don for what he had said against him. The holy man, 
 after recovering from the surprise, tenderly embraced 
 him. " Peace," said he, " my son, peace be unto thee, 
 and pardon of thy faults." Upon which the officer pub- 
 licly declared himself a Christian, and both were beheaded 
 
564 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 at the same time. Thus fell the great apostle James, 
 taking cheerfully of that cup of which he had long since 
 told his Lord he was ready to drink. 
 
 ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST. 
 
 FROM the very minute and circumstantial account this 
 Evangelist gives of John the Baptist, he is justly sup- 
 posed to have been one of his followers, and to be that 
 other disciple who, in the first chapter of his gospel, is 
 said to have been present with Andrew, when John de- 
 clared Jesus to be " the Lamb of God," and thereupon to 
 have followed him to the place of his abode. 
 
 He was perhaps the youngest of the apostles, yet he 
 was admitted into as great a share of his Master's confi- 
 dence, as any of them. He was one of those to whom he 
 communicated the most private transactions of his life : 
 one of those whom he took with him when he raised the 
 daughter of Jarius from the dead : one of those to whom 
 he displayed a specimen of his divinity, in his transfigu- 
 ration on the mount ; who were present at his conference 
 with Moses and Elias, and heard that voice which de- 
 clared him " the beloved Son of God ; " and one of those 
 who were companions in his solitude, most retired de- 
 votions, and bitter agonies in the garden. 
 
 These instances of particular favor, our apostle en- 
 deavored, in some measure, to answer by returns of 
 particular kindness and constancy. For though he at 
 first deserted his Master on his apprehension, yet he 
 soon recovered himself, and came back to see his Saviour, 
 
ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST. 565 
 
 confidently entered the high-priest's hall, followed our 
 Lord through the several particulars of his trial, and at 
 last waited on him at his execution, owning him, as 
 well as being owned by him, in the midst of armed 
 soldiers, and in the thickest crowd of his most invete- 
 rate enemies. Here it was that our great Redeemer 
 committed to his care his. sorrowful and disconsolate 
 mother, with his dying breath. And certainly the holy 
 Jesus could not have given a more honorable testimony 
 of his particular respect and kindness to St. John than 
 by leaving his own mother to his trust and care, and 
 substituting him to supply that duty himself paid her 
 while he resided in this vale of sorrow. 
 
 After the ascension of the Saviour of the world, when 
 the apostles made a division of the provinces among 
 themselves, that of Proconsular Asia fell to the share 
 of St. John, though he did not immediately enter upon 
 his charge, but continued at Jerusalem till the death of 
 the blessed Virgin, which might be about fifteen years 
 after our Lord's ascension. Being released from the 
 trust committed to his care by his dying Master, he re- 
 tired into Asia,* and industriously applied himself to 
 the propagation of Christianity, preaching where the 
 gospel had not yet been known, and confirming it 
 where it was already planted. Many churches of note 
 and eminence were of his foundation, particularly those 
 of Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, 
 Laodicea, and others. But his chief place of residence 
 was at Ephesus, where St. Paul had many years before 
 founded a church. 
 
 * There is no proof that the apostle John was in Proconsular Asia 
 until after the destruction of Jerusalem, A. D. 70. The Acts and the 
 Epistles of Paul forbid tUe supposition. 
 
566 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 After spending many years at Ephesus, he was ac- 
 cused to Domitian, who had begun a persecution against 
 the Christians, as an eminent assertor of atheism and 
 impiety, and a public subverter of the religion of the 
 empire ; so that by his command the proconsul sent him 
 bound to Rome, where he met with the treatment that 
 might have been expected from so barbarous a prince- 
 being thrown (according to Tertullian) into a cal- 
 dron of boiling oil. But the Almighty restrained 
 the heat, as he did in the fiery furnace of old, and 
 delivered him from this seemingly unavoidable de- 
 struction. But miracles themselves were not sufficient 
 to convince this cruel emperor, or, abate his fury. 
 He ordered St. John to be transported to an almost 
 desolate island in the Archipelago, called Patmos, where 
 he continued several years, instructing the poor inhabi- 
 tants in the knowledge of the Christian faith. And 
 here, about the end of Domitian's reign, he wrote his 
 book of Revelation, exhibiting by visions and propheti- 
 cal representations the state and condition of Christian- 
 ity in the future periods and ages of the church. 
 
 Upon the death of Domitian, and the succession of 
 Nerva (A. r>. 95), who repealed all the odious acts of 
 his predecessor, and by public edicts recalled those whom 
 the fury of Domitian had banished, St. John returned to 
 Asia, and fixed his seat again at Ephesus ; * the rather 
 
 * The position of Ephesus as a great maritime city, midway between 
 Rome and Alexandria, made it the natural centre of Christianity after 
 the destruction of Jerusalem. Here the venerable apostle could col- 
 lect and authenticate before his death all the canonical writings of the 
 New Testament. This important fact has been generally overlooked 
 by writers on the Canon, though it is of itself sufficient to decide the 
 question as to the canon of the Primitive Church. 
 
ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST. 5G7 
 
 because the people of that city had lately martyred 
 Timothy. Here, in the best manner that the circum- 
 stances of those times would permit, he spent his time 
 in an indefatigable execution of his charge, travelling 
 from east to west, through Asia Minor, to instruct men in 
 the principles of the holy religion he was sent to propagate. 
 
 In this manner St. John continued to labor in the 
 vineyard of his great Master, until death put a period 
 to all his toils and sufferings ; which happened in the 
 beginning of Trajan's reign, in the ninety-eighth year 
 of his age ; and, according to Eusebius, his remains were 
 buried near Ephesus. 
 
 St. John seems to have led a single life ; though some 
 of the ancients tell us he was a married man. He was 
 polished by no study of arts or learning; but what was 
 wanting from human art, was abundantly supplied by 
 the excellent constitution of his mind, and that fulness 
 of divine grace with which he was adorned. His 
 humility was admirable, studiously concealing his own 
 honor. For in his epistles he never styles himself 
 either apostle or evangelist: the title of presbyter, or 
 elder, is all he assumes, and probably in regard to his 
 age as much as his office. In his gospel, when he 
 speaks of "the disciple whom Jesus loved," he con- 
 stantly conceals his own name, leaving the reader to 
 discover whom he meant. 
 
 The greatest instance of our apostle's care for the 
 souls of men is in the writings he left to posterity, in- 
 cluding his gospel, his three epistles, and his Apocalypse, 
 or Book of Revelation. 
 
 Such is the character of this great apostle and evan- 
 gelist, who was honored with the endearing title of being 
 
568 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 the beloved disciple of the Son of God : a writer so pro- 
 found as to deserve, by way of eminence, the character 
 of " St. John the Divine." 
 
 ST. PHILIP. 
 
 THIS apostle was a native of Bethsaida, " the city of 
 Andrew and Peter." He had the honor of being first 
 called to be a disciple of the great Messiah, which hap- 
 pened in the following manner : Our blessed Saviour, 
 soon after his return from the wilderness, where he had 
 been tempted by the devil, met with Andrew, and his 
 brother Peter, and after some discourse parted from 
 them. The next day, as he was passing to Galilee, he 
 found Philip, whom he presently commanded to follow 
 him, the constant form he made use of in calling his 
 disciples, and those that inseparably attended him. So 
 that the prerogative of being first called, evidently 
 belongs to Philip. 
 
 It cannot be doubted, that notwithstanding Philip 
 was a native of Galilee, yet he was skilled in the law 
 and the prophets. Metaphrastes assures us, that he 
 had, from his childhood, been excellently educated; 
 that he frequently read over the books of Moses, and 
 attentively considered the prophecies relating to the 
 Messiah. 
 
 Nor was our apostle idle after the honor he had re- 
 ceived of being called to attend the Saviour of the 
 world ; he immediately imparted the glad tidings of the 
 
ST. PIIILIP. 569 
 
 Messiah's appearance to his friend Nathanael, and con- 
 ducted him to Jesus. 
 
 After being called to the apostleship we have very 
 little record of him by the evangelists. It was, how- 
 ever, to him that our Saviour proposed the question, 
 where they should find bread sufficient to satisfy the 
 hunger of so great a multitude. Philip answered, that 
 it was not easy to procure so great a quantity ; not con- 
 sidering that it was equally easy for Almighty power to 
 feed double the number, when it should be his divine 
 will. It was also to the same apostle that the Gentile 
 proselytes who came up to worship at Jerusalem, 
 applied, when they were desirous to see the Saviour of 
 the world. And it was with him our Lord had the dis- 
 course at the holy Supper. 
 
 The compassionate Jesus had been fortifying their 
 minds with proper considerations against his departure 
 from them, and had told them that he was going to 
 prepare for them a place in the mansions of the 
 heavenly Canaan ; that he was " the way, the truth, 
 and the life ; " and that no man could come to the Father 
 but by him. 
 
 Philip, not thoroughly understanding, begged of him, 
 that he would " show them the Father." Our blessed 
 Lord gently reproved his ignorance of the divine nature, 
 and particularly, that after attending so long to his in- 
 structions, he should not know that he was the image 
 of his Father the express character of his infinite 
 wisdom, power, and goodness, appearing in him. 
 
 The ancients tell us, that in the distribution made 
 by the apostles of the several regions of the world, the 
 Upper Asia fell to his share, where he labored with an 
 
570 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 indefatigable diligence and industry. By the constancy 
 and power of his preaching, and the efficacy of his 
 miracles, he gained numerous converts, whom he bap- 
 tized into the Christian faith, curing at once their bodies 
 of infirmities and distempers, and their souls of errors 
 and idolatry. He continued with them a considerable 
 time in settling churches, and appointing them guides 
 and ministers of religion. 
 
 After several years successfully exercising his apos- 
 tolical office in all those parts, he came at last to Hier- 
 apolis, in Phrygia, a city remarkably rich and populous, 
 but at the same time overrun with the most enormous 
 idolatry. 
 
 St. Philip being grieved to see the people so wretch- 
 edly enslaved by error and superstition, continually 
 offered his addresses to heaven, till by his prayers, calling 
 on the name of Christ, he procured the death, or at least 
 the disappearing, of an enormous serpent, to which they 
 paid adoration. 
 
 Having thus demolished their deity, he demonstrated 
 to them how ridiculous and unjust it was for them to 
 pay divine honors to such odious creatures : showed 
 them that God alone was to be worshipped as the great 
 Parent of all the world, who in the beginning made 
 man after his glorious image, and when fallen from 
 that innocent and happy state, sent his own Son into 
 the world to redeem him : that in order to perform this 
 glorious work, he died on the cross, and rose again 
 from the dead, and at the end of the world will come 
 again to raise all the sons of men from the chambers 
 of the dust, and sentence them to everlasting rewards 
 or punishments. This discourse roused them from 
 
ST. BARTHOLOMEW. 571 
 
 their lethargy ; they were ashamed of their late idol- 
 atry, and great numbers embraced the doctrines of the 
 gospel. 
 
 This provoked the great enemy of mankind, and he 
 had recourse to his old methods cruelty and persecu- 
 tion. The magistrates of the city seized the apostle, 
 and having thrown him into prison, caused him to be 
 scourged. When this preparatory cruelty was over, he 
 was led to execution, and, being bound, was hanged 
 against a pillar ; or, according to others, crucified. The 
 apostle being dead, his body was taken down by St. Bar- 
 tholomew, his fellow laborer in the gospel, and Mari- 
 arnne, St. Philip's sister, the constant companion of his 
 travels, and decently buried ; after which, they con- 
 firmed the people in the faith of Christ, and departed 
 from them. 
 
 ST. BARTHOLOMEW. 
 
 THIS apostle is mentioned amongst the twelve imme- 
 diate disciples of our Lord under the appellation of Bar- 
 tholomew,* though it is evident, from divers passages 
 of Scripture, that he was also called Nathanael : we shall 
 therefore, in our account of his life, consider the names 
 of Nathanael and Bartholomew as belonging to one and 
 the same person. 
 
 With regard to his descent and family, some are of 
 opinion that he was a Syrian, and that he was descended 
 
 * The son of Ptolemy. 
 
572 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 from the Ptolemies of Egypt. But it is plain, from the 
 evangelical history, that he was a Galilean ; St. John 
 having expressly told us that Nathanael was of Cana, in 
 Galilee. 
 
 The Scripture is silent with regard to his trade and 
 manner of life, though, from some circumstances, there 
 is room to imagine that he was a fisherman. He was 
 at the first coming to Christ, conducted by Philip, who 
 told him they had now found the long expected Messiah, 
 so often foretold, by Moses and the prophets, " Jesus of 
 Nazareth, the son of Joseph." And when he objected 
 that the Messiah could not be born at Nazareth, Philip 
 desired him to come and satisfy himself that Jesus was 
 the Messiah. 
 
 At his approach, our blessed Saviour saluted him 
 with this honorable appellation, that he was an " Israel- 
 ite indeed, in whom there was no guile;" not in an 
 absolute, but restricted sense. In another sense, he 
 appeared to " be a true Israelite," or one that " waited 
 for redemption in Israel," which, from the times men- 
 tioned' in the Scripture predictions, he knew to be near 
 at hand. 
 
 He was greatly surprised at our Lord's salutation, 
 wondering how he could know him at first sight, as 
 imagining he had never before seen his face. But he 
 was answered, that he had seen him while he was yet 
 under the fig-tree, even before Philip called him. Con- 
 vinced by this instance of our Lord's divinity, he 
 presently made his confession, that he was now sure 
 that Jesus was the promised Messiah, that Son of God 
 whom he had appointed to govern the church. Our 
 blessed Saviour told him, that if from this instance he 
 
ST. BARTHOLOMEW. 573 
 
 could believe him to be the Messiah, he should have far 
 greater arguments to confirm his faith ; for that he should 
 hereafter behold the heavens opened to receive him, and 
 the angels visibly appearing joyful at his entrance into 
 the heavenly Canaan. 
 
 Our apostle having his peculiar spot allotted him for 
 the promulgation of the gospel of his blessed Master, who 
 had now ascended into heaven, and dispensed his Holy 
 Spirit to qualify his disciples for the important work, 
 visited different parts of the world to preach the gospel, 
 and penetrated as far as the Hither India. 
 
 After spending considerable time in India, and the 
 eastern extremities of Asia, he returned to the northern 
 and western parts, and we find him at Hierapolis, in 
 Phrygia, laboring in concert with Philip to plant Chris- 
 tianity in* those parts ; and to convince the blind idolaters 
 of the evil of their ways, and direct them in the paths 
 that lead to eternal salvation. This enraged the bigoted 
 magistrates, and he was, together with Philip, designed 
 for martyrdom, and in order to this, fastened to a cross ; 
 but their consciences pricking them for a time, they 
 took Bartholomew down from the cross and set him at 
 liberty. 
 
 From hence he retired to Lycaonia, and Chrysostom 
 assures us that he instructed and trained up the inhabi- 
 tants in the Christian discipline. 
 
 His last remove was to Albanople, in Great Armenia, 
 a place miserably overrun with idolatry, from which he 
 labored to reclaim the people. But his endeavors to 
 " turn them from darkness unto light, and from the power 
 of Satan unto God," were so far from having the desired 
 effect that it provoked the magistrates, who prevailed on 
 
574 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 the governor to put him to death, which he cheerfully 
 underwent, sealing the truth of the doctrine he had 
 preached, with his blood. 
 
 ST. MATTHEW. 
 
 MATTHEW, called also Levi, though a Roman officer, 
 was a true Hebrew, and probably a Galilean. His trade 
 was that of a publican or tax-gatherer to the Romans, an 
 office detested by the generality of the Jews, on two ac- 
 counts ; first, because having farmed the customs of the 
 Romans, they used every method of oppression to pay 
 their rents to the Romans ; secondly, because they de- 
 manded tribute of the Jews, who considered themselves 
 as a free people, having received that privilege from God 
 himself. And hence they had a common proverb among 
 them, " Take not a wife out of that family in which 
 there is a publican, for they are all publicans." That 
 is, they are all thieves, robbers, and notorious sinners. 
 And to this proverbial custom our blessed Saviour alludes, 
 when speaking of a hardened sinner, on whom neither 
 private reproofs, nor the public censures and admonitions 
 of the church, can prevail. " Let him be to thee as an 
 heathen man and a publican." 
 
 Our blessed Saviour, having cured a person long 
 afflicted with the palsy, retired out of Capernaum to walk 
 by the sea side, where he taught the people that flocked 
 after him. 
 
 Here he saw Matthew sitting in his office, and called 
 
ST. MATTHEW. 575 
 
 him to follow him. The man was rich, had a large and 
 profitable employment, was a. wise and prudent person, 
 and doubtless understood what would be his loss to 
 comply with the call of Jesus. He was not ignorant 
 that he must exchange wealth for poverty, a custom- 
 house for a prison, and rich and powerful masters for a 
 naked and despised Saviour. But he overlooked all 
 those considerations, left all his interest and relations, 
 to become our Lord's disciple, and to embrace a more 
 spiritual way of life. 
 
 After Matthew's election to the apostleship, he con- 
 tinued with the rest till the ascension of his great and 
 beloved Master. But the evangelical writers have re- 
 corded nothing particular concerning him during that 
 period. 
 
 After our blessed Saviour's ascension into heaven, 
 Matthew, for the first eight years at least, preached in 
 different parts of Judea; but afterward he left the 
 country of Palestine to convert the Gentile world. 
 Before his departure he was entreated by the Jewish 
 converts to write the history of the life and actions of 
 the blessed Jesus, and leave it among them as a stand- 
 ing monument of what he had so often delivered to 
 them in his sermons. This he readily complied with. 
 
 After his leaving Judea, he travelled into several 
 parts, especially Ethiopia ; but the particular places he 
 visited are not known with any certainty. 
 
 However, after laboring indefatigably in the vineyard 
 of his Master, he suffered martyrdom at a city of Ethio- 
 pia called Naddabar. But by what kind of death, is 
 not absolutely known, though the general opinion is 
 that he was slain with an halbert. 
 
576 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 Matthew was a remarkable instance of the power of 
 religion in bringing men to a better temper of mind. 
 If we reflect upon his circumstances while he continued 
 a stranger to the great Redeemer of mankind, we shall 
 find that the love of the world had possessed his heart. 
 But notwithstanding this, no sooner did Christ call him, 
 than he abandoned without the least scruple or hesita- 
 tion all his riches. 
 
 He was modest in his own opinion, always preferring 
 others to himself; for whereas the other evangelists, in 
 describing the apostles by pairs, constantly place him 
 before Thomas, he modestly places him before himself. 
 The rest of the evangelists are careful to mention the 
 honor of his apostleship, but speak of his former sordid 
 course of life, only under the name of Levi ; while he 
 himself sets it down with all the circumstances, under 
 his own proper and common name. A conduct which 
 at once commends the prudence and candor of the apos- 
 tle, and suggests to us this useful reflection, that the 
 greatest sinners are not excluded from divine grace ; 
 nor can any, if penitent, have just reason to despair, 
 when publicans and sinners find mercy at the throne 
 of grace. 
 
 ST. THOMAS. 
 
 EVANGELICAL history is entirely silent with regard 
 either to the country or kindred of Thomas. It is, 
 however, certain that he was a Jew, and in all prob- 
 ability a Galilean. 
 
ST. THOMAS. 577 
 
 He was, together, like the rest, called to the apostle- 
 ship ; and. not long after gave an eminent instance of 
 his being ready to undergo the most melancholy fate 
 that might attend him. For when the rest of the apos- 
 tles dissuaded their Master from going into Judea, at the 
 time of Lazarus' death, because the Jews lately en- 
 deavored to stone him, Thomas desired them not to hin- 
 der his journey thither, though it might cost them all 
 their lives. 
 
 When the holy Jesus, a little before his sufferings, 
 had been speaking to them of the joys of heaven, and 
 had told them that he was going to prepare mansions 
 for them, that they might follow him, and that they 
 knew both the place whither he was going, and the way 
 thither ; our apostle replied, that they knew not whither 
 he was going, much less the way that would lead them 
 thither. To which our Lord returned this short but 
 satisfactory answer, " I am the way ; " I am the person 
 whom the Father has sent into the world to show man- 
 kind the path that leads to eternal life, and therefore 
 you cannot miss the way, if you follow my example. 
 
 After the disciples had seen their great Master expire 
 on the cross, their minds were distracted by hopes and 
 fears concerning his resurrection, about which they were 
 not then fully satisfied ; which engaged him the sooner 
 to hasten his appearance, that by the sensible manifesta- 
 tions of himself, he might put the matter beyond all 
 possibility of dispute. 
 
 At the first meeting Thomas was absent, having 
 probably never joined their company since their disper- 
 sion in the garden, where every one's fears prompted 
 him to consult his own safety. At his return they told 
 37 
 
578 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 him that the Lord had appeared to them ; but he obsti- 
 nately refused to give credit to what they said, or 
 believe that it was really he, presuming it rather a 
 spectre or apparition, unless he might see the very 
 print of the nails, and feel the wounds in his hands and 
 side. 
 
 But our compassionate Saviour would not take the 
 least notice of his perverse obstinacy, but on that day 
 seven-night came again to them, as they were solemnly 
 met at their devotions, and calling to Thomas, bade 
 him look upon his hands, put his fingers into the prints 
 of the nails, and thrust his hand into his side, to satisfy 
 his faith by a demonstration from the senses. Thomas 
 was convinced of his error and obstinacy, and confessed 
 that he now acknowledged him to be his Lord and Master, 
 saying, " My Lord and my God." Our Lord answered, 
 that it was happy for him that he believed the testimony 
 of his own senses ; but that it would have been more 
 commendable in him to have believed without seeing, 
 because it was foretold that the Son of God should burst 
 the chains of death, and rise again from the dead. 
 
 Thomas, as well as the rest, preached the gospel in 
 several parts of Judea ; and after the dispersion of the 
 Christian church in Jerusalem, repaired into Parthia, 
 the province assigned him for his ministry. After which, 
 as Sempronius and others inform us, he preached the 
 gospel to the Medes, Persians, Caramariians, Hyrcani, 
 Bactarians, and the neighboring nations.* . During his 
 preaching in Persia, he is said to have met with the 
 
 * There is reason to think the apostle Thomas penetrated China, and 
 planted churches there. 
 
ST. THOMAS. 579 
 
 Magi, or wise men, who had taken that long journey at 
 our Saviour's birth to worship him, whom he baptized, 
 and took with him as his companions and assistants in 
 propagating the gospel. 
 
 Leaving Persia, he travelled into Ethiopia, preaching 
 the glad tidings of the gospel, healing their sick, and 
 working other miracles, to prove he had his commission 
 from on high. And after travelling through these coun- 
 tries, he entered India. 
 
 When the Portuguese first visited these countries after 
 their discovery of a passage by the Cape of Good Hope, 
 they received the following particulars, partly from con- 
 stant and uncontroverted traditions preserved by the 
 Christians in those parts ; namely, that St. Thomas came 
 first to Socotra, an island in the Arabian sea, and then 
 to Cranganor, where having converted many from the 
 error of their ways, he travelled farther into the east; 
 and having successfully preached the gospel, returned 
 back to the kingdom of Coromandel, where at Mattapour, 
 the metropolis of that kingdom, not far from the mouth 
 of the Ganges, he began to erect a place for divine wor- 
 ship, till prohibited by the idolatrous priests, and Sagamo, 
 prince of that country. But after performing several 
 miracles, the work was suffered to proceed, and Sagamo 
 himself embraced the Christian faith, whose example 
 was soon followed by great numbers of his friends and 
 subjects. 
 
 This remarkable success alarmed the Brahmins, who 
 plainly perceived that their religion would soon be ex- 
 tirpated, unless some method could be found of putting 
 a stop to the progress of Christianity ; and therefore re- 
 solved to put the apostle to death. At a small distance 
 
580 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 from the city was a tomb, whither St. Thomas often re- 
 tired for private devotions. Hither the Brahmins, and 
 their armed followers pursued him, and while he was at 
 prayer, they first shot at him with a shower of darts, 
 after which one of the priests ran him through with a 
 lance. His body was taken up by his disciples, and 
 buried in the church he had lately erected. 
 
 Chrysostom says, that Thomas, who at first was the 
 weakest and most incredulous of all the apostles, became, 
 through Christ's condescension to satisfy his scruples, and 
 the power of divine grace, the most active and invincible 
 of them all ; travelling over most parts of the world, and 
 living without fear in the midst of barbarous nations, 
 through the efficacy of that almighty power which can 
 make the weakest vessels to perform acts of" the greatest 
 difficulty and moment. 
 
 ST. JAMES THE LESS. 
 
 IT has been doubted by some, whether this was the 
 same with that James who was afterward bishop of Jeru- 
 salem, two of this name being mentioned in the sacred 
 writings, namely, St. James the Great, and St. James 
 the Less, both apostles. But nothing is plainer than that 
 St. James the apostle (whom St'. Paul calls " our Lord's 
 brother," and reckons, with Peter and John, one of the 
 pillars of the church) was the same who presided among 
 the apostles, and determined the cause in the council of 
 Jerusalem. It is reasonable to think that he was the 
 
ST. JAMES THE LESS. 581 
 
 son of Joseph, afterward the husband of Mary, by his 
 first wife, whom St. Jerome styles Escha, and adds, 
 that she was the daughter of Aggi, brother to Zacharias, 
 the father of John the Baptist. Hence he was reputed 
 our Lord's brother. 
 
 After the resurrection, he was honored with the par- 
 ticular appearance of our Lord to him, which though 
 passed over in silence by the evangelists, is recorded by 
 St. Paul. 1 Cor. xv. 17. 
 
 Some time after he was chosen bishop of Jerusalem. 
 "When Paul came to Jerusalem after his conversion, he 
 applied to James, and was honored by him with " the 
 right-hand of fellowship." And it was to James that 
 Peter sent the news of his miraculous deliverance out 
 of prison. " Go," said he, " show these things unto 
 James and to the brethren ; " that is, to the whole church, 
 especially to James the pastor of it. 
 
 He performed every part of his duty with all possible 
 care and industry, omitting no particular necessary to 
 be observed by a diligent and faithful guide of souls, 
 strengthening the weak, instructing the ignorant, re- 
 ducing the erroneous, reproving the obstinate : and by 
 the constancy of his sermons, conquering the stubborn- 
 ness of that perverse and refractory generation he had 
 to deal with, many of the nobler and better sort being 
 persuaded to embrace the Christian faith. 
 
 But a person so careful, so successful in his charge, 
 could not fail of exciting the spite and malice of his 
 enemies ; a sort of men to whom the apostle has given 
 too true a character, that " they please not God, and 
 are contrary to all men." They were vexed to see St. 
 Paul had escaped their hands, by appealing unto Caesar ; 
 
582 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 and therefore turned their fury against St. James : but 
 being unable to effect their design under the govern- 
 ment of Festus, they determined to attempt it under 
 the procuratorship of Albinus his successor, Ananus the 
 younger, of the sect of the Sadducees, being high-priest. 
 
 In order to do this a council was summoned, and the 
 apostle, with others, arraigned and condemned as viola- 
 tors of the law. But that the action might appear 
 more plausible and popular, the Scribes and Pharisees, 
 masters in the art of dissimulation, it is said, endea- 
 vored to ensnare him. 
 
 The apostle being advantageously placed on a pinna- 
 cle of the temple, they addressed him in the following 
 manner; "Tell us, what is the instruction of the cruci- 
 fied Jesus ? " To which the apostle answered, with an 
 audible voice, " Why do ye inquire d? Jesus the Son of 
 man? He sits in heaven, at the right hand of the 
 Majesty on high, and will come again in the clouds of 
 heaven." The people below hearing this, glorified 
 Jesus, and openly proclaimed, " Hosanna to the Son of 
 David." 
 
 The Scribes and Pharisees now perceived that they 
 had acted foolishly. Accordingly they suddenly cried 
 out, That James himself was become an impostor; and 
 they immediately threw him from the pinnacle on 
 which he stood, into the court below; but not being 
 killed on the spot, he recovered himself so far as to rise 
 on his knees, and pray fervently to heaven for his mur- 
 derers. But malice is too diabolical to be pacified with 
 kindness, or satisfied with cruelty. Accordingly his 
 enemies, vexed that they had not fully accomplished 
 their work, poured a shower of stones upon him, while 
 
ST. SIMON, THE ZEALOT. 583 
 
 he was imploring their forgiveness at the throne of 
 grace; and one of them, dissatisfied with this cruel 
 treatment, put an end to his misery with a fuller's club. 
 
 Thus did this great and good man finish his course, in 
 the ninety-sixth year of his age, and about twenty-eight 
 years after our blessed Saviour's ascension into heaven. 
 His death was lamented by all good men, even by the 
 sober and just persons among the Jews themselves, as 
 Josephus himself confesses. 
 
 He was a man of exemplary piety and devotion, edu- 
 cated under the strictest rules and institutions of religion. 
 Prayer was his constant business and delight ; he seems 
 as it were to have lived upon it, and continually to have 
 had his conversation in heaven ; and he who has told 
 us, " that the prayer of a righteous man availeth much," 
 found it so by his own experience, heaven lending a 
 more immediate ear to his petitions ; so that in a time 
 of remarkable drought, on his praying for rain, the 
 clouds melted into fruitful showers. 
 
 Nor was his charity toward men less than his piety 
 toward God ; he did good to all, watched over the souls 
 of men, and studied to advance their eternal welfare. 
 Of this his Epistle is a living monument. 
 
 ST. SIMON, THE ZEALOT. 
 
 THIS Simon, in the catalogue of the apostles, is styled 
 " Simon the Cananite," whence some conjecture he was 
 born in Cana of Galilee, and others will have him to 
 
584 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 have been the bridegroom mentioned by St. John, at 
 whose marriage our blessed Saviour turned the water 
 into wine. But this word has no relation to his country, 
 or the place of his nativity, being derived from the 
 Hebrew word "kana," which signifies "zeal," and 
 denotes a warm and sprightly temper. What some of the 
 evangelists therefore call " Cananite," others, rendering 
 the Hebrew by the Greek word, style " Zealot : " from 
 his warm, active temper, and zealous forwardness in 
 some particular sect of religion before his coming to our 
 Saviour. 
 
 In order to understand this the better, it will be 
 necessary to observe, that as there were several sects 
 and parties among the Jews, so there was one, either a 
 distinct sect, or at least a branch of the Pharisees, called 
 the sect of the Zealots. This sect of the Zealots took 
 upon them to execute punishments in extraordinary 
 cases ; and that not only by the connivance, but with 
 the permission both of the rulers and people. Josephus 
 gives a large account of them, and everywhere bewails 
 them as the great plague of the nation. 
 
 This is a true account of the sect of the Zealots ; 
 though, whatever St. Simon was before, we have no 
 reason to suspect but after his conversion he was very 
 zealous for the honor of his Master. He continued in 
 communion with the rest of the apostles and disciples 
 at Jerusalem; and at the Feast of Pentecost received 
 the same miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost ; so that as 
 he was qualified with the rest of his brethren for the 
 apostolical office, in propagating the gospel of the Son of 
 God. We cannot doubt of his exercising his gifts with 
 the same zeal and fidelity, though in what part of the 
 
ST. JUDE. 585 
 
 world is uncertain. Some say he went into Egypt, 
 Gyrene, and Africa, preaching the gospel to the inhabi- 
 tants of those remote and barbarous countries. And 
 others add, that after he had passed through those 
 burning wastes, he took ship and visited the frozen 
 regions of the north, preaching the gospel to the inhabi- 
 tants of the western parts, and even to Britain : where 
 having converted great multitudes and sustained the 
 greatest hardships and persecutions, he was at last cruci- 
 fied, and buried in some part of Great Britain, but the 
 place where is unknown. 
 
 ST. JUDE. 
 
 THIS apostle is mentioned by three several names, in 
 the evangelical history, namely, Jude or Judas, Thad- 
 deus, and Lebbeus. 
 
 He was brother to James the Less, being the son of 
 Joseph, the reputed father of Christ, by a former wife. 
 It is not known when or by what means he became a 
 disciple of our blessed Saviour, nothing being said of 
 him, till we find him in the catalogue of the twelve 
 apostles; nor afterward, till Christ's last supper, when 
 discoursing with them about his departure, and comfort- 
 ing them with a promise, that he would return to them 
 again (meaning after his resurrection), and that the 
 " world should see him no more, though they should see 
 him," our apostle said to his Master, " Lord, how is it 
 that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not unto the 
 world?" 
 
 Paulinus tells us that the province which fell to the 
 
586 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 share of Jude, in the apostolic division of the provinces, 
 was Libya ; but he does not tell us whether it was the 
 Cyrenian Libya, which is thought to have received the 
 gospel from St. Mark, or the more southern parts of 
 Africa. But, however that be, in his first setting out to 
 preach the gospel, he travelled up and down Judea and 
 Galilee ; then through Samaria unto Idumea, and to the 
 cities of Arabia and the neighboring countries, and after- 
 ward to Syria and Mesopotamia. Nicephorus adds, that 
 he came at last to Edessa, where Abagarus governed, 
 and where Thaddeus, one of the seventy, had already 
 sown the seeds of the gospel. Here he perfected what 
 the other had begun ; and having by his sermons and 
 miracles established the religion of Jesus, he died in 
 peace ; but others say that he was slain at Berytus, and 
 honorably buried there. The writers of the Latin 
 Church are unanimous in declaring that he travelled into 
 Persia, where, after great success in his apostolical 
 ministry for many years, he was at last, for his freely 
 and openly reproving the superstitious rites and customs 
 of the Magi, cruelly put to death. 
 
 St. Jude left only one epistle, which is placed the 
 last of those seven, styled catholic, in the sacred canon. 
 It hath no particular inscription as the other six have, 
 but it is thought to have been primarily intended for 
 the Christian Jews, in their several dispersions, as St. 
 Peter's epistles were. In it he tells them, that he at 
 first intended to write to them in general of the common 
 salvation, and establish and confirm them in it ; but see- 
 ing the doctrine of Christ attacked on every side by her- 
 etics (as foretold by Peter, in his second epistle, nearly 
 thirty years before), he conceived it more necessary to 
 
ST. MATTHIAS. 587 
 
 spend his time in exhorting them to fight manfully in 
 defence of the faith once delivered to the saints, and 
 oppose the false teachers who labored so indefatigably to 
 corrupt it. 
 
 It was some time before this epistle was generally re- 
 ceived in the church. The author, indeed, like St. 
 James, St. John, and sometimes St. Paul himself, does 
 not call himself an apostle, styling himself only ;; the 
 servant of Christ." But he has added what is equivalent, 
 66 Jude, the brother of James," a character that can belong 
 to no one but our apostle. And surely the humility of 
 a follower of Jesus should be no objection against his 
 writings. 
 
 ST. MATTHIAS. 
 
 As MATTHIAS was not an apostle of the first election, 
 immediately called and chosen of the Son of God him- 
 self, it cannot be expected that any account of him can 
 be found in the evangelical history. He was one of our 
 Lord's disciples, probably one of the seventy ; he had 
 attended on him the whole time of his public ministry, 
 beginning with the baptism of John, and after his death 
 was elected into the apostleship to supply the place of 
 Judas, who, after betraying his great Lord and Master, 
 laid violent hands on himself. 
 
 The defection of Judas having made a vacancy in the 
 apostolic college, the first thing they did, after their 
 return from Mount Olivet, when their great Master had 
 ascended to the throne of his glory, was to fill up 
 this vacancy with a proper person. 
 
588 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 Accordingly, two persons were proposed, Joseph, 
 called Barsabas, and Matthias, both duly qualified for 
 the important office. The method of election was by 
 lot, a way common both among the Jews and Gentiles 
 for determining doubtful and difficult cases, especially 
 in choosing judges or magistrates. The prayer being 
 ended, the lots were drawn, by which it appeared 
 that Matthias was the person, and he was accordingly 
 numbered among the twelve apostles. 
 
 St. Matthias spent the first year of his ministry in 
 Judea, where he reaped a very considerable harvest of 
 souls, and then travelled into different parts of the world, 
 to publish the glad tidings of salvation to people who 
 had never before heard of a Saviour ; but the particular 
 parts he visited are not certainly known. 
 
 It is uncertain by what kind of death he left the 
 regions of mortality, and sealed the truth of the gospel 
 he had so assiduously preached, with his blood. Doro- 
 theus says, he finished his course at Sebastople, and was 
 buried there, near the temple of the sun. ::: But the 
 Greek offices, supported herein by several ancient brevia- 
 ries, tell us that he was crucified. 
 
 ST. MAEK. 
 
 ST. MARK was descended from Jewish parents, and of 
 the tribe of Levi. The ancients generally considered 
 him as one of the seventy disciples ; and Epiphanius 
 
 * Sebastople (or Sevastopol), on the north side of the Black sea, is a 
 maritime city, made famous. in our times by its siege, defence, and 
 final capture by the French and English forces, in the late war with 
 Russia. 
 
ST. MARK. 589 
 
 expressly tells us, that he was one of those who, taking 
 exception at our Lord's discourse of " eating his flesh 
 and drinking his blood, went back and walked no more 
 with him." But there appears no manner of foundation 
 for these opinions, nor likewise for that of Nicephorus, 
 who will have him to be the son of St. Peter's sister. 
 
 Eusebius tells us, that St. Mark was sent into Egypt 
 by St. Peter to preach the gospel, and accordingly 
 planted a church in Alexandria, the metropolis of it; 
 and his success was so very remarkable, that he converted 
 multitudes both of men and women ; persuading them 
 not only to embrace the Christian religion, but also a 
 life of more than ordinary strictness. 
 
 St. Mark did not confine himself to Alexandria and 
 the oriental parts of Egypt, but removed westward to 
 Libya, passing through the countries of Marmarica, Pen- 
 tapolis, and others adjacent, where, though the people 
 were both barbarous in their manners, and idolatrous in 
 their worship, yet by his preaching and miracles he pre- 
 vailed on them to embrace the tenets of the gospel; 
 nor did he leave them till he had confirmed them in 
 the faith. 
 
 After this long tour he returned to Alexandria, where 
 he preached with the greatest freedom, ordered and dis- 
 posed of the affairs of the church, and wisely provided 
 for a succession, by constituting governors and pastors 
 of it. But the restless enemy of the souls of men would 
 not suffer our apostle to continue in peace and quietness, 
 for while he was assiduously laboring in the vineyard 
 of his Master, the idolatrous inhabitants, about the time 
 of Easter, when they were celebrating the solemnities 
 of Serapis, tumultuously entered the church, forced St. 
 
590 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 Mark, then performing divine service, from thence ; and 
 binding his feet with cords, dragged him through tLe 
 streets, and over the most craggy places, to the Bucelus. 
 a precipice near the sea, leaving him there in a lonesome 
 prison, for that night ; but his great and beloved Master 
 appeared to him in a vision, comforting and encour- 
 aging his soul, under the ruins of his shattered body. 
 The next morning early the tragedy began afresh, for 
 they dragged him about in the same cruel and barbarous 
 manner, till he expired. But their malice did not end 
 with his death ; they burnt his mangled body after they 
 had so inhumanly deprived it of life : but the Chris- 
 tians, after the horrid tragedy was over, gathered up his 
 bones and ashes, and decently interred them near the 
 place where he used to preach. 
 
 His remains were afterward, with great pomp, re- 
 moved from Alexandria to Venice, where they were 
 religiously honored, and he was adopted the tutelar saint 
 and patron of that state. 
 
 He suffered martyrdom on the 25th of April, but 
 the year is not absolutely known : the most probable 
 opinion, however, is that it happened about the end of 
 Nero's reign. 
 
 His gospel, the only writing he left behind him, was 
 written at the entreaty and earnest desire of the converts 
 at Rome, who not content with having heard St. Peter 
 preach, pressed St. Mark, his fellow disciple, to commit 
 to writing an historical account of what he had delivered 
 to them, which he performed with equal faithfulness 
 and brevity, and being perused and approved of by St. 
 Peter, it was commanded to be publicly read in their 
 assemblies. It was frequently styled St. Peter's gospel, 
 
ST. LUKE. 591 
 
 not because he dictated it to St. Mark, but because the 
 latter 'composed it in the same manner as St. Peter 
 usually delivered his discourses to the people. The re- 
 markable impartiality he observes in all his relations is 
 plain from hence, that so far from concealing the 
 shameful lapse and denial of Peter, he describes it with 
 more aggravating circumstances than any of the other 
 evangelists. 
 
 ST. LUKE. 
 
 THIS disciple of the blessed Jesus was born at Antioch, 
 the metropolis of all Syria, a city celebrated by the 
 greatest writers of those times for .the pleasantness of 
 its situation, the fertility of its soil, the riches of its 
 commerce, the wisdom of its senate, and the civility and 
 politeness of its inhabitants. It was eminent for schools 
 of learning, which produced the most renowned masters 
 in the arts and sciences. So that, being born, as it 
 were, in the lap of the muses, he could not well fail of 
 acquiring an ingenious and liberal education. But he 
 was not contented with the learning of his own country : 
 he travelled for improvement into several parts of 
 Greece and Egypt, and became particularly skilled in 
 physic, which he made his profession. 
 
 St. Luke was a Jewish proselyte ; but at what time 
 he became a Christian is uncertain." It is the opinion 
 of some, from the introduction to his gospel, that he had 
 the facts from the reports of others, who were eye-wit- 
 nesses. They suppose him to have been converted by 
 
592 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 St. Paul : and that he learned the history of his gospel 
 from the conversation of that apostle. On the other 
 hand, those who hold that he wrote his gospel, from his 
 own personal inquiries and knowledge, observe, that he 
 could not receive it from St. Paul, as an eye-witness of 
 the matters contained in it, because all those matters 
 were transacted before his conversion.* 
 
 But however this be, St. Luke became the inseparable 
 companion of St. Paul, in all his travels, and his con- 
 stant fellow-laborer in the work of the ministry. This 
 endeared him to that apostle, who seems delighted with 
 owning him for his fellow-laborer, and in calling him 
 " the beloved physician," and the " brother whose praise 
 is in the gospel throughout all the churches." 
 
 St. Luke wrote two books for the use of the church, 
 his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles ; both which he 
 dedicated to Theophilus. Many of the ancients suppose 
 this to be a feigned name, denoting a lover of God, a title 
 common to all sincere Christians. But others think it 
 was a real person, because the title of "most excellent" 
 is attributed to him ; the usual title and form of address 
 in those times to princes and great men. 
 
 His gospel contains the principal transactions of our 
 Lord's life ; and the particulars omitted by him are in 
 general of less importance than those of the other 
 evangelists. 
 
 With regard to the Acts of the Apostles, written by 
 
 * How easy was it for" Luke, on first hearing the gospel at Antioch, 
 A. D. 35, to visit Jerusalem, and collect all the facts from the apostles, 
 and other eye-witnesses. Mary, our Lord's mother, might furnish 
 most of the early documents used, and all might be selected and 
 stamped by divine inspiration and authority. 
 
ST. LUKE. 593 
 
 St. Luke, the work was, no doubt, performed at Rome, 
 about the time of St. Paul's residing there, with which 
 he concludes his history. 
 
 It contains the actions, and sometimes the sufferings, 
 of the principal -apostles, especially St. Paul, whose 
 activity in the cause of Christ made him bear a great 
 part in the labors of his Master; and St. Luke being his 
 constant attendant, an eye-witness of the whole carriage 
 of his life, and privy to his most intimate transactions, 
 was consequently capable of giving a more full and satis- 
 factory account of them.* Among other tilings he 
 enumerates the great miracles the apostles did in con- 
 firmation of their doctrine. 
 
 In both these treatises his manner of writing is exact 
 and accurate ; his style, noble and elegant, and yet clear 
 and perspicuous, flowing with an easy and natural grace 
 and sweetness, admirably adapted to a historical design. 
 In short, as a historian, he was faithful in his relations, 
 and elegant in his writings ; as a minister, careful and 
 diligent for the good of souls ; as a Christian, devout and 
 pious ; and to crown all the rest, laid down his life in 
 testimony of the gospel he had both preached and pub- 
 lished to the world. 
 
 * Luke did not join Paul until A. D. 52, at Troas. Acts xvi. 11. 
 Prior to this period, he probably was much engaged in Jerusalem, in 
 preparing his Gospel, and the first part of his history of the Acts of 
 the Apostles. His gospel, we cannot doubt, was published, and copies 
 multiplied for circulation before he went into Macedonia with Paul. 
 This almost self-evident proposition is confirmed by 2 Cor. viii. 22, in 
 spite of the unreasonable doubts of some critics. 
 38 
 
594 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 BAKNABAS. 
 
 BARNABAS was at first called Joses, a softer termina- 
 tion generally given by the Greeks to Joseph. His 
 fellow disciples added the name of Barnabas, as signifi- 
 cant of some extraordinary property in him. St. Luke 
 interprets it " the son of consolation," from his being 
 ever ready to minister to the afflicted, both by word 
 and action. 
 
 He was a descendant of the tribe of Levi, of a family 
 removed out of Judea, and settled in the Isle of Cyprus, 
 where they had purchased an estate, as the Levites 
 might do out of their own country. His parents finding 
 him of a promising genius and disposition, placed him 
 in one of the schools of Jerusalem, under the tuition of 
 Gamaliel, St. Paul's master; an incident which, in all 
 probability, laid the first foundation for that intimacy 
 that afterward subsisted between these two eminent ser- 
 vants of the blessed Jesus. 
 
 The first mention we find of Barnabas in the Holy 
 Scriptures, is the record of that great and worthy ser- 
 vice he did the church of Christ, by succoring it with 
 the sale of his patrimony in Cyprus, the whole price of 
 which he laid at the apostles' feet, to be put into the 
 common stock, and disposed of as they should think fit 
 among the indigent followers of the holy Jesus. 
 
 And now also Barnabas became considerable in the 
 ministry of the church ; for we find that St. Paul, coming 
 to Jerusalem three years after his conversion, and not 
 readily procuring admittance into "the church, because 
 
BARNABAS. 595 
 
 he had been so grievous a persecutor of it, and might 
 still be suspected of a design to betray it, addressed 
 himself to Barnabas, a leading man among the Chris- 
 tians, and one that had personal knowledge of him. He 
 accordingly introduced him to Peter and James, and 
 satisfied them of the sincerity of his conversion, and in 
 what a miraculous manner it was brought about. This 
 recommendation carried so much weight with it, that 
 Paul was not only received into the communion of the 
 apostles, but taken into Peter's house, "and abode 
 with him fifteen days." Gal. i. 18. 
 
 Then the agreeable news was brought to Jerusalem, 
 that several of their body who had been driven out of 
 Judea by the persecutions raised about Stephen, had 
 preached at Antioch with such success, that a great 
 number, both of Jews and proselytes, embraced Chris- 
 tianity; and were desirous that some superior man 
 would come down and confirm them. This request was 
 immediately granted, and Barnabas was deputed to 
 settle the new plantation. Being himself " a good man 
 and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith," his charitable 
 deeds accompanying his discourses, and his pious life 
 exemplifying his sound doctrine, the people were greatly 
 influenced by him, and very considerable additions 
 were made to the Christian church. But there being 
 too large a field for one laborer, he went to fetch Saul 
 from Tarsus, who came back with him to Antioch, and 
 assisted him a whole year in establishing that church. 
 Their labors prospered : their assemblies were crowded, 
 and the disciples, who before this were called among 
 themselves, " brethren believers, elect," and by their 
 
596 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 enemies, "Nazarenes and Galileans," were now called 
 " Christians " firs,t at Antioch, A. D. 43. 
 
 In the famine the next year, they were deputed by 
 tbe church at Antioch to convey succor to the poor 
 Christians in Judea. When they had fulfilled their 
 charitable embassy, and stayed some time at Jerusalem 
 to see the good effects of it, they returned again to 
 Antioch, bringing with them John, whose surname was 
 Mark, the son of Mary, sister to Barnabas, and at 
 whose house the disciples found both security for their 
 persons, and conveniency for the solemnities of their 
 worship. 
 
 After they had returned to Antioch, an express rela- 
 tion was made to the church by the mouth of one of the 
 prophets who ministered these, that Barnabas and Saul 
 should be set apart for an extraordinary work, unto 
 which the Holy Ghost had appointed them. Upon this 
 declaration the church set apart a day for a solemn mis- 
 sion ; after devout prayer and fasting, they laid their 
 hands upon them, and designated them to their office ; 
 which was to travel over certain countries, and preach 
 the gospel to the Gentiles. From this joint commission 
 to the heathen, Barnabas obtained the name of an 
 apostle. 
 
 Paul and Barnabas being thus consecrated " the apos- 
 tles of the Gentiles," entered upon their province, taking 
 with them John Mark, for their minister or deacon, who 
 assisted them in many ecclesiastical offices, particularly 
 in taking care of the poor. 
 
 The first city they visited, after their departure from 
 Antioch, was Seleucia, a city of Syria, adjoining to the 
 sea ; from whence they sailed for the island of Cyprus, 
 
BARNABAS. , 597 
 
 the native place of St. Barnabas, and arrived at Salamis, 
 a port formerly remarkable for its trade. Here they 
 boldly preached the doctrines of the gospel in the syna- 
 gogues of the Jews : and from thence travelled to 
 Paphos, the capital of the island, and famous for a 
 temple dedicated to Venus, the tutelar goddess of 
 Cyprus. Here their preaching was attended with re- 
 markable success ; Sergius Paulus, the proconsul, being, 
 among others, converted to the Christian faith. 
 
 Leaving Cyprus, they crossed the sea to preach in 
 Pamphylia, where John Mark, to the great grief of his 
 uncle Barnabas, left them, and returned to Jerusalem : 
 either tired with continual travels, or discouraged at 
 the unavoidable dangers and difficulties which experi- 
 ence had sufficiently informed him would constantly 
 attend the preachers of the gospel from hardened Jews 
 and idolatrous Gentiles. 
 
 Soon after their arrival at Lystra, in Lycaonia, Paul 
 cured a man who had been lame from his mother's 
 womb, which so astonished the inhabitants, that they 
 believed them to be gods, who had visited the world in 
 the forms of men. Barnabas they treated as Jupiter, 
 their sovereign deity, either because of his age, or the 
 gravity and comeliness of his person ; for all the writers 
 of antiquity represent him as a person of venerable 
 aspect, and a majestic presence. But the apostles, with 
 the greatest humility, declared themselves to be but 
 
 O / ' 
 
 mortals : and the inconstant populace soon satisfied 
 themselves of the truth of what they had asserted ; for 
 at the persuasion of their indefatigable persecutors, who 
 followed them thither also, they made an assault upon 
 them, and stoned Paul, till they left him for dead. But, 
 
598 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 supported by an invisible power from on high, he soon 
 recovered his spirits and strength, and the apostles im- 
 mediately departed for Derbe. Soon after their arrival, 
 they again applied themselves to the work of the min- 
 istry, and converted many to the religion of the blessed 
 
 Jesus. 
 
 From Derbe they returned back to Lystra, Iconium, 
 and Antioch in Pisidia, " confirming the souls of the 
 disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the. faith; 
 and that we must, through much tribulation, enter into 
 the kingdom of God." Acts xiv. 22. After a short 
 stay they again visited the churches of Pamphylia, Perga, 
 and Attalia, where they took ship, and sailed to Antioch 
 in Syria, the place from whence they first set out. Soon 
 after their arrival, they called the church of this city to- 
 gether, and gave them an account of their travels, and 
 the great success with which their preaching in the Gen- 
 tile world had been attended. 
 
 But they had not long continued in this city, before 
 their assistance was required to compose a difference in 
 the church, occasioned by some of the Jewish converts, 
 who endeavored to persuade the Gentiles that they 
 were bound to observe the law of Moses, and be circum- 
 cised as well as baptized. Barnabas endeavored to dis- 
 suade the Zealots from pressing such unnecessary obser- 
 vances : but all his endeavors proving ineffectual, he 
 was deputed with St. Paul and others, to the church at 
 Jerusalem, to submit the question, to be determined 
 there in a full assembly. During their stay at Jerusa- 
 lem, Mark, in all probability, reconciled himself to Bar- 
 nabas, and returned with him and St. Paul to Antioch, 
 after they had succeeded in their business in Jerusalem, 
 
BARNABAS. 599 
 
 and obtained a decree that the Gentile converts should 
 not have circumcision and other Mosaic rites imposed 
 upon them. 
 
 This determination generally comforted and quieted 
 the minds of the Gentiles, but it did not prevent the 
 bigoted Jews from keeping up a separation from them ; 
 and that with so much obstinacy, that when St. Peter, 
 some time after, came to Antioch, he, for fear of offend- 
 ing them, deviated from his former practice and late 
 speech and vote in the council of Jerusalem, by refrain- 
 ing from all kinds of communion with the Gentiles : and 
 Barnabas himself, though so great and good a man, was 
 induced, by the authority of his example, to commit the 
 same error ; but, on being reproved by St. Paul, they both 
 took more courage, and walked according to the true 
 liberty of the gospel. 
 
 Some days after this last occurrence, Paul made a pro- 
 posal to Barnabas, that they should repeat their late 
 travels among the Gentiles, and see how the churches 
 they had planted increased in their numbers, and im- 
 proved in the doctrines they had taught them. Barnabas 
 very readily complied with the motion ; but desired they 
 miglit take with them his reconciled nephew, John Mark. 
 This Paul absolutely refused, because, in their former 
 voyage, Mark had not shown the constancy of a faithful 
 minister of Christ, but consulted his own ease at a dan- 
 gerous juncture. Barnabas still insisted on taking 
 him ; and the other continuing as resolutely opposed to 
 it, a short debate arose, which terminated in a separa- 
 tion whereby these two holy men, who had for several 
 years been companions in the ministry, and with united 
 endeavors propagated the Gospel of the Son of God, now 
 
600 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 took different provinces. Barnabas, with his kinsman, 
 sailed to his own country, Cyprus; and Paul, accom- 
 panied by Silas, travelled to the churches of Syria and 
 Cilicia. 
 
 After this separation from St. Paul, the sacred writings 
 give us no account of Barnabas ; nor are ecclesiastical 
 writers agreed among themselves with regard to the ac- 
 tions of this apostle after his sailing for Cyprus. * This 
 however seems to be certain, that he did not spend the 
 whole remainder of his life in that island, but visited dif- 
 ferent parts of the world, preaching the glad tidings of the 
 gospel, healing the sick, and working other miracles 
 among the Gentiles. 
 
 After long and painful travels, attended with different 
 degrees of success in different places, he returned to 
 Cyprus, his native country, where he suffered martyrs 
 dom in the following manner : Certain Jews, coming 
 from Syria and Salamis, where Barnabas was then 
 preaching the gospel, being highly exasperated at his 
 extraordinary success, fell upon him as he was disputing 
 in the synagogue, dragged him out, and, after the most 
 inhuman tortures, stoned him to death. His kinsman, 
 John Mark, who was a spectator of this barbarous ac- 
 tion, privately interred his body in a cave, where it re- 
 mained till the time of the Emperor Zeno, in the year of 
 Christ 485, when it was discovered, with St. Matthew's 
 Gospel, in Hebrew, written with his own hand, lying on 
 his breast. 
 
 * St. Paul, however, refers to him seven years after their separation, 
 as a faithful and self-denying laborer in the gospel. 1 Cor. ix. 6. This 
 passage sufficiently proves that their difference of judgment and divi- 
 sion of labor had not divided their hearts. 
 
STEPHEN. 601 
 
 STEPHEN. 
 
 BOTH the Scriptures and the ancient writers are 
 silent with regard to the birth, country, and parents 
 of Stephen. Epiphanius is of opinion that he was one 
 of the seventy disciples. But this is very uncertain. 
 Our blessed Saviour appointed his seventy disciples to 
 teach the doctrines and preach the glad tidings of the 
 gospel; but it does not appear that Stephen and the 
 six other first deacons had any particular designation 
 before they were chosen for the service of the tables. 
 And therefore Stephen could not have been one of our 
 Lord's seventy disciples, though he might have often 
 followed him and listened to his discourses. . 
 
 He was remarkably zealous for the cause of religion, 
 and full of the .Holy Ghost working many wonderful 
 miracles before the people, and pressing them with the 
 greatest earnestness to embrace the doctrine of the 
 gospel. 
 
 This highly provoked the Jews; and some of the 
 synagogues of the freedrnen of Cyrenia, Alexandria, 
 and other places, entered into dispute with him. But 
 being unable to resist the wisdom and spirit by which 
 he spake, they suborned false witnesses against him to 
 testify that they heard him blaspheme against Moses 
 and against God. Nor did they stop here. They 
 stirred up the people by their calumnies, so that they 
 dragged him before the council of the nation, or great 
 Sanhedrin, where they produced false witnesses against 
 \ii m w ho deposed that they heard him speak against 
 
602 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 the temple, and against the law, and affirm that Jesus 
 of Nazareth would destroy that holy place, and abolish 
 the law of Moses. Stephen, supported by his own inno- 
 cence and an invisible power from on high, appeared 
 undaunted in the midst of this assembly ; and his coun- 
 tenance shone like that of an angel. When the high- 
 priest asked him . what he had to offer against the 
 accusations laid to his charge, he answered in a plain 
 and faithful address to the Jews, which he closed in the 
 following manner : 
 
 " Ye stiff-necked ; ye uncircumcised in heart and 
 ears; ye do forever resist the Holy Ghost. Ye tread 
 in the paths of your fathers. As they did, so do you 
 still continue to do. Did not your fathers persecute 
 every one of the prophets ? Did not they slay them 
 who showed the coming of the Holy One, whom ye 
 yourselves have betrayed and murdered ? Ye have 
 received the law by the dispensation of angels, but 
 never kept it." 
 
 At these words they were so highly enraged, that 
 they all gnashed their teeth against him. But Stephen, 
 lifting up his eyes to heaven, saw the glory of God, and 
 Jesus standing at the right hand of Omnipotence. Upon 
 which he said to the council, " I see the heavens open, 
 and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God." 
 This so greatly provoked the Jews, that they cried out 
 with one voice, and stopped their ears, as if they had 
 heard some dreadful blasphemy ; and falling upon him, 
 they dragged him out of the city, and stoned him to 
 death. 
 
 Stephen, while they were mangling his body with 
 stones, was praying to Omnipotence for their pardon. 
 
TIMOTHY. 603 
 
 "Lord," said he, "lay not this sin to their charge." 
 
 And then calling on his dear Redeemer to receive his 
 spirit, ye yielded up his soul. 
 
 TIMOTHY. 
 
 TIMOTHY was a convert and disciple of St. Paul. He 
 was born at Lystra, in Asia Minor. His father was a 
 Gentile, but his mother a Jewess, whose name was 
 Eunice, and that of his grandmother, Lois. 
 
 These particulars are taken notice of, because St. Paul 
 commends their piety and the good education which 
 they had given Timothy. When St. Paul came to 
 Derbe and Lystra, about the year of Christ 51, the 
 brethren gave a very advantageous testimony of Timo- 
 thy : and the apostle would have him along with him, 
 and he circumcised him at Lystra before he received him 
 into his company. Timothy applied himself to labor 
 with St. Paul in the business of the gospel ; and did 
 him many important services, through the whole course 
 of his preaching. It is believed that he received very 
 early the imposition of the apostle's hands ; and that in 
 consequence of a particular revelation, or from the Holy 
 Ghost.* St. Paul calls him not only his dearly beloved 
 
 * As Timothy was yet a young man when Paul wrote his first epistle 
 to him (1 Tim. iv. 12), and even when he wrote his second (A. D. 67), as 
 appears from 2 Tim. ii. 22, he must have been quite young at his con- 
 version (A. D. 47), probably not over fourteen ; and not over eighteen 
 when called into the ministry of the gospel. 
 
604 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 son, but also his brother, the companion of his labors, 
 and a man of God. He declared there were none more 
 united with him in heart and mind, than Timothy. 
 
 This holy disciple accompanied St. Paul to Macedonia, 
 to Philippi, to Thessalonica, to Berea; and when the 
 apostle went from Berea, he left Timothy and Silas 
 there to confirm the converts. When he came to Athens, 
 he sent for Timothy to come thither to him ; and when 
 he was come and had given him an account of the 
 churches of Macedonia, St. Paul sent him back to Thes- 
 salonica, from whence he afterward returned with Silas, 
 and came to St. Paul at Corinth. There he continued 
 with him, and the apostle mentions him, with Silas, at 
 the beginning of the two epistles which he then wrote 
 to the Thessalonians. 
 
 Some years after this, St. Paul sent Timothy and 
 Erastus into Macedonia ; and gave Timothy orders to 
 call at Corinth, to refresh the minds of the Corinthians, 
 with regard to the truths which he had inculcated on 
 them. Some time after, writing to the same Corinthians, 
 he recommends them to take care of Timothy, and send 
 him back in peace ; after which, Timothy returned to 
 St. Paul in Asia, who there staid for him. They went 
 together into Macedonia ; and the apostle puts Timothy's 
 name with his own, before the second epistle to the 
 Corinthians, which he wrote to them from Macedonia, 
 about the middle of the year of Christ 57. And he 
 sends his salutations to the Romans in the letter 
 which he wrote to them from Corinth the same year. 
 
 When St. Paul returned from Rome, in 64, he left 
 Timothy at Ephesus to take care of that church, of 
 which he was not first bishop, as he is recognized by the 
 
TIMOTHY, 605 
 
 council of Cbalcedon. St. Paul wrote to him from Mace- 
 donia, the first of the two letters which are addressed 
 to him. He recommends him to be more moderate in 
 his austerities, and to drink a little wine because of the 
 weakness of his stomach, and his frequent infirmities. 
 After the apostle came to Rome, in the year 67, being 
 now very near his death, he wrote to him his second 
 letter, which was full of the marks of his kindness and 
 tenderness for this, his dear disciple; and which is justly 
 looked upon as the last will of St. Paul. He desires him 
 to come to Rome to him before winter, and bring with 
 him several things which St. Paul had left at Troas. 
 If Timothy went to Rome, as it is probable he did, he 
 must have been a witness of the martyrdom of thu 
 apostle, in the year of Christ 68. 
 
 If he did not die before the year 97, we can hardly 
 doubt but that he must be the Angel of the church of 
 Ephesus, to whom John writes in his Revelation : though 
 the reproaches with which he seems to load him for his 
 instability in having left his first love, do not seem to 
 agree to so holy a man as Timothy was. 
 
 The greatest part of interpreters think that these re- 
 proaches do not so much concern the person of Timothy, 
 as that of members of his church, whose zeal was grown 
 cool. But others are persuaded that they may be applied 
 to Timothy himself, who made ample amends, by the 
 martyrdom which he suffered, for the reproaches men- 
 tioned by St. John in this place. It is supposed that 
 Timothy had Onesimus for his successor. 
 
606 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 TITUS. 
 
 TITUS- was a Gentile by religion and birth, but 
 converted by St. Paul, who calls him his son. St. 
 Jerome says that he was St. Paul's interpreter. St. 
 Paul took him with him to Jerusalem, when he went 
 thither in the year 51 of the vulgar era, about deciding 
 the question which was then started, whether the con- 
 verted Gentiles ought to be made subject to the ceremo- 
 nies of the law ? Some would then have obliged him to 
 circumcise Titus ; but neither he nor Titus would con- 
 sent to it. * Titus was sent by the same apostle to 
 Corinth, upon occasion of some disputes which then 
 divided the church, A. D. 57. He was very well received 
 by the Corinthians, and very much satisfied with their 
 ready compliance : but would receive nothing from 
 them, imitating thereby, the disinterestedness of his 
 Master. 
 
 From hence he went to St. Paul in Macedonia, and 
 gave him an account of the state of the church at 
 Corinth. A little while after, the apostle desired him 
 to return 'again to Corinth, to set things in order pre- 
 paratory to his coming. Titus readily undertook this 
 journey, and departed immediately, carrying with him 
 St. Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. Titus was 
 left in the Isle of Crete, about the 63d year of 
 Christ, when St. Paul was obliged to quit that island, 
 
 * Paul would not consent to the circumcision of Titus because he 
 was a Gentile, and a great principle was involved in it. He afterward 
 circumcised Timothy, because by his mother's side he was a Jew, and 
 no principle was involved but expediency. In both cases he was con- 
 sistent. 
 
JOHN MARK. 607 
 
 in order to take care of the other churches. The fol- 
 lowing year he wrote to him, to desire that as soon as 
 he should have sent Tychicus or Artemus to him for 
 supplying his place in Crete, Titus would come to him 
 to Nicopolis in Macedonia, or to Nicopolis in Epirus, 
 upon the gulf of Ambracia, where the apostle intended 
 to pass his winter. 
 
 The epistle to Titus has always been acknowledged 
 by the church. It is not certainly known from what 
 place it was written, nor by whom it was sent. 
 
 Titus was deputed to preach the gospel in Dalmatia ; 
 and he was still there in the year 67, when the apostle 
 wrote his second epistle to Timothy. He afterward re- 
 turned into Crete ; from which it is said he propagated 
 the gospel into the neighboring islands. He died at the 
 age of 94, and was buried in Crete. The Greeks keep 
 his festival on the 25th of August, and the Latins on 
 the 4th of January. 
 
 JOHN MAKE. 
 
 JOHN MARK, nephew to Barnabas, and a disciple 
 of his, was the son of a Christian woman named Mary, 
 who had a house in Jerusalem where the apostles and 
 the faithful generally used to meet. Here they were 
 at prayers, in the night, when St. Peter, who was de- 
 livered out of prison by the angel, came and knocked at 
 the door. And in this house, the celebrated church of 
 Sion was said to have been afterward established. 
 
608 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 John Mark (whom some very improperly confound 
 with the Evangelist, St. Mark,) adhered to St. Paul 
 and Barnabas, and followed them in their return to 
 Antioch. He continued in their company and service 
 till they came to Perga, in Parnphylia ; but then, seeing 
 that they were undertaking a longer journey, he left 
 them and returned to Jerusalem.. This happened in 
 the year 45 or 46 of the common era. 
 
 Some years after, that is to say in the year 51, Paul 
 and Barnabas, preparing to return into Asia in order to 
 visit the churches which they had formed there, Barna- 
 bas was of opinion that John Mark should accompany 
 them in this journey ; but Paul would not consent to 
 it. Upon which occasion these two apostles separated. 
 Paul went to Asia, and Barnabas, with John Mark, to. 
 the Isle of Cyprus. 
 
 What John Mark did after this journey we do not 
 know, till we find him at Rome, in the year 63, per- 
 forming signal service for St. Paul during his imprison- 
 ment. 
 
 The apostle speaks advantageously* of him in his 
 epistle to the Colossians : " Marcus, sister's son to Bar- 
 nabas, saluteth you. If he cometh unto you, receive 
 him." He makes mention of him again in his epistle 
 to Philemon, written in the year 63, at which time he 
 was with St. Paul at Rome; but in the year 67 he was 
 with Timothy in Asia. And St. Paul, writing to Timo- 
 thy, desires him to bring Marcus to Rome adding, that 
 he was useful for him in the ministry of the Gospel.* 
 
 * It is highly gratifying to find John Mark thus restored to the con- 
 fidence of the apostle Paul, which he had forfeited by his weakness 
 under the first trials of missionary life. The charitable hopes of Bar- 
 nabas were thus justified. 
 
CLEMENT. 609 
 
 In the Greek and Latin churches, the festival of 
 John Mark is kept on the 27th of September. Some 
 say that he was bishop of Biblis, in Phoenicia. The 
 Greeks give him the title of apostle ; and say that the 
 sick were cured by his shadow only. It is very probable 
 that he died at Ephesus, where his tomb was very much 
 celebrated and resorted to. He is sometimes called 
 simply John or Mark. The year of his death we are 
 strangers to ; and shall not collect all that is said of 
 him in apocryphal and uncertain authors. 
 
 CLEMENT. 
 
 CLEMENT is mentioned by St. Paul, in his epistle to 
 the Philippians, where the apostle says that Clement's 
 name is written in the book of life. The generality of 
 the fathers, and other interpreters, make no question 
 but that this is the same Clement who succeeded Linus 
 and Cletus in the government of the church of Rome ; 
 and this seems to be intimated, when, in the office of 
 St. Clement's day, that church appoints this part of the 
 epistle to the Philippians to be read. 
 
 We find several things relating to Clement's life in 
 the Recognitions and Constitutions called apostolical ; 
 but as those works are not looked upon as authentic, 
 though there may be truths in them derived from the 
 tradition of the first ages, little stress is to be laid upon 
 their testimony. St. Chrysostom thinks that Clement, 
 mentioned by St. Paul in his epistle to the Philippians, 
 
610 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 was one of the apostle's constant fellow-travellers. Ire- 
 naeus, Origen, Clemens of Alexandria, and others of the 
 ancients assert, that Clement was a disciple of the apos- 
 tles ; that he had seen them and heard their instructions. 
 Tertullian and Epiphanius say, that St. Peter ordained 
 Clement. Rufinus tells us, that this apostle chose St. 
 Clement for his successor. But Epiphanius believes 
 that after he had been made bishop of Rome by St. 
 Peter, he refused to exercise his office, till, after the 
 death of Linus and Anaclet, he was obliged to take upon 
 himself the care of the church ; and this is the most 
 generally received opinion. St. Peter's immediate suc- 
 cessor was Linus : Linus was succeeded by Anacletus ; 
 and Anacletus by Clement, in the year of Christ 91, 
 which was the tenth of Domitian's reign.* 
 
 During his pastorate, the church of Corinth having 
 been disturbed by a spirit of division, St. Clement wrote 
 a large letter to the Corinthians, which is still extant, 
 and was so much esteemed by the ancients, that they 
 read it publicly in many churches ; and some have been 
 inclined to range it among the canonical writings. The 
 emperor Domitian intended to declare war against the 
 church of Christ : his design was made known to Her- 
 mas, and he ordered to give a copy of it to Clement, 
 that he might communicate it to other churches, and 
 exhort them to provide against the storm. We have 
 no certain account of what happened to St. Clement, 
 during this persecution : but we are very well assured 
 
 * These conflicting traditions or conjectures all proceed upon the 
 hypothesis that there was but one bishop in Rome at a time. But as 
 there were manyin Ephesus (Acts xx.), and several in Philippi (Phil. .1. 
 1), why not several at once in Rome ? 
 
CLEMENT. 611 
 
 that he lived to the third year of Trajan. His festival 
 is set down by Bede, and all the Latin Martyrologies, 
 on the twenty-third of November. The Greeks honor 
 him on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of the same 
 month. Rufinus, and pope Zozimus, give him the title 
 of martyr ; and the Roman church, in its canon, places 
 him among the saints who have sacrificed their lives for 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS AND MARTYRS 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 Jfirst Ctnteg to % ^formation. 
 
 SIMEON. 
 
 IN passing from the first to the second century of the 
 Christian era, the most illustrious martyr of Jewish 
 lineage was Simeon, bishop of the church of Jerusalem. 
 Eusebius informs us (on the authority of Hegesippus), 
 that he was the son of Cleophas, brother of Joseph, and 
 consequently was a cousin of our Lord. His martyrdom 
 fell in the reign of the emperor Trajan, when he was at 
 the extreme age of 120 years. As he immediately suc- 
 ceeded the apostle James, called the Just, his pastorate 
 must have continued about fifty years.* 
 
 Born of the family of our Lord, Simeon in his earliest 
 years was a resident of Nazareth in Galilee. Hegesip- 
 pus says the death of Joseph followed not long after the 
 Passover mentioned in the second chapter of Luke, and 
 if Mary and Jesus, as Neander suggests, made the family 
 of Cleophas their home, Simeon must have been per- 
 sonally intimate with Jesus, and was probably among his 
 early disciples, if not one of the Seventy. With the 
 church in Jerusalem he was therefore identified from 
 
 * A bishop, in those times, was only one of a number of elders, on 
 whom devolved the care of a single church. Phil. i. 1. 
 612 
 
SIMEON. 613 
 
 the beginning, and though not himself an apostle, was 
 eminently an apostolic man. In all the glorious scenes 
 of conversion and the trying seasons of persecution, which 
 followed the day of Pentecost, he bore a part with that 
 mother church of Christendom. He was familiar with 
 its history in all that critical period when true Judaism re- 
 ceived its full and final development into Christianity, 
 which, by the effulgence of new light from heaven, hence- 
 forth shone with surpassing spiritual glory. 
 
 The death of the apostle James, A. D. 62, has been 
 formerly related. Four years later, at the outbreak of 
 the Jewish war, which is fully sketched in the appended 
 history of the Jews, when Cestius retreated, an oppor- 
 tunity was afforded for the Christians of Jerusalem to 
 flee from the devoted city, according to the direction of 
 our Lord. Josephus notices the fact that many of the 
 citizens did flee that very night, without specifying that 
 they were Christians. Crossing the Jordan, into the 
 mountain regions under the jurisdiction of King Agrippa, 
 who had taken side with the Romans, the Christians 
 found in the city of Pella a secure refuge through all 
 the bloody war which ended in the destruction of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 The church reorganized in Pella, still retained its origi- 
 nal name as the church of Jerusalem, and Simeon, at the 
 age of 75, was now its senior pastor. This important 
 office he held till his death. Under him, we learn, it 
 flourished with increasing vigor. " Great numbers of the 
 circumcision," says Eusebius, "came over to the Chris- 
 tian faith at that time, one of whoii', Justus, was his 
 
 successor." 
 
 With the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, the 
 
614 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 divinely established forms of Judaism having attained 
 their object, perished forever. Christianity, its inner 
 life, now came forth before the world in all its distinct- 
 ness, freedom, arid spiritual beauty ; Christ its only High 
 Priest and Sacrifice, and his followers " a holy nation, a 
 peculiar people, a royal priesthood," having immediate 
 access to God through faith. It was the lot of Simeon 
 to guide the Jewish-Christian church under his care 
 through this period of transition, and his high honor to 
 have it done well. 
 
 Three times during his long pastorate, Simeon was 
 exposed to imminent danger from the jealousy entertained 
 by the Roman government of the royal family of David. 
 Under Vespasian first, then Domitian, and finally under 
 Trajan, rumors were spread which led to the arrest and 
 examination of the surviving members of that now poor 
 and depressed family, of which Simeon was one. The 
 last of these jealous trials gave him the martyr's crown 
 as a Christian. According to Hegesippus and Eusebius, 
 the venerable old man, together with his nephews, the 
 surviving sons of the apostle Jude, was accused before 
 Atticus the Roman governor, during a popular insurrec- 
 tion of the rebellious Jews, by the envy of certain 
 heretics. For three days he was put to the torture, 
 which he bore with a serenity that astonished the judge 
 and his attendants. He was then ordered to be crucified, 
 and thus finished his life and labors in like manner with 
 his Lord. 
 
 Hegesippus, the Jewish-Christian historian (A. D. 175), 
 who records his death through the false accusation 
 of heretics, adds this valuable testimony on the state 
 of the Christian church in this early time. " The 
 
IGNATIUS. 615 
 
 church continued until then (A. D. 115) as a pure and 
 uncorrupt virgin; whilst if there were any at all that 
 attempted to pervert the sound doctrine of the saving 
 gospel, they were yet skulking in dark retreats. But 
 when the sacred choir of the apostles became extinct, 
 and the generation of those that had been privileged 
 to hear their inspired wisdom had passed away, then 
 also the combinations of impious error arose by the 
 fraud and delusions of false teachers. These also, as 
 there were none of the apostles left, henceforth attempt- 
 ed, without shame, to preach their false doctrine against 
 the doctrine of truth. 
 
 Let us bless God that though the apostles are dead, 
 we have the writings of the apostles as a light to guide 
 the church forever. (2 Pet. i. 14-21.) 
 
 IGNATIUS. 
 
 IGNATIUS, bishop of Antioch in Syria from A. D. 75, 
 surnamed Theophorus for his eminent piety, suffered 
 martyrdom under the Emperor Trajan. From his 
 " Acts " and " Epistles," published by Archbishop Usher 
 in 1647, we learn the circumstances, as well as the char- 
 acter and spirit of this eminent man. The Acts were 
 written by the eye-witnesses of his sufferings. They repre- 
 sent him as a man in all things like the apostles. " By 
 the constancy of his doctrine and spiritual labors, he op- 
 posed himself to the floods of the adversary. He was like 
 a divine lamp, illuminating the hearts of the faithful by 
 his exposition of the holy Scriptures." To preserve his 
 church^ he scrupled not to expose himself to the bitter 
 
616 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 death. The church at Antioch, let it be remembered, 
 was the mother church of the Gentile Christians, as 
 Jerusalem was of the Jewish ; and from the first had been 
 distinguished for its numbers, liberality, culture, and 
 missionary zeal. 
 
 The policy of Trajan toward the Christians, we learn 
 from his celebrated letter to Pliny the younger, whom 
 he had appointed governor of Bithynia and Pontus, 
 A. D. 103. He forbids search to be made for them or 
 anonymous letters against them to be regarded ; but if 
 when publicly accused, they will not deny Christ, he 
 commands them to be put to death. Strange mixture 
 of humanity with the highest injustice and cruelty. 
 
 As a general rule the early Christians did not approve 
 of those who, uncalled, offered themselves as martyrs. 
 But when Trajan came to Antioch A. D. 115, on his 
 way to the Parthian war, Ignatius, trembling for the 
 safety of his numerous flock, and hoping to avert the 
 storm from them by the sacrifice of his own life, volun- 
 tarily presented himself before him. On learning who 
 he was, the emperor, perhaps irritated by his apparent 
 audacity, said to him : What an impious spirit art 
 thou, both to transgress our command, and to inveigle 
 others, into the same folly to their ruin ! " 
 
 Ignatius. " Theophorus ought not to be called im- 
 pious ; forasmuch as all wicked spirits are departed from 
 the servants of God. 
 
 Trajan. " Pray, who is Theophorus ? " 
 
 Ignatius. " He who has Christ in his breast." 
 
 Trajan. " And thinkest thou not that gods reside in 
 us also, who fight for us against our enemies ? " 
 
 Ignatius. " You mistake in calling the demons of the 
 
IGNATIUS. 617 
 
 nations by the name of God. For there is only one 
 God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that 
 is in them, and one Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, 
 whose kingdom be my portion." 
 
 Trajan. " His kingdom, do you say, who was crucified 
 under Pilate ? " 
 
 Ignatius. " His, who crucified my sin with its author ; 
 and has put all the fraud and malice of Satan under the 
 feet of those who carry him in their heart." 
 
 Trajan. " Dost thou then carry him who was crucified 
 within thee ? " 
 
 Ignatius. " I do, for it is written, I will dwell in them 
 and walk in them." 
 
 Then Trajan pronounced this sentence : " Since Igna- 
 tius confesses that he carries within himself him that 
 was crucified, we command that he be carried bound by 
 soldiers to great Rome, there to be thown to the wild 
 beasts for the entertainment of the people." Such was 
 the sentence of an emperor, whom the Romans for ages 
 called Optimus, the Best ! 
 
 Ignatius was now taken down to Seleucia, the port of 
 Antioch, and put on board a ship sailing for Smyrna. 
 Here he had the opportunity of seeing his friend Poly- 
 carp, the youthful pastor of that church, and also depu- 
 ties from the other churches in that region. Here also 
 he wrote two of his three genuine epistles, namely those 
 to Ephesus and Rome.* 
 
 Nothing lies more on his heart in his epistles, than to 
 recommend to the churches the most perfect unity and 
 concord. He represents Christians as all united in Jesus 
 
 * Cureton, Rawlinson and Bunsen allow only this number, and no 
 more are found in the Syriac. 
 
618 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Christ; all partaking of the same spiritual life. He 
 urges them to preserve their faith and order, to reject 
 heresies, and watch against all dissension and division. 
 He adds, " Yet pray earnestly for other men without 
 ceasing: for there is hope of conversion in them, that 
 they also may be brought to God. Give them an oppor- 
 tunity to be instructed, at least by your works. With- 
 out Christ thinking nothing : in him I carry about my 
 bonds spiritual jewels ; in whom may I be found in the 
 resurrection. Remember me, as Jesus Christ also does 
 you." 
 
 The desire of martyrdom in this venerable man appears 
 to us excessive. His enthusiasm is morally sublime, as 
 may be seen in his letter to the Christians of Rome, in 
 which he begs them to do nothing to procure his release. 
 In view of his approaching death he exultingly exclaims, 
 " Now I begin to be a disciple ; nor shall any thing 
 move me of things visible or invisible : let fire and the 
 cross, let the companies of wild beasts, let breaking of 
 bones and tearing of limbs, let the grinding of the whole 
 body, and all the malice of the devil come upon me ; be 
 it so, only may I enjoy Jesus Christ. It is better for me 
 to die for Jesus Christ than to reign over the ends of the 
 earth. Him I seek who died for us. Him I desire who 
 rose again for us. My worldly affections are crucified ; 
 the fire of God's love burns within me, and cannot be 
 extinguished ; it lives, it speaks, and says, Come to the 
 Father." 
 
 From Smyrna, the self-devoted martyr was hurried, 
 as soon as the wind would allow, to Troas, (whence he 
 wrote to Polycarp,) and thence to Neapolis, and through 
 Macedonia and Epirus, to Rome, to be in season for the 
 
POLYCARP. 619 
 
 annual public spectacles in the amphitheatre. He there 
 had his wish the wild beasts were his sepulchre. A few 
 bones only were left, which were collected by his deacons 
 and carried back to Antioch. 
 
 POLYCAKP. 
 
 THE sixth year of the emperor Marcus Aurelius was 
 marked by the martyrdom of the aged and illustrious 
 Polycarp, who for more than seventy years had been a 
 bishop of the church in Smyrna. According to Irenaeus, 
 he had been educated under the last of the apostles, 
 and ordained by them to the pastoral office in that city. 
 Usher hence concludes that this was before the date of 
 the Apocalypse, A. D. 95, and that he was the "angel of the 
 church" there addressed. He has been mentioned already 
 as the friend of Ignatius, who addressed to him one of 
 his three epistles. His own epistle to the Philippians is 
 still extant, and gives a very pleasing view of his mind 
 and character. The pagans themselves bore unwilling 
 testimony to his lifelong influence when they denounced 
 him as " the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, 
 and the destroyer of our gods." 
 
 Eusebius tells us of a visit made by this apostolic man 
 to Anicetas, bishop of Rome, about A. D. 150, to quiet n, 
 controversy then agitated on the observance of Easter. 
 Though foiling to effect an agreement of opinion, on a 
 point purely traditional, they agreed to differ amicably. 
 
 But the visit was of great importance in reclaiming 
 many from the errors of the Docetse, then propagated in 
 
620 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 that city by Marcion. The heresiarch, unable to resist 
 the weight of Poly carp's testimony to the true apostolic 
 doctrine, claimed falsely to be of the same belief with 
 him, and meeting him publicly on one occasion said, 
 " Polycarp, own us," to which the indignant old man 
 replied, " I own you as the first-born of Satan," i. e. as 
 an Antichrist. This is precisely in the spirit of his 
 teacher, the apostle John, in his first and second epis- 
 tles, in respect to such deceitful workers. 
 
 From a letter addressed by the church of Smyrna to 
 her sister churches generally, quoted at length by Euse- 
 bius, we learn the particulars of the persecution in 
 which he, with many others of less note, suffered unto 
 death. 
 
 He had not designed to leave the city for safety, but 
 yielded to the urgent entreaties of his flock, and retired 
 to a farm-house not far distant. Here he was tracked 
 by his pursuers. Convinced that his time was come of 
 which he had been forewarned in a dream and had fore- 
 warned his friends he delivered himself up with gentle 
 dignity, ordering for them a bountiful meal, while he 
 devoted an hour to fervent prayer. 
 
 When brought before the proconsul, that high official, 
 who had just before succeeded in persuading one Quintus 
 to swear by the gods and sacrifice his salvation to his 
 fears, attempted the same thing with Polycarp. Over 
 and over again he urged him. " Swear by the fortune 
 of Caesar swear, and I will release thee ; reproach 
 Christ." Polycarp (then about a hundred years old) 
 replied : 
 
 " Eighty and six years have I served him, and he 
 never wronged me ; and how can I blaspheme my King 
 
POLYCARP. 621 
 
 who hath saved me? I am a Christian, and if you 
 desire to learn the .Christian doctrine, assign me a day, 
 anql hear." 
 
 " I have wild beasts," said the proconsul ; " I will ex- 
 pose you to them unless you repent." 
 
 "Call them," replied the martyr. "Our minds are 
 not to be changed from the better to the worse ; but it 
 is a good thing to be changed from evil to good." 
 
 Proconsul. " I will tame your spirit by fire, unless you 
 repent." 
 
 Polycarp. " You threaten me with fire which burns 
 for a moment; but you are ignorant of the future judg- 
 ment, and of the fire of eternal punishment reserved 
 for the ungodly. But why do you delay? Do what 
 you please." 
 
 The proconsul was visibly embarrassed. The people 
 demanded that Polycarp should be given to the lions, 
 but as the Asiarch pronounced the time for the opening 
 of the amphitheatre past, he was ordered to be burnt 
 alive. 
 
 As they were about to fasten him to the stake, he 
 said: " Let me remain as I am; for he who gives me 
 strength to sustain the fire, will enable me to remain 
 unmoved." Placing his hands behind him, the heroic 
 man then offered a prayer, closing with these words : 
 " God, I bless thee that thou hast counted me worthy 
 of this day and this hour, to receive my portion in the 
 number of martyrs, in the cup of Christ, for the resur- 
 rection to eternal life both of soul and body, in the in- 
 corruption of the Holy Ghost ; among whom may I be 
 received before thee this day, as a sacrifice acceptable. 
 Wherefore I praise thee for all things. I bless thee, I 
 
622 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 glorify thee, by the eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ, 
 thy well-beloved Son : through whom, with him, in the 
 Holy Spirit, be glory to thee, both now and forever. 
 Amen." 
 
 The fire was then lighted, but the rising wind swept 
 the flame away from his body in so wonderful a manner, 
 that he was finally despatched by the thrust of the exe- 
 cutioner's sword. His brethren applied to the authori- 
 ties for his body, but the Jews opposed its delivery to 
 them, saying that "leaving the Crucified One, they 
 would worship him :" on which the letter of the church 
 of Smyrna remarks : " It is not possible for us to for- 
 sake Christ, who suffered for the salvation of all who 
 are saved of the human race, nor ever to worship any 
 other. For we adore him as being the Son of God ; 
 but we justly love the martyrs as disciples of the Lord." 
 Had these just views continued to prevail in after ages, 
 we should have heard nothing of invocation of the 
 Saints and of the Virgin Mary. 
 
 The centurion, to avoid a tumult, finally burnt the 
 body. The few bones remaining, " more precious than 
 gold and jewels " to his affectionate church, were gath- 
 ered and buried, and the day of his martyrdom was 
 annually commemorated by them as his birthday to a 
 better life. It is to be regretted that a custom at first 
 so pure and innocent, was after the lapse of two cen- 
 turies perverted into gross superstition. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 623 
 
 JUSTIN MAETTE. 
 
 THIS distinguished Christian philosopher, writer, and 
 martyr, was born at Neapolis, the ancient Schechem, or 
 Sichem, in Samaria, near the beginning of the second 
 century of our era. His father was a Gentile. 
 
 Justin in his youth travelled for the improvement of 
 his understanding, and in Alexandria sought from the 
 philosophic schools the knowledge of God, for which he 
 thirsted. He began with the Stoics, and not finding 
 satisfaction, tried in succession the Peripatetics, the 
 Pythagoreans, and the Platonists. Fascinated for a 
 time with the latter, he gave himself up to study and 
 retirement. But God had better things in store for 
 him. 
 
 One day as he was walking by the sea-shore, he met 
 a venerable stranger, whose countenance arrested his 
 attention. He says : " We soon entered into conversa- 
 tion, and upon my professing a love for private medita- 
 tion, the venerable old man hinted at the absurdity of 
 mere speculation, abstracted from practice. This gave 
 occasion for me to express my ardent desire of knowing 
 God, and to expatiate on the praises of philosophy. 
 The stranger by degrees endeavored to cure me of my 
 ignorant admiration of Plato and Pythagoras; he 
 pointed out the writings of the Hebrew prophets as 
 much more ancient than any of those called philoso- 
 phers, and he led me to some view of the nature and 
 evidences of Christianity ; adding, < Above all things 
 pray that the gates of light may be opened to you, for 
 
624 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 they are not discernible, nor to be understood, except 
 God and his Christ cause a man to understand.' I saw 
 him no more, but immediately a fire was kindled in my 
 soul, and I had a strong affection for the prophets and 
 for those men who are the friends of Christ. I weighed 
 within myself the arguments of the aged stranger, and 
 in the end I found the divine Scriptures to be the only 
 sure philosophy." 
 
 His conversion took place early in the reign of Adrian, 
 and his subsequent life proves that it was the deep, vital 
 work of the Holy Spirit, which abideth forever. He 
 owns however that he was greatly confirmed in his faith 
 by the example of suffering Christians. 
 
 He still continued to wear the philosopher's garb to 
 which he was accustomed, partly from taste and habit, 
 and partly because it gave him access to that class of 
 men to whose conversion he mainly devoted himself. 
 
 His pen was consecrated to the cause of truth. He 
 defended the gospel against the philosophizing heretics 
 of his times, and wrote an Address and an Exhortation 
 to the Gentiles the first philosophic defence of Christi- 
 anity that has come down to our times. 
 
 He wrote two Apologies for the Christians, which he 
 presented to the emperor and Senate of Rome, under 
 Adrian, Pius Antoninus, Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius 
 Verus. These are extremely valuable for their facts and 
 expositions, showing what Christianity is, and how un- 
 just were the laws which made the mere profession of 
 it by thousands of the purest men and women a capital 
 crime against the State. 
 
 Justin's Dialogue with Trypho, the Jew, is regarded 
 by Dr. Adam Clarke as the most valuable of his works. 
 
IREN^US. 625 
 
 It is divided into three parts : in the first, he refutes the 
 erroneous notions of the Jews about the law : in the 
 second, he shows the divine nature of Christ, and proves 
 that he was incarnate for our salvation ; in the third he 
 shows how the calling of the Gentiles was prefigured in 
 the law, and foretold by the prophets. 
 
 About the year 163, Justin was accused as a Chris- 
 tian by the philosopher Crescene, a vile and malig- 
 nant man, who took offence at his teachings. He was 
 arrested and brought before Rusticus, the prefect of 
 Rome, who had been the tutor of Marcus Aurelius. 
 Before him he made a. noble profession of his faith, and 
 was condemned to be first scourged and then beheaded, 
 to which he joyfully submitted, in the certain hope of 
 everlasting life. 
 
 THIS eminent writer and martyr, for many years 
 pastor of the church in Lyons, Gaul, was of Greek 
 origin, and forms the connecting link between Asia 
 Minor and Western Europe. His Christian instructors 
 were Papias, of Hierapolis, and Polycarp, of Smyrna. 
 The latter made the deepest impressions upon him in 
 his early years, as appears from his letter to Florinus, 
 which he wrote late in life, and is a beautiful testimony 
 to his renowned teacher, as well as to the primitive 
 truths of Christianity. We shall quote it hereafter. 
 
 The church in Lyons was a colony from the church 
 in Smyrna ; and Pothinus, its first pastor, was from 
 thence. Irenseus assisted this venerable man, and on 
 
 40 
 
626 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 his martyrdom, in 169, was chosen his successor. The 
 post was no sinecure. Seldom has a pastor been tried 
 more severely, by persecutions without, and heresies 
 within the church. Irenasus seems to have been en- 
 dowed with the very qualities of mind required for the 
 occasion. His magnanimity, discrimination, prudence, 
 and fidelity, appear in all that we know of him. As 
 his name imports, he was a man of peace ; and when 
 Victor, Bishop of Rome, in 196, haughtily pronounced 
 his excommunication on all the churches of Asia 
 Minor, solely because they differed from him in the 
 insignificant Easter controversy, he did not hesitate to 
 rebuke him as the arbitrary disturber of the liberty and 
 peace of Christendom. We may here remark, that this 
 act of Victor is the first instance in ecclesiastical history 
 of the usurpation of power over other churches by the 
 Church of Rome, and that it then was met by universal 
 and indignant denial, as it deserved to be. A century 
 before, Clement of Rome, in his Epistle to the Corinthi- 
 ans, set up no such claim of jurisdiction, and breathed 
 an entirely different spirit. 
 
 The labors of Irenseus in Gaul were of the most 
 evangelical and enduring character. Though a Greek 
 scholar, writing, if not regularly preaching to his flock 
 in that language, he diligently acquired the Celtic lan- 
 guage of the country, in order to reach and convert the 
 natives. 
 
 His book on Heresies is almost all of his writings 
 that has escaped the ravages of time. In this he 
 analyzes and dissects all the fanciful schemes of corrupt 
 doctrine, then propagated under the Christian name, 
 usually pointing out their unscriptural origin and their 
 
 
IREN^EUS. 627 
 
 evil tendency. He writes in a grave and discriminating, 
 as well as pious spirit, which shows how well he was 
 qualified for writing on more experimental and practical 
 topics. 
 
 His early acquaintance with apostolic men, like Pa- 
 pias and Poly carp, enabled him to make a very proper 
 appeal to the living tradition of the apostolic churches 
 against the novel theories of the heretics. The argu- 
 ment was then pertinent and valid, as confirmatory of 
 the evidence of the Scriptures, which the heretics of 
 that age attempted by forgeries and interpolations to 
 set aside. This argument has been wretchedly abused 
 in modern times, particularly by the Church of Rome. 
 And in a country like ours, where all have the Scrip- 
 tures in their own tongue, and are able to search them, 
 it must be less conclusive, even if not dangerous to the 
 real lovers of divine truth. As every one must give 
 account of himself to God, we owe it to him, and to 
 our own souls, like the noble Jews of Berea, to search 
 the Scriptures daily, and see whether the things taught 
 us are really so. The disposition to do this, prayerfully 
 and earnestly, proves that we are under the influence 
 of the Holy Spirit. The Bible, and not tradition, is 
 now, as in the time of the Saviour, the test of truth. 
 
 The following extract from the letter of Irenoeus, late 
 in life, to the heretic Florin us, gives a beautiful life- 
 like picture of his youth. " I saw you, when I was very 
 young, in the Lower Asia, with Polycarp. For I better 
 remember the affairs of that time, than those that have 
 lately happened the things which we learn in our 
 childhood growing up in the soul and uniting them- 
 selves to it. Insomuch, that I can tell the place in 
 
628 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 which the blessed Polycarp sat and taught, and his 
 going out and coming in, and the manner of his life, 
 and the form of his person, and his discourse to the 
 people ; and how he related his conversation with John 
 and others who had seen the Lord ; and how he related 
 their sayings, and what he had heard from them con- 
 cerning the Lord, both concerning his miracles and his 
 doctrines, as he had received them from the eye-wit- 
 nesses of the Word of Life : all of which Polycarp re- 
 lated agreeably to the Scriptures. These things I then, 
 through the mercy of God toward me, diligently heard 
 and attended to, recording them, not on paper, but upon 
 my heart." 
 
 A man who could say all this, makes a legitimate 
 application when he says to Florinus, in reference to 
 his errors, " These doctrines, those who were presbyters 
 before us those who had walked loith the Apostles did 
 not deliver to you." Indeed, few writers of antiquity 
 are more clear and decided on the fall of man, and his 
 recovery by an incarnate Saviour, than Irenaeus. 
 
 This excellent man suffered martyrdom under the 
 Emperor Severus. Of the manner, all we learn is, that 
 " after several torments, he was put to death, and, to- 
 gether with him, almost all the Christians in that popu- 
 lous city so that the streets of Lyons flowed with 
 Christian blood." (A. D. 205.) 
 
THEOPHILUS. 629 
 
 THEOPHILUS. 
 
 THEOPHILUS, bishop of Antioch, in Syria, from A. D. 
 167 to 181, was a man of the most extensive Greek 
 learning and culture. He wrote a work of much repu- 
 tation on the Christian religion, in three books, ad- 
 dressed to Autolycus, a heathen, who had exultingly 
 challenged him, saying, " Show me thy God." Theophi- 
 lus, who had been a learned heathen himself before 
 his conversion, in this work takes up the challenge. 
 
 His style is pleasing, and in the first book highly or- 
 namented. He here shows that God cannot be seen but 
 by the eyes of the understanding, purified from sin ; 
 that he cannot be represented by any corporeal image, 
 because his perfections infinitely surpass our conceptions ; 
 yet may be known by his works and providence ; and 
 he will be seen when men are delivered from mortality 
 and corruption. He then argues in support of the 
 resurrection ; proves the reasonableness of believing it ; 
 shows that in many arts and sciences which concern the 
 support and comfort of life, nothing is brought to an 
 issue without faith, and that nature is full of striking 
 analogies; and closes the book by illustrating the vari- 
 ous names, and titles, and relations by which God has 
 made himself known to Christians. The second book 
 enters into a fuller exposition of Christianity ; and the 
 third shows its immense superiority in every respect to 
 Paganism, in antiquity, theology, morality, and hap- 
 piness. 
 
 Theophilus is said to be the first author who employs 
 
630 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 the word Trinity, in defining the divine nature as re- 
 vealed. Dr. Adam Clarke thinks it noteworthy that in 
 the same city (Antioch) where the disciples were first 
 called Christians, the sacred persons in the Godhead 
 were first called the Trinity. 
 
 ATHES"AGOEAS. 
 
 THIS learned Christian flourished during the reigns 
 of Adrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and 
 Lucius Verus, that is, from A. D. 117 to 180, and long 
 before Pantaenus was president of the Alexandrian 
 Catechetical School, where so many eminent men were 
 educated. This last fact gives him an important place 
 in history. 
 
 His conversion was remarkable. Philip Sidetes, a 
 writer of the fourth century, says that Athenagoras was 
 originally a heathen philosopher (probably of Athens), 
 who, designing to write against the Christians, thought 
 it necessary to read their Scriptures to make his work 
 the more complete. The result was very different from 
 the design ; for by examining the Scriptures he was con- 
 verted to the Christian faith, and, like Paul, applied his 
 noble faculties to defend and diffuse the precious truth 
 he had sought in his ignorance and prejudice to destroy. 
 
 Two of his works yet remain his Legation, or 
 Apology for the Christians, and his treatise on the 
 Resurrection of the Dead ; both works of great merit 
 for the thoroughness of the -discussions. In the former, 
 which is addressed to Marcus Aurelius and his son 
 
ATIIENAG011AS. 631 
 
 Cornmodus, he justly complains, that "while all the 
 nations subject to the Empire were permitted freely to 
 worship the gods of their choice, and the most absurd 
 superstitions were tolerated, the Christians alone, whose 
 worship was simple, pure, and worthy of the Deity, 
 were not only denied the liberty granted to all the rest, 
 but were also unjustly maligned, slandered, and perse- 
 cuted, while the whole of their accusation was their 
 
 name." 
 
 " If we are convicted of any crime, less or more, let 
 us be punished; but not merely for the name of a 
 Christian for no Christian can be a bad man unless he 
 acts contrary to his profession. 
 
 " There is an infamous report that we are guilty of 
 three great crimes, viz : impiety against the gods, feed- 
 ing on murdered infants, and incestuous copulation. If 
 jbhese be true, spare neither age nor sex; punish us, 
 with our wives and children; exterminate us out of the 
 world. But, if these be false and scandalous calumnies 
 against us, notice them as such. Inquire into our lives, 
 into our opinions, into our obedience to authority, our 
 concern for your person and government ; allow us only 
 that common justice and equity you grant your ene- 
 mies, and we ask no more, being assured of the victory, 
 and ready to lay down our lives for the truth. 
 
 " Among us, the meanest day laborers, and old women, 
 though not able to dispute about their profession, yet 
 can demonstrate its usefulness in their lives and good 
 works. Being buffeted, they strike not again ; nor sue 
 those at law who spoil and plunder them ; they give 
 liberally to those that ask, and love their neighbor as 
 themselves. Thus we do, because we are assured there 
 
632 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 is a God who superintends human affairs, who made 
 both us and the whole world, and to whom we must at 
 last give account." 
 
 In his book on the Resurrection, he says, " Those who 
 deny the resurrection of the dead, should prove, either 
 that God cannot effect ifr, or that he will not. If he 
 cannot, it must be because he lacks skill or power ; but 
 his formation of the human body refutes this suppo- 
 sition. If he have the power, but will not do it, then 
 it must be because it would be unjust in itself, or un- 
 worthy of the divine nature. But neither of these can 
 ever be proved." He argues for the identity of the 
 risen body, on three grounds the object of man's crea- 
 tion ; the nature of man as an accountable being ; and 
 from the justice of God, as the re warder of good and 
 evil. 
 
 ACCORDING to the best accounts, Pantsenus, who filled 
 for so many years the office of Catechist or President in 
 the Alexandrian school, was a Jew by descent, hut a 
 native of Sicily. He was trained at Athens in the logic 
 of Aristotle, and in the philosophy of the Stoics. The 
 time and manner of his conversion are not recorded, but 
 it was probably under Athenagoras, at Athens or Alex- 
 andria, and the reality and power of this great spiritual 
 change was demonstrated by its effects. 
 
 " There were even yet," says Eusebius, referring to 
 this period (A. D. 140-170), "many evangelists of the 
 
CLEMENT, OF ALEXANDRIA. 633 
 
 word, who were ardently striving to employ their in- 
 spired zeal after the apostolic example to increase and 
 build up the divine word ; of these Pantaenus is said to 
 have been one." He went forth as a herald of the Gos- 
 pel to the nations of the east, travelling as far as India. 
 Even there he found that he had been preceded by the 
 Apostle Bartholomew, who had left among his Jewish 
 converts there a copy of the Gospel of Matthew, written 
 in the Hebrew of that age (the Aramaean). 
 
 On his return from his mission, he was settled at 
 Alexandria, as the successor of Athenagoras, though he 
 is often called the first President. Eusebius tells us the 
 school of the faithful had even then been established from 
 ancient times. His great learning and prominent 
 abilities raised his reputation very high. Clement of 
 Alexandria, who had studied under many teachers in 
 the east and west, became his pupil, despairing, he says, 
 of ever finding his superior in abilities and in his knowl- 
 edge of the Scriptures. He there continued until his 
 death (A. D. 190), as Eusebius says, " commenting on the 
 treasures of divine truth both orally and by his writings." 
 His writings are lost, but his influence long lived in the 
 character of his great pupils. 
 
 CLEMENT, OF ALEXANDKI A. 
 
 THIS eminent teacher and presbyter, of Alexandria, 
 was at first a heathen philosopher, but on his conversion 
 he became a pupil of Pantaenus, whom he succeeded in 
 the Christian Catechetical School, or theological sem- 
 
634 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 inary, of that city. Pantasnus, who had succeeded 
 Athenagoras, after a presidency of ten years, had rested 
 from his labors. Clement carried on the school for 
 twelve years. But in the persecution of Septimus 
 Severus, he was compelled to flee, and visited Jerusalem 
 and Antioch (A. D. 203). 
 
 Clement, in this visit, found Alexander, bishop of 
 Jerusalem, in prison for the faith. .He was delighted to 
 form the acquaintance of this holy man, and carried 
 with him, when he went to Antioch, a letter from Alex- 
 ander to the Antioch church : which breathes a primi- 
 tive spirit. "Alexander, a servant of God, and a pris- 
 oner of Jesus Christ, to the blessed church in Antioch, 
 in the Lord, greeting: Our Lord has made my bonds, 
 in this time of my imprisonment, light and easy to me, 
 while I understood that Aschpiades, a person admirably 
 qualified, by his eminence in the faith, was by divine 
 providence become bishop of your holy church of An- 
 tioch. These letters, brethren, I have sent you by 
 Clement, the blessed presbyter, a man of approved in- 
 tegrity,' whom ye both do know already, and shall still 
 further know. He hath been here with us, according to 
 the good will of God, and hath much established and 
 augmented the church of Christ." After visiting An- 
 tioch for a session, Clement returned to his labors in 
 
 Alexandria. 
 
 
 This famous school was then, perhaps, in the height 
 of its glory. Origen, and others, who illustrated the 
 next age by their learned writings and prodigious la- 
 bors, were then training there, and such pupils reflect 
 honor on their teachers. Yet it may be justly ques- 
 tioned whether, at this very time, the seeds of immense 
 
CLEMENT, OF ALEXANDRIA. 635 
 
 evil were not sown there, in the culture of philosophical 
 systems, after the rudiments of the world, and not after 
 Christ. 
 
 How far Clement himself is responsible for these 
 evils we cannot tell. He was himself an eclectic phi- 
 losopher, or, to use his own words : " I espouse neither 
 this nor that philosophy neither the Stoic, nor the 
 Platonic, nor the Epicurean, nor that of Aristotle ; but 
 whatever any of these sects has said that is fit and just; 
 whatever teaches righteousness, with a divine and re- 
 ligious knowledge ; all this I select, and call it phi- 
 losophy." This certainly seems wise and liberal, and 
 worthy of a good man, as Clement undoubtly was. 
 But what would be the effect upon his pupils, in a city 
 like Alexandria, which prided itself upon its vast 
 library, its learning, its liberal culture, and its philoso- 
 phizing spirit ? Would it not seem, to the ardent 
 Christian young men, as if Pagan philosophy, in all its 
 forms, was to be studied, for the attainment of true wis- 
 dom, rather than the Scriptures ? And would they not, 
 though undesignedly, be led away from the only true 
 source of that wisdom which is unto salvation ? And 
 would there not be danger that the Scriptures them- 
 selves would be interpreted according to the philoso- 
 phers, than the philosophers tested by the touchstone 
 of God's word? This danger was real, as the baleful 
 results in the next century, and even for ages after- 
 wards, sufficiently showed. 
 
 " The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. 
 Hath not .God made foolish the wisdom of this world ? 
 The world by wisdom, knew not God. Beware of vain 
 and deceitful philosophy, and opposition of science, falsely 
 
636 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 so called." The Christian world of this period was fast 
 forgetting these apostolic cautions, and drifting away into 
 a darkness that might be felt. 
 
 But nothing could be farther from the intention of 
 Clement. Here was his theory of instruction in his own 
 words : " As the husbandman first waters the soil, and 
 then casts in his seed, so the notions which I derive out 
 of the writings of the Gentiles, serve first to water and 
 soften the earthy parts of the soul, that the spiritual 
 seed may be the better cast in, and take vital root in 
 the minds of men." This, certainly, is not the theory 
 of the Apostles of Christ. They did not put Gentile 
 philosophy at the foundation, nor believe that it would 
 assist at all in rearing the heavenly structure of Chris- 
 tianity. The philosophic religion of their times, they 
 looked upon as so much rubbish to be cleared away ; and 
 they asserted, with emphasis, the great axiom of the 
 Gospel : " Other foundation can no man lay, than that 
 is laid, Jesus Christ." 
 
 Clement had travelled extensively in his youth, and 
 his knowledge of Greek literature was great, yet he 
 wrote but little. Only three or four of his books have 
 come down to us. His Cohortation to the Greeks, his 
 Pedagogue, his Stromata, or Miscellanies, are the prin- 
 cipal. His crowning work, the Hypotypus, has lately 
 come to light. 
 
 Our space allows us only to notice the Pedagogue, 
 which with much of allegory, and some pedantry, is 
 allowed by all to be a collection of simple and sublime 
 sentiments. It is not a treatise on the education of 
 youth, as might be supposed from its name ; but it dis- 
 cusses the moral discipline of Christians, men and 
 
CLEMENT, OF ALEXANDRIA. 637 
 
 women, who have become sincere disciples of Christ, 
 the Divine Teacher. Clement says he gives it this name, 
 not because Christianity is a puerile science ; on the con- 
 trary, it is a science of the most exalted wisdom. His 
 position is, that all the disciples of the truth are chil- 
 dren, in regard to God ; and this he establishes by the/ 
 Scriptures. All Christians are " little children," simple, 
 sincere, modest, ingenuous, and free from guile. The 
 Pedagogue who teaches these babes, is Christ, in whom 
 are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 
 Clement is careful here to make an admirable distinc- 
 tion. Infancy in Christ, he says, ought to be considered 
 comparatively ; it is manhood, in comparison with Juda- 
 ism ; perfect manhood, in comparison with Paganism, in 
 its highest philosophical attainments. The most perfect 
 Christian is, however, but a babe, compared with an 
 apostle, as the most enlightened apostle is but a babe 
 compared with Christ. 
 
 The Alexandrian school was set up at first for such 
 babes as Clement has here described; but it degenerated 
 into a school of monkish superstition and pride. The 
 bare foot and the shaven crown, the abstemious diet and 
 the nerveless sapience of contemplative indolence, de- 
 tachment from the world, and a superstitious confidence 
 in symbols, particularly a cross, had always distinguished 
 the Egyptian priests, and in time they were the badges 
 of Christian pupils ! 
 
638 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 TEETULLIAN. 
 
 CARTHAGE, in Northern Africa, once the seat of the Car- 
 thaginian greatness, now for four centuries reduced to a 
 Roman province, gave birth to the first of the Latin 
 writers of the Church, Q. S. F. Tertullianus. He was 
 born about A. D. 160. His father was a Roman centur- 
 ion, who brought him up in heathenism, and while yet 
 a heathen he devoted his masculine faculties to the study 
 of rhetoric and law. Jerome implies, if he does not af- 
 firm, that he went to Rome to perfect himself in these 
 studies, and had become already famous as a juris- 
 consult, before his conversion to Christianity. But if 
 this were so, he must have afterwards returned to Car- 
 thage, as all his writings indicate that African city as 
 his residence. He therefore properly represents the 
 Christianity of that region, and through him for the first 
 time we gain any knowledge concerning its condition 
 and progress there. 
 
 The time and means of his conversion are not dis- 
 tinctly recorded, but it is certain that his heart was pro- 
 foundly affected and pervaded by the power of divine 
 grace. Christianity became, as Neander observes, " the 
 inspiring soul of his life and thought." Out of Christianity 
 an entirely new and rich inner world developed itself to 
 his mind; but the holy leaven had first to penetrate 
 through and completely refine that fiery, bold, and 
 withal rugged nature. We find new wine in an old 
 bottle ; and the tang which it contracted there accounts 
 for some of the inconsistencies in his life and writings. 
 
TERTULLIAN. 639 
 
 The civilization of his times proceeded from the differ- 
 ence between the two great individualities of national 
 character the Greek and the Roman. In the Greek 
 predominated the activity of the intellect the scientific, 
 speculative element. The Roman character was less 
 mobile, as, in its spirit, the practical church interest was 
 so absorbing as to leave no room for the scientific ; the 
 west was in want of an organ whereby the spirit that 
 prevailed there could scientifically express itself. Such 
 an organ was supplied by the church of North Africa in 
 Tertullian a man who united in himself the elements 
 of the Roman and the Carthaginian character. Wanting 
 the chaste sobriety of mind for which Irenseus was dis- 
 tinguished, though a foe to speculation, he could not 
 resist the impulses of a profoundly speculative intellect; 
 and to the devout practically Christian element, he 
 united a speculative one destitute however of the 
 regular form which continued for a long time to operate 
 through intermediate agencies in the western church, 
 until it finally impregnated the mind of that great 
 teacher of centuries, Augustine, in whom Tertullian once 
 more appears under a transfigured form. 
 
 Either at Rome or at Carthage he had been ordained 
 one of the elders of the Church ; all that we know is that 
 for many years he exercised that office at Carthage, and 
 a large part of his works were written while connected 
 with the regular church in that city. 
 
 But a great impression was made upon his peculiar 
 temperament by the appearance of Montanism, with its 
 claims to a more spiritual and elevated piety, and for a 
 time at least he so far embraced them as to withdraw 
 
640 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 himself from the church, and even wrote in defence of 
 Montanism. 
 
 As this forms an essential part of his history so it was 
 by him that the principles which lie at the basis of Mon- 
 tanism were systematically determined, and thereby 
 made to have an influence on the theology of the west. 
 
 Among the many ideas of this sect was this one : that 
 there were certain seasons or epochs of the outpouring 
 of the Holy Ghost, through which the progressive 
 development of the church was to be promoted ; a new 
 momentum superadded to its ordinary course of develop- 
 ment, and designed to complete what was lacking in it. 
 In receiving this principle, and looking round for argu- 
 ments to support it, Tertullian endeavored to show the 
 necessity of some such progressive development of the 
 church, by pointing to a law running through all the 
 works of God, in the kingdoms of nature and of 
 grace. 
 
 " In the works of grace," said he, " as in the works 
 of nature, which proceed from the same Creator, every 
 thing unfolds itself by certain successive steps. From 
 the seed kernel shoots forth, first, the plant; then 
 comes the blossom and finally, this becomes the fruit, 
 which itself arrives at maturity only by degrees. So, 
 the kingdom of righteousness unfolds itself by certain 
 stages. In the first place, there was the fear of God 
 awakened by the voice of nature, without a revealed 
 law (the patriarchal religion) ; next followed the stage 
 of childhood under the law and the prophets ; then that 
 of youth under the gospel ; and then the unfolding of 
 the spiritual life to the ripeness of manhood, through 
 the new outpouring of the Holy Spirit connected with 
 
TERTULLIAN. 641 
 
 the appearance of Montanus, through the new instruc- 
 tions of the promised Paraclete." 
 
 This great man is said, by some, to have returned to 
 the church he had forsaken ; others say that he left the 
 Montanists, and founded a separate community called 
 Tertullianists, an$ a sect of that name existed two cen- 
 turies later in the time of Augustine. As he retained 
 firmly his attachment to orthodox doctrine in the main, 
 he may have sought to combine, in a new organization, 
 the best elements of both, without their attendant evils. 
 He lived to a great age, but the year of his death is not 
 known. 
 
 The writings of Tertullian are too numerous to be 
 enumerated here. They run through the widest range 
 of topics relating to Christian doctrine and life; and 
 with all the defects justly imputed to them by Milner 
 and others, contain, as Dr. A. Clarke observes, more 
 information, in more energetic language, than most, or 
 perhaps any of the fathers. His words are diamonds, 
 and diamonds of the first water, with no more polish 
 than is sufficient to show their excellent quality, and 
 how capable they were of receiving additional splendor. 
 
 One specimen, taken from his Apology for the Chris- 
 tians, shall suffice to illustrate their numbers, spirit, 
 and manners in his time, and also the style of the 
 author. 
 
 " We are but of yesterday, and yet we have filled all 
 your towns, cities, islands, castles, boroughs, councils, 
 camps, courts, palaces, senates, forum ; ive leave you only 
 your temples. 
 
 " If we were disposed to return evil for evil, it were 
 
 y for us to revenge the injuries which we sustain. 
 
 41 
 
C42 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 But, God forbid that his people should vindicate them, 
 selves by human fire, or be reluctant to endure that by 
 which their sincerity is proved. 
 
 " We are a body united in one bond of religion, dis- 
 cipline, and hope. We meet in our assemblies for 
 prayer. We are compelled to have recourse to the 
 Divine Oracles, for caution, and recollection, on all occa- 
 sions. We nourish our faith by the Word of God, we 
 erect our hope, we fix our confidence, we strengthen our 
 discipline, by repeatedly inculcating precepts, exhorta- 
 tions, corrections, and by excommunication when it is 
 needful. This last, as being in the sight of God, is of 
 great weight ; and is a serious warning of the future 
 judgment. Those who preside, among us, are elderly 
 persons, not distinguished by opulence, but worthiness 
 of character. Everyone pays something into the pub- 
 lic chest once a month, or when he pleases, and accord- 
 ing to his ability and inclination, for there is no com- 
 pulsion. These gifts are, as it were, the deposits of 
 piety. Hence, we relieve and bury the needy, support 
 orphans and decrepid persons, those who have suffered 
 shipwreck, are condemned to the mines, or imprisoned. 
 This very charity of ours has caused us to be noticed 
 by some. ' See,' say they, ' how they love one another.' 
 
 " We are dead to all ideas of worldly honor and dig- 
 nity ; nothing is more foreign to us than political con- 
 cerns ; the whole world is our republic. We pray for 
 the safety of the emperors, to the eternal God the 
 true, the living God whom emperors themselves 
 would desire to be propitious to them, above all other 
 
 that are called gods Let the claws of wild beasts 
 
 pierce us, or their feet trample on us, while our hands 
 
HIPPOLYTUS. 643 
 
 are stretched out to God; let crosses suspend us, let 
 fires consume us, let swords pierce our breasts, a pray- 
 ing Christian is in a frame for enduring any thing." 
 
 HIPPOLYTUS. 
 
 THIS distinguished writer and martyr was bishop of 
 Portus, the port of Rome, which from the time of Tra- 
 jan, had taken the place of ancient Ostia. From his 
 position there, he held a seat in the Roman presbytery, 
 or council of the bishop of Rome. He was a theologi- 
 cal pupil of Irenseus, of Lyons, and had much of the spirit 
 of his teacher, with a much wider range of learning and 
 literary activity. 
 
 From the time of Clement of Rome, for a whole cen- 
 tury, that great metropolis of the world had produced 
 but one solitary Christian author, if we except Justin 
 Martyr, who was simply a resident there. That solitary 
 exception was Hermas (brother of Pius, Bishop of 
 Rome, before Anicetus, A. D. 150), and he was a layman, 
 and wrote but a single small book of ethical allegory, 
 called " The Shepherd," which had more influence in the 
 eastern churches than at home. But in the beginning 
 of the third century, Hippolytus arose with a power and 
 splendor far exceeding Caius, the Roman presbyter, and 
 rivalling his other two great contemporaries, Tertullian, 
 and Clement of Alexandria. 
 
 The Roman Christians dealt little in speculation. 
 Their bent was practical. They turned their attention 
 mainly to the existing state and government of the Chris- 
 
644 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 tian commonwealth, of which the metropolis was the 
 natural centre. To give advice to the brethren in the 
 provinces, when they were in difficulties, to supply them 
 with pecuniary aid, and help them by their influence at 
 the palace, was their peculiar office, and it constituted 
 their peculiar privilege and power. Sometimes, as in the 
 case of Victor, they exceeded their rightful power, and 
 were then compelled to retract, by the reaction of the 
 independent churches of Christendom. Fifty years later, 
 Cyprian of Carthage yielded a qualified supremacy to 
 Rome, which was never allowed before, and which he 
 afterwards constantly denied. 
 
 The recent discovery (1851) of the lost work of 
 Hippolytus " Against all the Heresies " puts us in 
 possession of a vast treasure of new information, doub- 
 ling our knowledge of earlier Christian antiquity. This 
 greatest of all his works, among other things, lets in a 
 light altogether new upon the internal history of the 
 church of Rome, from A. D. 190 to A. D. 230. The 
 genius of Dorner and Neander had divined, that during 
 this period there must have been a theological struggle, if 
 not a change of system, but the facts respecting it were 
 unknown till now. These facts show, moreover, a fur- 
 ther struggle, and change in regard to the constitution 
 and discipline of the church itself, of most pernicious 
 and portentous import namely, the abandonment of 
 the fundamental principle of church purity, viz. : a con- 
 verted (*'. <?., spiritually regenerated) membership. This 
 change, introduced by Calistus (A. D. 220), and after 
 much resistance, confirmed by the election of Cornelius 
 (A. D. 251), accounts for the most difficult phenomena in 
 the subsequent history of the church of Rome, down to 
 
HIPPOLYTUS. 645 
 
 this day. From Hippolytus, we learn that this lax sys~ 
 tern was artfully based upon a false interpretation of the 
 parable of the tares, by a bishop, who, if we may credit 
 Hippolytus, in his detailed account of his career, was 
 only an artful hypocrite from the beginning, pre-emi- 
 nently a tare among the wheat. The whole great reac- 
 tionary movement, culminating in Novatianism, is here 
 for the first time truly explained. 
 
 The assumption of spiritual power, which belongs 
 only to God and the conscience, and the exercise of 
 social and civil power by a hierarchy, which absorbs the 
 rights of the congregation, as Bunsen remarks, were the 
 two fundamental errors which led to the whole tragical 
 complication, both as regards doctrine and discipline. 
 
 The earliest writings of Hippolytus himself, begin- 
 ning with his " Cause of the Universe," evidently belong 
 to the reign of Severus (A. D. 191-211) ; but his " Refu- 
 tation of all the Heresies," is among the latest, as it is 
 the depository, not only of the historical learning, and 
 theological and philosophical acuteness of the author, 
 but of the leading events of his life, in connection with 
 a great and difficult crisis of the church of Rome. 
 
 To understand the epithets of "most sweet,' 1 and 
 "most benevolent," and as Jerome calls him, "most 
 eloquent ; " to understand the unbounded admiration in 
 which he was held in after ages, in the church of Rome , 
 which canonized him as one of her noblest saints ana 
 martyrs, we must leave out of sight his controversy 
 with Calistus, and look at him as the serene thinker, 
 with his wide heart for the universality of God's love 
 to mankind in Christ; his glowing love of liberty, and 
 of the free agency of man as being the specific organ of 
 
646 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 the Divine Spirit, and the only one congenial to the 
 very nature of God. These are generally his distin- 
 guishing features. 
 
 His conviction that God works alone by the agency 
 of the free spirit, and that, therefore, all exercise of 
 authority is subordinate, in his eyes, to the fulfilment 
 of the duties connected with it, made Hippolytus speak 
 with a noble frankness of the regal, as well as episcopal 
 authority. Though himself a bishop, he says : " An 
 ungodly king is no longer a king, but a tyrant, nor is 
 a bishop oppressed by ignorance, or by evil inclinations, 
 any longer a bishop, but he is one falsely so called, 
 chosen by men and not by God. It follows, therefore, 
 that they will not escape his judgment. Neither let 
 a bishop set himself up above the deacons and the presby- 
 ters, nor, indeed, the presbyter above the people ; for the 
 existence of the whole community rests on reciprocity." 
 
 His life-long struggle for truth and right against false- 
 hood and violence, was crowned by martyrdom, under 
 the tyrant Maximin (A. D. 236-238). At first he was 
 banished to Sardinia, together with Pontianas, then 
 bishop of Rome ; but on his return, he was accused 
 before the prefect of that city, and condemned to be 
 bound on wild horses, and so torn to pieces. This fail- 
 ing to kill him, he was despatched by a soldier's sword. 
 
 OEIGEK. 
 
 ORIGEN, surnamed Adamantius, from his strength of 
 constitution and iron labors, was born in Alexandria, 
 
OR1GEN. 647 
 
 A. D. 185. His father, Leonidas, was a Christian and a 
 man of letters, who, early discerning the rare talents of his 
 boy, gave him the best means of instruction, secular and 
 religious, superintending the latter himself. Every day, 
 Origen committed, and recited to his father, some por- 
 tion of the Scriptures, and gave evidence of early arid 
 earnest piety. The delighted father, it is said, would 
 often kiss his bosom as he lay asleep, rejoicing over him 
 as a living temple of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 In the persecution of Severus, A. D. 202, Leonidas 
 was thrown into prison, where his son exposed his life 
 to visit him. But his anxious mother, to preserve her 
 child, hid his clothes, and thus forcibly kept him at 
 home. Origen then wrote to his father, entreating him, 
 not even for their sakes, to faint in the hour of trial. 
 The father was put to death, and his estate confiscated, 
 and the widow was left with six helpless children, be- 
 sides Origen, then but seventeen. A rich and pious 
 woman received him into her house, and he still prose- 
 cuted his studies, and his private methods of doing 
 good. 
 
 Origen had studied, under the famous Clement, in the 
 Christian catechetical school, but the school had been 
 broken up by the severity of the persecution. En- 
 couraged by Demetrius, the bishop, and others who 
 knew his purity of life, great attainments, and glowing 
 zeal, he revived the school, and was appointed catechist 
 in the place of Clement, A. D. 204. He now freed him- 
 self from dependence by selling his classical library to a 
 man who agreed to pay him four oboles (about ten cents) 
 a day, on which the young teacher managed to live, 
 sleeping on the floor going without shoes, and wearing 
 
648 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 but one coat. He even went so far, to avoid tempta- 
 tion, or cut off occasion of offence, as to emasculate 
 himself. This he tried to keep a secret, but it could 
 not he concealed, and was afterwards used against him 
 by his enemies, including Demetrius, who seems on this 
 account to have refused him ordination. Still, pupils 
 from all quarters, both Christians and Pagans, sought 
 his instructions, and many of the latter were by him 
 converted to Christ ; several of whom became martyrs. 
 His own life was in constant danger. He was sought 
 for by the furious heathen, and only escaped by con- 
 tinually changing his residence from house to house, 
 and of course his school also. 
 
 He was once seized, and, dressed in the robes of a 
 priest of Serapis, was placed at the steps of the temple, 
 with a branch of palm to distribute, in the usual way, 
 to the worshippers of the idol. He did as he was bid- 
 den, but said to each of the people, " Receive this palm, 
 not of the idol, but of Christ." 
 
 The inquisitive ardor of his mind led him to trace 
 the vestiges of truth in all human systems, after the 
 manner of his master Clement, who was an eclectic in 
 philosophy. We may not doubt that he sought to sepa- 
 rate the true from the false. But if he succeeded in 
 holding fast what was good, it is certain that he did not 
 reject much that was false and evil. From his book on 
 First Principles, it appears that, as matters of faith, he 
 held almost the entire system of Biblical theology, com- 
 mon to Christians, reduced to systematic form ; but he 
 retains, in that same book, as open questions, and avows 
 as his own opinions, much that is totally inconsist- 
 ent with these Biblical truths, and, as Bunsen himself 
 
ORIGEN. 640 
 
 admits, far beyond the boundaries of human reason. 
 The atmosphere of philosophical speculation which he 
 breathed in Alexandria ; a secret pride of intellect, too 
 subtle to be detected by himself; and a still more subtle 
 spirit of self-righteousness, growing out of his self- 
 denying habits of life ; combined to lead him away from 
 the simplicity of the gospel, even while honestly set for 
 its defence. He seems not to have known or respected 
 the fixed limits of the human mind in reference to God 
 and the universe. He would sound the Infinite. 
 
 Plence, though a firm believer in the divine inspira- 
 tion of the Scriptures, Origen applied to their interpre- 
 tation an allegorical method borrowed from Plato and 
 the heathen philosophers, by which they could be made 
 to teach any thing he pleased. Besides the plain gram- 
 matical and historical sense, he assigned to them a 
 psychical, or moral sense ; and beyond this, a spiritual, 
 or rather allegoricr.l sense, which depends altogether 
 upon the ingenuity of the interpreter. Thus, in Exod. 
 i. 15-22, for example, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, repre- 
 sents the Devil ; and the male and female children of 
 the Hebrews are the rational and animal faculties of 
 the soul the former of which the Devil seeks to de- 
 stroy, in order that man may become wholly sensual 
 and devilish. The Midwives, are the Old and New 
 Testaments; Pharaoh's Daughter, is the Church, after 
 she has left the house of her iniquitous father, and been 
 bathed in the waters of baptism. And so the allegory 
 runs on to the end of the history. 
 
 Every friend of rational piety must lament that a 
 man of so much learning and unaffected godliness, 
 should not only adopt, but recommend a principle of 
 
C50 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Biblical interpretation so purely arbitrary, absurd, and 
 dangerous ; before which every thing certain in the 
 Oracles of God instantly vanishes. 
 
 Origen is no sacramentalist. With him, baptism and 
 communion are symbols of holy things, inwrought in the 
 soul, through faith, and have no saving effect of them- 
 selves. He says, expressly " If any one is previously 
 dead to sin, he of course is buried with Christ. But if any 
 one does not before die to sin, he cannot be buried with 
 Christ ; for no one, while alive, is buried. But if he 
 is not buried with Christ, neither is he legitimately 
 baptized." 
 
 About 212, Origen visited Rome, where he heard 
 Hippolytus, and adopted from him the method of de- 
 livering short discourses, called Homilies generally 
 expounding some passage of Scripture. In Greece, Pal- 
 estine, and Cappadocia, afterwards, he formed the ac- 
 quaintance ' of other eminent men, both orthodox and 
 heretics. This liberal and courageous course made him 
 more popular, if not more useful, on his return to Alex- 
 andria. Many heretics there were converted, and 
 among them Ambrosius, a rich layman, who became 
 his warmest friend and helper. He learned the Hebrew 
 language, to qualify himself for his two great works, 
 the "Hexapla" and " Tetrapla." His work on First 
 Principles was published at this time, prematurely, as 
 he thought thirty years later. He also began to write 
 and publish his commentaries on Scripture, a specimen 
 of which we have given. 
 
 In 236, Origen went to Palestine, with letters from 
 Demetrius, and while there was ordained a presbyter in 
 Cesarea, by Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem ; a step 
 
ORIGEN. 651 
 
 which, whether right or wrong, made Demetrius his 
 enemy. An Egyptian synod was convened, and they 
 pronounced Origen a heretic, particularly on account of 
 his opinion in favor of the final salvation of all men, 
 and even of Satan himself. He was deposed from his 
 office as catechist of Alexandria, and never resumed it 
 again, though it was given to his friend Heraclas. He 
 was condemned also at Rome ; but found friends among 
 the bishops of Greece, Phoenicia, Palestine, and Arabia. 
 To one of these friends he wrote very mildly on the 
 injustice of his enemies. " We must rather pity than 
 hate them, rather pray for them than curse them ; for 
 we are created to bless, not to curse." 
 
 In 238, the persecution of Maximin threw many of 
 his friends into prison, the presage of a death of torture. 
 It was then that Origen wrote his powerful address on 
 Martyrdom. For two years he was concealed in Ca^- 
 padocia ; whence he was called to Athens, in Greece. 
 
 When Philip, the Arab, ascended the throne in 244, 
 Origen carried on a correspondence with the royal 
 family. In his reign, Origen, now about sixty, wrote 
 his book against Celsus, a most happy apology for Chris- 
 tianity against one of its acutest and bitterest enemies. 
 He also visited Arabia, and succeeded, in a great coun- 
 cil there, in reclaiming those who advocated the sleep 
 of the soul between death and the resurrection. Here 
 he learned that one of his pupils, Dionysius (who had 
 succeeded Heraclas in the catechetical school), was 
 chosen bishop of Alexandria. 
 
 In the Decian persecution, 250, Origen was thrown 
 into prison, and subjected to a series of tortures, to com- 
 pel him to renounce his Christian faith. Old as he was, 
 
652 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 he bore them with patient fortitude, and was released. 
 But in 254 he died, in the hope of the Gospel, being in 
 his seventieth year; closing in peace a life of arduous 
 labors almost without a parallel. His fame was clouded 
 by many serious errors, yet he seems to have truly 
 loved the Saviour, and zealously served him through a 
 long life of self-denying toil. The Christian world, for 
 ages, was divided between the admirers and the op- 
 posers of his voluminous writings. 
 
 CYPEIAN. 
 
 THE power of divine grace has seldom been more 
 clearly manifested than in the conversion of Cyprian of 
 Carthage. He was of Pagan descent, but of a wealthy 
 family, and was a professor of oratory in that city. 
 Like other idolaters he lived without God, or holiness, 
 or hope of heaven, until through Cecilius, a presbyter 
 of the church, he was brought to examine and embrace 
 the Gospel. The change of heart which he then expe- 
 rienced is thus beautifully described by himself in & 
 letter to his friend Donatus. 
 
 " Hear, then, what is felt before it is learnt, and is 
 not collected by a long course of speculation, but is 
 imbibed by the soul, through the compendium of grace 
 ripening her as at once. While I lay in darkness and 
 the night of paganism, and fluctuated uncertain and 
 dubious in the sea of a tempestuous age, ignorant of my 
 own life, alienated from light and truth, it appeared to 
 me a harsh and difficult thing, as my manners then 
 
CYPRIAN. 653 
 
 were, to obtain what divine grace had .promised, that a 
 man should be born again ; and that being animated 
 by regenerating love to a new life, he should strip him- 
 self of what he was before, and though the body 
 remained the same, he should in his mind become 
 altogether a new creature. How can so great a change 
 be possible, said I, that a man should at once and sud- 
 denly put off what nature and habit have confirmed in 
 him? 
 
 " But after the new birth had made me a new crea- 
 ture indeed, immediately and in an amazing manner, 
 dubious things began to be cleared up, things once shut 
 to be opened, dark things to shine forth ; what before 
 seemed difficult, now appeared feasible, and that was 
 now evidently practicable, which had been deemed 
 impossible. 
 
 " Of God it is, of God, I say, even all that we can 
 do ; thence we live, thence we have strength, and thence 
 conceive and assume all vigor. What a power, what 
 an energy is this ? " 
 
 It is refreshing to find such a testimony in this age 
 to experimental religion. It proves that the doctrines of 
 grace, regeneration, and justification were yet cherished 
 in the churches, and that their power was felt. Hence, 
 without any great learning or philosophy, Cyprian rises 
 as a Phoenix in the church, simple, practical, earnest, 
 liberal, devoted with all his heart and soul to the service 
 of Christ. Like Barnabas he sold his estates to relieve 
 the poor. 
 
 The year after his conversion, 247, Cyprian was 
 ordained a presbyter, and the next year was chosen 
 bishop, that is the chief presbyter of the church. He 
 
654 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 did not seek this office, but yielded to the suffrages of 
 his brethren, although five presbyters voted against 
 him. 
 
 He entered upon his office with integrity, and with 
 sincere desire to discharge its duties in concert with his 
 brethren. But the times were evil. The very next 
 year, 249, the Decian persecution broke out in all its 
 systematic and pitiless fury, driving him into a reluctant 
 retirement for two and a half years, and devouring his 
 flock. From his retreat he wrote letters of warning, 
 sympathy, and encouragement to his suffering brethren, 
 which yet remain as a monument of his wisdom and 
 love. 
 
 To add to his sorrows, there was a division in the 
 church of Carthage, headed by Felicisimus, one of the 
 presbyters, who had voted against him. But on his re- 
 turn, in 251, this was gradually healed. This was the 
 origin of his famous tract, " The Unity of the Church," 
 in which he places that unity in the agreement of the 
 bishops, and recognizes, for the first time in history, the 
 supremacy of Rome as the chair of St. Peter ; on which 
 all the stupendous claims of that arrogant church were 
 afterwards built. One is ready to exclaim, " Behold how 
 great a matter a little fire kindleth ! " His letter to Fidus 
 laid the foundation also for a literal infant baptism, and 
 infant communion. 
 
 Under the reign of Gallus, for a short time, the perse- 
 cution was renewed, but his death in 253 gave the 
 Christians a respite of several years. These repeated 
 persecutions led Cyprian to infer, that the end of the 
 world was at hand. 
 
 In 258 Valerian renewed the persecutions, and 
 
CYPRIAN. 655 
 
 though Cyprian, as before, escaped for a time, he was 
 at length seized, and brought before the proconsul 
 Paternus. 
 
 "The sacred emperor Valerian and Gallienus have 
 done me the honor to direct letters to me, in which 
 they have decreed, that all men ought to adore the gods 
 whom the Romans adore, and on pain of being slain 
 with the sword. I advise you to consult for yourself and 
 honor them." 
 
 " I am a Christian, and know no God but the one 
 true God, who created heaven and earth. This God we 
 Christians serve. We pray night and day for all men, 
 and even for the emperors." 
 
 " You shall die the death of a malefactor, if you perse- 
 vere in this inclination." 
 
 " That is a good inclination which fears God, and 
 therefore must not be changed." 
 
 " You must, then, by the will of the princes, be 
 banished." 
 
 " He is no exile, who has God in his heart ; for the 
 earth is the Lord's." 
 
 u Tell me. before you go, where are your presbyters ? " 
 
 " Your best princes forbid informers ; I ought not, 
 therefore, to discover them. But you may find them ; 
 you yourselves do not approve of Christians voluntarily 
 offering themselves to you." 
 
 " I will make you discover them by torments." 
 
 " By me they shall not be discovered." 
 
 " Our principles have ordered that Christians hold no 
 conventicles, and whoever breaks this rule shall be put 
 to death." 
 
 Cyprian calmly replied, " Do as you are ordered." 
 
656 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 After some further attempts to work upon his fears, 
 Paternus banished him to Curubes, a town fifty miles 
 from Carthage. 
 
 In 258, Cyprian returned from exile, by permission,, 
 living on an estate near Carthage, which had been 
 restored to him. Here he regulated the affairs of the 
 church, and distributed what he had left. Here, also, 
 he was seized by order of the new proconsul, and 
 brought before his judgment seat. The first interroga- 
 tion was, 
 
 " Are you Thascius Cyprian ? " 
 
 I am." 
 
 " Are you he whom the Christians call their bishop ? " 
 
 I am." 
 
 " Our princes have ordered you to worship the gods." 
 
 " That I shall not do." 
 
 " You will do better to consult your safety, and not 
 despise the gods." 
 
 " My safety and virtue is Christ the Lord, whom I 
 desire to serve forever." 
 
 " I pity your case and would wish to consult for you." 
 
 " I do not wish that things should be otherwise with 
 me, than that, adoring my God, I may hasten to him 
 with all the ardor of my soul : for the afflictions of this 
 persecution are not worthy to be compared with the 
 glory that shall be revealed in us." 
 
 " You have lived sacrilegiously a long time, and have 
 formed into a society of men of an impious conspiracy, 
 and have shown yourselves an enemy to the gods and 
 to the counsels of our princes. You have ever been 
 a father and a ringleader to the impious sect ; you shall 
 therefore be an example for the rest, and they shall 
 
NOVATIAN. 657 
 
 learn their duty by your blood. Let Thascius Cyprian 
 be put to death by the sword." 
 
 " God be praised ! " said the martyr. He was then 
 led by the soldiers to the place of execution, followed 
 by crowds of exulting Pagans and weeping Christians, 
 bound the napkin over his eyes with his own hands, 
 and calmly yielded his neck to the sword, in the atti- 
 tude of prayer. 
 
 NOVATIAN. 
 
 NOVATIAN, of Phrygia, was contemporary with Cyprian 
 of Carthage. He was educated in the Stoic philosophy, 
 and became a Christian minister in Rome. Like Cpyrian, 
 he exerted a vast influence, not only on his age, but on 
 future generations, though in opposite directions. A 
 severe sickness seems to have been the means of his con- 
 version. Not being expected to live, he was baptized on 
 his bed, by circumfusion the first instance of clinic 
 baptism (so called) in history. It was thought so defec- 
 tive, that, on his recovery, and call to the ministry, he 
 was admitted to ordination as a presbyter with dif- 
 ficulty. 
 
 In the Decian persecution, Fabianus was an early 
 martyr, and his successor, Macedonius Trophimus, sac- 
 rificing to idols, was deposed. It is reported in the 
 Marty rium Novattani, that at this time Novatian was 
 the only presbyter who stood his ground as a confessor 
 of Christ. 
 
 At the close of the persecution, 251, Cornelius and 
 Novatian were put in nomination for the bishopric of 
 
 42 
 
058 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Rome. They represented the two parties that had long 
 struggled in that church, on the principles of a lax or 
 strict communion. (See Hippolytus.) Cornelius was 
 elected by a large majority. Novatian and his friends 
 submitted. 
 
 Soon after, a council of sixty bishops met at Rome, 
 to decide on the case of the lapsed in the persecution. 
 The fallen prelate, Trophimus, had many friends, and, 
 to gain them, the council restored him to lay com- 
 munion. This act was regarded by Novatian and his 
 friends as compromising the purity of the church of 
 Rome, and all who endorsed it. A church which tole- 
 rates mortal sin, like idolatry, cannot be the church of 
 Christ. 
 
 Another church was therefore established, and No- 
 vatian was chosen its bishop. He was ordained by 
 several bishops from the country. Five presbyters, and 
 most of the confessors of Rome, at first joined him, 
 though some afterwards left him and returned to Cor- 
 nelius. Fabias, bishop of Antioch, and Marcian, bishop 
 of Aries, with other prelates, also sympathized with his 
 views. Yet the greater part, and Cyprian especially, 
 vehemently opposed him. Rival communities to the 
 Catholic party, however, were soon formed throughout 
 all parts of the empire, under the name of Cathari, the 
 Pure. These churches for many centuries flourished, 
 and there seems to have been much of the vital power 
 and simplicity of the Gospel among them. They fur- 
 nished a pure example, and often a refuge, to the domi- 
 nant party. 
 
 At the Council of Nice, 325, Constantine tried *to 
 obtain their consent to unite with the Catholics in 
 
GREGORY THAUMATURGUS. 659 
 
 church communion, and in the State establishment. 
 But they stood firm against the imperial seducer. So- 
 crates, the historian, gives many beautiful instances of 
 their love to their orthodox brethren of the now ROMAN 
 Catholic Church. This speaks well for their amiable 
 feelings towards those who charged them with rigor in 
 denying the validity of their church constitution, and 
 baptized all who came over to them from the recognized 
 Roman church. 
 
 Novatian churches were tolerated by the Christian 
 emperors until the time of Honorius, when their church 
 buildings were taken away, and they were punished 
 with death. They fled for refuge to the recesses of the 
 Alps and the Pyrenees, and their name (which often 
 re-appears in the middle ages) was at length merged in 
 the general name of Waldenses. 
 
 Novatian, after a faithful pastorate, suffered martyr- 
 dom under Valerian, 258. He is represented as a man 
 of great mildness, deep piety, learning, and eloquence. 
 He has left a few of his works, which reached our 
 times, especially his excellent treatise on the Trinity. 
 He was much defamed by his enemies ; but we must 
 remember our Lord's text, " By their fruits shall ye 
 know them." 
 
 GEEGOET THAUMATUEGUS. 
 
 THE latter half of the third century is not as fruitful 
 in distinguished men, as the century before, and this 
 decline may be accounted for by causes already indi- 
 cated. But amid the arid spiritual dearth, and great 
 
660 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 permanent division of orthodox Christendom, with rival 
 bishops in Rome and all the principal cities, God had 
 many laborers and successful servants. 
 
 Among them may be reckoned Gregory, surnamed 
 Thaurnaturgus, or the wonder-worker. The name was 
 given him in the next century, and probably the good 
 man would have been the first to disclaim it in his life- 
 time. The facts worthy of remembrance in his history, 
 are these : 
 
 Gregory was a native of Neocesarea, the metropolis of 
 Cappadocia. His father, being a Pagan, educated him 
 in idolatry and pagan literature. When fourteen, his 
 father died, but his mother sent him to Alexandria to 
 complete his education. There he studied the Platonic 
 philosophy, and was noted for his good habits and dili- 
 gent study. 
 
 About 236, while Origen was teaching at Cesarea, in 
 Palestine, Gregory became his pupil, together with his 
 brother Athenodorus, and his friend Firmilian. Under 
 him they studied five years, and he led them to an 
 acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures, which resulted 
 in their conversion. His brother, as well as himself, 
 became a Christian pastor. A letter of Origen is still 
 extant, in which he exhorts Gregory to devote his life 
 to promote the cause of Christ, and urges him to pray 
 fervently for the illumination of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 We know (from 1 Peter i. 1) that there were Chris- 
 tians in Cappadocia in the first century, but the life of 
 Gregory (written a century later by his namesake of 
 Nyssen) informs us that at the time he settled in Neo- 
 cesarea, the populous capital, it was wholly given to 
 idolatry, and that he found but seventeen Christians in 
 
GREGORY THAUMATURGUS. 661 
 
 it. One of these, Musonius, a man of influence, received 
 him into his house, and in a short time crowds attended 
 on his ministry, and were converted by his preaching. 
 This great outpouring of the Holy Spirit wrought 
 wonderful changes, which, in after times, were confound- 
 ed with the gift of miracles. But there is no contempo- 
 rary evidence that he claimed or exercised this gift. 
 The story that he received a creed from the evangelist 
 John, and the virgin Mary, is beyond question the 
 fiction of the Catholics of the fourth century. It is sur- 
 prising that Mr. Milner should give it a moment's credit. 
 
 Through the stormy times of the Decian and Valerian 
 persecution, he was preserved, and continued his suc- 
 cessful labors until the first year of the emperor Aure- 
 lian, 271. 
 
 He was present at the first council of Antioch, where 
 Paul of Samosata was condemned for denying the proper 
 divinity of Christ. 
 
 A little before his death, he caused strict inquiry to 
 be made as to the number of idolaters remaining in the 
 city of Neocesarea, or rather of the number unacquainted 
 with Christianity, and it was found to be seventeen. 
 When informed of this, he sighed, and appealed to God, 
 how much it troubled him that any of his fellow citizens 
 should yet be ignorant of the way of salvation ; yet 
 expressed his thankfulness that whereas at first he 
 had found but seventeen Christians, he had left only 
 seventeen idolaters. After offering a prayer for the 
 conversion of the unbelievers and the edification of the 
 faithful, he peaceably gave up his soul to God. 
 
 His life is a lesson for Christian pastors, who " watch 
 for souls, as they that must give account." 
 
662 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 PAMPHILUS. 
 
 THIS remarkable man, the intimate friend of the histo- 
 rian Eusebius, was a presbyter of the church of Cesarea, 
 in Palestine, where Eusebius was afterwards so long 
 bishop. Pamphilus was one of the most learned and 
 pious men of his time, and spent his life in aid of most 
 disinterested benevolence. He always kept several 
 copies of the Holy Scriptures by him (some of them 
 transcribed with the greatest accuracy by his own hand), 
 which he lent out to persons who had a desire to read 
 them, whether to men or women ; and others he gave 
 away. 
 
 He erected a library in Cesarea, which is said to have 
 contained 30,000 volumes a prodigious number in that 
 age of manuscript books. It seems to have fceen col- 
 lected chiefly for the good of the church, and to lend out 
 to all religiously disposed people. Jerome particularly 
 says this was the design, and as Adam Clarke observes, 
 it is the earliest instance known of a CIRCULATING 
 
 LIBRARY. 
 
 In the great persecution under Diocletian, the fury of 
 the Pagans fell on this holy and useful man. He was 
 brought before Urbanus, the governor, who, after pro- 
 posing many curious questions to try his repute for vast 
 learning, commanded him to sacrifice to the gods. Pam- 
 philus refusing, Urbanus ordered him to be cruelly tor- 
 tured. He was then cast into prison, where he languished 
 for two years, and was then put to death. Eusebius 
 
EUSEBIUS. G63 
 
 wrote an Apology for him in six books, and added his 
 friend's name to his own. 
 
 Dr. Lardner well observes : " Where can such a man 
 as this be found in the heathen world ? How rare were 
 such examples under the Mosaic institution, of men who 
 employed their whole time in improving their own minds 
 and serving others, without noise and ostentation, and 
 without worldly views, and at last quietly resigned their 
 lives, rather than disown their principles." 
 
 EUSEBIUS. 
 
 IT is somewhat surprising that so little is recorded of 
 the life of a man to whom the whole Christian world owes 
 so much, as to Eusebius Pamphilus, bishop of Cesarea. 
 Origen excepted, he was the most learned and laborious 
 of all the writers of antiquity, and in the lasting value, 
 number, and quantity of his writings, surpassed Origen 
 himself, whose Hexapla he accurately reproduced. Yet 
 of his parents, education, and the circumstances of his 
 conversion, nothing is known. The centre of an illumina- 
 tion which filled the entire hemisphere of the ancient 
 world, his own early life is left in obscurity and oblivion. 
 
 Born, probably, in Palestine, at Cesarea itself, before 
 270, the first we know of him is, that he was associated 
 there with his friend Pamphilus, in the joint produc- 
 tion of works of great learning, designed for the exten- 
 sion and confirmation of the Christian faith. The great 
 library collected there supplied the sources. How he 
 escaped when his friend fell a victim, 204-6, is un- 
 
C64 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 known. Through all that fierce Diocletian persecution, 
 lie must have been prosecuting his great works in secret. 
 After Constantine came to the throne, Eusebius emer- 
 ges into light, and is at once acknowledged as the most 
 learned man of his times. He was chosen bishop of 
 Cesarea in 314. He took a prominent part in the Coun- 
 cil of Nice, 324, drawing up the code with the preamble, 
 in its original form, and signing it in the terms finally 
 adopted. His Ecclesiastical History, Cleoraicon, Evan- 
 gelical Preparation, and Evangelical Demonstration, are 
 all brought down to that period, though he survived 
 Constantine, and wrote the life of this first Christian 
 emperor. Most of his other numerous works are lost, 
 but these remain to attest his arduous labors and univer- 
 sal learning, consecrated, if not always wisely, yet 
 honestly, to Christ, and the highest good of mankind. 
 He died about 340, and was buried in Cesarea. 
 
 DONATUS. 
 
 THE Diocletian, as well as the Decian persecution, was 
 the occasion of a serious division in the Christian church ; 
 though in the latter case it was provincial and not 
 universal like the former. 
 
 Donatus was a Numidian bishop in North Africa, 
 who refused to acknowledge Cecilian, chosen bishop of 
 Carthage in 311, as a lawful bishop, because the bishops 
 who ordained him, particularly Felix of Aptunges, were 
 Traditors, i. e., men who in the late persecution had 
 delivered up the sacred books to be burned This act 
 
DONATUS. 665 
 
 was regarded as equivalent to a denial of Christ, and all 
 who were guilty of it were deemed unworthy of Chris- 
 tian communion, and their administrations invalid. 
 But as the majority of the Catholics sustained Cecilian 
 and his friends, Donatus withdrew from the communion 
 of the Catholic church, and was followed by about half 
 the bishops and churches of North Africa. They rebap- 
 tized all who joined them from what they thought a 
 communion fatally polluted, and the Catholics retorted 
 upon them in the same way. Like the Novatians, they 
 also excommunicated apostates, and declared that purity 
 of life was essential to a true church. 
 
 When Constantine first published the edict of Milan, 
 in 313, giving equal religious liberty to all, he ordered 
 that the church property taken from the Christians in 
 the late persecution should be restored alike to all. But 
 in the next year, 314, he was induced to limit this resto- 
 ration to the Catholic churches and virtually deny it to 
 the Donatists. This injustice led to a complication of 
 evils, and widened the breach between the two parties. It 
 became a common saying among the Donatists : " What 
 has the emperor to do with the church." " And what 
 have bishops to do at court." 
 
 In 330, they numbered 172 bishops of their persuasion 
 in North Africa alone, and a large portion of the people 
 were either members of their churches, or connected with 
 their congregations. 
 
 In 348, the emperor Constans attempted to subdue 
 them by military force, which resulted in a popular 
 insurrection and the formation of bands of lawless men 
 called Circumcellians, who attacked the imperial army, 
 and for thirteen years ravaged the regions of Numidia 
 
666 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 and Mauritania. These fanatics were not approved by 
 the Donatist bishops or their churches, yet these last 
 had to bear the odium of horrors which they detested 
 and disavowed. 
 
 So great was the misery that martyrdom was eagerly 
 sought, and many gave themselves up to the Catholic 
 magistrates to be executed. Some, driven to madness, 
 threw themselves down from rocks and precipices, and 
 thus destroyed themselves. 
 
 At length persecution relaxed, and peace and prosper- 
 ity returned. In 404, the number of their bishops was 
 about 400, of whom 270 were present at a conference 
 with the Catholics, whose bishops were present in about 
 equal n ambers. 
 
 Honorious, at that time, enacted penal laws against 
 them, punishing rebaptism with death. For a time this 
 had some effect. But in 430, under the Vandals, they 
 regained their liberty, and their churches flourished until 
 the conquests of the Saracens in the seventh century. 
 
 COK"STANTHSTE THE GREAT. 
 
 IT is necessary to know something of the character 
 of this first Christian emperor, and of the changes in- 
 troduced by him into the Christian church, in order to 
 comprehend the position in history of all the illustrious 
 men who came after him, whether connected with the 
 Roman Catholic Church or the dissenters from its com- 
 munion. 
 
 Constantine was the son of the Emperor Constantius 
 
CONSTANTINE THE GREAT. 667 
 
 Chlorus and his wife Helena. He was born in Britain, 
 in A. D. 274, but was educated in the court of Diocletian, 
 in Nicornedia, and held by that emperor as a hostage for 
 the fidelity of his father. On the accession of Galerius 
 to supreme power, finding himself closely watched by 
 .that bloody persecutor, he escaped to the court of his 
 father. The father soon after died, when the army 
 unanimously chose Constantine his successor, as empe- 
 ror of the West, including Gaul, Spain, and Britain, 
 306. 
 
 In 312, having conquered the Franks, he marched 
 against Maxentius, the tyrant of Italy. On this march 
 he is reported to have seen, one day, in the sky, the 
 appearance of a flaming cross, with the words, " In this 
 sign thou shalt conquer ! " And he dreamed, the follow- 
 ing night, that Christ appeared to him, and commanded 
 him to make the cross the ensign of his army which 
 he did. Maxentius was conquered (Oct. 27, 312). Con- 
 stantine entered Rome in triumph, liberated those un- 
 justly imprisoned, and was declared by the senate, 
 chief Augustus, and Pont if ex Maximus. 
 
 In 313, in conjunction with Licenius, he issued at 
 Milan the memorable edict of toleration in favor of the 
 Christians. This was, in fact, a decree of universal re- 
 ligious liberty, allowing to every one the right of con- 
 science ; restoring to the long persecuted Christians all 
 the property which had been taken from them, and 
 making them, equally with others, eligible to public 
 offices. 
 
 This impartial edict marks the period of the triumph 
 of the cross, and of the downfall of paganism. Had 
 Constantine and his successors never departed from its 
 
668 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 spirit and principles, Christianity would have been 
 spared immense dishonor, mankind innumerable calami- 
 ties, and the persecution of Christians by Christians 
 would have been a thing unknown. But evil counsels 
 prevailed ; and within a year the emperor began a sys- 
 tem of usurpation over the churches, by appointing im- 
 perial commissioners to settle questions of orthodoxy ; 
 and in 316 persecution was renewed under the Chris- 
 tian name. Constantine, though not yet baptized, 
 called himself the "external bishop of the church" 
 (without any protest from the Catholic bishops, not 
 even the bishop of Rome), and changed its whole con- 
 stitution to conform it to the new constitution of the 
 State. Each of the four prefectures had its patriarch, 
 each of the thirteen dioceses an archbishop, and each 
 of the one hundred and seventeen provinces a metro- 
 politan bishop, governing all the rest ; and all were 
 entrusted with civil as well as with ecclesiastical power. 
 Splendid churches were built, and richly endowed ; and, 
 in the full sunshine of imperial favor, the Pagans, has- 
 tened to profess the Christian name. The worship of 
 saints and of the virgin Mary, and of the relics of real 
 or supposititious martyrs with pious frauds and monk- 
 ish miracles soon became universal. 
 
 This baleful union of the Catholic Church with the 
 State, is the true origin of the Roman Catholic Church ; 
 but its apostolic and holy character, as the church of 
 Christ, perished. The glory was departed. Great and 
 good men were still found in the bosom of the establish- 
 ment, like Joseph in Egypt, and Daniel in Babylon ; 
 but these were often persecuted, and in most cases 
 
CONSTANTINE THE GREAT. 669 
 
 yielded more or less to the torrent of superstition which 
 rolled in on every side. 
 
 Constantine was sincere in his wish to establish order 
 and peace throughout his empire. Many of his laws 
 were wise and beneficial. He abolished the Stoics, 
 provided for poor children, heard and redressed com- 
 plaints against his own officers, reduced the taxes, im- 
 proved prisons, quickened the course of justice, and was 
 a friend to the sick, to widows, and orphans. He 
 forbade the separation of husbands and wives, parents 
 and children, in the distribution of claims inherited. 
 He also crushed the licentiousness of divorce. He built 
 a new capital, on the site of Byzantium, calling it after 
 his own name, enriched with the spoils of the whole 
 empire, but from which all the temples and worship of 
 idols were by law excluded. Constantinople was de- 
 signed to be the Christian, or New Rome. Highly 
 favored by nature, there the nations poured their tribute 
 and their trade, and Rome, the ancient mistress of the 
 world, lost her sovereignty ; though she afterwards re- 
 gained it in a new form of priestly and papal dominion. 
 
 On his accession to power, Constantine found the 
 Christian churches still independent, but not in a single 
 communion, as when Tertullian was able to say, a 
 century before, " We are a body united in one bond 
 of religion, discipline, and hope." The emperor found, in 
 313, three distinct bodies of Christians, the Catholics, 
 the Cathari, or Novatians, and the Donatists, all main- 
 taining the same orthodox faith. (See NOVATIAN and 
 DONATUS.) Had he given them impartial rights and 
 protection under the laws as good citizens, truth and 
 time, with the influence of the Holy Spirit, would have 
 
670 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 again brought them together. But having assumed the 
 supreme power over the Catholics, he was soon led to 
 persecute Dissenters. And the evil did not stop here. 
 In a few years the established church, under his special 
 patronage, was rent asunder by the Arian controversy. 
 After vain attempts to compose the storm, in 325, just 
 after his conquest of Licenius had made him sole master 
 of the Roman world, he summoned over three hundred 
 bishops from all quarters to the Council of Nice, paid all 
 their expenses, opened to them the great hall of his 
 palace, and presided in person over the proceedings. He 
 himself submitted to its decisions, subscribed its creed, 
 and enforced it against the obstinate Arians by the civil 
 arm. Yet within five years, through the influence of 
 his sister Constantia, and the artful Eusebius of Nicome- 
 dia, he changed his opinion, recalled the Arian bishops, 
 and Arius . himself, and required the Catholics under 
 penalty to receive them to fellowship. For fifty years 
 the controversy raged, until Theodosius the Great 
 settled it, by the weight of his imperial power, in favor 
 of the Catholic party ; for party it was, although doubt- 
 less the most orthodox, and the most numerous party in 
 the church establishment. 
 
 Constantine was brave, yet mild and generous, in- 
 dulgent to his subjects, the favorite of his people, and 
 the terror of his enemies. He would gladly have com- 
 prehended both the Novatians and the Donatists in the 
 established church ; but finding it opposed to their con- 
 scientious convictions, he abandoned the attempt. They 
 preferred purity and independence to all the splendors 
 of imperial patronage. 
 
 Although strictly conforming to all the ritual of the 
 
ATHANASIUS. G71 
 
 Catholic clergy, Constantine delayed his baptism till 
 near the close of life. Finding his health failing early 
 in 337, he sent for several bishops, to whom he solemnly 
 professed his purpose to live as a disciple of Christ. He 
 was then baptized by Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, 
 and died the 22d of May, 337, aged 64, after dividing 
 his empire between his three sons, Constantine, Con- 
 stans, and Constantius. 
 
 ATHANASIUS. 
 
 THIS great man was born in Alexandria, 296, and 
 there received his education, under the bishop Alex- 
 ander, whom he succeeded in that office, 326, just after 
 the Council of Nice. His life was cast in the tempestu- 
 ous times of the Arian controversy, which originated in 
 the city of his birth, and under his own eye. He be- 
 came the chief companion of the orthodox through the 
 following forty-six years. 
 
 Nothing could more forcibly illustrate the evils of the 
 connection between the church and the state, which began 
 at that period, than the history of Athanasius. With 
 every revolution of the government, with every change 
 of creed, he found himself alternately honored or scorned, 
 deposed or restored, vehemently lauded or violently 
 hated. 
 
 Within ten years after he was made bishop of Alex- 
 andria he was deposed (through the influence of the 
 Arians) by Constantine, and banished to Treves, in Gaul. 
 Two years later the emperor, falling sick, recalled him, 
 in 337 ; but his enemies once more got him deposed, and 
 
672 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Gregory, of Cappadocia, substituted in his place. He 
 was declared innocent by the Council of Rome, 342, and 
 by that of Sardis in 347, and was restored to his office 
 in 349 ; but was once more banished by Constantine, 
 and obliged to hide himself in the desert. About 360, 
 he returned to Alexandria, but was again banished by 
 Julian. He was recalled by the emperor Jovian, and 
 restored to his see; but was again banished by Valens, 
 the Arian emperor, in 367, who afterwards, however, 
 restored him, so that, after so long and stormy a career, 
 Athanasius died peacefully in 373. in the midst of his 
 flock. 
 
 Such a brief sketch may well make every citizen of 
 "the United States rejoice in the removal of that perni- 
 cious union of church and state, which still afflicts the 
 rest of the world. 
 
 Of this Athanasius became thoroughly convinced, as 
 in one of his epistles he shows, by the cogent arguments, 
 the injustice and futility of persecution for religious 
 opinions. Among other tilings, he says : " It is the 
 property of true religion to have no recourse to force, but 
 to persuasion. But the State makes use of compulsion 
 in matters of religion ; and what is the consequence ? 
 Why, the church is filled with hypocrisy and impiety, 
 and the faithful servants of Christ are obliged to hide 
 themselves in caves and holes of the earth, or to wander 
 about in the deserts." 
 
 Athanasius wrote much, and his principal writings 
 remain. His influence was great, generally good, but by 
 no means always salutary, if he wrote the Life of St. 
 Anthony, the monk. It is utterly unworthy of so great 
 A man. By associating holiness with hermit life, saint- 
 
HILARY OF POITIERS. 673 
 
 ship with a sheepskin dress, and miracles with monkish 
 fasts and prayers, it fastened a lasting curse on Christ- 
 endom. 
 
 HILAEY OF POITIEBS. 
 
 THIS greatest theologian of the fourth century cer- 
 tainly in the West, was born at Poitiers, in Gaul, in the 
 province of Aquitaine, about the year 300. His family 
 were Pagan, but respectable. He early applied himself 
 to the study of the heathen philosophers and poets, and 
 of the Holy Scriptures, and thus acquired a vast amount 
 of knowledge. His conversion was thus brought about : 
 While reading the Pentateuch he was much struck with 
 the description of the true God, whom he inwardly felt 
 that he did not know. But when he took up the gospel for 
 further information, he was astonished to learn that this 
 God had become incarnate, and died for the sins of men. 
 The love of Christ, the crucified, took possession of his 
 heart, and became the power of God to his salvation. 
 As long as he lived, he was the faithful, unblamable, effi- 
 cient advocate of this great salvation, and no man of an- 
 tiquity seems to have better understood and defended it. 
 
 The people of Poitiers, soon after his conversion, were 
 so impressed with his eloquence and zeal, that they desired 
 him for their bishop, though he had yet held no inferior 
 office in the church, and was a married man, with a wife 
 and one daughter. He was appointed accordingly, 350. 
 We next hear of him, 355, in the Council of Milan. For 
 opposing the Arians, Saturnius, bishop of Aries, got 
 the emperor Constantius to banish him to Phrygia. 
 
 43 
 
674 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 While there, he wrote his celebrated treatise on the 
 Trinity, in twelve books, a work of unrivalled complete- 
 ness and excellence, and other works, which so annoyed 
 the Arians in the East, that they begged the emperor, 
 in 360, to send him back again. He returned to his 
 church a more able and useful man than before, and for 
 many years stood pre-eminent among the bishops of Gaul, 
 rolling back the current of error that was setting in 
 upon the West. 
 
 He ended his holy and useful life in 367. From his 
 rapid style, Jerome calls him " the Rhone of Latin elo- 
 quence." 
 
 ULPHILAS. 
 
 THE name of Ulphilas is differently written, but the 
 remembrances of his services to religion ought not, and 
 will not, perish from the memory of mankind. We 
 know just enough of him to make us wish to know 
 more. 
 
 According to Philostorgues, Ulphilas was a descendant 
 from the captives carried off from Cappadocia, in the 
 reign of Gallienus, about 260. By the influence of 
 their Christian captives, this barbarous German nation 
 were induced to invite Christian traders among them, 
 by whom numerous churches were collected and schools 
 established, and the people gradually led to renounce 
 their ancient paganism and profess the Christian faith. 
 This, so far as we know, is the first introduction of the 
 gospel among Germanic nations. A Gothic bishop, 
 
BASIL, OF CESAREA. 675 
 
 named Theophilus, was present at the Council of Nice, 
 and signed the creed there established. 
 
 The Goths thus appear to have received an orthodox 
 faith. But they abandoned it in 376, when the Arian 
 emperor, Valens, permitted 1,200,000 of them to pass 
 the Danube, and settle in Dacia, Moesia, and Thrace, 
 within the Koman empire, on condition of their submit- 
 ting to the Koman laws, and to the Arian faith. This 
 treaty is said to have been negotiated on the part of the 
 Goths by Ulphilas himself. Its terrible consequences to 
 the empire he could not foresee. He was at the Arian 
 Council of Constantinople, in 359, about eighteen years 
 before, and is supposed to have favored their interest. 
 Others doubt this. But none can doubt his talents, his 
 piety, or his missionary zeal. 
 
 Anxious to give the Bible to the people, this excel- 
 lent man invented an alphabet for them, and trans- 
 lated the whole into their language, with the exception 
 of the books of Kings, which he omitted, it is said, lest 
 this history should stimulate their passion for war. This 
 reason does not seem sufficient, as it would equally apply 
 to the book of Joshua. Ulphilas died in the reign of 
 Theodosius, about 390. 
 
 BASIL, OF CESAEEA. 
 
 BASIL, called the Great* son of Basil and Eumedia, 
 was born in Cesarea, Cappadocia, about 328, of Christian 
 parents. No pains seem to have been spared in his edu- 
 cation, and his talents justified every expense. He 
 visited the most eminent schools in the empire, at Cesar 
 
676 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 rea, of Palestine, Alexandria, Athens, and Constanti- 
 nople. At Athens, he had, as fellow student, his friend 
 Gregory Nazianzen, and Julian, afterwards called the 
 Apostate, who, when emperor, tried to restore Paganism, 
 and put down Christianity. At Constantinople he at- 
 tended the lectures of the famous Libanius, the Pagan 
 philosopher. But God touched his heart, and partly 
 through the influence of his pious sister, Macrina, he 
 was led to devote himself to the service of Christ. He 
 was baptized at the age of twenty-eight, arid within 
 three years after, was ordained a presbyter by Eusebius, 
 bishop of Cesarea, his native city, whom he succeeded in 
 370. He died in 379, trusting in Christ. 
 
 He was a man of rare gifts, of high culture and elo- 
 quence, of sincere and glowing piety, self-denying habits, 
 and quenchless zeal. But his piety, like that of most 
 men of his age, was tainted with superstition and self- 
 righteousness, and his zeal was largely expended in found- 
 ing monasteries, and establishing a system of rules for 
 their government, which bore his name for ages. He 
 certainly improved a bad system. He was the first to 
 plant both monasteries and nunneries in the neighbor- 
 hood of great cities, and make them schools for the 
 education of youth. As a bishop, he ordained few who 
 had not been thus trained. His fame and influence thus 
 spread over the churches, both of the East and of the 
 West. His monks were not idle mendicants, but were 
 taught to labor for their own support, and for the benefit 
 of the poor. His nuns were employed in hospitals. 
 
 He wrote much, especially against the Arians; but 
 his best works are his Commentaries upon the Scriptures, 
 which were highly esteemed. 
 
GREGORY NAZIANZEN. 677 
 
 GEEGOET 
 
 THIS great orator of the eastern church, was the son 
 of Gregory, bishop of Nazianzen, in Cappadocia, from 
 325 to 374. He was born in 325, and was devoted to 
 the Lord by his pious mother Nounse before his birth. 
 His education was begun at Cesarea, in Cappadocia. 
 Thence he went to Cesarea in Palestine, to Alexandria, 
 and to Athens, to complete it. At the latter place, he 
 had among his fellow-students, Julian (afterwards the 
 Apostate), and Basil, his bosom friend through life. He 
 remained there five years. On his return to Nazianzen 
 in 356, he was baptized, about the same time as his 
 friend Basil, having been a catechumen for some time 
 before. He married Theosebia, the sister of Basil, but 
 left her to become a monk. Three years later, his aged 
 father called him from his seclusion to be his assistant, 
 and he obeyed, he says, reluctantly. In 362, he preached 
 his first sermon as presbyter in his father's church. 
 
 After the death of the Emperor Julian, Gregory de- 
 livered two orations against him, which breathe a bitter 
 spirit of resentment, perhaps less personal than pop- 
 ular. In 372, his friend Basil offered him the bish- 
 opric of Sasina, which he indignantly refused ; and on 
 the death of his father, in 374, retired to Selucia in ob- 
 scurity. In 379, he yielded to the importunities of his 
 friends, and accepted a call to Constantinople, to revive 
 the orthodox interest in that city, in which he was very 
 successful. This was the zenith of his eloquence and 
 fame. The general council of Constantinople elected 
 
678 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 him patriarch and metropolitan of all Greece. But, 
 learning that objections were raised, he declined the 
 post, and returned to his former change at Nazianzen, 
 and discharged his duties till 383, when he retired from 
 public life. His religious poems were composed at this 
 period, and they present the fairest view of his charac- 
 ter. He died in 390. 
 
 Those who would love and revere this great man, 
 will find the reasons for these feelings more in his poems 
 than in his orations, which, though splendid, are full of 
 superstition and intolerance. 
 
 JOHX CHRYSOSTOM. 
 
 JOHN, surnamed Chrysostom, or the golden-mouthed, 
 from his extraordinary genius and eloquence, was born 
 at Aritioch, the capital of Syria, of Christian parent- 
 age, in 354. His father, Secundus, died in military 
 service, and his early training was under his pious 
 mother Arathusa. She instilled into his heart the gos- 
 pel of Jesus at home, and also procured for him the best 
 instruction in all branches of learning. Three years 
 he was in the family of Meletius, bishop of Antioch. 
 Among his other teachers, were Libanius, the famous 
 Pagan rhetorician ; who, on being asked who was worthy 
 to succeed him in his school, replied, "John, if the 
 Christians had not stolen him from us." 
 
 Under Diodorus (afterwards bishop of Tarsus), he 
 studied sacred literature, and there learned to discard 
 the allegorical interpretation of Origen, and to follow 
 
JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. 679 
 
 the literal and historical sense of scripture. He was 
 thus formed to become, through grace, the best ex- 
 positor of scripture, as well as the noblest orator of his 
 age He was baptized at the age of twenty-three. 
 
 Carried away, at the age of twenty-four, by the pre- 
 vailing enthusiasm for monastic life, he spent seven 
 years in studious seclusion, and by his severe self-deni- 
 als nearly ruined his constitution. He commenced au- 
 thor at twenty-six, and in his next year, 380, on return- 
 ing to Antioch, was ordained deacon, and five years 
 later a presbyter, when he began to preach, 386. For 
 twelve years he produced a prodigious number of ser- 
 mons, homilies, and orations, of the finest quality that An- 
 tioch had ever known since the disciples were first called 
 Christians ; and a Christian population of one hundred 
 thousand souls crowded to his ministry. 
 
 In 398, he was transferred to Constantinople, that the 
 imperial court might enjoy the enchantment of his elo- 
 quence. But he carried with him here all the noble 
 simplicity and faithfulness of his character, applying 
 himself to effect much needed reforms in every depart- 
 ment of society, and plans for spreading the gospel, by 
 missionary effort, far and wide, among the Goths and 
 other nations. His efforts were for a time successful. 
 
 But his life was too holy, his preaching too pungent, 
 and his discipline too strict, to be long acceptable in that 
 corrupt metropolis of Christendom. Both the court and 
 the clergy, partly from envy and partly from resent- 
 ment, combined against' him in 403, and an order was 
 issued for his banishment, on the most frivolous charges. 
 The condemned and banished man calmly submitted to 
 the sentence, and was carried away by night, to avoid 
 
680 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 the resistance of the people. But when morning came, 
 and the news spread through the city, the people tumul- 
 tuously assembled, and demanded his recall, saying that 
 " the sun might as well cease to shine, as Chrysostom 
 cease to preach." Their violence alarmed the empress 
 Eudoxia, and she recalled him. 
 
 The very next year, however, his enemies again pre- 
 vailed, and in 404, he was forcibly removed from his 
 metropolitan see, to Cacuso, a city of Armenia. Here 
 lie was very kindly received, and he preached and labored 
 in every way to do good, for three years. 
 
 The following extract from a letter to a friend, written 
 soon after his removal, will illustrate the style and spirit 
 of the man : " When driven from the city, I cared noth- 
 ing for it. But I said to myself, if the empress wishes 
 to banish me, let her banish me the earth is the Lord's, 
 and the fulness thereof. If she would saw me asunder, 
 let her saw me asunder. I have Isaiah for a pattern. 
 If she would plunge me in the sea, I remember Jonah. 
 If she would thrust me into the fiery furnace, I see the 
 three children enduring that. If she would cast me to 
 wild beasts, I call to mind Daniel in the den of lions. 
 If she would stone me, let her stone me, I have before 
 me Stephen, the proto-martyr. If she would take my 
 head from me, let her take it, I have John the Baptist. 
 If she would deprive me of my worldly goods, let her 
 do it ( naked came I from my mother's womb, and 
 naked shall I return.' An apostle has told me : ' God 
 respecteth no man's person ; ' and ' If I yet please men, 
 I shall not be the servant of Christ.' And David clothes 
 me with armor, saying : ' I will speak of thy testimony 
 before kings, and will not be ashamed.' " 
 
DIDYMUS. 681 
 
 After three years' residence in Armenia, Chrysostom 
 found his health failing, and he was ordered to Pityus, 
 in Colchis, on the Black sea, but he died on the 
 thither, 408, at the age of 54. 
 
 DIDYMUS. 
 
 DIDYMUS, of Alexandria, was the wonder of the age. 
 Born there about 310, he lost his sight in his fifth year, 
 by a distemper. Yet his misfortune did not prevent 
 him from excelling in all kinds of learning. 
 
 He arrived at such proficiency in literature, science, 
 and theology, as at length placed him at the head of 
 the catechetical school of Alexandria, where his fame 
 drew to him numbers from distant parts, some to see 
 him only, but others to become his scholars. Among 
 the latter were Jerome, Rufinus, Palladius, and Isidore. 
 
 He was condemned by the fifth Lateran Council, as a 
 follower of Origen. But Jerome affirms that he was 
 orthodox, and that he died in the communion of the 
 Catholic Church, in 394, in his 85th year. 
 
 He left many writings, most of which are lost, but 
 his chief work, on the Holy Spirit, remains, according 
 to Clarke, " an admirable work of an admirable man." 
 
 SISIUNIUS. 
 
 SISIUNIUS was a bishop of the Novatians, in Constan- 
 tinople, at the close of the fourth century. He succeeded 
 
682 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Agilius, a man of admirable sanctity and virtue, who 
 had governed the flock for forty years. The historian 
 Socrates, a contemporary in the same city, speaks of 
 Sisiunius in the highest terms of respect. 
 
 He was an eloquent man, an excellent philosopher, 
 had diligently cultivated the art pf logic, and was in- 
 comparably well versed in the sacred Scriptures. All 
 the bishops who succeed J him, loved and honored 
 him. Moreover, all the eminent personages o/ the sen- 
 atorial order had a great affection for him, and admired 
 him. He wrote many books ; but he was more admired 
 for his speaking than for his writings. In his counte- 
 nance and voice, in his dress and aspect, and in the 
 whole of his action and deportment, there was much 
 gracefulness, by reason of which accomplishments, he 
 was beloved by all sects. " Such was the high estima- 
 tion in which he was held by his own people," Socrates 
 adds, that " his word was law." 
 
 With the gravity and earnestness of a man of God, 
 he blended a brilliant fancy and ready wit. One of the 
 best examples of it, is the following : When Chrysostom 
 came to Constantinople, in 398, as metropolitan, flushed 
 with his new power, and full of zeal for the extermina- 
 tion of error, he met Sisiunius, not as a brother, but as 
 a rival, and said to him, with great heat : " You are a 
 heretic, arid I will make you leave off preaching." Sisi- 
 unius answered : " I'll give you a reward, if you will 
 free me from the labor of it." "0! if the office is 
 laborious," exclaimed Chrysostom, "you may go on 
 with it." 
 
 Sisiunius died in 407, and was succeeded by Chrysan- 
 
AMBROSE. 683 
 
 thus, a man of signal prudence and modesty, under whom 
 the churches of the Novatians increased. 
 
 AMBEOSE. 
 
 AMBROSE, bishop of Milan, was the son of a pretorian 
 prefect of Gaul. He was born at Treves, about 340. 
 His father dying, he was taken by his mother to Rome, 
 with his brother Satyrus, and his sister Marcellina, a 
 Christian virgin, through whom he was partially drawn 
 to the knowledge of Christ. 
 
 He studied law, and acquired such reputation as to 
 gain the favor of Anicius Probus, prefect of Italy, who 
 made him at length governor of Liguria, of which Milan 
 was the capital. His mildness won the hearts of the 
 people, and his wisdom secured their prosperity. 
 
 In 374, on the decease of the Arian bishop of Milan, 
 there was a great division of the people on the choice of 
 a successor; the Arians and the orthodox eager each 
 to secure the success of its chosen candidate. Ambrose 
 entered the church to quell the tumult, when a voice, 
 from a child, cried out : " Ambrose, bishop." It was 
 received as a voice from heaven, both parties uniting in 
 calling him to the vacant office, though he was yet but 
 a catechumen. He remonstrated at first, but yielded to 
 their entreaties ; was baptized, November 30th, passed 
 through the previous orders in the course of one week, 
 and on the 7th of December, was ordained the Catholic 
 bishop of Milan. Such was the singular state of religion 
 
684 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 in the established church of the empire at that period, 
 A. D. 374. 
 
 Ambrose now gave up his property to the use of the 
 poor, became an ascetic, and studied theology under 
 Simplicanus. Without great learning, he had a noble 
 heart, and a warm imagination, a commanding presence 
 and popular eloquence. He was sincerely devout, and 
 an ardent lover of sacred music, which he greatly pro- 
 moted in his church. He also wrote and collected a 
 volume of hymns. He abolished many abuses, and re- 
 stored discipline. He had the courage to excommunicate 
 the emperor Theodosius, for the massacre of Thessalo- 
 nica; an example which the popes of the middle ages 
 did not forget. 
 
 He died in 397, deeply regretted by his people. 
 
 He left numerous writings, of which the most valuable 
 is his Comment on the Psalms. Here he rises above his 
 habit of allegory, shows an intimate acquaintance with 
 the workings of the heart, and the fountain of true 
 wisdom. The style is pleasing, as abounding in descrip- 
 tion ; powerful, as illustrated with suitable examples ; 
 and persuasive, from the elegance of the diction, the 
 force of the arguments, and the earnestness of a self- 
 convinced spirit. 
 
 In his books On Offices, occurs this noble passage, in 
 which he urges to Christian liberality : " It is much 
 better to preserve immortal spirits for the Lord, than 
 gold. He who sent forth the apostles without gold, 
 gathered together the church without gold. The church 
 possesses gold, not to keep it, but to lay it out for the 
 advantage of the necessitous. The poor are the trea- 
 sures of the church." 
 
JEROME. 685 
 
 JEEOME. 
 
 THIS most learned of the Latin fathers (so called), the 
 translator of the Vulgate, was a native of Dalmatia. He 
 was born about A. D. 321, of a respectable Christian 
 family. His father Eusebius was a man of wealth, but 
 his mother's name is unknown. His father sent him to 
 Rome for his education, where he studied under the 
 learned Donatus, the philologist. At first he fell in with 
 the current of follies and luxuries of the great city, but 
 by the grace of God he was rescued from their power and 
 received Christian baptism. 
 
 He visited Gaul, particularly Jocaes, soon after, to 
 form the aquaintance of its best scholars. At Aquileia, 
 in Italy, he formed a close friendship with Rufinus. 
 Returning to Rome, he collected a large library of valu- 
 able books, both classical and theological ; cultivating his 
 literary taste by the former, and enriching his mind and 
 heart from the latter, and particularly the sacred Scrip- 
 tures. To this library he made constant additions, and 
 from it he drew the knowledge on which his fame is 
 built. 
 
 With his books and his friends, Evagrius, Heliodorus, 
 and others, he went into the East, and was received by 
 Theodorus into his monastery, near Antioch. Here he 
 diligently studied the Hebrew language, afterwards so 
 useful in his translation of the Bible. Two bishops 
 were at the time contending for the See of Antioch, 
 Meletius and Paulinus. By the advice of Damasus, 
 
686 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Bishop of Rome, he was ordained presbyter by Paulinus, 
 but on condition of his remaining a recluse. 
 
 After four years in Syria, he went to Constantinople 
 to study theology with Gregory Nazianzen. In 382, he 
 was called to Rome by Darnasus, and made his secretary. 
 On the death of Damasus, he was so annoyed by his 
 enemies, that in 385 he returned to Syria with his 
 younger brother Pauliriianus, and two wealthy Roman 
 ladies, Paula and her daughter, the virgin Eustochisem, 
 and after visiting Antioch and Jerusalem, passed into 
 Egypt. Here he made the acquaintance of Didymus of 
 Alexandria, and afterwards of the monks of Istria. But 
 of this famous monastery he says that he found there more 
 of the poison of serpents than of the piety of saints, so that 
 he returned in disgust to Palestine and settled in a con- 
 vent at Bethlehem. 
 
 At Bethlehem Jerome composed most of his works. 
 Here he gathered his friends around him, and though 
 harassed often, and once in great danger from the burn- 
 ing of his monastery, he passed the residue of his life, 
 dying in the year 420, in his 90th year. 
 
 The works of Jerome consist of the Vulgate, a revision 
 or new translation of the Bible into Latin, adopted by 
 the Roman Catholic Church as its standard ; of commen- 
 taries on various books of the Old and New Testament, 
 controversial tracts, epistles, and lives of the ecclesias- 
 tical writers before his time. 
 
 The piety of Jerome is not of the highest order. His 
 temper is often bad, and his ascetic habits drove him into 
 superstition and darkened his views of the gospel. His 
 Life of St. Paul, the first hermit, and of Hilarion, also, 
 
JEROME. 687 
 
 abound in the most absurd stories and "lying wonders" of 
 that monkish age. 
 
 On the other hand, he has great merits as a translator 
 and commentator of the Scripture. His comments are 
 mostly literal and full of learning. As a letter- writer he 
 is often admirable. 
 
 As a controversialist, he appears to less advantage. 
 What he took up warmly he uttered vehemently. His 
 zeal is without discrimination. He seems to be a system- 
 atic approver of whatever is established; now and then 
 finding fault in detail with what he defended as a whole. 
 He is very sensitive to opposition, and jealous of his 
 reputation. In a word, he was " a bigot to existing 
 institutions, a firm adherent to the ruling powers 
 (especiall} 7 at Rome), and a strenuous defender of received 
 opinions." His treatise against Yigilantius, the noble 
 reformer of that corrupt age, is a disgrace to a Christian. 
 
 TIGILANTIUS. 
 
 THIS evangelical reformer, of the fourth century 
 this Protestant in the bosom of the Roman Catholic 
 Church was born about 364, in the Gallic village of 
 Cabagorris, at the northern foot of the Pyrenees, on the 
 great road leading from Aquitaine into Spain. His 
 father was a man of wealth, which the son inherited. 
 
 His early education was neglected ; but while yet a 
 youth, he was converted by the influence of Sulpicius 
 Severus, the Roman senator, poet and historian, who 
 took him into his family, and gave him the united ad- 
 
GS8 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 vantages of classical and Christian instruction. There 
 he met the excellent Exaperius, bishop of Thoulouse, 
 Paulinus, of Nola, and other distinguished men of the 
 age. In 394, he visited Paulinus at Nola, and was re- 
 ceived with much affection. Here he beheld the shrines 
 of growing superstition, and Christian idolatry of saints 
 and martyrs, and heard the wonderful stories of mira- 
 cles wrought at their tombs. Yet here, too, he found 
 the proper antidote, the Scriptures of the Old and New 
 Testament. 
 
 Soon after his return from Italy, he was ordained 
 presbyter, probably by Exaperius, who always stood by 
 him as a friend and protector. His father dying at this 
 time, he came into possession of his property, and was 
 thus enabled to gratify his wish to visit Syria, Palestine, 
 and Jerusalem. He carried letters of introduction to 
 Jerome, and spent some time with him at Bethlehem. 
 Jerome, in his answer to the letter of Paulinus, calls him 
 " the holy presbyter Vigilantius," soon after he had left 
 for Egypt. 
 
 On his return to Europe in 398, it soon became mani- 
 fest that the eyes of Vigilantius had been opened, by 
 the grace of God, to perceive the deep-rooted evils in 
 the Catholic Church, and to protest against them, in the 
 name of his Divine Master. Among other things, says 
 Mosheim, "he denied that the tombs and bones of the 
 martyrs were worthy of any religious worship; and 
 therefore censured pilgrimages to places accounted sa- 
 cred. He ridiculed the miracles reported as occurring 
 in the temples consecrated tc martyrs, and condemned 
 the practice of keeping vigils in these temples. He 
 said that the custom of burning wax candles in the day- 
 
VIGIL ANTIUS. 
 
 time, at the sepulchres of the martyrs, was unwisely 
 borrowed by Christians from the ancient superstitions 
 of the Pagans; he maintained that prayers addressed 
 to departed saints were fruitless ; he treated with con- 
 tempt the prevailing fasts, the celibacy of the clergy, 
 and the monastic life ; and he maintained that neither 
 those who distribute all their goods amongst the poor 
 and lived in voluntary poverty, nor those who sent por- 
 tions of their property to Jerusalem, perform an act 
 pleasing and acceptable to God." 
 
 To some of the Gallic and Spanish bishops, it appears 
 that these just and scriptural sentiments of the re- 
 former were not offensive. Indeed, there is ample 
 evidence that they gave them a cordial welcome, and 
 reduced them to practice within the next ten years. 
 But all were not thus wise. 
 
 Liparius and Desiderius, presbyters in parishes ad- 
 joining that of Yigilantius, wrote to Jerome complain- 
 ing of the influence of the reformer. They said that 
 the whole vicinity was in commotion, that their own 
 people were infected, and that many agreed with him 
 in his blasphemies against the church ; and they begged 
 Jerome to refute him. To this appeal Jerome at once 
 replied, endeavoring, as he said, to " crush the serpent." 
 This was in 406 ; and the reply is couched in language 
 that might put a heathen to the blush. 
 
 It is not at all likely that the reformer was con* 
 vinced or silenced. The only light we have leads to 
 the conclusion that he retired to Barcelona, in Spain, 
 where he soon after died slain, according to some, at 
 the storming of that city by the Vandals. 
 
 But the word of truth did not perish. In the 9th cen- 
 
 44 
 
690 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 tury, Jonas of Orleans, and Dangalus, Romish writers, af- 
 firm that the teaching of Vigilantius still found followers 
 in the subalpine diocese of Claude, bishop of Turin ; and 
 they both attribute the iconoclastic proceedings of 
 Claude to the example of Vigilantius. Modern Protest- 
 ants, Faber, Jones, Gilles, and others, do not hesitate to 
 trace, through him, the origin of the Waldenses. 
 
 AUGUSTINE. 
 
 THIS distinguished man, the brightest miracle of 
 grace, and the profoundest divine of his age, was born in 
 Tagasta, a town of Numidia, in North Africa, November 
 13, 354. His father, Patricius, was poor but respectable ; 
 his mother Monica, was a model Christian wife and 
 mother. She took care of his religious education from 
 his birth, and put him at once among the catechumens, 
 which was then the usual method of preparing all classes 
 for faith and baptism. 
 
 In time he was sent to Madaura, for instruction in 
 other useful learning ; but even then took a dislike to 
 the study of Greek literature, which he retained through 
 life. From the age of fourteen to sixteen, when he lost 
 his father, he spent his time in Carthage, in partial study 
 and dissipations; mingling heathen authors with the 
 sacred Scriptures in his reading, and making the catego- 
 ries of Aristotle the test of all truth. Unable to account 
 for the origin of evil, at twenty, he fell into the Mani- 
 chean errors, whose root lies in the assumption of two 
 original and eternal principles, one good and the other 
 
 
AUGUSTINE. 691 
 
 evil ; who contend with each other for the mastery of 
 the universe. His morals suffered with his mental aber- 
 rations. He had a mistress, and was a father at nineteen. 
 
 The tender mother, unable to check his wanderings, 
 still watched qver and earnestly prayed for her wayward 
 son. The good bishop, whose efforts she besought to re- 
 claim him to the truth, touched by her deep distress, 
 said to her: "Continue your prayers. It is impossible 
 that a son of so many tears should perish." 
 
 In 383, Augustine left Carthage for Rome. But fail- 
 ing to support himself there, as professor of eloquence, 
 he proceeded to Milan. Here he became acquainted 
 with Ambrose, the bishop of the Catholic church in that 
 city, and by him was directed to the study of Paul's 
 epistles. An ardent desire for the discovery of the truth 
 now sprang up in his heart, and he now found that God 
 alone is the effectual interpreter of his own word. To 
 him he applied in earnest prayer, with humble confes- 
 sion of his sins, and at length received, through Christ, 
 an answer of peace in his soul. 
 
 His conversion was a -new era in his life. His doubts 
 and his iniquities were removed, and at Easter, 386, he 
 was baptized, together with his son Adeollatus, then 
 thirteen years of age. His mother, who had followed 
 him to Milan, was overjoyed at the blessed change, in 
 which the prayers of her heart, for thirty-six-years, were 
 fulfilled. On the way back to Africa, he, however, lost 
 his inestimable mother, who was indeed now ready to 
 depart in the full triumph of faith. 
 
 Returning to his native city in Numidia, he retired, 
 with a few friends, to an estate he had in the neighbor- 
 hood, where he lived in the practice of works of piety, 
 
692 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 and in the composition of several of his theological 
 works, until 391. In that year, he visited the city of 
 Hippo, in the hope of rendering spiritual benefit to an 
 imperial officer, when the aged bishop Valerius had 
 
 him ordained as his assistant. Here he built a monas- 
 
 
 
 tery for men, and a convent for women, of which last 
 his sister became superior ; thus showing that evea his 
 powerful mind did not rise above the prevailing super- 
 stition of the age. In 395, he was made associate bishop, 
 and on the death of Valerius, sole bishop of Hippo, until 
 his own death, 430, a period of thirty-five years, crowded 
 with activity and energy. He was indefatigable in 
 preaching, writing, combating error and sin, and infus^. 
 ing life and spirituality into the churches and clergy 
 of the Catholic church, far and near. From 412 to 428, 
 he was deeply engaged in the controversy with the Pela- 
 gians, and strongly defended, by voice and pen, the doc- 
 trines of free grace and predestination. He sought most 
 earnestly to win back the Donatists to the Catholic 
 church ; but finding argument and persuasion unavail- 
 ing, he at length recommended coercive measures to the 
 government, on the idea that it is better that the body 
 should suffer than that the soul should be lost a true 
 principle, but entirely. misapplied by the advocates of 
 persecution, whether by an Augustine, a Bernard, or a 
 Torquernada. "Who art thou that judgest another 
 man's servant." " To his own Master he standeth or 
 falleth." " One is your Master, even Christ ; and all ye 
 are brethren." 
 
 These disputes clouded the last days of Augustine. 
 But his soul was still more distressed when the Vandals, 
 under Genseric, desolated Africa, with fire and sword, 
 
PATRICK. 693 
 
 and the labors of his life seemed to be suddenly swept 
 away. While the Vandals were besieging the city of 
 Hippo, he was seized with a fever, and died, August 28, 
 430, in the 76th year of his age. But being dead, he yet 
 speaks in his numerous writings, which handle almost 
 every point in speculative, experimental, and practical 
 religion, with profound thought and spiritual unction, if 
 not always with the meekness of wisdom. No man did 
 so much as he to promote infant baptism, and thus sub- 
 vert the catechumenal system. 
 
 PATEICK, 
 
 CALLED THE APOSTLE TO THE IRISH. 
 
 THIS admirable man, around whom the Jesuits (in 
 the Acta Sanctorum *) have thrown the halo of Romish 
 superstition, was born in Scotland, A. D. 379, at Bona- 
 ven, between Dumbarton and Glasgow. The region 
 was then called Valencia, by the Romans, under whose 
 rule Christianity had gained a firm footing. Patrick's 
 original name was Sukkoth. He was the son of a poor 
 deacon of the village church, and was religiously edu- 
 cated. Yet he felt no genuine love for religion till his 
 17th year. 
 
 At that time, he was taken captive by a band of ma- 
 rauders, from the north of Ireland, and sold there as a 
 
 * In the above work, the "Acts of the Saints," we find statements 
 that directly contradict Patrick's, in his "Confessions." We, therefore, 
 put little confidence in what that Jesuitical work says of his connec- 
 tion with Home, although Rome has canonized him. 
 
694 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 slave. Milcora, his master, set him to watch his cattle. 
 His conversion is best told in his own words, taken from 
 his Confessions: 
 
 " Thus God opened my unbelieving mind, so that 
 though late, I thought of my sins, and turned with my 
 whole heart to the Lord my God, to him who looked 
 down on my low condition, had pity on my youth and 
 ignorance, and before I knew him, before I could distin- 
 guish good from evil, guarded, protected, and cherished 
 me, as a father a son. This I certainly know, that be- 
 fore God humbled me, I was like a stone sunk in the 
 mire ; but when he came, who had power to do it, he 
 raised me in his mercy, and put me in a very high place. 
 Wherefore, I must testify aloud, in order to make some 
 return to the Lord for such great blessings in time and 
 eternity, which no human reason is able to estimate." 
 
 After six years of captivity, he found means o escape, 
 by a vessel sailing to his native land. 
 
 His rejoiced parents now hoped to retain him per- 
 manently with them, but God had other and nobler 
 employment for him. His heart yearned over the poor 
 heathen, in the land where he had been a captive, and 
 as he had learned their Celtic language and customs, he 
 was filled with prayerful longings to go among them as 
 a missionary of the gospel of Christ. 
 
 But the times were not favorable to such efforts; 
 neither was he properly qualified by education and train- 
 ing for the great work before him. He then sailed to 
 Gaul, and entered the monastery of Marmontier, where 
 he studied for three years. Thence he went into Italy, 
 where he was detained many years longer. 
 
 At length, A. D. 432, the way was opened for him to 
 
PATRICK. 69 6 
 
 return to Scotland, and make his preparations for his 
 great missionary work in Ireland. His friends and 
 parents in vain sought to dissuade him. He himself 
 says : " Many opposed my going, and said, behind my 
 back : ' Why does this man rush into danger among the 
 heathens, who do not know the Lord ? ' It was not badly 
 intended on their part, but they could not comprehend 
 the matter. It was not by my own power, but it was 
 God that conquered in me, and withstood them all; so 
 that I went to the people of Ireland, to publish the gos- 
 pel to them, and suffered many insults from unbelievers, 
 and many persecutions, even unto bonds, resigning my 
 liberty for the good of others. Arid if I am found worthy 
 I am ready to give up my life, with joy, for his name's 
 sake." 
 
 In this spirit, Patrick entered on his mission. He 
 began his labors in Lagonica, and in 434, in Ultonica (or 
 Ulster), not far from the city of Armagh, which hence- 
 forth became the centre of the Irish mission. All former 
 efforts to introduce Christianity, particularly by Palla- 
 dius, had failed. The country was badly cultivated. 
 Fishing, the chase, the cattle-breeding, were the chief 
 employments of the people. They carried on incessant 
 wars, among the different tribes, with stones, spears, 
 and ponderous battle-axes. They had but two arts 
 music and poetry, and the bards sung, to their unlettered 
 hearers, the deeds of their barbarous heroes, thus con- 
 tinually inflaming their love of war. Like the Celtic 
 tribes, they were worshippers of fire, and especially of 
 the sun. 
 
 By the sound of a kettle-drum, Patrick called the peo- 
 ple together, to tell them of the true God and the cruci- 
 
696 LIYES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 fied Redeemer. But not without great opposition. The 
 Celtic priests and bards, who had great influence on the 
 superstitious people, stirred up many severe persecutions 
 against him. But nothing could daunt his courage, or 
 quench his glowing zeal. God was his refuge and 
 strength. His faith, and patience, and fervent prayers 
 prevailed, and by degrees he saw the work of the Lord 
 extending on all sides, in the conversion of sinners. 
 
 One example of his success will suffice for illustration. 
 In a family of rank, which had been converted and bap- 
 tized, the son and heir became so attached to Patrick, 
 and anxious to do good, that he forsook all his worldly 
 prospects, and followed him everywhere, as his assistant 
 in the spread of the gospel. From his friendly, gentle 
 disposition, he received the name of Benignus, and his 
 musical talents were of great service in singing Christian 
 hymns among the people. On the death of Patrick, he 
 succeeded him in his office. 
 
 With Christianity came letters, arts, social improve- 
 ments, civilization. The influence of the Druids gradu- 
 ally declined, and persecution abating, Patrick, with his 
 assistants, was able to pass around a great part of the 
 island, gathering large assemblies, and reading to them 
 the Scriptures, as the guide to eternal life. Churches 
 were established, teachers and ministers ordained, and 
 monastic schools founded for the instruction of the peo- 
 ple ; so that, within a single century, missionaries went 
 forth from Ireland to evangelize Burgundy, Switzerland, 
 and Southern Germany. 
 
 Thus, for more than thirty years, did this noble mis- 
 sionary of the cross prosecute his labors. " Gladly," he 
 says, " would I travel to my parents in my native land, 
 
PATRICK. 697 
 
 and also visit the brethren in Gaul, to see once more the 
 faces of the saints of my Lord. God knows that I wish 
 it very much. But I am bound by the Spirit, who testi- 
 fies that he will pronounce me guilty, if I do this, and 
 I dread lest the work I have begun, should fall to the 
 ground." 
 
 Patrick sought to avoid even the semblance of acting 
 for his own glory or profit. He often refused gifts that 
 were urged on his acceptance, preferring rather to give 
 than receive, and rendering to God all the glory df the 
 wonderful works performed through his ministry. Thus, 
 he says, in his Confessions, before cited : " He has called 
 me by his Spirit to serve, though with fear and trem- 
 bling, yet faithfully and blamelessly, the people to whom 
 the love of Christ hath led me. I must bless my God 
 exceedingly, who has kept me faithful in the day of trial, 
 so that at this time, I can present my soul full of con- 
 fidence, as a living thank-offering to my Lord Christ, 
 who has rescued me from all my distresses, so that I 
 am obliged to say : ' Who am I, Lord, and what is 
 my calling ? Since thou hast so gloriously revealed thy 
 divinity to me, that to-day I can continually rejoice 
 among the heathen, and glorify thy name, wherever I 
 am ; not only in prosperity, but also in tribulation ; so 
 that whatever may befall me, I can receive evil or good 
 with an equal mind, and must continually thank God, 
 who has taught me to believe in him as eternal truth.' 
 
 " May my God never suffer it that I should lose the 
 church, which he has won in the most remote corner of 
 the earth. I pray God that he would give me persever- 
 ance, and think me worthy to bear a faithful testimony, 
 until the time of my departure. And if I have ever 
 
698 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 striven to accomplish any thing for the sake of the God 
 whom I love, I beseech him that I may be allowed to 
 shed my blood for his name, with those of my new con- 
 verts, who have been imprisoned, even though I should 
 obtain no burial, or my body be torn in pieces by wild 
 beasts." 
 
 Patrick lived until 465, perhaps longer, but the parti- 
 culars of his death are unknown. 
 
 BENEDICT. 
 
 THIS celebrated reformer of monkery, and founder of 
 the Benedictines, deserves notice for his vast influence 
 over European society, through the monasteries and 
 rules which he established/ He was born at Narsia, in 
 Italy, in 480, about the time that Patrick died in Ireland. 
 At fourteen, he was sent to Rome, for education, but dis- 
 gusted with its dissipation and its schools, he ran away, 
 and hid himself in a cave, at Sublacum, for three years. 
 When discovered there, his cell became a place of resort 
 to the superstitious people. 
 
 He was soon chosen abbot of a monastery near by ; 
 but his rigid rule of discipline gave offence, and he re- 
 turned to Sublacum, where many joined him. In 529 
 he had under his jurisdiction twelve cells, each contain- 
 ing twelve monks. Roman families placed their sons 
 under him for instruction. 
 
 His reputation exciting jealousy in the local clergy, 
 he now removed to Mount Cassino, fifty miles south, and 
 about as far from Naples. Here he converted a body of 
 
BENEDICT. 699 
 
 Pagan mountaineers, and turned their temple into a 
 monastery, where he peacefully spent the rest of his life, 
 dying in 543. His life was written by Pope Gregory 
 the Great. 
 
 According to the rule of Benedict, the monks were to 
 rise at 2 A. M., and repair to the place of worship for 
 vigils, and then spend the remainder of the night in 
 committing psalms, meditation and reading. At sunrise, 
 they assembled for matins ; then spent four hours in 
 labor, and two in reading ; then dined, and read in pri- 
 vate, till 2 P. M., when they met again for worship, and 
 then labored till vespers. They went through the book 
 of psalms every week. Their labor was in gardening, 
 agriculture, and mechanical trades; and each was put 
 to such labor as the superior saw fit. Personal liberty 
 was renounced, all property surrendered, and chastity 
 pledged by perpetual vows. .Each had his daily rations 
 of food ; but no meat was allowed at the public table, 
 nor any conversation. One read aloud, while the rest 
 were eating. They all served as cooks and waiters by 
 turns, a week at a time. Their clothing was coarse and 
 simple. They slept in common dormitories of 10 or 20, 
 in separate beds, without undressing. An inspector 
 slept in each dormitory, with a light burning. No con- 
 versation was allowed after they retired to rest. No one 
 could receive a present, or hold a correspondence except 
 under the inspection of the abbot. No stranger was 
 admitted, without leave from him, and no monk could 
 go out, but by his permission. The school for children 
 was kept without the walls. 
 
 The abbot was elected by common suffrage, but his 
 power was despotic, and was regarded as the will of God. 
 
700 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 He had under him a prior or deputy, a steward, a super* 
 intendent of the sick, an attendant on visitors, a porter, 
 and other assistants, including deans, or inspectors of 
 ten ; all of whom he appointed or removed at pleasure. 
 On great occasions, he summoned the whole brotherhood 
 in council ; at ordinary times, only the seniors : but after 
 hearing them, he decided for himself. 
 
 A probation of 12 months was assigned to every ap- 
 plicant for admission ; when, if approved, he took the 
 three solemn and irrevocable vows of perfect chastity, 
 absolute poverty, and implicit obedience to the will of 
 the superior. For light offences, he was liable to repri- 
 mand; for grave ones, to loss of privileges, or expul- 
 sion ; though the way was open for his return through 
 repentance. 
 
 The modern Benedictines admit that they do not ob- 
 serve fully the rigorous rule of the order. But they 
 claim that they keep the essential part, i. e. 9 the three 
 vows. The immense wealth they have acquired, they 
 saj' is consistent with the vow of poverty, because it 
 belongs to the order, not to themselves ; yet they luxu- 
 riously enjoy it. Such is human nature. 
 
 The first Benedictines were pious and useful Chris- 
 tians. Their order spread over Europe, and, in time, 
 absorbed all others. They converted the wilderness 
 into a fruitful country. They supplied missionaries to 
 barbarous Pagan tribes. They collected libraries, pre- 
 served learning, educated youth, and trained able men 
 for every department of state, of the church, and of 
 society. 
 
 But, as Neander justly observes, a system which pre- 
 scribes as its aim, that "men should always be depend- 
 
BENEDICT. 701 
 
 ant on the mouth of another," is contrary to the spirit and 
 genius of Christianity, which teaches man to depend only 
 on the mouth of God. It is always a perilous matter to 
 attempt to break the will of man, by the strict discipline 
 that was employed in the monasteries ; for the human 
 will can only be truly subjected and transformed by the 
 power of God, by the might of love. Self-will will react 
 in pride, or sink into servility, under the false grace of 
 Christian humility. 
 
 What Anselm of Canterbury, at the end of the llth 
 century, said against the rigid monastic discipline, is ad- 
 mirable. An abbot complained to him of the incorrigible 
 youths, who would not be amended by all the correction 
 he administered. Anselm replied : 
 
 " You never cease beating the boys, and what sort of 
 men will they be when they grow up ? " 
 
 "Stupid and brutish," answered the abbot. 
 
 "A good sign for your method of education! when 
 you educate them into brutes." 
 
 "Is that our fault? We try to compel them in all 
 manner of ways to be better, and effect nothing." 
 
 "You compel them ! Tell me, then, I pray you, if 
 you planted a tree in your garden, and enclosed it on all 
 sides, so that it could not spread out its branches in any 
 direction, and after some years, transplant it in an open 
 space, what kind of a tree would it become? Certainly, 
 a useless one, with crooked, tangled branches. And 
 whose fault would it be but yours, who trained the tree 
 in this over-compulsory manner ? " 
 
702 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 COLUMBAN. 
 
 COLUMBAN, an eminent Irish monk and missionary, 
 was born in Leinster, Ireland, in 559. After a good educa- 
 tion in the literature of that age, he entered the famous 
 monastry of Bangor, in the north-east, near Carrick- 
 fergus, under Clongal, who, it is said, had 3,000 monks 
 under his jurisdiction. These seem to have been refu- 
 gees from the great monastery of Bangor, in Wales, 
 who carried with them to Ireland their cherished name, 
 as did the Pilgrim Fathers to Plymouth, in this country. 
 The supposition is natural, and clears up many diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 In 589, his heart was moved to go forth as a mission- 
 ary to the heathen, who had overrun the ancient seats 
 of Christianity, in Gaul and Burgundy. Taking with 
 him 12 companions, with the permission of Clongal, 
 he set forth, and passing through England and Gaul, 
 settled in Burgundy, near the Lucerne, where he built, 
 in the wilderness, the monasteries of Augsley, Fontenay, 
 and Lieuxiel, and lived and labored for 20 years, with 
 great success. 
 
 In 610, his faithful reproof gave offence to king The- 
 odoric, and he was banished from the territory. After 
 wandering some time along' the Rhine, and spending 
 three years in Switzerland, he went into Italy. Here he 
 was kindly received by the Lombard king, Agidulph, 
 and founded the famous monastery of Bobbio, near 
 Pavia, but after presiding over it one year, he died, in 
 615. 
 
CONSTANTINE SYLVANUS. 703 
 
 Columban was a man of superior genius and exalted 
 piety, and possessed vast influence in his own age. In 
 his correspondence with Gregory the Great, he urged 
 reform on the Papal see. His works are his monuments. 
 In his instructions to his monks, he says many admir- 
 able things, which show the genuine Christian spirit, 
 working through methods we cannot altogether approve : 
 " Whoever overcomes himself, treads the world under 
 foot. No one who spares himself can hate the world. 
 We must willingly surrender, for Christ's sake, what we 
 love out of Christ. Let us be Christ's, not our own ; we 
 are bought at a dear price : truly so, for the master gave 
 himself for the servant, the king for his attendants, God 
 for man." 
 
 CONSTAISTTINE SYLVANUS. 
 
 THIS eminent reformer, of the Eastern empire, was 
 born at Maunenalis, in Syria, about 630. From the ac- 
 counts of his enemies, Photius and Peter Liculeis, both 
 of whom vainly attempt to confound him and his fol- 
 lowers with the old Manichees, we gather the following 
 interesting facts : 
 
 His conversion was owing to the gift of a New Testa- 
 ment, from a deacon, a stranger, whom he had enter- 
 tained one night in his house, in 660. At that time, few 
 could read, the Scriptures were rare, and not in the hands 
 of the common people. Constantine made the best use 
 of the precious gift of the stranger. He studied the 
 New Testament with unwearied assiduity and prayer, 
 more especially the writings of the apostle Paul. " What- 
 
702 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 COLUMBAN. 
 
 COLUMBAN, an eminent Irish monk and missionary, 
 was born in Leinster, Ireland, in 559. After a good educa- 
 tion in the literature of that age, he entered the famous 
 monastry of Bangor, in the north-east, near Carrick- 
 fergus, under Clongal, who, it is said, had 3,000 monks 
 under his jurisdiction. These seem to have been refu- 
 gees from the great monastery of Bangor, in Wales, 
 who carried with them to Ireland their cherished name, 
 as did the Pilgrim Fathers to Plymouth, in this country. 
 The supposition is natural, and clears up many diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 In 589, his heart was moved to go forth as a mission- 
 ary to the heathen, who had overrun the ancient seats 
 of Christianity, in Gaul and Burgundy. Taking with 
 him 12 companions, with the permission of Clongal, 
 he set forth, and passing through England and Gaul, 
 settled in Burgundy, near the Lucerne, where he built, 
 in the wilderness, the monasteries of Augsley, Fontenay, 
 and Lieuxiel, and lived and labored for 20 years, with 
 great success. 
 
 In 610, his faithful reproof gave offence to king The- 
 odoric, and he was banished from the territory. After 
 wandering some time along the Rhine, and spending 
 three years in Switzerland, he went into Italy. Here he 
 was kindly received by the Lombard king, Agidulph, 
 and founded the famous monastery of Bobbio, near 
 Pavia, but after presiding over it one year, he died, in 
 615. 
 
CONSTANTINE SYLVANUS. 703 
 
 Columban was a man of superior genius and exalted 
 piety, and possessed vast influence in his own age. In 
 his correspondence with Gregory the Great, he urged 
 reform on the Papal see. His works are his monuments. 
 In his instructions to his monks, he says many admir- 
 able things, which show the genuine Christian spirit, 
 working through methods we cannot altogether approve : 
 " Whoever overcomes himself, treads the world under 
 foot. No one who spares himself can hate the world. 
 We must willingly surrender, for Christ's sake, what we 
 love out of Christ. Let us be Christ's, not our own ; we 
 are bought at a dear price : truly so, for the master gave 
 himself for the servant, the king for his attendants, God 
 for man." 
 
 COISTSTANTI^E SYLVANUS. 
 
 THIS eminent reformer, of the Eastern empire, was 
 born at Maunenalis, in Syria, about 630. From the ac- 
 counts of his enemies, Photius and Peter Liculeis, both 
 of whom vainly attempt to confound him and his fol- 
 lowers with the old Manichees, we gather the following 
 interesting facts : 
 
 His conversion was owing to the gift of a New Testa- 
 ment, from a deacon, a stranger, whom he had enter- 
 tained one night in his house, in 660. At that time, few 
 could read, the Scriptures were rare, and not in the hands 
 of the common people. Constantine made the best use 
 of the precious gift of the stranger. He studied the 
 New Testament with unwearied assiduity and prayer, 
 more especially the writings of the apostle Paul. " What- 
 
704 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 ever might be his success," says Gibbon, " a Protestant 
 will applaud the spirit of his inquiry." 
 
 The saving knowledge which Constantine, under the 
 divine blessing, attained, he gladly communicated to 
 others. A church of believers arose, among whom sev- 
 eral were qualified for the work of the ministry. Other 
 churches were collected, and formed after the model of 
 primitive Christianity. They spread through Armenia, 
 and Cappadocia, and Pontus. 
 
 The Catholic hierarchy was alarmed. They branded 
 them as heretics and Manichees. But, as Gibbon ob- 
 serves, " they sincerely condemned the memory and doc- 
 trines of the Manichee sect, and complained of the injus- 
 tice that impressed that invidious name on them." It is 
 not improbable that they adopted the name of Pauli- 
 cians, to indicate their attachment to the writings of 
 that eminent apostle. Certain it is, that they delighted 
 in scriptural names. Constantine called himself Sylva- 
 nus; his fellow laborers were called Titus, Tychicus, 
 Timothy, and so on, and their churches were named 
 after those of the New Testament, without regard to the 
 names of the places where they were formed, or assem- 
 bled for worship. 
 
 The labors of Constantine (Sylvanus) were crowned 
 with wonderful success. Asia Minor, once renowned 
 for 'Christian piety, was again illuminated with the light 
 of the gospel. He himself resided in Colonia, in Pontus. 
 " The Paulician teachers," says Gibbon, " were distin- 
 guished only by their scriptural names ; by the modest 
 title of fellow pilgrims ; by the sanctity of their lives, 
 their zeal and knowledge, and the credit of some extra- 
 ordinary gift of the Holy Spirit. But they were inca- 
 
CONSTANTINE SYLVANUS. 705 
 
 pable of desiring, or at least of obtaining, the wealth 
 and honors of the Catholic prelacy. Such anti-Christian 
 pride they strongly censured." 
 
 Housed by the growing importance of the sect, the 
 Greek emperors began to persecute the Paulicians with 
 the most sanguinary severity. Those humble Chris- 
 tians, whose only crime was their scriptural purity and 
 simplicity, were capitally punished, their books seized 
 and committed to the flames, and, if any one was found 
 to have secreted them, he was put to death and his 
 property confiscated. 
 
 A Greek officer, armed with legal and military power, 
 appeared at Colonia, to strike the shepherd, and recover 
 the lost sheep to the Catholic fold. " By a refinement 
 of cruelty, this officer (Simeon) placed the unfortunate 
 Sylvanus before a line of his disciples, who were com- 
 manded, as the price of their own pardon and the proof 
 of their repentance, to massacre their spiritual father. 
 They turned aside from the impious offer; the stones 
 dropt from their filial hands ; and of the whole number, 
 only one executioner could be found. This apostate 
 stoned to death the father of the Paulicians, who had 
 now labored among them for twenty-seven years." 
 Simeon himself, struck with the evidence of divine 
 grace in the sufferers, embraced the faith which he came 
 to destroy, resigned his honors and fortune, became a 
 zealous preacher, and sealed his testimony with his 
 blood. 
 
 For centuries afterward, the successors of the primi- 
 tive Christians continued to diffuse their light and shed 
 their blood in its defence. In 855, the emperor Theo- 
 dorus resolved to exterminate them, and is computed to 
 
 45 
 
706 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 have killed, by the gibbet, fire, and sword, one hundred 
 thousand persons. 
 
 But the reformatory movement was of God, and per- 
 secution could not stop it. Providence favored it. In 
 order to check it in Armenia, the Greek emperors, in 750, 
 and again in 970, removed large colonies of the Pauli- 
 cians across the Hellespont into Thrace. These exiles 
 from Asia, with a zeal which no hardships could re- 
 press, diffused their evangelical doctrines in Thrace, and 
 converted their northern neighbors, the Bulgarians and 
 Sclavonians, on the Lower Danube. Bulgaria became the 
 chief seat of their powerful churches. Persecution, war, 
 trade, co-operated with their missionary enterprise. 
 They gradually spread themselves over all Europe. 
 Through Macedonia, Epirus, Sicily, Lombardy, they 
 penetrated France, Spain, Germany, England. In 1017, 
 by order of the Council of Orleans, the Paulician mis- 
 sionaries, with their converts, including several of the 
 Catholic clergy, were burnt alive. A few years later 
 they were found in Swabia, and spread through Ger- 
 many, under the name of Cathari, or the Pure ; a name 
 which points out their connection with the Novatians 
 of the third, fourth, and fifth centuries, and supplies an 
 important link in church history. In Italy they were 
 called also Paterics, or Sufferers, as well as Cathari. 
 The clergy heaped all sorts of calumnies upon their 
 pure principles, in order to crush them, as off-shoots of 
 the Gnostics and Manicheans. Even Mosheim and Ne- 
 ander have been so far imposed on by these calumnies, 
 as to admit that they were tainted with those ancient 
 heresies. But, whatever may be true of individuals 
 found among them, it is not true of them, and the false 
 
PETER WALDO. TOT 
 
 accusation should be dismissed as unworthy of the 
 slightest credit in reference to the general body of the 
 Paulicians. The two sets of principles cannot coalesce ; 
 and the Paulicians themselves constantly and indig- 
 nantly repelled the calumny, and easily mingled with 
 the evangelical Waldenses and Albigenses of the twelfth 
 century. 
 
 PETEB WALDO. 
 
 Two eminent reformers of the name of Peter, appear 
 in the south of France in the twelfth century. They 
 were men of the same principles and spirit, and belong- 
 to the same great evangelical movement. Peter de 
 Bruges is the first in the movement, and, according to 
 Gaselos, he began his work as early as A. D. 1102. He 
 was a learned presbyter in the Catholic Church, who, 
 like Vigilantius, seven hundred years earlier, began his 
 work without separation from the church, but protest- 
 ing against the corruptions which he, saw festering in 
 her bosom. He did not leave her communion before 
 1110. His labors were crowned with abundant success, 
 in the conversion of great numbers to a true faith in 
 Christ, throughout Provence and Languedoc ; until the 
 populace of St. Giles, stimulated by the clergy, burnt 
 him to death in 1130. But the truth was not consumed, 
 and the work of God went on. Henry, Joseph, Arnold of 
 Brescia, caught up, in succession, the torch of saving 
 truth, and held it before the eyes of an awakening 
 people. 
 
 Peter Waldo, a rich merchant of Lyons, in 1160, was 
 
710 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 there acquired the reputation of extraordinary talents, 
 piety and scholarship. In 1361 he was chosen master 
 of his college, and made rector of Fylingham, in Lincoln- 
 shire. In 1363, he was appointed professor of theology 
 in the university. From that date, his public activity 
 as a reformer begins nine years earlier than is com- 
 monly supposed, or stated by his biographers. 
 
 From 1363 to 1384, twenty-one years, through the 
 reigns of Edward III. and Richard II., the reforming 
 labors of Wickliffe were incessant, partly by his univer- 
 sity lectures, and partly by his personal preaching, by 
 his numerous publications, by his employment of a large 
 body of pious and faithful men, under the name of 
 " Simple Priests," to preach in all the villages of the 
 kingdom ; and lastly, by the most important work of his 
 life, the TRANSLATION or THE WHOLE BIBLE INTO THE 
 ENGLISH TONGUE. This last has been justly pronounced 
 the greatest event in Anglo-Saxon history. 
 
 The modern power of the press was then unknown. 
 But he was for years- surrounded by a band of active 
 copyists and itinerants, through whom his writings and 
 translations were widely diffused, notwithstanding all the 
 efforts of his enemies. He never formally left the Church 
 of Rome ; but the light and power of God's word gradu- 
 ally expelled his own darkness, and he followed Christ 
 in that growing light, fearless of all dangers. So unspar- 
 ing was his exposure of the corruptions of the Romish 
 system, that he was repeatedly condemned as a heretic, 
 by the clergy, and the Pope at their head ; and would 
 have been sacrificed as a martyr, but for the protection 
 of the Duke of Lancaster and other powerful friends at 
 
JOHN WICKLIFFE. 711 
 
 the English court, and by other providential interpo- 
 sition. 
 
 He was driven from the University of Oxford, in 1382, 
 and spent the last three years of his life in his rectory 
 at Sutterworth, where his translation of the Bible was 
 completed and the last and best of his theological 
 writings were produced. He saw that time was short, 
 and he made the most of it for his Divine Master and 
 the souls of men. Before his enemies were able to strike 
 the long meditated blow, he was peacefully released from 
 earth, and taken forever beyond their reach. 
 
 Wickliffe advocated general principles entirely sub- 
 versive of the Papal system, and which have since be- 
 come the standard principles of Protestantism ; such as 
 the absolute supremacy of the Scriptures ; the right of all 
 men to read it for themselves ; and that no doctrine or 
 ceremony is to be received in the church which is not 
 sanctioned by the word of God. " Wise men," he said, 
 " leave that as impertinent which is not plainly expressed 
 in Scripture." On this ground he rejected the authority 
 of the Catholic church over the individual conscience ; 
 the efficacy of baptism to wash away sin ; and the per- 
 dition of unbaptized infants on which that supposed effi- 
 cacy rested. 
 
 The effect of his translation of the Bible and of his 
 other writings was prodigiously great. It is said that 
 one half of the English nation embraced his views. On 
 the continent of Europe, especially in Bohemia, his in- 
 fluence spread with resistless force. The Council of 
 Constance, in 1415, not only condemned his books, but, 
 with impotent malice, ordered his very bones to be dug 
 up and publicly burned to ashes. But, as the historian 
 
712 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Fuller observes, " The river Swink conveyed his ashes 
 into the Avon, Avon into the Severn, Severn into the 
 narrow seas, they to the main ocean, that thus they 
 are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed 
 all the world over." 
 
 JOHN HUSS. 
 
 THIS distinguished man was born at Hussirez, in 
 Bohemia, in 1373. He was educated at the University 
 of Prague, then in its greatest glory, having, it is said, 
 twenty thousand students. Among these he was dis- 
 tinguished for his talents and industry. In 1398, he 
 began to deliver public philosophical and theological 
 lectures, and was made Professor of Theology in the 
 University. In 1402, he was made preacher at the 
 Bethlehem Chapel, in Prague, and thus acquired an 
 influence over the people as well as the students. Soon 
 after, as confessor of Queen Sophia, he gained access to 
 the court of King Wenalaus. 
 
 It was at this time that Huss became acquainted with 
 the writings of Wickliffe, which the. queen and her 
 attendants had brought from England. His knowledge 
 of the Scriptures soon made him feel the power of the 
 bold English Reformer, and he became in his turn the 
 boldest advocate of a radical reform, which should 
 restore the whole church to scriptural purity and 
 simplicity. 
 
 A terrible commotion followed. About five thousand, 
 including professors and students from Germany, left 
 
JOHN HUSS. 713 
 
 the University ; but the Bohemians adhered to him. 
 la consequence of the papal schism, the nobility and 
 people favored the anti-papal spirit of his teachings. 
 Huss preached against papal indulgences, masses for 
 the dead, image worship, monastic life, set fasts, auricu- 
 lar confession, etc., declaring them, one and all, to be 
 the arbitrary inventions of spiritual despotism. To 
 withhold the cup from the laity, he also denounced as 
 unscriptural. 
 
 Alexander V., the new Pope, finally summoned him. 
 lie refused to go. Schynke, archbishop of Prague, then 
 prosecuted the preacher of scriptural truth, and, on 
 search^ two hundred volumes of Wickliffe's writings 
 being found, were burned. Huss repaired to his native 
 place, where he was protected by the Lord of Hussirez, 
 Nicholas Here, preached with success, and wrote his 
 most valuable works, those on the Six Errors, and on 
 The Church, in which he denounces the Pope, saints, 
 transubstantiation, priestly absolution, unconditional 
 submission to human authority; and proclaiming the 
 Scriptures as the only rule in matters of religion. 
 
 In 1414, being summoned before the Council of Con- 
 stance to defend his opinions, and under a safe conduct 
 from the Emperor Sigismund, he appeared before that 
 body. In spite of the emperor's safe conduct, he was 
 treated as a prisoner. The emperor ordered his libera- 
 tion, but was told that as a layman he could not inter- 
 fere in such matters, and that a promise made to a 
 heretic is not binding. 
 
 At a public examination, June 5, 1415, the leading 
 men of the Council interrupted his defence by loud and 
 
714 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 vehement outcries. On the 7th, he defended himself at 
 greater length, in the presence of the emperor. But 
 his grounds of defence were disregarded, and he was 
 given the single alternative of an unconditional recanta- 
 tion or death. July 6th, he was heard for the last 
 time, and then the sentence of death was pronounced 
 on him for his obstinacy ! Huss reminded the emperor 
 of his safe-conduct. Sigismund blushed, but was silent. 
 
 Thus, without being convicted of any error, and in 
 defiance of the word, both of God and man, John Huss 
 was that very day hurried to the stake, where he was 
 burnt alive, and his ashes thrown into the Rhine. In 
 the midst of joyful prayers he gave up his soul to 
 God. Even his enemies were struck with admiration 
 at his behavior; and Bohemia, thrilled with horror at 
 the injustice and perfidy of the Council and the emperor, 
 took up arms to avenge his death. A civil war, of a 
 terrible character and of fifteen years' continuance, 
 ensued, and as if to manifest the wrath of Heaven upon 
 the hypocrisy and cruelty of Rome. 
 
 MAE TIN LUTHEE. 
 
 THE name of Luther marks a great epoch in the his- 
 tory of Europe, and of the world. It was he who was 
 chosen by Providence to accomplish that liberation of 
 the human mind from the thraldom which had bound it 
 for a thousand years, under the dominion of a despotic 
 superstition, against which the noble struggles of so many 
 
MARTIN LUTHER. 715 
 
 reformers had been carried on, with little or no success. 
 Vigilantius, Constantine Sylvanus, Peter de Bruges, and 
 Waldo, Wickliffe, and Huss, had not lived or died in 
 vain. But they lacked one grand instrument of success, 
 which was enjoyed by Martin Luther the Printing 
 Press. This new power changed the balance of forces 
 in the moral world ; and gave to Truth a sort of omni- 
 presence in the conflict with hoary Tradition, and organ- 
 ized, hierarchical, world-wide persecution. 
 
 The principal facts in the life of Luther are well 
 known. We can only rapidly sketch them here. He 
 was born in 1483, at Eisleben, of humble but respect- 
 able parentage. He was religiously brought up, and, at 
 fourteen, was sent to school, at Magdeburg, and then to 
 Eisenach, where, like other poor scholars, he earned a 
 scanty support, by singing songs at the doors of the 
 street. He made rapid progress in study, and, in 1501, 
 entered the university at Erfurt. In 1503, he became 
 a public lecturer on Aristotle, but, at this time, made the 
 grand discovery of a Latin Bible in the library an event 
 which shaped the whole course of his future life. 
 
 The sudden death of his friend, Alexis, brought home 
 to his heart the lessons of the Bible ; and he gave up his 
 intended study of the law, for the study of theology. 
 He even entered an Augustine monastery, that he might 
 exclusively devote himself to religion. But he found, 
 by experience, that no seclusion from the world, nor 
 severity of ritual exercises, can give peace to the con- 
 science, or purity to the heart. In a word, under divine 
 teaching, he began to understand the gospel, and to grasp 
 the great life-principle of true reformation the doctrine 
 
716 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 of justification by faith alone, in the sight of God. Filled 
 with this, the joy of the Lord became his strength. 
 
 Still Luther was a devout Romanist, and a monk. 
 When he visited Rome, on the business of his order, 
 1510, he climbed the steps of St. Peter on his knees. 
 But before he left the city, his eyes were opened to the 
 hollowness and hypocrisy of the court of Rome, under 
 Leo X., and he returned thoroughly disgusted. 
 
 In 1508, he had been made professor of philosophy, 
 in the new university of Wittenberg, and in 1512, he 
 was appointed professor of theology. In this new sphere, 
 all his peculiar powers were unfolded, under the solemn 
 conviction that his oath of office bound him to the fear- 
 less defence of the holy Scriptures. His intimate ac- 
 quaintance with the Greek and Hebrew languages, the 
 classics, the fathers, the scholastic philosophy and the- 
 ology, with the fame of his eloquence, spread his name 
 over Europe, and roused general attention to the new 
 light which was breaking on his mind, from the study 
 of the Scriptures. 
 
 In 1517, October 31, Luther nailed his ninety-five 
 propositions against the sale of indulgences, to the door 
 of the church in Wittenberg. They were pronounced 
 heretical, as soon as they appeared. He was attacked by 
 Dr. Eck, and others, but stood calm and firm in the love 
 of the truth. He was summoned to Rome, but did not 
 obey. He was tried by mild, appeals from Cardinal 
 Cajetan, and the Pope's nuncio, Miltitz, and by alluring 
 offers from the Pope himself, to induce him to recant, 
 but in vain. 
 
 In 1520, Luther and his followers were excommuni- 
 
MARTIN LUTHER. 717 
 
 cated, and his writings burnt at Home. He retaliated, 
 by burning the Pope's bull at Wittenberg, December 
 10, 1520, and by this act dissolved all connection with 
 the Pope and Church of Rome. His friends besought 
 him not to brave the hierarchy, but he committed him- 
 self to the protection of God. In 1521, he went to the 
 Diet of Worms, replying to the warnings of Spalatin : 
 " If there were as many devils in Worms, as there are 
 tiles upon the roofs of the houses, I would go on." 
 There, before the imperial assembly, he defended Jiimself 
 in a speech of two hours, concluding with the memorable 
 words : " Let me then be refuted and convinced by the 
 testimony of the Scriptures, or by the clearest argu- 
 ments ; otherwise I cannot, and will not, retract ; for it 
 is neither safe nor expedient to act against t conscience. 
 Here I take my stand ; I can do no otherwise, so help 
 me, God ! Amen." 
 
 Luther left Worms with the glory of a conqueror. 
 The people everywhere received the words of a monk, 
 who defied at once the Pope and the clergy, the emperor 
 and the princes. His enemies laid plots for his life. He 
 was carried off by his friends to the fortress of Wart- 
 burg, and there translated the New Testament into 
 German. 
 
 In March, 1522, he returned to Wittenberg, and by 
 his wisdom and moderation, calmed the disturbances 
 there, by Carlstadt. Only when he thought the vital 
 truths of the gospel in danger, was he violent ; but un- 
 fortunately he regarded his doctrine of consubstantiation 
 (the real presence of Christ in the Lord's supper), in 
 ihat light. 
 
718 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 In 1525, less from inclination than from principle, 
 he married the nun Catharine von Bom, who had es- 
 caped from her convent. His design was, to restore 
 ministers of the gospel to their social rights and duties, 
 and destroy monkery. The marriage, however, was a 
 happy one. 
 
 After the Confession of Augsburg, 1530, the Reforma- 
 tion spread rapidly. But it required invincible firmness 
 to maintain the victory he had won, against the weak- 
 ness of friends, and the arts of his foes. He says : " I 
 was born to fight with devils and factions. This is the 
 reason my books are so boisterous and stormy. Let me 
 rather speak the truth with too great severity, than once 
 to act the hypocrite, and conceal the truth." 
 
 In 1534, this indefatigable man completed the trans- 
 lation of the whole Bible into German. This is his 
 immortal work. His other writings fill 60 volumes. 
 Few men have labored, prayed, or written so much. 
 Few have better served God and man. At length, worn 
 out with anxiety and toil, he quietly entered into rest, 
 February 18th, 1546, aged 63, but, like the setting sun, 
 '' leaving the world all light, all on fire, with the potent 
 contact of his own spirit." 
 
 JOHN CALVIN". 
 
 THIS second great reformer of the sixteenth century, 
 was the son of a poor but pious cooper named Chuavin, 
 of which Calvin is the Latinized form. He was born 
 at Noyon, Picardy, in the north of France, July 10th, 
 
JOHN CALVIN. 719 
 
 1509. He was indebted to the kndness of friends for 
 the advantages of a liberal education at Paris. Through 
 Olivetan he received the first germ of the reformed doc- 
 trine ; and giving up the Roman church, in which he 
 held a curacy, he turned to the study of law at the 
 age of twenty, at the same time acquiring Greek under 
 Volrnar, a friend of the new doctrine. 
 
 In 1533 he was obliged to flee from Paris, finding 
 refuge with Du Tillot, a canon of Angouleme. Here he 
 began to prepare his famous Institutes of the Christian 
 Religion, which appeared two years later, and may be 
 called the first Protestant system of theology. It was 
 dedicated to Francis I., in the hope of checking the per- 
 secution of the Protestants in France. But in this 
 object it failed. Margaret, sister of Francis I., and 
 Queen of Navarre, received him for a time, and at her 
 court he found many scholars who afterwards were use- 
 ful to his party. His Institutes were published at Basle, 
 Switzerland, in 1534, in which he seeks to show that 
 the French Protestants were neither Lutherans nor 
 Anabaptists, with whom they were confounded by the 
 Catholics. His distinguishing doctrines are, divine pre- 
 destination, total depravity of man, particular redemp- 
 tion, efficacious grace, and the final perseverance of 
 saints. He allows no other sacraments than baptism 
 and the Lord's supper ; and in the last, rejects Luther's 
 doctrine of consubstantiation, and, after some hesitation, 
 adopts the simple typical view of Zwingle. He sweeps 
 away all the saints and festivals of Popery, rejects pur- 
 gatory, and calls the mass a profanation. In church 
 government he established Presbyterian order ; all pas- 
 tors are equal ; lay elders form part of the consistory, 
 
720 LIVES OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 and all are elected by the people, who through them are 
 represented in the synod or general assemv. ly. Thus 
 many elements of primitive freedom were restored ; but 
 the union of the church with the State, and the control 
 of religion by the magistrates, was the sacrifice of 
 church independence, and the source of much persecu- 
 tion. Absolute religious liberty, such as is enjoyed in 
 the United States, was not understood by Calvin; it 
 was regarded as the error of the Anabaptists. 
 
 After visiting Italy awhile, Calvin again returned to 
 Paris. But, finding his life was not safe there, he left 
 it for Strasburg, in Switzerland ; but in passing through 
 Geneva, he was detained there by Farel, and united 
 with him in organizing and perfecting the reformation 
 in that city, in 1536. 
 
 The application of the strict discipline of the con- 
 sistory, in 1538, led to his expulsion for a time, and he 
 went on to Strasburg, where he married and settled. 
 He labored here with Bucer, and grew daily in the pub- 
 lic esteem, till he was earnestly recalled to Geneva. In 
 this latter city, which now fully accepted his doctrine 
 and discipline, Calvin spent the remainder of his life. 
 Though of a slender constitution, and subject to fre- 
 quent sickness, he accomplished a prodigious amount of 
 work. Among his numerous writings, which fill forty 
 volumes, his commentaries on the Scriptures are of sur- 
 passing worth. As a clear, logical, profound interpreter, 
 perhaps Calvin was never excelled. He died in 1564, 
 in his fifty-fifth year. 
 
 To train an able minstry, Calvin founded the acad- 
 emy or university of Geneva, over which his friend 
 Theodore Beza so long and so ably presided. But, after 
 
JOHN CALVIN. 721 
 
 two centuries, it fell under Socinian influence, owing 
 chiefly to the union of the church with the State. In 
 1832, an evangelical seminary was established on the 
 voluntary principle, where the excellent D'Aubigne now 
 presides. 
 
 The followers of Calvin in Europe (since 1561) are 
 called the Reformed, to distinguish them from the Lu- 
 therans. 
 
 46 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS, 
 
 THE term Jews, in its widest acceptation, is synony- 
 mous with Hebrews, or Israelites ; but in a more restricted 
 sense, it means the inhabitants of the kingdom of Judea, 
 as it existed in the times of our Saviour. The history 
 of this people previous to that time is contained in the 
 Old Testament and in Josephus. Their great ancestor, 
 Abraham, called the " Hebrew," by birth a Chaldean, 
 emigrated about 1921 B. c., with his wife Sarah, his 
 nephew Lot, and his numerous servants and flocks, into 
 the land of Canaan, where he settled. Here Isaac 
 his son was born, from whom the Hebrews are de- 
 scended. 
 
 Abraham's eldest son, Ishmael, whose mother was an 
 Egyptian slave, settled in Arabia. Isaac married 
 Kebecca, by whom he had two sons, Esau and Jacob, 
 the former of whom sold his birthright to the latter. 
 Jacob, surnamed Israel, or " The Strong," had twelve 
 sons, namely : Keuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, 
 Naphthali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph, and 
 Benjamin. From these were descended the Twelve 
 Tribes of Israel, or the Hebrews. 
 
 One of Jacob's sons, Joseph, came by a singular 
 course of vicissitudes, to be prime minister to one of the 
 
 722 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 723 
 
 Pharaoh kings of Egypt, and he settled his brethren in 
 a fertile district of that country, where their descendants 
 multiplied, till in two centuries they formed a numerous 
 colony, subject to the Egyptians, by whom they were 
 disliked as aliens, and treated with great harshness. 
 Being driven to despair, they found a leader in Moses, 
 who, acting under the special direction of God, led them 
 out of Egypt, to return to Canaan the possession which 
 God had promised to Abraham. The number of Israel- 
 ites who left Egypt is stated, in Exodus xii. 37, at six 
 hundred thousand men, besides women and children, 
 with their flocks and herds of cattle. Being pursued 
 by the Egyptians, they crossed the Red Sea, whose waters, 
 at the command of the Lord, divided and gave them a 
 passage on dry land ; but returned at the same moment, 
 and overwhelmed their pursuers. (B. c. 1491.) 
 
 On Mount Sinai, Moses received from God the law of 
 the Ten Commandments ; and from that time the Israel- 
 ites were taught to consider themselves as being under 
 the immediate government of the Deity, the Divine 
 will being revealed to them by their leader Moses. The 
 books of Moses, called Exodus and Leviticus, contain the 
 civil laws and social regulations, as well as the religious 
 rites and ceremonies. Other laws, which were succes- 
 sively promulgated, are found in the following books of 
 Numbers and Deuteronomy, so as to form a complete 
 body of institutions for the Hebrew nation. Of these 
 laws, some were temporary directions, suited only to 
 the nomadic state in which the Israelites spent many 
 years in the wilderness ; others are enactments intended 
 for an agricultural people, with settled habitations, and 
 
724 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 for the time when they should become possessed of the 
 promised land of Canaan. 
 
 Sanitary regulations concerning diet, cleanliness, and 
 decency, form an important part of the code, and are 
 admirably adapted to the people, country, and climate 
 for which they were intended. The political system 
 was founded upon equality, without any distinction of 
 castes; and the whole nation was to be one body of 
 husbandmen, cultivating their own property. The land 
 could not be alienated, in perpetuity ; every fiftieth year 
 a jubilee was to take place, when all estates which had 
 been alienated were to revert to their original owners, 
 and all burdens, debts, and other engagements, were to 
 cease. 
 
 One tribe, the descendants of Levi, was set apart for 
 religious service. They had no tract of country assigned 
 to them, but were to dwell by themselves in separate 
 towns or villages scattered through the territory of the 
 other tribes. Out of this class the officiating priesthood 
 was chosen, as well as the scribes and keepers of records, 
 the judges, and perhaps also the physicians. They were 
 in fact the learned class of the nation ; they read the 
 Law to the people, and they attended by rotation on the 
 officiating priests in the Tabernacle. One tenth of the 
 whole produce of the land possessed by the other tribes 
 was assigned to the Levites for their maintenance. 
 
 Each tribe had its own chieftain or prince, and the 
 heads or elders of each family constituted the provincial 
 assembly. On occasions of great emergency, national 
 assemblies were held, probably consisting of delegates 
 from each tribe ; and their resolutions were ratified by 
 the general voice of the people expressed by acclama- 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 725 
 
 tion. This took place repeatedly during their encamp- 
 ment in the desert. All who could bear arms, were 
 bound to fight in the common defence. The penal laws 
 were severe, but considerate; punishments were fixed 
 for every offence ; nothing was left to caprice. Parental 
 authority was^enforced, but the law prevented its abuse; 
 the father had rio power of death over his children, and 
 he could not disinherit them ; the first-born received 
 two portions, and the rest shared equally. 
 
 No Hebrew could be sold, or sell himself as a bondsman 
 for life ; he might hire himself for a servant for a period, 
 but at the end of six years he became free again, unless he, 
 chose to renew his term for another six years. Foreign 
 slaves, however, whether captives or purchased, with their 
 own consent might be held in perpetual bondage, both 
 they and their children ; but the law provided for their 
 protection : they were entitled to rest on the Sabbath ; 
 and on the great festivals they partook of the common 
 feasts and rejoicings. The condition of a slave among the 
 Hebrews was better than that of a slave among the Romans 
 and most other nations of antiquity. For further details 
 concerning the constitution of the Hebrews, the reader 
 is referred to "The Pentateuch," especially to the books 
 of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. 
 
 The office of high-priest was bestowed upon Aaron, 
 the brother of Moses, and his descendants in perpetuity. 
 This dignity was quite distinct from that of civil leader 
 or judge, though in course of time, some high-priests 
 occasionally united both offices in their persons. The 
 high-priest was the means of communication between 
 God and the people ; he alone could enter the recess of 
 the Sanctuary. In important cases there was a final 
 
726 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 appeal to him, and he was also consulted upon great 
 national affairs. He had the charge of the Tabernacle 
 or Sanctuary, which was the great bond of union among 
 the Tribes of Israel.* 
 
 After remaining about a year encamped at the foot 
 of Mount Sinai, the Israelites marched toward the land 
 of Canaan, and arrived at Kadesh-Barnea, on its southern 
 frontier, whence they sent spies to explore the interior. 
 After forty days the spies returned, with the informa- 
 tion that the country was rich and fertile, but the people 
 fierce, numerous, and strong, and likely to make a stout 
 resistance. The Israelites, long accustomed to bondage, 
 were frightened, and they loudly demanded to be led 
 back to Egypt. 
 
 Moses saw that the people were as yet unfit for a war 
 of conquest, and, on the authority of God, he gave the 
 order for retreat, not, however, for Egypt, but back into 
 the peninsula of Sinai, where they encamped, and set- 
 tled with their flocks and cattle, after the fashion of the 
 Bedouin Arabs. In this wilderness they remained for 
 thirty-eight years, the period assigned for their nomade 
 life, until the first generation which had come out of 
 Egypt had gradually sunk .into the grave, and a new 
 race had sprung up in the free air of the desert, trained 
 to the bold and hardy habits of the wandering Arab, 
 but with much of the arts, knowledge, and discipline 
 derived from Egypt. 
 
 At the expiration of this time, they again moved for- 
 ward to Kadesh ; but Moses perceiving that part of the 
 
 * The whole Hebrew system of Priesthood and Sacrifice was tem- 
 porary and typical of the one great eternal redemption by Christ. See 
 the Epistle to the Hebrews. 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 727 
 
 country to be mountainous and well defended, led them 
 round the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, through the 
 lands of Edom and Moab. He crossed the Jabbok, 
 defeated the Amorites and the king of Bashan, and en- 
 camped in a plain near the left bank of the Jordan, 
 above its influx into the Dead Sea, nearly opposite to 
 Jericho. 
 
 Here, after defeating the Midianites, and giving the 
 conquered country on the east of Jordan to the tribes 
 of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, he pre- 
 pared to lead the Israelites across the river. But before 
 this was effected Moses died, after bestowing his last 
 advice and blessing on the people, assembled for the 
 purpose, and appointing Joshua, a man already tried 
 for his bravery and skill, to be his successor. 
 
 Joshua crossed the Jordan and took Jericho, and 
 gradually conquered the greater part of Canaan, exter- 
 minating or driving away the former inhabitants. * 
 The events of this conquest are related in the book of 
 Joshua. The country was then divided among the 
 twelve tribes, substituting for those of Levi and Joseph, 
 the respective descendants of the two sons of the latter, 
 Manasseh and Ephraim. 
 
 In this manner the Hebrews became a settled agricul- 
 tural people, though often at war with their neighbors, 
 the Philistines, the Moabites, the Midianites, the Am- 
 
 * This was done under a special, divine commission, and expressly 
 as a punishment for inveterate iniquity. Had the Almighty employed 
 the pestilence, or famine, or fire from heaven to destroy the wicked in- 
 habitants of Canaan, it would have been no more directly Ills own 
 hand of judgment than in employing the arms of Israel, while the 
 moral effect of the latter course was even greater : for lie assured the 
 Israelites that if they practised the same iniquities, their doom should 
 be the same. 
 
728 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 monites, and other tribes. Even the whole land of 
 Canaan was not subdued till a much later period, and 
 the Canaanites remained in strength both in the north and 
 south, and repeatedly harassed the Hebrew colonists, as 
 we observe in the invasion of Sisera. On these occa- 
 sions gallant leaders arose among the Hebrews, styled 
 Sophitirn in the Scriptures, generally translated judges, 
 who assumed a sort of dictatorial authority, and rescued 
 the nation from danger : each tribe, however, retained its 
 internal form of government, and often engaged in petty 
 warfare with its neighbors on its own account. This 
 period of the history of the Jews, which is called the 
 period of the Judges, and which lasted four centuries, 
 may be considered as the heroic age of the nation, 
 which still retained a primitive simplicity of manners, 
 beautifully portrayed in the tale of Ruth. 
 
 Samuel was the last of the Judges. He drove away 
 the Philistines, who had occupied a great part of the 
 country ; but the people growing tired of these frequent 
 invasions, which they had not discipline or union enough 
 among themselves to guard against, wished for a more 
 consolidated form of government, and demanded of Samuel 
 a king to rule over them. Samuel remonstrated on the 
 dangers of despotism ; but the people were determined in 
 favor of the change, and Samuel appointed a youth 
 named Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, and anointing 
 him, solemnly gave up the authority into his hands. 
 
 The reign of Saul was long and agitated. He quar- 
 relled with Samuel, and committed various acts of 
 tyranny. Samuel then foretold the downfall of the 
 house of Saul, and secretly anointed, as his successor, 
 a youth of the tribe of Judah, called David, who was 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 729 
 
 distinguished for his bravery, as well as for the comeli- 
 ness of his person. Saul having discovered that his suc- 
 cessor was already appointed, persecuted David, whose 
 adventures constitute a narrative of romantic interest 
 in the book of Samuel. Saul fell in battle against the 
 Philistines, and David succeeded him about 1056 B. c. 
 
 The reign of David, which lasted forty years, forms a 
 splendid epoch in Jewish history. He was victorious 
 over all his neighbors. He reduced not only the whole 
 of Canaan, but took possession of the country of Edom 
 as far as the Red Sea, of Moab, of part of Syria, and 
 formed alliances with the kings of Hamath and of Tyre. 
 His power stretched from the borders of Damascus to 
 the Elanitic or eastern branch of the Red Sea, and 
 from the coast of the Philistines to near the Euphrates. 
 
 David took Jerusalem, which was a town and fort of 
 the Jebusites, a Canaanitish tribe till then unconquered, 
 and made it the capital of the kingdom. He died at an 
 old age, leaving to his son and successor, Solomon, a 
 flourishing and secure kingdom, a full treasury, and a 
 well disciplined militia. The reign of Solomon was long 
 and peaceful. He raised the famous temple on Mount 
 Moriah, on the east side of Jerusalem, and employed 
 Tyrian and other foreign artificers for the purpose. 
 
 Solomon was a very wealthy prince. He encouraged 
 commerce, and had ships on the Red Sea, manned by 
 Tynans, which traded with Ophir. His close alliance 
 with the Phoenicians was of great advantage to him. 
 He supplied them with corn ; and received timber from 
 Lebanon, and other goods, in exchange. The Phoe- 
 nician caravans to Arabia and Persia passed through 
 his dominions. His own subjects carried on a trade with 
 
730 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Egypt, with which country Solomon was on friendly 
 terms ; and he married a daughter of one of the Pharaohs. 
 He is said to have built Tadmor (or Palmyra) and 
 Baalbek. But his great expenditure, and the taxes by 
 which he supplied his wants, made the people dissatis- 
 fied ; whilst his own example encouraged them in their 
 licentiousness and effeminacy. He died after a forty 
 'years' reign ; and his son, Rehoboam, was only able to 
 retain possession of the southern part of the country, 
 comprising the territory of Judah and Benjamin which 
 then assumed the name of the kingdom of Judah ; 
 while the other Ten Tribes elected Jeroboam as their 
 king, and retained the name of the kingdom of Israel, 
 which had, first, Sichern, and afterward Samaria, for its 
 capital. This division took place about 975 B. c. 
 
 The kingdom of Israel lasted two hundred and fifty 
 years, through a succession of stormy and blood-stained 
 reigns ; and was in the end overthrown by the Assyri- 
 ans, who carried the inhabitants into captivity, from 
 which they never returned nor has the existence of 
 their progeny ever been ascertained. 
 
 The kingdom of Judah lasted above a century and a 
 half longer, under the dynasty of the house of David, 
 until Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, after repeated 
 invasions, destroyed Jerusalem, 588 B. c., and carried 
 its inhabitants into captivity. Thus the Jewish mon- 
 archy terminated after a period of about five centuries 
 from its first institution, the stirring events of which 
 period are related in the books of Kings and Chronicles. 
 During this time flourished the prophets Isaiah, Jere- 
 miah, Amos, Hosea, Joel, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 731 
 
 and Habakkuk. Daniel and Ezekiel belong to the 
 period of the captivity. 
 
 The captivity of Judah lasted seventy years; after 
 which, Cyrus, having conquered Babylon, allowed the 
 Jews to return to their own country. They assembled 
 for that purpose to the number of forty-two thousand 
 three hundred and sixty, under Zerubbabel, a descend- 
 ant of their kings; and on arriving in Judea were 
 joined by those of the common people, and cultivators 
 of the soil, who had remained in their native country. 
 They began rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple ; and 
 their neighbors, the Samaritans, who inhabited part of 
 the territory of the former kingdom of Israel, offered 
 to join them in the furtherance of the great national 
 work an offer, however, which was rejected by the 
 Jews, who looked upon the Samaritans as alien col- 
 onists, although the Samaritans themselves asserted 
 their descent from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. 
 
 When the Assyrians led the Ten Tribes into cap- 
 tivity, they probably took away only the higher classes 
 of people, as the Babylonians did with those of Judea, 
 and did not depopulate the whole country. Besides 
 which, during the course of more than two centuries, 
 and particularly after the subversion of the Assyrian 
 empire, many exiles, or descendants of exiles, may have 
 found their way back to their native land. The fact 
 that the Samaritans have preserved the " Pentateuch " 
 in the original characters, while the Jews, on their re- 
 turn from Babylon, adopted the Chaldean form of 
 letters, is strongly in favor of their Israelitish descent, 
 though they may have been mixed by alliance with 
 Assyrian and other colonists. The later Jews, how- 
 
732 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 ever, showed a deadly animosity against the Samari- 
 tans, whom they insisted on considering as aliens and 
 idolaters, although they in reality acknowledged the 
 laws of Moses. 
 
 The character of the Jews themselv.es had undergone 
 a considerable change during their Babylonish captivity. 
 They had become more exclusively attached to their 
 country and their laws, and we hear no more of their 
 proneness to idolatry after that epoch, as in former 
 times. They strictly avoided intermarriage with for- 
 eigners, and assumed in every respect that unsocial 
 spirit toward all except their own community for which 
 they have been* so often reproached. Adversity had 
 soured their minds, while the expectations of a Messiah, 
 who was announced by their prophets, roused the na- 
 tional pride. The doctrine of the immortality of the 
 soul, which, though always implied, is not explicitly 
 mentioned in the Mosaic law, was also tenaciously 
 held, especially among the great sect of the Chasadim, 
 or Pharisees. 
 
 Under the mild rule of the Persian kings, the Jews 
 enjoyed many of the advantages of independence united 
 with security. They were allowed the management of 
 their internal affairs, and the high-priest was the chief 
 magistrate. In this manner they lived quietly and un- 
 noticed, but yet thriving, for about two centuries, till 
 the year 333 B. c., when Alexander the Great, after gain- 
 ing the battle of Issus, appeared in Syria. Jerusalem 
 made its submission, and was spared by the conqueror. 
 
 After Alexander's death, Judea fell under the domin- 
 ion of the Ptolemies, who showed favor to the Jews, 
 and planted colonies of them in their capital Alexan- 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 733 
 
 dria, and at Cyrene. The high-priests continued to 
 have the direction of the internal administration of the 
 country. From the Ptolemies, Judea passed under the 
 rule of the kings of Syria, under the reign of Antiochus 
 the Great, 198 B. c. Antiochus visited Jerusalem, and 
 confirmed the privileges which the Jews had enjoyed 
 under the Ptolemies ; but under the reign of his second 
 son, Antiochus Epiphanes, owing to the intrigues of 
 several aspirants to the high-priesthood, an insurrection 
 broke out in Jerusalem, which was put down by Antio- 
 chus with great slaughter of the inhabitants. 
 
 Antiochus now attempted what no one had attempted 
 before him to force the Jews to renounce their God, 
 and worship Jupiter of Olympus, whose statue was 
 erected on the altar of the Temple. The Jews generally 
 refused. Great cruelties were committed by the officers 
 of Antiochus against the recusants in every part of 
 Judea, until a spirited resistance, begun by Mattathias, 
 and continued under his son Judas, styled Maccabee, 
 had the effect of delivering the country from the hateful 
 oppression of the Syrians. 
 
 The Maccabees were a family of heroes. After the 
 death of Judas and two of his brothers, who fell in 
 battle, Jonathan, another brother, continued the strug- 
 gle, and having formed an alliance with Rome, was left 
 at last in quiet possession of Judea. A revolution in 
 the kingdom of Syria added to his strength and impor- 
 tance. Alexander Balas, who claimed the crown of 
 Syria, offered Jonathan the high-priesthood and exemp- 
 tion from all tribute and taxes, besides other advantages, 
 if he would support him against his rival, Demetrius. 
 Jonathan assented, and Balas, having seated himself on 
 
734 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 the throne, 150 B. c., presented Jonathan with a purple 
 robe, arid appointed him Meridarch of Judea, a title 
 which, under his successors, was changed to that of 
 king. With Jonathan begins the dynasty of the Asmo- 
 naeans, or " Illustrious," which ruled Judea for about a 
 century, and under which the country resumed a degree 
 of independence and splendor which it had not experi- 
 enced since the reigns of David and Solomon. 
 
 The last of the Asmonaean dynasty were put to death 
 by Herod, son of Antipater, the Idumean, who, with the 
 support of the Romans, became king of Judea, 38 B. c. 
 He died in the same year that Christ was born. With 
 Herod, the independence of Judea may be said to have 
 expired. His son, Archelaus, was appointed Ethnarch 
 of Judea Proper, Idurnea, and Samaria; his brother, 
 Herod Antipas, had Galilee and Perea ; to Herod Philip 
 were given the provinces of Trachonitis. Batanea, and 
 Gaulonitis, east of the Jordan ; and another Philip had 
 Iturea. 
 
 Thus the dominions of Herod were dismembered 
 between four of his sons, who are accordingly called 
 Tetrarchs in the New Testament. Archelaus was sum- 
 moned to Rome, after a reign of nine years, to answer 
 certain charges brought against him by his subjects, and 
 was banished by Augustus to Vienne, in Gaul. Judea 
 thus became a Roman province, or rather a district 
 dependent on the great province or prefecture of Syria, 
 though administered by a special governor, a man 
 usually of the equestrian order. This is the state to 
 which Judea was reduced in the time of our Saviour. 
 The Jews, however, continued to enjoy the exercise of 
 their religious and municipal liberties. 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 735- 
 
 Under the reign of Claudius, Herod Agrippa, grandson 
 of Herod the Great, who had been already appointed by 
 Caligula ethnarch of Galilee, was appointed king of Judea 
 and all the former dominions of his grandfather, but he 
 died three years after at Csesarea, in Palestine, A. D. 44. 
 This is the Herod mentioned in chapter xii. of the Acts. 
 His son, called likewise Herod Agrippa, was then a 
 minor, and Judea relapsed into a Roman province. In 
 A. D. 53, Claudius gave to Herod Agrippa the provinces 
 east of the Jordan, which had belonged to Philip the 
 Tetrarch, and Nero added to them part of Galilee. But 
 Judea and Samaria continued to be administered by 
 Roman procurators. 
 
 Agrippa, however, was entrusted by the emperor with 
 the superintendence of the Temple, and the right of 
 appointing and deposing the high-priest at Jerusalem ; 
 and he occasionally resided in that cit}<, while the 
 Roman governor generally resided at Cassarea. This 
 second Herod Agrippa is the one mentioned in Acts xxv., 
 xxvi., there styled King Agrippa, whom St. Paul ad- 
 dressed in so impressive a manner in his defence. 
 Agrippa was present at the final catastrophe at Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 A succession of more than usually rapacious Roman 
 governors, Felix, Albinus, and Florus, had driven the 
 Jews to the verge of despair. A tumult, which broke 
 out at Csesarea, between the Greeks and the Jews, fol- 
 lowed by fresh exactions and cruelties of Florus, who 
 seemed to wish to drive the people into insurrection, 
 led the way to an open revolt against the Romans. 
 Agrippa, who, with his sister Berenice, happened to be 
 at Jerusalem, remonstrated with the people on the rash- 
 
736 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 ness of the attempt, but in vain, and he withdrew to his 
 own dominions. A party called the Zealots, or fanatics, 
 now obtained the ascendancy over the minds of the 
 people, and the feeble Roman garrison was overpowered 
 and massacred. At the same time the Greeks of 
 Csesarea massacred all the Jews in that city, and the 
 Roman governor, Floras, took no notice of the transac- 
 tion. 
 
 Other cities of Palestine and Syria followed the ex- 
 ample of Csesarea by a wholesale butchery of the Jews. 
 The Jews retaliated in those towns of Palestine where 
 they were the majority, by murdering the Syrians and 
 Greeks. Cestius Gallus, the Prefect of Syria, who had 
 winked at the exactions of Florus, now advanced against 
 Jerusalem with one legion and many auxiliaries, but he 
 was obliged to retire, and was completely defeated by 
 the insurgents in his retreat, with the loss of nearly six 
 thousand men. The revolt now became general through- 
 out Judea and Galilee. 
 
 Nero, who received the news in Achaia, sent for Ves- 
 pasian, an officer of tried abilities, and gave him the 
 command of Syria, A. D. 6G-7. Vespasian assembled 
 his forces at Ptolemais, where he was joined by Agrippa, 
 and by his own son Titus. His army, including auxili- 
 aries, amounted to sixty thousand men. For one year 
 he employed himself in scouring the country, and re- 
 ducing the strongholds of the Jews. In the following 
 year, A. D. 68, he was advancing to form the siege of 
 Jerusalem, when he received the news of Nero's death, 
 followed by the rapid succession of Galba, Otho, and 
 Vitellius. Vespasian kept his troops ready for a more 
 important enterprise than the taking of Jerusalem. 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 737 
 
 That city had, in consequence, a respite of nearly two 
 years, during which, however, the inhabitants destroyed 
 each other through intestine factions. At last Vespasian 
 was proclaimed emperor, and having defeated Vitellius, 
 and entered Rome, he sent his son Titus to complete the 
 subjugation of Palestine. 
 
 The regular siege began in the spring of A. D. 70, and 
 it lasted till the following September, when Jerusalem 
 was finally taken and totally destroyed, with its Temple ; 
 the inhabitants were killed or sold as slaves. The fear- 
 ful events of that siege are narrated by Josephus. The 
 Arch of Titus at Rome is a standing record of that con- 
 quest. The landed property of the country was put up 
 to sale. Still the Jewish population was by no means 
 extirpated from the country, and we find them rising in 
 vast numbers in the reign of Hadrian, and again engag- 
 ing the Roman legions, commanded by Severus. They 
 were, however, overpowered with immense slaughter, 
 and the second desolation of Judea took place. 
 
 Hadrian issued an edict forbidding circumcision, the 
 reading of the Mosaic law, and the observance of the 
 Sabbath. 
 
 The dispersion of the Jews over the world, which is 
 commonly dated from the destruction of Jerusalem, had 
 in reality begun long before. The Ptolemies had trans- 
 planted large colonies of them into Egypt, Gyrene, 
 and Cyprus; and Antiochus the Great settled great 
 numbers in the towns of Asia. In the time of Cicero 
 there was a wealthy Jewish community in Italy. A 
 passage of Philo, in his letter to Agrippa, enumerates 
 the countries in which the Jews were settled in the time 
 of Caligula : Egypt, Syria, Pamphylia, Cilicia, the great* 
 
 47 
 
738 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 est part of Asia Minor as far as Bithynia, the shores of 
 the Euxine, Macedonia, Thessaly, .ZEtolia, Attica, the 
 Peloponnesus, Cyprus, and Crete, besides the countries 
 beyond the Euphrates ; for at the end of the Babylonish 
 captivity, many Jews voluntarily remained in Mesopo- 
 tamia, where they continued to form for several years a 
 considerable community alternately under the Parthian 
 and Roman dominion. After the final destruction of 
 Jerusalem, the Mesopotamian Jews acknowledged an 
 hereditary chief, who was called " The Prince of the Cap- 
 tivity ; " while the western Jews, who were scattered all 
 over the Roman empire, had their spiritual head in the 
 Patriarch of Tiberias. The civil condition of the Jews 
 throughout the Roman empire has been not unaptly 
 compared with that of the Greeks under the Turks. 
 
 Under the Antonines and the succeeding emperors, the 
 harsh provisions of the edict of Hadrian were either re- 
 voked or allowed to lie dormant, and the Jews were 
 left to follow their old usages and rites, being only pro- 
 hibited from making proselytes. New synagogues were 
 erected by them, and schools opened in the principal 
 cities of the empire. The Jews, by means of their com- 
 mercial industry, acquired considerable wealth; many 
 of them obtained the rank of Roman citizens, and at the 
 same time exemption from military service. During 
 this period of peace, Rabbi Jehuda, one of the Patri- 
 archs of Tiberias, composed the Mischna, or code of 
 traditional law, in which he embodied all the authorized 
 interpretations of the Mosaic law, the decisions of the 
 learned, and the precedents of the courts or schools. 
 At a later period, Rabbi Ascha, a learned Mesopotamian 
 Jew, with the assistance of his disciples, compiled the 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 739 
 
 " Gemara," which, with the " Mischna," forms the 
 " Babylonian Talmud," a work in which the most ab- 
 surd traditions are mixed up with wise precepts, profound 
 allegories, and pleasing moral apologues. 
 
 Constantine made several laws concerning the Jews : 
 one forbidding them to endanger the lives of Christian 
 converts; another prohibiting Christians from embracing 
 Judaism ; and a third prohibiting Jews from possessing 
 Christian slaves. Under his successor Constantius, an 
 insurrection which broke out in Judea, and another 
 tumult at Alexandria, in which the Jews were deeply 
 implicated, gave occasion to fresh enactments against 
 them. They were heavily taxed, were forbidden to 
 marry Christian women, and the edict of Hadrian, which 
 prohibited their approaching near Jerusalem, was for- 
 mally renewed. 
 
 Julian favored the Jews, and proposed to restore their 
 Temple. Some extraordinary appearances, which are 
 related by Ammianus Marcellinus, frightened the work- 
 men who were employed in the restoration, and the 
 death of Julian put an end to the design. Under the 
 following emperors the Jews were protected by (he 
 state, though often annoyed by the intemperate zeal of 
 the more violent Christian churchmen. 
 
 Laws were passed by Theodosius and confirmed by 
 Arcadius and Honorius, recognizing the power of the 
 Jewish patriarch to punish the refractory members of 
 their own community, and the prefects were forbidden 
 from interfering with his judicial authority. In disputes 
 with the Christians, both parties appeared before the 
 ordinary tribunals. Under Theodosius II., the Jews 
 Were forbidden from publicly celebrating certain festivals 
 
740 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 which occasioned collisions between them and the Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 Theodoric and the other Gothic kings of Italy, pro- 
 tected the Jews. During the frequent wars and inva- 
 sions of that period, the Jews had the slave-trade of 
 Europe in great measure in their hands; and several 
 councils, and Pope Gregory I., interfered to prevent 
 their abusing the power which they had thus acquired 
 over the persons of Christiana. That wise and humane 
 pope, in his pastoral letters, bewails and denounces this 
 traffic, which was carried on in Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, 
 and France ; he directs the bishops to interfere so as to 
 prevent Jews from retaining Christians ; slaves, who 
 had been long in possession of Jewish landed proprie- 
 tors, should be considered as " villains " attached to the 
 soil, and should not be transplanted or sold away. He 
 also entreated the Frankish kings to banish the traffic 
 in slaves from their dominions. 
 
 Justinian was one of the first who enacted really op- 
 pressive and intolerant laws against the Jews. In liti- 
 gations between Christians and Jews, or between Chris- 
 tians only, their testimony was admitted; but that of 
 a Samaritan or a Manichgean, was of no value. By 
 another law, all unbelievers, heathens, Jews, and 
 Samaritans, could neither be judges nor prefects, nor fill 
 any other dignity in the State. Justinian also enacted, 
 that in mixed marriages between Jews and Christians, 
 the chief authority over the children should rest with 
 the Christian parent. A Jew parent could not disin- 
 herit his Christian child. But the Samaritans were 
 treated more harshly ; they were entirely deprived of 
 the right of bequeathing or conveying their property to 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 741 
 
 unbelievers. Those of their children who embraced 
 Christianity inherited to the exclusion of the rest. 
 Samaritans could not sue in courts of law. Their syna- 
 gogues were ordered to be destroyed. 
 
 By a subsequent edict, and on the humane interposi- 
 tion of Sergius, Bishop of Csesarea, Justinian somewhat 
 mitigated the rigor of these enactments against the 
 Samaritans; but his son, Justin, again enforced the 
 original statutes against them. The effect of this perse- 
 cution seems to have been to extinguish gradually that 
 once flourishing community, the members of which 
 probably embraced Christianity for the preservation of 
 their property. In subsequent history, the Samaritans 
 no longer appear as a separate people. In the 17th 
 century, however, a small community of them was dis- 
 covered in the neighborhood of their holy Mount Geri- 
 zim, who still possessed the law in the old Samaritan 
 character, and their descendants still exist to this day. 
 
 The Jews, however, were too strong to be annihilated, 
 like the Samaritans, by imperial edicts : they had even 
 the power of revenge. When Chosroes II. invaded 
 Syria, the Jews of Palestine rose to join the Persians, 
 with whom they entered Jerusalem, then a Christian 
 city, and perpetrated a dreadful slaughter of the Chris- 
 tian inhabitants. They are said to have purchased at 
 a cheap price the captives of their allies, the Persians, 
 for the sake of murdering them. The victories of 
 Heraclius, however, soon put an end to their momentary 
 triumph. 
 
 The rise of Mohammedanism brought an unfavorable 
 change to the eastern Jews. Mohammed endeavored 
 at first to win them over, but the Jews would not 
 
742 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 acknowledge a descendant of Hagar, the bondwoman, 
 as the greatest of prophets; and Mohammed treated 
 them without mercy in Arabia, where they were at that 
 time numerous. But under the Caliphs, his successors, 
 they were protected on the easy terms of paying tribute ; 
 and as they made no resistance, they experienced not 
 only protection but even encouragement from their new 
 masters, whom they followed through their tide of con- 
 quest along the coast of Northern Africa. They also 
 contributed materially to the triumph of the Crescent 
 in the Spanish peninsula. 
 
 In Spain, under the Gothic kings, the Jews experi- 
 enced the first of those sweeping proscriptions which 
 they were doomed to suffer in every country in Christian 
 Europe. A series of oppressive laws were passed against 
 them under the significant title of " Statutes against 
 Jewish wickedness, and for the general extirpation of 
 Jewish errors." At last, king Sisibut (Sisebert) com- 
 manded them either to forsake their religion, or to leave 
 the country. Many fled, others were thrown into prison, 
 and ninety thousand are said to have received baptism. 
 
 The Fourth Council of Toledo mitigated the rigor of 
 the laws against the Jews by declaring, " that men 
 ought not to be compelled to believe by force, although 
 all who had once embraced the faith must be constrained 
 to adhere to it." But the Eighth Council of Toledo, 
 A. D. 653, re-enforced the former statutes against the 
 Jews ; and following councils enacted more rigorous laws. 
 One hundred lashes on the naked body, chains, mutila- 
 tion, banishment, and confiscation, were the. punishment 
 of those who observed Jewish practices and rites. All 
 converted Jews were put under the strictest surveillance. 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 74 1 
 
 The acts of the Twelfth Council of Toledo concerning 
 the Jews are a complete model of ecclesiastical intoler- 
 ance and refinement in persecution. Under king Egica, 
 while the Saracens were spreading along the shore of 
 Africa, opposite to Spain, a general conspiracy of the 
 Jew r s was reported ; and another council passed a decree 
 to disperse the whole race as slaves, confiscate their 
 property, and seize all their children, under seventeen 
 years of age, to be brought up as Christians. Many 
 escaped to return with the Saracen invaders ; and the 
 munificence of the Mohammedan princes toward them 
 indicates that by their knowledge of the country the 
 Jews had been highly instrumental in advancing the 
 conquest. 
 
 In Moorish Spain, the Jews had really a golderi age, 
 which lasted for centuries. There they cultivated science 
 and learning : and the names of Benjamin of Tudela, 
 Isaac of Cordova, Hasdar, the confidant of Abdarrahman, 
 and a host of others, attest their proficiency. Rodriguez 
 de Castro and Vicente Ximino give notices of the 
 writings of the Spanish Jews. At the same time they 
 were thriving in the east under the Caliphs of Bagdad, 
 whose favor they enjoyed, at least until the end of the 
 10th century. 
 
 Charlemagne protected the Jews like his other sub- 
 jects ; they filled municipal offices ; they were physicians 
 and bankers; and Isaac, a Jew, was chosen by that 
 emperor as his ambassador to Haroun-al-Raschid, Caliph 
 of Bagdad, a mission which was considered of the great- 
 est importance at the time. The Jews enjoyed the same 
 or even greater influence under Louis le Debonnaire 
 
744 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 and Charles the Bold; but toward the end of the latter 
 reign, the clergy began afresh to show their hostility. 
 
 The Council of Meaux re-enacted the exclusion of 
 Jews from all civil offices ; but it was under the third 
 or Capet dynasty that the Jews suffered real persecution 
 in France. Philippe Auguste, pressed by the wants of 
 an empty exchequer, and perhaps also by the reports of 
 fanatics, who charged the Jews with all s,orts of crimes, 
 banished, A. D. 1180, all the Jews from his dominions, 
 confiscated their property, and declared all debts due to 
 them to be annulled. About twenty years afterward, 
 the Jews were allowed to re-enter France, which they 
 did in great numbers. This was the beginning of a series 
 of alternate proscriptions and relaxations, continued 
 under the following reigns for about two centuries, until 
 they were finally expelled under Charles VI. 
 
 In Germany, about the same age, they suffered under 
 sudden bursts of popular fanaticism. They were mas- 
 sacred at the cry of " Hep ! Hep ! " the initials of the 
 words, " Hierosolyma est perdita." St. Bernard and 
 Pope Eugenius III. loudly reprobated these atrocities. 
 In Italy, the Jews seemed to have enjoyed greater, 
 though not always uninterrupted security; but their 
 safest asylum was Poland, where Casimir the Great 
 allowed them considerable privileges, and where they 
 formed the only middle order between the nobles and 
 the serfs. It was in Spain and Portugal, after the ex- 
 pulsion of the Moors, that the proscription of the Jews 
 was most sweeping and effectual. The regular In- 
 quisition, established under Ferdinand and Isabella, 
 undertook the task of punishing all relapsed converts. 
 As for the unconverted Jews, the edict of 1492, made 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 745 
 
 at the instigation of the inquisitor Torquemada, ban 
 ished them all from the kingdom. The number of 
 Jews thus expelled from Spain has been vaguely esti- 
 mated at half a million, and even eight hundred thou- 
 sand. They were allowed to carry away or sell only 
 their movables. Few of them consented to embrace 
 Christianity in order to remain. Soon afterward they 
 were driven away from Portugal also, with circum- 
 stances of still greater barbarity. Many perished, and 
 others took refuge on the African coast. The expulsion 
 of the Jews, and that of the Moors, or Moriscoes, 
 drained Spain of its most useful subjects. 
 
 Throughout the dominions of the Sultan the Jews 
 were allowed to settle and follow their trades, though 
 looked upon with scorn by the Osmanlees. In the 
 regencies of Barbary they settled likewise in great 
 numbers. 
 
 Puring the eighteenth century a milder spirit of 
 toleration manifested itself toward the Jews in several 
 countries of Europe. Maria Theresa and Joseph I. 
 gave them equal rights, and subjected them to the same 
 laws as the Christians. Frederick, called the Great, 
 was not so liberal toward them, for he laid them under 
 peculiar restrictions and disqualifications. In Holland 
 they have long formed a highly flourishing, honorable, 
 and intelligent community. 
 
 Napoleon, in 1806, assembled a Sanhedrin, at Paris ; 
 and submitted to them twelve questions concerning the 
 moral and social doctrines and discipline of the Jews. 
 Their answers being found satisfactory, an ordinance 
 was issued giving the Jews, a regular organization 
 throughout France, and placing them on the same foot- 
 
746 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 ing as other Frenchmen. This system has remained 
 unaltered. The King of Prussia, and other German 
 powers, have followed the example. In Russia the 
 Jews are subject to many restrictions, especially the 
 Rabbis. 
 
 The Jews in France are reckoned at fifty thousand ; 
 in Italy, thirty-six thousand; in the Austrian empire, 
 five hundred and twenty thousand; in Prussia, one 
 hundred and thirty-five thousand ; in the rest of Ger- 
 many, one hundred and thirty-eight thousand ; in Hol- 
 land and Belgium, eighty thousand ; in Great Britain, 
 thirty thousand; in Russia and Poland, six hundred 
 and fifty-eight thousand ; in the Turkish dominions they 
 have been vaguely estimated at eight hundred thousand ; 
 in Persia they are few and oppressed ; there are com- 
 munities of them at Bokhara and other parts of Tar- 
 tary, in India, and even in China. In the United States 
 they are reckoned at about fifty thousand. 
 
 It does not appear at what time the Jews found their 
 way to England, but they were settled there in the 
 Saxon period, and even as early as A. D. 650. From the 
 time of the Conquest, the Jews in England rapidly in- 
 creased in numbers. Under the three first Norman 
 kings they lived undisturbed, as we are informed, and 
 apparently acquired great wealth. But under Stephen 
 and his successors they suffered grievously from the 
 rapacity of the kings, and the bigoted intolerance of 
 the people. The cruel persecutions they experienced 
 from all persons, both lay and ecclesiastical, poor and 
 rich, are fully attested, not only by their own writers, 
 but by the evidence of their enemies. 
 
 Finally, in the reign of Edward I., about A. D. 1290, 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 747 
 
 all the Jews were banished from the kingdom. Their 
 numbers at that time are conjectured (but on what 
 grounds we are not aware) to have been between fifteen 
 and sixteen thousand. It was not till after the Resto- 
 ration, A. D. 1660, that the Jews again settled in Eng- 
 land ; and though, under the Protectorate, they had 
 entered into negotiations with Cromwell to obtain per- 
 mission to enter the island, nothing seems to have been 
 done in the matter; and those who have investigated 
 the subject, bring forward no proof of leave being for- 
 mally granted them to return. After the Restoration, 
 it seems probable that they came in gradually, without 
 either permission or opposition; and since that time 
 foreign Jews have been on the same footing as other 
 aliens with respect to entering that country. In the 
 year 1753, an act was passed to enable foreign Jews to 
 be naturalized without taking the sacrament ; but the 
 act was repealed in the following session, under the in- 
 fluence of popular feeling, which was most strongly 
 opposed to the measure of 1753. Since then they have 
 been unmolested ; and very recently laws have been 
 passed granting them civil rights, and enabling them 
 even to take seats in Parliament without the necessity 
 of taking an oath forbidden by their law. 
 
 In the United States, the Jews enjoy the same 
 rights as other citizens, and their number is rapidly 
 increasing. 
 
 " There is," says James Douglas, Esq., " one good omen 
 for the future success of Christianity, and its universal 
 diffusion, in the present existence of the Jews through- 
 out every climate under heaven. When the whole 
 
748 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 world, with the exception of Judea, had lost the worship 
 of the one only God, there seemed little prospect, in 
 human probability, of that pure worship being restored 
 in all the countries of the earth, and less, that it would 
 be restored by Jews, whose very dispensation was con- 
 fined to the land of Judea; but so it is, the unity of the 
 Deity has become, in one sense, universally recognized, 
 by the Jews being universally dispersed ; and in coun- 
 tries in which Christianity has failed to establish itself, 
 the Jews remain perpetual witnesses of the unity of the 
 Godhead. That the knowledge of the true God should, 
 in this way, be scattered and sown over the whole earth, 
 like seed scattered by the winds, gives hope that, in 
 after ages, there will be a better seed time, and a more 
 abundant harvest; since Christianity, by the natural 
 order of events, and its superiority of advanced civiliza- 
 tion, will naturally spread over the world. Its supre- 
 macy in knowledge, its improvements in life, and its 
 opinions in religion, are alike adapted to a higher state 
 of civilization. 
 
 " It is impossible that this pre-eminence which Europe 
 has attained, can for ever remain pent up by those 
 mutual jealousies which have retarded the development 
 of the forces of its States ; and the time must come when 
 the torrent which has been so long resisted will burst 
 with accumulated strength, and precipitate itself over all 
 the adjoining countries. Europe, even in those States 
 where the government is worse, and information at the 
 lowest ebb, is wonderfully increasing in population, and 
 in knowledge, in the arts of war and of peace, in agri- 
 culture and in commerce ; and the new States of America 
 are entering upon a fresh career of advancement, and, 
 
HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 749 
 
 while they are doubling their own resources in the 
 rapidity of their progress, they are about to communi- 
 cate a new impulse to European enterprise. 
 
 " The reverse is the prospect of the countries that are 
 not Christian ; instead of hope and enterprise, there are 
 apathy and inertness, and instead of growth, there is a 
 slow but certain decay. In the Mahometan States, so- 
 ciety is turned backward, and retracing its steps; vil- 
 lages are brought under the plough, and the field that 
 was once cultivated is abandoned to the wandering 
 herdsmen, and the tent is pitched beside the broken 
 pillars of the palace. Of philosophers there are only to 
 be found the tombs, and whatever learning the Mos- 
 lems had, is retained, not in schools, but in libraries. It 
 is Christian States alone that suspend the fate of the 
 Mahometan kingdoms, and the Turks subsist but at the 
 mercy of those whom they have so often conquered. 
 But no obstacle can long resist which is ever worn away 
 by the current, and brief must the duration of those 
 powers be, which oppose themselves to the stream of 
 events, and rest only on foundations which are fast 
 mouldering into dust. Weak are the allies of that gov- 
 ernment which places its reliance in ignorance and 
 inactivity, to oppose the changes of opinion and desire 
 of improvement in men's minds already half emanci- 
 pated, and who feel their fetters worn off and falling 
 away. 
 
 "It would also be extremely desirable that some 
 learned men should devote their attention to exhibit to 
 the Jews, under every shape, the futility of their rabbini- 
 cal traditions and writings, and the insuperable difficulties 
 under which the Mosaic dispensation labors, unless it 
 
750 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 be acknowledged that it is fulfilled and terminated in 
 Christianity. If the Jews can once be brought to reflect, 
 it is impossible but they must feel how. untenable is their 
 adherence to the law of Moses a dispensation which 
 was strictly local, and which their dispersion among the 
 Gentiles has itself abrogated and rendered of none 
 effect." 
 
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