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 SCRIPTURE BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 BY 
 FRANCIS TRENCH, 
 
 RECTOR OP ISLIP, OXON. 
 
 OXFORD: 
 
 PRINTED BY JAMES WRIGHT, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY, 
 AND SOLD BY 
 
 WERTHEIM AND MACINTOSH, 
 
 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. 
 
 M.DCCC.LVII.
 
 OLD 87 0."J^Z.1 
 Or THE COMMITTEE
 
 Stack 
 Annex 
 
 5* 
 
 03& 
 
 C ( ) N T E N T S. 
 
 ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST 1 
 
 ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST 257 
 
 JUDAS JSOARIOT 270 
 
 ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE 283 
 
 PONTIUS PILATE 293 
 
 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR 308 
 
 APOLLOS THE PREACHER 324 
 
 ENOCH AND ELIJAH 339 
 
 ISAIAH, HIS LIFE AND PROPHECY 351 
 
 JEREMIAH, HIS LIFE AND PROPHECY 364 
 
 EZEKIEL, HIS LIFE AND PROPHECY 381 
 
 DANIEL THE PROPHET 394 
 
 2000411
 
 " Ea progrediemur
 
 " Ea progrediemur methodo, ut vera pro virili eruamus 
 atque illustremus, dubia autem ad lancem rationis expen- 
 damus, ea, quse aperte falsa sunt, quamvis illorum prse 
 reliquis longe maxima sylva reperiatur, silentio fere prae- 
 tereuntes.'''' Lampe, Proleg. in Joan. 1. 1. c. i. ..i.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 . 1. St. John's family p. 1. 
 
 . 2. St. John, as, in all probability, the unnamed disciple 
 of the first chapter of his Gospel 4. 
 
 . 3. St. John's call, as a permanent follower of Christ. 8. 
 
 . 4. St. John attending Jesus as a special witness of his 
 miracles. . ^ 20. 
 
 . 5. St. John surnamed Boanerges. Mark iii. 17. ... 21. 
 
 . 6. St. John as a witness to Christ raising the daughter 
 of Jairus to life. Luke viii. 49-56 25. 
 
 . 7. St. John at the transfiguration, an eyewitness of 
 Christ's majesty. Matt. xvii. 1-9; Mark ix. 2; Luke 
 ix. 28 27. 
 
 . 8. St. John's address to Jesus on the man who did 
 miracles in his name, but did not follow his disciples. 37. 
 
 . 9. St. John proposing to call down fire from heaven 
 on the Samaritans. Luke ix. 51-56. . ..48.
 
 vi CONTENTS. 
 
 . 10. St. John, as one of the two sons of Zebedee, mak- 
 ing his ambitious claim for preferment in Christ's king- 
 dom. Matt. xx. 17-28. Mark x. 32-46 62. 
 
 . 11. St. John sent to prepare the Passover. Matt. 
 xxvi. 17. Mark xiv. 12. Luke xxii. 8 84. 
 
 . 12. St. John, as " the disciple whom Jesus loved." 
 John xiii.23 87. 
 
 . 13. St. John at the Agony in the garden. Matt, 
 xxvi. 36-46. Mark xiv. 33-42. Luke xxii. 39-46. 
 Also a notice of the young man who fled away naked, 
 St. Mark xiv. 51, 52, and of the disciple known unto the 
 high priest. John xviii. 15 , 96. 
 
 . 14. St. John at the Cross. John xxv. 25-27 107. 
 
 . 15. St. John at the sepulchre. John xx. 110. ... 113. 
 
 . 16. St. John at the sea of Tiberias after the resurrec- 
 tion. John xxi. 20-24 119. 
 
 .17. St. John healing the lame man, confessing Christ, and 
 brought before the council. Acts iii. & iv. 1-32. ... 1 28. 
 
 . 18. St. John's visit to Samaria. Acts viii. 14-26... 138. 
 
 . 19. St. John at the council in Jerusalem. Acts xv. 
 Gal. ii.6 11 154. 
 
 . 20. St. John dwelling at Jerusalem 166. 
 
 . 21. St. John's final departure from Jerusalem. ... 172. 
 
 . 22. St. John at Ephesus 175. 
 
 . 23 St. John and the record of the boiling oil 183. 
 
 .24. St. John at Patmos 193.
 
 CONTENTS. vii 
 
 . 25. St. John in connexion with Cerinthus and the 
 bath 204. 
 
 . 26. St. John in connexion with the young robber. 211. 
 
 . 27. St. John's disciples 222. 
 
 .28. St. John's friends 229. 
 
 . 29. St. John's last and oft-repeated address 231. 
 
 .30. St. John's death 235. 
 
 . 31. CONCLUSION 246.
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 OF 
 
 ST. JOHN. 
 
 THERE are no available means for obtaining 
 information on the genealogy, birth, infancy, 
 or early days of St. John. It is even uncertain 
 to what tribe he belonged : but as a very general 
 tradition prevailed in the early Church that he 
 was of the tribe of Judah, and akin to our 
 Saviour himself, it may be well to observe that 
 his parents' sojourn in Galilee does not at all 
 preclude the possibility of his having belonged 
 to that tribe, since the Jews who returned from 
 the Babylonish captivity were in many instances 
 scattered indiscriminately through the whole of 
 Palestine. 
 
 We know that he was the son of Zebedee and 
 Salome. Of the former we hear nothing, except 
 that he was the father of James and John, and 
 that, at a certain time, he pursued the calling of 
 a fisherman at the sea of Galilee.
 
 15 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 Of Salome, we know from Scripture that she 
 became a constant and devoted attendant on the 
 Lord : and it is not, of course, unlikely that God 
 had prepared her as "good ground" even before 
 the time when she appears as his follower. If 
 so, her influence upon her two favoured sons, in 
 their early and youthful life, may have been a 
 preparative for their future vocation, and not 
 devoid of that salutary effect, which so often has 
 resulted from a mother's piety. But, as we do not 
 know when she herself first became the subject 
 of Divine grace, or what her character was before 
 she followed Christ, all this must be conjectural, 
 and therefore requires no further attention. 
 
 This very uncertainty and lack of information 
 concerning the whole early life of one so distin- 
 guished as St. John should not be passed over 
 without special notice. Indeed, among all the 
 saints and servants of God, whose history is 
 given in the New Testament, there are only 
 two, of whose early life we have received any 
 detailed narrative 51 . I refer to John the Baptist 
 
 a The same fact I mean that of scriptural silence applies, if 
 not so exclusively, at least very generally, to their latter years 
 and death. For though we know that " James the brother of 
 John" was killed by the sword of Herod (Acts xii. i.), and that 
 Peter must have died the violent death foretold by the Lord 
 (John xxi. 1 8.) ; still the paucity of information handed down in 
 the pages of Scripture relative to Christ's apostles, and others 
 connected with his ministry and life, is a very remarkable fact, 
 and quite unaccountable, except on some hypothesis such as that 
 above mentioned. Aware of the natural tendency in man to 
 misplace the honour due to God only, we shall do well to 
 remember and apply these things, and to contrast the detailed
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 3 
 
 and St. Paul. And, strictly speaking, this remark 
 might be confined to the former, as to any regular 
 and systematic account ; for our information relat- 
 ing to St. Paul's early life is gathered from 
 detached statements and allusions, scattered 
 through the Acts and Epistles. Led by many 
 analogies, we may reasonably suppose that this 
 lack or scantiness of statement concerning mere 
 men has been so appointed for two reasons 
 first, that our energies, both moral and intel- 
 lectual, should mainly be directed to and con- 
 centrated on the life of our Lord Jesus himself, 
 as a whole, from his infancy unto his death ; and, 
 secondly, to mark, that in the case of his minis- 
 tering servants, the first hour of their ministerial 
 functions was, in reality, the grand commence- 
 ment of a course, in comparison with which all 
 their previous history was of no moment or 
 significance. 
 
 The call of St. John, as a chosen apostle of 
 Christ, and as one so greatly and variously 
 honored b , very clearly illustrates the position 
 here laid down. His case stands in prominent 
 confirmation of the Lord's testimony, that " the 
 
 accounts of the rising, shining and setting of the " Sun of 
 righteousness" in the person and life of Christ. 
 
 b " On account of the Apocalypse, he is in a strict sense a 
 prophet, and has thereby one considerable addition to his titles, 
 being not only an apostle and evangelist, but a prophet : an 
 honor peculiar to himself. Peter was an apostle, but properly 
 no evangelist : Mark an evangelist, but no apostle : St. Matthew 
 an apostle and evangelist, but no prophet : but St. John was 
 both an apostle, an evangelist, and a prophet." Cave, Life of 
 St. John. c. 14. 
 
 B2
 
 4 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 kingdom of God cometh not with observation," 
 that the first rise and progress of the Gospel, and 
 the history of those specially connected with its 
 early promulgation, should be as a " root out of 
 a dry ground," as coming from quarters unex- 
 pected, and away from man's sight. 
 
 Keeping this in mind, we shall not give undue 
 weight to those apocryphal and unfounded state- 
 ments on St. John's early life, of which, without 
 doubt, some might be brought forward. Those 
 who fabricated them, and those who have re- 
 peated them, may have thought it essential to 
 his honor and office and celebrity, that something 
 of the kind should be told. But guided by the 
 principle just brought to mind, we need not 
 expect or desire any such records, and therefore 
 may proceed, without lingering here, to consider 
 that, which has been deemed by the Holy Spirit 
 adequate for us to know, and which is accordingly 
 written in the Word of God. 
 
 . 2. St. John, as, in all probability, the unnamed 
 disciple of the first chapter of his Gospel. 
 
 St. John himself does not give, in his Gospel, 
 any express narrative, on which attention can be 
 decidedly fixed, as descriptive of his own call, 
 either to the discipleship or to the apostleship of 
 Christ. At the same time, the first chapter of 
 that Gospel, from the 35th to the 40th verse, 
 affords a very interesting subject of inquiry, as 
 to the possible, or rather, as to the probable time,
 
 OP ST. JOHN. 5 
 
 at which he became a disciple of our Lord. Cer- 
 tainly, his name is not there directly mentioned, 
 nor is any periphrasis used, such as that of " the 
 disciple whom Jesus loved." If it were so, the 
 matter would, of course, be at once decided. 
 Assurance on the subject is not attainable; but 
 it may be stated that both ancient and modern 
 commentators have very generally united in the 
 belief that St. John actually was the unnamed 
 disciple spoken of in that passage. Lampe, in 
 his Commentary, has marked what he holds to 
 be three degrees in the call of St. John, as a 
 follower of Christ viz. his call to the disciple- 
 ship, (John i. 3740) after which he continued 
 to follow his business for a short time his call 
 to be one of the attendants on Christ (Matt. iv. 
 21, 22.) and his call to be an apostle, when the 
 surname of Boanerges was given to him and to 
 his brother. And the same writer has adduced, 
 among the reasons for holding that St. John does c 
 refer to himself in the first chapter of his Gospel, 
 the fact of the close intimacy which existed 
 between him and two others mentioned there, 
 namely, Andrew and Peter the very minute 
 accuracy d , as to the description given of the 
 
 c " Primum vocationis momentum a plerisque statim post 
 baptismum Jesu figitur, qui conjiciunt Joannem fuisse anonymum 
 ilium Baptists discipulum, qui testimonio Magistri sui inductus 
 (J. i. 37 42.) una cum Andrea ad Jesum venit." He then quotes 
 for this opinion, Chrysostom and Theophylact, among the an- 
 cients, and among the moderns, Lightfoot, Hammond, Basnage, 
 and others. Proleg. in Joan. lib. i. c. 2. 
 
 <1 This accuracy in detail is, for instance, very observable in the
 
 6 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 circumstances, to which reference is made as 
 establishing this view the difficulty of assigning 
 any other reason why the name of one individual 
 alone should be withheld, when the names of 
 four other apostles are given in connexion with 
 the narrative; viz., Andrew, Peter, Philip and 
 Nathanael and lastly, the antecedent likelihood 
 that St. John would commence his history of 
 facts, from those very facts of which he had been 
 himself an eyewitness. I have selected these 
 arguments, as being to my mind the most valid, 
 among many others which might be brought 
 forward. The author from whom I have ga- 
 thered them ends the section in which he treats 
 of the subject by observing, that if the conclusion 
 which he draws is correct, then the modesty 6 of 
 St. John is the more worthy of attention ; who 
 passes over in silence (as to any expression of 
 his own name) a matter in which he might have 
 had much reason to glory according to the flesh. 
 For under this supposition he would have been 
 either the first, or at all events, among the very 
 
 39th verse, where the very hour of the day is mentioned, in 
 which one of those facts took place, concerning the history 
 involved in our present research. And if it be correct that St. 
 John was the unnamed disciple of this passage, how notable and 
 memorable this very hour must have been to him, as that in 
 which he first knew the Lord by face, and at which, in a certain 
 degree, his apostleship commenced. 
 
 e " Cum autem speciem veritatis insignem haec conjectura 
 habeat, eo magis modestia Johannis est exosculanda, qui silentio 
 hanc prserogativam involvit, in qua secundum carnem gloriari 
 potuisset, quod inter primes et forte primus ad Jesum accesserit 
 ex omnibus apostolis." Proleg. in Joan. 1. i. c. ii. . 2.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 7 
 
 first, of all the apostles whom the Lord chose and 
 called. 
 
 Lightfoot, in his Harmony of the Gospels, when 
 commenting on the 5th chapter of St. Luke, has 
 the following passage in corroboration of the view 
 just taken : 
 
 "Whereas there is mention of two of John's 
 disciples, who first followed Jesus f , and Andrew 
 named for one of them, there is none so likely 
 to be the other as John himself, who wrote the 
 story: and this may appear probable, not only 
 from his partnership with Andrew in the fishing 
 trade, (and so might they go together to John's 
 baptism,) but also because he concealeth the 
 name of that disciple, whereas he mentioneth 
 the name of all the rest ; as he useth to conceal 
 generally his own name throughout all his 
 Gospel." 
 
 With this Caves altogether agrees ; and these 
 authorities may fully justify the assignment of 
 no slight probability to the fact of St. John being 
 thus first presented to the eye of the Church in 
 the Word of God. It is not my intention to 
 
 f It must however be remembered (as the same author with 
 his usual discrimination has noticed), that if this view is taken, a 
 careful distinction must be made between the call of John as a 
 disciple for a season and as one permanently. Otherwise the 
 statement of John would not harmonize with that of Matthew. 
 
 S " Before his coming to Christ, he seems for some time to 
 have been disciple to John the Baptist, being probably that other 
 disciple that was with Andrew, when they left the Baptist to 
 follow our Saviour ; so particularly does he relate all circum- 
 stances of that transaction, though modestly, as in other parts of 
 the Gospel, concealing his own name." Life of John, . i.
 
 8 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 make any lengthened deductions, as to his cha- 
 racter, from any thing uncertain, but no one can 
 fail to observe the readiness to follow Christ 
 manifest in that unnamed disciple of the Baptist, 
 who on hearing his word, " Behold the Lamb of 
 God," at h once followed Jesus, and on this inquiry, 
 "Whom seek ye?" asked where He dwelt, and 
 received the invitation, " Come and see," and 
 " came and saw where Jesus dwelt, and abode 
 with him that day." 
 
 . 3. The call of St. John, as a permanent follower 
 
 of Christ. 
 
 The call of St. John to be a permanent follower 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ is recorded, as we may 
 conclude, with an accuracy 1 quite sufficient for 
 
 h If the supposition on this matter is correct, and the argu- 
 ments brought forward are deserving of weight, then we may 
 perhaps trace the mighty effect of this first designation of the 
 Lord in St. John's ears even to the end of his days, and hear it 
 echoed by him in the twenty-six (if not more) repetitions of that 
 blessed name " The Lamb" in the Apocalyptic page. 
 
 i I intentionally avoid any entrance on the difficult question, 
 so fully treated by the Harmonizers of the Gospel, as to the 
 identity of these three several narratives. Any treatment of such 
 topics would much interrupt the course of this narrative, and of 
 necessity be very incomplete after all. My readers must be 
 content, as 1 have thought it right to be, with such assumptions 
 on these points, as are acceptable to many, if not to all inter- 
 preters of Scripture, who have bestowed their labours upon such 
 investigations. Spanheim, in his Dubia Evangelica, Greswell, in 
 his Harmony of the Gospels, Townshend, in his Chronological 
 Arrangement of the New Testament, and R. C. Trench, in his 
 Miracles, may be consulted on the question involved by the 
 narrative now under review in the text. And I shall be satisfied
 
 OP ST. JOHN. 9 
 
 such a subject as that on which we are engaged 
 in Matt. iv. 21, 22. Mark i. 19, 20. Luke v. 
 
 That call will soon become the subject of our 
 thoughts; but, as a preliminary statement, it 
 must be brought to mind that Jesus, having 
 heard of John the Baptist being cast into prison, 
 and acting in the spirit of his humiliation by 
 withdrawing from similar dangers to himself, 
 rather than defeating them by his Divine power, 
 had quitted Judaea, and had arrived in Galilee, 
 (Matt. iv. 12. Mark i. 14. Luke iv. 14. John iv. 1 
 42.) There he went about " in the power of the 
 Spirit," " preaching the gospel of the kingdom of 
 God," " teaching in their synagogues," and " being 
 glorified of all." Specially we hear of his preach- 
 ing at Nazareth; and we are indebted to the 
 Gospel of St. Luke for the narrative of that 
 sabbath-day, when, being in the synagogue of 
 Nazareth, he "stood up for to read," and ex- 
 pounded from a passage in the 61st chapter of 
 
 merely with observing, after Robinson, in his Harmony of the 
 four Gospels, that St. Luke may be considered as relating more 
 particularly the former part of the transaction, including the 
 putting forth on the waters of the lake in Simon's boat, and also 
 the miraculous draught : while he passes lightly over the latter 
 part. Matthew and Mark, on the other hand, do no more than 
 narrate the former portion generally, while they give the latter 
 in more detail. The same author quotes from Spanheim : " Quae 
 narrantur a Luca, ilia non negantur a Matthaeo, sed praetermit- 
 tuntur tantum. Nihil vero frequentius quam qusedam prsetermitti 
 ab his, suppleri ab aliis, ne vel scriptores sacri ex compacto 
 scripsisse viderentur, vel lectores uni ex illis, reliquis spretis, 
 hsererent."
 
 10 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 Isaiah, telling of his own office and of his own 
 work, as the Saviour of men. On his thus 
 preaching, it is written, that " all bare him wit- 
 ness, and wondered at the gracious words which 
 proceeded out of his mouth." Nevertheless, he 
 had to apply that proverb to himself, " No pro- 
 phet is accepted in his own country." For the 
 moment that Jesus began to check and contradict 
 the haughty and exclusive sentiments which 
 those present held, " they were filled with wrath, 
 and rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and 
 led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their 
 city was built, that they might cast him down 
 headlong. But he, passing through the midst of 
 them, went his way, and came down to Caper- 
 naum." 
 
 Nazareth was an inland town, about half way 
 between the sea of Tiberias and the Mediter- 
 ranean; but Capernaum was on the border of 
 the former lake or sea. Of Capernaum, as an 
 inhabited city or village, no vestige remains. 
 It knew not the "day of its visitation;" and 
 the Lord's judgment 15 upon it has been to the 
 uttermost fulfilled. The face of nature is how- 
 ever still the same. Still the same precipitous 
 shores enclose the same unchanged and un- 
 changeable element, which once bore the Lord 
 Jesus on its surface, and on which he walked 
 in his own majesty. We now therefore, for 
 the first time, see him dwelling on the side of 
 
 k Matt. xi. 23.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 11 
 
 that lake, which he rendered so renowned for 
 ever 1 . Now was fulfilled, (as we are told by 
 St. Matthew,) that " which was spoken by Esaias 
 the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and 
 the land of Nepthalim, by the way of the sea, 
 beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles ; the 
 people which sat in darkness saw great light; 
 and to them which sat in the region and shadow 
 of death light is sprung up 1 "." Jesus himself 
 was that light, coming to dwell and to shine 
 at Capernaum, situated on the border of the 
 two tribes above named. And Jesus acted thus, 
 not merely as fulfilling prophecy, but also (as to 
 the place of his sojourn and frequent ministry) 
 in that spirit of humiliation, which he carried out 
 and exemplified in all the circumstances of his 
 life. For this region formed a remote quarter 
 of the Holy Land, far from Jerusalem, the holy 
 city and the centre of Divine ordinances. More- 
 over, from its proximity to the region of the 
 
 1 John xxi. and elsewhere. 
 
 m Matt. iv. 14 1 6. The geographical difficulty may occur 
 here, that Capernaum is not beyond but on this side Jordan, 
 relative to the place where both Isaiah and the evangelists wrote. 
 I have not found a better comment on the word than the follow- 
 ing from the Latin notes to the Greek Testament, published in 
 London an. 1768 : " Oportet ista voce (irepav) hie idem significari 
 quod irapu, juxta, circa, vel ad ; et apud Hellenistas quidem 
 omnem tractum flumini conterminum significat, sive citeriorem, 
 sive ulteriorem." Usually, and in classic Greek, the crossing of 
 water is implied in the word, (Liddell and Scott's Lexicon,) but it 
 is not so in the Greek of the New Testament. " trtpav dicitur de 
 limite non modo ulteriori sed citeriori." Bengel, Grotius and 
 Vitringa translate the word juxta.
 
 12 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 Gentiles, it was in the very neighbourhood and 
 shadow of spiritual ignorance, darkness and 
 death. We know too the contempt in which it 
 was held from taunting sayings of the time: 
 " Shall Christ come out of Galilee ? " " Search 
 and see ; for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." 
 Notwithstanding all this, or, rather, we may 
 conclude, in consequence of these characteristics 
 of the place, the Lord Jesus Christ became 
 a dweller by the sea of Galilee. Thence too 
 he chose his apostles people of an humble 
 rank fishermen, earning their subsistence with 
 their hands and not only so, but those very 
 apostles Peter and James and John, whom he 
 admitted to the closest intimacy, and whom he 
 took with him, as his witnesses, on some of the 
 most solemn and mysterious occasions of his 
 whole life. 
 
 On the margin of this lake" one so large as 
 
 n A short but interesting account of this lake, reciting its 
 various names, and containing quotations from Pliny and Josephus, 
 as well as from the modern travellers, Buckingham and Clarke, 
 may be read in Home's introduction to the Scriptures, vol. iii. 
 part i. ch. ii. sect. i. I quote one from a large number of descrip- 
 tions known to the reader of Travels in the Holy Land. 
 
 " Lake of Tiberias ; called also the lake of Cinnereth or Gene- 
 sereth, and the sea of Galilee. This inland sea is a fine expanse of 
 water, spreading itself along the eastern coast of Lower Galilee, 
 It is about seventeen miles long and from six to nine in breadth ; 
 enclosed on all sides by lofty hills except at the entrance and out- 
 lets of the Jordan, which flows through it from north to south. 
 These hills protect it, in a great measure, from storms and tem- 
 pests, and its surface is usually as smooth as that of the Dead sea. 
 It is however, at some seasons of the year, visited by squalls.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 13 
 
 to be entitled a sea Jesus was accustomed to 
 walk, as a teacher. There he personally taught 
 the people, before he called his apostles to a 
 share in that ministry, in which he himself ever 
 led the way. On one of the days in which he 
 was thus employed, that event took place, which 
 
 whirlwinds, and sudden gusts from the mountains ; especially where 
 the strong current, created by the passage of the Jordan through 
 the lake, is opposed by a south-easterly wind. Its surface is then 
 lashed into violent commotion, and owing to the suddenness and 
 fitful variableness of these squalls, the small craft, formerly used 
 on the lake for the purpose of fishing, would be in great danger 
 of foundering. A storm of this description a sudden gust or 
 whirlwind sweeping down from the mountains is evidently de- 
 noted by the language of the evangelist (Luke viii. 23, 24.). 
 Dr. Clarke describes the lake of Tiberias as presenting one of 
 the most sublime and striking prospects in the Holy Land. It is 
 larger than any of our Cumberland lakes; though it yields in 
 majesty to the stupendous features of Loch Lomond in Scotland. 
 It does not possess the vastness, the broad and bold expanse of 
 the lake of Geneva, though it strongly resembles it in picturesque 
 beauty. This vast sheet of water, covering the bottom of a pro- 
 found valley ; environed by lofty and precipitous hills ; its clear, 
 smooth, transparent surface stretching out before you like a 
 mirror of liquid silver, added to a certain indefinable sensation of 
 awe, which the historical associations of the spot awaken, pro- 
 duce impressions of sublimity and interest, not surpassed by any 
 of the romantic landscapes of Palestine. On the borders of the 
 lake once stood the cities of Chorazin, Capernaum, and Beth- 
 saida, which were often visited by our Saviour, and wherein most 
 of his mighty works were done. On the beach of Gennesareth, 
 in all probability, Jesus stood when he uttered the prophetic 
 denouncement recorded by Matthew xi. 21. And where are 
 Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum now ? " Brought down ;" 
 blotted out of the page of being. They now lie in ruin a ruin 
 so irreparable and complete, that the very sites on which they 
 stood can with difficulty be recognised." Bannister's Survey of 
 the Holy Land, pp. 130-1.
 
 14 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke severally 
 and distinctly record, each with particular de- 
 tails. I shall now put them together, in order 
 to form a full and comprehensive narrative of 
 all the attendant circumstances. 
 
 During the course of the day in question, the 
 crowd so pressed and thronged upon Jesus, that, 
 for the convenience of preaching, he entered a 
 ship which was close to the shore, and "taught 
 the people out of the ship." This ship, or fishing- 
 boat, was the property of Simon, to whom, after 
 his teaching was ended, Jesus said, "Launch out 
 into the deep, and let down your nets for a 
 draught." Andrew was engaged in the same 
 fishing-boat as Simon. Another ship was near, 
 in which a certain number of fishermen were 
 engaged, who were partners with Simon and 
 Peter namely, James, and John, with Zebedee 
 their father, together with some " hired servants." 
 Andrew and Simon, though they had taken no- 
 thing all the night P, obeyed the Lord's word, 
 enclosed a "great multitude of fishes in their net," 
 and beckoned to their partners for assistance. 
 Nevertheless their two ships began to sink from 
 the quantity of fish taken. We are specially 
 told that at this miraculous draught Simon 
 
 Matt. iv. 17 22. Mark i. 14 20. Luke v. i 1 1. 
 
 P It has been well observed, (and applied by Calvin and by 
 other commentators,) that, according to nature, the night is the 
 most favorable time for catching fish; but in this instance of 
 successful endeavour the power of the Lord and the miracle itself 
 were additionally magnified from its taking place in the day, after 
 a night of unrequited toil.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 15 
 
 Peter, James and John were astonished ; and 
 the former, from the very first quick in feeling, 
 and ever ready to speak and to act on the 
 impulse of the moment, "fell down at Jesus's 
 knees, saying, Depart from me ; for I am a sinful 
 man, LordV 
 
 Thus far, and concerning the earlier events of 
 that day, we mainly depend on the narrative of 
 St. Luke. St. Matthew and St. Mark now unite 
 their testimony to that of the other evangelist. 
 
 Jesus now said to Peter and Andrew his 
 brother, " Follow me, and I will make you fishers 
 of men. And they straightway left their nets 
 and followed him." This was their call. On it 
 we need not dwell any farther; but directing 
 our attention to Zebedee, to his sons James and 
 John, and to the hired servants engaged with 
 them in their avocation, we shall find that they 
 were now occupied in mending the nets, recently 
 broken by the " multitude of fishes" taken as 
 above described. Jesus had traversed some space 
 of ground, and some little time had undoubtedly 
 elapsed since the call of Andrew and Simon, 
 because, after that transaction, Jesus is spoken 
 
 1 " Binas piscaturas prodigiosas, quibus Johannes noster spe- 
 ciatim interfuit. Historia Evangelica memorat. . . . Has nullum 
 dubium est id commune cum cseteris Christ! miraculis habuisse, 
 ut typi fuerint et quidem efficacise verbi Evangelic!, tarn in pri- 
 mordio quam in tine N. T." Lampe Proleg. in Joan. 1. i. c. i. 
 . 12. He is speaking in allusion to this miracle at the com- 
 mencement of our Saviour's ministry, and to another of the same 
 character at its very termination on the earth namely, as re- 
 corded in the last chapter of the Gospel of St. John.
 
 16 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 of in one of the narratives as " going on from 
 thence ;" in another, as " having gone a little 
 farther thence." And this appears worthy of 
 notice, for it shews that we have no reason to 
 consider that James and John absolutely wit- 
 nessed the call of Andrew and Simon, or were 
 at all influenced by the alacrity with which they 
 had obeyed. A superficial observation of the nar- 
 rative will in all probability leave the opposite 
 but incorrect conclusion on the mind. 
 
 This may be the fit place to introduce a few 
 observations on the condition and circumstances 
 of St. John's family and of the apostle himself. 
 And here it is needful to discriminate with care, 
 because some writers have sought too much to 
 exalt them, thinking thereby to give additional 
 credit to his office, while, on the other hand, some 
 have sought too much to depress them, by way of 
 giving more honour still to Him, who, in spite of 
 natural circumstances, made St. John what he 
 was r . 
 
 r On the one side Chrysostom may be quoted, who speaks of 
 him as sprung from a poor fisherman Trarpos aXifus, irevrjros, and 
 speaks of his trade as necessitating extreme poverty and a most 
 illiterate condition. Alluding to that calling, he says a\iov 8i 
 ovBev irevecrrepov ov8e dreXeorepoi', aXX' ov8e dfMadfcrTfpov yevoir' av. 
 Horn, i.in Johan. The whole passage is very curious. It forms 
 a kind of sorites of argument to prove his low condition, and thus, 
 in the writer's mind, (as I have noticed in the text,) to exalt the 
 grace and power of God in endowing him as He did. 
 
 On the other hand, Jerome speaks of him as one, who " propter 
 generis nobilitatem notus erat Pontifici." Cave, who would have 
 willingly received such a statement, had there been any due 
 grounds for it, only introduces it for the purpose of refutation.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 17 
 
 The condition of his family was certainly not 
 of the poorest ; for his father had under him 
 "hired servants" most likely assistants in his 
 calling. Moreover Salome, the wife of Zebedee, 
 and the mother of James and John, is expressly 
 mentioned as one of those women who followed 
 Jesus, and ministered unto him (Mark xv. 40), 
 as we may conclude from another passage (Luke 
 viii. 2, 3), " of their substance." On the other 
 hand, we know from the Acts (iv. 13), that 
 St. John was not a man of learning, in the eye 
 and consideration of the Jews. For when Peter 
 and John had united in healing the lame man at 
 the Beautiful gate of the temple, and, having 
 "preached through Jesus the resurrection from 
 the dead," were brought before the high priest and 
 his assembled company, and shewed much bold- 
 ness in the presence of these high authorities, 
 the wonder was increased in consequence of their 
 perceiving that Peter and John were " s unlearned 
 
 8 The Greek words thus rendered are these, dypapparoi KOI 
 tSicorai expressions in which there is, perhaps, something more 
 technical more especially derived from the course of education 
 pursued among the Jews, than can with accuracy be conveyed 
 by any English translation. The question of the Jews, with 
 reference to Jesus, as a public teacher, was, na>s OVTOS ypannara 
 otSe fj.f] /jLfnadrjKMs ; John vii. 15. 
 
 On this appellation, as given to Peter and John, Whitby writes, 
 " This for three centuries was the objection against the professors 
 of Christianity. These were the names given them by Lucian 
 (ai/^o)7roitSiooTa),Celsus(dypoTarot avdpwrot), Asclepiades,Csecilius, 
 (literarum rudes) Porphyry, Hierocles, Julian, and by all the 
 heathens, as Justin, Tatius, Minucius, Tertullian, Arnobius and 
 Lactantius testify : and though that is not wholly true, yet it is 
 C
 
 18 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 and ignorant men" that is, not men of education, 
 as we should probably say. Such a one, as to 
 his state and condition in life, was that person 
 with whom we have to do, and whom Jesus 
 called when he summoned the two brethren, 
 James and John, to himself. "And he called 
 them*." 
 
 "A divine power went along with the word, 
 which they no sooner heard, but cheerfully com- 
 plied with it, leaving all to follow him. They did 
 not stay to dispute his commands, to argue the 
 probability of his promise, solicitously to inquire 
 into the minute consequences of the undertaking, 
 what troubles and hazards might attend this new 
 employment, but readily delivered up themselves 
 to whatever services he should appoint them u ." 
 Like Abraham of old time, they " conferred not 
 with flesh and blood." "They left their father 
 Zebedee x in the ship with the hired servants, and 
 
 a great confirmation of the Christian faith, and shews, as Justin 
 Martyr well observes, that it was not of human but of divine 
 original." Comment, on Acts iv. 13. 
 
 Home defines the dyjod/i/xarot KOI Idiwrat as " persons in private 
 stations of life, who were neither rabbis nor magistrates, aud 
 such as had not studied in the schools of the Pharisees, and 
 consequently were ignorant of the rabbinical learning and tradi- 
 tions of the Jews." 
 
 * " Sequimini me, tarn corpore quam animo, relicto hoc vitse 
 genere. Jamdudum isti, Johanne praedicante, in Christum cre- 
 diderant, eique frequenter adfuerant. Sed nondum indivulse 
 Christo adhserebant, quin ad artem suam redirent &c. Vocatio 
 itaque haec non est ad fidem, sed ad munus, ut sint Discipuli 
 tandemque Apostoli." Synopsis Pol. ad loc. 
 
 u Cave, Life of James the Great, . 2. 
 
 x Of Zebedee, the father of St. James and St. John, we hear
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 19 
 
 went after him." His call was imperative, as 
 being the call of God; and they had faith and 
 obedience to receive it as such. And thus they 
 were prepared for the fulfilment, in themselves, 
 of that very promise which Jesus subsequently 
 made, and which none but God Himself would 
 ever have sanctioned or declared ; " Every one 
 that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, 
 or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, 
 for my name's sake, and the gospel, shall receive 
 an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting 
 life?." 
 
 John is now numbered among the chosen wit- 
 nesses and constant attendants of Christ. And it 
 may be that certain celebrated prophecies were 
 now specially fulfilled even those of Moses and 
 Jacob the one telling that Zebulun and Issa- 
 char, tribes geographically Galilean in their site, 
 should call the people to offer sacrifices of right- 
 eousness z ; the other that Napthali, of the same 
 locality, should " give goodly words a ." For the 
 only acceptable "sacrifices of righteousness" are 
 
 nothing more ; but some have considered that the fact of Salome 
 being numbered among the women who followed our Lord from 
 Galilee, and ministered to him of their substance, renders it by no 
 means improbable that Zebedee also became a follower of Christ. 
 But this, of course, is conjectural, and needs no farther remark. 
 Lampe says, " Sunt qui suspicantur, cum nusquam historia ejus 
 porro mentionem faciat, brevi post vocationem filiorum suorum 
 eum diem obiisse." But the supposition above stated seems to 
 me more worthy of acceptance, in default of any positive account 
 bearing on the subject. 
 
 y Matt. xix. 29. ' Deut. xxxiii. 18, 19. a Gen. xlix. 21. 
 C2
 
 20 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 those offered unto God in the name of Jesus 
 Christ, to whom souls were called by these fisher- 
 men of Galilee ; and of all " goodly words" ever 
 spoken by men upon this earth, they were the 
 goodliest which were heard and learned from his 
 lips, who " spake as never man spake," and which 
 were forwarded by his Galilean hearers among 
 all nations. 
 
 $ 4. St. John attending Jesus as a special witness of 
 his miracles. 
 
 Immediately after the call of these fishermen 
 to become "fishers of men b ," it is narrated by 
 St. Mark (ch. i. v. 20, 21.) that " they," namely, 
 Jesus and his newly chosen followers, " went into 
 Capernaum, and straightway on the Sabbath day 
 he entered into the synagogue and taught." The 
 events of that glorious day occupy the next thir- 
 teen verses of that Gospel. On that single day 
 Jesus healed a man who had an " unclean spirit," 
 Peter's wife's mother, who " lay sick of a fever," 
 and "many that were sick of divers diseases" 
 and tormented with devils. All beholders were 
 amazed, and "immediately his fame spread abroad 
 throughout all the region round about Galilee." 
 But I only refer here to this history, in conse- 
 quence of its connection with St. John. Of all 
 
 b No illustration of this, our Lord's own phrase, can meet it 
 so well as his own parable, subsequently spoken ; " The kingdom 
 of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and ga- 
 thered of every kind." Matt. xiii. 47.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 21 
 
 these marvellous and gracious acts he was a 
 chosen witness, and had the peculiar privilege 
 of being in Simon's house (Mark i. 29) when Christ 
 "rebuked the fever," (Luke iv. 39), and it departed 
 at his word. Neither can we doubt that, on the 
 next day, when " Simon and they that were with 
 him" (Mark i. 36) followed after Jesus to that 
 solitary place, whither he had gone, in the midst 
 of his work and fame, for the purpose of retire- 
 ment and prayer, John was of that number who 
 conveyed to him the message, " All men seek for 
 thee ;" and that, when the Lord said, " Let us go 
 into the next towns, that I may preach there 
 also," John was one summoned, and one of those 
 by whom Jesus was attended in that very cir- 
 cuit. 
 
 . 5. St. John surnamed Boanerges. Mark iii. 17. 
 We do not meet with any statement recorded 
 in any of the four Gospels as referring peculiarly 
 to St. John, until we arrive at that narrative, 
 telling, that after a night spent on a mountain in 
 prayer, our Lord first " ordained," and then gave 
 a charge to his twelve apostles, Matt, x ; Mark iii ; 
 Luke vi. One only of these three evangelists 
 mentions a circumstance connected, on this occa- 
 sion, with St. John, namely, his reception of a 
 new name c , or rather the addition of a certain 
 
 c " Nominum mutatio aut impositio a Deo, aut in illis additio, 
 spiritualis gratise est indicium. Exempla Abrahami, Sane, Ja- 
 cobi, Joshuse, Joannis Baptistse, ipsiusque Jesu nimis nota sunt, 
 quain ut de eo dubitare integrum sit. Uude jam turn Joannes
 
 22 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 title to the name which he previously bore. I 
 allude to the following verse in St. Mark's Gospel, 
 where, having mentioned "James the son of Ze- 
 bedee and John the brother of James," the evan- 
 gelist tells us that Jesus " surnamed them Boa- 
 nerges^ which is, The sons of thunder." Now 
 without any doubt this epithet has reference 
 either to some distinguished faculties for effectu- 
 ally preaching the word of God from their natu- 
 ral temperament, or to some qualities bestowed 
 upon them for their work at the time of their 
 
 noster de amore Domini erga se singulari certior fiebat. Neque 
 alienum a re est, quod alii observarunt, servis et quidem digni- 
 tate eminentibus a Dominis nomina esse mutata. Hoc contigit 
 Josepho a Pharone, Gen. xli. 45 ; Danieli a Nebuchadnezare i. 7; 
 Eliakimo a Nechone 2 Paral. xxxvi. 4. Merito ergo illius quo- 
 que novum nomen est imposition, qui in tarn illustre ministerium 
 supremi Domini adsciscebantur, et editiorem in eo nanciscebantur 
 locum." Lampe, Proleg. in Joan. 1. I. c. ii. . 8. 
 
 d Omnino videtur mihi Christus in hujus nominis impositione 
 respexisse ad vaticinium Agg. ii. 7, ubi verbum illud comparet 
 unde nomen hoc derivatum est." Beza in Pol. Syn. ad. loc. 
 
 Boanerges, rendered and translated by the evangelist into viol 
 ppovrrjs, is an Hebrew name, expressed in Greek letters. As ob- 
 served in the quotation, just introduced, the substantive trans- 
 lated thunder bears the closest affinity to the verb in Haggai, 
 which is translated, "I will shake ;" a passage, no doubt, preparing 
 the way for allusion to that kingdom of Christ "which cannot be 
 moved." The name Boanerges then, given by Jesus to James and 
 John, imports that they should be eminent instruments in accom- 
 plishing this wondrous change, and should, like thunder or an 
 earthquake, mightily bear down all opposition by their inspired 
 preaching and miraculous powers. Virgil has a figure somewhat 
 similar when he calls the two Scipios " duo fulmina belli." 
 
 A multitude of passages occur in the early fathers relative to 
 this title. Those who desire to examine them may consult the 
 notes, o, p, and q, in Lampe's Proleg. in Joan. 1. I. c. ii. . 12.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 23 
 
 appointment to it ; or rather, and far more pro- 
 bably, to the union of both these qualifications. 
 Theophylact says that they were thus marked 
 
 Out, W9 /xe'yaAo/o/jOi'Ka? /cat OeoXoyiKWTaTOV?. As it 
 
 was now specially needful to awaken men from 
 their spiritual sleep by the loud peal and trumpet 
 of the gospel, so James and John, being adapted 
 by the Lord to this very office, were surnamed 
 " Sons of thunder," as resembling thunder in spi- 
 ritual power and effect. So he, who resembled 
 abstract perdition, is entitled the " son of perdi- 
 tion," and he who resembled abstract consolation 
 is called in Scripture " the son of consolation" 
 (Acts iv. 36). We may be well assured that John 
 answered to this title, for it was given him by 
 Jesus himself, whose every word was substance 
 and truth, and attended with full and all-suffi- 
 cient power to accomplish in a man every jot 
 and tittle of those characteristics which he indi- 
 cated or expressed as his. It is not for us to 
 pass any judgment here on the ministry and 
 writings of St. John, as to their apparent and 
 most obvious features. It is not for us to say 
 that little, known and observed by us, responds to 
 this title ; nor to assume, that, because the name 
 and character of St. John may be deservedly and 
 rightly associated in our minds with all that is 
 tender and gentle and loving, he could not and 
 did not lift up his voice like a trumpet, and speak 
 with manifest power attending his words to con- 
 vince and conquer, not less than to win and at- 
 tract It is not for us to say that he did not
 
 24 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 awaken the conscience of men, through the de- 
 livery of that word which is "quick and powerful, 
 and sharper than any two-edged sword." Like his 
 great Master, of whose spirit he so abundantly par- 
 took, he was full of love ; and he spoke, no doubt, 
 and wrote very much of love of God's love to us, 
 and of ours as due to Him, and towards our bre- 
 thren and all men. But love does not interfere 
 with nor exclude fidelity. Love will not tolerate 
 sin, nor silence him who feels it, in denunciation 
 of its heinousness e . On the contrary, love is the 
 very source from which the awakening voice, 
 addressed to the transgressor, and calling him to 
 repent, will most surely proceed. We may search 
 the mighty prophets, and all the writers and 
 speakers in God's holy word, of whose messages 
 power is the special mark, but never shall we 
 find language so awakening in its tone, so much 
 adapted to ring with loud peal to the very con- 
 science, and to arouse all who may hear, as it 
 were with the voice of thunder, than when listen- 
 ing to the " Lord of glory," who so loved us as to 
 give his life for us, and whose very name, as writ- 
 ten in the Scripture, was love. (1 John iv. 16.) 
 
 e Robert Hall having alluded to the " benign affections," so 
 evident in St. John, adds, " his meekness and tenderness, how- 
 ever, were never indulged at the expense of truth, his adherence 
 to which was inviolable ; nor did he fail to express the utmost 
 
 abhorrence at any attempt to corrupt it His benevolence 
 
 spent itself, not in a hollow and unmeaning complaisance to the 
 impugners of the gospel, but in efforts to convert them, and just 
 in proportion as he loved his fellow-creatures, was his anxiety to 
 preserve, unimpaired, and unmixed, the doctrine by which they 
 were to be be saved." Sermon on the funeral of Dr. Ryland.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 25 
 
 . 6. St. John as a witness to Christ raising the 
 ter of J air us to life. Luke viii. 49 56. 
 
 The next occasion on which John appears in a 
 peculiar position, I mean in one distinct from 
 that held by the Apostles at large, is when he, 
 with two others, was selected by our Lord as a 
 witness to that preeminently glorious kind of 
 miracle, even restoration of the dead to life a 
 miracle so rare, that, so far as we know, it was 
 only performed by Jesus three times during the 
 whole of his personal ministry on earth ; namely, 
 in the case of the son of the widow of Nain, in 
 that of Jairus's daughter, and in that of Lazarus. 
 The raising of the widow's son had already taken 
 place (Luke vii. 11), in the presence of many of 
 the Lord's disciples, with numerous other specta- 
 tors, at the gate of a city, on the occasion of a 
 funeral procession, and, in a word, Avith very con- 
 siderable publicity. Increased publicity attended 
 the raising of Lazarus. 
 
 Very different however were the circumstances 
 which took place at that miracle which Jesus 
 performed when he restored the daughter of 
 Jairus to life. Of that the chamber of sickness 
 was the scene, and few were the honoured wit- 
 nesses. But of these John was one. 
 
 Jesus had been accompanied to the house of 
 Jairus by his disciples and a multitude of people 
 thronging him. But into the house " he suffered 
 no man to follow him, save Peter and James, and
 
 26 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 John the brother of James," who, with " the fa- 
 ther and mother of the maiden," making up 
 altogether five witnesses, were the only personal 
 spectators of the miraculous deed f , when Jesus 
 spoke the word, " Maid, arise," and when the spi- 
 rit, which had fled, returned to the body once 
 more &. 
 
 It is not requisite to dwell here on the circum- 
 stances of a more general nature, relative to this 
 honour and distinction granted to the three apo- 
 stles, but remembering that God, though he could 
 of course dispense with all means, nevertheless 
 continually appears as one using means to qua- 
 lify the instruments whom he employs for his 
 own peculiar work, can we not discern how very 
 appropriate was John's presence at the time? 
 For he in due season was to be that favoured 
 evangelist, who, although leaving to others the 
 narrative of this special miracle, so accurately 
 told by them, was himself to relate in all its full 
 and wondrous detail the history of Lazarus raised 
 from the dead, and by whose pen alone the Holy 
 Spirit was to testify, in that "word which abideth 
 for ever," how Jesus declared of himself, " I am 
 the resurrection and the life : he that believeth 
 in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, 
 
 f Mark v. 22, 23 : 35 43 ; Luke viii. 41, 42 : 49 56. 
 
 s For the explanation of the motives, on which, apparently, our 
 Lord charged the parents of the damsel to tell no man what was 
 done, and in which he similarly acted on several other occasions, 
 see a very interesting chapter on the Prudence of Christ's min- 
 istry, in the Bishop of Winchester's work on the " Ministerial 
 Character of Christ."
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 27 
 
 and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 
 never die h ." 
 
 . 7. St. John at the transfiguration, an eyewitness of 
 Chrisfs majesty. Matt. xvii. 1 9 ; Mark ix. 2 ; 
 Luke ix. 28. 
 
 Although the matter is not one beyond the 
 region of inquiry, still it is very generally be- 
 lieved and to that belief the writer of these 
 pages would give his full and unhesitating assent 
 that when our Lord Jesus Christ uttered the 
 words, "Verily I say unto you, There be some 
 standing here, which shall not taste of death till 
 they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom," 
 he referred to Peter, James, and John, as those 
 who should be present, before many days should 
 pass, at his transfiguration on the mount. The 
 three several accounts of that manifestation, 
 contained in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and 
 Luke, are each immediately prefaced by the state- 
 ment which I have above quoted ; and though, 
 as I have said before, there may be some possible 
 doubt as to the event to which our Lord refers, 
 still there can be no possible doubt that in each 
 Gospel the same event is foretold, and the same 
 persons designated by our Lord. 
 
 Assuming then that the transfiguration is the 
 event foretold, and at all events being summoned 
 to treat of St. John, as one whom we know to 
 
 h John xi. 25, 26.
 
 28 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 have been a chosen spectator of Christ's glory 
 on the mount, I must now refer to that event, 
 though, of course briefly, as a preparation for 
 considering the part which on that occasion was 
 assigned to him. 
 
 When Peter presumed to dissuade his Master 
 from the cross and its ignominy, Jesus first re- 
 buked him, and then exhorted his followers to 
 be of and manifest a spirit very different to that 
 which had been just displayed '. He gave them 
 the strongest motives and the most animating 
 encouragements, that they should be ready to 
 take up their cross and to suffer with him, by 
 announcing that future day "when the Son of 
 man shall come in the glory of the Father, with 
 his angels, and then he shall reward every man 
 according to his works." This declaration is of 
 a general kind, and, without doubt, foretells the 
 consequences of his own future coming in glory 
 blessed as they shall be to all who follow him 
 here, and terrible as they shall be to all who 
 refuse so to do. 
 
 Jesus then proceeded to employ language which, 
 as in many other instances during his ministry, 
 could scarcely be apprehended with any degree 
 of fulness or clearness by those to whom it was 
 addressed, until the fulfilment of that very event 
 announced, by his words. The verse lately quoted, 
 as to his second coming, is one, as I mentioned 
 before, of general application ; but that which 
 immediately follows it is one quite of a different 
 
 ' Matt. xvi. 22 28.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 29 
 
 character, not even applying to all who were 
 around at the time of its being spoken. It is 
 very limited indeed- limited to " some " even 
 among the apostles. "Verily, I say unto you, 
 there be some standing here, which shall not taste 
 of death till they see the Son of man coming in 
 his kingdom k ." It is certain that according to 
 man's constitution, any thing to happen shortly, 
 and also, any circumstance of a personal character, 
 relating to ourselves or to some living individual 
 of our own immediate circle, interests the mind 
 and actuates the feelings far more than that 
 which is distant in time, or of more general re- 
 ference. And this too, notwithstanding the lat- 
 ter event may be of considerably greater magni- 
 tude, both in itself, and as to the number whom it 
 may concern. It would therefore appear analo- 
 gous to the Lord's perfect knowledge of the 
 heart, as well as to the course frequently adopted 
 by him, that he should thus awaken a keen in- 
 terest in the minds of his followers, and fix their 
 earnest expectation on a mighty exhibition of 
 his glory, which some present should be privileged 
 to see, and that not at some remote period, but 
 during their lifetime What curiosity too would 
 be raised, as to the individual whom he would 
 select for this special purpose ! But we should 
 not neglect the connexion between this verse and 
 the preceding occurrences. Still less should we 
 omit to notice that which may humbly be con- 
 ceived as being in the Lord's purpose and mind, 
 
 k Matt. xvi. 28.
 
 30 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 when he thought fit to close his solemn address 
 by such a statement. I repeat it once more : 
 " Verily I say unto you, There be some standing 
 here, which shall not taste of death, till they see 
 the Son of man coming in his kingdom." 
 
 Our Lord had just most righteously claimed 
 nothing less than divine glory as his own essen- 
 tial attribute nothing less than authority and 
 power to judge all men at the great day of his 
 appearing. Thus he had provided a grand prin- 
 ciple and sanction for calling upon men to serve 
 him, to follow him, to suffer with him here, that 
 they might be glorified with him hereafter. He 
 had given the testimony of his word to his own 
 divine claims, and to that abundant recompense 
 which his true servants should in due season re- 
 ceive at his hands. But now he declared his 
 intention of giving additional testimony to these 
 claims even the testimony of certain " eyewit- 
 nesses," who should behold him on this very 
 earth, and during the day of his humiliation 
 invested for a while l with that divine glory, 
 which was his then, and his from all eternity, 
 and shall be his for all coming eternity, although 
 veiled for our sake during his sojourn here. And 
 most gracious was this provision ! most encou- 
 
 1 Calvin argues, that in the transfiguration our Lord in- 
 tended to shew that he had power, in himself, to take his glory, 
 had he willed it therefore that he gave himself willingly to suf- 
 fer to use Calvin's words, in which he sums up the argument, 
 that " the same flesh, which was crucified on the cross and lay 
 in the grave, might have been exempted from death and the 
 grave, for it had already partaken of the heavenly glory."
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 31 
 
 raging and most satisfying must this promise 
 have been ! It was fulfilled within one week. 
 For then it appeared that Peter, James, and John 
 had been designated by the Lord to be "with 
 him in the holy mount." 
 
 It has pleased the Holy Spirit that one of the 
 three chosen witnesses of Christ's transfigura- 
 tion should write for our learning a clear and 
 specific comment on that very event. I allude 
 to the second epistle of St. Peter, ch. i. 16. and 
 two following verses m . Now as John was a com- 
 panion of Peter on that very occasion, so John 
 must have been taught by the same Spirit on 
 the character of that event ; and we may be as- 
 
 m " Hos ergo Christus assumpsit, ut non duorum tantum, sed 
 abundanter, trium scilicet, testimonio res tanta constaret : quo 
 spectant Petri verba in 2 Epist. i. 16, 17, 18. Et sicut Christi 
 futura gloria tres habere testes debebat de ccelo, et de terra 
 totidem i Joh. v. 7, 8, ita et hoc ejus gloriae rudimentum tres 
 quasi de coelo testes habuit: Deura Patrera, Mosen, Elian; tres 
 itidem de terra, Petrum, Johannem, et Jacobum ; quos testes esse 
 voluit et suscitationis puellse illius, et agonis horrorisque in horto, 
 et eorum omnium quse gessit." Grotius in Pol. Syn. ad loc. 
 
 Lampe ably and beautifully comments on this passage : "Caus- 
 sam cur tres hos discipulos, quos fK\eKrS>v fK\fKTorepovs eleganter 
 nominat Clemens Alexandrinus, cseteris totiens prastulerit Salva- 
 tor, recte summi theologi in liberrima Domini voluntate posu- 
 erunt." Eleganter, ut solet, Cl. Witsius : " Mihi hanc addere 
 liceat prsecipuam caussam, cur prae aliis hos secum sumserit Chri- 
 stus, liberrimum ipsius atque immeritum esse favorem. Habet 
 enim quosdam e suis interioris admissionis araicos, in quos ex- 
 imias prae reliquis omnibus prserogativas confert. Nee est, quod 
 illud Domino, aut suis invideamus. Exigit ecclesise conditio, ne 
 omnes aut donis pares, aut officiis aequales sint. Non ' omnia 
 corporis membra possunt esse oculus.' " Proleg. in Joan. 1. I. 
 c. ii. . 17.
 
 32 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 sured that, in the essential and absolute truth, 
 as Peter felt and spoke on the subject, so would 
 John have felt and spoken . The passage is 
 therefore most worthy of our consideration, as 
 bearing on the subject with which we have 
 to do. The impressions made on Peter by the 
 scene, and recorded by him, were o course 
 precisely those intended to be made upon him 
 by the Lord Jesus Christ ; and John stood ex- 
 actly in the same circumstances. Through the 
 adoption of this line of argument, we, on reading 
 the account, may be aided in discerning why 
 certain witnesses were present at the transfigu- 
 ration ; and not only this, but why St. John was 
 one of the number, so select and small. 
 
 The passage in question is thus introduced: 
 St. Peter has just declared, that not only by his 
 word and by his walk of faith, during the re- 
 mainder of his life, but also after his death, (by 
 the written testimony which he should leave be- 
 hind him,) it should be his grand object to set 
 forth the glory of Christ Jesus, and the blessed- 
 ness of his kingdom. He then establishes his 
 zeal for Christ and his gospel on the basis of his 
 
 11 Although there are many passages in the writings of 
 St. John, which appear a brief transcript of that which he saw 
 on this day, and of which, no doubt, the remembrance was con- 
 tinually present to his mind for instance : " and we beheld his 
 glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father" (John i. 
 14) still, in his writings there is no such reference to the 
 transfiguration itself, as in the passage of St. Peter to which re- 
 ference is made. We may well compare the Lord's glorified 
 appearance to St. John, in the island of Patmos, with that which 
 he saw on the mount (Rev. i. 13.).
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 33 
 
 own personal assurance, as derived from a personal 
 view of his glorified Redeemer. " We have not 
 followed cunningly devised fables, when we made 
 known unto you the power and coming of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his 
 majesty. For he received from God the Father 
 honour and glory, when there came to him such 
 a voice from the excellent glory, This is my be- 
 loved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this 
 voice which came from heaven we heard, when 
 we were with him in the holy mount ." 
 
 Now this mighty and inspired testimony of 
 St. Peter is not only a key to those experimental 
 lessons which he had learned at the transfigura- 
 tion, but also to those which, on the same occa- 
 sion, were doubtless impressed on St. John, and in 
 the strength of which he himself acted in the 
 whole course of his subsequent ministry and life. 
 Thus, in addition to the manifold assurances of 
 Christ's divine majesty and power, which all the 
 apostles received, as the witnesses of his acts 
 and deeds, John, with Peter and James, also be- 
 held the signs of his own proper divinity his 
 face shining as the sun, and his raiment glisten- 
 ing as the light, and Moses and Elias talking 
 with him. The evidence too of another sense was 
 theirs. For they even heard the Lord commun- 
 ing with these his saints " on his decease, which 
 he should accomplish at Jerusalem." Gracious 
 means were these to strengthen and confirm all 
 the future testimony, which these three apostles 
 
 2 Pet. i. 1 6 1 8. 
 D
 
 34 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 should bear ever afterwards to Christ ! Gracious 
 means were these to prepare one of them, as that 
 evangelist who was to record how the " Word 
 was God," and was "made flesh" how Christ and 
 the Father were one, and to dwell on his per- 
 sonal glory, even as a witness just come down 
 from the very mount ! For surely Tabor was more 
 glorious than Sinai. " Even that which was made 
 glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason 
 of the glory that excelleth." 2 Cor. iii. 10. 
 
 We may, secondly, conclude that John was 
 taken as a witness to the transfiguration, inas- 
 much as he was to be a witness of Christ's agony 
 in the garden. At no period of the Lord's life, 
 not excepting that when he was hanging on the 
 cross, did our blessed Redeemer humble himself 
 so low empty himself so much of his own pro- 
 per and divine glory. At no other time during 
 the whole of his Passion were the words of the 
 Psalmist, as speaking in his person, more awfully 
 realized : " Out of the depths have I cried unto 
 thee." "All thy waves and storms have gone 
 over me." " I am poured out like water, and all 
 my bones are out of joint : my heart is like wax : 
 it is melted in the midst of my bowels." Ps. 
 xxii. 14. 
 
 Now we know well that St. John was to be an 
 attendant on his Master at this very hour at 
 the period of his agony in the garden, when he 
 was " sorrowful and very heavy" when " his soul 
 was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death" when 
 "being in an agony, his sweat was as it were
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 35 
 
 great drops of blood falling down to the ground." 
 But St. John, previous to this appalling sight, 
 had been, for a moment, privileged to see the 
 same Jesus glorified, whom he was to see in his 
 deep humiliation. Nor can we doubt that the 
 Spirit would employ such a recollection in order 
 to strengthen his faith, to support him at the 
 sight, that his confidence should not falter, his 
 heart not fail him. And though he heard the 
 Saviour pray, in submission to his Father's will, 
 that the cup of affliction might pass away, yet 
 it did not pass away ; and though he drank 
 it to the very dregs of its bitterness, still the 
 Father's voice, once heard from heaven on the 
 mount, would dwell on the memory of his three 
 chosen witnesses at new and far different scenes 
 even the voice which spake of Jesus and pro- 
 claimed, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
 well pleased." 
 
 Two purposes have now been considered, for 
 which we may readily conceive that St. John was 
 especially chosen as one of the three witnesses to 
 the glory of Jesus on the mount. But another 
 observation remains to be made, touching him 
 even more closely and exclusively. All which 
 has hitherto been brought forward on this mat- 
 ter will refer, more or less, to two other Apostles ; 
 for, equally with John, was Peter designed by the 
 Lord to bear a written testimony to his glory, 
 besides orally preaching his word. And Peter 
 was designed, together with James and John, to 
 wait and watch nigh unto his Master at the hour 
 
 D2
 
 36 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 of his agony. But there was a coming season, 
 specially appointed for St. John, a call upon his 
 love and fidelity, to which he answered in the 
 power of divine grace an exhibition of his faith 
 in the Lord Jesus Christ, which he was ere long 
 to make. I say, there was such a season, call, 
 and exhibition, in which he was to stand alone. 
 I allude to the crucifixion. No apostles were to 
 have, so far as we know, any partnership with 
 him then. Neither Peter nor James, often united 
 as they were in their proximity to Christ, were 
 with John to form that triple fellowship, of which 
 we so often hear, at the time in question. Jesus 
 was ere long to "humble himself" to the very 
 uttermost, in becoming "obedient unto death, 
 even the death of the cross." Only one among 
 all the apostles, so far as we know, stood by him 
 then. Only one braved the danger of guards and 
 executioners. Only one confessed the Saviour, 
 while dying as a malefactor. Only one held in- 
 tercourse with him, and received a message and 
 command on the occasion from his own very 
 lips. Only one was charged with the care of his 
 mother, and given to her as a son. Surely, if our 
 judgment has been according to scriptural truth, 
 in that which has gone before, as to John's pre- 
 sence on the mount, claiming to be viewed as 
 intended to have its part in moulding and pre- 
 paring his spirit for future privileges and respon- 
 sibilities if this view of an harmony and unity 
 of purpose exercised upon him by the Lord, as 
 his witness, be not incorrect if we may duly
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 37 
 
 hold that those peculiar means, used in his be- 
 half, were intended by God for peculiar results 
 to be achieved in him and by him, then we may 
 conclude, without hesitation, that John's pre- 
 sence at the mount was ordered by him, who 
 foreknew and foreordained that he should be 
 present at the cross ; so that he, who beheld the 
 " bright cloud" of Christ in his glory, should be- 
 hold him under the cloud of his dark and gloomy 
 abandonment so that he, who had heard the 
 voice with his own very ears, " This is my be- 
 loved Son, in whom I am well pleased," should 
 also hear the voice of that same Jesus, " My God, 
 my God, why hast thou forsaken me." 
 
 $. 8. St. John's address to Jesus on the man who 
 did miracles in his name, but did not follow his 
 disciples. 
 
 St. John has been considered hitherto, only and 
 exclusively as one acted on by Divine grace as 
 one who, in all probability, had first attached 
 himself to John the Baptist the forerunner of 
 our Saviour, and the holy and illustrious teacher 
 of God's will. Moreover, he has been regarded 
 as shewing the spirit of genuine faith and most 
 ready obedience. For when he heard the words, 
 " Behold the Lamb of God," he believed in him, 
 and, in a measure, became his disciple, though 
 perhaps for a season adhering also to his former 
 guide. Again, he has been seen by us acting with 
 hearty decision, when, summoned by Jesus to a 
 state of permanent discipleship and apostleship
 
 38 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 too, he quitted at once his trade, his property, 
 and the bosom of his family, to become a follower 
 of him who "had not where to lay his head." 
 That period of his history has been passed by, as 
 not calling for any special notice of him, rather 
 than of all the apostles, when he, with them, had 
 been sent forth to preach " the gospel of the 
 kingdom," and do miracles in Christ's name. 
 Again, he has been selected out of the number 
 of the apostolic company to be a witness to Jesus, 
 at certain acts of his Divine power, which all 
 the apostles beheld not ; and lastly he has been 
 present at the manifestation of Christ's glory in 
 the mount of transfiguration. But hitherto he 
 has not appeared as speaking, or declaring any 
 sentiments or feelings of his own. Hitherto he 
 has not been heard addressing his Master, or 
 coming forward with any prominency, of his own 
 seeking, or of his own will, except on the suppo- 
 sition that he is the unnamed disciple of his 
 own Gospel, where (ch. i. 38.) he joined in the 
 inquiry, made of the Saviour: "Rabbi, where 
 dwellest thou ?" Now, however, we behold him in 
 a new light : nor will future passages be wanting 
 in which his very words will contribute to the 
 aspect of his life. 
 
 St. Mark and St. Luke each give an account of 
 the transaction, in which he now appears as a 
 speaker, and as addressing the Lord. 
 
 We should not discover from the latter evan- 
 gelist? that any thing more than certain short 
 
 P See the course of Luke ix. 43 50,
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 39 
 
 conversations of our Lord (concerning his own 
 sufferings by the hands of men, and on the sub- 
 ject of humility} had intervened between the day 
 on which the transfiguration took place, and that 
 period when John spake in the manner now to 
 be described q. But from the Gospel of St. Mark 
 it is evident, that in the mean time 1 " Jesus, with 
 his disciples, had departed from the locality of 
 his transfiguration, had " passed through Galilee," 
 and arrived at Capernaum. It was on their way 
 to this latter place that the ambitious disputation 
 had occurred among the disciples, as to which of 
 them should be " the greatest" not of course in 
 the true heavenly signification of the word, but 
 in a common, earthly, and carnal sense, and one 
 to merit rebuke, as well as to receive correction 
 
 1 Lightfoot places all the xviiith of Matthew in harmony with 
 Mark ix. 33, to the end of the chapter, and with Luke ix. 46 
 5 1 . He thus explains an apparent discrepancy of statement : 
 " The order needeth no demonstration : the seeming difference 
 between Matthew and Mark in the beginning of the section 
 needeth animadversion rather. Mark saith their dispute who 
 should be the greatest was as they went in the way to Caper- 
 naum, and when Christ asked them at Capernaum what their 
 discourse had been, they held their peace. But Matthew saith, 
 ' At the same time' namely, while Christ was at Capernaum, 
 the disciples came to him, and asked him, ' Who is the greatest' 
 &c., in which relation he briefly coucheth the two stories, that 
 Mark speaketh of, into one, namely, their talking by the way who 
 should be the greatest, and this question coming before Christ. 
 
 It may be Christ's so lately taking Peter and James and John 
 into the mount apart from the rest gave occasion to this debate, 
 which he determineth by setting a child in the midst, &c." 
 Harmony, . Iv. 
 
 r See the course of Mark ix. 30 42.
 
 40 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 from the Lord. In which matter of dispute, 
 James and John had probably taken a prominent 
 and active part, as will appear from a passage to 
 be noticed presently. 
 
 The journey having been completed, and Jesus 
 being now " in the house" at Capernaum with 
 his disciples, and perfectly knowing all which 
 had occurred among them put to them this 
 question : " What was it that ye disputed among 
 yourselves by the way?" But they, no doubt 
 abashed and ashamed at the recollection, " held 
 their peace." On which Jesus " called the 
 twelve" sat down with them for solemn instruc- 
 tion, and took a child, and " set him in the midst 
 of them; and when he had taken him in his 
 arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive 
 one of such children in my name receiveth me ; 
 and whosoever receiveth me, receiveth not me, 
 but him that sent me" thus prostrating at once 
 all human notions, opinions, and prepossessions 
 as to the nature of true honour, glory, and dignity, 
 and giving his own unerring estimate on all such 
 things, for them to adopt and apply. He thus de- 
 clares, in all perfect consistency with his own life, 
 doctrine, and example, that the honour of his serv- 
 ants did not and does not lie in attaining the chief 
 places of earthly grade and preeminence, but in 
 the quiet, unobserved and unobstrusive exercise of 
 a spirit such as that which is formed, among other 
 graces, by humility and love, such as would lead 
 to the reception of a little child in his name. 
 
 And now, at this precise point of their history,
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 41 
 
 both the above-mentioned evangelists introduce 
 those abrupt and interrupting words of St. John, 
 apparently drawn forth by the act, which Jesus 
 had just done, and by the words which he had 
 just spoken : " And John answered him, saying, 
 Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy 
 name ; and he followeth not us : and we forbad 3 
 him, because he followeth not us." 
 
 There is no statement, in any of the Gospels, 
 concerning the particular occasion, or place, or 
 other circumstances, relative to that act of inter- 
 ference, in which St. John and his comrades had 
 thus allowed their zeal to outstrip and over- 
 balance other graces and principles, by which 
 that zeal should have been checked and regu- 
 lated. The case in question was not one in 
 which they were called upon to exercise any 
 jealous interference. It was one, on the contrary, 
 wherein they ought to have discerned the one 
 same Almighty Spirit at work as that by whom 
 they were themselves endowed those principles 
 alive and in operation by which they were 
 themselves actuated, and the glory of that same 
 Saviour advanced, in whose cause they were 
 themselves, by Divine grace, employed. This 
 was their error and for this they were rebuked. 
 
 I have used above the phrase " abrupt and 
 interrupting words," and have applied it to this 
 language of St. John, not so much in consequence 
 
 s In both St. Mark and St. Luke, the original word translated 
 " forbad" is (Ka>\ixran(v, conveying perhaps an idea of hindcrance 
 in act as well as in words.
 
 42 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 of its absolute and intrinsic character, as from 
 the fact, that it, together with our Lord's answer 
 and corrective admonition, evidently forms a kind 
 of parenthesis in the exhortation, which he was 
 deducing from the presence of a little child as a 
 living type of Christian meekness and docility. 
 This will clearly appear on attention to Mark ix. 
 41, 42, in which the previous subject is resumed, 
 with new doctrine interwoven, drawn from the 
 very question, suddenly brought forward by St. 
 John. 
 
 Now the inquiry must arise here, concerning 
 the degree of error and culpability incurred by 
 St. John, relative to that matter, in which he 
 thus appears, addressing the Lord, and recounting 
 a certain transaction, in which the apostles had 
 lately been engaged. 
 
 In the first place, we must here attend to the 
 truth, that John did not, in these words, relate* 
 a personal and individual act, which was exclu- 
 sively his own, in which he had no partners. 
 
 1 Calvin, in his Commentary, does not hesitate to speak of the 
 other apostles as joining in this relation of the circumstance to 
 our Lord. " They say that they forbad a man to work miracles." 
 But I must venture to observe, that, for considering others, besides 
 John to have joined in narrating the matter to the Lord, I can 
 see no warrant. That they joined in the act of forbidding the man 
 to do, as he was doing, there can be doubt : ' We forbad him.' 
 Calvin continues : " It follows that they had rashly taken on 
 themselves the right to forbid : and therefore every man who 
 undertakes more than he knows that he is permitted to do by the 
 Word of God, is chargeable with rashness. Besides, there is 
 reason to suspect the disciples of Christ of ambition, because 
 they were anxious to maintain their privilege and honour."
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 43 
 
 There is little reason to doubt that the other 
 apostles had their share, and perhaps an equal 
 share in the matter: for St. John does not say, 
 " I saw," or " I forbad," but " we saw," and " we 
 forbad" referring, in all probability, to that 
 whole apostolic band, lately travelling together, 
 and now all assembled in the presence of their 
 Lord". Indeed, if John alone, or if John with his 
 brother James, exclusive of the others, had acted 
 thus, and if John had then interrupted the Lord 
 with a statement, only concerning himself, or 
 himself and his brother, it would have seemed a 
 self-commending, self-preferring, self-aggrandiz- 
 ing speech, with which we have no grounds to 
 charge him from any thing narrated here. Far 
 more likely is it, and far more in consistency with 
 the whole narrative in question, that St. John, at 
 once and hastily applying the Lord's declaration 
 as to the reception of little children to him- 
 self and his fellow-apostles, and rather seizing 
 hold on the topic of their own privileges than on 
 the wider and the grander subject which our 
 Lord's discourse really and truly embraced, or on 
 the admonition intended for himself and them 
 I say, far more likely is it that St. John gave 
 
 u Should this view be legitimate, the comment of Whitby, 
 (able and acute as his comments usually are, where doctrine is 
 not concerned,) must be untenable, where, speaking in illustration 
 of John's surname Boanerges, he states of him individually, and 
 as a peculiar and distinctive mark of his spirit, that he shewed his 
 zeal in " forbidding him that cast out devils in Christ's name, 
 because he followed not them."
 
 44 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 utterance to this speech, recurring to the case of 
 one, whom he and his fellow-apostles had not 
 long since met, and who, though performing 
 miracles in Christ's name, had not "received" 
 nor honoured the apostles in that very way 
 which he and they deemed to be their right. 
 Now in this speech, supposing it commendatory 
 of the deed done, and uttered with the impression 
 on the part of the speaker, that it was in agree- 
 ment with the course of our Lord's sayings at 
 the time, there was much exclusiveness of spirit : 
 and we have ample cause to imagine that in it 
 there was no slight intermixture of personal 
 jealousy and pride. But it may also have evinced, 
 on the part of St. John, much love and much of 
 true loyalty towards his Master and his Lord, 
 with much zeal for the glory of his name, and a 
 conviction, then prevailing in his mind, that 
 Jesus would only work by those very instruments 
 such as the Twelve or the Seventy whom he 
 had seen, or known to have been specially desig- 
 nated, and publicly sent forth by Jesus himself 
 to preach and to work miracles in his name. 
 
 Moreover, in this speech there was undoubt- 
 edly a confiding, and at the same time, an open 
 and candid acknowledgment of the whole trans- 
 action, and that to the Lord himself. Nor can we 
 be sure that the " beloved disciple" did not speak 
 in some measure as an inquirer with some 
 secret apprehension that the deed needed con- 
 firmation on the part of his Master and with a
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 45 
 
 view to obtain a full, public, and explicit decla- 
 ration of his will x on such a case, to be a kind of 
 settlement, as to the principle, on which he and 
 his companions had acted if wrong, for its re- 
 proof and correction if right, for approbation and 
 establishment y. An unprejudiced and equitable 
 view of the whole subject will scarcely admit any 
 stronger or harsher conclusions against St. John 
 than these ; and it also should be noted carefully, 
 that no reproach or rebuke was pronounced by 
 Jesus in answer to his words I say, " his words," 
 for with the action itself, as shared, in all proba- 
 bility, by the apostles at large, we have here 
 little or perhaps nothing to do. And this would 
 have scarcely been omitted by the Lord, had 
 
 x Robinson, in his Scripture Characters, appears inclined to 
 favour this view of the question : 
 
 " On a certain occasion, whilst Jesus inculcated humility, John 
 seemed to be convinced of acting unsuitably to his temper; at 
 least he desired to know whether his conduct had been consistent." 
 Scott also takes the same view. Cajetan, as thus quoted by 
 Lampe, writes : " Petit post factum edoceri : quoniam ex his 
 (the preceding) verbis Jesu incepit dubitare, bene an male fecerit. 
 In quo ostenditur, et quod bono animo fecerit, et quod paratus 
 est corrigi." Lampe very fairly and impartially discusses the 
 question, or, at all events, the measure of St. John's culpability on 
 this occasion. Proleg. lib. i. cap. ii. . 18. 
 
 Grotius gives it as his opinion that St. John and his fellow- 
 disciples here acted, " non invidia, sed improvido in Magistrum 
 studio, similes Josua3, Num. xi. 28." 
 
 Ambrose and others have ventured to declare this act of the 
 apostles as quite unattended with sin. 
 
 - v The word eXey^o? on the one side, and eiravopdaxris on the 
 other, express the meaning here sought to be conveyed. 2 Tim. 
 iii. 1 6.
 
 46 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 John displayed any thing like unmixed jealousy, 
 party spirit, or mere personal pride. We cannot, 
 with any thing like justice to him, entertain the 
 supposition that he did thus act; and Jesus, in 
 his answer, merely and simply prohibited the re- 
 petition of such conduct : " Forbid him not ;" and 
 then condescendingly added the reason thereof: 
 " For there is no man, which shall do a miracle 
 in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. 
 For he that is not against us is on our part." 
 
 It may be remembered that the Old Testament 
 supplies a very apt parallel to this transaction 
 namely, the history of Eldad and Medad pro- 
 phesying in the camp, when Moses had gathered 
 the seventy elders together, and " set them round 
 about the tabernacle. And the Lord came down 
 in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the 
 spirit that was upon him, and gave unto the 
 seventy elders : and it came to pass, that, when 
 the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and 
 did not cease. But there remained two of the 
 men in the camp, the name of the one was 
 Eldad, and the name of the other Medad : and 
 the spirit rested upon them; and they were of 
 them that were written, but went not out unto 
 the tabernacle : and they prophesied in the camp. 
 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, 
 and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the 
 camp. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant 
 of Moses, one of his young men, answered and 
 said, My lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses 
 said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake ? would
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 47 
 
 God that all the Lord's people were prophets, 
 and that the Lord would put his spirit upon 
 them 2 !" 
 
 Here Eldad and Medad evidently correspond 
 with the man who did the miracles, Joshua with 
 John, and Moses with the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 And each narrative conveys a lesson of incal- 
 culable value. For each teaches us that we must 
 beware of undue partizanship, even in the holiest 
 cause that Christ's glory and the preaching of 
 the gospel must not be limited by man's pre- 
 conceptions and, finally, that we should not 
 fall short of that feeling and spirit expressed 
 by St. Paul, and doubtlessly shared in by St. John, 
 when corrected by his Lord, and "endued with 
 power from on high:" "What then? notwith- 
 standing, every way, whether in pretence, or in 
 truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do re- 
 joice, yea, and will rejoice a ." If even preaching 
 like this with all the admitted evils therein 
 could gladden an apostle's heart, we too should 
 rejoice, whenever the glad tidings come to our 
 ear, that, either at home or abroad, Christ is 
 preached in sincerity and truth; and when we 
 see real labors of love carried on with desire for 
 his glory, and the benefit of souls, although the 
 mode of action be not exactly our own, nor the 
 form of proceeding exactly cast in that mould 
 which we, or the bodies to which we respectively 
 belong, esteem the very best. 
 
 1 Numb. xi. 24 29. a Phil. i. 18.
 
 48 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 . 9. The proposal of James and John to call down 
 fire from heaven on the Samaritans. Luke ix. 
 5156. 
 
 The Gospel of St. Luke, and that Gospel only 
 of the four, has narrated the account of St. James 
 and St. John desiring permission from the Lord 
 to call down fire from heaven and consume 
 those Samaritans, who would not receive Jesus 
 and his attendant company on their way to 
 Jerusalem. It immediately succeeds the recently 
 concluded narrative, on the correction received 
 by St. John and his fellow apostles, in the matter 
 of one with whom they had interfered, because 
 he followed not with them, though acting in 
 Christ's name. It is, however, evident from the 
 other evangelists, that a certain period, with 
 certain other important words and deeds of our 
 Lord intervened in the mean time. St. Luke 
 also, though he passes over with silence all these 
 intermediate transactions, evidently leads to the 
 very same conclusion, from his mode of introduc- 
 ing the subject now in view. The passage is 
 this : " And it came to pass, when the time was 
 come that he should be received up, he stead- 
 fastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, and sent 
 messengers before his face : and they went, and 
 entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make 
 ready for him. And they did not receive him, 
 because his face was as though he would go to 
 Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 49 
 
 John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we 
 command fire to come down from heaven, and 
 consume them, even as Elias did ? But he turned, 
 and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what 
 manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man 
 is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save 
 them. And they went to another village 15 ." 
 
 Hence it appears plainly that Jesus knowing 
 the approach of that appointed time, when, hav- 
 ing been put to death, he should rise again and 
 be received up into heaven into the bosom of 
 the Father steadfastly determined and openly 
 shewed 6 that he would go to Jerusalem, where 
 he was to suffer. 
 
 b " There is much difference of opinion among the harmonizers 
 concerning the particular journey in which the conversation re- 
 lated in this section took place. Lightfoot supposes that the 
 journey of Christ to Jerusalem, here mentioned by St. Luke, 
 is the same with that in John vii. 10. Archbishop Newcome 
 places it after the feast of Dedication, subsequent to Christ's 
 completion of his last progress round Galilee, and before his 
 triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. Newcome's arrangement 
 of this section is here adopted therefore, in preference to that 
 of Lightfoot. Doddridge has referred this conversation also to 
 the same period. Michaelis does not decide the point ; and 
 Pilkington, in his desire to preserve the order of St. Luke's 
 Gospel, has not changed its position, but refers it to the same 
 journey." Townshend's Hist, and Chron. Order of the New 
 Testament. 
 
 c All this is expressed in the Greek words tcrrfjpi^f irpovanrov 
 avrov. The phrase is frequent in the Septuagint. They who 
 firmly purposed to go into Egypt are described in Jeremiah (xlii. 
 *5 * 7) ^ s @t vrf s T O TrpocrooTroj/ avrcov els yrjv Alyvnrov. And we find 
 it written of Hazael (2 Kings xii. 17), that " he set his face to go 
 up to Jerusalem." The word or/ptf is constantly used in this 
 connection with irpovunov. So Ezekiel xxi. 22, vrrfpurov TO 
 rt
 
 50 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 Now the way from Galilee to Jerusalem being 
 through the country of the Samaritans, it was 
 needful for him and the large company d by 
 which, in all probability, he was attended at 
 the time, to meet that due reception and enter- 
 tainment on the road, which Jesus himself, while 
 in the body on earth, and subject to weariness 
 and hunger and thirst, needed like other men, 
 and from the need of which no exemption was 
 ordinarily granted to his followers. Therefore 
 "he sent messengers 6 before his face: and they 
 went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, 
 to make ready for him." Now we are not to 
 conclude from our translation of the passage in 
 the Word of God, relative to the Jews "having 
 no dealings" with the Samaritans f , that this say- 
 ing of Scripture is intended to apply farther than 
 to the dealings of friendly, or religious or familiar 
 intercourse. Of these there were none, as a ge- 
 
 irpoa-atTrov crov eVt 'lepouo-aXij/i. A derivative from this word 
 o-Tjjpiy/ids is once used in the New Testament, and is rendered 
 by "steadfastness." 2 Pet. iii. 17. In Pole's Synopsis the bear- 
 ing of our Lord is thus described, as presented in this striking 
 phrase : 
 
 "Toto exteriori habitu ac gestu prae se tulit et declaravit, 
 statutum ac definitum sibi eo esse ire : firmiter sibi proposuit eo 
 proficisci : nee jam, ut ante, ex uno oppido in aliud perrexit &c. 
 Vel sic : Significat, eum certo jam moriendi proposito se in viam 
 dedisse, animurnque suum contra mortis metum obfirmasse ut 
 nullum metus indicium in facie appareret." 
 
 d We hear of our Lord taking the apostles apart by the way, 
 as if from the crowd at large. Matt. xx. 17. 
 
 e " Forte Johannem et Jacobum, qui non nominantur." Grotius. 
 f John iv. 9.
 
 OP ST. JOHN. 51 
 
 neral rule of communication between the two 
 parties. But the Greek word rendered " have no 
 dealings" (ov a-vy^p^vrai^} might more accurately be 
 rendered 11 , "have no familiar intercourse with;" 
 and Doddridge says, " that this must be the im- 
 port of the word." It is evident that the dis- 
 ciples of Christ, while Jesus was sitting at the 
 
 " Intelligere facile quisque potest, verbo o-vyxpua-Oai, quo usus 
 est evangelista, familiaritatem et consuetudinem exprimi, hunc- 
 que locurn rectissime redditum esse a Grotio explicatumque sic : 
 non enim amice utuntur JudaEi Samaritanis." Titman, Mel. Sac. in 
 Evang. Joannis. 
 
 The causes of this animosity between the Jews and the Sa- 
 maritans are fully and ably set forth by Lampe on John iv. 9. 
 Fuller writes : " The Samaritan woman had it rife in her mouth, 
 ' our father Jacob,' though in very deed he was no more her 
 father, than the man she kept company with was her husband, 
 being neither lineally descended from the one, nor lawfully mar- 
 ried to the other. Hear what Josephus hath to this purpose ; 
 ' The Samaritans,' says he ' are of this nature, that when the 
 Jews are high in fortune and success, presently they embrace 
 society with them, and deduce the series of their own descent 
 from the patriarch Joseph, and his sons Ephraim and Mauasseh. 
 But when the Jews are depressed and low in estate, then they 
 disclaim all kindred, defy all affinity with them, professing them- 
 selves (as indeed they are) to be originally Medes and Persians.' " 
 General Description of Judsea, b. i. c. 2. 
 
 Lampe takes a view just opposite to that of Josephus, and 
 argues from the words of Scripture (" the Jews have no dealings 
 with the Samaritans") that the alienation between the two 
 parties chiefly arose on the side of the Jews. " Dum autem 
 dicitur Judseos non co-uti Samaritis, tacite insinuatur, potissi- 
 mum ruptse hujus communionis causam a Judseorum partibus 
 esse." Comment, in Joan, ad locum. 
 
 h " Extra hanc controversiam (i. e. regarding the temple) 
 videntur Samaritse Judaeis non negasse ea qua: humanitatis ratio 
 postulabat." Grotius, Annot. ad Luc. ix. ^3. 
 E2
 
 52 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 well of Samaria, had gone "to buy food" at a 
 Samaritan town (John iv. 8.), and it is stated 
 by Whitby that the sort of dealings forbidden 
 to the Jews by the Pharisaical tradition "were 
 those of borrowing any thing of them, or re- 
 ceiving any kindness from them, or drinking of 
 their water, or eating of their morsels." More- 
 over, by this very act of Christ, in sending for- 
 ward messengers to make preparation for him 
 at a Samaritan village, and by the indignation 
 expressed by two of his apostles on the refusal 
 to receive their Master, and by their passing on- 
 ward, for refreshment and repose, to "another 
 village," on being rejected at that, whither they 
 had first come by all these things, I say, it is 
 evident that in certain circumstances of custom 
 and necessity, the Jews and the Samaritans had 
 mutually reason to expect an interchange of 
 such offices as strangers and travellers might 
 need. And thus the way is opened for investiga- 
 tion, in a little more detail than that given in 
 this narrative of Scripture, as to the cause why 
 the Samaritans would not receive Jesus and his 
 company. This of course must be founded al- 
 together on those words, " because his face was 
 as though he would go to Jerusalem." On which 
 verse Whitby remarks; "The reason why the 
 Samaritans, thus knowing his purpose 1 , received 
 
 1 " Samaritse hie hospitium negant Christo ej usque sectatori- 
 
 bus, non quia Judaei erant, sed quia Hierosolyma ibant 
 
 religionis causa, eo ipso profitentes eum locum esse adorationi
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 53 
 
 him not, as they did other Galilseans going 
 thither, was, that by going thither on a reli- 
 gious account viz. to celebrate the passover 
 he decided the controversy betwixt them and 
 the Jews (touching the place by God appointed 
 for worship and for sacrifice) against them; 
 which though they regarded not when done 
 by the Galilseans, yet was it grievous to them, 
 that such a celebrated doctor as Christ was 
 should do it." Now this act must not be re- 
 garded as a mere breach of hospitality, because, 
 the transaction taking place in the region of the 
 Samaritans, it would be unreasonable to suppose 
 that, on this occasion, hospitality (in the usual 
 sense of the word) would have been sought or 
 expected. It is certain that there were inns in 
 the country of Judsea and its neighbourhood in 
 our Lord's time (Luke ii. 7. and x. 34.), where 
 entertainment and shelter was provided for 
 travellers that it was not, then and there, as in 
 the desert, where every tent is a shelter and 
 place of provision for the traveller: and it may 
 be that at one of these houses of public reception 
 
 peculiariter dicatum : quod erat prsecipuum controversiae caput 
 inter Judseos et Samaritas." Grotius ad loc. 
 
 The Samaritans often exercised acts of hostility against the 
 Galilseans, and offered them several affronts and injuries, when 
 they were going up to the solemn feasts at Jerusalem. Of 
 which there is a very remarkable instance in Josephus, viz. that 
 in the time of the emperor Claudius, the Samaritans made a 
 great slaughter of the Galilaeans, as they were travelling to 
 Jerusalem, through one of the villages of Samaria. Antiq. 
 lib. xx. c. 5.
 
 54 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 Jesus met with the treatment here spoken of. 
 But this is unimportant: and as the rejection 
 of him and his attendants is not mentioned as 
 the act of one individual, or of one family, but 
 it is said of the Samaritans at large, in that 
 village, "they would not receive him," it does 
 not seem unlikely that all the locality in ques- 
 tion combined in so doing. 
 
 We may now bring to mind the patience, 
 equanimity, humility and gentleness with which 
 the Lord Jesus himself submitted to this treat- 
 ment. But with his followers it was far other- 
 wise. All perhaps were bitterly offended and 
 indignant at that which had occurred both on 
 account of their Master and for their own sake 
 too. But two of the number, namely James and 
 John, actuated by the feeling of the moment, 
 and trespassing (at least so far as desire and 
 intention went) on the powers and the faculties, 
 in the way of miracle, with which they had been 
 gifted by the Lord, and which, no doubt, they 
 had often exercised for good James and John k , 
 I say, appealed to the Lord for permission to 
 execute at once the most dreadful vengeance: 
 
 k Lampe quotes it as the opinion of some commentators, 
 that James and John were those of the apostles who had been 
 specially sent forward, in order to prepare for the reception of 
 their Lord. Proleg. in Joan. 1. I. c. ii. . 19. We know that 
 they were thus commissioned to prepare for him on another 
 occasion. The same acute author also remarks that the very 
 name, given them by Christ, as " Sons of Thunder," may have been 
 for a moment so perverted in their minds, as to lead them to this 
 strange act.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 55 
 
 " They said, Lord, wilt thou that we command 
 fire to come down from heaven, and consume 
 them, as Elias did 1 ?" Most unsuitable demand to 
 be made of that Saviour, whom they had ever 
 seen acting in tenderness, longsuffering, and 
 love ever acting up to his own blessed words, 
 "I came not to judge the world but to save 
 the world !" Most harsh proposal, as seeking 
 the instant destruction of their fellow men ! A 
 desire this indeed most inconsistent with that 
 word written in their own Scriptures; "Ven- 
 geance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." 
 
 But, after all, the most observable mark of their 
 conduct was this its complete inconsistency with 
 the spirit of the gospel its direct opposition to 
 that system and dispensation of love which their 
 Master came to establish. His answer to their 
 proposition tells all concerning their feelings at 
 
 1 Robinson observes on the subject : " The warmth of our 
 apostle upon this occasion must be ascribed, in part at least, 
 to his prejudice against the Samaritans, whom he had been 
 taught to hate from his youth. He had often seen his Master 
 insulted and treated with greater contumely by the Scribes and 
 Pharisees ; and yet he had never expressed a wish to call down 
 fire upon them. So great is the force of education." Scrip. 
 Characters. 
 
 Grotius remarks that this passage in Elijah's history took 
 place in the locality of Samaria, "in vicinis Samariae locis" 
 a circumstance which might have led to the remembrance and 
 its desired application. So Calvin also. " The country itself 
 had perhaps suggested to them the desire of thundering im- 
 mediately against the ungodly : for it was there that Elijah 
 had formerly destroyed, by a fire from heaven, the king's sol- 
 diers, who had been sent to apprehend him." 
 
 111 Quoted from Deut. xxxii. 35. in Rom. xii. 19.
 
 56 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 the time, and his feelings and his purpose always : 
 " Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 
 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's 
 lives, but to save them." To proclaim and esta- 
 blish this rule of mercy and love and salvation, 
 these two brethren with the other apostles were 
 chosen and appointed by him, as the honoured 
 instruments yes, even as fellow- labourers and 
 partners with him in his work. But as yet they 
 knew not how inappropriate it was to cite Elias n , 
 or any other man, who had executed wrath 
 under the old dispensation of the Law, as an ex- 
 ample for Jesus to admit, or for them to imitate. 
 Certainly Elias had denounced king Ahaziah's sin 
 and ungodliness. Certainly God had twice pro- 
 
 n Grotius has an interesting and learned note on the words 
 " Ye know not what spirit ye are of" which he thus para- 
 phrases. " Putatis vos agi spiritu tali quali olim Elias (adde 
 etiam Phinees, Samson, Samuel, Eliseeus, qui forti animo Dei 
 judicia exercuerunt.) Sed erratis. Habetis quidem ifiXov, sed 
 ov KO.T iriyv<i><Tiv, et qui proinde humani est affectus, non Divinse 
 motionis, quod probat ratio sequens." Annot. ad loc. 
 
 Again, in comparing this act of Elijah and those of the Lord 
 Jesus, the same writer makes the beautiful antithesis, " Spiritus 
 Legis spiritus timoris dicitur, accommodatus illorum temporum 
 rationi : spiritus Christi, quern sequi debebant apostoli, spiritus 
 mansuetudinis et lenitatis." ad Luc. ix. 55. 
 
 The contrast between the two cases is examined by Grotius. 
 In referring to the instances of wrath and judgment, executed by 
 the apostles of Christ after his ascension to heaven, the same 
 writer observes : " Habet quidem et Evangelium sua ultima ne- 
 cessitatis tela, quae in Ananiam Petrus, in Elymam Paulus ex- 
 ercuit ; sed usi iis sunt apostoli ubi nulla esse suspicio poterat 
 iracundiae semet sub Dei obtentu vindicantis ; qui color nimium 
 plerisque imponit." In Pol. Syn. ad loc.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 57 
 
 tected his honoured servant, prophet, and ambas- 
 sador, by sending down fire from heaven, to con- 
 sume those who would have captured him and 
 brought him prisoner to the king. Certainly the 
 Lord of heaven and of earth had caused his ser- 
 vant to imprecate and execute his wrath (2 Kings 
 i. 1 12). But with such an example as this the 
 apostles had nothing to do. I do not dwell on 
 the difference between the two cases, as to their 
 urgency, for instance, or the imminent danger, 
 through the king and his soldiery, from which 
 Elias had to be rescued, as compared with the 
 circumstances leading to the call of God's wrath 
 on the bigoted and unbelieving Samaritans. But 
 I would rather mark the forgetfulness, or rather 
 the ignorance, as to the scheme and spirit of the 
 gospel, which James and John displayed. As yet 
 the Holy Spirit had not come down with his 
 full and illuminating power on their understand- 
 ing and heart (John vii. 39. and Luke xxiv. 49.). 
 As yet they were not fully imbued with the 
 truth, that as Jesus their Master came "not to 
 judge the world but to save the world" not to 
 destroy men's lives, but to save them, so his ser- 
 vants were not to take the sword, lest they should 
 perish with the sword were not to be execu- 
 tioners of justice, but messengers of mercy and 
 love, in all times and under all circumstances 
 were not to strive , but to be patient towards all 
 
 2 Tim. ii. 24. The original Greek is much stronger than 
 our translation. "Fight" would be more correct than strive. 
 AovXoi' 8e Kvpiov ov Bel |xd)(caOai.
 
 58 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 men were to love their enemies, bless them that 
 cursed them, do good to them which hated them, 
 and to pray for them which despitefully used 
 them and persecuted them, that they might be 
 the children of their Father in heaven, "who 
 maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the 
 good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the 
 unjust." 
 
 Neither will it prove any valid or substantial 
 excuse in behalf of these two apostles, were we 
 to argue that they thus acted rather from holy 
 zeal and from laudable jealousy for the honour of 
 their Lord and Saviour, than from any other less 
 creditable cause, of a more personal and more 
 carnal sort. Such a view of the case is altogether 
 precluded by the remembrance that, had it been 
 so, Jesus would not have " rebuked?" them, as we 
 know that he did. He might have corrected 
 some partial error, in conduct laudable, on that 
 supposition, as an whole act, but he would never 
 have rebuked them as, I repeat it, he did. And 
 while the absence of all rebuke whatsoever gave 
 us instruction and right means of forming our 
 judgment on the matter, last spoken of in 
 these pages, its utterance supplies the same means 
 here in the instance before us. The days, of 
 course, arrived, when James and John must 
 often have looked back with "shame and con- 
 
 P Srpa^eif 8e eTriTtp,r)<rev avTols. Jesus " turned and rebuked 
 them." He used the same action on another occasion of the 
 same kind ; and the very same verb is applied to this severe 
 reproof administered to Peter: 'O 8e eViarpa^els ..... (iriTifjirjvf r& 
 , \t'ya)V "YTraye OTT/CTW /xov, 2arai>a. Mark via. 33.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 59 
 
 fusion of face," and even with wonder, at those 
 times of their ignorance and misguided zeal, 
 when they sought thus to act as "ministers of 
 wrath," and not as ministers of mercy, forbear- 
 ance, and love. The days, of course, arrived, when 
 they far better knew how to copy and to follow 
 him, who might have called down twelve legions 
 of angels to avenge his cause, but rather would 
 suffer from the legion of his enemies, and per- 
 suade them to repent q who would not act, in 
 any single instance, during the days of his flesh 
 as a judge, or as one to inflict any punishment r 
 at all, but who was the " Lamb led to the 
 slaughter." And in those subsequent days, when 
 more conformed to the image of their Lord, and 
 "endued with the Spirit from on high," they 
 would, no doubt, have rather been petitioners for 
 grace than desirous to call down fire from heaven 
 on their fellow men. 
 
 It seems to me that we are not left in igno- 
 
 q As Milton exquisitely expresses it : 
 
 " By winning words to conquer willing hearts, 
 And make persuasion do the work of fear." 
 
 PAR. REG. b. I. 
 
 More grandly is the same principle expressed and exemplified. 
 " We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you 
 by us : we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." 
 2 Cor. v. 20. 
 
 r How near judgment of this kind came to the dispensation of 
 the Saviour, yet without entering ! I allude at this moment to 
 the case of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, struck 
 dumb for his unbelief. (Luke i. 20.) The law yet prevailed. 
 " The prophets and the law prophesied until John." Matt. xi. 13.
 
 60 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 ranee why this unhallowed zeal, and why this 
 blindness, as to the very first and most prominent 
 character of that dispensation, in which James 
 and John were afterwards to bear so distin- 
 guished a part, was thus to remain manifested 
 and has been written for our learning in God's 
 word. It seems to have been for the very same 
 reason as that for which we are told, in one place, 
 how the apostles considered not the miracle of 
 the loaves, for their " hearts were hardened" in 
 another, that they did not understand, when Christ 
 spoke of spiritual things, by the term, " the leaven 
 of the Pharisees" in another, that " they knew 
 not what the rising from the dead should mean" 
 in another, that "they understood none 5 of these 
 things," when Jesus spoke of his own sufferings 
 to come. Nor is the same reason without very 
 fit application to still graver passages in the life 
 of the apostles such as their general desertion 
 of Jesus, when " all forsook him and fled" not 
 to mention other and equally well known in- 
 stances of individual sin on their parts. All these 
 records of their ignorance, all these memorials 
 of their sin, seem written in that Word which 
 
 8 The Holy Spirit speaks in language demanding attention by 
 reiterated calls in the comment of St. Luke on our Saviour's words, 
 expressly detailing his sufferings to come, (ch. xviii. 32, 33,) 
 " And they understood none of these things : and this saying 
 was hid from them, neither knew they the things that were 
 spoken." It is not causeless this triple affirmation of the same 
 truths a fact at once evident on attention to the clauses of 
 this verse.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 61 
 
 abideth for ever, and carefully transmitted to us, 
 not merely (to my mind) with the object of 
 shewing man's fallen condition under the most 
 remarkable advantages of a mere outward kind, 
 such as the presence of the Saviour himself, but 
 besides this, to contrast their present with their 
 subsequent attainments both in knowledge and 
 grace, so that God the Holy Spirit might be duly 
 recognised as making the difference in them, and 
 that all members of Christ's church might, at 
 all times and in all places, learn how the very 
 apostles themselves were not thus endowed even 
 by attendance on him, nor by hearing him, nor 
 by seeing his blessed person with their bodily 
 eyes, nor by any such-like means, independently 
 of another work accomplished in them, at the 
 appointed time, by the power of the Holy Ghost. 
 All seems told for the glory of that Holy Ghost 
 and for the recognition of his needful and most 
 mighty operations on their minds and hearts. 
 The baptism of the Spirit the endowment with 
 new grace and power the fulfilment of all which 
 Jesus had declared as to "the Promise of the 
 Father" such were the antecedents, indispens- 
 able to qualify and fit even the apostles for 
 shining as bright lights in knowledge and in 
 grace in a life and walk of " faith in the Son of 
 God." Therefore it was that Jesus said, " It is 
 expedient for you that I go away : for if I go not 
 away, the Comforter will not come unto you, 
 but if I go away, I will send him unto you:"
 
 62 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 and he was to teach them all things, and to 
 guide them unto all truth, and to bring to their 
 remembrance with power and effect all which 
 Jesus had said to them in " the days of his flesh." 
 Thus each error and each sin of the apostles, 
 faithfully recorded in God's Word, is not without 
 its lesson for the church. Each should teach us 
 to think and to speak humbly of man, and to 
 think and to speak adoringly of God, who alone 
 can preserve the most excellent of men from 
 such errors and such sins, and enable them to 
 live in "holiness and righteousness before Him 
 all the days of their life." Each should remind 
 us of Him, even the Holy Ghost, who alone can 
 fill such " earthen vessels" with the treasures of 
 Divine grace. Each should teach us to mark the 
 necessity as well as the glory of the Spirit's 
 work, so that in all which was wise and enlight- 
 ened and good and powerful and laudable in 
 Christ's chosen witnesses, not man but God may 
 be glorified. The application of all this to St. 
 John, at the present point of his history, needs 
 no single word. 
 
 . 10. John, as one of the two sons of Zebedee, 
 making his ambitious claim for preferment in 
 Chris fs kingdom. Matt. xx. 17 28. Mark x. 
 3246. 
 
 The next event in the sacred history, direct- 
 ing attention to St. John, is that narrated by St. 
 Matthew and St. Mark, concerning the claim or
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 63 
 
 petition for preferment in Christ's kingdom, made 
 conjointly by the " mother of Zebedee's children," 
 and those children themselves. 
 
 Robinson, the American traveller, whose au- 
 thority is extremely valuable on all geographical 
 matters, places the scene of this request in Perea. 
 At all events we know that Jesus was now on 
 the way to Jerusalem, in preparation for his 
 public entry into the city, and for keeping his 
 last passover there. Jesus went before his dis- 
 ciples, leading the way, manifesting himself as 
 the willing victim, ready to be offered up as soon 
 as his time was come. And we read that his 
 disciples " were amazed ;" and, as " they followed, 
 they were afraid." (Mark x. 32.) Our Lord now 
 " took again the twelve, and began to tell them 
 what things should happen unto him." He kept 
 back nothing from them. He announced his 
 betrayal, and mentioned the very persons to 
 whom he should be betrayed, namely, the Scribes 
 and Pharisees. He foretold his condemnation to 
 death his delivering up to the Gentiles his 
 mockings and scourgings, crucifixion, and resur- 
 rection on the third day. With this last clause 
 of the sentence, each of the records above quoted 
 ends ; and each immediately proceeds to narrate 
 the ambitious request presented by James and 
 John. 
 
 The form of the request very nearly corresponds 
 in the two Gospels to which reference is made. 
 The only difference, as to form, is that in St. 
 Matthew a " certain thing" is first asked of the
 
 64 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 Saviour r< Trap' avrov, while in St. Mark the 
 claimants for distinction begin by asking the 
 Lord to grant unto them whatsoever they should 
 desire. 
 
 The substance of the petition exactly corresponds 
 in both of the narratives. It is that the two 
 brethren just named might sit, one on the right 
 hand, and the other on the left, in Christ's 
 kingdom. 
 
 The only apparent variation in the account is, 
 that in the Gospel of St. Matthew the mother 
 of the sons of Zebedee is described as presenting 
 the claim, while in the Gospel of St. Mark the 
 sons of Zebedee are described as thus acting for 
 themselves and in their own persons". But truly 
 
 u Robinson, in his Harmony of the Gospels, makes some 
 valuable observations, as a reconciliation of the two passages in 
 two separate evangelists, (Matt. viii. 5, and Luke vii. 3 ;) where 
 one says that the centurion came to Jesus himself, while the 
 other says that he sent the elders of the Jews. The point of 
 difficulty which elicits them is just parallel to that now under 
 review : 
 
 " In Matthew, the centurion seems to come in person to 
 Jesus : in Luke he sends the elders of the Jews. This diversity 
 is satisfactorily explained by the old law maxim, Qui facit per 
 alium, facit per se. Matthew narrates briefly ; Luke gives the 
 circumstances more fully. In like manner, in John iv. i, Jesus is 
 said to baptize, when he did it by his disciples. In John xix. i , 
 and elsewhere, Pilate is said to have scourged Jesus : certainly 
 not with his own hands. In Mark x. 35, James and John come 
 to Jesus with a certain request : in Matthew xx. 20, it is their 
 mother who prefers the request. In 2 Sam. xxiv. t, God moves 
 David to number Israel; in i Chron. xxi. i, it is Satan who 
 provokes him." I have seen it observed on this passage, that 
 in consequence of previous admonitions from the Lord the two
 
 OF ST. JOHX. 65 
 
 and absolutely there is no variation. For no one 
 acquainted with the spirit and letter of the four 
 evangelical histories, and who has really laid 
 hold of this truth that in the wisdom and 
 gracious appointment of God, each evangelist 
 fills up that which the others respectively omit, 
 under the immediate and plenary inspiration of 
 the Holy Ghost no one, I say, thus qualified to 
 exercise a right judgment on the matter, can fail 
 to perceive that these two distinct records by no 
 means contradict, but on the contrary complete one 
 another. No doubt the mother appeared with 
 her sons whether having originally instigated 
 them, or whether having been originally insti- 
 gated by them, we cannot tell. Either they 
 spoke themselves, while she spoke also : or, they 
 spoke x instrumentally by her. Each evangelist tells 
 precisely the same fact and event. The attendant 
 circumstances all meet and correspond in most 
 perfect harmony. 
 
 It is not improbable that this request of James 
 and John may have arisen and assumed this 
 particular form from the saying of Jesus in 
 Matt. xix. 28 ; where his language is as decided 
 and explicit, in assuring a distinct and exclusive 
 honour to the twelve apostles in his future king- 
 apostles may not have ventured to present their petition them- 
 selves, and unsupported : and that for this reason they persuaded 
 their mother to undertake their cause. 
 
 x " Hoc splendidissimum domus suse erat decus, hie summus 
 fehcitatis apex, duos tarn illustres in bellis Jehovse heroas, duas 
 stellas in regno ccelorum primi ordinis, quales Jacobus et Johan- 
 nes erant, utero gessisse." Lampe, lib. i. cap. 2. 
 F
 
 66 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 dom, as any language which ever came forth 
 from his lips : " Jesus said unto them, Verily 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." But even before this direct promise had 
 been given, the subject of this prerogative of 
 this superior rank of this primacy* in Christ's 
 future kingdom had been evidently much on 
 the mind of the apostles. And this is proved by 
 their inquiry in Matt, xviii. 1, "At the same time 
 came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, 'Who is 
 the greatest in the kingdom of heaven ?' More- 
 over, James and John may have had ambitious 
 
 7 'EV rfj Tra\iyyfve(Tia in the " new creation" in the " restora- 
 tion of all things" in the " kingdom of heaven," as to be esta- 
 blished at the coming of the Lord. Then the apostles will 
 assuredly rule, as Jesus has promised judging or ruling the 
 twelve tribes of Israel. Of this we cannot for an instant doubt 
 the reality, though we cannot yet tell the mode and form of their 
 sway. 
 
 7 ' In his own French translation of his Latin commentary, 
 Calvin uses the word " la primaute," as the object of their desire. 
 He has much valuable comment, of a practical character, on this 
 passage. For instance, on the strife and debate among them, as 
 to " who should be greatest," he observes : " There were two 
 faults in this debate. First, the apostles were to blame for 
 laying aside anxiety about the warfare to which they had been 
 called, and for demanding beforehand repose and wages and 
 honours, as if they had been soldiers that had served their time. 
 The second fault is, that instead of labouring with one consent, 
 as they ought to have done, to render mutual assistance, and to 
 secure for their brethren as large a share of honours as for 
 themselves, they strove with wicked ambition to excel one 
 another." Comment on Matt, xviii. i.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 67 
 
 thoughts specially suggested to them not only 
 by the honour of having been selected by the 
 Lord as witnesses of his transfiguration, but also 
 b}' that view, transient as it was, of his majesty 
 and glory as displayed on the mount by this 
 ocular evidence that he was one to whom majesty 
 and glory belonged 3 . 
 
 In asking to sit, one on the right hand and 
 one on the left hand of Jesus in his kingdom, it 
 may be that the two apostles had no farther 
 thoughts than those brought to their mind by 
 the fact that posts such as these were ever held 
 to be of chief rank and dignity in all courts 
 and assemblies where precedence appears. But 
 it is more likely still that being conversant with 
 the polity of their own nation, they expected, 
 from the promise above quoted, that they would 
 attain to a rank corresponding in some degree 
 with that of the phylarchs ((f>v\dp^oi b ) or heads 
 
 a At the same time we must not exclusively look on the 
 mother's vanity, or on the ambition of her sons, in this request, 
 both her's and their's. It proved in a certain degree their and her 
 faith in Jesus as the Lord of glory, and in the fact that the places 
 of dignity in his kingdom, of whatever kind they might be, were 
 his to give that he had but to purpose, or to speak, and they 
 would be assigned accordingly. 
 
 b " Audierat ex filiis mater, apostolis communiter promissam 
 dignitatem quasi <j>v\ap%a>v (principum in tribubus) ut supra 
 diximus : sed sciebat etiam inter eos qui paris essent gradus 
 aliquem esse ordinem : quemadmodum in veteri regno Israelitico 
 duo primi loci erant r<av <f)v\dpxuv (principum in tribubus) tribuum 
 Judre et Josephi." Grot. Annott. ad loc. Matthew Pool, in his 
 commentary on this passage, observes : " Here is not yet a word 
 of Peter's primacy, or any claim he put in for it : nor, it seemeth, 
 had the others any apprehension of such an establishment, 
 
 F2
 
 68 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 of tribes among the Jews, and knowing that an 
 order of position and precedence was known and 
 had been exemplified even among those, who 
 might, in another sense, be styled of equal rank 
 namely, the heads and representatives of the 
 two tribes of Judah and Joseph they sought, 
 vaguely, of course, a corresponding post. They 
 aimed at appropriating to themselves the two 
 chief places among the apostolic rulers of Christ's 
 future kingdom those nearest to their Master 
 the seats of distinguished preeminence, as in 
 public assemblies of all times and places, where 
 the chief personage sits supreme, and those next 
 to him in precedence have the places at his right 
 and left c . The Lord Jesus now answered the 
 request and corrected the erroneous views of 
 these eager aspirants for a rank, of which they 
 knew so little. But it may be observed that 
 he, in his wisdom, did not use the language of 
 direct refusal. He did not speak, as if there was 
 nothing whatsoever but unmixed and absolute 
 delusion prevalent in their minds, or as if there 
 
 neither would James and John have put in for it, nor would all 
 the disciples (among whom Peter was one) have been so dis- 
 pleased at the ambition of James and John." 
 
 c The passages in Scripture illustrating this fact are so 
 numerous, that citations here would be quite superfluous. Indeed 
 the practice of all nations reflects such a plain comment on the 
 request of these two apostles, as to render their aim no less 
 evident than if they had expressed in detail all the honours and 
 temporal advantages involved in their aspiring claim : Grotius 
 quotes passages from Pindar, Horace and others, as classic 
 illustrations of the right and left hand.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 69 
 
 was no truth at all connected with their demand. 
 Certainly not. But he corrected the mistaken 
 conceptions of the two applicants, and through 
 his answer to them conveyed information, as to 
 future realities, unto his church for ever. He 
 announced that the form and character of his 
 future kingdom d was altogether different from 
 that of any earthly or secular dominion with 
 which man was acquainted that the future 
 rule of the saints, with and under him, was a 
 privilege to be obtained through means very 
 much contrasted with any thing generally wel- 
 come to mankind, or acceptable to flesh and 
 blood. But, first of all, knowing their thoughts, 
 and aware of their misapprehensions, and seeing 
 into the very depths of their present ignorance, 
 he spake and asserted, as one having authority : 
 " Ye know not what ye ask e ." 
 
 But soon the ignorance, and not only that, but 
 the presumptuous confidence of the two brethren 
 was still more manifestly shewn. Jesus pro- 
 ceeded to put this question to them : " Are ye 
 able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, 
 
 d In illustration of the false impressions as to the Redeemer's 
 kingdom, prevalent among his followers previous to the day of 
 Pentecost, we may refer to Luke xxiv. 21. Acts i. 6. John vi. 15 ; 
 and, I should suppose, to Matt, xxvii. 56. 
 
 e On the question of Jesus, "What would ye that I should do 
 unto you ?" one of the ancient commentators adds, that he thus 
 spake, " not from his being ignorant of their desire, but that they 
 might be compelled to speak, that the moral sore within them 
 might be exhibited in order to its healing." Apollinarius ad loc. 
 Cat. in Evan. edit. Cramer.
 
 70 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 and to be baptized with the baptism that I am 
 baptized with ?" 
 
 In this question was involved no less a demand 
 than one touching their spiritual strength, and 
 their capacity to suffer even as their Master was 
 to suffer himself. Yet they heedlessly and rashly 
 answered, "We are able." Nor did the Lord 
 stop to rebuke them, nor to set them right as to 
 their real and absolute incapacity for any such 
 thing. But, in his gracious indulgence to their 
 weakness, Jesus passed over all this without 
 notice, and immediately announced that they 
 should be partakers of his sufferings : and, al- 
 though he withheld any direct information, ex- 
 clusively relating to themselves (as distinct from 
 their brethren of the apostolic company), still he 
 bore a fresh testimony to the truth, that special 
 honours and dignities corresponding beyond 
 doubt to the very ideas which such statements 
 convey unto the human mind were to exist in 
 his future kingdom, and should assuredly be 
 given to those of his servants and saints for 
 whom God had prepared them, to be their honour 
 and everlasting reward. " Ye shall drink indeed 
 of my cup, and be baptized with the bap- 
 tism that I am baptized with ; but to sit on 
 my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to 
 give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is 
 prepared of my Father f ." 
 
 f Calvin thus practically writes in his comment on the whole 
 passage on which we are engaged: "This narrative contains a 
 bright mirror of human vanity ; for it shews that proper and
 
 OP ST. JOHN. 71 
 
 Now the first question arising from this decla- 
 ration is of no slight importance to the course of 
 this narrative. For it bears on the history both 
 of James and John ; and requires most attention 
 in that of the latter apostle. Of which the reason 
 is, that, although this prophecy of Jesus was 
 most obviously fulfilled in the case of the former, 
 from the manner of his death and from his being 
 the only apostle of whose martyrdom we know, 
 from Scripture, the exact circumstances, still, 
 through the very simplicity of prophetic accom- 
 
 holy zeal is often accompanied by ambition, or some other vice 
 of the flesh, so that they who follow Christ have a different 
 object in view from what they ought to have. They who are 
 not satisfied with himself alone, but seek this or the other thing 
 apart from him and his promises, wander egregiously from the 
 right path. Nor is it enough that at the commencement we 
 sincerely apply our minds to Christ, if we do not steadfastly 
 maintain the same purity ; for frequently in the midst of the 
 course there spring up sinful affections, by which we are led 
 
 astray If this happened to two excellent disciples, with 
 
 what care ought we to walk, if we do not wish to turn aside 
 from the right path ! More especially, when any plausible occa- 
 sion presents itself, we ought to be on our guard lest the desire 
 of honours corrupt the feeling of piety." Cave writes in a very 
 pleasing strain on the Lord's gentleness and tenderness, as here 
 evinced : " He, the goodness of whose nature ever made him 
 put the best and most candid interpretation on men's words and 
 actions yea, even those of his greatest enemies did not take 
 advantage of their hasty and inconsiderate reply, to treat them 
 with sharp and quick reproofs, but mildly owning their forward- 
 ness to suffer, told them that, as for suffering, they should indeed 
 suffer, as well as he," &c. &c. Life of St. James, . 6. 
 
 g And using the words of Lightfoot, concerning the martyrdom 
 of James, we must account " all other additional circumstances, 
 which may be found in officious authors, to be nothing else but 
 gilded legends and fond inventions." Commentary on the Acts.
 
 72 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 plishment in him, we, having once marked this 
 event, are immediately called to a far more 
 varied and extensive course of observation, in 
 following out this prophecy as fulfilled in St. 
 John. In the mysterious and sovereign purposes 
 of that God, who (according to Scripture) " giveth 
 no account of His matters," and works according 
 to the purpose of His own will, not only as to the 
 instruments, whom He chooses for his service, 
 but also as to those, whose names and words 
 and deeds were to be enshrined in the pages of 
 his holy Word, " James the son of Zebedee is 
 suddenly called away without leaving a trace 
 behind to justify the exalted place which he 
 occupied above his brother apostles h ." Doubtless 
 he performed his own appointed work, just as 
 much and as effectually as either Peter or John 
 or Paul. Doubtless he took good heed to all 
 the details of his apostolic career; but all that 
 we know of him singly and exclusively is summed 
 up in the brief narration of his death'. We 
 know not how deep he drank of the cup of 
 sorrow during the course of years between the 
 time of Christ's prophecy regarding his future 
 lot, and his violent death. We know not how 
 often he was plunged and how painfully he was 
 baptized in the waves of tribulation going over 
 his head, ere his work was done and his testimony 
 
 h Rev. A. P. Stanley. Sermons and Essays on the aposto- 
 lical Age, p. 157. It is observable that St. James died the first 
 of the apostles, while St. John his brother survived them all. 
 i Acts xii. 3.
 
 or ST. JOHN. 73 
 
 finished on the earth. But this we know well, 
 that the cup which his Master drank was his to 
 drink also that the baptism of his Master was 
 his also wherewith to be baptized that it was 
 given to him " not only to believe but also to 
 suffer" for Christ's sake and that he was not 
 only one of the " glorious company of the apo- 
 stles" but also of " the noble army of martyrs," 
 slain " for the witness of Jesus and for the Word 
 of God V 
 
 From this short digression on the history of 
 St. James, which certainly claims a place in some 
 quarter or another of his brother's history, and 
 is perhaps not less suitably introduced here than 
 it could have been at any other period, we may 
 now return to those words of our Saviour whence 
 it took its origin. 
 
 The word " cup" is one of those peculiar terms 
 which, if taken by itself, has in it two 1 opposite 
 meanings. And these can only be discovered 
 from the context, and by the subject matter to 
 which reference is made. 
 
 k Rev. xx. 4. 
 
 1 In the Iliad, at, 527, two casks are mentioned, from whence 
 men are described as receiving, respectively, both evil and good. 
 Aoiol yap Tf iriQoi KaTCKfiarai ev Atoj ouSei 
 Awpwi', oia St'SoxTj, KctKtav, ertpos 8f fda>v. K. T. A. 
 
 Parkhurst, in his Lexicon, thus speaks on the double meaning 
 of the word cup, as employed in Scripture : 
 
 " From the ancient custom of the master of the feast appoint- 
 ing to each of the guests his cup i. e. his kind and measure of 
 liquor norrfpiov is used in the LXX answering to the Hebrew 
 D12, for that portion of happiness or misery, which God sends on 
 kingdoms or individuals."
 
 74 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 It sometimes signifies joy. " The Lord is the 
 portion of mine inheritance and of my cup m " 
 Again, " " My cup runneth over," is the language 
 of David, when expressing the fulness and abun- 
 dance of his blessings. And this metaphorical 
 meaning, although not nearly so frequent as its 
 opposite sense, is far more simple. Nevertheless, 
 in considering that second meaning, and in treat- 
 ing of the word " cup" as employed in Scripture 
 with a symbolical sense, its use and application 
 seem to be derived from some bitter and dis- 
 tasteful drink given for recovery of health : or 
 from the need of submission to the rule of the 
 master of a family or entertainment appointing 
 the portion to each ; from which no deviation was 
 allowed : or (if we would seek a derivation still 
 more strong, and appropriate to those most pain- 
 ful realities so often set forth by the word) for a 
 deadly and poisonous cup, administered in ancient 
 times and in certain circumstances as the com- 
 pulsory means of execution and death. Accord- 
 
 m Ps. xvi. 5. 
 
 n Ps. xxiii. 5. For instances of each separate character as 
 denoting either good or evil, see also Ps. xi. 6. Is. li. 17. Jer. 
 xxv. 15. Lam. iv. 21. Matt. xxvi. 39, 42. John xviii. u. The 
 infliction of deep grief is represented through the taste of bitter- 
 ness in such passages as those of Jeremiah : " The Lord our God 
 hath put us to silence and given us water of gall to drink, because 
 we have sinned against the Lord," (ch. viii. 14.) Again, in the 
 next chapter : " Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with 
 wormword, and give them water of gall to drink." (ver. 15.) 
 
 " Metaphora porro haec desumpta est vel, T . ab antique more, 
 quo solebat damnatis ad mortem poculum veneno plenum porrigi, 
 ut ea ratione vitam finirent, quo genere mortis Socrates exstinc-
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 75 
 
 ingly, one who is describing very urgent distress 
 and calamity thus addresses God : " Thou hast 
 given us a drink of deadly wine." Again, " In 
 the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine 
 is red : it is full of mixture, and he poureth out 
 the same : but the dregs thereof, all the wicked 
 of the earth shall wring them out, and drink 
 ihem^r And the employment of this word " cup," 
 as descriptive of our Saviour's agony, and so 
 employed even by his own lips% seems to have 
 affixed to it a rare and emphatic dignity, and to 
 have taken it out of all common phraseology, and 
 to have reserved it, if I may so speak, for that 
 bitter woe which he himself endured. 
 
 But not only did our Lord employ this special 
 illustration, as pourtraying his own suffering, and 
 that measure of fellowship in suffering with him 
 which his two servants would have to undergo for 
 his name's sake. He added another metaphorical 
 expression, still more to impress upon his hearers 
 the nature and extent of the tribulation an- 
 nounced. He told not only of the cup to be 
 drank, but conjoined with it the " baptism where- 
 
 tus est, vel, 2. a more conviviorum, ubi paterfamilias, aut quis- 
 quis honoratissimus, a~up.Tro(r'i.apxos, qui arbiter etiam et magister 
 convivii dictus est, bibendi leges ferebat, quas nefas erat violari, 
 et prsescribebat quantum quisque biberet, et quo modo tempera- 
 turn, sive suave aut amarum, purum aut fajculentum &c. quod 
 necesse erat ut biberent." E Pol. Syn. ad loc. Esther i. 8. is 
 appropriately quoted. 
 
 " With his friends about him, he (Socrates) took the fatal cup, 
 and died." Mitford, Hist, of Greece. 
 
 P Ps. Ixxv. 8. q Matt. xxvi. 39.
 
 76 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 with he should be baptized*" thus, by a double 
 metaphor, doubling and enforcing the truth which 
 these symbols conveyed, first as to himself then 
 directly, as to James and John and then indi- 
 rectly, as to all his people who should be faithful 
 and steadfast to his holy cause. 
 
 Now every observant reader of the Scripture 
 will speedily recognise the fact, that afflictions, 
 sorrows, and calamities are therein constantly 
 described under the representation of waters, over- 
 whelming some sufferer and bringing his life into 
 jeopardy. To quote only two passages: "Save 
 me, God, for the waters are come in unto my 
 soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no 
 standing : I am come into deep waters, where the 
 floods overflow me s ." Again: "When thou passest 
 through the waters, I will be with thee ; and through 
 the rivers, they shall not overflow thee 1 ." Accord- 
 ingly the application of the word baptized as 
 
 r Speaking of our Saviour's use of the word " baptized" in 
 this passage, Lampe writes : " Fundamentum hujus emblematis 
 est quod aquae commune afflictionum, calamitatum, persecutionum 
 in sacris symbolum gerant. Hoc infert aquarum profunditas, et 
 absorbendi vis, nee non judicium diluvii, quod in passionum 
 Christi ac Ecclesise symbolum est positum." 1. I. c. ii. . 23. 
 To the same purpose, Matthew Pole, in his annotations on this 
 passage, writes, " Afflictions are ordinarily compared in the 
 Scripture to waters: to be baptized is to be dipped in water; 
 metaphorically, to be plunged in afflictions." The same metaphor 
 is not unfrequent in profane authors : e. g. 
 
 Sed me fata mea et scelus exitiale Lacaenae 
 His mersere mails. ^EN. vi. 5 1 1, 2. 
 
 On which Heyne notes briefly : "Saepius poetae ex. gr. KaraK\v- 
 o-$;i/ai KdK&v." s Psalm Ixix. 1,2. * Isaiah xliii. 2.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 77 
 
 indicating those deep, abounding, and repeated 
 sufferings, those waves on waves of affliction, 
 which the Lord underwent for our sake, would 
 scarcely have sounded strange in his disciples' 
 ears, accustomed as they were to the symbolical 
 language of God's Word. Lightfoot, whose learned 
 authority must be considered as of no ordinary 
 value on such a subject as this, has a very 
 peculiar statement on this our Lord's phrase- 
 ology, drawing it absolutely and expressly from 
 the very act of baptism, as not unfrequently 
 one which was accompanied by no little bodily 
 suffering to the baptized person. He observes 
 that the Jewish baptizings or dippings had in 
 them a certain sharpness and severity, when in 
 frost and snow, and wind and inclement weather, 
 immersion in cold water was the rule "from 
 which the phrase was used to signify death 
 and the bitterest sufferings." Now, whether 
 this etymological account of the phrase be ac- 
 curate or not, is a matter of little consequence", 
 but that the word was constantly employed by 
 Jesus in this sense of death and bitter sufferings 
 is beyond all contradiction. On another occasion 
 
 u At all events the true idea of a baptism is that of a descent 
 under the waters, and a rising again from them a kind of 
 burial and resurrection. So "buried with him in baptism and 
 risen again." So the old world was baptized in Noah's time, 
 plunged under the water and emerging from it again. So 
 Christ in speaking of his baptism, and asking whether the pe- 
 titioners could be baptized with the same, asks, as it were ; 
 " Can ye share this descent into the depths, whither I' descend 
 for you, and so rise again ?"
 
 78 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 he saith: "I have a baptism to be baptized x 
 with; and how am I straitened till it be ac- 
 complished." As Jesus used the word cup to 
 denote suffering, persecution, and woe, so he en- 
 forces the question put to his ambitious fol- 
 lowers by employing this second illustration, 
 to give renewed emphasis and weight to his 
 saying to afford, as it were, another view of 
 the subject on which their attention might be 
 fixed another solemn opportunity, by phrase- 
 ology like this, to give heed to their answer, 
 and avoid all presumption in response to his 
 searching words. But it had no effect. Their 
 ignorance was not enlightened. Their confidence 
 remained unchecked. They answered : "We cany." 
 It is not requisite here to enter into the na- 
 ture of this statement on the part of the two 
 apostles, as proving the delusive notions which 
 they held regarding their own spiritual strength 
 and capacity, because the general question here 
 involved, as to their actual state before they 
 were endued with the Spirit from on high, after 
 the ascension of Christ, compared with that 
 which was subsequently theirs, has been already 
 noticed in the course of these pages. Advancing 
 
 x Luke xii. 50. " In the word baptism the force of the 
 metaphor is very evident ; for we know that by baptism believers 
 are instructed to deny themselves (Matt. xvi. 24), to crucify the 
 old man (Rom. vi. 6), and, in short, to bear the cross." Calvin 
 Comment, on Matt. xx. 22. 
 
 Y Compare with this the too confident assertion of St. Peter, 
 Luke xxii. 33.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 79 
 
 then onward, we may listen to the Lord, while, 
 passing over much which might have appeared 
 likely to draw forth comment and reproof 2 from 
 his lips, he adheres to that one special matter, 
 prominently urgent at the time, and concentrates 
 thereupon the whole force of his words, so as to 
 impress the mind and the memory of those who 
 were around him with one momentous truth. 
 We may hear him announcing with prophetic 
 voice two distinct things and yet, though dis- 
 tinct in themselves, connected by a link, which, 
 in his wisdom and love, he himself graciously 
 supplies. 
 
 Now what are these two distinct things ? The 
 first is this: an application, in strict accuracy, 
 limited to those two apostles who had made 
 that petition on which we have been engaged. 
 "Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink 
 of, and with the baptism that I am baptized 
 withal shall ye be baptized." 
 
 The fulfilment of this prophecy in the person 
 of St. James has been already described. Its 
 fulfilment in the person of St. John a will appear, 
 
 z " Ne hoc quidem satis norant, quod responderent. Fert 
 tamen Dominus illos et confessionem eorum accipit." Bengel. 
 Gnom. Nov. Test, ad loc. 
 
 a norrjpiov voce non stricte mortem, sed laxius paulo per- 
 pessiones, prsesertim graviores, notari eo mihi videtur proba- 
 bilius, quo magis eventui respondet." Grotius ad loc. in Matt. 
 The same writer then proceeds to quote Chrysostom Theophylact, 
 Justin, Irenseus, Clemens, Origen, and Tertullian, as all giving 
 either positive or negative testimony against John having suf- 
 fered violent death. But this subject will, of course, be treated 
 at full towards the conclusion of this work.
 
 80 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 at intervals, through the remainder of his history. 
 That history will prove the best elucidating com- 
 ment on the Saviour's words, in reference to him. 
 The second matter contained in this sentence 
 of our Lord is closely connected with the first ; 
 I allude to the words : " But to sit on my right 
 hand and on my left is not mine to give : but 
 it shall be given to them for whom it is pre- 
 pared." Now although this part of his answer 
 is not of the same limited application as the 
 former clause, still it results from it. And the 
 link appears to be this. While Jesus would make 
 no promise and give no declaration whatsoever 
 on the peculiar place of rule and of dignity in 
 his future kingdom, to which one or another of 
 his people, however beloved, should attain ; and 
 still less designate those individuals, who should 
 hold the loftiest posts and in the nearest ap- 
 proximation to himself, when exalted on the 
 throne of his glory; nor feed the ambitious ap- 
 petite of his eager and aspiring disciples ; still 
 he would not, even by silence and omission, leave 
 any one present, or any one of us, to conclude 
 that there would be in his future kingdom no 
 special preeminence no glory to one, excelling 
 the glory of another no right hand and no left, 
 nigh unto himself, which the chosen and ap- 
 pointed occupants should surely inherit as their 
 own. And thus he establishes the fact, that, 
 however erroneous were the ambitious views 
 which drew such a statement forth, still a truth 
 was in them that such transcendent rewards are
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 81 
 
 to be prepared for the saints, according to the 
 good pleasure and good purpose of God. And 
 here he speaks as man as Mediator as " living 
 by the Father" as coming not to do his own 
 will, but the will of Him who sent him ; and all 
 this is contained in the declaration, " But to sit 
 on my right hand and on my left is not mine to 
 give b ; but it shall be given to them for whom 
 it is prepared." "By pride cometh contention ." 
 The other ten disciples " began to be much dis- 
 pleased d with James and John" for their self- 
 aggrandizing conduct. But Jesus calls them all 
 to himself, and overrules the pride of the two, 
 and the anger and displeasure of the ten 
 probably in their hearts not less ambitious than 
 the two unto the good of their souls. He sets 
 forth how the lordship and authority which the 
 rulers of the Gentiles exercise over the ruled 
 
 b OVK ea-Tiv (fiov Sovvai, dXX' ols ^rot'/iacmu K. T. X. Jesus here 
 speaks as man, as mediator, as he does so frequently. Perhaps 
 the more accurate translation would be, " except to those for whom 
 it is prepared." See dXXa with the same meaning Mark iv. 22. 
 ix. 8, and Matt. xvii. 8. The doctrine involved here is maintained 
 in Luke xxii. 29, and in a multitude of other passages from our 
 Lord's mouth. "Addit a Patre meo, vel, ut insinuet rem hanc 
 secretam sibi tenendam : vel, 2. quia opera potential et provi- 
 dentise (inter quse est prsedestinatio, quae voce ^Toi/xaorai sig- 
 nificatur) soli Patri attribui solent, ut sapientia Filio, gratia 
 ac dona Spiritui Sancto tribuuntur." E Pol. Syn. ad loc. 
 
 c Prov. xiii. 10. 
 
 d *HpgavTo dyavaKTflv . The same Greek verb is employed in 
 the parallel passage of St. Matthew, but there it is translated in 
 still stronger terms "moved with indignation against the 
 two brethren."
 
 82 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 was not the lordship and authority for them to 
 seek, or expect or attain that their earthly lot, 
 if accounted worthy of honour by him, was 
 humiliation and service, and a low estate that 
 instead of expecting honour and grandeur, such 
 as was evidently in their minds at the time, 
 they must be prepared for a very different career. 
 If they would be chief, in his eye, they must 
 be servants of all, "even as the Son of man 
 came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, 
 and to give his life a ransom for many." If 
 they would reign, they must suffer. If they 
 would drink of the rivers of pleasure, which are 
 at Christ's right hand, even for evermore, they 
 must be ready to welcome to their lips the cup 
 of tribulation on earth. If they would so rise 
 as to partake of the high places at the "resur- 
 rection of the just," they must be willing to de- 
 scend into the deep waters, such as persecution, 
 and "deaths oft" which his service would most 
 surely bring. In a word, there must be first the 
 cross, if there was to be the crown 6 . 
 
 Such is the end of this history, in which the 
 apostle John bears so conspicuous a part: and 
 accordingly, the way is now open for continuing 
 the record of his life as subsequently known to 
 us. But henceforth it is sure that we shall find 
 
 e An ancient commentator marks out here how Jesus ful- 
 filled in himself that which he thus announced as the portion 
 of his followers : Bao-tXeus T&V ava> Swdpeaiv inrdpxov, avBpwros 
 iytvero, Kal Karf$e'aro KaTafypoveivBai KOI t>j3pt'eo-&u KCU eVt Bavarov 
 Apollinarius ap. Cat. in Evang. edit. Cramer.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 83 
 
 his life a constant fulfilment, in itself, of that 
 prophecy attached to it by the Lord Jesus him- 
 self. It may be expected, or rather it is sure, 
 that henceforth he will be found drinking and 
 partaking of that same cup of which his Master 
 drank, and baptized with that same baptism 
 wherewith Jesus was baptized himself. For 
 though Jesus thought good to refuse Peter's 
 request, made at a subsequent time, that he 
 would tell beforehand John's appointed lot, still 
 he declared here, with no scanty revelation, what 
 his future history would be. Henceforth he may 
 be seen with the halo of the martyr ever shining 
 round his head, even till the time when, more 
 than a half century having passed away, he 
 writes, at Patmos, of himself, as the companion 
 of the saints " in tribulation, and in the kingdom 
 and patience of Jesus Christ," " suffering for the 
 word of God and for the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ f ." 
 
 . 10. Mark xiii. 4, 5. 
 
 We hear of St. John, as one .of the four dis- 
 ciples who came to Jesus while "sitting on the 
 mount of Olives over against the temple," and 
 "asked him privately" those questions which 
 led to the grand and far extending prophecies 
 then and there declared. 
 
 St. Mark is the only one of the evangelists 
 who states the precise number of these disciples. 
 He also gives their names Peter, James, John, 
 
 f Rev. i. 9. 
 G2
 
 84 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 and Andrew. But as there is nothing in any 
 way distinctive of St. John introduced on this 
 occasion, one observation will suffice, as con- 
 nected with his presence namely, that in all 
 probability he, among all the apostles, was the 
 only one who lived to behold with his own eyes 
 the fulfilment of the Lord's prophecy on the 
 destruction of Jerusalem. It may also be re- 
 membered that he alone, who saw the earthly 
 Jerusalem fall, was also, in vision, to see the 
 new and heavenly Jerusalem " coming down from 
 heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her hus- 
 band." Rev. xxi. 2. 
 
 (j. ii. Matt. xxvi. 17. Mark xiv. 12. Luke xxii. 8. 
 
 The next passage where mention is made of 
 St. John, in any thing distinct, and peculiar to 
 himself, is that where he appears as selected by 
 his Master to go into Jerusalem from Bethany, 
 on the " day of unleavened bread," and there to 
 prepare the passover for Jesus and his disciples. 
 St. Matthews, though narrating the directions 
 given on this subject by the Lord, speaks in 
 general terms of "the disciples'" as commanded 
 thus to act. St. Mark h defines "two" as sent on 
 this mission, adding a circumstance which was 
 to direct them in their way and selection, while 
 St. Luke 1 mentions their names. "And he sent 
 Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the 
 passover, that we may eat." 
 
 Ch. xxvi. 17. h Ch. xiv. 13. Ch. xxii. 8.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 85 
 
 At this season (according to Lightfoot) the 
 houses of Jerusalem were not to *be let. They 
 were esteemed of common right to any that 
 would eat the passover in them. But even had 
 it not been so, that same Jesus, who provided 
 against objections to the loosing of the colt for 
 his entry into Jerusalem, could have made the 
 proprietor 11 willing to receive him on the mere 
 authority of his given word : " The Master saith 
 unto thee, Where is the guest-chamber, where I 
 shall eat the passover with my disciples?" In 
 being thus sent a call was made on the two 
 apostles' faith, as having to appeal to an un- 
 known person for such a purpose : and although 
 we hear of the upper room or guest-chamber 
 being offered in a " furnished 1 and prepared" state 
 for the feast by the owner of the house, still 
 Peter and John had the following arrangements 
 
 k On the expression " to such a man," Macknight, in his 
 Paraphrase and Commentary, observes : " This implies that 
 Jesus named the person to whom they were sent, though the 
 evangelists have not thought it of importance to mention his 
 name." It may also be observed, in connection with the passage, 
 that a great peculiarity was attached to the circumstance of a 
 " man bearing a pitcher of water." It would have been no sign 
 to speak of a woman " bearing a pitcher of water :" for that 
 business always has been and is still the exclusive task of the 
 women. An eastern missionary brought this to my notice. 
 
 1 The word translated " furnished" is eVrpw/xeVoj/ arranged 
 with' couches for the meal both in St. Mark and St. Luke. 
 St. Mark adds the word fToipov, " prepared." This, however, 
 does not include the preparation of the " lamb" itself for we 
 subsequently read that " they" St. John and Peter " made 
 ready the passover." Hence the quotation from Lightfoot in the 
 text.
 
 86 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 to make. " They were to get a lamb, and to bring 
 him into the temple, and there to have him killed, 
 and his blood sprinkled under the name of a pas- 
 chal for thirteen persons. For no lamb could be 
 eaten for a paschal whose blood was not sprinkled 
 at the altar in the name of a paschal, by count 
 for such a number of persons, as had agreed to be 
 at the eating of him. Having got the lamb thus 
 slain at the temple, they were to bring him home 
 to the house where he was to be eaten, to get 
 him roasted, and to get bread and wine ready, 
 and what other provision was usual and requi- 
 site for that meal." Such is Lightfoot's account 
 of the order to be observed towards holding the 
 feast. This was the office which they undertook 
 and performed : and it was an holy and honour- 
 able office, first, because they were specially em- 
 ployed in their Master's service; and secondly, 
 because they were chosen to a sacramental ordi- 
 nance of high worth and dignity. It was one 
 which spoke, typically and prospectively, of a full 
 deliverance from sin through the blood of a Re- 
 deemer ; and it spoke of spiritual food on which 
 every believing soul should feed " in faith with 
 thanksgiving." But before long those who pre- 
 pared it were to know its full significance how 
 it had no glory in comparison with that more 
 excellent glory which was in Jesus Christ him- 
 self the paschal Lamb himself the great living 
 Antitype of all here declared. And soon St. John, 
 who was sent to prepare the feast, will appear 
 partaking of the feast ; and not only so, but
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 87 
 
 " lying on Jesus' breast," and honoured with a 
 title, such as never was ascribed in this special 
 way to any man upon earth " the disciple whom 
 Jesus loved." 
 
 . 12. St. John, as " the disciple whom Jesus loved." 
 John xiii. 23. 
 
 The feast of the passover had now arrived. 
 The evening was now closing in. It is written 
 of Jesus, that " having loved his own which were 
 in the world, he loved them unto the end." (ch. 
 xiii. 1.) The supper was now concluded. Jesus 
 had washed his disciples' feet, and had taken 
 again that outer robe which he had put off for 
 a time to perform the menial work of washing 
 his disciples' feet. He was set down again, and 
 had exhorted his hearers to cultivate and mani- 
 fest that same spirit of humility and love which 
 he had just exemplified in his own person and 
 deed. Soon after he was troubled in spirit, and 
 testified, and said, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
 that one of you shall betray me. Then the dis- 
 ciples looked one on another, doubting of whom 
 he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom 
 one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter 
 therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask 
 who it should be of whom he spake. He then, 
 tying on Jesus' breast, saith unto him, Lord, who 
 is it?" (v. 25.) 
 
 Here is the first passage where this remark- 
 able title is given to St. John ; and the whole 
 transaction, thus briefly described in God's word,
 
 88 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 and just quoted at length, very plainly demands 
 our consideration, as illustrating the history of 
 one brought by it into this peculiar prominence 
 or rather, I may add, unparalleled honour 
 among the twelve apostles. 
 
 Several points require notice in connexion with 
 this subject, e. g. that the appellation, thus denot- 
 ing St. John, is not employed by any other evan- 
 gelist, but by himself exclusively ; again, that it 
 is the periphrasis, used by him not once only, 
 but constantly, where the introduction either of 
 his own name, or of some designation of himself, 
 is needed by the current history; and lastly, 
 that in these very words several important truths 
 are contained, not only concerning himself, but 
 concerning the Lord also. 
 
 The two first of these three subjects may be 
 handled very briefly. The third will require 
 more full investigation. 
 
 St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke freely and 
 continually mention St. John by name ; and, with 
 the exception of very rare instances, always in 
 some honourable way in some manner indicat- 
 ing him as selected to attend Jesus on the most 
 solemn occasions, and as marked by him with 
 evident tokens of approbation and love. St. Mat- 
 thew was led by the Holy Spirit very frequently 
 to mention the name of his brother apostle ; 
 though, in so doing, he often elevated John to 
 a far more lofty and illustrious position than 
 that occupied either by himself or his fellows. 
 Moreover, when he, as apostle and evangelist in
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 89 
 
 one, and when St. Mark and Luke, as evangelists, 
 pass over many among the apostles with a mere 
 record of their call and ordination, St. John is 
 continually brought forward by name. But it is 
 not so, when with his own pen St. John has to 
 describe or tell any remarkable transaction in 
 which he bears a part. Then he adopts a phrase 
 by which in the early church m he was commonly 
 known ; and which, from modesty of spirit n , and 
 from other feelings not less laudable, he ever 
 preferred. I repeat, from modesty, not only be- 
 cause God the Spirit never would have suffered 
 this eminent servant of Jesus to use it upon 
 grounds of an opposite character, but also be- 
 cause we see that while and when he takes to 
 himself this appellation, no act or deed of his 
 own is commemorated with praise. He merely 
 refers to himself as one passive (if I may use the 
 
 m " We may with certainty infer, that the preference shewn 
 him (St. John) by their Lord, above the other apostles, was so 
 notorious that the mention of it, (his title as the disciple whom 
 Jesus loved,) even by the person on whom it was bestowed, 
 could occasion no offence." Robert Hall, Funeral Sermon for 
 Dr. Ryland. 
 
 n There is a beautiful passage in Apollinarius on John xviii. 15, 
 in connexion with St. John's modesty and humility of spirit. It 
 is written on the supposition that he actually was the individual 
 there styled " another disciple," who entered into the palace of 
 the high priest. I translate from the Greek : " Why does the 
 
 evangelist not mention his name in the transaction ? In 
 
 telling of himself, as lying on Jesus' breast, he very fitly con- 
 cealed his own name. But why now ? For the very same cause. 
 Since here he narrates a thing much to be admired, namely, that 
 while others were absenting themselves, he followed." Caten. in 
 Evang. ed. Cramer.
 
 90 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 expression), and not as one active. He speaks of 
 another who loves him, not of himself as loving 
 another : and the designation employed tells of 
 the spirit of his Lord as felt and shewn to him, 
 not of his own spirit as felt and shewn to his 
 Lord. Moreover, one eminent grace in the cha- 
 racter of St. John was that of simplicity. He was 
 not likely to " think evil." Others gave him this 
 title. He had no thought in using it of any self- 
 aggrandizement. The favour of his Lord was, no 
 doubt, dear to him, and in his sight honourable : 
 but in using the title he sought nothing for him- 
 self. It was the name by which he was com- 
 monly known by which the love and the friend- 
 ship of Jesus was displayed : and as such he 
 employed it. 
 
 Other passages, where the same periphrasis is 
 used, are found in St. John's Gospel, xix. 26. 
 xx. 2. and xxi. 7, 20. In the last of these two 
 quotations St. John enlarges the terms descrip- 
 tive of himself, by adding a special reference to 
 that very passage now under our consideration. 
 He there speaks of himself as " the disciple 
 whom Jesus loved, which also leaned on his breast 
 at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth 
 
 Id quoque humilitatis est, quod apostolus non se Jesum 
 amasse, sed a Jesu amatum esse pronunciat, amorem divinum abs- 
 que ullo merito suum amorem prsevenisse secundum i Job. iv. 19 
 agnoscens." Lampe, ad loc. Com. in Joan. 
 
 P Lampe, in treating of the temperament and disposition of 
 St. John, writes : " Pro mitiori sane Johannis temperamento 
 perorant tot judicia tenerrimi ejus erga Jesum amoris, qui inno-
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 91 
 
 This explanation should be well weighed and 
 apprehended, as telling the spirit and the cha- 
 racter of Jesus himself, antecedent to its consi- 
 deration as telling the spirit and character of 
 St. John, to be drawn from the title and the facts 
 conveyed by it. 
 
 The attributes of Jesus Christ, as perfect God, 
 were all infinite from all eternity. They were 
 infinite during the day of his dwelling in the 
 flesh upon earth. And they will be infinite for 
 ever. Accordingly, the attribute of love, like all 
 the others, must be infinite in him, as God. Our 
 Lord himself expressly precludes all limitation 
 by his own word: "As the Father hath loved 
 me, so have I loved youV With this love he 
 loved his people before the foundations of this 
 world were laid. With this love he loves them 
 still, and will love them for ever that is, infi- 
 nitely with all his Divine fulness without the 
 admission of any comparison without any selec- 
 tion of one or another, concerning whom that 
 could or would be written, (as a distinctive mark, 
 and as an epithet characterising him rather than 
 another,) which is written of St. John, where he 
 is designated as " the disciple whom Jesus loved." 
 
 We must therefore look in another direction 
 for an explanation of the phrase. And this will 
 
 cua sua jucunditate optimum Sospitatorem nostrum ita occu- 
 pavit, ut primum in familiaritate locum ei concesserit, eumque 
 in sinum suum non solum corporis in accubitu, sed etiam anima 
 receperit." Proleg. in Joan. 1. I. c. i. . 14. 
 q John xv. 9.
 
 92 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 not be difficult to find. The union of the God- 
 head and manhood in one person, Christ, will 
 afford the right interpretation of this remarkable 
 title as applied to St. John. Christ was " God 
 of the substance of the Father, begotten before 
 the worlds." Christ was " man, of the substance 
 of his mother, born in the world ; perfect God 
 and perfect man : of a reasonable soul and human 
 flesh subsisting r ." To use the language of the 
 15th Article, " Christ in the truth of our nature 
 was made like unto us in all things, sin only 
 except, from which he was clearly void, both in 
 his flesh and in his spirit." He was " of One" 
 with them s , that is, with men, and " therefore 
 was not ashamed to call us brethren" and that 
 not in a mere figurative or symbolical sense, but 
 in absolute fact and essential reality, however 
 great the mystery thereby involved. Accordingly 
 he shewed the infallible signs and evidences of a 
 body like our own, by eating and drinking and 
 " being wearied," and hungering and thirsting. 
 And this was not all ; but as he was made " like 
 unto us in all things, sin only excepted," so in 
 him there was a feeling and sympathy with us 
 of the most perfect kind. He wept. He sighed. 
 He was grieved with the hardness of the human 
 heart, and shewed that grief too. He " rejoiced 
 in spirit." He chose a nation and region and 
 city for his own, and lamented with tears the 
 coming doom of Jerusalem. And, as man, he 
 exercised friendship and love. Now that Jesus 
 
 r Athanasian Creed. s Heb. ii. u.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 93 
 
 would so act would choose and have certain 
 friends especially beloved, is a truth for which 
 Scripture does not leave us unprepared. Jesus 
 was to shew the feelings of a man in their per- 
 fection. From such feelings friendship origin- 
 ates; and the excellency of friendship is, in the 
 Scripture 1 , very frequently declared. Nor is it 
 
 * Robert Hall, in a sermon on the death of the Rev. John 
 Ryland, selects for his text the peculiar designation of St. John. 
 He begins with these words: "It has been alleged by unbe- 
 lievers, as a defect in the morality of the gospel, that it neglects 
 to inculcate patriotism and friendship." He proceeds to combat 
 and expose the erroneous views, which some have formed in 
 connexion with these two subjects. The whole sermon is not 
 only most eloquent, but full of most acute discrimination on 
 topics much needing it. Dr. Arnold has a sermon on St. John, 
 in which are some valuable statements on the same subject. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury thus writes, in his Characteristics, art. 
 Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Humour, part ii. sect. 3. 
 " Private friendship and zeal for the public, and our country, 
 are virtues purely voluntary in a Christian. They are no essen- 
 tial parts of his charity." Had the noble author better under- 
 stood the force of our Saviour's example in weeping over Jeru- 
 salem, and in loving John, and Mary, and Martha, and Lazarus, 
 as his private friends, he would not have written thus. 
 
 One of another and a different spirit seems to me to have 
 fallen into a kindred mistake. I allude to Bishop Taylor, who 
 says, in his treatise on Friendship : " You inquire how far a 
 dear and a perfect friendship is authorized by the principles of 
 Christianity. To this I answer that the word friendship, in the 
 sense we commonly mean by it, is not so much as named in 
 the New Testament, and our religion takes no notice of it." 
 
 From a statement like this I should be disposed entirely to 
 withhold assent. The reasons for so doing appear in the pas- 
 sages of Scripture quoted above, and, specially, in the example 
 of our Lord Jesus himself, as made known to us by the Spirit in 
 God's holy word. As to the verbal statement of the author
 
 94 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 less frequently implied. When God spoke to 
 Moses in the very closest communion, it is writ- 
 ten that he spake to him "as a man speaketh 
 unto his friend"." The title of Abraham, as 
 given by Isaiah x in the Old Testament, and by 
 St. James in the New, is " the friend of God y." 
 One of the Psalms presents the claim of a bro- 
 ther and a friend in the very same clause : "I 
 behaved myself as though he had been my friend 
 or brother z ." Solomon delineates the character- 
 istics of a true friend with most accurate por- 
 traiture. He defines him as one, who " loveth at 
 all times a " as one that " sticketh closer than a 
 brother b " as one whose " counsel is sweet," and 
 who rejoices the heart, like ointment or perfume 
 the sense c and as one not to be forsaken, whe- 
 ther your own or your father's friend d . 
 
 Again, many characters in Scripture are spe- 
 cially noticed in connection with their friends 
 those who above others loved them, and those 
 whom they loved above others. Passing over 
 several instances, we may take that of David, 
 one so loving and beloved a man who, both in 
 
 last quoted, I cannot think even that correct. Jesus saith : 
 " Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." 
 
 The interest of this subject to all who can appreciate the true 
 value of friendship, and at the same time would feel it lacking 
 indeed, were there nothing in Scripture to sanction or commend 
 it, may excuse the length of this note. Aristotle's words, roiis 
 yap <f>i\o<f)i\ovs evmvovufv, have a higher sanction than his own. 
 
 u Exod. xxxiii. n. * ch. xli. 8. ? James ii. 23. 
 
 z Ps. xxxv. 14. a Prov. xvii. 17. b ch. xviii. 24. 
 
 c ch. xxvii. 9. A c h. xxvii. TO.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 95 
 
 his prosperity and in his adversity, seems ever 
 to have had the most attached friends, Jonathan 
 for instance and Hushai, whose denomination 
 was "the king's friend 6 ." 
 
 I need do no more than observe how David, 
 in a multitude f of things, was a living and a 
 speaking type of the Lord Jesus Christ; and 
 therefore it may be, that in the matter of friend- 
 ship too he foreshadowed that Saviour, who (as 
 it is written) "loved Mary, and Martha, and 
 Lazarus ^;" and who selected one of the apostles 
 to be his own special friend. That was St. John. 
 We hear of him first in the passage which has led 
 to these our recent thoughts, as "the disciple whom 
 Jesus loved." We behold him at supper " lying 
 on Jesus' breast 11 ." We see Peter, fearless and 
 too eager as he often was, appealing to him that 
 he would ask a question of the Lord which none 
 others ventured to put. We hear him putting it 
 without hesitation. We hear the Lord answer- 
 ing him at once : and in the title thus bestowed 
 upon him, and in his evident intimacy with Jesus 
 shewn by Peter's appeal, and in his position at the 
 
 e 2 Sam. xv. 37 and xvi. 16. 
 
 * I have alluded very little to the temper and character of John 
 as qualified to win and to keep love, though, had I been treating 
 of ordinary friendship between men, much would of course have 
 been said on this subject. I have adopted a different line, from 
 the conviction so admirably expressed in the following words : 
 " Securius erit pro liberrima gratise Jesu Christi id dispensatione 
 habere, quam in homine extra illam aliquid quaerere, quod dilec- 
 tionis divinse et majoris in ilia moduli motivum esse queat." 
 Lampe in Joan. xiii. 23. 
 
 g John xi. 5. h John xiii. 25.
 
 96 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 supper, and in the question which he willingly 
 puts, and in the answer not less readily made, he 
 is surely marked and adorned with honours be- 
 longing to no other man than " the disciple whom 
 Jesus loved." 
 
 $. 13. St. John at the agony in the garden. Matt, 
 xxvi. 36 46. Mark xiv. 33 42. Luke xxii. 39 
 46. Also a notice of the young man who fled away 
 naked, St. Mark xiv. 51, 52, and of the disciple known 
 unto the high priest, John xviii. 15. 
 
 The three favoured disciples who had been 
 the chosen witnesses of Jesus in his majesty and 
 glory, as specially revealed for a season on the 
 " holy mount," were now to be the chosen wit- 
 nesses of his humiliation, as specially exhibited 
 at the hour of his agony in the garden of Geth- 
 semane. And although there is nothing here of 
 any peculiar or exclusive application to St. John, 
 beyond the fact of his being selected once more 
 to share in that triple testimony to the Lord, 
 which was appointed for him, in conjunction 
 with Peter and James on many previous occa- 
 sions of a solemn and important character, still 
 it would be an omission in our survey of his 
 history, as an apostolic witness for Christ, were 
 we to pass this by altogether. At the same time 
 our notice of the subject need be but brief, as it 
 would be foreign to the purpose of this work were 
 we to enter at all into the depths of that mysteri- 
 ous event, or treat of it except as requisite in 
 connexion with St. John.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 97 
 
 St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke narrate 
 how Jesus was followed or accompanied into the 
 garden of Gethsemane by all the apostles. The 
 two former evangelists add the account of that 
 separation among them which the Lord in his 
 wisdom subsequently made. 
 
 Having commanded the other apostles to sit 
 down at a certain spot, while he himself would 
 "go and pray yonder," Jesus "took with him 
 Peter and the two sons of Zebedee." He then 
 revealed to them, and to them only, that state of 
 his inward experience, concerning which, so far 
 as here mentioned, he had said nothing to the 
 disciples at large. He saith unto them unto 
 the three (Matt. v. 38. Luke v. 34) : " My soul 
 is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death : tarry 
 ye here and watch with me 1 ." Even thus he 
 communicated unto these three disciples, brought 
 
 5 " By leaving the disciples at a distance he spares their weak- 
 ness ; as if a man, perceiving that he would soon be in extreme 
 danger in battle, were to leave his wife and children in a situa- 
 tion of safety. But though he intended to place them all beyond 
 arrow- shot, yet he took three of them who accompanied him 
 more closely than the rest, and these were the flower and choice, 
 in which there was greater vigour. And yet he did not take 
 them as if he believed that they would be able to sustain the 
 attack, but that they might afford a proof of the defect that was 
 common to them all." Calvin's Com. on Matt. xxvi. 37. The 
 single object here mentioned was surely but one among many 
 others in the purpose of Christ at this most awful time. 
 
 Explaining how St. Luke says that our Saviour "kneeled," 
 while St. Matthew says that " he fell on his face," Matthew Pool 
 writes that " he possibly first kneeled, then fell on his face." At 
 a period of their most intense peril and excitement, Moses and 
 Aaron fell on their face in prayer. Num. xvi. 22. 
 B
 
 98 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 so closely to himself, the expression of his own 
 deep and agonizing sorrow, when so nigh to the 
 hour for pouring out his soul unto death (Is. liii. 
 12). Then Jesus went on a little farther still 
 " about a stone's cast," according to St. Luke 
 (xxii. 41) about a sufficient distance to obtain a 
 certain amount of seclusion, and yet so as to be 
 heard in the utterances of his voice, and also 
 seen as to the peculiar circumstances of his 
 agony. Then, having addressed the Father in 
 prayer, with "strong supplications and tears;" 
 and having also declared his complete submission 
 to the Father's will, Jesus again traversed that 
 small space which separated him from his three 
 disciples, " and findeth them asleep" " sleeping 
 for sorrow," as St. Luke tells. To Peter then he 
 especially addressed himself in all probability 
 because Peter had so recently and so confidently 
 boasted of his own unwavering faithfulness and 
 devotion to his Master's cause, as admitting no 
 doubt whatsoever. And this course was re- 
 peated by our Lord no less than three times, 
 retiring for his prayer, and returning to find even 
 the three chosen ones sleeping at their post, nigh 
 as they were to him in this wondrous hour of 
 his agony, endured for them and mankind at 
 large. 
 
 Now it is not, as it seems to me, our call or 
 our duty to express condemnation, or even to 
 make any fresh declaration of wonder in addi- 
 tion to that which is uttered by Jesus himself: 
 "What, could ye not watch with me one hour?"
 
 OF ST JOHN. 99 
 
 We know full well all the weakness of faith, in 
 addition to the general infirmity and sinfulness 
 under which the apostles themselves continued 
 to lie, until they were endued with the power of 
 the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. And, 
 on the other hand, it is less our part to pass any 
 personal severe judgments upon them in this 
 matter, than to remember how great might have 
 been their weariness of body at the close of this 
 memorable day; and how keenly their spirits 
 must have been exercised by the solemn and 
 arresting subjects in which they had been hour 
 after hour engaged, e. g. by the transactions at 
 the passover supper k , such as the washing of their 
 feet the announcement of treachery among 
 them the statement of the Lord that he was 
 about to leave them the mighty discourse on 
 the coming of the Holy Ghost the long inter- 
 cessory prayer, uttered in all probability before 
 them and finally, the declaration just made by 
 their Master, that all should be offended because 
 
 k See Macknight for the series of arguments to prove that the 
 supper described in the I3th chapter of St. John was the pass- 
 over supper. At the conclusion of these arguments he answers 
 the objection drawn from John xiii. 27, " where we are told that, 
 when Jesus ordered Judas to do quickly that which he was about 
 to do, the rest thought that he ordered him to buy the things 
 ' they had need of against the feast ;' as importing that the supper 
 they were then eating was not the passover. But the answer is 
 easy : the feast of passover, properly speaking, lasted seven days, 
 wherefore it was of the provisions necessary to the whole festival, 
 and not of those requisite to the paschal supper which the dis- 
 ciples then spake." Par. and Com. on the Harmony of the 
 Gospels. 
 
 H2
 
 100 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 of him that night, and that they should all be 
 scattered as sheep, when the Shepherd of the 
 flock was smitten. And these are only a very 
 small portion of the subjects by which their at- 
 tention and their faculties had been engaged, 
 not to say highly wrought during those evening 
 hours, preparatory to the night on which the 
 agony in the garden took place. Moreover it has 
 graciously pleased the Holy Ghost that a word 
 of tender indulgence should be introduced, in 
 allusion to their conduct. For one of the evange- 
 lists, though telling with the others that they 
 slept, adds the expression, that they were " sleep- 
 ing for sorrow." And Jesus himself most tenderly 
 and graciously supplies his extenuation of their 
 conduct towards him : " The spirit indeed is 
 willing, but the flesh is weak." 
 
 Now were it the history of Peter and not the 
 history of John on which we are at present occu- 
 pied, it might have been requisite to add more 
 here, Peter being singled out as the disciple ad- 
 dressed by the Lord in that touching appeal : 
 " Simon, sleepest thou f Couldest not thou watch one 
 hour ?" But as a brief allusion has already been 
 made to the probable reason why this selection 
 took place, and as no fresh characteristic of 
 St. John appears at this period, we need pursue 
 the subject no farther still less pause and 
 consider him as forsaking Jesus. This is the 
 next circumstance told in the Scripture narra- 
 tive concerning the apostles, among whom St. John 
 has to bear his share of guilt and shame. Alas !
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 101 
 
 that there should have been no exception here ! 
 All failed all in this matter sinned against the 
 Lord. " All forsook him and fled 1 ." But of one 
 thing we may well be certified even that in 
 after-days, the " disciple whom Jesus loved" must 
 often have looked back with all keen wonder, 
 and with all condemnation on himself, as the 
 sleeper and the fugitive in the garden of Geth- 
 semane. 
 
 If it were at all probable that the passage of 
 St. Mark regarding the " certain young man," 
 who followed Jesus at the time of his capture, 
 " having a linen cloth cast about his naked body," 
 did in reality point out St. John, then of course 
 this would be the place for consideration of the 
 subject thus brought forward by one of the 
 evangelists. We certainly find Cave, who is 
 somewhat disposed to gather indiscriminately all 
 
 1 It seems to me that this fact (so very shortly stated in Scrip- 
 ture) is not sufficiently considered. The conduct of Peter alone 
 (in denying the Lord) sometimes seems to absorb all attention. 
 But human nature must not be permitted to escape so easily, 
 without the stamp of guilt being taken notice of, as it was affixed 
 to it, in the desertion of the Lord Jesus Christ on the part of all 
 his disciples. Even the "sheep of the flock" (Zech. xiii. 7) were 
 to be scattered abroad. Surprised, disappointed, panic-stricken, 
 the disciples saw their Master taken prisoner, saw him carried 
 away as a criminal to death. All the devotion and gratitude due 
 to him on their part was quite unavailing to preserve them faith- 
 ful. All their good resolutions were totally ineffectual. Their 
 promises made just before were forgotten in a moment. They 
 had declared that they would all die with him. But now they 
 were unwilling to endure the least prospect of peril or suffering 
 for him : " They all forsook him and fled."
 
 102 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 possible narratives and records around the ob- 
 jects of his biographical labours saying that it 
 was " not without some probabilities of reason, 
 that the ancients conceive him (St. John) to have 
 been that young man that followed after Christ, 
 ' having a linen cloth cast about his naked body;' " 
 but still those probabilities are very slight in- 
 deed, and no real argument whatever, except his 
 youth, has been brought forward to sustain the 
 opinion. Whitby says on the passage before us, 
 " that Epiphanius and St. Jerome think this 
 'young man' was James, the brother of our 
 Lord ; but he had forsook him and fled, ver. 50, 
 and we read nothing of his return. St. Chry- 
 sostom, Ambrose, and Gregory say he was John ; 
 but John was with Christ in the garden clothed, 
 ver. 33, and afterwards fled from him. How then 
 can it be likely he should fly naked away n ?" 
 Calvin speaks in the same strain : " How some 
 persons have come to dream that it was St. John 
 I know not, nor is it of much importance to in- 
 quire ." So Lardner also. Grotius writes of 
 him as one who came suddenly from some neigh- 
 bouring villaP; and Matthew Pool, having ex- 
 
 m " Nullo alio quam aetatis argumento, hi omnes inducti vi- 
 dentur: quod admodum exile est." Lampe Proleg. in Joan. 
 1. i. s. 27. 
 
 " Paraphrase with Annotations on the Gospel of St. Mark. 
 
 Com. on Mark xiv. 51. 
 
 P Lightfoot concludes that " Peter and that other disciple," 
 having forsaken Jesus and fled, with all the others, " hid them- 
 selves for a while ; and (not till after some time) recollecting
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 103 
 
 pressed his own full conviction that St. John is 
 not meant, says, " Probably it was some young 
 man who, being in his bed, and hearing the noise 
 of the multitude going by his lodging with swords 
 and staves, got up, slipped on his night garment, 
 and followed them to see what the matter was : 
 and they having apprehended Christ, he followed 
 them. And possibly his unusual habit made 
 them take the more notice of him, staying when 
 the disciples were all fled. Nor can the reason 
 be well given why Mark should record such a 
 passage, unless it were to tell us what we must 
 expect from the rage of persecutors, viz., that 
 our own innocency should not defend us. This 
 young man was not concerned in Christ, only 
 came as a spectator, without any arms. But the 
 sword of persecution useth not to distinguish 
 perfectly. The basilisk (they say) will fly at the 
 picture of a manV These considerations and 
 these quoted authorities, out of a multitude of 
 others which might be brought forward, will, I 
 think, amply justify us in passing by altogether 
 
 themselves, " they put forward amongst the crowd to Caiaphas* 
 hall, or else came thither after them.' ' Exercitations on St. 
 John. 
 
 q This passage is gathered from the language of Grotius and 
 others, as, for instance : " Non de apostolorum grege (quod miror 
 veteribus in mentem venire potuisse) nee e domo, in quam Christus 
 in urbe diverterat, sed ex villa aliqua horto proxima, strepitu 
 militum excitatus, et subito accurrens, ut conspiceret quid age- 
 rent." A passage which I shall not translate, because that is 
 already done in the cited passages of the text above.
 
 104 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 the record of this " young man" as pointing to 
 St. John : or we may go farther and say, that all 
 sound reason and fair interpretation of the Scrip- 
 ture demand such a course. 
 
 Nor shall I think it requisite to introduce here 
 any statements or deductions of the kind hitherto 
 made in these pages, in connexion with the 15th 
 verse of the 18th chapter of St. John's Gospel, 
 where it is narrated that, besides Simon Peter, 
 "another disciple" followed Jesus, wjien taken 
 prisoner and bound by his enemies, and brought 
 into the palace of the high priest. For although 
 there is no small antecedent probability that it 
 was St. John, thus noticed by himself, according 
 to his usual mode of self-designation : and al- 
 though strong arguments may be deduced from 
 the deep love which he entertained for his 
 Master, and from its being mentioned that this 
 disciple was known unto the high priest, connect- 
 ed with his own mention of the very name of one 
 of the high priest's servants namely Malchus ; 
 and although there was a frequent companion- 
 ship between him and Peter, from the earliest 
 appearance in the records of God's word, onward 
 to their joint labours and sufferings as told in the 
 Acts, still it continues and must always continue 
 a matter of uncertainty, whether it was John or 
 not to whom this passage refers. The longest 
 disquisition on the subject would produce little 
 more than well-balanced probabilities; and it 
 may as well be stated at once, that much differ-
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 105 
 
 ence of opinion prevails on this question among 
 the best expositors of Scripture, both ancient and 
 modern. 
 
 Were one at liberty to write with any measure 
 of assertion beyond that which is warranted by 
 God's word; or could one justifiably assume any 
 mere likelihood, and then treat of it as if of more 
 value and weight, it would doubtless be a most 
 attractive thing to dwell on this token of love 
 and devotion to the Lord as attributed to St. John 
 on a record such as this of courage restored 
 and fidelity renewed, after the recent flight and 
 desertion, of which he had shared in all the dis- 
 honour and the guilt. But such a course as this 
 would not be admissible. Since truth, not a pane- 
 gyric a faithful, and not an imaginary or merely 
 possible account of St. John, is the aim of these 
 pages throughout, the matter must be left as of 
 that uncertainty wherein Scripture involves it. 
 
 r Commentators seem to be nearly balanced on this subject. 
 While Macknight, Hammond, and others are in favour of its being 
 St. John who is here indicated, Whitby, Lampe, Matthew Pool, 
 and Grotius, with the greater number of authorities brought 
 forward in the Synopsis, are against this view. Augustine says : 
 " Quisnam iste sit discipulus, non temere affirmandum est, quia ta- 
 cetur." Lardner says : " After all, I am not able to determine this 
 point." As the writer of these pages, I am not unwilling to 
 confess that my own impressions are in favour of the supposition 
 that St. John here notes himself. This opinion for I cannot 
 think of giving it any stronger appellation arises firstly from re- 
 membrance of the way in which St. John constantly designates 
 himself, whether it be as " the elder" in his Epistles, or as " the 
 disciple whom Jesus loved" so frequently in the Gospel, or as 
 " another disciple" according to the instance now under review :
 
 106 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 Whatever aspect this narrative must take by and 
 by, to dwell on dubious events is, as yet, by 
 no means requisite. In St. John's future history, 
 much which is dubious must of necessity be 
 introduced and canvassed at length, because 
 Scripture then will have ceased to be our 
 guide; but till that happens, nothing wherein 
 doubt lies need much detain us; and rich in 
 certainty as the subject of our interest is, un- 
 certainties may well be passed by without hesi- 
 tation or regret. 
 
 and secondly, from the exactness of the knowledge shewn by the 
 writer of the narrative concerning the household of the high 
 priest, as evinced by the mention of a servant's name, and even 
 that servant's kindred. Compare ver. 10 with ver. 26. 
 
 I have not seen the remark in any commentator on this sub- 
 ject, but nevertheless it appears to me that an indirect testimony, 
 in corroboration of John actually being the disciple in question, 
 may be found in the 4th chapter of the Acts, where Peter and 
 John appeared before Annas and Caiaphas, and others of the 
 kindred of the high priest. After the bold address and confession 
 of Christ uttered by St. Peter, it is said that "they (namely 
 Annas, and Caiaphas, and the others of the council) took know- 
 ledge of them that they had been with Jesus." The Greek word 
 rendered by the more vague expression " took knowledge" is 
 (TrryivoMTKov, of which the most exact translation would perhaps 
 be "they recognised them." This is the precise word given by 
 Parkhurst as the meaning in this place. The same word " re- 
 cognise" is also given as the second meaning of the word ent- 
 yt-yfaxmo in Liddell and Scott's lexicon, illustrated from Od. 24. 
 217. Now we can scarcely suppose that the members of this 
 high council would have had any opportunity of previously ob- 
 serving John as a companion of Jesus, except on the occasion of 
 his being in the palace of the high priest when Jesus was there 
 arraigned.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 107 
 
 . 14. St. John at the Cross. John xxv. 25 27. 
 
 With the exception of St. John we do not hear 
 of any one of the apostles, or of one male disciple, 
 who, either near or afar off, attended our Lord at 
 his crucifixion. It was not so however with the 
 women of his company. It has been often and 
 truly observed, that there is not a single instance 
 recorded in Scripture of any woman either mal- 
 treating or reviling the Lord. Negatively speak- 
 ing therefore their conduct towards him far sur- 
 passed that of men. Positively too, as especially 
 seen in the concluding events of his life, woman 
 often took the better part concerning him. They 
 were the " daughters of Jerusalem" whom Jesus 
 addressed, as bewailing and lamenting him, when 
 on his way to Calvary, (Luke xxiii. 28.) And 
 through the fearful hours of his crucifixion 
 " many women were there, beholding afar off, 
 which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering 
 unto him: among which was Mary Magdalene, 
 and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and 
 the mother of Zebedee's children 8 ." (Matt, xxvii. 
 55.) It is here told us that they "stood afar 
 off;" but from the narrative of John we conclu- 
 sively learn that at a certain period of that 
 extreme agony to which Jesus was subjected, 
 some at all events of these loving and devoted 
 
 8 " Viri muliebres animos ostenderant in fuga et desertione 
 Christi. Infirmus sexus hie prsevalet fortiori. Tantura valet 
 amor Christi et robur spiritus etiam in vasis irabecillioribus." 
 Lampe in Evang. Joan. c. xix. v. 26.
 
 108 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 women had drawn near to the cross. And one 
 was among them, of whom we hear, that although 
 she was to be called " blessed" through all genera- 
 tions, still a sword was to pierce her soul on 
 account of her suffering Son. " Now there stood 
 by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's 
 sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary 
 Magdalene." (John xix. 25.) And with them was 
 St. John the only one of the apostles in fact 
 the only one of the disciples of Jesus, who, so 
 far as we have been informed, was willing to 
 undergo the peril and the shame of attending 
 his crucified Lord and waiting upon him unto 
 death. 
 
 Here indeed we may give full scope to our 
 admiration of the courage, fidelity, and love*, 
 thus made manifest. St. John was a Galilsean, and 
 therefore easy of recognition 11 by the many ene- 
 mies of Jesus and his doctrine and his people, 
 who were standing around with malice in their 
 hearts and revilings on their lips; and though 
 he was altogether unsupported by any other of 
 his brethren, and though he was known, in all 
 probability, by some present at the time, as one 
 peculiarly intimate with Christ, yet, even thus 
 circumstanced, he fearlessly and faithfully stood, 
 in the power of love, at the foot of that cross on 
 
 * " Amore repletus Christo patienti et morienti indivulso nexu 
 prse caeteris adhsesit, et sicut ultimus ad crucem morientis sus- 
 piria exceperat, ita primus in sepulcro eundem resuscitatum 
 quserit." Lampe, 1. I. c. i. . 14. 
 
 u Mark xiv. 70.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 109 
 
 which Jesus hung, "numbered with the trans- 
 gressors." Great honour accrued to him from 
 this act of devotion, and from his presence at 
 this awful time. "When Jesus therefore saw his 
 mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he 
 loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold 
 thy son. Then saith he to the disciple, Behold 
 thy mother. And from that hour that disciple 
 took her unto his own home*." (John xix. 27.) 
 
 It is considered by some of the commentators y 
 on this and other passages in the life of St. John, 
 that he immediately withdrew the virgin Mary 
 from that most bitter and agonizing scene, which 
 she had, in part, witnessed the sword having 
 pierced her soul unto the adequate fulfilment of 
 those purposes of God, which were specially 
 announced to her by Simeon's inspired voice. 
 (Luke ii. 23.) Those who maintain this view 
 think that the apostle retired with the virgin Mary 
 to his home, or dwellingplace at the time, and 
 afterwards returned again to continue his attend- 
 ance on the dying Saviour. For of John's pre- 
 sence, as one watching his Master at the foot of 
 
 x " This letteth us know that Joseph was at this time dead : 
 otherwise it is not probable that Christ would have committed 
 his mother to any other guardian." Matthew Pool, Annota- 
 tions. 
 
 y I quote one of the number, namely, Bengel, who takes this 
 view. 
 
 " Satis jam penetrarat gladius animam Marise : nunc cavetur, 
 ne audiat et videat severissima, tenebras, derelictionem, mortem." 
 Again : " Magna ndes Marise, cruci Filii adstare : magnum 
 obsequium, ante mortem ejus abire." Gnom. Nov. Test, ad loc.
 
 110 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 the cross, when one of the soldiers pierced the 
 side of Jesus with his spear, there is no doubt 
 whatever, because, though as an evangelist he 
 does not use his own name, still he evidently 
 speaks of himself, when, referring to this act, 
 (as proving the Lord's death by the flow "of 
 blood and water,") he adds immediately his own 
 personal testimony as that of an eyewitness : 
 " And he that saw it bare record ; and his record 
 is true : and he knoweth that he saith true, that 
 ye might believe 2 ." 
 
 Now this account of the transaction is no 
 doubt a superstructure built on the foundation 
 of those words, "from that hour that disciple 
 took her to his own home a :" but as there is no 
 mention of the return of St. John to the place of 
 the crucifixion, it seems that this whole inter- 
 pretation conies from a needless contraction, 
 applied to the words " from that hour." The 
 expression, no doubt, is literally rendered from 
 
 z John xix. 35. 
 
 a Lampe thus comments on the expression TO. iSta, and upon the 
 act in connection with which it is introduced : " Nihil obstaret, 
 si quis conjiceret, in Galilaea ipsa, sive Bethsaidae, sive Caper- 
 naumi, sive in alio ad mare Tiberiadis oppido, TO. 18ta Johannis 
 fuisse, quo statim post resurrectionem cum reliquis apostolis 
 Joannes concessit, ubi piscaturse operam dans a Magistro inventus 
 est (Job. xxi.) et quo Maria eum comitari potuit, licet deinde 
 cum eodem Hierosolymas redierit (Acts i. 14.), sive apud eum 
 usque ad mortem habitaculum fixerit, sive eo variis itineribus et 
 laboribus distracto in ipsa ilia 7Sia, ubicunque locorum ilia fuerint, 
 se receperit, cura Johannis etiam absentis gaudens. Sed hoc 
 quoque nonnisi pro conjectura haberi volumus." Proleg. 1. I. 
 cap. i. . 6.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. Ill 
 
 the Greek b , but the word wpa is by no means so 
 limited in its signification as the word "hour" 
 with us. Our Lord's saying in St. Luke, " This 
 is your hour, and the power of darkness ," evi- 
 dently comprehends a period of several hours yet 
 to come. It means, " This is your time the 
 seasonable opportunity for you d " the appointed 
 time for the enemies of Christ to wreak their 
 malice upon him ; and this malice was not con- 
 summated until many hours had elapsed after the 
 Lord had thus spoken. The etymology therefore 
 by no means necessitates our adoption of the 
 view that any immediate departure from the 
 cross, either on the part of the mother of Jesus 
 or of her newly given son, took place. Any 
 balancing of common probabilities, as to what 
 natural feeling would lead us to expect, must be 
 quite unseemly here. But, even if it were other- 
 wise, who would venture to assert it as a more 
 natural thing that John would seek to lead away 
 a mother from the side of her dying son, than 
 that he would support her until the end of his 
 agony, or that a mother would have consented 
 to depart rather than watch by him to the last 6 ? 
 
 b 'ATT' tKftvTjs TTJS &pas. c ch. xxii. 53. d Parkhurst. 
 
 e Melancthon thus writes on the feelings of the virgin Mary 
 at the crucifixion of her Son : "Sciebat hoc sacrificium Filii singu- 
 lari et enarrabili consilio Dei fieri, et esse Avrpoi/ pro toto genere 
 humano. Nee minus lugebat generis humani peccata, quam 
 ipsius Filii mortem, sed in his doloribus obediendum esse Deo 
 norat, et expectabat resuscitationem Filii. In hsec duo bona 
 objecta, id est, in voluntatem Dei, et resuscitationem intuenti 
 fide, aliquantulum leniebatur magnitude doloris." Enar. in 
 Evang. Joan.
 
 112 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 But on this enough has been said ; and more 
 than enough, had it not been the aim of these 
 investigations to ascertain the exact course and 
 conduct of St. John to the utmost of our ability. 
 At all events we know that he had the exceeding 
 honour and privilege of taking the mother of 
 our blessed Lord into his own dwelling, wherever 
 it was whether at Jerusalem, or whether in 
 Galilee, or whether the expression " his own 
 home" means no more than that place of abode 
 and of sojourning which John himself at sundry 
 times occupied. This is a question of very little 
 import. That John loved her that John che- 
 rished her that John did affectionately and 
 dutifully follow out his beloved Saviour's charge f , 
 we may be well assured. " From that hour," 
 wheresoever was the virgin Mary, there was the 
 adopted mother of John. Wheresoever John was, 
 there was to her an adopted son. To use the 
 language of the learned Gill : " Some say she 
 lived with John at Jerusalem, and there died: 
 and others say that she died in the 12th year 
 
 f Lampe, in giving his view of the temperament of St. John-, 
 connects with it the fact of Christ intrusting his mother to him, 
 as a sign or token of its gentleness : " Pro mitiori sane Johannis 
 temperaraento perorant tot judicia tenerrimi ejus erga Jesum 
 amoris, qui innocua sua jucunditate optimum Sospitatorem 
 nostrum ita occupavit, ut primum in familiaritate locum ei con- 
 cesserit, eumque in sinum suum non solum corporis in accubitu, 
 sed etiam animi receperit. Unde et matrem suam ejus potissimum 
 fidei credidit." Lampe, Proleg. in Vit. Joh. cap. i. . 14. The 
 same writer adds : " Non abjicit curam matris, pro cujus quoque 
 anima animam suam ponebat, sed externarn curam corporis in 
 Johannem transfert."
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 113 
 
 after the resurrection of Christ, being fifty-nine 
 years of age, and was buried by John in the garden 
 of Gethsemane." But it has pleased God to en- 
 velope all this in doubt and uncertainty. And 
 with this we are to be satisfied. Nay more ! Being 
 taught by the errors of the church of Rome, in 
 regard to Mary, we may mark the wisdom of God 
 in wrapping up the matter thus. It is enough 
 for us to be assured that unto the end of their 
 joint earthly pilgrimage the mother of Jesus and 
 " the disciple whom Jesus loved" did regard one 
 another, and act towards one another, in that 
 holy tie and relationship which Jesus established 
 on the very cross, in his dying agony which 
 was sanctioned by the will and by the voice of 
 him, the Son, and the Friend, and the Saviour, 
 and the God, in one Lord Christ. 
 
 . 15. St. John at the sepulchre. John xx. i 10. 
 
 The third morning had now dawned since those 
 things were done in which St. John so promi- 
 nently appeared I mean, of course, at the cruci- 
 fixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. I allude to his 
 attendance on Jesus at the cross, and to that most 
 honourable and endearing charge with which Je- 
 sus had entrusted him, in the commission of his 
 mother unto him as a son. Very soon after that 
 charge had been placed in his hands, our Saviour 
 had given up the ghost. And now he had been 
 in the grave for the appointed time, as God had 
 willed and as prophecy had told ; but though 
 i
 
 114 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 death was to hold him for a season, it was to 
 have no dominion over him. He was to die, but 
 to rise again: "I am he that liveth and was 
 dead ; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, 
 Amens." And to this resurrection all the apo- 
 stles were to be the witnesses : for " the principal 
 part of their office consisted in this testimony, 
 as appeared upon the election of Matthias into 
 the place of Judas, grounded upon this necessity: 
 " Wherefore of these men, which have companied 
 with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in 
 and out among us, must one be ordained to be 
 a witness with us of his resurrection h ." All the 
 apostles were to be partakers of this testimony. 
 But here again, as it was so often ordered by the 
 Lord, and as this personal record of St. John's 
 ministry has led us so frequently to note here 
 again, in this very act of bearing witness to the 
 resurrection of Jesus from the dead, St. John had 
 a kind of precedence or prerogative, or at all 
 events, an evident distinction assigned to him, 
 shared by one, and one only namely, St. Peter. 
 The course of this narrative by no means requires 
 us to enter into the details connected with the 
 visit of Mary Magdalene, and the other women, 
 to the sepulchre far less into the many con- 
 troverted points bearing on the various circum- 
 stances written for our learning in connection 
 with that glorious event. Nor is it even needful 
 to discuss whether the resurrection of Jesus was 
 announced to Simon Peter and to John independ- 
 
 e Rev. i. 1 8. h Pearson on the Creed.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 115 
 
 ently, and exclusively of any similar narration 
 made at the same time by Mary Magdalene 1 to 
 the other apostles, though not specially men- 
 tioned as extended to them also. Nor shall I 
 stop here to inquire whether Peter and John 
 arose, on hearing the news, and ran to the sepul- 
 chre through the impulse and affection of their 
 own hearts only, or after consultation with their 
 brethren, and "by the advice and appointment 
 of the rest k ," unto whom these tidings had also 
 been conveyed : for though, in reference to that 
 same act of Peter and John, which we are now 
 considering, St. Luke mentions that the message 
 and the words conveyed to the apostles at large 
 seemed but " idle tales ;" yet this, in all pro- 
 bability, was their first reception of the news } : 
 
 ' The partnership of Mary Magdalene with the other women, 
 in the conveyance of this message to the disciples, would of 
 course be a subject of consideration, in connection with the pas- 
 sage of St. Luke (xxiv. 9-13), referring as it does to the visit 
 of Peter and John to the sepulchre, though by St. Luke Peter 
 alone is mentioned. One abbreviated harmony may not be un- 
 acceptable ; it is from Robinson : t . Morning of resurrection, 
 Mark xvi. i; Matt, xxviii. 2-4. 2. Visit of women to the se- 
 pulchre, Matt, xxviii. i ; Mark xvi. 2-4; Luke xxiv. 1-3 ; 
 John xx. i, 2 : Mary Magdalene returns. 3. Vision of angels in 
 the sepulchre, Mark xvi. 5-7 ; Luke xxiv. 4-8. 4. The women 
 return to the city, Matt, xxviii. 8 10 ; Mark xvi. 8 ; Luke xxiv. 
 911. 5. Peter and John run to the sepulchre, Luke xxiv. 12 ; 
 John xx. 3-10. 
 
 k The words quoted are Macknight's. Grotius says that Mary 
 Magdalene came " ad omnes quidem discipulos numero undecim, 
 sed ita ut cum his tanquam eminentibus peculiariter sermonem 
 conferret." Annot. in Joan, ad loc. 
 
 1 Calvin has an interesting and discriminating commentary on 
 
 12
 
 116 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 and subsequently either all, or at least Peter and 
 John, so far believed what they had heard, as to 
 arise and run to the sepulchre. 
 
 The way is now clear for fixing attention on 
 the course of St. John. 
 
 On this occasion he certainly displayed all 
 alacrity and energy for "he did outrun Peter, 
 and came first to the sepulchre." At the same 
 time he displayed the holy reverence of love : 
 for though he came " first to the sepulchre," and 
 stooped down, and looked into the interior, and 
 saw what had taken place, still, as it is written, 
 " he went not in m ." I should not think of say- 
 ing that Peter in the least transgressed against 
 reverence and love by entering in first. I would 
 go farther still, and say, that, with a due con- 
 sideration of his ardent character, his act was a 
 token of his love, and of his burning desire to 
 
 this act. "Mirum est, quum tarn pusilla ac fere nulla tarn in 
 discipulis quam in mulieribus esset fides, tantum fuisse ardoris. 
 Et certe fieri non potest quin pietas eos impulerit ad quaerendum 
 Christum. Manebat igitur semen aliquod fidei in eorum cordi- 
 bus, sed ad tempus suffocatum, ut nescirent se habere quod habe- 
 bant. Sic Dei Spiritus in electis ssepe arcano modo operatur. In 
 summa tenendum est, fuisse aliquam occultam radicem, ex qua 
 fructum emergere cernimus." 
 
 m Lampe, Com. in Joan, ad loc., gives the following reasons 
 as those by which he may have been actuated in this delay : 
 " Sive ex lege mortuorum contactum ad cavendam impuritatem 
 cavendum putans : sive horrore quodam loci tactus ; sive de 
 evacuato sepulchre jam convictus, cum non linteamina, sed corpus 
 Jesu quaereret, atque eapropter animum hue illuc in omnes partes 
 circumferret, et ubi Jesus qutcrendus sit, anxie meditaretur." 
 He then adds on Peter : " Non tamen hie subsistendum esse 
 censuit Petri fervor."
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 117 
 
 know more concerning the body of his Lord 
 with his own gaze. But with an eye to the 
 very different spirit and temperament of St. John, 
 we may well assign love as the very cause of 
 his abstaining to do that which St. Peter did. 
 For love may elicit, by the very same test, various 
 and even contrary signs, and yet, to the discern- 
 ing eye, they will be real proofs that the love is 
 genuine and its operation strong. 
 
 The fact that St. John did outrun Peter is in 
 general ascribed to his being a younger man: 
 and with our full knowledge as to Peter's cha- 
 racter, concerning energy and zeal, we cannot 
 assign any more likely or more satisfactory cause ; 
 and it would be groundless as well as unseemly 
 to make any comparison on the devotion of the 
 two apostles, or to draw any arguments of such 
 a kind from the narrative of this competition 
 if it may be so called. It should rather be re- 
 garded as a mere comparison of their bodily 
 activity 11 , and containing in it nothing more. At 
 
 n In the long and argumentative portion of Divinity con- 
 tained in the 23rd, 24th and 25th chapters of Dante's Paradiso, 
 where St. Peter, St. James, and St. John appear as the three 
 respective representatives of faith, hope, and love, St. Peter is 
 addressed thus, on his course to the sepulchre in company with 
 St. John : 
 
 O santo padre, e spirito, che vedi 
 
 Cio che credesti, si che tu vincesti, 
 
 Ver lo sepulcro, piu giovanni piedi. CANT. xxiv. i 24-7. 
 
 It is curious that there should be a contest among com- 
 mentators on the poet, whether he made here a scriptural 
 mistake, or whether these words may be fully explained accord- 
 ing to the facts recorded in holy writ.
 
 118 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 the same time, as it has pleased the Holy Ghost 
 that the circumstance should be narrated, it 
 must not be overlooked, nor should it be un- 
 noticed, that, whatever may be meant here by the 
 word "believed," it is written of St. John, that 
 " when he went in," he saw and believed ''' Now, 
 as I said before, the arrival of St. John first at 
 the sepulchre, but his delay to enter therein until 
 St. Peter came up, and his waiting for St. Peter 
 rather than preceding him, (though he had the 
 opportunity of doing so, had he wished,) is an 
 incident of no inconsiderable value, as denoting 
 character. But on this subject more will be said 
 on a future occasion. For the present it suffices 
 to mark his conduct in hastening to the sepulchre, 
 and at the sepulchre ; and so doing, we may see 
 how the attributes of John's character, thereby 
 indicated, if not made manifest, became that 
 " disciple whom Jesus loved ;" for there was zeal, 
 and there was reverence, and there was humility, 
 
 It is the comment of Whitby, that " Peter only saw and 
 admired at what was done (Luke xxiv. i 2), but John saw and 
 believed, not the words of Mary, for we find not that either of 
 them suspected her of falsehood, but the resurrection of Jesus, 
 or the words of Christ, "After three days I will rise again." The 
 extent of faith conveyed in the words relating of St. John, that 
 " he went in, and saw, and believed," is a subject of doubt. Lampe 
 fully and beautifully argues the point in his comment on the 
 passage. He magnifies the faith of St. John very highly on the 
 occasion, e. g. " Ille solus, atque adeo primus e viris, ab hoc 
 momento credidit Jesum resurrexisse." 
 
 Robinson (Script. Har.), referring to West on the Resurrec- 
 tion, says, "It should seem, that from his view of the place, and 
 of the orderly disposition of the burial clothes, he (St. John) was 
 the first who believed the important fact of the resurrection."
 
 OP ST. JOHN. 119 
 
 ever willing to follow rather than precede : and 
 all this was in accordance with one, living in 
 the Saviour's love, and ever waiting on him, for 
 whom no zeal could too warmly glow, no rever- 
 ence be too lowly, and no readiness to follow 
 and obey too unreserved and complete. 
 
 . 1 6. St. John at the sea of Tiberias after the 
 resurrection. John xxi 2024. 
 
 St. John appears once more only in the Gospel 
 history. And as in the two previous transactions, 
 to which reference has been made in these pages, 
 so in this also he himself is the narrator. 
 
 Before the crucifixion (Matt. xxvi. 32) Jesus 
 had announced to his disciples, that, after he 
 was risen again, he would go before them into 
 Galilee ; and, through the women whom he had 
 met at the sepulchre on the morning of the 
 resurrection, he had given them the command 
 to go thither also (Matt, xxviii. 10), promising 
 that there he would himself meet them. They 
 obeyed this injunction ; and, as we find it writ- 
 ten in the 28th of Matthew, 16th verse, "The 
 eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a 
 mountain where Jesus had appointed them." Now, 
 during their stay in Galilee, and at one period 
 of those forty days during which our Saviour 
 " shewed himself alive after his passion by many 
 infallible proofs," (Acts i. 2,) we find a certain
 
 120 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 number^ of the disciples engaged in fishing at the 
 sea of Tiberias, Peter with his usual prominence 
 of action, having first proposed a recurrence 
 to his own trade, and six others having offered 
 to bear him company. St. John was one of the 
 number. For not only is his name conveyed in 
 the expression " two other of the disciples" and 
 not only is the narration that of an eyewitness, 
 but he appears twice as an actor in the scenes 
 which took place on the occasion. 
 
 Having already touched on the uncertainty as 
 to the special abode of St. John, in connection 
 Avith his taking the mother of Jesus " to his own 
 home r ," I need add no more on that topic here ; 
 and indeed from the twofold orders of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ to his apostles, as to their move- 
 ments and sojournings at this unsettled period of 
 their ministry viz. as to going into Galilee first, 
 and then as to tarrying in Jerusalem, until they 
 were " endued with power from on high 8 ," and 
 from the fact on record that previous to the 
 day of Pentecost we find the little company of 
 Christ's chosen witnesses all abiding together at 
 the same place* I say, from all this, it would 
 be a mere curious speculation to consider in any 
 detail the personal position of St. John at this 
 
 q On the words "e T>V /ua&jrwv," Bengel thus notes: "ex 
 discipulis Apostolis aliisve." For instance, as to Nathaniel, 
 it is a matter on which variance of opinion prevails, whether 
 Nathaniel, mentioned here among the seven, was identical with 
 the apostle Bartholomew, or a disciple only. 
 
 r Ei's TO iStfi. s Luke xxiv. 49. f Acts i. 13, 14.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 121 
 
 time as to his home or family. We may there- 
 fore proceed at once to consider the events of 
 that memorable morning, which the narrative 
 given by St. John in the last chapter of his 
 Gospel so fully presents. 
 
 After a night of fruitless toil, in which the 
 seven disciples had caught nothing, just as had 
 been the case on the very night previous to the 
 call of Peter and of John u , " Jesus stood on the 
 shore." The disciples saw him, but " they knew 
 not that it was Jesus." The Lord first spake to 
 them, saying, "Have ye any meat?" They an- 
 swered him, " No." As on the former somewhat 
 parallel occasion, viz. the miraculous draught, 
 Jesus had directed them where to let down their 
 nets, so he directs them now : " Cast the net on 
 the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. 
 They cast therefore, and now they were not able 
 to draw it for the multitude of fishes." Love 
 has its prompt reminiscences, and it was per- 
 haps the affectionate remembrance of love which 
 caused one of the disciples immediately to recog- 
 nise the Saviour. But at all events we know 
 that it was the " disciple whom Jesus loved," who 
 said unto Peter, " It is the Lord." It must only 
 be a conjecture, whether it was the memory of 
 that day, when first he had the privilege of wit- 
 nessing Christ's power in a similar display, and 
 of being summoned by him to be his constant 
 follower ; or whether it was that speedy impulse 
 of affection which might so well have been an- 
 
 u Luke v. 5.
 
 122 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 ticipated from " the disciple whom Jesus loved," 
 or whether it was some direct teaching of the 
 Spirit, independent of any such things I say, it 
 must only be conjecture which of these causes, 
 or whether it was their combination, or some 
 other circumstance, which first enabled John to 
 recognise the Saviour; but such was the fact. 
 The honour of so doing redounds to his name. 
 
 Now, upon the other circumstances of this 
 scriptural narrative it is not needful to dwell, 
 but only to introduce the remaining topic, here 
 connected with St. John, by mentioning that, to- 
 wards the conclusion of that interview, which 
 ensued between Christ and these seven disciples, 
 and after his special communications to St. Peter, 
 Jesus said to that apostle, "Follow me." (ver. 19.) 
 St. Peter immediately obeys this command with 
 bodily step ; and so did St. John too ; for St. Peter, 
 "turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus 
 loved following*; which also leaned on his breast 
 at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that be- 
 trayeth thee ? Peter y seeing him saith to Jesus, 
 
 x Following. " Forte ut se quoque paratum ostenderet, ad mor- 
 tem pro Jesu obeundam ; vel ut frueretur praesentia Jesu quam- 
 diu liceret, veritus ne subito evanescat." Schol. Lat. in Nov. Test. 
 
 >' Grotius, in pointing out the additional title here given (and 
 for the first time) by St. John to himself, as " the disciple which 
 also leaned on his breast at supper," says that this is added " non 
 sine eificacia." He considers that all these characteristics of 
 St. John, as to his intimate relationship with our Lord, are thus 
 indicated, as coming into Peter's mind, and leading him, through 
 mere natural curiosity, to inquire what the lot of John would be, 
 his own being declared. " Omnia ista Petro in animum venie- 
 bant, ut crederet hunc discipulum sibi in diligendo Christo parem
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 123 
 
 Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith 
 unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what 
 is that to thee? follow thou me. Then went 
 this saying abroad among the brethren, that that 
 disciple should not die : yet Jesus said not unto 
 him, He shall not die ; but, If I will that he tarry 
 till I come, what is that to thee ?" 
 
 It appears from this, that when St. Peter re- 
 ceived the injunction to follow the Saviour, St. 
 John did not wait for any express direction, but 
 (although he omits any description of his own 
 motives, or indeed of his own act, farther than 
 was needful for the course of the narrative) he 
 instantly appropriated Christ's invitation to him- 
 self also, and silently followed the Lord and 
 Peter, wishing perhaps to enjoy the presence of his 
 Saviour to the last, and fearing lest he should 
 suddenly disappear. I add the words "and Peter," 
 because it is expressly declared that Peter, " turn- 
 ing about? saw him following. One of the ancient 
 expositors 2 of this passage thus interprets the feel- 
 
 esse aut proximum. Quare, cum ipse post amoris professionem 
 accepisset preedictionem ferendse mortis ad Domini exemplum, 
 curiositate quadam humani ingenii scire vult quid de illo sit fu- 
 turum." Annot. in Joan, ad loc. 
 
 7 Anastasius of Antioch, quoted in Cramer's Catenae in Evang. 
 Another reason why St. Peter put this question may have arisen 
 from his special connection and association with St. John in so 
 many circumstances. In all probability they also were devoted 
 friends. This is alluded to by the same author just quoted, who 
 notes in an interesting manner the o-ui/fiecr/ios (or alliance) be- 
 tween Peter and John, as manifest both in the Gospels and in 
 the Acts. Chrysostom, on John xxi. 21, says : o-<ofy>a '0i'Xet TOV 
 'la>dvvT)v 6 Zle'rpor.
 
 124 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 ing of St. Peter at the time, and puts these words 
 in his mouth, as addressed to Jesus : " Thou hast 
 spoken great and wonderful things concerning 
 me, and hast vouchsafed such an honour to me, 
 through thy great goodness, as that of which 
 thou thyself art alone worthy ; but this, my fel- 
 low-disciple, whom thou lovest, what shall he 
 do?" 
 
 Whether this may be an accurate suggestion 
 or not, many obvious reasons might have ren- 
 dered Peter anxious to know some particulars 
 on John's coming history, or, at all events, to hear 
 from the lips of Jesus himself some such notice 
 on the termination of his friend's earthly course, 
 as that which, in his own case, he had just re- 
 ceived. 
 
 Some commentators on this passage Calvin, 
 for instance have strongly inculpated St. Peter 
 for the utterance of this expression, as one of 
 unseemly and unchastened curiosity. Now, to a 
 certain degree, we are not only warranted, but 
 bound thus to regard it by the answer of the 
 Lord, whose immediate demand, " What is that 
 to thee ?" is certainly the language of check and 
 of correction a , uttered in answer to a question 
 thus proved out of place, and perhaps not alto- 
 gether free from unguarded irreverence. To say 
 that it arose from a very natural feeling on the 
 
 a " Non opus plane erat, ut Petrus de eventu Joannis informa- 
 retur. Nihil inde lucrari poterat, ut ipse suo officio melius de- 
 fungeretur. Sic quaestione sua discipulos docet, quomodo car- 
 nis inanes curas resecare debeant." Lampe, Ev. Joan, ad loc.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 125 
 
 part of St. Peter, does not justify his conduct in 
 the matter ; nor again, to say that the question 
 was one which he, from his ardent mind, was 
 very likely to put. But, while we acknowledge 
 his error, and give good heed to the reproof by 
 which he was corrected, it is quite admissible, 
 nay more, we are called upon, to trace out the 
 cause and the circumstances through which he 
 was led thus to speak, and from which, through 
 the answer of Jesus, certain erroneous conclu- 
 sions ensued in regard to St. John, which he him- 
 self, when writing his Gospel so many years 
 afterwards, had to meet and rectify by his own 
 inspired pen b . He had to impress it on the 
 mind of the universal church that Jesus had said 
 nothing whatsoever of his not dying at all, but 
 only had put forth the declaration that the 
 brevity or length of his life his dying or con- 
 tinuance on earth, even until Christ's coming 
 again (if it so should please God) was no fit 
 subject for Peter's curiosity; or one on which to 
 seek from his divine Master any such informa- 
 tion as that for which he thus expressed his de- 
 sire. We, at all events, being so carefully and 
 specially informed what the Lord did not mean 
 on the occasion, and whence the erroneous notion 
 arose, that John should not die c , need not dis- 
 
 l) John xxi. 23. 
 
 c The erroneous interpretation of the Lord's words regarding 
 John, which was generally current in the early church, is spoken 
 of by the rev. A. P. Stanley, as having " actually laid so great a 
 hold of the existing generation, that it has required nearly seven-
 
 126 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 cuss the question whether the Lord here alluded 
 to any judicial coming at the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem, or to his second advent, still expected by 
 ourselves. For although this question is not ir- 
 relevant to the present subject, from the fact of 
 St. John's life having been prolonged beyond the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, still it would have very 
 little bearing on his life and character at least 
 not enough to claim that full discussion which it 
 must meet if entered upon at all. For few parts 
 of Scripture have been handled with greater 
 variety of comment and opinion, than those very 
 passages in which Jesus speaks about his second 
 coming. It appears to me that the most simple, 
 and at the same time most scriptural interpreta- 
 tion of the Lord's hypothetic saying is, that even 
 had he willed and determined St. John's con- 
 tinuance on earth unto the very period of his 
 own coming (whatsoever sense that coming might 
 bear), still this would not be a subject on which 
 St. Peter, on an occasion like this, and just after 
 
 teen centuries to shake it entirely off." Sermons and Essays on 
 the Apostolical Age, p. 146. 
 
 Titman thus comments on the words " tarry" and "time," 
 as respectively applied by the Lord to his disciple and himself : 
 " Verbum pevtw denotat in vita manere, ut i Cor. xv. 6, et TO fp\f- 
 (T0ai dici videtur eo sensu.quo usurpaverat Dominus supra, cap.xiv. 
 3, ubi dixerat, se venturum esse et suscepturum suorura quernque 
 in locum eum, quo ipse esset abiturus. Quare his verbis signi- 
 ficare voluit Dominus hoc : si ipsum volo in vita manere, donee 
 ipse venero ad eum ducendum in sedes beatorum, tua non potest 
 interesse : meo arbitratu de eo statuam : quod optimum sit : tu 
 cura tantum, quod pertinet ad te, ut me sequaris in morte vio- 
 lenta." Melet. Sac. in Evang. Joannis.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 127 
 
 that solemn charge which he had himself re- 
 ceived, ought to have thus prominently acted. 
 His inquiry was unauthorized, and specially so 
 at the time. His whole mind and heart his 
 whole concern and energy, should have been 
 employed for himself, and therefore again he 
 must hear the injunction of Christ, " Follow thou 
 me ;" while, as to St. John, all was still left un- 
 told and undefined; and an halo of impressive 
 and somewhat awful mystery was intentionally 
 shed by the Lord himself around his future 
 course d . The history of that course, as found in 
 the Evangelists, is now brought to a conclusion ; 
 but God's inspired word, as given in the Acts, 
 
 d The Archbishop of Canterbury elucidates and also makes 
 a practical application of this remarkable saying of Christ. 
 " Here, as on other occasions, our Lord represses all heedless 
 and unprofitable inquiries. When one said unto him, Lord, 
 are there few that shall be saved ? he said unto them, Strive 
 to enter in at the strait gate. Again, when the disciples came 
 unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things 
 be ? he turns aside the question, and replies, Take heed that no 
 man deceive you ; . . . . Watch, for ye know not at what hour 
 your Lord doth come." 
 
 No doubt, however, his words here seemed to intimate that 
 the life of St. John should be prolonged to a distant period, to 
 that period, which they who were first called Christians expected 
 to be the end of the present dispensation. And it was so ordered. 
 The " disciple whom Jesus loved" did tarry upon earth till that 
 first coming of the Lord, which fulfilled his prophetic declara- 
 tions ; i. e. till his kingdom was established " with power" till 
 the vineyard was taken from those " wicked husbandmen" who 
 had made no return to their Lord, and was "given to others." 
 He was one who lived to verify the assurance, that " this gene- 
 ration should not pass till all be fulfilled." Comment, on St. John.
 
 128 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 will still for some time be our guide in tracing 
 the apostle's life. 
 
 . 17. St. John healing the lame man, confessing Christ, 
 and brought before the council. Acts iii. & iv. 132. 
 
 Many and important events had occurred, both 
 in regard to the Saviour himself and to his infant 
 Church, since that interview with the seven dis- 
 ciples at the sea of Tiberias, which was the last 
 subject considered in this narrative. But among 
 these events nothing had taken place claiming a 
 distinct mention of St. John, nor indeed of any 
 apostle except one. I allude, of course, to St, 
 Peter, who stood up, "with the eleven," and 
 preached to the people on the day of Pentecost. 
 Previous to that day St. John, with the other 
 apostles and many disciples also, had returned 
 from Galilee had beheld the ascension of Jesus 
 from the mount of Olives had been of the num- 
 ber who continued "with one accord in prayer 
 and supplication" had joined in the choice of 
 another apostle to take part of that ministry 
 " from which Judas by transgression fell " had 
 not only witnessed, but in his own person had 
 felt and experienced the descent of the Holy 
 Ghost, by whom, like the others, he had been 
 enlightened anew, and endowed "with the gift 
 of tongues," and in all things qualified to act as 
 an apostle, and witness to Jesus Christ by " divers 
 miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost." He had
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 129 
 
 stood at Peter's side, when he preached Christ 
 to the assembled multitude, and had seen the 
 effect of that testimony, when the hearers, being 
 "pricked in their heart," had cried out, "Men 
 and brethren, what shall we do ? " He, with the 
 other apostles, had beheld the gladness with 
 which that gospel was embraced, and how, 
 in one single day, there were added to the 
 Church no less a number than three thousand 
 souls. And he had shared in the many wonders 
 and signs done by the apostles ; and had shewn 
 that love and spirit of mutual trust, which led 
 the members of the church to have all things 
 common ; and he had been of that company 
 whereof it is written that they " continued daily 
 in the temple," and " broke bread from house to 
 house ; and did eat their meat with gladness and 
 singleness of heart, praising God, and having 
 favour with all the people." 
 
 In all this, being himself an apostle, St. John 
 had participated, as we know to a certainty from 
 the record of God's word. Other things too may 
 be affirmed, with not less assurance as to his 
 spiritual and personal condition. But as they 
 were not distinctive of him, viewed as an apostle, 
 but the marks and characteristics of all who were 
 honoured by that office and name, these endow- 
 ments must be passed over with a mere brief 
 glance. In treating of St. John's life, we are 
 following the course of one bright stream, as 
 it flows onward, and cannot wander at large 
 over each fair and wider expanse which attracts 
 
 K
 
 130 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 for a moment our gaze. This has been and must' 
 still be our rule in these investigations. But 
 though we keep this in mind, and strictly apply 
 this needful principle, still it is essential to a 
 clear apprehension of St. John's character, that 
 his gifts, his powers, and spiritual state should 
 be fully realized. A wonderful change had been 
 accomplished in him, for he had been "endued 
 with power from on high." His previous history 
 presents him to the church as highly-favoured 
 as chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ to attend 
 at and witness the most mighty and mysterious 
 events of his life, and to be " the disciple whom 
 Jesus loved." But, notwithstanding all this- 
 notwithstanding that measure of grace, which 
 without doubt was bestowed upon him during 
 the period of Christ's sojourn upon earth not- 
 withstanding he had gone preaching the kingdom 
 of heaven, and healing the sick, and subduing 
 devils, in the name of the Saviour still during 
 all this time, his course, like that of all the 
 apostles, was one of much ignorance and of 
 much infirmity and, as may, or rather must be 
 added, of frequent transgression and sin. During 
 all that period he knew not of Jesus as a suffering 
 Messiah, who should die on the cross for our sins. 
 He did not know what was meant by the rising 
 of Jesus from the dead. He knew not the real 
 character of that kingdom which he was to set 
 up. And of many other things, scarcely less 
 needful for an apostle to know, he was alto- 
 gether ignorant. And he had been ambitious,
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 131 
 
 and desirous of executing wrath, when he should 
 rather have sued for mercy from his Lord in 
 behalf of the guilty : and he had forsaken Jesus 
 in the hour of extremity: and these things, no 
 doubt, are only a sample and proof of many 
 other similar and many other kindred things. 
 Therefore, if he was to hold forth the clear and 
 perfect light of Christ's holy gospel if he was 
 to declare " the truth as it is in Jesus" with 
 fulness and power and light if he was to preach 
 a crucified, a risen, and a coming Saviour if he 
 was to be that prophet, apostle, and evangelist, 
 with whose name all meekness and love are 
 inseparably joined if he was to be a martyr 
 in spirit and life, if not in absolute death if 
 all this was to be accomplished in him, it was 
 needful that a great work should be done for 
 him that he should be enriched with know- 
 ledge, and grace, and all fit qualifications in 
 a word, that he should become just what the 
 Holy Spirit made him on the day of Pentecost. 
 Accordingly, as it was expedient for all the other 
 disciples of the Lord that he should depart from 
 them, and send down among them " the Promise 
 of the Father," even the Holy Ghost, so it was 
 expedient for St. John too for "the disciple 
 whom Jesus loved" that the Saviour should 
 quit the earth, and ascend into heaven. And 
 this having taken place, St. John and his fellow- 
 apostles were endowed with all power to preach 
 Christ, and with new tongues, and with mira- 
 culous gifts of many and various kinds. For all
 
 132 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 this was included in the purpose of God to esta- 
 blish his kingdom on earth, in doing which these 
 men were to be honoured instruments. The "Pro- 
 mise of the Father" had now been won, and had 
 now been claimed by his Son Christ, and had been 
 poured out upon his Church in all rich plente- 
 ousness : and St. John and his fellows had been 
 filled with the Holy Ghost : and, much having en- 
 sued at which I have partially and most briefly 
 glanced, as concerning the results of the great day 
 of Pentecost, we now find Peter and John living 
 and walking in the power of that same Holy 
 Ghost, and coming up to the temple on a certain 
 day at the hour of prayer. We find them united 
 still in that close fellowship, to which Christ him- 
 self had so frequently appointed them, on various 
 eventful occasions of their previous ministry. 
 Once they had been partners in an earthly 
 calling. Afterwards an holy partnership was 
 theirs by the selection 6 of their Lord ; and now, 
 of themselves, though guided of course by the 
 Spirit's leading hand, they two f went up together, 
 as friends to the house of God. 
 
 e e. g. Luke xxii. 8. 
 
 f They followed in this the Lord's gracious appointment, made 
 in the " days of his flesh." He sent his disciples two by two to 
 their work, and to those xaXa? irpd^tis in which " two are better 
 than one " xa\ yap vofja-ai /cat irpagai 8vi>aro)Tfpoi, as Aristotle 
 observes, quoting the well known hemistich of Homer; 2w 
 rt 8v' ep^o/xtVo). This phrase was so often used among the Greeks, 
 as to have become proverbial. Beautiful and true are the verses 
 which precede it : 
 
 e? rts fxot dvfjp ap firoiro KOI SX\os 
 Ma\\ov 0a\no)pfi, KOI 6ap<ra\ta>rfpov e<rrai. IL. K. 2234.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 133 
 
 On the ensuing miracle there is no need to 
 dwell. In its performance, Peter, beyond all 
 doubt, was the chief actor and the chief speaker. 
 Nevertheless it is written that " Peter fastening 
 his eyes upon him (the lame man) with John, 
 said, Look on us*." (v. 4) And when the mira- 
 culous deed was performed, and when the healed 
 man leaped up, and stood, " and walked, and en- 
 tered with them into the temple, walking, and 
 leaping, and praising God," we know that he 
 "held Peter and John" (v. 11) indicating both as 
 the instruments, in God's hand, of his complete 
 and marvellous restoration. Moreover, although 
 nothing is reported, in the Scripture history, ex- 
 cept Peter's address to the people, who were 
 filled with wonder and amazement at the deed, 
 still John was not mute. He did not merely 
 bear Peter company, but he too spoke, and rea- 
 soned and exhorted in Christ's name. And this 
 is no conjecture, but known to a certainty from 
 the 1st verse of the 4th chapter of the Acts, where 
 the expression is used, "as they spake unto the 
 people." Both of them, no doubt, preached Jesus 
 and the resurrection. Both of them, no doubt, 
 proclaimed him, as the true Messiah, sent to 
 bless his people and to turn every one of them 
 from their iniquities 1 '. Both of them, no doubt, 
 spake in the same spirit in the same strain, 
 
 g " Commune utrique id tniraculi opus. Ab utroque provenit 
 sanationis gratia ; et licet solus loquatur Petrus, cooperarius 
 tamen apostolus est." Basil ad loc. quoted by Lampe. 
 h Ch. iii. 26.
 
 134 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 and with the same blessing on their words: for 
 "many of them which heard the word believed h ." 
 Their partnership too in suffering was now 
 nigh at hand. We read that "as they were 
 speaking and fulfilling their appointed and 
 apostolic office, as witnesses to Christ and to 
 his resurrection, the priests, and the captain of 
 the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 
 being grieved that they taught the people, and 
 preached through Jesus the resurrection from 
 the dead. And they laid their hands upon them, 
 and put them in hold 1 unto the next day : for 
 it was now eventide." Thus St. John appears as 
 one of the two first, among the followers of Christ, 
 who were counted worthy to suffer for him and 
 to whom it was " given, in the behalf of Christ, 
 not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for 
 his sake k ." Thus speedily had he to endure 
 persecution, according to that which Jesus had 
 
 h Acts iv. 4. 
 
 i The Greek words here are e&iro els rriprja-iv. Our transla- 
 tion "put them in hold" is somewhat vague. I find it para- 
 phrased in a Latin note: "Alicujus fidei commiserunt eos." In 
 the 5th ch. of the Acts, ver. 18, the expression is different: 
 fdfvro avrovs (v TT)pTj(ret fij^iocria, translated " in the common 
 prison." Probably the first Typrjais mentioned here was a place 
 of committal for the night different from the other, to which the 
 epithet fi^/xoo-ia is added. The word in this sense is not common, 
 either in the sacred or profane writings. It occurs in Thucydides. 
 Bel. Pel. 7. 86. 
 
 k Phil. i. 29. " Ab hoc ergo tempore jam noster calicem a 
 Domino propinatum bibere ccepit. Et quamvis turn dimissus, 
 brevi tamen post, denuo cum reliquis apostolis comprehensus 
 atque flagellatus est." Lampe, Prol. in loc.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 135 
 
 foretold : " If they have persecuted me, they will 
 also persecute you." Thus speedily had he to 
 experience that in patience not less than in 
 power, he was to be approved as a minister of 
 Christ, and that this was the very sign of an 
 apostle. Thus speedily had he to drink of that 
 cup which his Master drank, and to be baptized 
 with that baptism wherewith he was baptized. 
 
 A great council was gathered on the morrow 
 at Jerusalem, composed of the "rulers, and 
 elders, and scribes, and Annas the high priest, 
 and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as 
 many as were of the kindred of the high priest." 
 By this council Peter and John were asked, " By 
 what power, or by what name, have ye done 
 this?" and "Peter, being filled with the Holy 
 Ghost," proclaimed the power and the name of 
 Jesus, as that by which the healed man stood 
 before them whole. Then he laid the sin of 
 Christ's death to the charge of those very rulers 1 
 by whom he was arraigned, and declared to them 
 how there was " no salvation in any other," that 
 there was " none other name under heaven given 
 among men, whereby they must be saved." On 
 this occasion, as in preaching before, Peter, with- 
 out doubt was the chief speaker; but neverthe- 
 less we are specially informed that his companion 
 evinced the same courageous deportment as that 
 
 1 "Let us remember to whom they make this answer. For 
 this council did undoubtedly represent the church, but, because 
 they do abuse their authority, the apostles say flatly that they 
 are not to be obeyed." Calvin's Commentary.
 
 136 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 conspicuous in him, while thus addressing the 
 assembly met for their interrogation. Imme- 
 diately after his speech was concluded we hear 
 of the council seeing the " boldness of Peter and 
 John." The word rendered boldness means here 
 their fearless freedom of speech 1 ". And even if 
 St. John did not literally speak at the time, which 
 appears to me from the whole course of the nar- 
 rative a supposition the least probable, still he 
 so identified himself with Peter he so took to 
 himself his part and lot in the faithful and un- 
 flinching testimony just rendered to the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, that his boldness not less than that 
 of Peter raised the astonishment of all who be- 
 held them. The council was now in great per- 
 plexity. They could not deny the "notable 
 miracle" just done, of which the healed man was 
 the living testimony. Yet dreading lest the doc- 
 trine just heard by them, and corroborated by 
 an act of Divinely commisioned power should 
 spread among the people, they straitly threatened 
 Peter and John, that they should no more speak 
 in Christ's name. Most noble, faithful, and 
 courageous was the answer! "Whether it be 
 right in the sight of God to hearken unto you 
 more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot 
 but speak the things which we have seen and 
 heard 13 ." Their hearts were emboldened by one 
 and the same Spirit. Their lips spoke with one 
 and the same accent of holy resolution. Neither 
 
 m irappr/ffiav. n Acts iv. 2O.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 137 
 
 one nor the other could possibly be silent on the 
 grand theme of their ministry. Neither one nor 
 the other could keep back their testimony as to 
 the things of which they themselves had been 
 the honoured witnesses. They declared this 
 openly; and, for the present, under God's pro- 
 tection, without personal harm. "The people 
 glorified God for that which had been done ," and 
 therefore the council feared, for the present, to 
 do them any hurt, or to proceed farther than 
 to threaten them with fresh violence?, in order 
 to deter them from their course. And Peter and 
 John returned to their own associates in the faith 
 of Christ; and prayer and praise ascended to 
 God ; and new proofs of his presence and favour 
 were vouchsafed, and they were all filled with 
 the Holy Ghost, and spake the word of God with 
 boldness 9. Thus terminates this passage as re- 
 lating to St. John's history. And in it the con- 
 sistency of his character shines forth. In it we 
 see the friend and companion, joining himself 
 with another in the service of God. In it we 
 see the man of retired humility yielding to 
 that fellow-labourer and friend the precedence 
 in speech, no less than three times viz. in 
 the words addressed to the lame man in the 
 
 Acts iv. 21. 
 
 P The language describing the threats of the council has all 
 the strength which the Greek, aided by an Hebrew idiom, conveys. 
 In the i jth verse the expression is aufi\fj dTrftXijo-aytftfa in the 
 2ist irpo<raiTfi\tja-dfj.fvoi, ''further threatening them." 
 
 Q Acts iv. 31.
 
 138 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 sermon to the wondering multitude, and in the 
 address to the council. And, finally, in it we 
 see that freedom of demeanour and that bold- 
 ness of speech, which became one, of whom 
 Boanerges was the name, given by Jesus him- 
 self. He could not but answer to this name. 
 In the very appellation real and substantial 
 truth was of necessity involved. Therefore, as 
 opportunity arose, and as fit occasion demanded, 
 a character agreeing with that name was sure 
 to be displayed, and a comment on that name 
 is found in this whole narrative of Peter and John 
 in the presence of the Sanhedrim. 
 
 $. 1 8. St. John's visit to Samaria. Acts viii. 
 14 26. 
 
 The exact period of time, between the last 
 mentioned event, in which St. John occupies a 
 prominent place, and that event now to be con- 
 sidered for the same cause, cannot be ascer- 
 tained with any great degree of exactitude. 
 And though the intermediate narrative, concern- 
 ing the apostles and the church of Christ at 
 large, contains some transactions of the most 
 important kind, still they were not such as to 
 demand any protracted duration of time. A 
 community of goods had been realized in the 
 church. The power of the apostles in executing 
 judgments had been mightily exemplified in the 
 case of Ananias and Sapphira. Many other signs 
 and wonders had been done by their hands;
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 139 
 
 and the "people magnified them r ;" and "multi- 
 tudes both of men and women had been added 
 to the Lord 8 ." Persecution had broken out, and 
 trouble instead of rest was now appointed for 
 the church, according to that alternating course, 
 which, in the wisdom of God, has been, at all 
 times and in all places, its lot. St. John had 
 lately shared in the honour and admiring re- 
 spect with which the apostles had been reve- 
 renced. Now he had to share with his fellows 
 in sufferings and humiliation for the cause of 
 Christ, and with his brethren had been thrust 
 into "the common prison*." But, with them, he 
 too had been miraculously set free. " The angel 
 of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, 
 and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and 
 speak in the temple to the people all the words 
 of this life"." They had obeyed instantly. But 
 again their enemies had seized them. Again 
 they had been brought before the council at 
 Jerusalem ; and again had made a bold and noble 
 confession of the Lord Jesus Christ : " We ought 
 to obey God rather than men. The God of our 
 fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and 
 hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with 
 his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for 
 to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of 
 sins. And we are his witnesses of these things ; 
 and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath 
 
 r Acts v. 12, 13. s Ch. v. 14. t Ch. iv. 18. 
 
 u Ch. v. 19, 20.
 
 140 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 given to them that obey him x ." Then we find 
 Gamaliel giving his advice ; and that advice was 
 followed ; and while, in regard to the apostles, the 
 enemies of the church would not venture to pro- 
 ceed to the very last extremity, and "let them 
 go," still they " beat them, and commanded them 
 not to speak in the name of Jesus." And having 
 been subjected to these afflictions and indignities, 
 " they departed from the presence of the council, 
 rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer 
 shame for his name ;" and again they fearlessly 
 went forward to their work ; for the next verse 
 tells us that " daily, in the temple, and in every 
 house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus 
 Christy." 
 
 Shortly after (or, as Scripture hath it, "in those 
 days") we find the order of deacons established, 
 seven men "of honest report full of the Holy 
 Ghost and wisdom 2 " being chosen to fulfil that 
 office. Which circumstance I mention here be- 
 cause the course pursued by one of these deacons 
 I mean Philip will presently claim attention, 
 inasmuch, as his work, carried on in the name 
 of the Lord, leads to the next introduction of 
 St. John's name that is, in the 8th chapter of 
 the Acts. But previously to that the history 
 of another deacon intervenes the history of 
 Stephen the great and honoured protomartyr 
 of Christ's infant church. The persecution lit 
 up on his death is called "a great persecution:" 
 
 * Acts v. 29-33. >' Ch. v. 42. z Ch. vi. 3.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 141 
 
 and it was to blaze for a season with the utmost 
 violence. " At that time there was a great per- 
 secution against the church which was at Je- 
 rusalem ; and they were all scattered abroad 
 throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, 
 except the apostles*" 
 
 " Except the apostles." As a link in St. John's 
 history I dwell on these words. They, the apostles, 
 continued to shew that courage b and that zeal for 
 their work by which they were all animated, re- 
 maining as they did at their post in such a perilous 
 time. We may, I should think, without hesitation 
 ascribe the cause of the apostles' stay in the 
 city, while the rest of the disciples were scattered 
 abroad, to the purpose of Almighty God that 
 they should form a central council of the church, 
 (even as we know they did,) and moreover prove, 
 by their preservation at such a crisis, that God 
 was with them of a truth, as their " defence and 
 their shield." 
 
 It will here rather forward than impede our 
 progress, to observe the various and contrasted 
 means, which, in His manifold grace, God ever 
 employs for the furtherance and for the esta- 
 blishment of Christ's kingdom among men. Not 
 long since we beheld him amplifying and edify- 
 ing his church through the rest and the freedom 
 from persecution which he gave it for a season, 
 ... 
 
 a Acts viii. i. 
 
 b Lampe writes: " Ipse (i.e. Joannes) cum reliquis apostolis 
 intrepide Hierosolymis substitit."
 
 142 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 throughout all Judsea and Galilee and Samaria. 
 And now we behold him employing a time of 
 hot and fierce persecution for the very same ob- 
 ject. Now we hear that, except the apostles, 
 "all were scattered abroad throughout the re- 
 gions of Judsea and Samaria c ;" " and they that 
 were scattered abroad went every where preach- 
 ing the word. Then Philip went down to the 
 city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them." 
 St. John will soon appear in connection with his 
 work and ministry in that place. 
 
 There is no doubt that this was Philip the 
 deacon, not Philip the apostle ; for, as Whitby 
 clearly sattes, " he seems not to have had the power 
 of giving the Holy Ghost by imposition of hands ; 
 for he fell upon none of the Samaritans till Peter 
 and John came, and laid their hands upon them, 
 ver. 15, 1 6, 17; and in ver. 18 it is particularly noted 
 that the Holy Ghost was given only by impo- 
 sition of the apostles' hands. Secondly, The apo- 
 stles were still at Jerusalem (v. 1), whereas this 
 Philip was one of those that were dispersed ; for 
 when St. Luke had said, That the rest were dis- 
 persed, preaching the gospel (v. 4), he adds (v. 5), 
 and Philip went down to Samaria preaching 
 Christ. And thirdly, he goes from Azotus, evan- 
 gelizing in the cities till he came to Cesarea 
 (v. 40), and there we find Paul abiding in the 
 house of that Philip who was one of the seven 
 deacons d ." 
 
 c Acts iv. i. J Acts xxi. 8.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 143 
 
 Neither on the mighty 6 success of Philip's 
 preaching, nor on the miracles which he did in 
 Samaria, nor on the great joy which prevailed in 
 that city, is it needful to dwell at any length. 
 At the same time these things must be noticed, 
 as preparatory to the coming of John from Jeru- 
 salem to that city, in the fulfilment of his apo- 
 stolic office. Nor is it requisite to speak here, 
 except very briefly, concerning Simon the magi- 
 cian ; for, although the apostolic dealings with 
 that man took place on this occasion, still it must 
 be remembered that the visit of Peter and John 
 to Samaria arose altogether independently of 
 him ; for the blessing and success granted by 
 God to the ministry of Philip was the cause 
 which brought them there. It is written, that 
 " when the apostles which were at Jerusalem 
 heard that Samaria had received the word of 
 God, they sent unto them Peter and John" (v. 14), 
 who, when they were come down, prayed for 
 them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost, 
 (for as yet He was fallen upon none of them; 
 " only they were baptized in the name of the 
 Lord Jesus ;) then laid they their hands on them, 
 and they received the Holy Ghost," (v. 14 18). 
 Now merely noticing the fact of the individual 
 parity in authority among the apostles, thus made 
 evident, and the superiority of the whole apostolic 
 council collectively (denoted by the words "they 
 
 e We hear of crowds adhering to what he preached with one 
 heart and soul opoOvnaSov, v. 6.
 
 144 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 sent"), we may follow Peter and John in their 
 journey to Samaria. On their arrival we find 
 that they prayed for them (i. e. no doubt, for the 
 new converts, " both men and women," who had 
 believed and been baptized); and offered the spe- 
 cial petition, " that they might receive the Holy 
 Ghost ;" which fresh endowment was a gift quite 
 different from that common, or rather, I would 
 say, indispensable grace of the Spirit, whereby 
 they had been regenerated, and brought to a true 
 faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore had 
 been counted fit recipients of baptism in his 
 name. Thus far the gift of the Spirit was, of 
 course, already theirs, even as the faithful dis- 
 ciples of the Saviour, who accompanied his steps 
 on the earth, were regenerated and grafted by 
 faith into his church of living believers, even be- 
 fore they were endowed with the Spirit from on 
 high, in his extraordinary gifts on the day of 
 Pentecost. So too these believers these bap- 
 tized men and women, had already received the 
 Holy Ghost, in His ordinary operations on their 
 minds and hearts; but at this period of the 
 church's history many received the Spirit's ex- 
 traordinary gifts. Many, for instance, were en- 
 riched by the gift of tongues, and by the power 
 of performing miracles, and by the gift of heal- 
 ing, and by the word of prophecy, and by nu- 
 merous other endowments, wherewith it pleased 
 God to establish and extend the kingdom of 
 Jesus Christ. And as the Samaritans had already
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 145 
 
 received the " spirit of adoption," so new and in- 
 creased benefits were now bestowed upon them f ; 
 and Peter and John, of their apostolic function, 
 were made the honoured instruments in God's 
 hand, whereby the bounty from heaven was con- 
 ferred ; and in all probability, fresh grace of every 
 kind was given in answer to their prayers and 
 through the laying on of their hands. It is writ- 
 ten, that " as yet the Holy Ghost had fallen upon 
 none of them" (that is, had not yet come upon 
 the converts of Samaria in that form of super- 
 natural gifts with which they were now endowed) 
 " only they were baptized in the name of the 
 Lord Jesus." They had been baptized, as be- 
 lievers in Jesus, and without doubt had shared 
 in all the benefits accruing and confirmed to 
 those who duly receive that holy Sacrament; 
 and all had been done for them which at that 
 period of the church was ordinarily accomplished, 
 except through the means of apostolic hands. 
 But now the apostles, through Peter and John, 
 as their appointed representatives, had finished 
 the work which Philip had commenced, and "God 
 gave the increase :" and if even before there was 
 "great joy in the city," so now at these fresh 
 tokens of Christ's power and love, it must have 
 
 f The verb eVwriTrTopu employed here, and in ch. x, 44, and xi. 
 15, as applying to the work of the Holy Ghost, seems specially 
 confined to this peculiar method of His holy visitations. It is not 
 used, so far as I am aware, in the New Testament for his ordinary 
 operations. The Septuagint, however, has eVtVeo-ei/ eV >', as the 
 Greek for " the Spirit fell upon me," in Ezek. xi. 5. But never- 
 theless that was in some peculiar visitation.
 
 146 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 risen into gladness and exultation of new and 
 exceeding strength. 
 
 One however was present at the time " in the 
 gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity &." 
 Simon the magician had long " bewitched the 
 people of Samaria, giving out that himself was 
 some great one." (v. 9). And to him "they all 
 gave heed, from the least to the greatest," " until 
 they believed Philip preaching the things con- 
 cerning the kingdom of God, and the name of 
 Jesus Christ;" and then "they were baptized, 
 both men and women." (v.12). We are told that 
 " Simon himself believed also ; and when he was 
 baptized he continued with Philip, and wondered, 
 beholding the miracles and signs which were 
 done." (v. 13). Like his predecessors, the magi- 
 cians in Egypt, he could not but say in himself, 
 " This is the finger of God." There was a demon- 
 stration which he could not resist; but though 
 he believed in this manner, his reason and his 
 senses being thus constrained, still no work of 
 grace whatever had found place in him. He 
 neither believed with his heart unto righteous- 
 ness, nor made any true confession of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ unto salvation h . Therefore, when 
 he saw the miraculous eifect following the apo- 
 stolic prayers and the apostolic imposition of 
 hands, his evil propensities broke loose, and he 
 
 S Acts viii. 23. 
 
 h St. Augustin briefly and powerfully comments on his con- 
 duct. " Voluit talia facere, non talis esse." He did not wish to 
 be what the apostles were, but only to do what the apostles did.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 147 
 
 offered the apostles money, saying, " Give me also 
 this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he 
 may receive the Holy Ghost." 
 
 We all know the rebuke which he received : 
 and therefore no more need be said upon it, ex- 
 cept to observe, with an eye to St. John, that with 
 reference to him the same circumstances took 
 place, throughout this passage of his apostolic 
 history, which formerly were seen in the case 
 of the lame man restored at the temple. Here 
 again St. John, though not mentioned expressly 
 as actor or speaker, did certainly partake in St. 
 Peter's acts and words in the rebuke of Simon ; 
 for after that address of St. Peter, which alone 
 is recorded in the sacred text, we find Simon 
 saying, " Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none 
 of these things which ye have spoken come upon 
 me." Nevertheless there is nothing farther here 
 specially drawing attention to St. John : and 
 therefore I shall add no more on this his first 
 interview with Simon the magician, except to 
 observe the likelihood, under God, that this jour- 
 ney to Samaria, and St. John's personal ac- 
 quaintance with the practices of Simon, gave 
 the first impulse to that hatred of Simon's prin- 
 ciples which the apostle so resolutely shewed 
 to the last days of his life, and to the zeal of 
 that holy warfare which he waged against the 
 Gnostic heresy. For of that heresy 1 Simon was 
 
 i " Qui cum pro Gnosticorum, antiquissimae pessimaeque in 
 Ecclesia primitiva haereseos, patre, passim habeatur, jam turn 
 horrorem contra sectam concepit, quae authoritate ejus per totam 
 L2
 
 148 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 constantly held as the recognized author and 
 head ; but through St. John's authority and in- 
 fluence, it was so repressed, as never to rise into 
 full strength and maturity, until that apostle 
 had accomplished his days, and passed from the 
 church " militant here upon earth." 
 
 Peter and John had now fulfilled those apo- 
 stolic functions for which they had been sent 
 down to Samaria : and the word of the Lord had 
 now been preached by them both, not only in 
 the city of Samaria, but also in many Samaritan 
 villages : and they were now returned to Jerusa- 
 lem : and thus concludes the last transaction, in 
 the book of the Acts, where John is especially 
 named as bearing any prominent or distinct 
 part. For a little while longer we have the 
 Scripture for our guide in the narrative of his 
 life; and it will not yet be needful to launch 
 forth on the more vague and uncertain course, 
 into which before long this investigation must, 
 not of choice, but of necessity, lead us. From 
 this very moment however all our information 
 as to the apostle takes quite a different character 
 from that in which it has hitherto appeared. It 
 
 vitam repressa non antea plene caput extollere potuit, quam 
 Johannes rebus humanis exemptus esset." Lampe, Proleg. lib. I. 
 c. iii. . 2. 
 
 " I should conjecture," writes Dr. Burton, in his Ecclesiastical 
 History of the three first centuries (vol. ii. p. 364.) " that St. John 
 came to Ephesus, not only as the metropolis of Asia Minor, but 
 as the head quarters of Gnosticism, and it is impossible to doubt 
 that the presence of an apostle was successful for some time in 
 checking that evil."
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 149 
 
 becomes interrupted. The thread can only be 
 resumed at long and distant intervals : and while 
 all the events in the life of St. John, to which 
 these pages have hitherto referred, do not, in all 
 probability, extend over more than six years, a 
 period exceeding that intervenes before any other 
 event, specially concerning St. John, appears to 
 claim notice. After that too another long period 
 comes, before the next event of a similar nature 
 occurs. I mean the council at Jerusalem, and 
 St. Paul's interview with St. John in that city. 
 Therefore the question is this: What can we 
 gather as to St. John's life during the period 
 which precedes the first of these two events 
 namely, his brother's martyrdom, as recorded in 
 Acts xii. 1, 2 ? 
 
 There is little or no doubt that during this 
 time St. John dwelt at Jerusalem, forming one 
 of that apostolic and authoritative council, by 
 which the general affairs of the church were 
 directed and regulated, as it were from a centre. 
 The narrative just ended speaks of him as 
 returning to that city. Two histories then suc- 
 ceed one, that of Philip and the Ethiopian 
 eunuch the other, that of Paul's conversion. 
 Now as to the dwellingplace of the apostles at 
 that very period, the Scripture supplies direct 
 information from the writings of St. Paul. For 
 speaking of his own proceedings when it had 
 pleased God " to reveal his Son in him," he says, 
 " Neither went / up to Jerusalem to those which 
 were apostles before me" (Gal. i. 17.) Here then it
 
 150 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 is spoken of, as a well-known thing, that the 
 apostles were then residing at Jerusalem that 
 those who would hold personal intercourse with 
 them must have gone up thither, and that the 
 fact of Paul's not going up to Jerusalem was 
 just an equivalent with not seeing them at all 
 in that peculiar part and crisis of his own 
 history. And this is the fact specially enforced 
 by St. Paul, for a special purpose, in the verse 
 above quoted. Three years after his conversion 
 the apostle Paul did go up to Jerusalem " to see 
 Peter" (Gal. i. 18.) : and although he expressly 
 says that at that time he saw no other apostle 
 " save James the Lord's brother," still there is 
 nothing in that statement leading us to suppose 
 that they had withdrawn from the city. On the 
 contrary, the passage would rather suggest, that 
 during the fifteen days of his stay he had certain 
 well-defined reasons for seeing no more than 
 the two, (namely, Peter and James,) to whom 
 Barnabas presented him, and with whom he 
 came in and went out at Jerusalem 14 . Moreover, 
 
 k From the comparison of Acts ix. 27 with Gal. i. 18, it is 
 evident that Barnabas brought Paul only to Peter and James. 
 The one passage limits and certifies the other. Whitby, after 
 noticing that the history connected with this subject is " some- 
 what intricate," says, as a settled thing, that "he is by Barnabas 
 brought to the apostles Peter and James." This being evident 
 and incontrovertible, the very fact of Paul coming in and going 
 out at Jerusalem with James and John, and speaking boldly in 
 the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputing against the Grecians, 
 while all the time that must have been fulfilled which he himself 
 writes (Gal. i. 19.), " other of the apostles saw I none," seems to 
 my mind, as additionally warranting the view that this lack of
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 151 
 
 it will presently be seen that fourteen years 
 after, St. John was still with the other apostles, 
 abiding in that city ; and only one single event 
 connected with his history claims our attention, 
 or indeed affords any call for the special intro- 
 duction of his name, until that period arrives. 
 
 The event to which I allude is recorded in the 
 two first verses of the 12th chapter of the Acts : 
 " Now about that time Herod the king stretched 
 forth his hands to vex certain of the church. 
 And he killed James the brother of John with 
 the sword." 
 
 Thus was fulfilled, in this apostle and martyr 
 of Christ, that which his Master had announced 
 namely, that he should drink of the same cup 
 as his own, and be baptized with the baptism 
 wherewith he himself was baptized. Of James 
 we hear little. To one the Lord appoints dis- 
 tinction and a name of renown in his church 
 to another comparative obscurity. This was 
 clearly and decidedly evinced in the case of the 
 apostles. Of many among them we literally know 
 nothing, except the one fact that they were the 
 apostles of Christ. Of others the history is most 
 full and plenteous as for instance, of St. John, 
 
 intercourse with them was determined and intentional. Which 
 interpretation, to my mind, very much agrees with the whole 
 tenor of St. Paul's statement, regarding his own office, as 
 expressed in the part of the Epistle bearing on this question. 
 His object is certainly to shew that he was taught and endowed 
 by God alone independently of men, and not by men or through 
 men, even though they might be the very apostles of Christ, 
 such as were John and the others of the same dignity.
 
 152 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 while of his brother St. James much less is re- 
 corded. Still he is highly honoured by the men- 
 tion of his martyrdom in that word of God which 
 "endureth for ever." I bring it forward now, since 
 no doubt the sword which killed him did also 
 sharply pierce his loving brother's heart. For a 
 time the two brothers had safely dwelt at Je- 
 rusalem, being "preserved in Christ" through all 
 peril and through all persecution. They had 
 shared in the seasons of prosperity which God 
 had vouchsafed to His church. They had shared 
 in its seasons of adversity. They had known 
 what it was to have their exasperated enemies 
 furiously raging around them. They had known 
 what it was to have rest with the members of 
 Christ's churches throughout all Judaea and 
 Galilee and Samaria; and to see them edified 
 and multiplied, " walking in the fear of the Lord, 
 and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost 1 ." They, 
 as being of the number of the "apostles and 
 brethren that were in Judaea"," had heard with 
 astonishment, how, through the ministry of one 
 of their number, Cornelius and the Gentiles had 
 received the word of God; they had joined in 
 glorifying God, when the matter was rehearsed 
 from the beginning, and proved to be the Lord's 
 own work, which man was not to withstand, but to 
 
 1 Acts ix. 31. 
 
 m I have not interrupted the narrative by dwelling at length 
 on the proceedings and character of this assembly, as there is 
 nothing, in connexion with it, specially illustrating the life of 
 St. John. 
 
 n Acts xi. i.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 153 
 
 enter into and fulfil with all willing devotion and 
 unhesitating zeal. And they, no doubt, had often 
 been companions in all good words and deeds 
 and functions of the apostleship. But now the 
 time for their separation, in the body, was come. 
 One received his summons to depart from this 
 present world, by a sudden and violent stroke, 
 undeserved by him, but glorious to him, as the 
 stroke of martyrdom. But his surviving brother 
 had still many years to live, much to achieve, 
 and much to suffer a martyr's life to lead, 
 though, in all probability, not a martyr's death. 
 We find nothing written concerning the sorrow 
 of St. John, thus bereaved of his brother. No 
 doubt this cruel murder caused him exceeding 
 distress, and was one ingredient in that cup 
 of bitterness which it was his to drink one 
 part of that baptism of tribulation with which 
 he was baptized. And were we to let our natural 
 feelings have their free range, or even to dwell 
 on the grief which must on this occasion have 
 pierced the heart of St. John one so loving, 
 not less than beloved through the death of his 
 brother by blood and his brother in the Lord 
 too, much indeed might be said, and yet per- 
 haps after all the representation would be 
 feeble, if brought into comparison with those 
 actual afflictions by which his soul was grieved. 
 But on such subjects it is better for us to follow 
 the course adopted in God's holy word. On such 
 subjects the Scripture, though not passing them 
 altogether by, is usually brief, and sometimes
 
 154 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 silent. It is silent here. The saints of God pass 
 away from the church on earth, as soon as their 
 testimony is finished and their work done. Their 
 memory is precious to the church, and doubly 
 precious to their kindred and friends: and so 
 it was with the saints in those times of which 
 Scripture treats. But holy and important as 
 the "natural affections " are in the sight of 
 Almighty God, the description of them is not 
 suffered to retard the grand flowing tide of His 
 word, which ever carries on with uninterrupted 
 course the record of divine grace in the redemp- 
 tion of the world, in the formation of Christ's 
 church, and in the accomplishment of God's glo- 
 rious purposes in the souls of men. 
 
 . 19. St. John at the council in Jerusalem, Acts xv. 
 Qal. ii. 6 ii. 
 
 Many years now elapse before any special 
 notice of John's name, or any special record of 
 his deeds, character, or office appears in the 
 pages of God's word. According to the com- 
 
 St. John had another trial to endure a trial touching him 
 as a loving friend in the imminent danger to which St. Peter 
 was subjected immediately after the death of St. James, Acts xii. 3. 
 A special providential shield seems to have been extended over 
 St. John. When his brother James was killed with the sword, 
 he escaped. When Peter, so frequently his companion, was so 
 long imprisoned, he was at large. When the rest of the apostles 
 were one after another summoned to martyrdom, he was still 
 permitted to be gathered to the grave in peace, like a shock of 
 corn fully ripe.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 155 
 
 monly received computation, and reckoning from 
 the death of James to the council held on the 
 subject of circumcision at Jerusalem, we have 
 no account of St. John's life or labours for about 
 twelve years: but during this whole time we 
 have every reason to believe that he was em- 
 ployed, either at Jerusalem or near that city, in 
 superintending the church, and in sharing the 
 various duties, and responsibilities which de- 
 volved on the apostles. Nor is it probable that 
 during this period he quitted the confines of 
 Judeea; and therefore, as the sacred narrative, 
 in that portion which refers to these years, be- 
 gins to expand itself in the description of God's 
 work among the Gentiles, little P is recorded of one, 
 who, illustrious as he was, bore at that time no 
 such prominent part, as Barnabas and Paul, in 
 the early propagation of the gospel out of the 
 Holy Land. Moreover, St. John's long continu- 
 ance and abode in Judsea is not only proved by 
 the fact of the apostolic council held in Jerusa- 
 lem on the dissension which arose about circum- 
 cision, as narrated in the 15th chap, of the Acts, 
 but also by the language of St. Paul, in the 
 2nd chap, of his Epistle to the Galatians. And it 
 makes no difference, as to the abode of St. John, 
 and that high consideration in which he was 
 held at the time when St. Paul thus referred to 
 
 P " Postquam primordia Ecclesiae Christiana? inter Judaeos 
 memorata erant, nihil amplius videbatur addendum, nisi ut nar- 
 retur, quoraodo primitiae gentium essent introfluctae." Lampe, 
 Proleg. 1. I. ch, iii. . 8.
 
 156 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 him, whether we follow the commonly received 
 opinion, that the latter, in this Epistle, does speak 
 of a visit to Jerusalem at the exact time of the 
 council, or does not; because in either case the 
 continued abode of St. John in that place, and 
 the estimation with which he was regarded, would 
 equally be proved through the allusions made 
 to him by St. Paul. For which two purposes 
 alone this subject is introduced. And whether 
 the council at Jerusalem does or does not syn- 
 chronize with the account of St. Paul's recorded 
 interview ^ with St. John, still the subject of that 
 council the question raised therein and decided 
 thereby is one so intimately and inseparably 
 connected with a due understanding of St. John's 
 position at the time, and of his conduct towards 
 St. Paul, that a brief notice of that council will 
 not be out of place here. Rather, should I say, 
 it will be necessary, as a preparation for the next 
 act and appearance of him, on whose course, life, 
 and character we are now engaged. 
 
 In consequence of certain men having come 
 down from Judaea to Antioch, and having taught 
 the brethren there, that "unless they were cir- 
 cumcised 1 " after the manner of Moses, they could 
 not be saved," Paul and Barnabas had no small 
 
 q Gal. ii. 9. 
 
 r "Circumcision is indeed mentioned alone in this place ; but it 
 appeareth by the text that they moved the question about keep- 
 ing the whole law. And, because circumcision was, as it were, 
 a solemn entrance and admission into other rites of the law, 
 therefore, by synecdoche, the whole law is comprehended under 
 one part." Calvin on Acts xv. i.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 157 
 
 dissension and disputation with them : and the 
 controversy 8 grew into such importance, that it 
 was determined that Paul and Barnabas 1 , with 
 certain other disciples, should go up to Jerusalem 
 about this question. Accordingly "the apostles 
 and elders came together for to consider about 
 this matter." Peter and James, and Barnabas 
 and Paul spoke on the occasion : and the final 
 sentence was, that those who were turned from 
 among the Gentiles unto God should be declared 
 as free from all obligation to keep the Mosaic 
 law certain exceptions being made, for pur- 
 poses" into which we need not now enter in 
 detail. To this effect a letter was written from 
 the church at Jerusalem, and sent by the hands 
 of Barnabas and Paul to Antioch, and read with 
 much joy by the church in that city. 
 
 This very brief summary of a transaction, 
 bearing with the very greatest weight on the 
 whole state of the Gentile church, is sufficient 
 for that purpose with which it is here intro- 
 duced namely, its connection with St. John, 
 
 s Calvin considers that the men from Judaea, who wrongly 
 declared the need of circumcision, did " falsely pretend the names 
 of James and Peter." Com. on Acts xv. 2. 
 
 t Acts xv. 2. 
 
 u "Though an idol was nothing, and what was offered to it 
 was nothing, yet St. Paul has given solid reasons why Christians 
 should abstain from such meats. Fornication was a sin, con- 
 cerning the evil of which the heathen converts might be, he 
 apprehended, as yet uninformed ; and to abstain from things 
 strangled and from blood was necessary, in order to have any 
 intercourse with Jews at all." Milner, Ch. Hist. ch. i.
 
 158 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 either x positively and absolutely, through this 
 being the exact time when his interview with 
 St. Paul (to which we are advancing) took place, 
 or at all events, from that same subject which 
 was brought before the council namely, the 
 liberty of the Gentiles being the precise point, 
 in illustration of which the latter narrates their 
 mutual intercourse, most probably at that time, 
 and if not, at some time not far distant. 
 
 St. Paul writes, in the 2nd chap, of his Epistle 
 to the Galatians, that fourteen years after the 
 visit to Jerusalem, to which the first chapter 
 alludes, and to which reference has been already 
 made in these pages, he went up again to Je- 
 rusalem with Barnabas and Titus that he went 
 up by revelation, and communicated privately to 
 them that were of reputation that gospel which 
 he had preached among the Gentiles namely, 
 the full liberty, to which the Gentiles were en- 
 titled, without their being subjected or tied 
 down to any Jewish rites or ceremonial ob- 
 servances. He knew that such a doctrine would 
 prove distasteful to many at Jerusalem. Never- 
 theless, he would not cloke or conceal his pro- 
 ceedings: while, adding wisdom to his faithful- 
 ness, he chose to declare the course which he had 
 
 x In contradiction to the general opinion, that the visit to 
 Jerusalem mentioned by St. Paul in the 2nd ch. of the Galatians 
 refers to the xvth ch. of the Acts, Paley considers that it took 
 place during the long time Paul and Barnabas abode at Antioch, 
 while Mr. Greswell considers it to be the visit mentioned in Acts 
 xviii. 20.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 159 
 
 pursued, rather in private than in public, and to 
 the apostles themselves, or to the chief among 
 the Jewish Christians, rather than to all pro- 
 miscuously for we know that at Jerusalem 
 there were multitudes who believed, and yet 
 were zealous for the law?; and at the very 
 council held on the subject of admitting Gentiles 
 into the church of Christ without circumcision, 
 or otherwise than as proselytes, there was " much 
 disputing 7 -" and no doubt it was not till after 
 the delivery of many contradictory opinions, and 
 after the removal of many erroneous views, that 
 the final decision of the council was agreed upon 
 and drawn up. 
 
 Now in all this St. Paul acted according to the 
 wisdom given him so as to prevent any diminu- 
 tion of the value and effect of his previous la- 
 bours, and so as to obviate any interruption in 
 his future usefulness a . 
 
 Pursuing the narrative, to which attention has 
 
 y Acts xxi. 20. z Acts xv. 7. 
 
 a In order to form any due appreciation either of the con- 
 troversy appearing in the xvth ch. of the Acts, or of St. Paul's 
 emphatic statements as to his own personal conduct at Jeru- 
 salem, we must be able to exercise, for ourselves, a clear discri- 
 mination between the law and the gospel. Otherwise the whole 
 subject will lack its fitting place of importance and interest in 
 our minds. On the question, Why do ministers of Christ preach 
 the law, it has been well observed, " If they preach it as they 
 should, they preach it in subserviency to the gospel, not in 
 opposition. He that knows how to distinguish well between 
 the law and the gospel, let him bless God, and know that he 
 deserves the name of a Divine. We must preach it as a rule, 
 not as a covenant of life." Gurnall, Christian Armour.
 
 160 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 been just drawn, as given by St. Paul in this 
 2nd chap, of his Epistle to the Galatians, we find 
 him defending the liberty of the gospel, and de- 
 claring that he would yield or give place, "no, 
 not an hour," to any who impugned or contended 
 against it. Then he magnifies his own office, and 
 the work which he had been divinely appointed 
 to maintain among the Gentiles : and he boldly 
 maintains that he had received no addition to 
 the doctrine which he taught, and no additional 
 guidance for his own practice, even " from those 
 who seemed to be somewhat b " that is, I con- 
 
 b Ver. 6. ano rS>v SOKOVVTCOV dvai TI. The participle SOKOVVTCS is 
 rendered in the second verse of this chapter, " them which were of 
 reputation." At the ninth verse it appears again : " who seemed 
 to be pillars;" but in none of these instances does the ex- 
 pression convey the idea of any doubt on the writer's mind, or of 
 any disparagement regarding the claims of those persons, who 
 are described by this phraseology. Parkhurst observes that 
 "Theophylact explains rots SOKOVVI as used in this chapter by 
 T-oi? p.eyd\ois s rois ev86goi.s, the great, the eminent ; adding, OVK 
 dvatpd TO fivai avrovs, aXXa rf]V Koivrjv airavrcov ^rjipov ridrja-i. He 
 does not deny their being what they seemed, but declares the 
 common suffrage of all." 
 
 It will, of course, be remembered that two of the three " pil- 
 lars" were those whom Jesus had selected, during the days of his 
 flesh, as the special witnesses of certain miracles done by him, 
 and certain events concerning him, at which the other apostles 
 were not personally present, or at all events not so nigh not 
 so taken for avronrai for personal spectators of these great 
 transactions in his life. But notwithstanding all this, the au- 
 thority of St. Paul, as an apostle of Jesus Christ, was not inferior 
 to theirs ; for he had " seen the Lord," and received too from 
 him his apostolic office. 
 
 We find in 2 Cor. xi. 5, the phrase of "the very chiefest 
 apostles." Gr. o*
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 161 
 
 ceive, from those who were held and allowed to 
 be of chief reputation in the apostolic company : 
 for the Greek expression does not convey or 
 imply any doubt or disparagement by the word 
 rendered "seemed" as our idiom might possibly 
 suggest. This will be the more conclusively 
 evident, when we remember that the persons, 
 here alluded to, are none other than the three 
 apostles, James, Peter, and John. As they were 
 called and qualified to be apostles, in the days 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ's sojourn upon earth, 
 so St. Paul too was called and qualified by the 
 same Lord, in his own due time, and made a 
 " chosen vessel" unto him, to bear his name 
 among the Gentiles. And though, beyond all 
 doubt, James and Peter and John were "pillars" 
 of the church, and acknowledged as such by 
 him, and honoured as such, they " in conference 
 added nothing unto him," (ver. 6) ; that is, they 
 communicated nothing new, nothing beyond that, 
 which, by express revelation, God Himself had 
 already made known to him. Accordingly, when 
 these three apostles had held those interviews 
 with him from which his statement results, they 
 recognised and sanctioned that distinct office, 
 with which God had specially intrusted St. Paul. 
 They saw that, just as to Peter the " apostleship 
 of the circumcision" was specially committed, so 
 the " gospel of the uncircumcision " was specially 
 committed to him and Barnabas: and so they 
 gave them " the right hand of fellowship " they
 
 162 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 not only acknowledged them, in due form and 
 full conviction of heart, as fellow-apostles, but 
 they also agreed, that while each of them should 
 strive for the faith of one and the same gospel, 
 the one party should principally give themselves 
 up to God's work among the Gentiles, while the 
 other party should chiefly regard themselves as 
 called and appointed to maintain the same cause 
 in another department of the apostolic ministry, 
 that is, among the Jews. All which is contained 
 in the 9th verse : "And when James, Cephas, and 
 John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the 
 grace that was given unto me, they gave to me 
 and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship ; that 
 we should go unto the heathen, and they unto 
 the circumcision." A verse which specially de- 
 signates St. John, as being at Jerusalem at the 
 period in question, and also proves that high 
 reputation in which he was held that post of 
 honour and distinction which he occupied at the 
 time that spiritual strength conferred on him 
 and maintained in him from on high, as one 
 confirming the truth of the gospel and adorning 
 the church of Christ. 
 
 Two more observations will conclude this 
 subject : the first on the title " pillar," as ex- 
 pressly given to St. John. 
 
 In all probability the metaphor was taken 
 from the columns of the temple, and was used 
 as appropriate to represent one who held a 
 similar place in the living temple of Christ's
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 163 
 
 church. God said to Jeremiah a man who 
 was ever conversant with the temple and its 
 precincts " I have made thee this day a de- 
 fenced city and an iron pillar c " One of the 
 promises of Jesus to " him that overcometh" is, 
 " I will make him a pillar in the temple of my 
 God d ." And St. Paul addresses Timothy that he 
 may teach him " how he should behave himself 
 in the house of God, which is the church of the 
 living God, the pillar and ground of the truth 6 ." 
 
 Now as a pillar is for strength and for orna- 
 ment also f , so this metaphor abundantly illustrates 
 the character and work of St. John in behalf of 
 Christ's church : and if in addition to the first 
 and simpler and more obvious application, which 
 will occur to all, a second might also be made 
 from the fact of pillars in old time being often 
 inscribed with important documents or instructive 
 truths*, that they might be publicly read, then a 
 
 c Jer. i. 1 8. d Rev. iii. 12. e i Tim. iii. 15. 
 
 f Shakespear employs the metaphor : 
 
 " Give them leave to fly that will not stay, 
 And call them pillars that will stand to us." 
 
 HENRY VI, part 3. act 2. sc. 3. 
 
 Again : 
 
 " I charge you by the law, 
 Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar, 
 Proceed to judgment." MERCHANT OF VENICE, IV. i . 
 
 " Ad ilium hie praecipue columnarum usum alludi putem, quo 
 leges et scientise iis affigebantur aut incidebantur. Frequentis- 
 simum hoc apud alios populos .-Egyptios, Graecos, Romanes." 
 Lampe, Proleg. The same author quotes the promise to which I 
 have lately alluded in the text, where after the word " pillar" 
 M2
 
 164 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 fresh fitness appears in the title, when applied to 
 St. John and his two partners in the name. For 
 they were as " living epistles, written within and 
 without." By word and example and all other 
 means they ever set forth and presented to view 
 those truths of the gospel, by which alone the 
 church could be upheld : and thus we see John 
 when styled as a pillar with two partners, and 
 no more in the dignity of this name ennobled 
 with a title which tells of his being to the 
 church as a strength and an ornament; and, if 
 the additional illustration be correct, as a stand- 
 ing and living and permanent instructor, " known 
 and read of all men." 
 
 But before Paul and the three pillars, James, 
 Cephas, and John, had finally concluded the 
 conference thus held, the latter three expressed 
 their desire that Paul and Barnabas, with their 
 other fellow-labourers among the Gentiles, should 
 " remember the poor." " Only they would that 
 we should remember the poor ; the same which 
 I also was forward to do h ." 
 
 Now very briefly noticing the fact, that here 
 again St. Paul appears both as a speaker and as 
 a subsequent narrator of that which he spoke, 
 
 these words succeed : " And I will write on him the name of 
 my God, and the name of the city of my God." 
 
 Those who are acquainted with the interior of foreign cathe- 
 drals will probably remember the frequent sight of episcopal 
 " mandements" and other ecclesiastical documents, (which are 
 desired to be " read and known of all,") attached to the pillar 
 next the entrance of the church, and immediately above the 
 " benitoire." h Gal. ii. 10.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 165 
 
 and as asserting his complete independence even 
 of such men as the very apostles and, among 
 them, even of those in such reputation as James, 
 Peter, and John merely noticing this, we have 
 only to observe these three apostles acting thus, 
 St. John being one of them. And it may be 
 concluded that this was by no means a mere 
 general exhortation to remember the wants of 
 the poor. Surely not ! That was a grace and a 
 duty so universally acknowledged, not only by 
 every disciple of Jesus, but by every conscien- 
 tious Jew, that any such expression as addressed 
 to St. Paul would have been quite out of place. 
 No doubt they referred to the maintenance of 
 that good work in behalf of the " poor saints at 
 Jerusalem 1 ," in which the disciples at Antioch, 
 whence Paul and Barnabas had come, were the 
 very first to engage, when " every man, according 
 to his ability, determined to send relief unto the 
 
 i There may have been some apprehension in the minds of 
 James, Peter, and John, that in consequence of the recent 
 divisions and dissensions which had occurred, the Gentiles might 
 be less disposed to aid the Jewish converts to Christianity from 
 their pecuniary means ; and therefore they expressed their feeling 
 to St. Paul, in order to obviate any such possible results from 
 the late transactions. But how speedily Paul shewed, that, on 
 this matter, as on all others, he and they were one, and under 
 the guidance of one and the same Spirit ! And every reader of 
 the Scripture knows how ardently and perseveringly he ever 
 stood to the principle which he was inspired to lay down for the 
 governance of Christians taken from among the Gentiles, in their 
 dealings with God's people Israel : " If the Gentiles have been 
 made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to 
 minister unto them in carnal things." Rom. xv. 27.
 
 166 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 brethren, which dwelt in Judaea, which they 
 did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of 
 Barnabas and Saul." This is it which Paul 
 describes himself as " forward to do k ." And 
 well he might so declare. 
 
 But it is with another, and not with St. Paul, 
 that we are concerned here, though it was 
 needful to interweave a portion of his history 
 in order to present the circumstances bearing on 
 St. John. And even in regard to him, we have 
 only to remember, that he might well share in 
 that exhortation, whose heart, and whose pen, 
 and whose lips were ever full of charity, and 
 by whom it is declared, "Whoso hath this 
 world's good, and seeth his brother have need, 
 and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from 
 him, how dwelleth the love of God in him 1 ?" 
 Thus wrote one of the three who would not end 
 his interview with Paul until they had expressed 
 the desire of their hearts that he and his fellow- 
 labourers " would remember the poor." 
 
 . 20. St. John dwelling at Jerusalem. 
 The interview lately described as having taken 
 place between St. Paul and St. John forms an 
 important link in the history of that apostle 
 on whose life we are now engaged. It enables 
 us to lay down three distinct things, in a way 
 of which we should otherwise have been alto- 
 gether incapable first, the place where St. John 
 
 k Acts xi. 29, 30. 1 i John iii. 17.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 167 
 
 was residing secondly, the high reputation in 
 which he was held, from his being called a 
 " pillar," and from many other proofs in St. Paul's 
 narrative : thirdly, the appointment of God that 
 for some time at least 1 " his personal ministry 
 should chiefly be directed to the Jews that is, 
 so far as any comparison might lie between him, 
 in union with James and Peter, as ranged on the 
 one side, and Paul and Barnabas as ranged on 
 the other. The simple statement of these three 
 facts placed together, confirmed and illustrated 
 by the inspired testimony of St. Paul, will at 
 once prove the importance of the passage quoted 
 from the Epistle to the Galatians, in presenting 
 to the church this part of St. John's history. 
 And when a writer foresees (as must be the case 
 at the present stage of these investigations) that 
 a path is before him, dim and obscure in com- 
 parison with that hitherto pursued, he scarcely 
 can fail to appreciate such testimony at the very 
 highest rate. I should much regret to suggest 
 any thought likely to slacken our research or to 
 damp our interest in that portion of St. John's 
 history which is yet to come. Still I must 
 direct notice to the fact, that, while there is 
 evidence, ample and abundant in amount, for 
 much which is to follow in the course of this 
 narrative, still it is not, for a considerable period^ 
 
 m At a subsequent period of St. John's life it is evident that his- 
 ministry was no longer exercised in this special direction ; for 
 he, with Peter, either before or at the destruction of Jerusalem, 
 did certainly devote himself to labour among the Gentiles.
 
 168 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 evidence of that kind with which we have been 
 hitherto supplied. It cannot be henceforth drawn 
 from the certain record of Scripture, wherein 
 nothing whatever is required on our part, except 
 to take heed that we rightly understand and 
 rightly interpret the information given us by the 
 Holy Ghost. It may be kept in view that by 
 and by St. John will again appear in God's word 
 itself I allude to his own Epistles and the 
 opening of the Revelation. But for a season such 
 information as can be obtained concerning his life 
 and course must be drawn from mere human 
 authority, more or less trustworthy. Accordingly 
 conclusions must be drawn, such as these au- 
 thorities, patiently sifted and carefully compared, 
 may afford : and no longer, at least for the 
 present, are facts before us, narrated in the 
 Scripture, and therefore admitting no doubt or 
 question. The author and reader must now be 
 prepared for a cautious, watchful, and, above all, 
 unprejudiced inquiry, as to the value of each 
 successive testimony. A measured and qualified 
 and (if the expression may be used) a graduated 
 scale of value must be applied to each uninspired 
 narrative bearing on St. John's history, and to 
 each declaration of opinion touching his life and 
 character. And while, perhaps, some records 
 concerning him will possess a value as historical 
 documents, not inferior to that which any unin- 
 spired history can claim, others will have at- 
 tached to them only strong probability. A third 
 class will only appear to be stories or inventions,
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 169 
 
 somewhat appropriate to him of whom they are 
 narrated, but quite unconfirmed by any valid 
 documents ; and a fourth will at once be dis- 
 carded, either as being inconsistent with the 
 doctrines of revealed truth, or as containing 
 mere superstitious and absurd fancies altogether 
 unworthy of the smallest amount of belief". 
 But after all this discrimination, I strongly feel 
 that much scope must be left for individual 
 judgment, exercised on the materials supplied 
 for its formation : and these materials, although 
 the same in themselves, will present many 
 aspects, according to the varied sentiments and 
 feelings with which each subject is approached. 
 For, perhaps, there is nothing in which men of 
 
 n In the first class of these categories I should be disposed 
 to place the testimony as to Ephesus being the place of his 
 continued residence after the capture of Jerusalem in the 
 second, the departure from the bath on hearing that Cerinthus 
 was there in the third, the account of his being condemned to 
 work in the mines at Patmos in the fourth, the story of his 
 wearing the lamina and the garb of the High Priest. To other 
 stories I can give no better appellation than that of puerile 
 inventions, e. g. to that of the partridge to that of the poisoned 
 cup to the tale that no rain fell on that uncovered oratory near 
 Ephesus, where the narrators of the story say that his gospel 
 was penned to that of the dust moving and heaving over the 
 grave, wherein his body was laid to that of sacred oil (accord- 
 ing to some), or of manna (according to others), as being gathered 
 there ! Those who may wish to see not only these but additional 
 strange stories of the same character, may refer to the note on 
 . 7. ch. vi. lib. I, of Lampe's Proleg. in Joan, or to . 9. of 
 Cave's Life of St. John on which no better comment can be 
 made than that of him who has collected them together : "So 
 fast will error, like circles in the water, multiply itself."
 
 170 LIFE AND CHAKACTER 
 
 education and intelligence shew more diversity 
 the one from the other than in their readiness 
 to give, on the one hand, and on the other to 
 withhold, their assent on any topic of discussion 
 or research, where there is confessedly not the 
 declaration of truth, but the inquiry for it. And 
 most unwilling should I be to interfere with this 
 liberty of judgment, specially on such topics as 
 those now before us. 
 
 For thirty-eight years onward, reckoning from 
 the ordinary date of the council held at Jeru- 
 salem, and lately considered here to the time of 
 St. John's writing his first general epistle, no 
 record in the Scripture provides any information 
 whatsoever as to his abode, his ministry, or his 
 life. That must be sought elsewhere, from those 
 sources and in that manner for which I have 
 recently endeavoured to prepare the way. We 
 have now first to investigate the probable dura- 
 tion of St. John's stay at Jerusalem, and, secondly, 
 the probable grounds for stating the city of 
 Ephesus, as that locality where he fixed his 
 abode on finally quitting Jerusalem. 
 
 On the first of these subjects no positive 
 account is contained either in Scripture or in 
 ecclesiastical history. Attention must therefore 
 be directed to such probabilities as claim weight 
 in such an inquiry as this. 
 
 From the chapter, which has recently supplied 
 a valuable link in St. John's history, we know that 
 St. Peter, one of the three apostles, there styled 
 " pillars." and mentioned as being at that time in
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 171 
 
 Jerusalem, was not long afterwards at Antioch . 
 And there is every reason to suppose, from his 
 addressing his first epistle to the strangers scat- 
 tered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, 
 Asia, and BithyniaP, that he traversed all those 
 countries, and did not stop short even of Babylon 
 itself i. Now the known absence of one of the 
 " pillars" from the local centre of the universal 
 church renders the absence of another an un- 
 likely thing I do not say an impossible thing, 
 but an unlikely thing. The argument would 
 certainly have more weight, if it applied to 
 St. James, as bishop of Jerusalem, but it is not 
 without some degree of value, as bearing on 
 St. John : and it leads us to suppose that for no 
 long continuance he would absent himself from 
 that holy city, whither, as yet, the members of 
 the church went up for advice and direction in 
 all which concerned its state. 
 
 I would add again, not as conclusive, but as 
 worthy of attention 1 ", that the very question of 
 
 Gal. xi. u. Pi Pet. i. i. 
 
 q Ch. v. 13. " Babylon in Chaldaea, where it is most probable 
 the apostle was at the writing of this epistle ; the Jews being 
 very numerous in those parts, as having settled themselves there 
 ever since the captivity, and Peter being an apostle of the 
 circumcision, his work lay much thereabout." Matthew Pool, 
 Annotations. 
 
 r The exact time or the exact cause of John's departure from 
 Jerusalem for Ephesus is not known with certainty. We are 
 obliged to be content with such language as that of Milner and 
 others, both ancient and modern: e. g. " The breaking out of the 
 war in Judaea would probably oblige the apostle to bid a total 
 farewell to his native country." Milner, chap. xv.
 
 172 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 our Lord, which St. John heard concerning him- 
 self, " If I will that he tarry till I come," when 
 viewed in respect to the coming of the Lord for 
 judgment on Jerusalem, and to the prospect of 
 St. John living up to and beyond that event, 
 might have tended not improbably to fix him 
 to that place in order to await and announce 
 the doom of that city and be a living witness 
 there to the Lord's own word as concerning 
 himself. For that declaration of the Lord, 
 though hypothetically put, was not the less held 
 by his disciples to affirm a positive fact. 
 
 . 21. St. Johns final departure from Jerusalem. 
 
 It is considered, and on sufficient grounds, 
 that the last year of the reign of Nero must 
 have been the date of St. John's final departure 
 from Jerusalem. This is the period adjudged 
 to that event by Sir Isaac Newton : " Seeing 
 therefore Peter and John were apostles of the 
 circumcision, it seems to me that they stayed 
 with their churches in Judaea and Syria till the 
 Romans made war upon their nation, that is, 
 till the twelfth year of Nero 5 ." In that year the 
 Jewish war began and the city was besieged by 
 Cestius : and utter destruction w r ould at that 
 time have overwhelmed the Jews, had not the 
 Roman general omitted an excellent opportunity 
 of making his attack a fact which Josephus 
 
 s Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 173 
 
 recognises as having taken place by Divine in- 
 terposition*. Thus God made for the Christians 
 a way of escape from the perils with which they 
 were surrounded ; and this not only brought to 
 their minds the Lord's own words, that "when 
 they should see Jerusalem compassed with ar- 
 mies, they might know that its desolation was 
 at hand," but also his gracious provision, made 
 for their safety in his exhortation, that when 
 they saw this happen, they should depart out 
 and flee. Accordingly, many took refuge in 
 Pella; and their lives were thus preserved. 
 That St. John should have remained in the Holy 
 City beyond this period seems most improbable 
 for who would have been more unlikely to forget 
 any of the words of his loving and beloved Lord, 
 and especially aught of that very prophecy, given 
 in answer to the question of those four apostles 
 sitting with Jesus over against the temple, of 
 whom John was himself one u ? 
 
 Thus much towards the conclusion, or at all 
 events, towards the inference, that St. John did 
 remain in Jerusalem until a certain period of 
 that city's history, namely, till its capture, but 
 not afterwards. Ephesus, no doubt, (as will 
 shortly appear,) would have been the most likely 
 locality for him to have occupied at a previous 
 time, had he quitted Jerusalem, as the place of 
 his usual abode before this event. But that he 
 was not, specially, at Ephesus for a considerable 
 
 1 De Bell. Jud. 1. ii. c. xix. u Mark xiii. 3.
 
 174 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 time after the council at Jerusalem, (to which I 
 have referred at large,) nor previous to a known 
 date, is a subject, for which Scripture does not 
 leave us without evidence. This evidence is 
 found in the history of St. Paul, through which, 
 from its fulness and detail, we possess so much 
 information, not only in that which concerns 
 him personally, but in that which refers to so 
 many other persons, as well as to the church at 
 large. Sometimes the arguments hence to be 
 deduced are positive in their kind. Sometimes 
 they are negative. And I mention this, as about 
 to introduce a Scriptural argument of no incon- 
 siderable weight, though of the latter character 
 which is, the great improbability that St. John 
 could have commenced his permanent residence 
 at Ephesus previous to the date of the two 
 Epistles of St. Paul to Timothy viz. A. D. 65 
 and 66 respectively. It seems most unlikely, in 
 that case, that there would have been no notice 
 whatsoever concerning that apostle in either of 
 them. Nor is there a single word alluding to 
 St. John in connexion with the full and very 
 comprehensive history of St. Paul's own sojourn 
 and deeds in the city of Ephesus, where, (as we 
 know from Acts xix.,) St. Paul for the space of 
 three months spake boldly, " disputing and 
 persuading the things concerning the kingdom 
 of God" where the work, to be done for Christ 
 and his church was so urgent and abundant, 
 that St. Paul continued his daily disputations
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 175 
 
 with the opponents of the gospel for no less a 
 period than two years where the genuine disci- 
 ples of the Lord Jesus Christ were made specially 
 manifest, and where the word of God was so 
 widely, so constantly, and so effectually published 
 abroad, that (as it is written) " all they which 
 dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, 
 both Jews and Greeks." Neither is there any 
 reference whatever to St. John, on the occasion 
 of St. Paul's sending from Miletus for the elders 
 of Ephesus, and giving them his celebrated 
 charge, contained in the 20th chapter of the 
 Acts. These circumstances almost preclude the 
 idea of St. John's being specially at Ephesus 
 until a certain assigned date, although, if any 
 place, except Jerusalem itself, was his previous 
 abode, Ephesus would certainly have had the 
 chief claim. 
 
 . 22. St. John at Ephesus. 
 
 With regard to the immediate course of St. John, 
 after his departure from Jerusalem, or on his 
 journey to Ephesus, or on the causes which led 
 him to fix the place of his abode there, no 
 statement or information of a direct character 
 is found in any part of Scripture. At a future 
 time the fit occasion will arrive for noting his 
 connexion with the seven Asiatic churches, of 
 which Ephesus was one x . Therefore to treat of 
 that subject here would be an undue anticipation 
 
 x Rev. i. i.
 
 176 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 of a topic, with which much scriptural interest 
 is connected, and which will be fully considered 
 at the appropriate time. 
 
 We must therefore now resort to the ordinary 
 sources, whence ecclesiastical history is drawn, 
 after the time when Scripture ceases to afford 
 us its sure light. 
 
 In that history many and direct testimonies are 
 found, bearing on the subject now under review 
 namely, that of John dwelling at Ephesus. 
 
 Irenseus so states in a passage y, to which I 
 merely refer, as it will be quoted at full on a 
 future occasion. The same also may be said on 
 a testimony of Clement of Alexandria appearing 
 in the story of the young robber. 
 
 Origen, as cited by Eusebius 2 , affirms that 
 St. John had Asia allotted to him as the special 
 province of his labours, and that he resided 
 there, and died at Ephesus. 
 
 Chrysostom, in his Preface to the Epistle to 
 the Ephesians, speaks of Ephesus as the place 
 where John the blessed evangelist long resided, 
 from whence he was banished, and where he 
 died a . 
 
 Y Adv. Hser. 1. III. c. iii. . 4. 
 
 z Hist. Eccl. iii. i . The passage, after speaking of the separate 
 spheres, considered as the lot where Thomas and Andrew were 
 specially to labour, proceeds thus in treating of St. John : 'Ivdwqs 
 (f"i\r)xfv) rf)v 'Acriav, irpbs ovs KOI Siarpfyas tv 'E<pf<rto TfXfvrq, 
 
 By Asia here is meant no larger portion of that continent than 
 the western coast of Asia Minor. 
 
 a Kai 6 paKdpios fie 'lmdwr)s 6 fvayyArrqr ra TroXXa fvBurpi^fV 
 Ktl, Kal yap Kal eg&piordr) e'/m (vel (KfWfv) KOI eYeAeuTT/ire. Praefat. 
 in Ep. ad Ephesios.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 177 
 
 The author of the Life of Timothy, quoted by 
 Photius, says of St. John, in connexion with 
 Ephesus, that he dwelt in that city b : and this is 
 information, which, on a subject so notorious and 
 palpable, as the locality inhabited by one so 
 renowned in the church, may have its due 
 weight, whether we do or do not attach any 
 thing like a similar authority to other matters 
 involved in the sentence containing this state- 
 ment I mean, to the statement on St. John's 
 shipwreck in the vicinity of Ephesus, and to the 
 date of that supposed event. 
 
 In the letter of Ignatius to the Ephesians, the 
 name of Timothy thus follows that of St. John. 
 He there expresses the desire of his heart, " that 
 he might be found in the same lot as that of the 
 Ephesian Christians, who, in the power of Jesus, 
 held constant intercourse with the apostles, Paul 
 and John and the most faithful Timothy ." 
 
 Besides these authorities, there is that of the 
 synodal epistle from the council of Ephesus to 
 the clergy of Constantinople, which speaks of 
 St. John having dwelt, with the virgin Mary, at 
 Ephesus. 
 
 It seems to me that I cannot bring this subject 
 to a better close than by quoting the words of 
 
 b Km yap tv TO.VTT) BUrpiftf, vavayrfaras p.ev Trepi TOV aiyiaXbv, CK- 
 fipa<rdfls 8f TT)s 8a\da-(rr]s ep.Trv(a>v ert, TJVIKO. Nep<oi> 6 ep.fj.avfjs TOV Kara 
 T>V \pi<TTiav(av ep.irvel Sicoyudi/. 
 
 c "iva ev K\T)pa> 'E<p{<ri<ov evpe#a> T&V Xpurruu/atv, 01 Kal rots airo- 
 fTToXot? iravTore crvvri(rav, tv 8vvdp.fi, 'l^croi; \picrrov, IlavXa), 'loxivvrj, 
 TW 7rt<TToraT<p. Bib. Vet. Pat. Paris. MDCLIV. c. II. 
 N
 
 178 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 the Rev. A. P. Stanley d ; "We may observe that 
 all the accounts of St. John's later life resolve 
 themselves into a statement of his residence at 
 Ephesus, and of his living to the close or shortly 
 beyond the close of the first century. This state- 
 ment, implied as it is in every story which is pre- 
 served to us respecting St. John, and thus attested by 
 so many independent witnesses, and contradicted by 
 none, and with no possible motive for its invention, 
 stands on a different ground from any one of the 
 isolated traditions just quoted, and, unless all 
 testimony subsequent to the first century is to 
 be rejected, must be regarded as an indisputable 
 fact." 
 
 No place could have been more appropriate 
 than Ephesus was, for the abode of one who 
 occupied an office such as that which the Lord 
 assigned to St. John. No city could have offered 
 such a central and advantageous post for one, 
 who, like him, was to guide and edify the church, 
 to watch against error and ungodly practice, 
 wherever such evils might arise, and to spread 
 the light of the gospel far and wide, as favour- 
 able opportunites might at any time admit. 
 
 The first observation arising from these state- 
 ments must be that, without doubt, the Holy 
 Spirit led him to that special locality, through 
 His own almighty will, and through His perfect 
 knowledge as to the wants of the church. The 
 Lord had need of him there. Therefore that 
 
 d Apostolical Age, p. 2 87.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 179 
 
 same Holy Spirit guided him, who ever guided 
 the course of the apostles ; and just as at one 
 time he separated Paul and Barnabas "for the 
 work whereunto he had called them 6 ," and at 
 another, forbade Paul's course into Bithynia f , but 
 summoned him into Macedonia by a vision of 
 the nights, so too he led St. John to Ephesus, 
 and placed him in the very lot of the " vineyard 
 of the Lord of hosts," where he was to do that 
 very work which God had given him. 
 
 The way is now open for considering the second 
 or subsidiary causes, which may be supposed to 
 have fixed St. John at Ephesus ; and these, on 
 consideration, will prove abundantly sufficient, 
 although at first sight some other place might 
 have seemed more likely to have been chosen for 
 him than one, where the light of Divine truth 
 had already and most brightly shone, through 
 the preaching and continued care of Paul and 
 of Timothy, " taking the oversight thereof." 
 
 It must be remembered that Ephesus was a 
 city which might well be entitled the metropolis 
 of Asia Minor. Moreover, not only its size and 
 importance, but also its geographical position, 
 must be taken into account, as adapting it for 
 John's residence. It was most advantageously 
 placed for extensive communication, and was 
 much frequented, for purposes of merchandise, 
 pleasure, and religion, by the inhabitants of three 
 quarters of the globe namely, Asia, Africa, and 
 
 e Acts xiii. 2. ' Acts xvi. 7. g Acts xvi. 9.
 
 180 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 Europe. The purpose and providence of God 
 were manifest in sending St. John to such a lo- 
 cality as this for his permanent abode. Dwell- 
 ing at Ephesus, he was on the borders of that 
 great ^Egean sea, whose waters washed so many 
 different lands, and made a way for ships and 
 their passengers to so many populous, renowned, 
 and refined cities. "From thence," as it has been 
 expressed in language of no common beauty, " he 
 surveyed his own beloved Asia, and filled it with 
 the fragrance of his word. Greece and Europe 
 were spread out before him ; and thus he could 
 sound the trumpet of the gospel to nations 
 beyond the seas, and summon them to Christ by 
 his exhortations. Moreover the harbour was very 
 commodious, and many merchants and foreigners 
 constantly resorted thither h ." Accordingly, many 
 would there learn the doctrines of the gospel, 
 and would return to their own lands, telling 
 what God had done for their souls through 
 
 h "Considera rairabile Dei consilium. Joannes in Ephesum 
 ad littus maris JEgei collocatus est ; ut inde, quasi e specula, 
 retro suam Asiam videret, suaque fragrantia repleret : ante se 
 vero Grseciam totamque Europam haberet ; ut inde, tanquam 
 tuba Domini sonora, etiam ultramarinos populos suis concionibus 
 ac scriptis inclamaret et invitaret ad Christum, prEesertim, cum 
 ibi fuerit admodum commodus portus, plurimique mercatores ac 
 homines peregrini ea loca adierint." Cent. ii. Magdeburgensis 
 c. ii. apud Lampe. Note h on 1. 1. c. iii. . 1 4. 
 
 T<5 8e o-w/xart peayv KareV^e rrjv 'Aviav, evda TO TraAaiw e<iXo<ro- 
 (povv of TTJS 'E\\rjviKfis a~v(J.fj.opias aTravres (KaKfiBtv rots $alp.oa-iv eori 
 (pofiepbs) fi> p,fo-(j> T>V fxGpcov diaXdfmwv, KOI TOV 6(pov avrS>v (rfifvvvs, 
 KOI TTJV aKpoVoXii/ rS)v 8aip6va>v KaraXvaw. Chrysostom. Horn. i. 
 in Joan.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 181 
 
 St. John and his fellow - labourer s : and thus 
 Ephesus would prove a centre of missionary 
 work. 
 
 It must also be remembered that St. John was 
 to survive all the other apostles : and it is ob- 
 vious how important it must have been for the 
 interests of the church that he should remain 
 in such a city, where his counsel could be easily 
 obtained, and from whence he could superintend, 
 under the most favourable circumstances, all 
 affairs connected either with the establishment 
 or with the extension of Christ's kingdom on the 
 earth. We know from Scripture itself how re- 
 markably adapted the city of Ephesus 1 was, as 
 a centre of communication, not only for worldly 
 but for spiritual things too: for when it was 
 appointed that St. Paul should there dwell for 
 a long season, we find it specially declared that 
 from thence "all Asia heard the word of the 
 Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks k ." Accord- 
 ingly, when God's judgments fell thick and fast 
 on Jerusalem, then Ephesus became a well-befit- 
 ting place for the exercise of St. John's ministry 
 and apostleship. And it was, moreover, in the 
 purpose of God, that on a neighbouring isle the 
 vision of visions even the Apocalypse should 
 
 i Pliny entitles Ephesus " lumen Asia." Nat. Hist. 1. V. c. 3 i . 
 By the diffusion of Christianity from that city it now well de- 
 served a no less lofty name, becoming indeed a " city set on a 
 hill," " a light to give light unto all that are in the house." 
 k Acts xix. 10.
 
 182 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 be to him revealed, that on that isle he should 
 behold his Lord in his majesty, there receive the 
 messages to the seven Asiatic churches, of which 
 Ephesus was one and there write that record 
 of prophetic truth, given in the Revelation, for 
 all lands and for all generations, whereof it 
 is declared, in the very forefront of the book, 
 " Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear 
 the words of this prophecy, and keep those things 
 which are written therein V 
 
 Some difficulty has arisen from the fact that 
 Timothy is known to have been bishop of Ephe- 
 sus at the time when St. John was also abiding 
 there, and exercising his authoritative jurisdiction 
 in the same place and vicinity. But this is of 
 no weight : as I think will appear from one 
 sentence on the question, which I quote from 
 an author, by whom it has been thus clearly 
 though briefly expressed : " Comme 1'autorite 
 apostolique est superieure aux e>esques mesmes, 
 et qu'il (S. Jean) se n'attachoit pas a 1'Eglise 
 d'Ephese en particulier, mais prenoit soin de 
 toute 1'Asie, ou plutost de toute 1'Eglise Catho- 
 lique, son sejour a Ephese n'empeschoit pas que 
 S. Timothee n'en demeurast toujours evesque, y 
 ayant este etabli par S. Paul avant mesme que 
 S. Jean y vinst. Car la charite et 1'humilite 
 accordent parfaitement les differentes jurisdic- 
 tions 1 ." 
 
 k Rev. i. 3. 
 1 Tillemont, ed. MDCCI, Hist. EC. Saint Jean. Art. iv.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 183 
 
 . 23. On the record of St. John being cast into 
 boiling oil. 
 
 The few facts, of an indisputable character 
 that is, drawn from the sources of Scripture still 
 before us, in regard to St. John, are only to be 
 reached through a previous approach, in which 
 the way must be slowly and carefully felt, in 
 much cloud, obscurity and doubt involving each 
 step. But this should not in the least dis- 
 hearten us. 
 
 It may well be with us as with some traveller, 
 resolute and earnest in his aim, who would 
 readily pursue his way for some parts of his 
 journey, amidst perplexity, and even many diffi- 
 culties in ascertaining his course, if well assured 
 that fair and renowned objects, either of nature 
 or art, were thereby to be reached, for the reward 
 of his pains. If, for a while, our materials must 
 prove uncertain and traditional, there should not 
 arise any faintness in research, still less any 
 complaint that all is not placed before us just in 
 that manner which we might naturally wish. 
 On the contrary, let diligent and unprejudiced 
 
 m For instance, his being a sufferer, for the sake of Christ, on 
 the isle of Patmos, and his receipt of messages in that place to 
 the seven Asiatic churches, is a positive certainty, and on it, 
 as such, due care must hereafter be employed in the course of 
 these pages. But, on the other hand, his antecedent history, in 
 connexion with that will and providence of God, which brought 
 him to that place, is a subject for investigation, according to the 
 testimonies, valuable no doubt, but confessedly uncertain, which 
 we may possess, and to which we can have recourse.
 
 184 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 use be made of such materials as we have. And 
 here, accordingly, it may be well to introduce 
 one particular narrative, namely, the supposed 
 casting of St. John into the caldron of boiling 
 oil at Rome, because, (while other narratives, 
 such as the conversion of the Young Bandit and 
 the Flight from the Bath, granting them to be 
 true, are not of necessity connected with any 
 one definite period of St. John's history,) this, as 
 the first, or, at least an early example of those 
 persecutions which he had to endure, and as a 
 prelude to his banishment, cannot well be de- 
 ferred". 
 
 But first, St. John is to be considered as residing 
 at Ephesus, and as exercising there his apostolic 
 office. 
 
 It may be well to pause for a moment here, 
 and to" regard him illustrating the doctrines 
 which he preached and taught, in all his prac- 
 tical conduct, by " a life of faith in the Son of 
 God," and by the constant exhibition of that love 
 towards God and man which so distinguished 
 him. We may also remember that he was now 
 far advanced in years, and that he had reached 
 a period of life quite beyond the usual duration 
 of man's earthly course, even when protracted 
 to a " good old age." 
 
 n In so doing I have the satisfaction of treading in the steps 
 of one namely, the commentator Lampe whom I the more 
 admire for his spirit, his learning, his judgment and his industry, 
 the more I observe how he treats each subject of history, or 
 supposed history, which he brings forward.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 185 
 
 Of his personal condition during all that long 
 time intervening between the circumstance last 
 narrated in this volume and that now to be 
 examined, little or nothing is known. No infor- 
 mation remains telling whether his course, as to 
 external things, was peaceful and prosperous, or 
 whether it was the reverse. However, the latter 
 may be held by far the most probable. There 
 is no positive certainty that he was an unmar- 
 ried man, though historical tradition speaks of 
 him as such with one consent. And notwith- 
 standing all the statements arising from the 
 same source, there is no valid or trustworthy 
 record preserved, telling how long the mother 
 of our Lord dwelt with him, or when she died. 
 However, from the holy trust with which he was 
 invested, or rather from the mutual relationship 
 formed by the Saviour on the cross, it may be 
 supposed that the termination of the virgin's 
 residence with St. John and her death were 
 events which took place at one and the same 
 time. Over all these circumstances dimness and 
 obscurity prevail, which no research has in the 
 least cleared up, howsoever eager and industrious, 
 from various causes, into which I need not enter, 
 that research has been P. 
 
 " Constans satis traditio Patrum ilium coelibem testatur et 
 fuisse, cum vocaretur, et permansisse. An vero satis antiqua 
 sit, de eo disceptatur." Proleg. in Joan. 1. I. c. i. .13. 
 
 P Lampe in his Proleg. 1. I. c. iv. . 2, rejects the statement of 
 Eusebius Hist. EC. 1. III. c. ii, that John took a journey, shortly 
 after the destruction of Jerusalem, for the purpose of uniting 1
 
 186 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 One of the great persecutions of the church is 
 held to have taken place A. D. 95, and in the 
 fifteenth year of the emperor Domitian. The 
 circumstances leading to St. John's banishment 
 to Patmos are connected with this persecution; 
 and here investigation must be made, as to the 
 amount of trustworthy history remaining for our 
 use concerning those events. 
 
 The accounts of St. John's journey to Rome 
 have neither more nor less authority than those 
 which attend the statement of his being cast 
 into the vessel of boiling oil, and coming forth 
 unharmed. The same considerations will equally 
 apply to both. 
 
 Tertullian is the writer, on whose assertion, 
 with very little or no additional testimony, the 
 
 with the other surviving apostles, in electing one to supply the 
 place of James, who had suffered martyrdom. That commentator 
 thus expresses himself on the subject after having translated the 
 passage from Eusebius : " Cum author non laudetur, et res haec 
 tanquam incerta fama constans narretur, nos quoque earn in 
 medio relinquimus." Eusebius does not state the locality, where, 
 according to him, the apostles met on this occasion. Singu- 
 larly enough, (and I should suppose quite unwarrantably,) Tille- 
 mont fills up the vacancy, though adding no authority beyond that 
 of Eusebius, to which he makes his reference. The passage of 
 Tillemont is as follows : 
 
 "Saint Jean fit apparemment un voyage a Jerusalem en 1'an 
 62 pour y donner a 1'Eglise un pasteur digne de succeder a 
 S. Jacques le Mineur, qui y avoit este couronne par un glorieux 
 martyre. Car, on tient, dit Eusebe, que tous les apostres et tous 
 les disciples du Seigneur, qui restoient encore sur la terre, s'y 
 rassemblerent pour ce sujet de tous costez. Ce fut Saint Simeon 
 qui fut choisi par une si sainte et illustre assemble'e." Hist. EC. 
 ed. MDCCI. St. Jean. Art. iv. .
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 187 
 
 truth of this journey to Rome and of this mira- 
 culous preservation may be said to depend. 
 
 In his work, De Prcsscriptione H<zreticorum, he 
 thus apostrophizes Rome, or rather the church 
 in that city: "0 happy church, for which the 
 apostles sealed their whole doctrine with their 
 blood; where Peter was likened to his Lord in 
 the manner of his death; where Paul died a 
 martyr, ending his days as John the Baptist had 
 ended his: and where John the apostle, after 
 being cast into boiling oil, came forth unhurt and 
 was banished to the island ^l" 
 
 Two writers only r for two succeeding centuries, 
 bear any testimony to this fact relative to St. 
 John, namely, the author of the Fragments 
 ascribed to Polycarp 8 , and Jerome. 
 
 The words of the document contained in the 
 Fragments are these : " It is read that the blessed 
 John was cast into a caldron of boiling oil for the 
 name of Christ*." But the character and tone of 
 
 q " Habes Romam, unde nobis quoque auctoritas prsesto est. 
 Felix ecclesia, cui totam doctrinam apostoli cum sanguine suo 
 profuderunt : ubi Petrus passion! Dominicae adaequatur, ubi Paulus 
 Johannis exitu coronatur, ubi apostolus Joannes, posteaquam in 
 oleum igneum immersus, nihil passus est, in insulam relegatur ! " 
 
 r " Nullus tamen ex sequentibus per duo saecula Patribus ejus 
 vestigia pressit, excepto authore fragmentorum Polycarpo ad- 
 scriptorum, et Hieronymo." Lampe, Proleg. 1. 1. c. iv. . 3. 
 
 s See Jacobson's Patres Apostolici, vol. II. p. 493. 
 
 * I quote the Latin words thus rendered, as that is the original 
 language in which they remain : "Legitur et in dolio ferventis 
 olei pro nomine Christi beatus Johannes fuisse demersus." Jacob- 
 son quotes the very sensible observation of an earlier editor of
 
 188 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 this sentence (as evinced by the dubious words 
 " it is read ") very evidently shew that the au- 
 thor, whosoever he was, only introduces it as 
 concerning a matter on which nothing sure or 
 positive could be said. Jerome twice refers to 
 the subject. 
 
 In one passage he expressly quotes Tertullian : 
 " Tertullian relates (of John) that, being cast by 
 Nero into a caldron of boiling oil, he came forth 
 more healthy and vigorous than when he was 
 thrown in u ." 
 
 the Fragments, in these words : Quin postremura hoc raembrum 
 alienum manu assutura sit, nequaquam dubito. Neque enim Poly- 
 carpus qui omnia B. Johannis acta, tanquara ejus discipulus, vel 
 videbat ipse, vel ex eo audiebat, vel ex comitibus addiscebat, scrip- 
 sisset Legitur, quasi scilicet id non aliunde quam ex libris sciret." 
 
 Lampe also, as withdrawing from the value of the passage, 
 writes : " Verba haec satis produnt cunctanter hanc traditionem 
 anthorem, quisquis ille fuerit, retulisse." 
 
 u " Refert Tertullianus, quod a Nerone missus in ferventis olei 
 dolium purior et vegetior exierit, quam intraverit." Adv. Jovini- 
 anum, 1. I. c. xiv. The words a Nerone are a disputed reading, 
 for which Romte is substituted by some commentators. Here we 
 may observe how a narrative grows and increases by report, in 
 its marvellous character. For, on the supposition that there was 
 no farther notice of the boiling oil, contained in some of the lost 
 works of Tertullian, he did not say that St. John came forth from 
 the boiling oil more sound and vigorous, "purior et vegetior," 
 than when cast in. Yet what a multitude of followers, taking 
 Jerome's exaggerated statement for their text, have followed in 
 the same track ! Moreri, for instance, Grand Diet. Art. Jean, 
 writes : " II en sortit plus sain et plus fort qu'il n'y etoit entre ;" 
 and Tillemont, Jean, Art. v. " II en sortit mesme encore plus 
 net et plus vigoureux qu'il n'y estoit entreV' He also makes this 
 singular but not unpleasing comment on the narrative, that so it 
 was ordained by Christ, " qui 1'avoit favorise si particulierement
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 189 
 
 In the other passage he thus appeals to ec- 
 clesiastical records commonly known in his time x : 
 " It is a subject of inquiry, how the sons of Zebe- 
 dee, namely, James and John, could have drank 
 the cup of martyrdom, when the death of James 
 only, who was beheaded by command of Herod, is 
 recorded in the Scripture, and when John ended his 
 life by a natural death. But, if we give heed to 
 ecclesiastical records, where it is reported that he 
 was cast, for martyrdom, into a caldron of boiling 
 oil, and then went forth, as an athlete, to receive 
 the crown of Christ, being immediately banished to 
 the isle of Patmos, we shall see that, in spirit, he 
 too was a martyr, and that John drank that cup, 
 whereby he confessed Christ, and which the three 
 children in the furnace drank too, although the 
 persecutor did not shed his blood." 
 
 These are the sources from whence have been 
 drawn all the subsequent statements which ec- 
 clesiastical history contains, concerning St. John's 
 
 entre ses apostres, lui ayant voulu donner comme a eux la gloire 
 du martyre, sans kisser aux hommes le pouvoir d'abre"ger une vie 
 aussi precieuse que la sienne." 
 
 x "QuiKritur, quomodo calicem martyrii filii Zebedaei, Jacobus 
 videlicet et Joannes, biberint, cum Scriptura narret Jacobum 
 tantum apostolum ab Herode capite truncatum : Joannes autem 
 propria morte vitam finierit. Sed si legimus ecclesiasticas his- 
 torias, in quibus fertur, quod et ipse propter martyrium sit missus 
 in ferventis olei dolium, et inde ad suscipiendam coronam Christ! 
 athleta processerit, statimque relegatus in Pathmos insulam sit, 
 videbimus matyrio animum non defuisse, et bibisse Joannem 
 calicem confessionis, quern et tres pueri in camino ignis biberunt, 
 licet persecutor non fuderit sanguinem." Comment, in Matt, 
 xx. 23.
 
 190 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 persecution at Rome, the cruel treatment to which 
 he was subjected, and the miracle done in his 
 behalf through God's interposition. 
 
 The amount of credit due to this account is a 
 question of no little difficulty : and a great va- 
 riety of opinion has at all times prevailed on the 
 subject. It seems to me that this is a point of 
 apostolic history, on which we must be careful 
 not to allow any predisposition of our own to 
 warp the judgment. We must not yield to the 
 very natural and not unhallowed inclination to 
 receive a thing as true, because, if true, it would 
 greatly manifest God's love and power in behalf 
 of one, such as " the disciple whom Jesus loved." 
 For that has nothing whatsoever to do with the 
 inquiry. It is a matter of evidence, not of feeling 
 or of antecedent inclination. Nor, again, is it 
 to be for one moment supposed, that the recep- 
 tion or the rejection of this or any such narrative 
 is in the least a test of our Christian faith, or one 
 which, in the most remote degree, would prove 
 either him who receives or him who rejects the ac- 
 count, as being of the more acceptable frame in 
 the sight of God, concerning heavenly things. 
 
 Some learned men have supported this nar- 
 rative with much zeal and confidence, as of 
 unquestionable truth 2 . Others have declared 
 
 z Cave expresses no doubt whatsoever as to St. John's being 
 cast into the boiling oil. But this is entirely in accordance with 
 his known and usual course. Prefixed to his History of the Life 
 of St. John (in the older editions at least) are two designs, of 
 which one is a representation of this act the other of a small
 
 OP ST. JOHN. 191 
 
 themselves unable to pronounce any decided 
 opinion on the subject, and have left it as one 
 lying in the province of doubt and uncertainty 
 in a kind of neutral ground, which neither 
 side could, with any right, occupy as its own. 
 Others again have treated it as altogether fabu- 
 lous, and unworthy of credence in the smallest 
 degree. I think it most probable that the gene- 
 rality of inquirers at least of our own country 
 and time will be ready to adopt the middle 
 course of the three just mentioned. And I quote 
 here the language of Dr. Burton, in which it ap- 
 pears to me that we may well acquiesce : for, by 
 so doing, we shall, on the one hand, avoid a too 
 ready reception of that which may be only legend 
 after all, and, on the other hand, a no less ob- 
 jectionable scepticism, where there may exist 
 real and historic truth. 
 
 "St. John was himself a witness, and perhaps a 
 partaker of these sufferings, (i. e. persecutions ;) 
 but though there is no doubt as to the fact and 
 the scene of his banishment, there are some 
 earlier events in the story, which are not received 
 with the same implicit belief. It is sufficient to 
 
 flying serpent, issuing forth from a cup in his hand referring to 
 another story in his life, for which there is no authority of any 
 valid kind. The story, as quoted in a note by Lampe, (Proleg. 
 in Joan, on 1. I. c. v. . 22,) narrates that, "having drank a 
 draught of deadly poison, he not only was unhurt himself, but 
 restored to life those who were laid prostrate by the contents of 
 the same cup." This is a translation from the apocryphal book 
 attributed to Abdias, which does not date higher than the tenth 
 century.
 
 192 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 state that he is reported to have been sent to 
 Rome by the proconsul of Asia, where he Avas 
 thrown into a vessel of boiling oil, and came out 
 unhurt. If local tradition might be allowed to 
 have any weight, we might believe that some 
 such event befell St. John at Rome ; and Tertul- 
 lian, who wrote at the end of the second century, 
 does not appear to have entertained any doubt 
 of the fact. The critical, and perhaps I may 
 add, the philosophical Mosheim did not think 
 that the story was to be treated with contempt : 
 and perhaps we may rest satisfied with this 
 conclusion*." 
 
 To this I think it right to add that Tertullian 
 was remarkable for his eagerness and zeal in 
 the adoption of any narrative whatever, in which 
 the miraculous and marvellous appeared pre- 
 dominant that Eusebius affords a negative 
 argument on the subject ; for, in speaking of 
 St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. John, and the express 
 and undoubted persecutions which fell to their 
 lot, he omits to say any thing concerning the 
 latter being cast into the boiling oil b and that 
 the same silence may be noted in Origen too, 
 though he positively tells of St. James and St. 
 John as drinking of that cup which the Lord 
 had announced to them, and of the latter as 
 
 a Eccl. Hist, of the first three Centuries, lect. xii. 
 b Kai TifTpos 8e eirl 'Pw/w/s Kara KefpaXrjs oravpovrai, IlaOXo? re 
 dTTOTfpvfTai, 'itoaw/s 8e VT]<ra TrapaSi'Soreu. Kai rovrtav raura iraduv- 
 TCOV, ov8fls TO>J> XotTTaw fc(mj TTJs jrpodeo-fus. Demonstr. Evangel, 
 lib. III. c. 5.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 193 
 
 being banished for the sake of the truth to the 
 island of Patmos by the Roman emperor c . With 
 one other statement I shall close this subject 
 namely, that no record d remains of any punish- 
 ment of this kind being inflicted in Rome at the 
 period alleged for any crime or for any cause. 
 
 . 24. St, John at Patmos. 
 
 The way is surer, or rather of the surest 
 character, for our guidance onward, as we proceed 
 to consider the fact of John's sojourn at Patmos : 
 for two things in this matter rest on scriptural 
 authority first, the locality secondly, the cause 
 of his being at Patmos at all : namely, " for the 
 word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ 6 ." And on many other topics connected 
 with this part of his history, historic and credible 
 records give us ample information. 
 
 Looking first to Scripture itself, we find in the 
 opening of the Revelation, that St. John, when 
 addressing the churches of Asia, thus describes 
 his personal condition : " I John, who also am 
 your brother, and companion in tribulation, and 
 in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was 
 in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of 
 God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ." 
 
 c 'O 8e 'Ptopaiav /SacnXfiis, a>s 17 TrapdSocrts SiSacrKet, KarefitKaore TOP 
 "ladwrjv fiaprvpovvra 8ta TOV TTJS dXijdfias \6yov tls Uarpov TTJV vrjvov. 
 Comment, ad Matt, xx 22. 
 
 d I mention this, not forgetful that in the time of the empe- 
 rors, strange and most novel tortures were inflicted, and specially 
 on those professing Christianity. e R ev> j. 9. 
 

 
 194 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 As I said before, the locality of John's tribula- 
 tion at the time is certain viz. Patmos and 
 the cause of that tribulation is certain also. 
 From Scripture we learn nothing of a banishment: 
 but that he was banished to this island may 
 fairly and fully be deduced from the following 
 grounds : 
 
 First, it is so. stated in Tertullian, Origen, 
 Eusebius, and many other early writers of the 
 church. The two passages from Tertullian and 
 Origen have been already quoted. And this is 
 early testimony. Eusebius speaks of it as 
 generally held, that for the witness of the truth 
 John was condemned to dwell at the island of 
 Patmos f . Many other statements of the same 
 character might be cited, if needful, in addition 
 to and in confirmation of these plain and credi- 
 ble testimonies. 
 
 Again, it may be observed that no other ade- 
 quate or appropriate cause for John's being in 
 Patmos at all has ever been adduced in opposi- 
 tion to that, ordinarily held as the real cause, 
 which fixed him (at least for a season) on this 
 small, bare, and, as Cave has styled it, " discon- 
 solate island." At the same time the hand of 
 God should be traced and acknowledged in this 
 very matter. That hand determined the " bounds 
 of his habitation," even when he was suffering 
 
 f 'Ei> Tovrw KCIT^XCI Xoyos TOV aTroaroXov apa Kai tvayyt\urTT)v 
 'l&dviTjv fTi TO) /3ta> cvSiaTptflovra, rrjs tls TOV delov \6yov evfittv fj,aprv- 
 pias TlaTpov oiKflv KaraSiKao^Tpai TTJV vrjcrov. Hist. Eccl. lib. III. 
 
 c. 1 8.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 195 
 
 the violence of his enemies; for while the 
 Romans employed many other islands in the 
 JEgean sea as receptacles for banished exiles 
 such, for instance, as Gyaruss and Seriphus 
 John was banished to Patmos in particular, an 
 island close to the Asiatic coast, and to those 
 very seven churches among which he had la- 
 boured with which he was familiarly acquainted 
 where he was held in such special and deserved 
 veneration, and which he was commissioned to 
 address from the place of his banishment. 
 
 A few words more on the locality of Pat- 
 mos. It was one of the Sporades a group of 
 islands lying at the south-west corner of Asia 
 Minor, in the vicinity of Ephesus and Miletus. 
 In profane history it had no renown ; and Lampe 
 states that it is only mentioned by two of the 
 classical authors of antiquity viz., Strabo, who 
 
 So Juvenal, speaking with irony : 
 
 " Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris et carcere dignum 
 Si vis esse aliquis." SAT. I. 73. 
 
 " Deportatio in insulam, or deportatio simply, was introduced 
 under the emperors in place of the aquae et ignis interdictio." 
 Smith, Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Ant. Art. Roman Banishment. 
 
 Tacitus, recording the fate of Cassius Severus, (Annal. IV. 
 cap. 21,) writes : " Bonis exutus, interdicto igni atque aqua, saxo 
 Seriphio consenuit." Seriphus also was an island of the 
 
 As specially applying to the case of St. John, and the probable 
 cause of his insular banishment, Lampe quotes Modestinus, 
 Digest, de Pcenis : "Si quis aliquid fecerit, quo leves hominum 
 animi superstitione Numinis terrerentur, Divus Marcus hujus- 
 modi homines in insulam relegari rescripsit." Note o, Proleg. in 
 Joan. 1. I. c. iv. . 10. 
 
 o2
 
 196 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 only names the island 11 , and Pliny 1 . The latter 
 styles it an island of thirty miles circuit. Its 
 connection with St. John still constitutes its 
 honour and its fame : and the mariners of the 
 Levant do not merely call it by the modern 
 name of Patimo, but by that of " Santo Giovanni 
 di Patimo." One of the most recent authorities 
 describes it as a " solid, irregular mass of rock, 
 bleak, uncovered, without wood, and very barren." 
 
 "The island is about twelve miles long, six 
 
 in breadth, and twenty-eight in circumference." 
 A high ridge in the island " is crowned by a vast 
 convent, consisting of irregular towers, presenting 
 the appearance of a fortress." " Between two 
 and three dozen Caloyers are the guardians of 
 this sacred edifice. In addition to numerous 
 apartments, it comprises a church and library, 
 containing several manuscripts and a few books. 
 The supposed abode of St. John is a grotto belonging 
 to the monastery. It is protected by a chapel, 
 where numerous lamps are perpetually kept 
 burning, and on whose walls are rudely depicted 
 
 various subjects relating to the Apocalypse" 
 
 " The population of Patmos, amounting to 4000, 
 is exclusively Greek, and extremely poor. Their 
 houses are on the Marina and in the town k ." 
 
 It seems impossible to fix the exact year of 
 St. John's banishment to this island. Neverthe- 
 less, with the exception of Epiphanius, (to whose 
 single authority Grotius appears to have given 
 
 h L. X. c. 5. i Hist. Nat. 1. iv. c. 23. 
 
 k Murray's Hand-book for the East, p. 343.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 197 
 
 undue weight,) ancient writers unite in affixing 
 the reign of Domitian 1 , as the time in which it 
 took place, and not only this, but more definitely 
 still, in placing it towards the conclusion of that 
 emperor's reign. For instance, Irenseus may be 
 quoted, who speaks of that event, which we are 
 now considering, " as not having taken place at 
 any distant period, but almost in his own time, 
 namely, at the end of Domitian's reign m ." Some 
 place the event at the thirteenth year of the 
 emperor Domitian's reign : but if the cruel per- 
 secution of the Christians may be rightly re- 
 garded as the last effort of his tyranny in which 
 light it is generally held then the fifteenth year 
 would be more correct : for it is clear that Do- 
 mitian nearly completed a reign of fifteen years. 
 The testimony of Eusebius bears weightily on 
 this subject, where, having described the cruelty 
 of that emperor, and his treatment of many 
 noble and illustrious citizens of Rome, whom he 
 slew, and banished, and spoiled of their goods, 
 he says, that "he finally set himself as the 
 successor of a Nero, in his enmity and opposition 
 against God himself"." And Eusebius expressly 
 speaks of the fifteenth year of Domitian's reign, as 
 
 I " Tota antiquitas in eo abunde consentit, quod Domitianus 
 exilii Johannis author fuerit." Larape, Proleg. in Joan. 1. I. c. iv. 
 
 7- 
 
 m Speaking of the Apocalypse, he says : OvSe yap irpb iro\\ov 
 Xpovov (topadr), oXXa (TX^OV eVi Trjs f)p.fTtpas yfVfds, irpos TO> re'Xft rrjs 
 Aop.eri.avov apx^s. Cont. Haer. 1. V. c. 30. 
 
 II TeAeuTow rrjs Ntpaw/os 6fOf\6pias re KCU faofjaxias 8id8oxov tavrov 
 
 L. III. C. 17.
 
 198 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 that in which Flavia Domitilla was banished. 
 To this period therefore, with little hesitation or 
 doubt, may that "tribulation" be referred, in 
 which St. John was involved. Nor need we doubt 
 that exile was the cause why he dwelt for a season 
 on that barren island, which his name and his 
 sufferings and the vision granted there, and the 
 mighty book there written by inspiration of 
 God , has made so renowned, and invested with 
 an interest lasting as the isle itself. 
 
 On the duration P of this banishment some 
 uncertainty prevails : but if credit may be given 
 to the statement recently introduced as to the 
 date of its commencement, then it may be 
 argued from a testimony, shortly to appear, that 
 it could not have lasted longer than the termi- 
 nation of the second year. For after Domitian 
 had ended his reign of nearly fifteen years full, 
 the good Nerva succeeded him, on whose acces- 
 sion the first act of the senate was that of 
 restoring those exiles, whom Domitian had un- 
 justly banished, to their homes and possessions, 
 and at that period, (to quote the words of Euse- 
 
 Rev. i. 19. 
 
 P On this subject Tillemont thus writes : " On pretend que 
 Domitien mesme fit cesser la persecution qu'il avoit excitee" 
 centre 1'Eglise, et rappella ceux qu'il avoit exilez." For this he 
 quotes Tertullian's Apology, but he proceeds to offer that on 
 which he evidently places more dependence : " Ce qui est 
 certain, c'est qu'ayant ete tue (1'an 96 au mois de Septembre) 
 le Senat cassa tout ce qu'il avoit fait. St. Jean fut done alors 
 delivr6 de son exil de Patmos, en ayant ete rappelle par Nerva, 
 qui avoit ete fait empereur a la place de Domitien, et revint 
 demeurer a Ephese." Hist. Eccl. St. Jean. Art. VI.
 
 OF ST, JOHN. 199 
 
 bins,) " according to the history delivered by 
 the ancient writers among us, St. John, being 
 released from his exile on the island, took up 
 his abode at EphesusV And to this testimony 
 additional weight is added by the fact, that more 
 than one early writer of ecclesiastical history 
 expressly ascribes the restoration of the Christian 
 exiles to the emperor Nerva, Lactantius (or who- 
 ever may have been the author of the Deaths of 
 the Persecutors, a work written expressly to shew 
 the Divine vengeance on the heathen persecutors) 
 writes concerning Domitian, that " he long op- 
 pressed his subjects, but nevertheless reigned in 
 safety, until he turned his impious hands against 
 the Lord. But when he was impelled by devils 
 to attack God's faithful people, then he, being 
 delivered into the hands of his enemies, paid the 
 penalty of his wickedness." This and many 
 similar testimonies of the same character, tend 
 to overthrow the statements found elsewhere, 
 that Domitian was turned from his purpose, as 
 to the persecution of the church, and brought to 
 a better mind, even so as to repeal the edicts 
 which he had issued against it, and to have 
 desisted from inflicting any further penalties on 
 those who professed Christianity r . 
 
 Q Tore &j ovv Kai rov 'AirooroXov 'itodvvrjv dirb rrjs Kara rrjv vfj<rov 
 <frvyrjs, TTJV eVi rf/s 'E^eVou diarpi^rjv drreikrjfpevat, 6 ru>v Trap rip.lv 
 dpxaiav napo8i8o)(ri \6yos. Hist, Eccl. 1. III. C. 2O. 
 
 r It may be observed that this view of his conduct rests chiefly 
 on two passages, one from Hegesippus, and another from 
 Tertullian ; both quoted by Eusebius, but neither of them so
 
 200 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 Having now treated of the locality., of the 
 commencement, of the duration, and of the author 
 of St. John's banishment to Patmos, I only have 
 to add a few words on the cause namely, " for 
 the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ;" since concerning the special circum- 
 stances which involved him in the persecution 
 from which his banishment resulted, no infor- 
 mation remains. At the same time it may be 
 well to remember, that St. John's reputation in 
 the church, and the distinguished rank which he 
 occupied therein, and his residence in the neigh- 
 bouring locality of Asia, would cause his seizure 
 and his transportation to Patmos to be a fact, 
 just in accordance with the treatment which one 
 in his position would have to expect in persecu- 
 
 confirmatory of the fact in behalf of which they are cited, as to 
 outweigh the many and decided assertions of a character directly 
 opposite. 
 
 The passage from Hegesippus is that so generally known from 
 its use and application by Gibbon, in the i6th chapter of his 
 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, where he gives an 
 elaborate account of two Christians, the grandsons of Jude the 
 apostle, being brought before the tribunal of Domitian, and on 
 examination, as not only meeting contempt from their obscurity 
 and poverty, and accordingly dismissed unhurt, but also as being 
 the cause why Domitian should cease from his persecution of the 
 Christians generally, thinking that from such persons he need 
 fear no detriment to his power. But, after all, the original 
 passage, whence all this is drawn, is of very dubious authority. 
 
 The passage from Tertullian, to which I have alluded, is also 
 quoted by Eusebius ; but it is one, in which that writer appa- 
 rently follows Hegesippus : and therefore the invalidity of that 
 testimony affects, of course, any thing deduced from it. See 
 Eusebius, 1. III. c. 20.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 201 
 
 tions similar to those which were raging through 
 so many parts of the mighty empire of Rome, 
 under which, as a subject, he lived. 
 
 Perhaps there was no event appointed for St. 
 John, during his whole life, which caused him 
 more deeply to drink of that cup of tribulation 
 foretold by the Lord, or in which the sharp 
 baptism of trial was more evidently his to en- 
 dure. He was, in measure, to be a partaker of 
 his Lord's sufferings, and to him it was thus 
 given, not only to believe, and to labour in his 
 Master's cause, but to suffer too. Nor should it 
 be passed over without special acknowledgment 
 of God's faithfulness and love, or without the 
 remembrance of His promise even to honour 
 those who honour Him that this was the very 
 period, and Patmos, that " disconsolate isle," the 
 very locality chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ 
 for the wondrous revelation of himself, and of 
 his future dealings with his church, which no 
 other among all God's revelations unto man ever 
 surpassed as to grandeur and importance, or at 
 all approached, as to fulness, extent, and compre- 
 hensiveness. 
 
 Cave terms this "as certainly not the least 
 instance of that kindness and favour, which our 
 Lord particularly shewed to his apostle; and it 
 seemed very suitable at this time that the good- 
 ness of God should overpower the malice of men, 
 and that he should be entertained with the more 
 immediate converse of heaven, who was now
 
 202 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 cut off from all ordinary conversation and society 
 with men 8 ." 
 
 I desire to be very careful in confining myself 
 strictly to the one object of these pages namely, 
 the life of St. John and therefore I avoid any 
 statements here which would bear the most re- 
 mote appearance of a comment on that book. 
 Nevertheless, as a fact in that life, his writing 
 the Apocalypse must have a place in our re- 
 membrance. And from that book he appears "in 
 the spirit on the Lord's day," and hearing the 
 great voice, as of a trumpet, behind him; and 
 turning to see the " voice that spake with him ;" 
 and beholding " One like unto the Son of man ;" 
 and bidden to write the things "which he had 
 seen, and the things which were, and the things 
 which should be hereafter ;" and witnessing that 
 
 "Joannem vero ex tarn longinqua Asise regione ad hoc 
 exilium esse petitum nemo mirabitur, qui perpendet ilium, post 
 excessum reliquorum apostolorum, confessionis Christianse turn 
 temporis caput fuisse. Sed hsec incommoda durissimi exilii 
 compensavit Divina gratia, turn maxime Johannem coelesti reve- 
 latione dignans, ac de futuris Ecclesise passionibus, illarumque 
 Iseta in exitu catastrophe eum erudiens." Lampe, 1. 1. c. iv. . i r. 
 
 Robert Hall thus writes on the same subject: "To him it 
 was given to convey to the churches of Asia, among whom he 
 dwelt, repeated messages from his ascended Lord, to behold his 
 glory, and to catch the last accents of inspiration. To him it 
 was given, not only to record the life of the Saviour, in common 
 with the other evangelists ; but to transmit to future ages the 
 principal events and vicissitudes which shall befall the church to 
 the end of time, in a series of visions, which revived the spirit 
 and manner, and more than equalled the sublimity of the ancient 
 prophets." Funeral Sermon on the Death of Dr. Ryland.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 203 
 
 vision which it was his province to record, and of 
 which it is written : " Blessed is he that readeth, 
 and they that hear the words of this prophecy, 
 and that keep those things which are written 
 therein." In all these things we have facts and 
 truths essential for us to know, and proved to be 
 so from their introduction in the very pages of 
 God's holy word, The apostle might have de- 
 livered the Apocalypse without any single intro- 
 ductory statement which concerned himself. He 
 might have passed by, without any notice what- 
 soever, the locality where he was. He might have 
 mentioned nothing whatsoever as to the reason 
 why he was at Patmos. He might have withheld 
 altogether the insertion of his own name in the 
 whole book. And from the perusal of his other 
 writings, a course somewhat similar to this might, 
 antecedently, have been expected from him, who, 
 throughout his whole Gospel, is studious to keep 
 himself unmentioned by name. But such was 
 not the will or the purpose of the Spirit as to this 
 event in St. John's career. It was His will and 
 His purpose that St. John's tribulation, and testi- 
 mony for the " truth as it is in Jesus," should be 
 known throughout the world, that Patmos should 
 for ever be renowned as the island of his banish- 
 ment, and that all those things should be known 
 which the book contains, of personal reference to 
 him, so that in every place, whither the Scripture 
 should come, it might be declared how he was 
 honoured and how he was visited, and how to 
 him exclusively that revelation of Jesus Christ
 
 204 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 was made, which it was his glory to record, and 
 which it is our privilege to read and to hear in 
 the word of God, which " endureth for ever." 
 
 . 25. Cerinthus and the bath. 
 
 The authorities available for use, in connexion 
 with various circumstances of St. John's life, are 
 more numerous and authentic after the period of 
 his return from Patmos than they are for the 
 time immediately preceding his abode on that 
 island. And it proves quite a relief for any one 
 engaged on such investigations as those pursued 
 here to find that, instead of information becoming 
 more dim and dubious, it, on the contrary, be- 
 comes more clear and trustworthy. Perhaps 
 there will occur no more fitting opportunity than 
 that now before us, for a patient consideration of 
 one, at least, among those many well-known nar- 
 ratives, of which it has been well observed, in 
 language which I adapt, that " they have con- 
 tributed largely to the conception commonly en- 
 tertained of the life and character of St. John, 
 and are most of them consistent with each other 
 and with the records of the apostle in the New 
 Testament*." Mr. Stanley also adds, that, while 
 " the anecdotes or traits of character (to which 
 he alludes) vary in value, there seems no reason 
 for absolutely rejecting any of them." 
 
 One narrative, apparently assignable to this 
 
 * Stanley's Sermons and Essays upon the Apostolical Age, 
 P- 2 75-
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 205 
 
 period of St. John's life, (though neither of any 
 very certain date, nor in any degree requiring any 
 such date in order to commend its interest and 
 to add to its authenticity,) is that so well known 
 regarding Cerinthus and the bath a narrative 
 repeated in every notice of St. John's history, but 
 seldom traced in detail to its original source. 
 
 I shall first introduce the account, as given in 
 the simple but graphic language of Cave, who 
 writes thus in the 12th section of St. John's life : 
 
 "Nor was it the least instance of his care of 
 the church, and charity to the souls of men, that 
 he was so infinitely vigilant against heretics and 
 seducers, countermining their artifices, antidoting 
 against the poison of their errors, and shunning 
 all communion and conversation with their per- 
 sons. Going along with some of his Mends at 
 Ephesus to the bath, (whither he used frequently 
 to resort, and the ruins whereof, of porphyry, not 
 far from the place where stood the famous temple 
 of Diana, as a late eyewitness informs us, are still 
 shewed at this day,) he inquired of the servant 
 that waited there, who was within ; the servant 
 told him, Cerinthus, (Epiphanius says it was 
 Ebion, and it is not improbable that they might 
 be both there,) which the apostle no sooner un- 
 derstood but in great abhorrence he turned 
 back : Let's begone, my brethren, (said he,) and 
 make haste from this place, lest the bath, wherein 
 there is such an heretic as Cerinthus, the great 
 enemy of the truth, fall upon our heads." 
 
 In tracing the substance of this record to its
 
 206 LIFE AND CHAEACTER 
 
 original source, it will be found that the account 
 was primarily given by Irenseus, as a narrative 
 orally delivered to his hearers by Polycarp, to 
 whom by and bye, as a disciple of St. John him- 
 self, farther allusion will be made. 
 
 It is preserved by Eusebius, who indeed has 
 twice introduced it, once more briefly, and in the 
 second instance more fully. One of those docu- 
 ments may thus be translated : 
 
 " There are some who heard him (namely, Poly- 
 carp) relate, that when John, the disciple of the 
 Lord, had gone to the bath at Ephesus, he saw 
 Cerinthus within: on which he hastily sprang 
 forth, and departed without taking the bath at 
 all, exclaiming, Let us fly, lest the bath should 
 fall, while Cerinthus is within it, the enemy of 
 the truth"." 
 
 Epiphanius records that which is evidently the 
 same narrative, in its leading and characteristic 
 features; nevertheless there are some discrepancies 
 between his statement and that just quoted. In- 
 stead of the name of Cerinthus, as occupying so 
 prominent a place in the narrative, he introduces 
 that of Ebion ; and it is observable as marking 
 the system of ascetic separation from the ordinary 
 habits and the ordinary places of concourse, which 
 arose at a certain period in the church, that 
 
 u Kai fltrlv ol aKrjKooTfs avrov, on 'itaavvTjs, 6 TOV Kvpt'ou pa6rfrr)s, ev 
 777 'E<pf(rci) Tropfvdfis \ovo~ao~0cu, Kal I8a>v ecnu Krjpwdov, e^jjXaro TOV 
 /JaXai/et'ou pr) \ovo-dfifvos, aXX' enfiTruV Qvytopfv, (JLTJ KOI TO fiakavfiov 
 o-vpnfo-T), tvSov ovros Krjpivdov, TOV TTJS a\r)6fias fx^pov. Hist. EC. 
 1. IV. c. 1 4. This relation is followed, of course, by a multitude 
 of subsequent writers.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 207 
 
 Epiphanius relates it as a very laudable thing, 
 and in all accordance with St. John's apostolic 
 dignity, that he never frequented the bath, but 
 was on this solitary instance compelled, as it were, 
 thither by the special conduct of the Holy Ghost x . 
 He adds that, when the apostle heard from the 
 attendant of Ebion being within, he then, in this 
 answer, recognised the cause, why he had been 
 led to act thus, in contrariety with his usual 
 course; and he declared it so ordered, that he 
 might have this opportunity of making his open 
 protest on the sin of heresy, and on the need 
 of immediate and complete separation between 
 Christians and heretics?. 
 
 The manifest discrepancy, as to the two persons, 
 respectively mentioned by Irenseus and Epipha- 
 nius, is accounted for in two ways. 
 
 Some have sought to reconcile this difference 
 with the essential truth of the rest of the nar- 
 rative, by supposing that both Cerinthus and 
 Ebion were in the bath at the time. Thus 
 Cave, as already quoted. 
 
 Others have maintained that there must have 
 been an error on the part of Epiphanius, as to 
 
 x 'KvayKao'dr) VTTO TOV 'Ayiov Hvevparos. 
 
 > In their zeal to add a miraculous character to this history, 
 some writers of more recent date have not hesitated to add that 
 the bath did actually fall down immediately after the words were 
 uttered by St. John ; and that Cerinthus and his company were 
 buried in the ruins. Lampe, after mentioning this, states that 
 one writer has gone to the length of affirming that Irenaeus 
 mentions the fall of the building, whereas, in fact, he does no- 
 thing of the kind.
 
 208 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 the name introduced. Which they account for 
 by supposing that, as there was, on various 
 points, much similarity between the tenets held 
 by the followers of Cerinthus, and those held by 
 the Ebionites 2 , so the name of Ebion, from the 
 doctrinal connexion of the parties, was put in- 
 stead of the name of Cerinthus. Perhaps no 
 better explanation can be found than one se- 
 lected from these two proffered solutions. And 
 I think that, while it can scarcely be maintained 
 of either as by any means conclusive or satis- 
 factory, still it would be inconsistent with the 
 value really due to a narrative so peculiar and 
 so detailed, if it were rejected altogether on 
 account of such a discrepancy. And this espe- 
 cially, because the principle of action, operating 
 
 7 " There can be no doubt that the Ebionites were looked 
 upon as heretics by all the fathers : and it is also plain that they 
 spoke of them as a branch of the Gnostics."..." Cerinthus was a 
 Jew, or at least had adopted in a great measure the peculiar rites 
 of Judaism."... He was "grossly immoral both in principles and 
 practice."... "There is reason to think that he was one of the first 
 Gnostics, who succeeded in inducing the Christians to forsake 
 their faith."..." It has been disputed whether there ever was a 
 person called Ebion, from whom the Ebionites received their 
 name : but it is agreed on all hands that Ebion was a Jewish 
 word, which signified poor.". . ." The Ebionites treated the 
 writings of the prophets with contempt, and denied their in- 
 spiration. So also, while we find that the name of Jesus held 
 a conspicuous place in their creed, we find them also believing 
 him to be born of human parents, and maintaining that Christ 
 was an emanation from God, which descended upon Jesus at his 
 baptism." Burton's Lectures on the Ecclesiastical History of the 
 three first Centuries. Lect. xi.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 209 
 
 on the mind of St. John, (supposing the account 
 true,) would have been precisely similar in each 
 respective case, whether Cerinthus or whether 
 Ebion was the real person whom he thus con- 
 demned. 
 
 The reconciliation of the other discrepancy, in 
 the two separate accounts of Irenseus and Epi- 
 phanius, is of a still more interesting character, 
 inasmuch as it does not merely involve a varia- 
 tion as to the statement of a name, but touches 
 on questions in some measure of doctrinal im- 
 portance. And although the explanation now to 
 be given must of course subject Epiphanius to 
 the charge of colouring his narrative, on a cer- 
 tain point, to suit his own feelings, and those of 
 a large party in the church of his time, still the 
 genuine character of the history, as touching the 
 conduct of St. John, is not thereby in the least 
 invalidated. 
 
 It seems most likely that when Epiphanius 
 wrote, he was acquainted with the narrative in 
 question as told by his predecessor, but that in 
 the account as recorded by Irenseus, he perceived 
 something which appeared to him not in com- 
 plete harmony with that apostolic dignity which 
 belonged to St. John, nor with the habitual tenor 
 of his holy life. It seems most likely that he 
 held it an incongruous thing for that revered 
 man, about whom he was writing, to frequent 
 a public bath, in the manner simply and un- 
 conditionally told by Irenseus, as a fact, requiring 
 and meeting, from him, no explanation. There- 
 p
 
 210 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 fore it may be questioned whether Epiphanius, 
 of his own mind, did not put an entirely new 
 colour on the whole transaction. He positively 
 speaks of St. John as one who never frequented 
 the bath. He speaks of the wonder caused 
 among his own people by his determination to 
 go thither at all. He speaks of his asking the 
 attendant "who was within 1 " not as seeing the 
 heretic himself within : and above all, he la- 
 boriously and studiously represents St. John as 
 having been led by the Holy Spirit into the 
 bath on that single occasion. 
 
 Thus he works up the whole story throwing 
 in, no doubt, strong and expressive lights of his 
 own on the whole transaction. I say, of his 
 own, because they appear to me of no higher 
 value. I should be most unwilling to commend 
 them for reception, and I only refer to them 
 here, because the discrepancies, evident between 
 the two records, may be thus accounted for. 
 The explanation here given goes no farther 
 than to touch the credit of Epiphanius 3 as a 
 narrator. It of course subjects him to the charge 
 
 a He was bishop of Salamis in the island of Cyprus, and was 
 born about the year 320 A. D. He wrote a work against 
 heresies in general, entitled iravdptov or Kifivriov, as being a kind 
 of stock or provision of remedies against them literally, chest, 
 or basket. Moreri, speaking of his style, says, among other things : 
 " Souvent il se sert de fausses raisons, pour refuter les here"ti- 
 ques. II se trompe en plusieurs endroits sur des faits d'histoire 
 fort considerables, et il ajoute foi trop legerement a de faux 
 me"moires ou a des bruits incertains." Diet. Art. Epiphane. I 
 quote this from its obvious bearing on the argument above.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 211 
 
 of adding invention to fact, hut does not really 
 diminish from the value of his testimony as to 
 the fact itself. We may discard the additions 
 and embellishment, and yet receive the state- 
 ment, thus added to and thus embellished, with 
 not less confidence than if it had been made 
 barely without any colour infused, or any 
 comment attached. 
 
 I now quit this narrative, without any hesita- 
 tion in stating, that, for my own part, I consider 
 it to bear all due marks of authenticity in its 
 essential features that nothing adverse to its 
 truth and credibility has been brought for- 
 ward; and, finally, that nothing appertains to 
 it, inconsistent with St. John's spirit and cha- 
 racter, if viewed in all its harmonious com- 
 binations. I speak however thus without wish- 
 ing to impugn the judgment and opinion of others, 
 who may view the narrative on which attention 
 has been fixed in a different light. 
 
 . 26. The Young Robber reclaimed by St. John. 
 
 The next recorded event in St. John's life 
 which needs investigation, and may be considered 
 with all propriety in the present part of this 
 work, is that of the young robber reclaimed by 
 his zeal and love. Without doubt the account 
 of this act needs to be closely examined and 
 patiently weighed. It is however so very inter- 
 esting, as very amply to repay the attention 
 which it claims. Moreover it is one of those 
 narratives, which, with good reason, has ever
 
 212 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 occupied a prominent position in the eyes of 
 the church. For it intimately bears on the cha- 
 racter of one of her beloved saints, and richly 
 illustrates the strength of those motives and 
 principles by which such a one as St. John would 
 face all danger, and manifest the power of love, 
 and pluck a brand from the very burning, with 
 God's blessing on his deed. 
 
 Here again I shall first quote Cave, and then 
 carry on the same species of inquiry as that 
 which I pursued in the preceding history. 
 
 That writer introduces the narrative, in illus- 
 tration of the Christian boldness and energy of 
 St, John, arising from the love which he felt 
 towards the souls of men. This led him (he 
 says) to go forward, " breaking through all 
 difficulties and discouragements, shunning no 
 dangers, that he might do good to souls, redeem 
 men's minds from error and idolatry, and reduce 
 them from the snares of a debauched and vicious 
 life. Witness one famous instance. In his visi- 
 tation of the churches near to Ephesus, he made 
 choice of a young man, whom, with a special 
 charge for his instruction and education, he com- 
 mitted to the bishop of that place. The spiritual 
 man undertook the charge, instructed his pupil, 
 and baptized him. And then, thinking he might 
 a little remit the reins of discipline, the youth 
 made an ill use of his liberty, and was quickly 
 debauched by bad companions, making himself 
 captain to a company of highwaymen, the most 
 loose, cruel, and profligate wretches of the
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 213 
 
 country. St. John, at this time understanding 
 this, and sharply reproving the negligence and 
 unfaithfulness of his tutor, resolved to find him 
 out. And without any consideration of what 
 danger he entered upon, in venturing himself 
 upon persons of desperate fortunes and forfeited 
 consciences, he went to the mountains, where their 
 usual haunt was ; and being here taken by the 
 sentinel, he desired to be brought before their 
 commander, who no sooner espied him coming 
 towards him, but he immediately fled. The aged 
 apostle followed after, but not able to overtake 
 him passionately entreated him to stay, promising 
 to undertake with God for his peace and pardon. 
 He did so, and both melted into tears, and the 
 apostle having prayed with, and for him, returned 
 him a true penitent and convert to the church." 
 
 This account first appears in Clement of 
 Alexandria in his work, "What rich man will be 
 saved b !" It is of considerable length, but I 
 translate it, as its introduction appears requisite. 
 Besides this, as I mentioned before, the account 
 is very interesting. 
 
 " Hear now a tale, which is rather not a tale, 
 but a true narrative, handed down and preserved 
 in remembrance concerning the apostle St. John : 
 After the death of the tyrant he returned from 
 
 b Tls 6 o-fflfo/Lif vos TrXovtrios ; or, Quis dives salvus ? Chap. 42 . 
 A Latin translation of the narrative given above may be found 
 in Potter's edition of Clemens Alexandrinus : a French one in 
 Tillemont, and an English one in the versions of Eusebius, 
 b. III. c. 23.
 
 214 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 the island of Patmos to Ephesus, and, being 
 invited so to do, he visited the neighbouring 
 
 regions On his arrival at a certain city not 
 
 far from Ephesus, (of which some report the 
 name,) by various means he refreshed the spirit 
 of the brethren, and last of all, seeing a young 
 man of noble character, of graceful countenance, 
 and ardent in his spirit, he turned to the bishop 
 of the place, and said : ' With all earnestness, in 
 the presence of the church and of Christ, who is 
 the witness of the trust, I commend this youth 
 to your care.' The bisliop promised all, and 
 John again pressed upon him the charge, and 
 conjured him duly to fulfil it. After this John 
 set out on his return to Ephesus. The presbyter 
 took the youth thus committed to him unto his 
 own home. He expended much pains upon him. 
 He instructed him, restrained him from evil, 
 affectionately treated him, and finally baptized 
 him. Subsequently however, he relaxed some- 
 what of that extreme spiritual care and guar- 
 dianship of the young man, as having set upon 
 him that which would be his full protection, 
 namely, the seal of the Lord. But evil soon 
 ensued from this premature liberty ; for some of 
 his idle and dissolute cotemporaries, already far 
 advanced in sin, take advantage of it to corrupt 
 him. First they allure him with many sump- 
 tuous repasts. Then, by night, they go forth for 
 plunder and highway robbery. Then they take 
 
 c Ilpocr<f)8(ipovT(u' I endeavour, in the translation, to give the 
 effect of the pronoun.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 215 
 
 him with them in their nightly sallies. Then 
 they persuade him to unite himself to them. 
 Then to participate even in worse things. He 
 too, by degrees, became accustomed to iniquity ; 
 and, having started from the right way, like a 
 powerful and hard-mouthed horse, seizing the bit 
 with his teeth, he, through the energy of his 
 character, was hurried down the abyss all the 
 more violently. At length, once convinced d that 
 he had lost all hope of salvation from God, 
 he formed designs of no common wickedness 
 in his mind, and, being himself given over to 
 destruction, he thought to perpetrate some "great 
 enormity, and so to bring the same fate as that 
 of his companions on his own head. He therefore 
 formed and attached to himself a band of robbers, 
 of whom he was the forward leader and the most 
 violent, fierce, and bloodthirsty of them all. 
 
 " Some time after this, John was sent for to 
 the city on some pressing emergency. After the 
 arrangement of those things for which he had 
 undertaken his journey, he said : ' Now, bishop, 
 restore to me the pledge, which I, with the 
 Saviour, intrusted to your charge, in the presence 
 of the church, over which you preside.' At this 
 the bishop was at first astonished, imagining that 
 the detention of some money, which he had never 
 received, was falsely laid to his charge : and 
 
 <! 'An-oyi/oi/s 8e reXeW TTJV tv 6ea> o-farrfpiav, ovtifv eri pucpov 8tfvoiro, 
 <iXXa fieya rt irpdgas, fireibrftrtp anal; aTroXwXej/, icra rols aXXotr iraOfiv 
 T)IOV. I introduce the Greek, as the passage is of some difficulty, 
 if not obscurity.
 
 216 LIFE AKD CHARACTER 
 
 while, on the one hand, he could not persuade 
 himself that he had what he had not, so, on the 
 other hand, he could not disbelieve John. 
 
 " On this the latter said : ' I reclaim the youth, 
 and the soul of our brother.' The old man, with 
 a deep sigh, and shedding many tears, exclaimed, 
 ' He is dead.' ' How,' said John, ' what death did 
 he die?' 'He is dead to God,' was his response. 
 * For he has turned out evil and reprobate, and, 
 to sum up all, a robber. And now, instead of 
 frequenting the church, he frequents a mountain 
 with a company of robbers like himself.' On this 
 the apostle, tearing his garments, and groaning, 
 and smiting his head, exclaimed : ' A good guar- 
 dian have I left of a brother's soul ! Let me have 
 a horse at once, and let some one be my guide !' 
 He then rode straightway, as he was, from the 
 church, and made all speed on his journey. On 
 arriving at the place, he was taken prisoner by 
 the sentinels, who occupied the outposts for the 
 robber band. He neither sought to escape them, 
 nor implored them, but cried out: 'For this I 
 came. Lead me to your captain.' He in the 
 mean time was waiting, ready armed, for his 
 prisoner. But when he recognised John drawing 
 near to him, he was so overwhelmed with shame, 
 that he immediately took flight. But John has- 
 tened after him with all speed, and forgetful of 
 his age, cried out: 'Why dost thou fly from me, 
 my son from me unarmed and old ? Have com- 
 passion on me, my son. Fear not ! Thou hast 
 still hopes of life ! I will render an account to
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 217 
 
 Christ for thee. If it be needful, I will, with all 
 willingness, bear thy death, as the Lord bore 
 ours. I will give my life for thine. Stay! Be- 
 lieve! Christ hath sent me!' On hearing this, 
 the young robber first stood still, turning his 
 eyes to the ground : then he flung away his 
 arms : then he trembled and wept bitterly : then 
 he embraced the aged man who drew near ; and 
 excusing himself, as best he could, with many 
 groans, he was baptized with tears : only he hid 
 his right hand 6 . Then the apostle, pledging 
 himself, and protesting that he had obtained 
 pardon for him on his knees from the Saviour, 
 and kissing his right hand, as cleansed through 
 repentance, brought him back f to the church. 
 From that time, partly deprecating God's wrath 
 by frequent supplications, partly wrestling for 
 him in continual fasts, which they held together, 
 and also soothing his mind with manifold dis- 
 courses, he did not desist (as it is reported) until 
 he had restored s him to the church, and thus 
 afforded in him a great testimony to the new 
 birth, and a trophy of the resurrection hoped 
 for h ." 
 
 e Probably that which had perpetrated such wickedness. 
 
 S Ktn-eVnjo-f. It is well known that there is a contrariety of 
 opinion whether this word means a restoration to, or a setting 
 over, the church. 
 
 h Tponalov ai/aorao-ecoj f'XTTtfo/ie'j/T/r. It is difficult, except by 
 paraphrase or comment, to give any more explicit meaning to 
 these last words. And to do this is not requisite, the passage 
 being quoted solely to illustrate St. John's life and character, and 
 not for doctrine. The English version in Eusebius, by Cruse,
 
 218 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 Those who maintain the truth of this history 
 urge in its behalf the general consent of anti- 
 quity and also press the observation that it 
 contains in it nothing either contradictory or 
 inconsistent, or at all inappropriate to the apo- 
 stle's character. On the contrary, they argue 
 that it very much corresponds with it, and 
 specially with all which we know concerning 
 the spirit and the fervency of that love by which 
 he was ever actuated. Among modern writers, 
 the opponents of the narrative as genuine are 
 very numerous too, and their objections are of 
 various kinds. 
 
 One, for instance, has strongly and tenaciously 
 argued against its authenticity, from the fact 
 that it does not appear to have been ever no- 
 ticed or Wrought forward either by the Montanists 
 or their opponents. And the way by which he 
 connects this argument is, that as both parties 
 must have been well acquainted with all that 
 really took place concerning the church in that 
 province of Asia, where the locality of the trans- 
 action is fixed, and with all that related to the 
 apostle St. John in case the record had been 
 true it could scarcely have happened that there 
 would have been no mention whatever of the 
 circumstance, nor any application of the same in 
 the great controversy, as to lapsed penitents. It 
 is argued that the apostle's conduct, in regard to 
 the young robber, would have been so con- 
 
 (Lond. 1838), renders the concluding sentence: "a trophy of a 
 visible resurrection."
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 219 
 
 firmatory of one side of the controversy, and so 
 decisively adverse to the other, and altogether 
 so important for citation in the arguments ad- 
 duced by each party, that total silence on the 
 subject argues against the reality of the account. 
 
 This, however, is by no means conclusive. For, 
 on the one hand, in consequence of the small 
 fragments from the writings of the orthodox party 
 which remain, it cannot be ascertained, with any 
 measure of accuracy, whether they did actually 
 refer to this history or not in their writings : while, 
 on the other hand, it is most unlikely that the 
 Montanists, of the adverse side, would have re- 
 ferred to it at all, if by any means they could 
 have avoided it. So evidently adverse to their 
 tenets and to their practice would the act of 
 St. John have been, as thus narrated. 
 
 Another objection which has been brought 
 forward is, that there is an uncertainty as to the 
 original narrator, namely, as to the author of the 
 treatise in which it appears, whether it was Ori- 
 gen or Clemens Alexandrinus. But this is of 
 little moment, and it has been for some time 
 held very generally that it was undoubtedly the 
 production of the latter. Besides, by such a 
 statement the authority of Eusebius would be 
 altogether set aside without any valid grounds 
 for so doing ; as, in addition to the work being 
 extant in full, Eusebius extracts the history 
 from Clemens Alexandrinus, and by the very 
 name which the treatise still bears. 
 
 Another objection has been, that the narrative
 
 220 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 commences with the very title of /u.v6o$ or a 
 fable as attached to it by the narrator himself. 
 But in answer to this, it is amply sufficient to 
 state that the ancients oftentimes gave the title 
 fjLvOoi 1 , by us usually rendered "fable" even to a 
 true account of an interesting fact, if highly 
 adorned by the language in which it was clothed, 
 and if studiously arranged for conveying instruc- 
 tion of a moral and spiritual kind. And this is 
 undoubtedly the case in the instance under re- 
 view. 
 
 Again it is said that several expressions, put 
 into the mouth of St. John in the narrative, are 
 such as seem scarcely appropriate to him, and 
 unlikely to have issued from his lips. This may 
 be true to a certain degree; but nevertheless, 
 even this admission does not invalidate the whole 
 account given, because such expressions may in 
 some degree be regarded as the dress in which 
 the narrative is clothed : and to this, as well as 
 to several other difficulties, the best answer 
 seems to be, that in all probability the founda- 
 tion of the story is true, while it may be laden 
 (through the erroneous zeal of the narrator to 
 produce dramatic eifect) with certain fictitious 
 encumbrances, but which by no means invalidate 
 the facts on which the narrative is based. We 
 might indeed desire a simpler and less adorned 
 statement one too, in which the very words 
 
 ' Mvffos, " a telling; also the thing told, a tale, story. Od. 3, 
 94. 4, 324, etc. in Horn. just=the later Xdyoy, without distinction 
 of true or false." Liddell and Scott's Lexicon.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 221 
 
 would seem more fully in accordance with the 
 known language and utterance of St. John. But 
 this is a desire which often must be felt in vain, 
 as we search the records of early church history : 
 and it would be quite an unwarrantable course 
 to reject such testimony on that account. All 
 things therefore considered, we may, without 
 credulity, give this narrative its place, as a very 
 probable fact in St. John's history, and as an 
 available illustration of his character, bearing 
 well the test of inquiry, and coming out more 
 clearly after such investigation rather than the 
 contrary rather than involved in fresh doubts 
 and difficulties, as is certainly the case with 
 many anecdotes and tales, of traditional con- 
 nexion with his name k . 
 
 k I have thought it well to omit those obvious comments 
 and applications, which each of the foregoing anecdotes is so well 
 adapted to suggest. It has heen my desire, during the whole 
 progress of this work, to render and keep it historical in its 
 kind to make that its chief characteristic. Doubtless I should 
 much regret, if, in any instance where it may be read, no results, 
 moral and spiritual, should attend its perusal : but it has ap- 
 peared to me, and to those friends whom I have consulted on 
 the subject, that, on such a subject, the end of edification may 
 rather be attained by the plan pursued, than by a more didactic 
 and more hortatory style. 
 
 Some interesting observations on St. John's life, in connexion 
 with the burning oil, the bath, the young robber, and the oft 
 repeated address, " Little children, love one another/' may be 
 read in Milner's Church History. To all of these he gives un- 
 hesitating credence ; and in their consideration, makes some very 
 searching and scriptural remarks. In saying this, I am bound 
 to add that I cannot agree with him in viewing their reception 
 or their rejection, on the part of a student, as by any means a 
 test of a right or a wrong frame of mind. It seems to me, that
 
 222 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 J. 27. The disciples of St. John. 
 It might have been expected, antecedently to 
 all information on the subject, that one so il- 
 lustrious as was St. John, from his connexion 
 with the Lord Jesus Christ, and from his apo- 
 stolic dignity, and also of such an attractive cha- 
 racter as his, would have had many disciples 1 
 and followers, specially devoted to him, and 
 filled with ardent love towards him, personally, 
 as their instructor and guide. And not only so, 
 but we might also have expected that some, 
 whom God was preparing for service of no or- 
 dinary kind in his church through their doctrine, 
 graces, and gifts, would have been brought by 
 his directing providence into close communion 
 with St. John, so that by oral intercourse, and 
 
 when Scripture ceases to speak, the balance of evidence, as to 
 each fact, must and ought to establish its authenticity : and that 
 quite independently of any deductions, as to the mind of the 
 student, similar to those of Milner, to which reference is made. 
 
 1 1 quote here a passage from Melancthon's few brief sen- 
 tences, composing his life of St. John, as mentioning those dis- 
 ciples of whom I am going to speak, and touching on another 
 subject of interest namely, the authenticity, in his view, of two 
 out of the anecdotes or narratives on which I have dwelt at full 
 in a recent part of this work : 
 
 "Auditores post se reliquit Ignatium episcopum Antiochenum, 
 Polycarpum episcopum Smyrnseum, et Papiam episcopum Hiera- 
 poleos. Quanta messis evangelii, quanta ecclesise felicitas fuit, 
 longo tempore audire apostolum et txjm ejus discipulos ! 
 
 " Recitantur historian de morte Cerinthi, item de quodam adole- 
 scente revocato a Joanne, quse sunt dignse memoria. Nam ex- 
 emplum de poanitentia confirmat pios, et mors Cerinthi minatur 
 blasphemis." Melancthon de Johanne.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 223 
 
 by the example of his holy life, and, in a peculiar 
 degree, by the rare and wondrous testimony 
 which he, as perhaps none others, could give to 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, they might be furnished 
 and fitted for their future work. This might 
 have been expected. And such was the actual 
 case For many, taught by him, and moulded by 
 him, as the instrument in God's hand, went forth 
 to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and shone 
 so brightly, as lights in the world, that St. John's 
 own personal scholars and disciples reflect no 
 slight honour on his name, and by them he spoke 
 to succeeding generations, after he had ended his 
 days on the earth. 
 
 One of these was Ignatius, so renowned for his 
 holiness of life, and for his martyrdom, of which 
 the treatise, entitled " the Acts of Ignatius," con- 
 tains the full account. 
 
 Concerning this discipleship mention is made 
 in the Alexandrine Chronicle, where Ignatius is 
 styled by the singular title of "Theophorus (a name 
 so controverted as to its meaning that I scarcely 
 venture to translate it,) and martyr, the illustri- 
 ous disciple of John, the Divine 01 ." 
 
 m 'lywmo? 6 Qeo(f)6pos ical fMprvs 6 'lojai/vou TOV QfoXoyov yvficrios 
 naBrjTTjs. Ad Olymp. CCII. an. 4. 
 
 In his examination before Trajan he was asked, Who is 8co- 
 (popos? His answer (as translated in Milner, Cent. ii. c. i) was, 
 He who has Christ in his breast. 
 
 Of Ignatius Cave writes : " He is ordinarily styled both by 
 himself and by others Theophorus, which though, like Justus, it 
 be oft no more than a common epithet, yet it is sometimes used 
 as a proper name. It is written according to the different ac- 
 cents, either Qxp6pos, and then it denotes a Divine person, H
 
 224 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 Chrysostom aiso in his Homily on St. Ignatius, 
 tells us " that he was intimately conversant with 
 the apostles, educated and nursed up by them, 
 everywhere at hand, and made partaker ptjrwv KU\ 
 cnropptTaov, both of their familiar discourses, and 
 more secret and uncommon mysteries. Which 
 though it is probable he means of his particular 
 conversation with St. Peter and Paul, yet some 
 of the forementioned authors, and not they only, 
 but the acts of his martyrdom, written, as it is 
 supposed, by some present at it, further assure 
 us that he was St. John's disciple m ." 
 
 Concerning Poly carp, as a disciple of St. John, 
 there is considerably more information. St. Je- 
 rome speaks of him as " the disciple of St. John, 
 who was ordained bishop of Smyrna by him n ." 
 Irenseus also, in his epistle to Florinus, quoted 
 by Eusebius, speaks of the "close intercourse " 
 between St. John and Poly carp P. Tertullian 
 
 man,, whose soul is full of God, and all holy and Divine qualities, 
 6 rojf Xpta-Tov eV rfi fax?) */ M ^4P -i ' as Ignatius himself is said to 
 explain it : or Qetyopos, and so in a passive signification it im- 
 plies one that is born or carried by God. And in this latter 
 sense he is said to have derived the title from Christ taking him 
 up into his arms. For this we are told that he was that very 
 child whom our Saviour took into his arms, and set in the midst 
 of his disciples, as the most lively instance of innocency and 
 humility." Cave however gives no credence to, or rather posi- 
 tively contradicts this last statement. Life of Ignatius. 
 
 m Cave, Life of Ignatius, . 2. 
 
 n " Polycarpus, Joannis apostoli discipulus, ab eo Smyrnac 
 episcopus ordinatus." De viris illustribus, c. xvii. 
 
 ZviHUTTpo^T). EC. Hist. 1. V. c. 20. 
 
 P It is not by any means improbable, as deduced from various 
 historic testimonies, that Polycarp was the very angel (or minis-
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 225 
 
 speaks of him as having been appointed by St. 
 John to preside over the church of Smyrna. 
 There are several other ancient testimonies to 
 the fact that Polycarp was not only instructed, 
 but also ordained bishop by the apostles; and 
 we should not fail to remember, that, when 
 Polycarp was ordained bishop, St. John was the 
 only apostle who remained alive. All this tends 
 strongly to confirm the view taken here. 
 
 On Papias, whether he was or was not a 
 disciple of St. John, contrariety of statement 
 prevails in those quarters whence information 
 on such subjects is derived. 
 
 Irenseus styles him a hearer of St. John and 
 a companion of Polycarp^ ; and Jerome joins him, 
 Polycarp, and Ignatius in this discipleship r . It 
 must however be observed, on citing this passage, 
 
 ter) of the church of Smyrna, to whom, primarily, was addressed 
 that inspired letter of commendation contained in the pth and 
 loth verses of the and chapter of the Revelation, " I know thy 
 works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I 
 know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are 
 not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things 
 which thou shalt suffer : behold, the devil shall cast some of you 
 into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation 
 ten days : be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a 
 crown of life," For the various authorities, in confirmation of 
 this view of the subject, see note (x) in Lampe's Proleg. lib. I. c. v. 
 '5- 
 
 <1 Tavra 8f KOI Hernias 'Itonwou ftfv aKovarfjs, Ho\vKapTrov 8e eralpos 
 ypyoi/oby, apxalos dvrjp, fyypiifpvs firifJiapTvpfi. Adv. Hseres. 1. V. 
 c xxxiii. 
 
 r "Auditores ejus (Johannis) insignes fuerunt Papias Hiera- 
 politanus episcopus et Polycarpus Sruyrnaeus et Ignatius Antio- 
 chenus." In Chron. ad A. C. 101. 
 Q
 
 226 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 that a certain doubt arises on its accuracy from 
 our finding in Eusebius that Papias himself, in 
 the preface to his own works, did not say that 
 he was a hearer of the apostles, or one who had 
 personally seen them, but that he had received 
 the rule of faith from those, who were actually 
 thus circumstanced. It will be at once evident, 
 how much this personal statement of Papias must 
 shake the validity of any other, contradictory to 
 it, made by another individual, whoever he 
 might be. The passage, as quoted by Eusebius 
 from Papias, is that introduced below 3 . It may 
 be translated thus : " If I any where met one, 
 who had been a companion of the elders, I in- 
 quired what had been formerly said by Andrew, 
 or Peter, or Philip, or Thomas, or James, or John, 
 or Matthew ; or what was said at the time by any 
 of the Lord's disciples, as Aristion or John the 
 Presbyter." 
 
 Hence arises that contrariety of opinion on the 
 subject to which I have alluded. Some give 
 weight to the testimony of Jerome and Irenseus : 
 others attach paramount importance to the ar- 
 gument drawn from the language of Papias him- 
 self, as recorded by Eusebius. Some try to re- 
 concile the difficulty by supposing that Irenseus 
 refers to another John, but this is quite inad- 
 
 8 Ei 8e TTOU Kal Trapr)KO\ov6r)Ka>s ns rots Trpecr/Surepois 1 eXdoi, TOVS TU>V 
 7rpe<rlSvTcpcav dvtKpivov \6yovs, ri t A.v8ptas, t) T'L Herpos einev, fj ri 
 <J?tXt777ros, Jj T'I 0a)/nas, fj 'laKca/Sos, 77 ri 'iwdvvrjs, r) Mar$atos, fj ris ertpos 
 T>V TOV Kvpi'ou p.adr]Ta>v, are 'Apiari'toi/ Kal 6 Trpetr/Swrepoj 'iwai'i^s, ol 
 TOV K.vpiov fjMdr]Tal \fyov<riv ; Lib. III. C. XXXIX.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 227 
 
 missible. Basnage takes another line, scarcely 
 more admissible. He conceives that Irenseus must 
 have spoken from conjecture, in describing Papias 
 as a hearer of St. John, because he was cotem- 
 porary with Polycarp ; but it must be remem- 
 bered that he is speaking of a statement re- 
 corded by one, namely, Irenseus, who was himself 
 a disciple of Papias, and therefore too intimately 
 acquainted with him, merely to conjecture such 
 a declaration as this, of which we now speak. 
 On the whole, and to one taking a fair and un- 
 prejudiced view of the question, it may appear 
 that the following solution is by no means un- 
 reasonable viz. to receive that record on the 
 subject which Irenseus makes, and to consider 
 Papias as a disciple and hearer of St. John, 
 with the supposition, that, although we have no 
 statement on his part, in the fragments of his 
 writings preserved, that he was himself such a 
 disciple and such a hearer, while we have a 
 positive statement, on his part, that he was 
 accustomed to inquire what the different apo- 
 stles, including St. John, spake, still this custom, 
 as pursued and recorded by him, would not, of 
 itself, either contradict or much invalidate the 
 fact of his holding personal intercourse with 
 St. John himself. To draw any negative argu- 
 ment, as conclusive, would here be quite il- 
 logical : and, although it would occupy too much 
 space to dwell farther on this subject here, still 
 I may observe that the closer we examine it, the 
 more we shall, I think, be led to believe that 
 Q2
 
 228 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 the statement of Irenseus is by no means ren- 
 dered nugatory even by the personal statement 
 of Papias; and therefore that credence may 
 be given to the record, that Papias was one of 
 those who heard and held communion, as a dis- 
 ciple, with the apostle himself*. 
 
 * Papias was bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, and was re- 
 nowned for his eloquence and knowledge of the Scriptures. It is 
 evident that he was distinguished in the church during the life of 
 Ignatius, and therefore before the year To8. Irenseus, about the 
 year 190, speaks of him as an ancient writer. In Eusebius, as 
 already quoted, he appears as one who did not seek out those 
 who spoke much, but those who could convey to him the truth 
 not those who spread abroad new notions and such-like things, 
 invented by man, but those who could give him information on 
 the precepts of the Lord, which he, who was himself "the truth," 
 had pronounced for our establishment in the true faith. When 
 he met any persons, who had been the companions of the first 
 Christians, he diligently inquired concerning all, to which they 
 had given utterance, holding that information drawn from books 
 was less profitable than that supplied by word of mouth. 
 
 Papias wrote five books entitled, " An Exposition of the 
 Words of our Lord" in which he introduced much of the in- 
 formation thus obtained, adding explanations and comments of 
 his own to strengthen and confirm the truth. 
 
 It is curious to observe the unwarrantable prejudice against 
 Papias, which runs through the observations of many who have 
 mentioned his name, from his having been an advocate of mil- 
 lenarian doctrine. This begins with Eusebius, who expresses his 
 opinion that " he fell into these notions from a misapprehension 
 of the apostolic discourses, and from not having understood the 
 mystical sense of the parables." 
 
 Tillemont, Fleury, and a multitude of others, follow in the same 
 track, and quote, in reference to Papias, his adherence to the doc- 
 trine of Christ's personal reign on earth, as detracting from the 
 value and authority due to his writings. 
 
 Cave goes farther still, for in his Chronological Table, A. D. i 1 6, 
 he says of this year : " Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, sets on foot 
 the millenarian doctrine!"
 
 OP ST. JOHN. 22!> 
 
 . 28. St. Johns friends. 
 
 The mention of St. John's friends, with whom, 
 in addition to his apostolic brethren, specially 
 St. Peter, and in addition to his disciples, he 
 evidently held a close and frequent intimacy, 
 should not be omitted here. And we may re- 
 member, that on this matter information is 
 contained in the pages of Scripture. 
 
 There, in the second and third epistles of St. 
 John, two persons are introduced, whom we may 
 rightly consider to have been his personal friends. 
 One is only described and characterised, but with 
 divers circumstances bearing on her state of 
 mind and on her family. The other is mentioned 
 by name. 
 
 One of these is entitled by the simple yet 
 beautiful periphrasis, " The elect lady." St. John 
 addresses her thus: "The elder unto the elect 
 lady, and her children, whom I love in the truth ; 
 and not I only, but also all they that have known 
 the truth; for the truth's sake, which dwelleth 
 in us, and shall be with us for ever." 
 
 Regarding this holy and excellent person we 
 have no authentic particulars, except those con- 
 tained in the epistle itself; but from that we 
 know the deep and sympathizing interest which 
 St. John took both in her and in her family, 
 saying of the latter : " I rejoiced greatly that I 
 found of thy children walking in truth, as we 
 have received a commandment from the Father." 
 And again, the apostle speaks of his intention
 
 230 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 to visit her, and thus to communicate on many 
 subjects of interest between them : " Having 
 many things to write unto you, I would not 
 write with paper and ink: but I trust to come 
 unto you, and to speak face to face, that our joy 
 may be full." All this bespeaks character, and 
 therefore I draw attention to the subject, though 
 it is not requisite to make farther remarks. 
 
 The third of St. John's epistles brings one of 
 his friends by name before us : " The elder unto 
 the well-beloved Gains whom I love in the truth." 
 This man was evidently one in the most advanced 
 state, as to his soul's prosperity. St. John felt 
 for his bodily infirmities, and tells him the desire 
 of his heart, that the bodily health of his friend 
 might bear more affinity to his spiritual health. 
 Here is the expression of the apostle's confidence. 
 Love " believeth all things," 1 Cor. xiii. Here is 
 the apostle's concern for all which concerned his 
 friend. And Gains, no doubt, well merited the 
 same. He was faithful to the brethren, and 
 faithful to Christian strangers ; and public testi- 
 mony to his charity was borne before the church. 
 St. John plainly treated him not only with affec- 
 tion, but also made him a partaker of those 
 feelings most intimately touching himself and 
 his work. To Gaius he wrote, and that by 
 name, of one who was prating and malicious and 
 proud, and of another, also by name, who had 
 a good report. Through this unreserved letter 
 of communication we know of Diotrephes, that 
 he " loved to have the preeminence," and of
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 231 
 
 Demetrius, that he " had good report of all men, 
 and of the truth itself." And here again it may 
 be said that all known to us of Gaius is contained 
 in this epistle : for when we consider that it 
 was written from Asia, while those of St. Paul, 
 where the name of Gaius appears, spoke of one 
 at Corinth ; and that the latter epistles, with the 
 Acts, where two, called Gaius, are named, were 
 written thirty years before the former, it seems 
 unlikely that the Gaius of St. John had previously 
 been spoken of, though the grace of Christian 
 hospitality marked two of the same name. (Rom. 
 xvi. 23. ICor. i. 14. Acts xix. 29 ; xx. 4.) 
 
 Nor perhaps should the notice of one op- 
 posed to St. John be omitted here. He has 
 already been alluded to. Diotrephes no doubt 
 was the enemy of St. John. And the notice of 
 his name proves that he too had his adversaries, 
 notwithstanding the love and the reverence in 
 which he was held, and also that, when need 
 was, he could rebuke with power, telling how he 
 would come and " remember his deeds :" for, as I 
 have remarked on a previous occasion", whenever 
 the character befitting that name Boanerges, 
 given by Christ himself, needed to be made 
 manifest, then it was sure to appear. 
 
 . 29. St. Johns last and oft-repeated address : 
 "Little children, love one another" 
 
 Many traditions concerning St. John now crowd 
 our path x some of them most dubious as to their 
 
 11 See page 23 : also p. 138. x See note, p. 169.
 
 232 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 authority others of a superstitious character, 
 and some evidently framed, repeated, and applied, 
 in order to support unsound and erroneous 
 tenets - v favoured by certain individuals, or in cor- 
 roboration of practices and claims for which the 
 high sanction of St. John's name was brought in. 
 But it appears to me that only one narrative 
 remains, calling for attention before we approach 
 the closing scene of his life. 
 
 The narrative to which I refer is that which 
 tells of his last and oft-repeated address to the 
 members of the church, when, through extreme 
 age and infirmity, he could say no more, as his 
 public testimony, than this short sentence: "Little 
 children, love one another." 
 
 y A prominent instance of the kind appears in the singular 
 tradition that St. John was attired with special ensigns and 
 ornaments, as denoting priestly distinction. I refer here to the 
 nfraXov, translated, or rather paraphrased, aurea lamina, said to 
 have heen worn on his forehead. The testimony of Polycrates, 
 bishop of Ephesus, quoted in Eusebius, 1. III. c. 3 i, and of Jerome, 
 is adduced in support of this fable. Epiphanius asserts the 
 same concerning St. James. But the whole tenor of Scriptural 
 doctrine and apostolic practice controverts the possibility of any 
 such thing. This would indeed have been a return to Jewish 
 ceremonies, and quite inconsistent with the whole of the New 
 Testament. Some among the more venturesome advocates of 
 Romish error, in regard to the priesthood and to the external 
 symbolic decoration thereto attached, have not scrupled to lay 
 hold of and apply these false and erroneous traditions. Baronius, 
 for instance, gives credit to the statement that not only James 
 and John, but also the other apostles wore these insignia 
 evidently with the view of commending the decoration and the 
 outward pomp of those hierarchically prominent in the Romish 
 ceremonies. See note c on Lampe's Proleg. 1. I. c. iii. . 4 ; 
 also an extensive discussion on this subject in Stanley's Apostoli- 
 cal Age, p. 282.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 233 
 
 Cave thus relates the anecdote, in illustration 
 of " that love and charity, which he (St. John) 
 practised himself and affectionately pressed upon 
 others." He refers to this as " his constant 
 course unto his dying day. When age and weak- 
 ness grew upon him at Ephesus, so that he was 
 no longer able to preach to them, he used at 
 every public meeting to be led to the church, 
 and say no more to them, than 'Little children, 
 love one another' And when his auditors, wearied 
 with the constant repetition of the same thing, 
 asked him why he always spoke the same, he 
 answered : ' Because it was the command of our 
 Lord, and that if they did nothing else, this alone 
 was enough.'" This account is so near to the 
 original account as found in Jerome, that I need 
 not translate the passage, which I give below 2 . 
 
 Jerome is the sole witness, on whom this record 
 depends. However, there is nothing in it incon- 
 sistent with the character and spirit of St. John ; 
 nay, very much the contrary; and the state of the 
 church, at the time corresponding with the nar- 
 rative, confirms the special need and therefore the 
 special likelihood of such an address as this. For 
 
 z The author just named, in his comment on the Galatians, 
 narrates of St. John, that " cum Ephesi moraretur usque ad 
 ultimam senectutem, et vix, inter discipulorum manus, ad Eccle- 
 siam deferretur, nee posset in plura vocem verba contexere, nihil 
 aliud per singulas solebat proferre collectas nisi hoc: Filioli, diltgete 
 alterutrum. Tandem discipuli et fratres, qui aderant tsedio affecti, 
 quod eadem semper audirent, dixerunt : Magister, quare semper 
 hoc loqueris ? Qui respondit dignam Johanne sententiarn : Quia 
 pneceptum Domini est, et si solum fiat, sufficit."
 
 234 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 while the command, thus enforcing charity, would 
 be requisite at all times, St. John, by the Spirit, 
 was enabled to foresee the amount of impending, 
 not to say, rising strife among the professing mem- 
 bers of Christ's church ; and therefore he would 
 do the utmost in his power thus to anticipate the 
 evil, and to nip in the bud this " root of bitter- 
 ness." Accordingly he would remind his beloved 
 flock, according to the strength and ability re- 
 maining in his worn-out frame, concerning the 
 second "great commandment" of God, teaching 
 them that "love was the fulfilling of the law" 
 that on this grand head of Christian duty and of 
 Christian privilege, details and rules and codes, 
 and all such things, were needless and profitless, 
 when compared with the principle of love acting 
 on the hearts of men one towards another, and 
 uniting them, as brethren, in love. To go farther 
 than this to venture any thought or statement 
 drawn from this apostolic address, as that of love 
 taking the place of faith in a Redeemer, or being 
 in any way a merit of enough value to secure 
 the salvation of a soul, or in any way enough for 
 our spiritual need and exigencies in the sight of 
 God, would be nothing less than an absolute 
 denial of the whole course of Scripture not to 
 say of all which St. John wrote and taught in his 
 whole life. For Scripture is one grand testimony 
 unto Jesus Christ, and to the sinner's justification 
 by him through faith. And Scripture never tells 
 us in any place that our love to God, or our love 
 to man, or any grace or gift, or any combination
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 235 
 
 of graces or gifts, can ever occupy the place of 
 faith in a Redeemer. Rightly understood, and 
 rightly applied, and viewed with its attendant 
 circumstances, as a special saying of St. John at 
 a period of special need, and as the prime thing 
 incumbent on him to press with the few words 
 which decrepitude and natural decay allowed him 
 then to speak viewed in this light, the saying- 
 is beautiful and most edifying : but if viewed in 
 another light, and perverted to that which is 
 erroneous, unscriptural and untrue, it might be 
 turned and has been turned into " deadly poison" 
 into an argument that faith was a needless 
 thing, and love to the brethren all that was 
 required in order to fulfil our obligations to God. 
 It is not contention with a shadow to point out 
 the abuse of these well-known apostolic words. 
 That this title may be given them I have no 
 hesitation to believe ; for their very simplicity 
 and very singularity, with their fitness to the 
 spirit of St. John, and his recorded advance to 
 man's utmost years, may lead us to receive them 
 as his, who, by his inspired pen, addressed the 
 members of Christ's church as " little children," 
 (1 St. John v. 21) and whose latest voice might 
 well die away in teaching and breathing love. 
 
 . 30. St. Johns last days. 
 
 The first subject occurring to the mind in 
 considering the last days and close of St. John's 
 life, will, in all probability, be that saying of the 
 Lord which went abroad among the disciples, as
 
 236 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 if containing in it the prophetic declaration that 
 St. John " should not die a ." On this subject I 
 have spoken at the appropriate place b . To that 
 I refer the reader, because the passage has a 
 very intimate bearing on this part of St. John's 
 history; and had not this matter been already 
 considered at large, it would have been requisite 
 to introduce it here. Passing over, therefore, 
 that declaration of the Saviour, because, when 
 rightly understood, it by no means assured the 
 apostle's continuance on earth until any fixed 
 time, we may now consider .him as about to die 
 like other mortal men. Now he had finished his 
 appointed testimony. Now he had ended his 
 walk of faith, like other saints like Noah, and 
 Abraham, and Job, and Samuel, and David, and 
 Daniel, and John the Baptist, and his apostolic 
 brethren, who had already fallen asleep in Jesus 
 and gone to their rest in paradise. We might 
 well desire, of ourselves, to have the records of 
 his death-bed, to instruct and to edify us, and to 
 complete his history. But, in the wisdom of 
 God, we have them not. We might well desire 
 to hear the dying accents and dying experience 
 of him, " whom Jesus loved ;" but that is not 
 granted to us. We might well desire to know 
 who were gathered at his side when his spirit 
 was released from the burden of the flesh, and 
 who were they so honoured as to receive his last 
 parting benediction. But all this is unknown. 
 
 a John xxi. 23. b See p. 126.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 237 
 
 Had it been in the purpose of God, or for the 
 need of His church, it would have been written 
 for our learning-. God would have caused, by 
 His will, some pen to tell it: and the record 
 would have been preserved. But, as it is, the 
 case is quite different. As it is, we know nothing 
 about his last moments: but at the same time 
 some information may be gained regarding his 
 latter days. For instance, as to his age. 
 
 Now it may be safely stated that all writers 
 agree in bearing testimony to the fact that he 
 died exceedingly advanced in years, and having 
 outlived all the other apostles. Irenseus, as cited 
 and followed by Eusebius, twice speaks of him 
 as " having lived to the time of Trajan c ;" and 
 in one passage expressly states that " he abode at 
 Ephesus till the times of Trajan d ." Clemens 
 Alexandrinus, in the anecdote of the Young 
 Robber, (already introduced at full length,) repre- 
 sents him acting and speaking as the aged man : 
 " Why, my son, do you fly from me your father, 
 the unarmed, the aged one?" And the youth is 
 represented, as " embracing the old man who ap- 
 proached him." On this point, the extreme and 
 prolonged age of St. John, there can be no doubt 
 whatsoever. Therefore I shall not seek to enforce 
 it by additional proofs, though many might, with 
 ease, be adduced. But, at the same time, as to his 
 exact age, no slight difference of opinion prevails. 
 So much so, that Lampe has a list of no less 
 
 c Me'xp/ TUIV Tpa'idvov xpovutv. Eus. Hist. Eccl. III. 23. 
 <! Ibid.
 
 238 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 than nineteen authors of repute, who ascribe to 
 the apostle different durations of life, varying 
 from that of eighty-nine years to that of one 
 hundred- and twenty. Accordingly it would be 
 idle to speak with any decision on the matter, 
 or to make any attempt at cutting for ourselves 
 this controversial knot. And that, chiefly, be- 
 cause we have no precise date as to the age of 
 St. John in the year of his call to be a disciple 
 and apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. On this 
 point nothing like certainty can be ascertained. 
 Therefore we must rest satisfied with the histori- 
 cal conviction, that his life was prolonged to a 
 period of between ninety and one hundred years. 
 God long preserved him, as a witness to Christ 
 and his holy gospel. Moreover, knowing as we 
 do that special grace of love, by which his 
 writings and his words were ever and distinct- 
 ively marked, we may consider it as no unlikely 
 thing that God thus kept him alive as an example 
 of that grace so dear to himself: for "God is 
 love." No one ever wrote of love as did the 
 apostle. No one ever set forth its beauty and 
 its glory in such exquisite terms : and when we 
 remember that one and the same Spirit dictated 
 his words and dwelt within him, we may be well 
 assured that his life continued to the end in all 
 harmonious consistency with the truths which 
 he spoke and wrote that, being the " disciple 
 whom Jesus loved," he reflected again that love 
 on all who beheld his course ; and perhaps most 
 brightly at its very close ; for Christian love is
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 239 
 
 like Christian light, shining " more and more 
 nnto the perfect day." 
 
 On the apostle's death, as to the year of the 
 Christian era in which that event took place, 
 information may be found, somewhat more satis- 
 factory than on the exact period of life to which 
 he had attained at the time of his dissolution. 
 Although some authors have placed it in the 
 first year of Trajan's reign, yet ancient authority 
 does not support this date, nor indeed does it 
 seem likely that all (really worthy of reception, 
 as genuine history) which is narrated of St. John, 
 after his return from Patmos to Ephesus, could 
 have well intervened within so short a period, as 
 this statement, if true, would necessitate. Others 
 prolong the date in question to the second year 
 of Trajan's reign, but the absence of ancient 
 authority and other difficulties meet us again 
 here. But when we arrive at the third year of 
 the same emperor's reign, then numerous ancient 
 testimonies coincide with this date. St. Jerome, 
 for instance, expressly affirms how " ecclesiastical 
 histories teach us that he lived even to the time 
 of Trajan's rule, viz. that he died in the sixty- 
 eighth year after the passion of our Lord 6 ." 
 And this statement is repeated by the same 
 writer, where he speaks of St. John as one who, 
 " worn out with age, died in the sixty-eighth year 
 
 e " Manifestissime decent ecclesiasticse historise quod usque ad 
 Trajani vixerit imperium, id est, post passionem Domini sexa- 
 gcsimo octavo anno dormierit." Adv. Jovin. 1. 1.
 
 240 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 after the passion of our LordV In which St. 
 Jerome followed in the steps of those fathers, 
 who, in their chronological parallels between 
 ecclesiastical and profane history, make the 
 eighteenth, or at all events the nineteenth year 
 of the reign of Tiberius to synchronize with that 
 in which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. 
 From which time, counting sixty-eight years, we 
 reach the third year of the emperor Trajan's 
 reign. From these arguments it may first be 
 concluded that St. John did not die before this 
 period and, secondly, that the time of his depar- 
 ture was at or very nigh this dates. 
 
 f " Confectus senio sexagesimo octavo post passionem Domini 
 fuerit mortuus." De viris illustrious, c. ix. 
 
 & After what has been just said, it will scarcely be expected 
 that any attention should be paid to those assertions which have 
 been made as to the exact day of St. John's death. Nor indeed 
 should I have mentioned that such unauthorized statements had 
 been made or credited at all, as matters of history, had it not 
 been for a singular and not unpleasing tale connected with the 
 subject. Premising that monastic tradition had affirmed of St. 
 John the Apostle and St. John the Baptist that they died on the 
 very same day of the year, and therefore that their festival 
 (ecclesiastically speaking) ought to be commemorated at the 
 same occasion, I quote the story therewith connected viz. that 
 when two doctors (one of whom preferred the Baptist, while the 
 other preferred the Evangelist) had appointed a set time for 
 solemn discussion on the question of their respective excellency, 
 and were diligently employed in investigating authorities and 
 gathei'ing together arguments, each for his favourite saint, one 
 of them was visited and thus addressed by the apparition of him 
 whose name he was specially seeking to exalt : " We are united 
 in heaven. Dispute not about us on earth." " Bene Concordes 
 sumus in ccelis : de nobis nun disputetis in terris." Durand. 
 Ration. 1. VII. c. 42.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 241 
 
 There is every reason to believe that the 
 manner of St. John's death was not by violence 
 or martyrdom, but of a natural kind, through 
 the decay of extreme old age, on which I have 
 already spoken. His life was preserved thus 
 long, by his God and Saviour, notwithstanding 
 all the dangers to which he was subjected, all 
 the persecutions which he endured, and all the 
 deaths of his fellow-apostles, witnessed at his side, 
 or heard of and mourned by him, when far away 
 from the scene of their dissolution. The ancient 
 writers, with scarcely any exception, merely state 
 his death, and mention not a word about vio- 
 lence or martyrdom being connected therewith. 
 And though he may be styled a "martyr," yet 
 this word does not involve any absolute ne- 
 cessity of violent death, as incurred by him to 
 whom the title is ascribed. It often represents 
 one who confessed and suffered for the truth 
 one, who lived a witness for Christ, and though 
 ever ready to die for his name's sake, yet not 
 called on so to do. 
 
 Some have considered that the words of 
 Chrysostom, illustrating our Lord's address to 
 St. James and St. John on their ambitious request, 
 must prove that he held the apostle John to 
 have died a violent death as well as his brother 
 James. But such a conclusion cannot fairly be 
 drawn from that exposition. Chrysostom, no doubt, 
 represents Jesus, as saying, not to James alone 
 but to the two brothers: "Ye shall die for my 
 sake, and ye shall be slain for the word of your 
 B
 
 242 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 prophecy, and ye shall be partakers in my suffer- 
 ing 11 ." But these words are rhetorical rather 
 than historical. And they may well be consi- 
 dered and explained as mere human comment, 
 poured forth in free expository strain, and as- 
 cribing to both brothers that which, actually, 
 one only endured. Or he might metaphorically 
 speak of those persecutions and sufferings which 
 St. John bore in his life, and thus use language 
 even strong as that just quoted. For it is not 
 stronger than the inspired language of St. Paul, 
 when speaking of himself as continually " de- 
 livered unto death," and as being " in deaths oft," 
 and as " dying daily." 
 
 Not inappropriately may we conceive of St. 
 John, as attended at his death-bed by many 
 friends, converts, and disciples : and various other 
 scenes in connexion with his later hours may 
 not improbably rise before the mind. But to 
 dwell on such imaginary circumstances would 
 be most unsuitable. It would give a shadowy con- 
 clusion to that which, I trust, has been through- 
 out either a record of facts, or a diligent inquiry 
 for such facts as might be attainable. Concern- 
 ing St. John's death no accounts remain worthy 
 of consideration, far less of acceptance with the 
 exception of its date and of the place of his 
 
 h Maprvpiov K.a.Taiu>6r](rea'6( KOI raiira jrficr(T0f airtp eyv, /3tat'o> 
 6ava.Ta> TTJV o>T)v KaraXvo-fTf, KOI TOVTUV pot Koiva>vr)(r(Tf . Again, in 
 the same Homily : 'Atrodavfi<rdf fifv 81 ep.t, KOI o-(payt)a-e<rde rov 
 KTjptiyfjLaros tvtKfv, icat Koivaxrria-fTf p.ol Kara TO ira6os. Homily on 
 Matt. Ixv.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 243 
 
 abode at the time subjects to which refer- 
 ence has already been made. A pilgrimage to 
 Ephesus, in honour of St. John, was, for a con- 
 siderable time, among the favourite devotions 
 of the East : and much of a fabulous character 
 was connected with his sepulchre 1 . With this 
 however we have little to do. And in con- 
 clusion of his history, let us rather dwell on his 
 prolonged days, and on that mighty power to 
 which he owed the privilege of living and la- 
 
 5 For instance, in a treatise on the twelve apostles, ascribed to 
 Hippolytus, it is said, that " his remains, though sought, could not 
 be found." To Xctyavov frrrjfffv OVK tvptdr). This is mentioned as 
 a strange and preternatural thing. Others, however, with as- 
 sertions just contradictory to that here quoted, say that his re- 
 mains are venerated objects : and certain human bones are still 
 held sacred and shewn as relics of his body. 
 
 Cave quotes several curious tales regarding his death, grave, 
 and remains. Life of St. John, .9. 
 
 Neither are fables wanting as to his frequent apparition after 
 death. For instance, Gregory of Nyssa tells that he appeared to 
 Gregory Thaumaturgus by night in order to confirm him in the 
 doctrines of Divine truth. And Theodoretus (Eccl. Hist. 1. V. 
 c. xxiv) relates, that, in company with Philip, his brother apostle, 
 he appeared to and encouraged the emperor Theodosius, when 
 about to engage in his contest with Eugenius. 
 
 It is singular, that in Gibbon's full narrative of that contest, 
 where he is illustrating the character of Theodosius, that 
 author thus speaks of a celebrated anchorite, bearing the same 
 name as that of the apostle, in whose life we are engaged : "Be- 
 fore he formed any decisive resolution, the pious emperor was 
 anxious to discover the will of heaven, and as the progress of 
 Christianity had silenced the oracles of Delphi and Dodona. 
 he consulted an Egyptian monk, who possessed in the opinion of 
 the age, the gift of miracles, and the knowledge of futurity." 
 The name of that monk was John. Dec. & Fall, o. 27. 
 
 The date of this transaction was A. D. 394. 
 
 R2
 
 244 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 bouring so long in his Master's cause, than on 
 his death and grave. That prayer of intercession 
 was fulfilled in him, which Jesus had made on 
 behalf of his people : " I pray not that thou 
 shouldest take them out of the world, but that 
 thou shouldest keep them from the evil k ." So 
 he was preserved. In regard to his body and 
 to his outward life not less than to that of his 
 spirit within, this prayer of Jesus was most 
 abundantly fulfilled. " The disciple whom Jesus 
 loved" was kept in safety to the very latest 
 period of life known among men of his or of 
 our own day: and not only so, but he was 
 preserved through a long course of the utmost 
 peril from its beginning to its end. Till his work 
 was done, no weapon could prosper against 
 him no enemy destroy him. The principle 
 of life was as if immortal until that moment 
 arrived. And thus it has been at all times 
 with every true servant of God. And thus it is 
 now, and thus it shall ever be. Almighty God is 
 Himself their shield. Therefore Saul may seek 
 David's life by the sudden treachery of his 
 hurled javelin, or by the violence of armed men 
 sent to encompass him; but David will remain 
 unhurt, for he is to have the kingdom and 
 reign over Israel. Herod may cast Peter into 
 prison, and fasten him to two soldiers with two 
 chains ; but God will hear the supplication of His 
 church. The angel of the Lord will cause the 
 
 k John xvii. 15.
 
 OF ST. JOHN". 245 
 
 chains to fall off, and make the prison gate turn 
 on its hinges, and restore the captive to the lov- 
 ing company gathered together for prayer in his 
 behalf. With some few of the dangers, which 
 St. John went through, we are well acquainted. 
 In all likelihood he had to endure many, many 
 others, but out of them all his God and his Sa- 
 viour delivered him, and kept him till the day 
 arrived, when he too was to die, and laying aside 
 his worn out frame, and freed for ever from all 
 pain and all persecution, to be, in spirit, with the 
 Lord, until the " resurrection of the just." Then 
 his body and his spirit shall be reunited once 
 more; and he shall inherit that special glory, 
 assured unto him and to his fellow-apostles by 
 the Saviour's word : " Verily I say unto you, 
 That ye which have followed me, in the re- 
 generation, 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 1 ." 
 
 1 Matt. xix. 28.
 
 246 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 $ 3 1 - 
 
 THE succession of recorded facts, composing 
 St. John's history, is now brought to a close. 
 One therefore of two measures must now be 
 adopted. I must either leave those facts to 
 speak for themselves, without any summary, or 
 make an endeavour to present, in one brief and 
 general view, the leading and distinctive features 
 of that life, on which these pages have been em- 
 ployed, with no wavering aim, from the beginning 
 to the end. 
 
 Of these two courses I shall adopt that last 
 mentioned, though well aware that it will be 
 attended with no little difficulty, perhaps with 
 more than that experienced in any part of this 
 work. 
 
 St. John has appeared as one, who in the days 
 of his early youth, most probably, attached him- 
 self, for a certain period of discipleship, to his 
 great and illustrious namesake, the forerunner 
 and herald of the coming Lord 1 . But whether 
 this was so, or not whether Divine grace pre- 
 pared him in this way, or not we know, to a 
 certainty, that when Jesus called him to be 
 his disciple, he at once obeyed, and forsook all, 
 
 1 Pp. 4-8.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 247 
 
 and followed him. St. John, with two others, 
 has frequently been brought to mind, in his 
 character of witness to certain miracles of Christ, 
 which other apostles saw not, and also to the 
 spectacle of the glorified Saviour on the mount, 
 and of the agonizing Saviour in the garden of 
 Gethsemane". He has also been regarded as 
 reclining in the bosom of Jesus> and brought 
 into the close relationship of his chosen friend, 
 and entitled again and again, in the inspired 
 word, with an appellation given to him alone 
 namely, that of " the disciple whom Jesus 
 loved ." Nor does Scripture inform us that any 
 other apostle attended the Saviour while hang- 
 ing on the cross, or shewed his fidelity at that 
 perilous time?: and we know how he was in- 
 trusted from the cross itself with the care of 
 the mother of Jesus, and how he discharged that 
 solemn and endearing office from that very niOr 
 ment !. Moreover the word of God tells that he 
 was the first, among men, whose activity, alacrity 
 and zeal, brought him to the sepulchre; and 
 again we know that, at a certain period of those 
 forty days before the ascension, he could not do 
 otherwise than cling to his Lord with insepar- 
 able love, and follow close in the Saviour's steps, 
 though St. Peter only was specially bidden so 
 to do r . 
 
 Certain acts too have called for attention, in 
 which the apostle, not yet " endued with power 
 
 m Pp. 8-20. n Pp. 20, 27-37. o Pp. 87-96. 
 
 P Pp. 107-113. q Pp. 113-119. r Pp. u 9-128.
 
 248 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 from on high," displayed by his conduct the 
 natural infirmity, ignorance, and sin of man 8 
 for instance, when he, with James, shewed 
 a self-aggrandizing spirit, and when he joined his 
 brethren in hindering the course of another dis- 
 ciple of Christ, because he followed not them, 
 and because his proceedings did not evince 
 that respect, in their opinion, due to themselves, 
 or, at all events, to their Lord. We have ob- 
 served him too, when carried away with untem- 
 pered zeal, he asked permission to call down fire 
 from heaven, and met his rebuke from the Lord 
 of mercy and grace. 
 
 Again, he has appeared in a new and glorious 
 light "filled with the Holy Ghost," and going 
 up to the temple with St. Peter his beloved 
 friend ; and joining with him in curing the im- 
 potent man ; and standing in all faith and bold- 
 ness at his fellow-servant's side, while Jesus was 
 openly preached and confessed as the author of 
 the mighty cure; and bearing his equal share 
 in the persecution which ensued*; and raising 
 the wonder of the Sanhedrim for the courage 
 which he, no less than St. Peter, displayed 11 ; and, 
 when commanded " not to speak at all nor teach 
 in the name of Jesus," answering, with Peter, 
 " Whether it be right in the sight of God 
 
 8 Pp. 37-48, 48-62-83. Dr. Arnold speaking in his Sermon 
 on St. John, and another saint of God, asks whether it is " ir- 
 reverent to venture to notice their defects," and answers : "Nay, 
 rather to refuse to notice them were an irreverence to that Holy 
 Spirit which has recorded them for our instruction." 
 
 * Pp. 128-138. Acts iv. 13.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 249 
 
 to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge 
 ye. For we cannot but speak the things which 
 we have seen and heard x ." Moreover, when the 
 disciples were scattered abroad, through persecu- 
 tion, he remained with his fellow -apostles at 
 Jerusalem; and God preserved him and them 
 in the midst of peril ; and ere long he fulfilled 
 his apostolic office in Samaria y, and then re- 
 turned to his central post, where he long re- 
 mained, in all honour and in all reputation, " a 
 pillar" in the house of God, and, as this title 
 conveyed, supporting and adorning by his doc- 
 trine and life the truths of the gospel of Christ. 
 
 Nor yet were we compelled to take our final 
 leave of the apostle's course, as surely recorded 
 in the word of God, though much time inter- 
 vened, to which I shall presently recur. For in 
 that very word he was seen "warring a good 
 warfare" to the end " the companion of the 
 saints in tribulation, and in the kingdom and 
 patience of Jesus Christ, in the isle that is called 
 Patmos, for the word of God and for the testi- 
 mony of Jesus Christ 2 ." And there he was fa- 
 voured with the vision of visions, even with the 
 Revelation of the Saviour in his glory; and there 
 he was commanded to write down the words of 
 that prophecy : and not till this is accomplished 
 do the passages cease, in which the Scripture 
 itself sheds its sure light on the life and cha- 
 racter of that " disciple whom Jesus loved." 
 
 Again, when inspired history could be no 
 
 * Acts iv. 19, 20. y Pp. 138-172. z Pp. 193-204.
 
 250 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 longer a guide, recourse was had to those legi- 
 timate means for obtaining a full knowledge of 
 St. John's course, which, though altogether dif- 
 ferent from the unfailing testimony of God's 
 word, have nevertheless been preserved for us, 
 and claim all due inspection and research, though, 
 of course, no submission nor implicit faith. Hence 
 it was concluded, almost with certainty, that St. 
 John did not quit Jerusalem until its destruction 
 was at hand, and that Ephesus then became his 
 permanent abode and lot, which God assigned to 
 him. And there his life was preserved, and pro- 
 longed to extreme old age: and there, in all 
 probability, he died, in all quietness and peace, 
 full of days and of honour in the church, and 
 of all good works to the glory of the Saviour's 
 name. 
 
 The time then arrived for consideration of 
 those many records and narratives, contained in 
 ecclesiastical history, of which St. John is the sub- 
 ject. Their origin was traced out, and attention 
 was fixed on the channels which have borne them 
 to our own time on the historic stream. It will 
 probably have been observed that every one of 
 them is told or handed down from a previous 
 narrator with a view to honour and to exalt 
 St. John. This attribute belongs even to the 
 most fanciful and most foolish among them: so 
 that they all, whether genuine or not, shew the 
 lofty and illustrious place assigned to him in 
 the early days of the church. All tell of such 
 graces as gentleness and love and patience and
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 251 
 
 faith and courage and holiness and zeal in his 
 Master's cause, and concern for immortal souls: 
 or, if not exactly of this kind, they narrate some 
 mighty intervention in his behalf, vouchsafed 
 from on high in favour of his person while alive, 
 or shewn even in connection with his dead body 
 and remains, when his spirit had departed from 
 the earth to be with his Lord for ever. And 
 were I to quote the language used by the early 
 Fathers in his praise, it would only be to string 
 epithet on epithet, full of the very utmost admi- 
 ration which can be lavished on man, and sen- 
 tence upon sentence high as can be reached in 
 panegyric strain. Nay, one after another would 
 almost seem to vie and contend in efforts to 
 surpass those who had preceded in honouring 
 the name of St. John, in setting forth the beauty 
 of his character and in telling of his mighty 
 deeds a . Much exaggeration no doubt has en- 
 
 a Chrysostom, for instance, entitles him, 'O vrrep rrdvras Ayiovs 
 fjyaTrrjiAevos, 6 trrriplt-as TTJV diro Trepdratv rf/s olicovfjifvrjs fKK\r}(riav, KOI 
 ep.(ppdas TO. TOIV alperiKcov arrofjLara. Homil. I. de Pseudo-Pro- 
 phetis. 
 
 Augustin writes of him thus : " Transcendit nubes, et tran- 
 scendit sidera, transcendit Angelos, transcendit omnem creaturam, 
 pervenit ad verbum, per quod facta sunt omnia." Serm. 253 in 
 Diebus Paschalibus. 
 
 Again the same author magnifies St. John : " In quatuor 
 Evangeliis, vel potius quatuor libris unius Evangelii, sanctus 
 Johannes apostolus, non immerito secundum intelligentiam spiri- 
 talem aquilse comparatus, altius multoque sublimius aliis tribus 
 erexit prsedicationem suam : et in ejus erectione etiam corda 
 nostra erigi voluit." In Joan. Evang. Cap. 8. Trac. 36. 
 
 Cyril of Alexandria calls him, Tijs napdevias TO Kavxifia, TTJS 
 dyvfias SiSdcrKaXos, rrjs TU>V baipuvutv nXdvrjs f^o\o0ptiiTrjs, TOV vaov Tj$
 
 252 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 sued ; and language has been used concerning 
 him to which no mortal man has any title : 
 and I do not mention these things as either 
 commending or justifying such statements, but 
 only to prove the vast amount of praise, honour, 
 and renown, ever circling and clustering around 
 the apostle's name. 
 
 But well indeed may the sober and enlightened 
 judgment of our minds, not less than the glowing 
 affections of our heart, respond to many of these 
 testimonies. Faith and obedience love and 
 fidelity courage and zeal holiness and right- 
 eousness purity in doctrine and purity in prac- 
 tice ; these and many other kindred graces and 
 gifts have been continually brought to our minds 
 in treating of St. John's life. Bright indeed was 
 the light with which he reflected the image of 
 his Saviour! Mighty were the benefits which 
 ensued to mankind through his holy example 
 and word during his stay on the earth ! And by 
 that type of character into which God the Spirit 
 moulded him, he has so edified the church, and 
 so attracted to himself the eye, and the mind, 
 and the heart of the true children of God in all 
 ages and climes, that even to this day, if any 
 Christian appears to his brethren peculiarly filled 
 with holy love and holy gentleness, and with 
 
 KadaipfTrjs, 'E^eo^'wi/ \ipr)V Kal Trpofia^os rfov TrT<a\<av rpofpevs, 
 Kara(f)vyr), TOIV fyyvs KOI TU>V paKpav ava^v^rj KOI dvd- 
 Travcns. Orat. de Maria Virgine. 
 
 I have provided in the text against its being supposed that 
 these latter expressions meet with any sympathy from me because 
 quoted here.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 253 
 
 conformity to Jesus Christ, in similar tokens and 
 marks of his spirit, then a likeness to St. John is 
 not seldom applied to such a character: and, 
 howsoever far behind the steps of that favoured 
 apostle such a one may be, yet, in every similar 
 application much honour is ascribed unto that 
 " disciple whom Jesus loved." Nor can I end 
 this brief summary of those benefits and bless- 
 ings given and conveyed by the Lord Jesus 
 Christ to his church through that one apostle 
 and evangelist on whose life and character I 
 speak, without bringing to remembrance how 
 large and rich a portion b of God's holy word he 
 was inspired and commissioned by the Spirit to 
 indite. By this testimony he, " being dead, yet 
 speaketh" to mankind ; and, since Jesus c himself 
 
 b Lampe beautifully expresses himself, regarding St. John, as 
 one of the writers of the Scripture and so distinguished in the 
 portions which were assigned to him : " Vivit interea Johannes, 
 suamque perpetuo in Ecclesia imaginem contemplandam exhibet 
 scriptis aureis, quse tanquam pretiosissima cimelia in omnium post 
 se aetatum eruditionem reliquit." He also reminds us that his 
 share in the inspired records was far larger than any of the 
 apostles, Paul only excepted. Proleg. in Joan. 1. 1. c. vii. . i. 
 
 c I have not found this truth better expressed than by Titman, 
 in his Prolegomena on the Gospel of St. John : " Voluit enim 
 Johannes, ut nos quidem statuendum esse putamus, non historiam 
 vitffi Christi et commentarium rerum ab ipso gestarum in his 
 terris, scribere, quam potius quasdam tantum partes, easque 
 insigniores, et in primis sennones eos, in quibus de se ipse, sua 
 persona, suoque consilio et opere locutus esset, seligere, literarum- 
 que monumentis mandare, ex quibus, tanquam ex ore Jesu ipsius, 
 discere possent atque intelligere omnes omnium temporum 
 homines, quisnam esset Jesus, qualemque se non modo prsestitisset, 
 verum etiam professus esset et haberi voluisset."
 
 254 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 is his unfailing theme since he does not so 
 much write the consecutive history of Christ's 
 acts and deeds, as those very truths which 
 concern his person, and his spirit, together with 
 the very words which he spake regarding him- 
 self, and his union with the Father, and many 
 suchlike deep and mysterious things, so in the 
 records from the pen of St. John, some of the 
 most bright and transcendent gems which can be 
 imagined or seen, either in heaven or earth, shine 
 forth on the children of God. Moreover, nothing 
 less than constant experience tells, with the strong 
 witness of fact, that in times of trouble, and of 
 weakness, and of sickness, and even of impend- 
 ing death, thousands on thousands among the 
 members of Christ's church have found and are 
 finding still, in the blessed Gospel of St. John, all 
 that peace and all that consolation which the 
 soul can desire or need. And while God's children 
 read and hear how " God so loved the world that 
 he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth in him should not perish, but have 
 everlasting life d " and how Jesus promised to his 
 people the gift of the Spirit, even the "well of water 
 springing up into everlasting life 6 " and how, 
 " having loved his own which were in the world, 
 he loved them unto the end f " and how he gave 
 them and bequeathed them " peace & " and how 
 he would send down among them the " Promise 
 of the Father," who should be their Comforter for 
 
 d John iii. 16. e iv. 14. * xiii. i. & xiv. 27.
 
 OF ST. JOHN. 255 
 
 ever, and guide them unto all truth h and how 
 he spake forth, for all believers, his prayer of 
 intercession, that they might be preserved, and 
 sanctified, and glorified 1 , then, through these, and 
 many such-like words of Jesus himself, the Spirit 
 pours into souls all support and strength and re- 
 freshment, even " like a river ;" and thanksgiving 
 abounds unto God. And thus, in a special way, 
 so pleasing to that God whose name is "love," 
 honour to the Father accrues, and honour to the 
 Son, and honour to the Holy Ghost, through the 
 "disciple whom Jesus loved," and who was chosen 
 to write for our learning these precious things. 
 
 May we receive all his inspired testimony, and 
 so follow him as he followed Christ ! 
 
 Collect for St. John's Day. 
 
 Merciful Lord, we beseech thee to cast thy 
 bright beams of light upon thy church, that it 
 being enlightened by the doctrine of thy blessed 
 Apostle and Evangelist Saint John may so walk 
 in the light of thy truth, that it may at length 
 attain to the light of everlasting life ; through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 h Chs. xiv, xv, xvi. i Ch. xvii. 
 
 THE END.
 
 ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 AMONG all God's servants and saints of whom 
 the Bible tells, no one occupies a more peculiar 
 position than John the Baptist. Prophets in the 
 Old Testament announced his appearance, office, 
 and ministry; and Jesus himself bore his own 
 testimony to the special honour and distinction 
 with which he was endowed. " What went ye 
 out for to see ? A prophet ? Yea, I say unto you, 
 and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom 
 it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before 
 thy face, which shall prepare thy way before 
 thee. Verily, I say unto you, Among them that 
 are born of women, there hath not arisen a 
 greater than John the Baptist a ." He thus quotes 
 one of those two prophecies concerning St. John, 
 the one written seven, the other four centuries 
 before his birth, a rare and almost unexampled 
 instance of any mere man, who was to appear in 
 the times of the New Testament, being announced 
 in the Old. Side by side with this prophecy, 
 
 Matt. xi. 9.
 
 258 ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 quoted and applied by the Lord himself, St. Mark 
 adds the other : " The voice of one crying in the 
 wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord ; 
 make his paths straight b ." Nor should it be for- 
 gotten, that every one of the four Gospels begins 
 with the record of St. John. His birth and early 
 days were precisely in accordance with the pecu- 
 liarity of his office, character, and work. His 
 birth was announced by an angel from Heaven to 
 his aged father; and his nurture and education 
 were not less unusual. He was not born accord- 
 ing to nature's rule, but contrary to it. He was, 
 specially, a child of promise, given, like Isaac, 
 when all expectation of such a gift had long 
 passed away. And when he was foretold to 
 the priest Zacharias, as a son, the angel thus 
 spake of him : " He shall be great in the sight 
 of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor 
 strong drink: and he shall be filled with the 
 Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb c ." We 
 need not dwell in any farther detail on the well- 
 known events connected with this promise and 
 this birth ; but only, in remembrance, follow the 
 child as he " grew and waxed strong in spirit, 
 and was in the deserts until the time of his 
 showing unto Israel d ." This was to be his pre- 
 paration. He, the future " preacher of righteous- 
 ness," was to dwell far away from the attractions 
 of "this present evil world 6 ." He was to pass 
 
 b Mark i-3- c L u k e j. , ^ d Luke i. 80. 
 
 e These and the two or three following observations are 
 adapted from ancient comments on St. John's early life.
 
 ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 259 
 
 the days of his youth alone in self-denial, in 
 prayer, and communion with his God; and far 
 away from the fashion of cities and courts, he 
 was to learn fear of God only, and not fear of 
 ungodly men, whatever their rank, power, or 
 celebrity ; whether they might be the Pharisees 
 and Sadducees, who came to his baptism, or 
 whether he might have to rebuke an Herod for 
 his sin. Such was his singular birth, such the 
 singular means employed by God to train him 
 for his office ! 
 
 A few years passed away, St. John's ministry 
 commenced ; but still he pursued -that course 
 which God had appointed for him, strange and 
 eccentric as it was in the eye of man. He " had 
 his raiment of camel's hair, and his meat was 
 locusts and wild honey." He came (saith the 
 Lord) "neither eating nor drinking," that is, 
 not living in society, nor partaking of its habits, 
 its pleasures, and its courtesies ; but passing a 
 remote and austere life, unlike that of other 
 men. But he commanded all reverence and ob- 
 servation. This was confessed and felt by all 
 of every grade. The very chief priests and the 
 scribes felt it. When asked by Jesus " whether 
 the baptism of John was from heaven or of men ;" 
 they were compelled to reason thus : "If we 
 shall say, From heaven, he will say, Why then 
 believed ye him not? but if we shall say, Of 
 men, all the people will stone us: for they be 
 persuaded that John was a prophet f ." And 
 
 f Luke xx. 5, 6. 
 
 s2
 
 260 ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 Herod was restrained a while from putting him 
 to death, "fearing the multitude," because they 
 "counted him as a prophets." His word was 
 with power, and as he "preached in the wilderness 
 of Judaea, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of 
 heaven is at hand," there " went out to him 
 Jerusalem and all Judsea, and all the region 
 round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in 
 Jordan, confessing their sins." And thus were 
 they prepared by him for the coming Saviour, 
 whom he so mightily and distinctly proclaimed 
 with his inspired voice and awakening exhorta- 
 tion : " And now also the axe is laid unto the 
 root of the trees : therefore every tree which 
 bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and 
 cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with 
 water unto repentance : but he that cometh after 
 me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not 
 worthy to bear h ." Publicans, who feared neither 
 God nor man, and showed it by their avocation, 
 soldiers, desiring his leading and guidance, 
 all flocked to him. And so thickly did honour 
 crowd upon him that the " people were in expec- 
 tation, and all men mused in their hearts, whether 
 he were the Christ or not." Even the very Sad- 
 ducees and Pharisees came to his baptism; and 
 them he sternly reproached, for he well knew 
 what was in their hearts. 
 
 But what was his chief honour in administer- 
 ing this holy ordinance ? It was, no doubt, that 
 Jesus himself came "from Galilee to Jordan unto 
 
 % Matt. xiv. 5. h Matt. iii. 10, u.
 
 ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 261 
 
 John to be baptized of him." And here shone 
 forth not only his humility, but also his obedience 
 too. " John forbade him, saying, I have need to 
 be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me ? And 
 Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so 
 now ; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all right- 
 eousness. Then he suffered him '." 
 
 Again, we hear of St. John " baptizing in ^Enon, 
 near to Salem." Hither too people came and 
 were baptized. But Jesus had now commenced 
 his own ministry. The time was now come for 
 St. John to decrease while his Master and his 
 Lord should increase. This was the desire of his 
 heart. His disciples understood not this rightly. 
 They were jealous for him, at all events per- 
 plexed. They required instruction from him on 
 the subject. "They came unto John, and said 
 unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond 
 Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, 
 the same baptizeth, and all men come to him k ." 
 But personal aims and personal ambition were 
 utterly unknown to him ; and never did he lose 
 an opening or opportunity for turning away credit 
 and renown from himself, and for transferring it 
 where it was all due even to that Saviour his 
 Saviour and our Saviour whom he came to 
 announce among his fellow-sinners. " John an- 
 swered and said, A man can receive nothing, 
 except it be given him from heaven. Ye your- 
 selves bear me witness, that I said, f am not the 
 Christ, but that I am sent before him." And he 
 
 i Matt. iii. 13 15. k John iii. 26.
 
 262 ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 speaks of himself not as the Bridegroom, but 
 solely and exclusively as the " friend of the Bride- 
 groom," who was to rejoice at the Bridegroom's 
 joy ; and he tells of himself, as earthly, but of 
 Jesus, as heavenly ; and thus he still points to 
 that " Lamb of God," whom, at the beginning, he 
 proclaimed to all. And among the disciples of 
 Christ, the two very first had been the disciples 
 of John, regarding him as their master and teacher 
 for a time. But they, no doubt with his full 
 approbation and desire, left him and followed 
 Jesus, as the great Master and Teacher from 
 heaven, who should be the Priest, the Prophet, 
 and the King of St. John and themselves, and of 
 all who believe in his name 1 . 
 
 The time sooiv came for John to seal his testi- 
 mony by his blood ; for he " loved not his life 
 unto death" 1 ." But first came imprisonment. 
 And all for his faithfulness. He continued to 
 denounce sin without " respect of persons." And 
 such was the power of his word, such the au- 
 
 1 John i. 37. 
 
 m Cyprian writes thus : " It hath ever been the course with 
 good and upright men, who fear God and maintain their integrity, 
 and serve him according to the rules of true religion, to pass the 
 narrow way, through infinite difficulties and embarrassments, 
 injuries and pressures, and all kinds of punishment. Thus in the 
 very infancy of creation, Abel was killed by his brother, and 
 Jacob was forced to fly for his life, and Joseph was sold for a 
 slave, and King Saul persecuted good David, and Ahab strove 
 hard to crush the prophet Elias." In treating of such a subject 
 as the life and character of St. John the Baptist, it may be men- 
 tioned. *hat the Treatise of Cyprian, entitled, " An Exhortation 
 to Martyrdom," is full of Scriptural references to all similiar 
 cases, specially those drawn from the Old Testament.
 
 ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 263 
 
 thority and weight of his holy character, that 
 even the ungodly Herod, with that strange incon- 
 sistency often witnessed among men, for a time 
 "feared John, knowing that he was a just man 
 and an holy, and observed him; and when he 
 heard him, he did many things, and heard him 
 gladly;" but having no "root in himself," and 
 living as he did, in sin, and advancing from bad 
 to worse 11 , and " being reproved by him for Hero- 
 dias, his brother Philip's wife , and for all the 
 evils which he had done, added yet this above all, 
 that he shut up John in prison." Nor must we 
 forget that somewhat perplexing incident in 
 St. John's life, namely, that from that prison, on 
 hearing of the works of Christ, " he sent two of 
 his disciples, and said unto him, Art thou he that 
 should comeP, or do we look for another?" But 
 howsoever this may be interpreted, whether as 
 proving, on his part, a desire for fresh confirma- 
 tion of his own faith, now, perhaps, most severely 
 tried : or whether it was to confirm the faith of 
 his disciples, (a solution far more likely,) it 
 
 n Expressive is that old gloss on Herod's conduct : " Qui in 
 sordibus est, sordescat adhuc." 
 
 This Herod surnamed Antipas, and Philip, were the sons of 
 that Herod under whose persecution Jesus was carried, as an 
 infant, into Egypt. Herod Antipas was at first married to the 
 daughter of the Arabian king Aretas ; but forming an unholy 
 attachment to his niece, Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, 
 he prevailed upon her to leave her husband and unite herself to 
 him. On this, the daughter of Aretas fled to her father, who to 
 avenge this wrong waged war upon Herod. 
 
 P 6 fpx6[j.(vos, the coming One the prophesied Messiah. 
 Matthew xi. 3.
 
 264 . ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 brought him a message direct from his Saviour, 
 and led to a declaration of St. John's high dignity, 
 from the Saviours own lips, ending with this 
 summons, on the matter, as being one of no slight 
 import: "He that hath ears to hear, let him 
 hear." 
 
 But John was now to win the crown of martyr- 
 dom. In the midst of revelry he was surrendered 
 to his bitter enemy. The feast, and the dance, 
 and the promise, and the oath, and the mother's 
 malice, and the daughter's petition, and the haste 
 to the murderous act, and the terrific sight of the 
 Baptist's head brought by the damsel in a dish 
 before the assembled guests at their revelry, 
 also the remorseful and speedy pangs of Herod, 
 and the mad oath which ought never to have 
 been taken, and even though taken, ought to 
 have been broken, but was not, and his ungodly 
 fear of those which sat with him, which were his 
 world at the time, and all the terrific accom- 
 paniments of the dark deed, are so well known 
 as to need nothing more than the briefest re- 
 capitulation. Who that hath once heard them 
 can ever forget them? But honour even still 
 attended him, the honour which cometh from 
 God, through those who served, and therefore 
 loved their holy guide. " And when his disciples 
 heard it, they came and took up his corpse, and 
 laid it in a tomb." 
 
 Thus ends the Baptist's history. Born before 
 Jesus, preaching before Jesus, dying before Jesus, 
 he was in all things the Lord's forerunner. He
 
 ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 265 
 
 came "in the spirit and power of Elias;" and, 
 spiritually and typically, he was that Elias 
 " which was for to come." He came " making 
 ready a people prepared for the Lord" at his first 
 coming. He came baptizing unto repentance. 
 He came " turning many of the children of Israel 
 to the Lord their God." He came an example of 
 a strict, holy, self-denying life. He came rebuk- 
 ing sin and preaching righteousness with unfail- 
 ing voice. He lived a witness and died a witness i 
 for God. 
 
 But his example dies not. Through it, " being 
 dead, he yet speaketh" unto all generations and 
 to us ; first, perhaps, in the self-denial which his 
 early life proclaims. Regarding his special office r , 
 in the way of imitation we have only to do with 
 the fact that every Christian should look upon 
 himself as one, who should so live as to show 
 himself on the watch for the return of his Lord, 
 "looking for" (as Peter tells) "and hastening 
 unto the coming of the day of God." But with 
 his character we have much to do, as followers of 
 him. For instance, in self-denial. We certainly 
 are not called by God to that peculiar and eccen- 
 tric life which St. John led in the wilderness of 
 Judaea, nor to the austere habits of his course ; 
 for Jesus our example, came (as he himself ex- 
 
 1 We should always remember that the words " witness" and 
 " martyr" are both one in Greek. 
 
 r The ministers and stewards of God's mysteries are specially 
 appointed to prepare for Christ's future coming, as John was to 
 prepare for his first. The beautiful collect telling this truth need 
 not be quoted.
 
 266 ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 presses it) " eating and drinking," that is, in all 
 innocent things living like and with other men. 
 We are not under the stern and severe dispensa- 
 tion of the Law, nor partly under it and partly 
 under the grace of the Gospel, as perhaps would 
 be the most exact description of St. John's posi- 
 tion : but we are altogether in evangelic liberty, 
 and we are now bidden to exemplify the truth 
 that the " kingdom of God is not meat and drink, 
 but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy 
 Ghost 8 . And eccentricity of life, merely for its 
 own sake, has no warrant whatsoever in the 
 Scripture, though so favourite a practice in a 
 well-known but most erring system. Neverthe- 
 less, though we are not summoned thus, and in 
 these particulars to copy the life and character of 
 St. John, still, in spirit, we must be like him. We 
 must deny ourselves. We must take up our 
 cross daily. We must live in all holiness. We 
 must show before God, angels, the church, and 
 the world, that we, though in the world, are not 
 of it, but of another character in all things. 
 The visible streams of our life, as concerning 
 self-denial, will flow, no doubt, in another direc- 
 tion altogether; but they must issue from the 
 same source as that which fed them in all 
 their fulness and rich abundance on the part of 
 St. John. 
 
 He must be followed, too, in his humility, and 
 that, specially, with reference to Jesus, his Lord 
 and our Lord. We find one of old, when he had 
 
 8 Rom. xiv. 17.
 
 ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 267 
 
 himself fought against Rabbah, and taken the 
 city of waters, sending messengers to David that 
 he should come and have the renown of the 
 deed, saying "lest I take the city, and it be 
 called after my name*.'* We find Jonathan, that 
 beautiful and faultless character, (so far as Scrip- 
 ture describes him,) loving David not less fer- 
 vently, because he knew that the kingdom should 
 be his, and not his own, though the king's son 
 and heir. Now, in all this David is, no doubt, 
 the type of Jesus our Lord. As Joab felt to 
 his master, as Jonathan felt to his friend, so did 
 John feel, and most conspicuously act, towards 
 his and our Master, towards his and our Almighty 
 Friend and Saviour. Ample instances of this 
 have appeared in his history. Let us feel and 
 act likewise ! Let us be a voice not for ourselves, 
 but for Christ in this earthly wilderness ! Let us 
 not seek " great things for ourselves," credit, 
 fame, ease, no, nor personal objects of any kind, 
 as the chief aim of our lives ; but, " living to him 
 who died for us," and magnifying him in our 
 body and in our spirit, whose we are, as " bought 
 with the price" of his blood, let us be as nothing 
 in our own sight, ever saying and showing, by 
 our spirit within and by our life without, that 
 we share in the power of that holy aspiration : 
 " God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is 
 crucified to me, and I unto the world u ." 
 
 One more attribute of St. John, worthy of all 
 
 t 2 Sam. xii. 28. u Gal. vi. 14.
 
 268 ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 observation, and of example too, as need may 
 require, was his holy courage, his boldness in 
 the Lord's work. To this we are often sum- 
 moned in the Scripture, nor by precept only, but 
 by example too. No grace indeed seems more 
 inseparable from the character of those saints 
 who have been eminent in the service of God, 
 ever described as a strife, a contest, a battle, an 
 engagement of peril to the flesh, though of se- 
 curity to the everlasting soul of every true war- 
 rior. Such were Noah, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, 
 Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David also, and Samuel, 
 and all the prophets. But none in this shone 
 more brightly than St. John. His life tells it ; 
 his death tells it. Let us, too, seek to abound in 
 this grace and gift ! We may not have to reprove 
 a mighty one, who has our life in his arbitrary 
 power. We may not have to " resist unto blood, 
 striving against sin x ." But no Christian on earth, 
 however peaceable his days and his lot may at 
 present be, can command the same unto the end 
 of his earthly pilgrimage, no, nor for any time, 
 however brief. And who, knowing himself as he 
 ought to do, knows not his need of all encourage- 
 ment here? We have such encouragement in 
 St. John's life : and every servant of God may, 
 and surely ought to learn of him a faithful con- 
 fession of Christ, in all places and among all men, 
 and a matured determination, through grace, to 
 beware of the " fear of man, which bringeth a 
 snare," and to walk in that liberty, which those 
 
 x Heb. xii. 4.
 
 ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 269 
 
 alone know, who having committed their souls to 
 their Father, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, do not 
 fear what the world can do unto them. And 
 many there have been, who, like the brave of 
 some earthly host, have rather rejoiced and found 
 their spirit rise, when summoned to some arduous 
 strife, where much devotion to their Lord was 
 called for, and much glory to be won, in the con- 
 fession and in the service of Christ y. 
 
 y A valued friend, after seeing the above before it was in 
 print, expressed himself to me thus : " Has it ever struck you as 
 a significant fact in St. John's office, that though so highly spoken 
 of by Jesus and apparently so fitted to be one of the first heralds 
 of the gospel, still he was not numbered amongst the twelve, 
 perhaps never saw the Lord after the Baptism in Jordan, had to 
 perform his arduous work uncheered by the Saviour, and was 
 finally cut off in the prime of life ? All this would seem to shew 
 that his office of 'forerunner' was intended to be kept markedly 
 separate and distinct. The thought is an interesting and sugges- 
 tive one, however explained."
 
 JUDAS ISCARIOT. 
 
 As John the Baptist was clearly announced in 
 the Old Testament for peculiar honour, with 
 regard to the Lord Jesus, personally, so Judas 
 was announced for parallel dishonour of the 
 darkest kind. One for the Saviour, another 
 against him, were thus, through the Spirit, fore- 
 told rare examples these of any individuals 3 , 
 who were to appear under the new covenant, 
 being made known in the times of the old ! The 
 Psalms, being full of the sufferings, experience, 
 and whole life of Jesus, speak continually of the 
 traitor Judas. They tell, continually, of one 
 whose curse and condemnation it should be to 
 have his days cut off, and another take his 
 office b , and whose habitation should be desolate, 
 because he " persecuted the poor and needy man." 
 And when Judas was just going forth to betray 
 his Master, Jesus himself applies another Psalm : 
 
 a Perhaps no other but the Virgin Mary could be added. 
 Pontius Pilate and Herod are not spoken of as individuals, though 
 prophesied of as "rulers" and "kings" in the second Psalm, 
 expounded by Acts iv. 25 29. 
 
 b Ps. cix. 8, 1 6.
 
 JUDAS ISCARIOT. 271 
 
 " I speak not of you all ; I know whom I have 
 chosen : but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 
 He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his 
 heel against me d . And precise indeed on Judas 
 and his treachery are Zechariah's words: "So 
 they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver." 
 ..." And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and 
 cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord 6 ." 
 Much more, no doubt, is declared about Judas in 
 the Old Testament, of which these special prophe- 
 cies may be regarded as the key, being expressly 
 taken out by the Spirit, and applied one by one in 
 the New. 
 
 Of Judas's parentage nothing is known except 
 his father's name. On the origin of his title 
 Iscariot (nvip KPN a man of Kerioth) some diffi- 
 culty exists, and no very sure account is attain- 
 able. Eusebius and Jerome draw it from the 
 name of a town in Ephraim. Other expositors 
 consider that a locality, entitled Kerioth f , in the 
 tribe of Judah, was the place of his birth ; while 
 others have maintained that Issachar was his 
 tribe, and that the name Ischariot was an abbre- 
 viation for Issachariotess. This must suffice for 
 the derivation of his name. As the Scripture has 
 stated it, it deserves attention. 
 
 Judas first appears, in. the New Testament, at 
 the ordination of the twelve Apostles. In all the 
 three Evangelists, who have given the lists, he is 
 mentioned the last, and with the traitor's brand 
 
 d Psalm xli. 9 : and John xiii. 18. e Zech. xi. 12, 13. 
 
 f Joshua xv. 25. - g Calmet: Diet. Hist.
 
 272 JUDAS ISCARIOT. 
 
 affixed to his name. He was sent forth as " one 
 of the twelve." He was thus outwardly commis- 
 sioned by the Lord. He heard, like the rest, the 
 Saviour's solemn charge. He went forth em- 
 powered, like the rest, to " heal the sick, to 
 cleanse the lepers, to raise the dead, to cast out 
 devils," and " to preach the kingdom of God." 
 Nor have we any reason whatsoever to doubt, 
 that he, like the rest, did accomplish all these 
 things. Into the spirit, wherewith he acted there- 
 in, we cannot, and we need not dive. If, while 
 thus preaching, healing, and professedly serving 
 the Lord, any of his subsequent devices had en- 
 tered his heart 11 , worse it was, in all probability, 
 than the very spirit of a Simon Magus himself, 
 in " the gall of his bitterness, and in the bond of 
 his iniquity 5 ." 
 
 One only particular is mentioned of Judas, in 
 his apostolic attendance on the Lord. It is that 
 he " was a thief, and had the bag," the recep- 
 tacle of money for the " necessary uses" of the 
 day, which Jesus and his company had with them. 
 We hear of those who " ministered unto him of 
 their substance;" nor have we any reason to 
 believe, that even all his Apostles were totally 
 devoid of means : but small and uncertain as, in 
 all probability, their resources were at any given 
 time, still a portion was ever ready for the 
 
 h This limitation is used here from its being said some time 
 after, " the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, 
 Simon's son, to betray him." John xiii. 2. 
 ' Acts viii. 23.
 
 JUDAS ISCAHIOT. 273 
 
 poor, even those poorer still, or, at all events, at 
 the time in more pressing need. And so con- 
 stantly were such alms given, and benevolence 
 so practised, that one of the two suppositions, in 
 the mind of the Apostles, when Jesus spoke in 
 Judas's private ear, saying, " That thou doest, do 
 quickly," was that he bade him give alms : " For 
 some of them thought, because Judas had the 
 bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those 
 things that we have need of against the feast ; 
 or, that he should give something to the poor k ." 
 
 It is not impossible that Judas, in his covetous- 
 ness, had sought for himself and obtained this 
 office of carrying the bag, and administering 
 those affairs in which he might get surreptitious 
 and forbidden gain. Or, perhaps, it was assigned 
 to him, as the one early perceived, through his 
 character, to be the least honourable and spiritual 
 of the number. And this seems very much to 
 agree with the Scriptural rule, afterwards laid 
 down by an Apostle : " If then ye have judg- 
 ments of things pertaining to this life, set them 
 to judge who are least esteemed in the church 1 ." 
 
 It was in the house of Simon the leper, and 
 just at the conclusion of our Saviour's ministry, 
 that the scene occurred which has led to these 
 remarks. One of the Evangelists thus narrates 
 it : " There came unto him a woman having an 
 alabaster box of very precious ointment, and 
 poured it on his head as he sat at meat. But 
 when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, 
 
 k John xiii. 29. ' i Cor. vi. 4. 
 
 T
 
 274 JUDAS ISCARIOT. 
 
 saying, To what purpose is this waste ? For this 
 ointment might have been sold for much, and 
 given to the poor" 1 ." Another Evangelist writes 
 his narrative thus : " Then saith one of his dis- 
 ciples, 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 cared for the poor, but be- 
 cause he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare 
 what was put therein"." These passages need 
 some reconciliation, and Augustine seems to do it 
 very well on the supposition that it was Judas 
 who first conceived and uttered the thought, and 
 led the others to express themselves in the same 
 way . They however acted in their simplicity and 
 ignorance, at the time, of that which was due to 
 their blessed Redeemer, and with a real interest 
 about the poor, he, because he was a thief. 
 And there is something very striking in the con- 
 trast between the costly bounty of Mary, imme- 
 diately and closely succeeded by the traitor's 
 hateful covetousness ; both, too, exercised on 
 the person of the Lord. And it is the remark of 
 an old commentator, that one feeling in the heart 
 of Judas, leading him to sell his Lord, may have 
 arisen from avaricious spite at this failure in his 
 purpose of theft, and from a desire to compensate 
 for his loss. At all events we know that imme- 
 diately after " he went unto the chief priests, and 
 said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will 
 
 m Matthew xxvi. 7 10. John xii. 47. 
 
 Tract 50, in Joan.
 
 JUDAS ISCARIOT. 275 
 
 deliver him unto you ? And they covenanted with 
 him for thirty pieces of silver?. And from that 
 time he sought opportunity to betray him 1. And 
 this gladdened the enemies of Jesus, and from 
 that time, showing cunning and cowardice, not 
 less than treachery, Judas " sought how he might 
 conveniently betray him r ." 
 
 That opportunity soon came. The day of the 
 Passover arrived. And Jesus was sitting down with 
 the twelve. St. John describes the treachery of 
 Judas as specially connected with the termination 
 of our Lord's ministry, when he saith, that " supper 
 being ended, the Devil having now put into the 
 heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray 
 him ; Jesus knowing that the Father had given 
 all things into his hands, and that he was come 
 from God, and went to God ; he riseth from 
 supper, and took a towel and girded himself 8 ." 
 And Judas, no doubt, had his part in the outward 
 washing of the disciples' feet. He received also 
 a warning of his evil deed, the intimation from 
 his Master that his purpose was known: "1 
 speak not of you all; I know whom I have 
 chosen." He saw Jesus on his account " troubled 
 in spirit," and testifying still more plainly of 
 the dark deed : " Verily, Verily, I say unto 
 you, that one of you shall betray me." He 
 
 P Here, as in so many other points, Joseph, being sold, exactly 
 typified Christ. The thirty pieces of silver made about three 
 pounds fifteen shillings. 
 
 1 Matthew xxvi. 14 17. r Mark xiv. n. 
 
 8 John xiii. 2 <;. 
 
 T 2
 
 276 JUDAS ISCAR10T. 
 
 saw, too, the disciples, in their perplexity, " look- 
 ing one on another, and doubting of whom he 
 spake," Hitherto we only hear that the Devil 
 had put the treachery into his heart. He resisted 
 not. The fiery dart found ample material there, 
 which it could kindle into a flame, into a very 
 " world of iniquity*." But now, according to the 
 Scripture, the Devil was to get more full posses- 
 sion of him. John, lying on Jesus's breast, and in- 
 duced by Peter to make the inquiry, saith unto 
 Jesus, " Lord, who is it ? Jesus answered, He it is, 
 to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. 
 And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to 
 Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the 
 sop Satan entered into him". This giving of a 
 sop was a fresh sign of familiar union and com- 
 panionship at the same board ; and the very word 
 " friend," in the subsequent question of Jesus, 
 "Friend, wherefore art thou come?" would de- 
 rive a most accurate meaning from this act*. 
 But Judas was now past all feeling. The warn- 
 ing of Jesus was in vain. The trouble of Jesus 
 touched not his heart. The perplexity of the 
 disciples staggered him not. The sop of intimacy 
 (mighty as such a claim on fidelity was in all 
 Eastern climes) was taken and eaten in his deep 
 deceit. "And after the sop, Satan entered into 
 
 1 James iii. 6. u Ver. 25 27. 
 
 * In the original it is eralpos, the exact word denoting such 
 intimacy. The classical reader will probably recall the 'Eraipfia 
 of the Greeks. Liddell and Scott render it by the words " a 
 companionship, association, union, club, brotherhood."
 
 JUDAS ISCARIOT. 277 
 
 him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, 
 do quickly." . . . "He then having received the 
 sop went immediately out ; and it was night." 
 We know the events of that solemn night the 
 discourse of consolation, the full prayer of inter- 
 cession, in which Jesus declares that none of his 
 had been lost " but the son of perdition ;" the 
 agony in the garden. And now the hour of the 
 Saviour's capture was come, the hour for his 
 surrender of himself unto death. " Behold," saith 
 he, " 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. And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of 
 the twelve v , came, and with him a great multi- 
 tude with swords and staves, from the chief 
 priests and elders of the people." And he gave 
 according to compact, the sign of the trea- 
 cherous kiss. " Forthwith he came to Jesus, and 
 said, Hail, Master ; and kissed him." In another 
 Gospel we hear of the band and the officers, 
 whom Judas received in order to take Jesus, and 
 to prevent resistance from his followers. All was 
 done as an arch-traitor might act under the guid- 
 ance and by the possession of the arch-enemy. 
 Jesus was taken prisoner, bound, and led captive, 
 to be condemned and crucified. 
 
 To Judas the hour of true repentance never 
 
 y Jerome remarks on this : One of the twelve in number, not 
 in desert in body, not in spirit. Chrysostom, that his sin is 
 thus enhanced. Not a disciple only not one of the seventy only, 
 but " one of the twelve."
 
 278 JUDAS ISCAEIOT. 
 
 came. That of despair and remorse came speedily. 
 Some persons have supposed that Judas, wicked 
 as he was, had not seen the full extent of his 
 treachery, nor all its consequences ; had not an- 
 ticipated that his betrayal would bring death, 
 even the death of the cross, to that righteous 
 and innocent Lord, whose righteousness and inno- 
 cency he knew so well. But this, after all, is 
 mere human speculation; and, considering the 
 terms in which Scripture describes him through- 
 out, and the nature of his hateful act, no such 
 extenuation need be sought for him; nor need 
 we even, with St. Chrysostom, hold that this was 
 one of those very cases, in which Satan suffered 
 not his agents to see all at once the full and real 
 character of their own wickedness. The com- 
 ment of Origen is, perhaps, more true and scrip- 
 tural. He notes, that, when his remorse came, 
 his spirit utterly sank ; and then he sought to 
 undo his iniquity, but all in vain ; and then the 
 Devil drove him to despair ; and " he went and 
 hanged himself." Nor did he reap any profit from 
 the price of blood : but out of that money, meant 
 for his own wicked gain and gratification, God, 
 in his providence, brought out a beautiful type of 
 Jesus and his blessed work ; for with that money 
 a field was bought " to bury strangers in ;" and 
 the " field of blood " may have thus a gracious as 
 it has a cursed meaning too : for thus was repre- 
 sented that peace and final rest 2 obtained for all 
 believers in Christ out of all lands, for all the 
 
 z Adapted from August. De Coen. Dom.
 
 JUDAS ISCARIOT. 279 
 
 strangers and the pilgrims of faith, through the 
 sufferings of Christ, dying, as he did, the "just 
 for the unjust," and of whom even Judas was 
 constrained at the end to say, " I have sinned in 
 that I have betrayed the innocent blood." 
 
 In the passage of Scripture recently before us, 
 we are told that "Judas went and hanged him- 
 self;" in another that "falling headlong in the 
 midst" (that is, the midst of the field,) "he burst 
 asunder, and his bowels gushed out." The early 
 fathers wrote much on the explanation and re- 
 conciliation of these two passages ; and several 
 of them unite in the supposition that the branch 
 on which he had suspended himself broke, and 
 that he fell with violence down some steep place 
 in the field where he ended his life by his own 
 hand. Another difficulty arises from the appa- 
 rent discrepancy of the two statements given by 
 St. Matthew and St. Luke, in regard to the " pur- 
 chase of the field with the reward of iniquity*." 
 Pool, who never shuns difficulties such as these, 
 states, that "Judas might have agreed for the 
 field at that price, and yet the chief priests bought 
 it, by a strange providence leading them to that 
 purchase." And a man is often said to do a thing 
 when he furnishes the means for doing it. And 
 it has been, on this passage, well observed that 
 the Holy Spirit here does not so much regard his 
 design or ultimate act, as the event of that act, 
 namely, that the field was " bought with the re- 
 ward of iniquity." Thus fearful was the end of 
 
 a Acts i. 18, compared with Matthew xxvii. 5, 8.
 
 280 JUDAS ISCARIOT. 
 
 the traitor ; and thus was fulfilled the declaration 
 of the Psalmist, if not a prophecy concerning 
 Judas himself : " that bloody and deceitful men 
 shall not live out half their daysV 
 
 A few words now on the motive of Judas in 
 his treacherous deed. People have imagined many 
 and various grounds on which he acted. But 
 these are all of mere human fancy, save one. We 
 may search again and again every passage bear- 
 ing on his history without finding more than 
 one. That was covetousness. Satan put the evil 
 thought into his heart, that he should betray his 
 Lord for the sake of money, just as Satan put it 
 into the heart of our first parents to disobey God. 
 He acted on them through the lust of the flesh, 
 and pride, and the sight of the eye. He acted 
 on Judas through the " love of money ;" and, not 
 only that, but entered into him through the ad- 
 vantage given by this sin. The meanness and 
 the worthlessness, in addition to the wickedness 
 which such a propensity as covetousness shows, 
 did not in the least diminish from its force and 
 sway, in urging the traitor on to his extreme 
 villainy. When we undertake to review the charac- 
 ter of one given over to a reprobate mind, then, 
 painful as our needful conclusions may be regard- 
 ing the miserable gain, as compared with the 
 desperate guilt to which the hope of it led, we 
 must not hesitate to look on human depravity in 
 all its hideousness. Nay, more. We must not turn 
 aside, and say that a character, such as that of 
 
 b Psalm Iv. 23.
 
 JUDAS ISCARIOT. 281 
 
 Judas, has no lessons for us. By it we are taught 
 that all outward means and advantages, without 
 the power and grace of the Holy Ghost, will not 
 and cannot of themselves preserve any one. Who 
 more than Judas had these ? By it we are taught 
 that if Satan be not resisted, when casting his 
 evil thoughts into the heart of man, he will soon 
 get the entire victory, and enter in and take full 
 possession of him. By it we are taught that 
 " when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, 
 and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death ." 
 In Judas, as in many cases, it caused even death 
 here. And by it we are warned to " beware of 
 covetousness," which, in one or another shape, 
 has slain its thousands and its tens of thousands, 
 and has led and is leading still many and many d 
 a soul to make the " shipwreck of faith." The 
 life and the character of Judas Iscariot convey 
 these lessons in a most painful form ; but not, on 
 that account, by any means needless, or admitting 
 neglect. Let us beware of the spirit which pre- 
 vailed in Hazael of old, when he, being told that 
 he should betray his master and lord, was shocked 
 at the very thought, and yet he subsequently fell 
 into this very guilt 6 ! May we be preserved, by 
 Divine grace, from any similiar sin, and any 
 
 c James i. 15. 
 
 d Virgil marks the number of those who loved money, and 
 therefore suffered penally after death. 
 
 " Aut qui divitiis soli incubuere repertis, 
 Nee partem posuere suis : qua; maxima turba cst. 
 
 M\\. VI. 610-11. 
 e 2 King? viii. 13.
 
 282 JUDAS ISCAR10T. 
 
 kindred act towards our Master and Lord; and, 
 while we rightly hold Judas in our reprobation, 
 let us aim at that character just in contrast to 
 his, which no inducement on earth would lead to 
 deny our Saviour in any imaginable thing, or to 
 live in any thing unworthy of that .great name 
 which it is our glory to bear, even the name of 
 Christ.
 
 ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE. 
 
 JN O special circumstances as to the call of St. 
 Thomas are recorded in the Scripture ; nor in- 
 deed do we hear any thing of him personally, 
 beyond the mention of his appointment to the 
 apostleship, until a short time before our Sav- 
 iour's death. Lazarus had died. Jesus had 
 expressed his intention of going to Judsea in the 
 words, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go 
 that I may awake him out of sleep a ," " Thomas, 
 which is called Didymus, b said unto his fellow- 
 disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with 
 him." The disciples, aware of the danger to 
 which a return into Judsea would subject their 
 Master, had just previously endeavoured to dis- 
 suade him from that course, and Thomas here 
 gives expression to his love and to his devotion, 
 wishing, we may well suppose, to animate his 
 brethren in the same way. I write thus with 
 all deliberation, and with the full knowledge 
 
 a John xi. n. 
 
 b " St. Thomas, according to the Syriac import of his name, 
 had the title of Didymus, which signifies a twin." (Cave, " Life 
 of St. Thomas.") See Lampe, "Evan. Joan." chap. xi. 16, for a 
 full consideration of the name.
 
 284 ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE. 
 
 that many commentators, both c ancient and 
 modern, have taken an unfavourable view of these 
 words. 
 
 At the last supper, and as one topic of Christ's 
 consolatory discourse to his disciples, he had told 
 them that he was going to prepare a place for 
 them in the " many mansions" of his Father's 
 house, and had promised to return again, and 
 to receive them to himself. He had ended this 
 subject with the declaration, " Whither I go ye 
 know, and the way ye know d ." Thomas then 
 said unto him, " Lord, we know not whither thou 
 goest ; and how should we know the way ?" This 
 remark, however, needs no long consideration ; 
 for in this ignorance he merely shared in that 
 which was experienced by all his fellow-servants, 
 until they were endued with light and power 
 from on high, specially bestowed on the day of 
 Pentecost e . 
 
 We now approach that celebrated passage or 
 
 c St. Chrysostom, for instance, has the strange comment on this 
 passage, that it proves the peculiar timidity and infirmity of Thomas, 
 and shewed that he feared the Jews more than any other of the 
 disciples. However, he makes him some compensation by adding 
 immediately, that he afterwards traversed the earth, fearless of all 
 nations and perils in his course. (Horn, on John, 61 .) The com- 
 mentary of Pool, valuable as it usually is, may be quoted as a 
 modern instance of a most harsh view relative to these words of 
 Thomas. " Rashness, unbelief," &c. are there assigned to him. 
 
 d John xiv. 4. 
 
 e We may, perhaps, note the expression of these feelings on the 
 part of St. Thomas, as an indication of that special weakness in 
 faith, subsequently shown in such a memorable instance, and of 
 his eagerness in giving his opinion and making his assertions, 
 shown also at the s^ame time.
 
 ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE. 285 
 
 event in the life of St. Thomas, which is one of 
 the very few things recorded in the Scripture be- 
 tween the day of Christ's resurrection, and the 
 day of his ascension into heaven. Most interest- 
 ing is the history ; nor, in the clear and full con- 
 viction of the Divinity of Jesus, as proclaimed 
 throughout all Scripture, ought we to forget that 
 among the glories shining forth out of this nar- 
 rative is that of its presenting him to us as our 
 Lord and our God. 
 
 The twentieth chapter of St. John's Gospel 
 tells that on the evening of Christ's resurrection, 
 " being the first day of the week, when the doors 
 were shut where the disciples were assembled for 
 fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the 
 midst, and said unto them, Peace be unto you. And 
 when he had so said, he shewed unto them his 
 hands and his side," pierced, no doubt, with the 
 nails which had been driven through them on 
 the cross ; and thus he gave them the most con- 
 vincing proof that he was no phantom and no 
 spirit ; but that " same Jesus" who was crucified, 
 and who now lived again in his own risen body. 
 " Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto 
 you." And he once more ordained them to go 
 forth and accomplish his work, as witnesses for 
 him, in the fulfilment of their apostolic office. 
 
 The next thing of which we are informed in 
 St. John's narrative and we may observe that 
 to him alone we are indebted for any account of 
 this transaction is, that " Thomas, one of the 
 twelve, was not with them when Jesus came."
 
 286 ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE. 
 
 We are not told what the reason was. As in St. 
 Luke it is said, that "the eleven" were assembled, 
 and received the two disciples, who had seen the 
 risen Jesus on the way to Emmaus, to suppose 
 that Thomas had not been with the other apo- 
 stles during any part of that night on which our 
 attention is fixed, would scarcely be admissible ; 
 but perhaps his faith had in some measure failed 
 after the crucifixion of the Lord, and had not 
 even been confirmed by this testimony. And 
 this may have rendered him somewhat careless 
 and cold in keeping up a more lengthened stay 
 with his brethren, engaged, as they were, in 
 those holy things of which Jesus was the great 
 object and end. And this may have withdrawn 
 him from the company longer than should have 
 been the case, though at a later hour he re- 
 turn ed f . 
 
 f This passage is written with a due consideration of the diffi- 
 culty which has been raised, as to reconciling the statement on the 
 absence of Thomas at this time with the statement in St. Luke 
 (xxiv. 33), relative to the " eleven gathered together." A very 
 natural solution has, however, been proposed, on the supposition 
 that, though Thomas might have been with the disciples when 
 the two who had met Jesus on the way to Emmaus came and 
 announced the Lord, he had gone away temporarily, and therefore 
 this evening did not see Jesus as the rest, though he came into their 
 assembly, as St. John narrates, after Jesus had gone. Lampe ob- 
 serves on the passage, that " whether he came of^his own accord, 
 or had been sent for by the other apostles after the Lord had ap- 
 peared, is uncertain." The same commentator has some able 
 notices on the subject. (Evang. Joan. xx. 24.) A very easy way 
 of clearing the whole matter up lies in the view that the word 
 " eleven" (Luke xxiv. 33), may be taken generally, exclusive of 
 Thomas, but this is not tenable.
 
 ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE. 287 
 
 There may also perhaps have been wanting in 
 St. Thomas that zeal, patience, and studiousness in 
 hearing and learning to ascertain truth, which a 
 heathen writers so beautifully commends in the 
 subject of his pen ; but after all, it is by no means 
 certain that he was to blame for being absent. If 
 it was so, then, in the ensuing narrative, we have 
 another proof that God very often brings good 
 out of evil, and through the sins or omissions of 
 men introduces his most gracious words and most 
 loving deeds. The three precious parables on 
 God's willingness freely to forgive all sin to the 
 penitent believer in Christ, all arose from the 
 murmurs of the Pharisees against Jesus, because 
 he received sinners and ate with them b . So 
 here, through the absence of Thomas, supposing 
 him to blame for it ; and through his incredulity, 
 for which certainly he was to blame, when told 
 by his fellow-disciples about the appearance of 
 the Lord in his risen body, Jesus condescended 
 to give a mighty proof of his own identity, and 
 from Thomas received his own rightful title, in 
 the declaration, " My Lord and my God." 
 
 Proceeding with the narrative, we find that 
 Thomas joined his brethren after Jesus had de- 
 parted from them. His fellow-apostles imme- 
 diately addressed him thus : " We have seen the 
 
 g Cornelius Nepos, in the Life of Epaminondas, sect. iii. " Stu- 
 diosus audiendi : ex hoc enim facillime disci arbitrabatur. Itaque, 
 cum in circulum venisset, in quo aut de reptiblica disputaretur, 
 aut dc philosophia sermo haberetur, nunquam inde prius discessit, 
 quam ad finem sermo e?set deductus." 
 
 11 Luke xv. i.
 
 288 ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE. 
 
 Lord." But instead of giving credit to their 
 testimony, instead of recalling the Lord's many 
 miracles, even to raising the dead, as in the case 
 of Lazarus, and instead of giving weight to the 
 Saviour's own prophecy on this very matter 1 , 
 Thomas shewed here that incredulity, that " evil 
 heart of unbelief," for which all the eleven were 
 at another time upbraided by the Lord, k and on 
 the same subject too, namely, his resurrection. 
 And not only this ; but Thomas appears to have 
 spoken on the matter with a kind of impetuous 
 obstinacy : " Except I shall see in his hands the 
 print of the nails, and put my finger into the 
 print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his 
 side, I will not believe." A most unwarrantable 
 affirmation on his part ! For what does he there- 
 by declare? That he will not believe what had 
 absolutely taken place, and that which his fellow- 
 disciples had told him, otherwise than on certain 
 terms which he ventures to lay down and pre- 
 scribe. He measures out that exact amount of 
 evidence, in all its details, without which he, at 
 all events, will not believe. Gracious indeed, and 
 wondrous was it, that in the mercy of his Lord 
 and Saviour, he was not left in his unbelieving 
 state ! Gracious it was and wondrous too, that 
 Thomas should have received from his conde- 
 scending Master those very signs and that very 
 testimony, without which he affirmed that he 
 would never believe in the resurrection of Christ ! 
 Another week elapsed. " After eight days his 
 
 ' Mark viii. 31. k Mark xvi. 14.
 
 ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE. '28D 
 
 disciples were again within, and Thomas with 
 them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, 
 and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto 
 you 1 ." This was his first and tender salutation. 
 And Thomas shared in the comfort and encou- 
 ragement, as no doubt he specially required, in 
 remembrance of his lack of faith only a few days 
 before. But he met with no reproach stronger 
 than the command, that, after he had had the 
 very tokens which he named, he should be of a 
 better mind : " Then saith he to Thomas, Reach 
 hither thy finger, and behold my hands ; and 
 reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side : 
 and be not faithless, but believing." And thus, as 
 in the Sacraments, Jesus provided him and pro- 
 vided us all with an appeal to other senses in addi- 
 tion to the spoken word. And not only was the eye 
 of Thomas then exercised, but also another sense, 
 even that of touch, and the very wounds of Jesus 
 were felt by him, first inflicted at the cross, and 
 it may be (though this is a subject on which we 
 would speak with all reverential awe) to remain 
 for ever in his glorified body, as the eternal 
 tokens of his love in dying for sinful men, and 
 as the trophies of his victory over death in the 
 day of his humiliation" 1 . 
 
 The narrative thus proceeds : " And Thomas 
 said unto him, My Lord and my God." Here was 
 his full confession of faith in the risen Saviour, 
 in Jesus as God n . And let us mark how Jesus 
 
 1 John xx. 26. < See Zech. xiii. 6. 
 
 11 "Thomas did not shew more weakness and unbelief at the 
 
 II
 
 290 ST. THOMAS THE - APOSTLE. 
 
 received this word of divine worship : and let the 
 whole church rejoice in the testimony thus given 
 and thus received. Let us also mark how Jesus, 
 as he was wont, not only spoke, in his answer to 
 Thomas, for him, but extended a blessing even 
 still more richly unto all believers in his holy 
 name : " Thomas, because thou hast seen me, 
 thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have 
 not seen, and yet have believed." 
 
 Nothing more is heard of St. Thomas in Scrip- 
 ture, except that he was one of the seven, with 
 whom Jesus held his interview at the Sea of 
 Tiberias, as narrated in the last chapter of St. 
 John's Gospel, and that he was one of those 
 forming the company of apostles and disciples, 
 who " continued with one accord in prayer and 
 supplication," after the ascension of the Lord, 
 and previous to the day of Pentecost. Soon the 
 
 first than he shewed faith at the last, being the first that acknow- 
 ledged Christ as ' God over all blessed for ever/ the object of 
 people's faith and confidence, and his Lord, to whom he freely 
 yielded up himself as a servant, to be guided and conducted by 
 him." (Pool's Comment.) " He shewed himself in this an ex- 
 cellent theologian, declaring, as he did, the twofold nature and 
 the hypostatic union of Christ. In speaking of him as Lord, he 
 told of his human nature. In speaking of him as God, he told 
 his divine, and confessed him one and the same, as his Lord and 
 his God." (Theoph. Com.) 
 
 Observe elsewhere the same blessed system in the declara- 
 tions of our Lord : Luke x. 20 ; Matthew xii. 46-50 ; Luke xi. 
 28. Chrysostom comments on the passage under review : " Let 
 any one inclined to say, ' Would that I had lived in the Lord's 
 day, and seen him doing miracles,' remember this saying, ' Blessed 
 are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.' " (Tract, in 
 Joan. 121.)
 
 ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE. 291 
 
 time came for his illumination and gifts, in that 
 rich abundance which all his fellows shared. The 
 universal testimony of the early writers in the 
 church speaks of the east as his special field of 
 exertion. He is stated to have preached the 
 Gospel to the Medes, Persians, Caramanians, 
 Hyrcani, Bactrians, and neighbouring nations. 
 And it is reported that the Portuguese, through 
 whom Europeans first became acquainted with 
 remote Eastern tribes, found many thousand 
 families of Christians in those localities, the 
 origin of whose faith could be fairly traced to 
 St. Thomas and his fellow-labourers. They were 
 generally very poor, and had in their churches 
 no images of saints, nor any representations ex- 
 cept that of the cross. Cave, in his Life of St. 
 Thomas, gives a very interesting account of their 
 tenets and practices, mentioning, among other 
 things, that they specially observe the Sunday 
 after Easter, " in memory of the famous con- 
 fession which St. Thomas on that day made of 
 Christ, after he had been sensibly cured of his 
 unbelief." Such records have their value, and 
 could not rightly be passed over without notice 
 in considering the life on which we have been 
 engaged. Of his death nothing certain is known, 
 but much uncertain is told ; and, as is the case 
 with so many of the apostles, many fables were 
 put in circulation about his corporeal remains. 
 With them we have nothing to do, except to 
 reject and to disregard them. His fame and 
 dignity lie in his apostolic office and work, which
 
 292 ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE. 
 
 he filled in the power given him by the Holy 
 Spirit ; and little as is mentioned of St. Thomas 
 in the Scripture, that little is much compared 
 with the notices of many others in the apostolic 
 company. Many among them would afford no 
 materials at all, from the word of God, for com- 
 ment on their words and acts, but it is not so 
 with him. Nor will our attention to these things 
 prove unprofitable, if we learn from them the 
 weakness and unbelief of our common nature, 
 even when most favourably placed; and again, 
 if they lead us to dwell on the condescension and 
 forbearance P of our Lord, so graciously displayed 
 in the chief matter, which the life of St. Thomas 
 affords to the eye and observation of the church. 
 And as he, when subsequently taught by the 
 Holy Ghost about all the person and work of 
 Christ, went forth to distant lands in the 
 strength of his name, so let all, who have ex- 
 perienced the power of the Gospel, live as pil- 
 grims and as strangers here, and " follow the 
 Lamb whithersoever he goeth," and confess his 
 name by their example and word on all fit occa- 
 sions, wheresoever God sends or places them. 
 
 P Nelson (in his " Fasts and Festivals") draws a practical use 
 from the further instruction given to St. Thomas by the Lord in 
 the Hth chapter of St. John's Gospel, regarding himself as " the 
 way" to heaven. He says it should teach us, in regard to our 
 fellow creatures, " to bear with the heaviness of the understand- 
 ing, and to endeavour with gentleness and patience to instil that 
 knowledge which is necessary to make devotion perfect."
 
 PONTIUS PILATE. 
 
 rp 
 
 JLHE first mention of Pontius Pilate's name is 
 
 found in the 3d chapter of St. Luke, which giving 
 various dates in order to define the time when 
 "the word of GOD came unto John, the Son of 
 Zacharias, in the wilderness," has the following 
 among the list "Pontius Pilate being governor 
 of Judaea." He had been appointed to this office 
 about two years before, and he held it altogether 
 about ten years that is, nearly to the end of 
 Tiberius Caesar's reign. Judaea, at this time, being 
 a Roman province, or, to speak more accurately, 
 " a part of the province of Syria," was governed 
 by one who was then entitled the " Procurator 
 Csesaris* 1 ." These functionaries " held then* office 
 and power at the pleasure of the Emperor, and 
 he delegated to them both military command 
 and jurisdiction." And although considerable 
 alteration was made in the administration of 
 
 a The Vulgate has adhered to the very name in the transla- 
 tion: " procurante Poritio Pilato Judaeam." The Greek is more 
 general. In fact, the very same word is used to express the 
 "reign" of Tiberius Csesar, and the "government" of Pilate. 
 On the word fjyt^v see Campbell's Dissertations, No. VIII. p. 
 iii. . 17.
 
 294 PONTIUS PILATE. 
 
 the Roman provinces on the establishment of 
 the imperial power under Augustus, still we know 
 that the rules previously in force, and binding 
 the governors to regular communications with 
 Rome, were by no means relaxed. Mutual com- 
 munications were constantly passing between the 
 Caesar and his representative, however distant: 
 and as the provincials had formerly the right 
 and custom of applying to the Roman Senate b , 
 in case there was any ground of complaint against 
 their governor, so now the same course was open 
 to them, only with the distinction that it was to 
 the Emperor and not to the Senate that their 
 applications were made. These few preparatory 
 remarks may not be without benefit, in their 
 bearing on a future part of Pontius Pilate's 
 history. 
 
 The next passage, where Pilate's name appears, 
 is that in the opening of the 13th chapter of St. 
 Luke, " There were present at that season some 
 that told him (i. e. Jesus) of the Galilseans, whose 
 blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices." 
 There is nothing in the Scripture explanatory of 
 this event, and much obscurity attends it. Still 
 some light may be thrown upon it by a passage 
 in Josephus c ; and the account of the matter 
 given by Cyril is not unsatisfactory. He states 
 that these Galilseans were the followers of that 
 Judas of Galilee, who is mentioned in the Acts, 
 (v. 37.) Judas forbade his disciples to call any 
 
 b See Smith's Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Ant. on the word Provincia. 
 c Antiq. Bk. XVI II. ch. 4.
 
 PONTIUS PILATE. 295 
 
 one their master ; and, following out his prin- 
 ciples, they refused to acknowledge Csesar, and 
 interfered with the people who were offering vic- 
 tims in the prescribed way for the welfare of the 
 Emperor and that of the Roman empire. They 
 however had sacrificial rites of their own, which 
 they considered to be after the Law of Moses, 
 and in the midst of these rites and ceremonies 
 Pontius Pilate ordered them to be slain; and thus 
 " their blood was mingled with their sacrifices." 
 
 Of Pontius Pilate no more is known or heard 
 till the morning of the crucifixion. The proceed- 
 ings of that day have brought his name into 
 close and awful connexion with our blessed 
 Lord's condemnation and death : and the decla- 
 ration of our Creed, that he was " crucified under 
 Pontius Pilate," is not a mere statement of date, 
 but an assertion, that, in submission to Pilate's 
 earthly sway, Jesus died for us. And now to 
 mark his conduct relative to that event, with 
 such brevity as we can attain, without losing 
 the force of those successive incidents which bear 
 upon his character and illustrate his life. 
 
 When the Jews, having long compassed and 
 sought our Saviour's death, had at last effected 
 his capture by night in the garden of Gethsemane, 
 they first brought him to the house of the High 
 Priest, and there subjected him at once to a kind 
 of examination, with false witnesses suborned to 
 accuse him. And he himself, on the High Priest's 
 adjuration that he should announce whether he 
 was "the Christ the Son of GOD," at once affirmed
 
 296 PONTIUS PILATE. 
 
 that it was so : " Thou hast said, (or, I am). 
 Nevertheless, I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye 
 see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of 
 power, and coming as the clouds of heaven d ." 
 On this the High Priest rent his clothes, saying, 
 "He hath spoken blasphemy;" and they "all 
 condemned him to be guilty of death." 
 
 In the morning, "as soon as it was day," 
 another consultation was held among the same 
 enemies of Christ. They said to him, " Art thou 
 the Son of GOD?" His answer again was the 
 language of affirmation, " Ye say that I am. And 
 they said, What need we any farther witness? 
 for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth e ." 
 And then the " whole multitude of them arose, 
 and bound Jesus," and led him away to the 
 "hall of judgment V and "delivered him to 
 Pontius Pilate the governor." Jesus virtually 
 remained in Pilate's hand and power until given 
 up to be crucified, with exception of the short 
 time when he was remanded to Herod, but only 
 to be sent back again. 
 
 Now from the whole course and tenor of Scrip- 
 tural history (which is full of details, enabling us 
 to form a correct judgment here) we may lay it 
 
 d Mat. xx vi. 6466. 
 
 e Luke xxii. 667 i. 
 
 f npaiT&piov, the word used here originally signified " the 
 Roman general's tent in the camp. The word was also used 
 in several other significations, which were derived from the 
 original one. Thus the residence of a governor of a province 
 was called Prci'torium" (Cic. against Verres. St. John xviii. 28, 
 33. Smith's Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Ant.)
 
 PONTIUS PILATE. 297 
 
 down for a certainty, that Pilate himself bore no 
 malice whatsoever against Jesus, neither before 
 his arraignment, nor during his examination, nor 
 subsequent to it. It is exceedingly important to 
 understand the true nature of his sin and iniquity 
 in condemning Christ, and that will soon appear; 
 but it arose not from any source like this. 
 
 Pilate's first question, when the enemies of 
 Jesus brought him in &, was this : " What accusa- 
 tion bring ye against this man ?" In order to ask 
 this, he went out from the judgment-hall to 
 address the Jews, who, at the very moment when 
 they were compassing their intended wickedness, 
 would not undergo the ceremonial pollution of 
 entering Pilate's abode at the time of the Pass- 
 over. It has been well observed that, in the 
 providence of GOD, all this tended to give to the 
 transaction still more publicity, as multitudes 
 were without, who scarcely could or would have 
 been admitted to the judgment-hall. 
 
 The Jews at first merely answered Pilate's 
 question thus : " If he were not a malefactor, 
 we would not have delivered him up to thee" 
 hoping, perhaps, to have him condemned, merely 
 at their general accusation. But now Pilate at 
 once shewed his desire of freedom from all re- 
 sponsibility in the case; and thus, at the very 
 commencement of the trial, that weak, wavering 
 conduct was displayed, which, in a judge, specially 
 on life and death, is such an heinous sin. He 
 
 g The time of each event in this narrative is arranged after 
 Townshend's Chron. and Hist. Order.
 
 298 PONTIUS PILATE. 
 
 said " Take ye him, and judge him according to 
 your law." 
 
 The enemies of Jesus immediately declare that 
 it was not " lawful for them to put any man to 
 death" shewing that this was what they desired, 
 but which they could not inflict, though Pilate 
 could do so, as the Roman governor. Moreover, 
 it was needful that Jesus should be put to a cer- 
 tain kind of death, i. e. crucifixion, a Roman kind 
 of punishment ; and even had the Jews not lost 
 the power of putting any one to death h , (which it 
 is supposed now to have been the case,) this ex- 
 treme penalty could not have been inflicted on 
 Christ except in one way ; viz. by Roman con- 
 demnation. Accordingly, the Jews, passing by 
 all which merely had to do with their own reli- 
 gion, at once fabricate a charge, of which they 
 knew that Pilate must take cognizance, i. e. a 
 political charge. They said ; " We found this 
 fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to 
 give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is 
 Christ a king." This at once necessitated Pilate's 
 notice and attention ; and the whole bent of the 
 charge, brought before Pilate against Jesus, cen- 
 tered on that matter till his final condemnation. 
 At the same time it appears evident that, from 
 the beginning to the end of the trial, Pilate was 
 
 h Some difficulty .exists on this subject. Stephen, we know, 
 was stoned to death by the Jews : but this seems to have been 
 in a kind of tumultuous assault after the court, before which he 
 appeared, had raised a prejudice against him, and not according 
 to allowed law at the time.
 
 PONTIUS PILATE. 299 
 
 not actuated by any impression of his own that 
 Jesus was really endangering any civil rights 
 of his sovereign, or. in the least disturbing the 
 nation. Pilate's aim appears this : to induce the 
 Jews to forego any charges of the kind, lest he 
 himself should suffer in any way by their repre- 
 sentations. This, we think, is the key to his 
 whole conduct, which it does not in the least 
 extenuate nay, rather, in one sense and aspect, 
 it is an aggravation ; for holding Jesus innocent, 
 he allowed himself to be made the instrument 
 of his unrighteous and most cruel death. 
 
 Pilate now questioned Jesus in many ways, as 
 to his claim of being " King of the Jews." Jesus 
 told him the true spiritual nature of his kingdom, 
 and maintained that he was a King: and that 
 those, who were of the truth, would assuredly 
 hear his voice '. The Roman answered, " What is 
 truth?" after the fashion of his nation, his day 
 and his rank answered in the vain, sceptical 
 philosophy, of which counterparts even still re- 
 main. But on this expression we need not dwell. 
 Either now deriding, or at all events despising 
 the Lord's kingly claim, he went out to the Jews 
 and declared that he found no fault in him. 
 And thus far he bore no actual part in the Lord's 
 death. But now the enemies of Jesus become 
 fiercer and more express in their accusations k . 
 They repeated that "he stirred up the people, 
 beginning from Galilee unto this place." Pilate, 
 in his wish to escape the decision of the cause, 
 
 ' John xviii 37, 38. ^ Luke xxiii. 5.
 
 300 PONTIUS PILATE. 
 
 and desiring perhaps to do some favour or honour 
 to Herod, with whom he was at enmity, by ac- 
 knowledging his jurisdiction, caught at the word 
 Galilee, and at once sent him to Herod, "who 
 himself also was at Jerusalem at that time." 
 With Herod's conduct we, at present, have nothing 
 to do, farther than to state that he sent him back 
 to Pilate, and that be and Herod enemies before 
 from some cause among the many which might 
 rise up through their respective position towards 
 one another were thus and that day made friends. 
 And in this union, taken with its origin and cause, 
 some have seen a type of Gentile and of Jew, then 
 opposed to one another in all things, but sub- 
 sequently united 1 in persecuting the Church and 
 its members. For whosoever persecutes the true 
 Church persecutes Jesus himself" 1 . 
 
 Jesus being again brought back to Pilate, " he 
 called together the chief Priests and the rulers 
 of the people," and again sought to represent to 
 them that he was guiltless : " I find no fault in 
 him" "no, nor yet Herod." He then offered 
 " to chastise him" probably in order to content 
 the Jews, and then to let him go. But now a 
 new scene began. It was the custom at Jeru- 
 salem for the governor, at the anniversary of the 
 feast of the Passover, to release unto the people 
 one prisoner whom they desired ; and this privi- 
 lege was now claimed. Pilate now sought to 
 obtain their consent for the preservation of our 
 Lord by these means; and at this time of his 
 
 1 i Thess. ii. n. m Acts ix. 4.
 
 PONTIUS PILATE. 301 
 
 manifold endeavours to the same end, it is ex- 
 pressly said: " For he knew that the chief Priests 
 had delivered him for envy n ." But this desire 
 failed too . The cry arose : " Away with this 
 man, and deliver unto us Barabbas." 
 
 Three times more, before the statement appears 
 that the voice of the people and " of the chief 
 Priests prevailed," Pilate sought how he might 
 release Jesus. But all in vain. He tried to per- 
 suade where he should have justly judged and 
 decided. Like Eli, he reasoned, where he should 
 have acted should have fulfilled his own high 
 duty. Fear of a tumult fear of self-compromise 
 fear of unpopularity and perhaps, above all, 
 fear of his stern and suspicious master Tiberius 
 these apprehensions and feelings were stronger 
 in his heart than the claims of justice, truth, and 
 humanity. Certainly he " took water and washed 
 his hands P before the multitude, saying, I am 
 innocent of the blood of this just person : see ye 
 to it." But this outward act washed not away 
 one spot or speck of his inward and dark guilt. 
 
 Pilate now, "willing to content the people," 
 " gave sentence that it should be as they re- 
 quired V And now he took Jesus, and scourged 
 
 n Mark xv. 10. 
 
 About this time the mysterious message from his wife reached 
 Pilate's ear on the Saviour's behalf. Another instance of a woman, 
 in the Scripture, on his side, while not one is spoken of as ac- 
 cusing, reviling, or maltreating him. 
 
 P See Deut. xxi. 1-7. Pilate, though not a Jew, yet living 
 among the Jews, might have learnt this rite from them, and 
 practised it accordingly to impress them at such a time, 
 n M?xrk xv. 15. and Luke xxiii. 24.
 
 302 PONTIUS PILATE. 
 
 him which was either an inseparable accompa- 
 niment of crucifixion, or was done (as some hold) 
 with a still lingering hope that inflictions like 
 these, even at the last hour, might satisfy the 
 enemies of Christ. And when the Roman soldiers, 
 in whose hands Jesus was now placed for his 
 execution, had crowned him in their mockery, 
 Pilate certainly once more appealed to the Jews, 
 bringing Jesus forth, so forlorn to sight, and yet 
 so royal in the eye of faith. He said, " Take 
 ye him and crucify him, for I find no fault in 
 himi." 
 
 And now a new title of Jesus meets Pilate's 
 ear. That was, the " Son of GOD." It was used 
 in bitterness against him : but it struck deep into 
 Pilate's heart : and " he was the more afraid." 
 Again he went into the judgment-hall, and said 
 unto Jesus, "Who art thou?" And soon the Sav- 
 iour meekly addressed him, acknowledging his 
 power to release or to crucify, but teaching that 
 all power was from heaven that sin consisted 
 in design rather than in the mere extent of an 
 act as to its consequences, and therefore that the 
 sin of others was even greater than his ; " He 
 that delivered me unto thee," is put for each 
 and all of his bitter foes. Here again Jesus is 
 the witness of truth. 
 
 It is written, that from " thenceforth Pilate 
 sought to release him ;" that is, of course, with 
 new solicitude ; for all his endeavours had been 
 more or less of the same character. All, all how- 
 ever in vain. Measures like these could not be 
 
 q John xix. 1-6.
 
 PONTIUS PILATE. 303 
 
 honoured by GOD. The cry arose, which Pilate 
 could not withstand, uttered perhaps by those 
 who saw and dreaded any change of the sentence 
 pronounced, and who perhaps also knew his r 
 character full well : " If thou let this man go, 
 thou art not Caesar's friend. Whosoever maketh 
 himself a king speaketh against Caesar." And the 
 priests echoed the cry, " We have no king but 
 Caesar." All was now over. " Then delivered he 
 him therefore to be crucified :" and Jesus was led 
 away to death even " the death of the cross." 
 
 These were the transactions of the day, in 
 which Pilate bore a conspicuous part. It is well 
 for us to mark his doings closely and to bear 
 them in mind. They do not in the least diminish 
 from his guilt ; but they shew us, if we rightly 
 apprehend them, the true nature and character 
 of that guilt. As on the part of GOD all the 
 events connected with redemption centre to- 
 gether in one focus of light, love and glory in 
 the death and crucifixion of Jesus, so in the very 
 same act, human sin and human wickedness of 
 all kinds meet together, as in one point and com- 
 bination of guilt 8 . Judas had his part of treachery. 
 The chief Priests,' the Scribes and the Pharisees 
 had their part of all unwearied hate, falsehood 
 
 ' It seems to have been the exact contrast to that of the "Justus 
 et tenax propositi," so admirably described by his countryman 
 and contemporary. Moreover, he yielded to the very fears, 
 which Horace selects as those to which the " mens solida" would 
 not yield the "vultus instantis tyranni," and the " civium ardor 
 prava jubentium." Carm. Lib. III. c. iii. 
 
 s See Acts ii. 2.3. iii. i 8.
 
 304 PONTIUS PILATE. 
 
 and perjury. Herod and his men of war had their 
 part of mockery and violence. The people had 
 theirs, crying out ; " Not this man, but Barabbas." 
 Pontius Pilate had his part too in the wicked- 
 ness, but in a manner different altogether, though 
 not less heinous. At least so great was his crime 
 also, that all comparison seems inadmissible. He 
 was appointed to administer justice. His was 
 the office of protecting the innocent, not less than 
 of adjudging the guilty to their due punishment. 
 It was his special duty to act without fear of man, 
 to undergo any personal loss or danger whatso- 
 ever rather than to prostitute the character of a 
 judge. But he acted just counter to all these 
 positive claims and responsibilities. Through fear 
 of man with the desire of keeping in favour with 
 the Jews in dread of any accusation that he was 
 not " Caesar's friend" reaching the Emperor's ear, 
 he broke every rule of justice, equity and truth. 
 In spite of his convictions as to the complete 
 innocence of Jesus in spite of his perceptions 
 why he was delivered up by the Jews, he con- 
 demned him to death. And instead of his efforts 
 to release Jesus being in the least an extenua- 
 tion of his sin, they cast on him the dark shade, 
 which that man deserves, whose conscience con- 
 demns him for any course pursued, but who still 
 pursues it, even to a sin against life itself. Of 
 what sore punishment shall such a one be held 
 worthy ! Thus Pilate acted. This was Pilate's 
 sin. And if one thing more than another proves 
 what his real estimation of Jesus and his doc-
 
 PONTIUS PILATE. 305 
 
 trine was, it is that after Christ's condemnation 
 and death, he would be no more induced or per- 
 suaded to do any thing whatever against his 
 name, his honour, or his followers. He would 
 not alter the title on the cross. He would issue 
 no fresh command, nor add additional force to 
 guard the sepulchre. He at once granted the 
 request, made by Joseph of Arimathea, for the 
 body of Jesus. And in all this we may read, if 
 not his repentance, at least his conviction that 
 he had had to do with no real malefactor, but 
 with One, whom sooner or later all pronounced 
 innocent, even to a Judas, casting down the price 
 of his blood to the thief on the cross, declaring 
 that " this man had done nothing amiss," or to 
 the centurion, witnessing his last breath, and 
 glorifying GOD with the words of his declaration : 
 " Certainly this was a righteous man*." 
 
 Scripture tells us nothing of Pilate's subse- 
 quent life. Perhaps it was one of hardness and 
 impenitence. Perhaps it was one of misery and 
 remorse. We hear of no repentance for the deed. 
 Much has been written on his supposed commu- 
 nications with Tiberius relative to Christ's ar- 
 raignment and crucifixion ; but though, in all pro- 
 bability, such reports were made by him to the 
 Emperor, nothing of authority remains. Jose- 
 phus states that about this time he put an end 
 to a disturbance", which had arisen in Jerusalem, 
 
 1 Luke xxiii. 47. 
 
 11 Antiq. of the Jews, bk. xviii. ch. iii. It is curious to observe, 
 in illustration of Pilate's character, as one, subject to be influenced 
 X
 
 306 PONTIUS PILATE. 
 
 (regarding the demand of money for an aque- 
 duct,) with circumstances of much treachery 
 and violence. And, finally, we are informed by 
 the same author, that, after some severe, but 
 effectual measures, which he took to quell a 
 tumult in Samaria, " the leading men of the Sa- 
 maritans applied to Vitellius, a person of consu- 
 lar dignity, at that time governor of Syria, and 
 brought a charge of murder against Pilate. Vi- 
 tellius upon this sent his friend Marcellus to 
 take charge of the government of Judaea, and 
 ordered Pilate to Rome, to answer before the 
 Emperor the accusations exhibited against him. 
 Pilate had held the government of Judaea ten 
 years, when he prepared for his journey to Rome, 
 but Tiberius departed this life upon his arrival x ." 
 The end of this matter is quite uncertain. That 
 he was banished to Vienne, on the banks of the 
 Rhone, is a mere unsupported tradition. And 
 the same may be said about his committing 
 suicide ; for though Eusebius gives his authority 
 for this statement, still it is one of the most 
 doubtful kind. Nor need any thing more de- 
 finite be said on the story of his casting himself 
 from the mountain still bearing his name, into 
 the waters of the Swiss Lake of Lucerne. Never- 
 theless such traditions and tales, foundationless 
 
 by scenes of turbulence, that Josephus, in describing the event, 
 says that " the Jews, enraged at this proceeding, assembled in 
 great numbers to try the effect of popular clamour in diverting 
 him from his purpose." 
 
 * Antiq. of Jews, bk. xviii. ch.iv.
 
 PONTIUS PILATE. 307 
 
 though they be, have their moral too. They tell 
 of the general belief that fear and guilt and re- 
 morse haunted Pilate to his grave. Nor need 
 we conceal that we, who have written this narra- 
 tive on Pilate's life, character and deeds, could 
 not help experiencing a painful thrill, almost a 
 shudder within, as we once floated by the town 
 of his supposed banishment, and as we gazed, 
 many years afterwards, on the clouded mount y, 
 called after his name. 
 
 y Mount Pilate. The real derivation of the word is " Mons 
 Pileatus," the cloud-capped mountain. " It collects all the clouds 
 which float over the plains from the West and the North." " This 
 almost perpetual assembling of clouds was long attributed by the 
 superstitious to the unquiet spirit" of the man whose name it 
 bears. See account in Murray's Hand-book for Switzerland. 
 
 x2
 
 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 
 
 C ERTAIN characters come forth on the page of 
 Scripture, as "burning and shining lights," to 
 illuminate the Church of Christ, and then very 
 speedily to set in all their glory and radiance. 
 This is just in agreement with the manifold and 
 infinite variety of God's word. Year after year, 
 from their youth to age, Joseph, and Samuel, and 
 Daniel are before our eyes, in abundant details 
 of their whole prolonged life. But with many it 
 is quite otherwise. It is otherwise with Abel. 
 We only know one act of his then the stroke of 
 martyrdom from his brother's hand. It is other- 
 wise with Enoch. We only know that "he walked 
 with God," that he prophesied on the second 
 coming of the Lord Jesus Christ 3 , and that " he 
 pleased God." Then we hear of God taking him 
 of his "translation, that he should not see 
 deathV And, lastly, it was otherwise with 
 Stephen. Suddenly he arose, as a bright lumi- 
 nary in the spiritual heavens, and soon did he 
 disappear. But as we consider those few circum- 
 stances of his life, and his character and acts, 
 which the Scripture supplies, let us remember, 
 
 a Jude 14. b Hebrews xi. 5.
 
 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 309 
 
 that, as the limb or joint of some statue tells, 
 with all certainty, how beautiful and how sym- 
 metrical the whole must have been, so, too, the 
 few deeds and words of the proto-martyr Stephen 
 plainly tell how God by the Spirit had altogether 
 fashioned him. 
 
 The 6th and 7th chapter of the Acts seem 
 mainly written for the purpose of making known 
 the character, the acts, the words, and the death 
 of Stephen. To understand him rightly it is 
 needful to understand those exact circumstances 
 under which he first appears. 
 
 The church of Christ was, at this time, in a 
 state of rapid and glorious increase. " The num- 
 ber of the disciples was multiplied '." But, as 
 nothing upon earth is perfect, as no perfect 
 church is to be expected till the Lord's return, 
 so, too, the outbreak of sin soon appeared in the 
 infant church at Jerusalem. At this time, all 
 the poor believers in Christ were provided with 
 aid and relief out of the common stock ; and, as 
 there were many believers in Christ who were 
 native Jews, or Jews of Judsea, so, too, there were 
 many believers in Christ who were also Jews by 
 race and faith, but who habitually dwelt in foreign 
 lands. Many of these, having come up for the 
 Feast of Pentecost d , had now remained in Jeru- 
 salem, and became sojourners there, at all events 
 for a season, from having been converted to 
 Christ and his Gospel. These persons were en- 
 
 c Acts vi. i. <* Acts ii. 5.
 
 310 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 
 
 titled Hellenists, or Grecians*. Thus there were 
 two distinct classes in the church two parties, if 
 we may use the expression ; and we fear that the 
 invidious meaning often involved in the word 
 would not be unsuitable on the present occasion : 
 for we hear of " murmuring" among them the 
 very term being used under which God condemns 
 this sin f . The foreign Jews murmured against the 
 Hebrew Jews, " because their widows were neg- 
 lected in the daily ministration e." Here, mani- 
 festly, was the outbreak of sin. Regard the 
 matter in any light which this murmuring pre- 
 sents. If the complaint was founded on truth, 
 those who were partial in distributing the alms 
 sinned. If, on the other hand, the complaint was 
 unfounded, those who murmured and brought an 
 untenable charge sinned. There was sin some- 
 where. There is no escape from the charge. 
 
 The apostles immediately took this matter into 
 serious consideration. They acted on the prin- 
 ciple, that, as mischief arises in any church, as 
 any " root of bitterness springs up to trouble it," 
 a remedy should be sought, and means available 
 
 e Observe that the Greek here is "Hellenists," not "Hellenes," 
 as in Acts xiv. i, &c. This latter word, " Greeks," is used by 
 St. Paul to signify all heathen people, and stands in opposition to 
 the word " Hebrews," which term, as frequently used, included 
 both the Jews of Palestine and the dispersed Hellenists, or foreign 
 Jews, who were both by birth and religion Hebrews. The Greek 
 appellation is frequently attached to their name, from the custom 
 in St. Paul's time of calling foreigners generally by the name of 
 Greeks. 
 
 f i Cor. x. 10. g Acts vi. i.
 
 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 311 
 
 for that object applied. Probably, they saw at 
 once that the arrangement of the rising dispute 
 would unduly occupy them ; and, at all events, 
 they felt that now the time had come when they 
 could not preside any longer over the distribution 
 of pecuniary relief. " They called the multitude 
 of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not 
 reason that we should leave the word of God and 
 serve tables." Therefore, no doubt being taught 
 and led by the Holy Spirit, they provide a remedy 
 commensurate in every way to the need of the 
 case. " Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among 
 you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy 
 Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over 
 this business. But we will give ourselves con- 
 tinually to prayer and to the ministry of the 
 word. And the saying pleased the whole multi- 
 tude." 
 
 Seven men, of good report in the church, were 
 then chosen out, and solemnly ordained, by the 
 apostles, for their work; and though the very 
 name Deacon does not appear in this passage of 
 Scripture, yet the title was drawn from a word 
 which does the Greek term for the " ministra- 
 tion," spoken of in the first verse, being diaconia }t . 
 
 h The word is itself of a very interesting character. Liddell 
 and Scott quote as its usual derivation, &a /cows, " one who is 
 dusty from running." Should this be correct, (for it is a doubt- 
 ful point,) the fatigue here expressed gives much emphasis to the 
 term, applied by our Lord to his own work for us : " The Son 
 of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister." Again, 
 both in classical and sacred Greek the word SiaKovtw has an active
 
 312 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 
 
 To supply this ministration was the primary object 
 of the office ; but it was by no means limited to 
 the temporal care of the poor believers; and 
 though it would be here out of place to enter at 
 large on the interesting subject which their office 
 suggests, still we know that it was of a spiritual 
 not less than of a temporal character, as St. Ste- 
 phen's history proves, and St. Philip's too, (one 
 of these deacons,) and many passages of Scrip- 
 ture, too well known to need quotation here. 
 Much blessing and honour from God attended 
 the measure. Immediately after we hear that 
 " the word of God increased ; and the number of 
 disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly ; and a 
 great company of the priests were obedient to the 
 faith." 
 
 All this introduces the history of St. Stephen, 
 on whom, exclusively, attention is now fixed, 
 nothing more being, at this time, told of the other 
 deacons, except that one of them, Nicolas, was a 
 " proselyte of Antioch." 
 
 The very name of Stephen signifying, in 
 Greek " a crown" has no little significance 
 
 sense denoting those employed instrumentally, " to confer" or 
 distribute (i Pet. iv. i o.) as " ministers and stewards of God's holy 
 mysteries." All which is well illustrated by the duty of the ser- 
 vant, who, at a feast, had to give out the portion to each guest. 
 He was to act under the architriclinus, or "governor of the feast," 
 (as in John ii. 8,) and give fairly and equally to all. Such ser- 
 vants might do nothing partially. (See Cave's "Life of Stephen," 
 sec. v.) May all the ministers of Christ attend to the suggestions 
 of the word willing toil and labour free, impartial ministration 
 of all good gifts, temporal and spiritual !
 
 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 313 
 
 attached to it in connexion with his martyr- 
 dom'. Epiphanius states, that he was one of 
 the " seventy disciples," sent forth by the Lord, 
 but with little foundation. When he is first 
 named, he is described as " a man full of faith 
 and of the Holy Ghost :" and his qualifications 
 for the Lord's work were soon publicly shown; 
 for we find that, being "full of faith and of 
 power, he did great wonders and miracles among 
 the people." 
 
 This success roused virulent opposition, all di- 
 rected against him, or, at all events, against him 
 specially. The enemies of the Gospel gathered 
 themselves together against him, in one united 
 band, drawn from many sects and many quarters. 
 "Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which 
 is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and 
 Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of 
 Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen." 
 And Stephen like one probably then present, 
 even St. Paul himself did not refuse the holy 
 disputation in Christ's name k , though the latter 
 would then have taken the wrong side, had he 
 been engaged at all. 
 
 * Eusebius thus treats of the ordination of deacons, and, in par- 
 ticular, of St. Stephen : " There were also seven approved men, 
 ordained deacons through prayer and imposition of the apostles' 
 hands, for the public administration of the church's affairs, joined 
 with St. Stephen, which first after the Lord, as soon as he was 
 ordained (as though he were appointed for this purpose), is stoned 
 unto death by them which slew the Lord ; and for this cause is 
 the first of the triumphing martyrs of Christ, according to his 
 name fie beareth a crown." Eccl. Hist. lib. ii. c. i. 
 k Acts xvii. 17.
 
 314 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 
 
 There is some doubt who the Libertines were, 
 but it is considered most probable that they were 
 the emancipated descendants of Jews who had 
 formerly been captive either in Rome or in Egypt, 
 or perhaps in both places. They had returned to 
 Jerusalem, and had their synagogues there for 
 prayer and exposition of the law. 
 
 The next opponents of Stephen, here men- 
 tioned, are the Cyrenians. These arose from 
 the noted city of Gyrene, where a great number 
 of Jews resided. They sent annual offerings to 
 Jerusalem, where they also had their synagogue, 
 and Jews "from the parts of Libya about Cyrene" 
 are specially mentioned as present at the day of 
 Pentecost 1 . And the number of Persons at Jeru- 
 salem from Cyrene may be gathered from our 
 hearing of " Simon of Cyrene," of " Lucius of 
 Cyrene m ," and of "the men of Cyrene," who, 
 upon the persecution that followed St. Stephen's 
 death, "were scattered abroad from Jerusalem, 
 and preached as far as Phoenice, Cyprus and 
 Antioch"." There were also the Alexandrians 
 from the city of the same name, where vast mul- 
 titudes of Jews resided; the men of Cilicia, a 
 province of Asia Minor, whereof the capital was 
 Tarsus, also the abode of many Jews ; and lastly, 
 some from Asia, which, in all probability, here 
 means neither Asia at large, nor even the whole 
 of Asia Minor, but only that part of Asia near 
 Ephesus, to which that title is so frequently 
 given in the Scriptures. All these parties united 
 
 1 Acts ii. 10. m Acts xiii. r. n Acts xi. 19, 20.
 
 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 315 
 
 against Stephen, and probably with much learn- 
 ing and ability : for many of them represented 
 localities where there were eminent schools, and 
 where intellectual attainments were held in the 
 highest repute. But all their efforts were in vain. 
 Stephen spake by the Spirit of God, who gave 
 him utterance; "and they were not able to resist 
 the spirit and the wisdom by which he spake." 
 He proved by such irresistible arguments that 
 Jesus was the Christ the true, prophesied Mes- 
 siah that they were utterly confounded, and 
 could bring nothing forward to maintain their 
 own side with effect. 
 
 And now we may observe, that not only was the 
 general statement of Christ fulfilled, on his ser- 
 
 7 
 
 vants being persecuted even as he was himself, but 
 also that the adversaries of the Gospel hesitated 
 not to adopt, in the case of St. Stephen, precisely 
 the same line of unbridled wickedness which they 
 had adopted in the case of our Saviour. When 
 his grand work of raising Lazarus was told to the 
 Pharisees, when the fact of the miracle could not 
 be denied, and no arguments could resist such a 
 demonstration of Divine power, they abandoned 
 all thoughts of reason, justice and truth. They 
 compassed the death of Jesus by all and every 
 means. They moved the people against him. 
 They laid hold of him and took him prisoner. 
 They hired false witnesses against him. Against 
 Stephen too all this was re-enacted. His enemies 
 stirred up the people and the elders and scribes 
 against him, and they " caught him, and set up
 
 316 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 
 
 false witnesses." And their accusation was, that 
 he "did not cease to speak blasphemous words 
 against the holy place and the law ; for we have 
 heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall 
 destroy this place, and shall change the customs 
 which Moses delivered us." 
 
 Now here, as in almost every other false charge 
 under which men have unrighteously suffered, 
 the libel was undoubtedly drawn from those ac- 
 tual subjects on which St. Stephen was wont to 
 speak. Satan and his agents are, of course, far 
 too cunning and adapted for their work, to seek 
 the weapons of their enmity in that quarter 
 where they cannot be found. We may conclude 
 that St. Stephen had continually spoke of serving 
 the Lord God " in spirit and in truth," and ac- 
 cording to the tenor of Christ's words in the 
 4th chapter of St. John : " Woman, believe me, 
 the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this 
 mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem , worship the 
 Father ;" that is, with peculiar privilege or effi- 
 cacy. We may conclude that he had spoke much 
 concerning the Gospel, which came by Jesus 
 Christ, as more excellent than the law, which 
 came by Moses . We may conclude that he had 
 boldly announced those speedy judgments on 
 Jerusalem, which Jesus had so mightily foretold. 
 We may conclude that Stephen had proclaimed a 
 greater One than Moses appearing on earth to de- 
 liver Israel, and to save his people from their 
 sins ; and to " bring in everlasting righteousness ;" 
 
 John i. 17 ; 2 Cor. iii. 10 13.
 
 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 317 
 
 and finally, how every jot and tittle of the law 
 must be fulfilled in Christ. We need not doubt 
 that Stephen had declared all these things. But 
 it was utterly false that he could have spoken 
 one blasphemous word against the temple of 
 God ; or could have said that Jesus of Nazareth 
 was to destroy that temple, which it was ap- 
 pointed for the Romans to overthrow; or could 
 have taken that line of argument about the 
 Mosaic customs, ceremonies, and rites, which was 
 totally adverse to the Spirit's design. For it was 
 His will that all these should pass away by gra- 
 dual abandonment, and not that the first preachers 
 of the Gospel should make that abandonment ei- 
 ther a prominent topic of discourse, or a claim on 
 those who believed. 
 
 Such was the false testimony brought against 
 St. Stephen ; and who can read or hear of it with- 
 out marking how the " fellowship with the suf- 
 ferings of Christ" was given to him in having to 
 endure such things? But he quailed not. He 
 showed no " confusion of face" no guilt no 
 alarm. " All that sat in the council, looking 
 steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been 
 the face of an angel." We cannot decide whe- 
 ther this was some miraculous glory and lustre, 
 or whether this only describes the extreme se- 
 renity and dignity of his look. Some have held 
 one, and some the other view. 
 
 Nevertheless the trial proceeded. " Then said 
 the high priest, Are these things so ?" And now 
 commenced Stephen's long and systematic speech.
 
 318 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 
 
 It is my belief that few passages of Scripture are 
 less understood. Therefore I consider that some 
 examination here may well be employed on its 
 contents. 
 
 The object of St. Stephen was this : to make 
 known Jesus as the prophesied Messiah of the 
 Old Testament the true, living, and eternal 
 " glory of God's people Israel." This Jesus had 
 lately been rejected by the Jews had been 
 " taken with wicked hands and crucified," chiefly 
 at the instigation and by the designs of those 
 persons in authority whom St. Stephen now ad- 
 dressed. He had to bring this home to their con- 
 sciences. He had to shew that they had acted 
 just as their fathers (whose history they knew 
 and allowed) had done before them ; for that 
 same people who had rejected God's prophets in 
 old time, now had rejected God's own Son, " his 
 well-beloved, whom he had sent into the vine- 
 yard." He had to prove that all their benefactors, 
 through whom God had dealt with them, had 
 met the same treatment as Jesus at their hands. 
 Stephen had thus to humble his hearers, and to 
 lead them to acknowledge Jesus as the Saviour, 
 though they had thus treated him. Therefore 
 he commenced his address with a notice of their 
 father Abraham, and advances to the time when 
 Joseph appeared. And Stephen then tells them 
 how the patriarchs, (of whom they were so proud,) 
 " moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt," 
 (ver. 9,) Joseph, who was to be their great deli- 
 verer, and the benefactor of all his kindred ; and
 
 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 319 
 
 who in all this whether humbled or whether 
 exalted was the type of Christ. 
 
 Stephen then proceeds with his mighty narra- 
 tive, steeped through and through with power, 
 truth and adaptation to his great aim. And now 
 Moses appears. He was to be a still more illus- 
 trious instrument in God's hand for his people 
 Israel. He was chosen by God to bring them out 
 of their cruel bondage, and to lead them forth 
 into the good land of promise. But how was he 
 treated by his brethren ? How was he received by 
 them ? How was he requited on their part ? This 
 is the subject on which Stephen now dwells with 
 emphatic strength. He tells of Moses smiting the 
 Egyptian, " for he supposed his brethren would 
 have understood how that God by his hand would 
 deliver them. But they understood not." (ver.25.) 
 Then Stephen tells of Moses, as compelled to fly 
 into the land of Midian ; and, in the 35th verse, 
 he contrasts the honour which God put upon 
 Moses, with the dishonour which his brethren 
 put upon him; and shews, how to the end he 
 was opposed, and thwarted, and disobeyed: for 
 they " thrust him from them, and in their hearts 
 turned back again into Egypt." And sin and 
 idolatry attended this contempt of their deliverer; 
 and then " God gave them up to worship the host 
 of heaven ;" and though they had among them 
 " the slain beasts and the sacrifices," (ver. 42,) 
 and the tabernacle and the temple, in which they 
 so much boasted still these outward ordinances 
 and privileges kept them not in the true worship
 
 320 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 
 
 of God. And all was subject to change and to 
 transiency. The tabernacle was for a time. And 
 when David would have built a temple, the time 
 for that was not come. Solomon was to build it 
 at God's chosen time. But, after all, " the Most 
 High dwelleth not in temples made with hands ;" 
 and He would not be thus limited and confined ; 
 and it was His purpose now to introduce a new 
 and better and more glorious dispensation. And 
 then Stephen rebuked his hearers for their hard- 
 ness of heart and unbelief, and for the betrayal 
 and the murder of the Just One, (who had come 
 as its Head and Mediator,) even as the nation had 
 rejected all God's prophets, and all God's messen- 
 gers whom he had sent before. 
 
 Stephen was allowed to proceed no farther. 
 In all probability the speech is incomplete, hav- 
 ing been cut short by furious interruption. 
 " When they heard these things they were cut 
 to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their 
 teeth." (ver. 54.) Their pride was so exasperated 
 their bigotry so kindled their anger so awak- 
 ened by spiritual truth, and the commencement 
 of personal application, that they could no longer 
 be restrained from manifesting all their wrath. 
 But see the contrast in the demeanour of Ste- 
 phen. " He being full of the Holy Ghost looked 
 up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of 
 God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of 
 God," standing (as it has been often observed) 
 like one risen up, all ready to countenance, 
 crown and reward his suifering servant. And
 
 ST. STEPHEN THE AIARTYK. 321 
 
 Stephen, inspired with fresh zeal and courage, 
 and willing rather to glorify his God, and tell all 
 he saw, than thinking of his own safety, pro- 
 claimed the glorious spectacle : " Behold, I see 
 the heavens opened, and the Son of man stand- 
 ing on the right hand of God." At no dissimilar 
 saying of Jesus Christ, the high priest rent his 
 clothes, and charged him with blasphemy P. " No 
 man can say that Jesus is the Lord, except by 
 the Holy Ghost 1 :" and the claim of divinity for 
 him, the Son of man, would and could never, of 
 course, be heard by any zealot of the Jews with- 
 out indignation. Many persons of that character 
 were present at this time, and heard St. Stephen's 
 testimony on the glorious vision now revealed to 
 his gaze. Though without legal power to put 
 any man to death without Roman warrant 
 though the judicial sentence of the sanhedrim 
 to any punishment at all had not yet been pro- 
 nounced they flew on him with one accord, 
 " crying out and stopping their ears." They 
 would not wait for the usual forms in executing 
 that punishment 1 " on an offender, which, in ston- 
 
 P Matthew xxvi. 64. <i i Cor. xii. 3. 
 
 r Stoning was one of the four capital punishments among the 
 Jews. It was specially assigned to the sin of blasphemy, and to 
 any one who sought to seduce another to the worship of false 
 gods. See Deuteronomy xiii. 6-12. "Their hand" that is, 
 the hand of him on whom the attempt was made " shall be first 
 upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the 
 people; and thou shalt stone him with stones that he die" (ver. 
 9, 10.) Hence our Lord was continually subject to threats of 
 stoning sometimes under pretence of law sometimes in sudden 
 ebullitions of his enemies' wrath (e.g. John x. 31). So also the 
 Y
 
 322 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 
 
 ing, God's law provided for, with the exception 
 of one, namely, that the witnesses should cast 
 the first stone at him ; for this may be gathered 
 from the fact that these " persons laid down their 
 clothes at the feet of Saul," for more ready action 
 in their bloody and unrighteous work. " And 
 they stoned Stephen, calling upon God r , and say- 
 ing, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." He knew the 
 truth, that the " spirits of them that depart hence 
 in the Lord" are with him at once, without one 
 moment of intervening time between their de- 
 parture from this body of sin, and suffering, and 
 death ; that to " be absent from the body is to be 
 present with the Lord ;" that Jesus receives into 
 his own safe-keeping, peace and rest all his own 
 people until the glad day of the resurrection, 
 when their spirits shall once more be reunited to 
 their bodies, and they shall be " for ever with the 
 Lord," glorified bodies and glorified spirits in one. 
 He knew who had said unto the dying thief, 
 
 prophets and apostles. Hebrews xi. 37; Acts xiv. 5, 19; 2Corinth- 
 ians xi. 25, &c. 
 
 r It should here^be very carefully noted that the words " calling 
 upon God and saying," are not accurately translated. The word 
 God is not in the verse at all. The Gr thus rendered is eiriicdhov- 
 fitvov teat \eyovra, and this ascribes much more glory to Jesus him- 
 self than our translation. The accurate interpretation of the fact 
 told would be " calling on Jesus and saying," though it is diffi- 
 cult to render the original into correct words in our language. 
 'ETTtKoXeVat is to call upon or invoke in prayer, " specially address- 
 ed to a God." (Liddell and Scott's Lex ) See a very interesting 
 note relative to this whole subject on the same word in Park- 
 hurst's Lex. Stephen died a nvirtyr to the Divinity of Christ
 
 ST. STEPHEN THE MARTYR. 323 
 
 whose body was then on the cross, and soon to be 
 cast into the malefactor's grave : " To-day shalt 
 thou be with me in Paradise." And so in know- 
 ledge, in faith, and in love, at this testing-time, 
 with foes all around and with death so nigh, 
 Stephen glorified the Saviour, and said, " Lord 
 Jesus, receive my spirit. 
 
 " Moreover he kneeled down, and cried with a 
 loud voice s , Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." 
 And thus, as in the nature of his accusation, and 
 also in the fury of his persecutors, he was con- 
 formed to his Lord, so here too, in his spirit of 
 love and forgiveness and concern for his very mur- 
 derers, he was conformed to him, among whose 
 last words was this blessed utterance : " Father, 
 forgive them, for they know not what they do !" 
 
 And then he " fell asleep," that is, died in faith 
 died in peace of spirit died to all sorrow, sin, 
 or evil to come 1 . His warfare was accomplished. 
 His work was done. His testimony was delivered, 
 and he had now sealed it by his death. His 
 crown was won. Devout men carried his body 
 to his burial, " and made great lamentation over 
 him." His persecution was only the prelude of 
 much more immediately succeeding it : but all 
 tended to the glory of God ; and it may be that 
 the great coming day will reveal many souls con- 
 verted by his address, by his intercession, by his 
 prayer and by his martyrdom, who shall "all 
 rise up to call him blessed," and give new lustre 
 to his crown. 
 
 s tKpuf, with his heart and soul in the cry. * Isaiah Ivii. i. 
 
 Y2
 
 APOLLOS THE PREACHER. 
 
 JL HE history of Apollos, though occupying but a 
 brief portion of the Acts, and told quite in a 
 summary manner, has nevertheless in it very 
 much to interest and very much to edify us. It 
 claims observation in several distinct aspects. 
 For instance, as illustrating doctrine of the most 
 important kind on the respective " baptism of 
 John," and on that " in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus." Secondly, as bearing, through subsequent 
 affairs in the church of Corinth, on the ministry 
 of St. Paul himself. Apollos, too, may surely be 
 regarded as an example of one, who, beginning 
 well and fervently devoting his earlier qualifica- 
 tions to the service of his GOD and to the spiritual 
 welfare of his fellow-creatures, had " more abun- 
 dance a ," (according to the promise;) and this, 
 through means which GOD specially provided for 
 him, viz. the teaching of Aquila and of Priscilla, 
 " who took him unto them and expounded unto 
 him the way of GOD more perfectly 13 ." 
 
 The personal history of Apollos is thus intro- 
 duced. On St. Paul's arrival at Corinth, prepa- 
 ratory to his long sojourn in that city, he found 
 
 a See Matt. xiii. 12. b Aets xviii. 26. c _.\ c t s xviii. 1 1, 18.
 
 APOLLOS THE PREACHER, 325 
 
 there a certain Jew " named Aquila, born in Pon- 
 tus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Pris- 
 cilla, (because that Claudius had commanded all 
 Jews to depart from Rome d ,) and came unto 
 them. And because he was of the same craft, he 
 abode with them and wrought ; for by their occu- 
 pation they were tent-makers." After a consider- 
 able period had elapsed, after varied labours 
 and perils, (told in the 18th chap, of the Acts, 
 4th to 18th ver.,) which St. Paul went through at 
 Corinth, " he took his leave of the brethren, and 
 sailed thence into Syria, and with him Aquila and 
 Priscilla" ..." and he came to Ephesus and left 
 them there" With these persons, Aquila and 
 Priscilla, we shall presently have to do ; and whe- 
 ther they were converted to the knowledge of 
 Jesus Christ before St. Paul became the inmate 
 of their house, or subsequently, is not of impor- 
 tance, as bearing on our present subject. We 
 know that at this time they were enlightened by 
 the Holy Spirit, and were fellow-helpers of St. 
 Paul in the cause of the gospel. 
 
 After leaving Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus, 
 St. Paul proceeded on his journey towards Jeru- 
 salem; and the way is now open for directing 
 our attention to Apollos himself. 
 
 '' Tliis was the expulsion to which Suetonius refers, (book iii. 
 ch. 2 5.) " Judceos, impulsore Chresto, assidue tumultuantes, 
 Roma expulit." He speaks, as we see, falsely, on the cause of 
 their turbulence, supposing that Suetonius uses the word here 
 written Chrestus, in that high meaning which it is generally 
 held he did, though with much intermixture of an heathen's ig- 
 norance, on the very name as well as on the deeds of the Christ- 
 ians to whom he refers.
 
 326 APOLLOS THE PREACHER. 
 
 He was a Jew by race and nation, but an 
 Alexandrian by the place of birth a matter, 
 after all, of no consequence, ordinarily speaking, 
 in our history ; while a man's parentage and race 
 is, very often, just the reverse. Nevertheless, to 
 be a native or inhabitant of Alexandria would 
 probably at this time involve certain conditions 
 bearing on such a man's whole life, character and 
 attainments. Alexandria was a city of very great 
 celebrity, and especially for learning. It was al- 
 ways frequented by Jews in very large numbers. 
 Josephus states that Alexander assigned to them 
 a particular quarter of the city ; and Philo, that 
 the Jews inhabited two out of five parts, into 
 which it was divided. The celebrated version of 
 the Old Testament called the Septuagint was 
 there made; and all the records of its history 
 which remain prove most clearly that for many 
 centuries it was a place where not philosophy 
 alone, but religious learning, in connexion with 
 the Scriptures was highly cultivated. Eloquence 
 and rhetoric were much studied too. We may 
 therefore be well prepared for finding " a Jew, 
 born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty 
 in the Scriptures." 
 
 He arrived at Ephesus while Aquila and Pris- 
 cilla were staying in that city. Having attained 
 to a certain amount of Christian truth, viz. that 
 implied in the statement, that he was " instructed 
 in the way of the Lord," and being of that cha- 
 racter, which, with small attainments, is far more 
 likely to prove fruitful and profitable in the
 
 APOLLOS THE PREACHER. 327 
 
 service of GOD than the very highest and the 
 most powers of a mere intellectual kind being 
 " fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught dili- 
 gently the things of the Lord, knowing only the 
 baptism of John." He had in him the same heart 
 which was in David, when he said, "I believed, 
 therefore have I spoken e ." He had the same 
 heart which was in the Apostles when they said : 
 " We cannot but speak the things which we have 
 seen and heard f ." " And he began to speak boldly 
 in the synagogue." We know, from many passages 
 in Scripture, that the privilege of publicly speaking 
 in the synagogue was ordinarily open to any Jew 
 (by nation, whether Christian or not by faith) 
 who might be ready to give utterance to his sen- 
 timents. We hear of Jesus reading and preach- 
 ing in the synagogue at Nazareth , and of St. Paul 
 reasoning in the synagogue wherever he went. 
 And in one passage, when he and his company 
 were in attendance at the synagogue of Antioch, 
 we find the rulers sending to them and saying, 
 " Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of 
 exhortation for the people, say on h ." Never- 
 theless, such public declarations were not made 
 without peril to the speaker, if any thing was said 
 peculiarly offensive to the feelings and prejudices 
 of those present. Our Lord's address led to an 
 attempt on his life : " All they in the synagogue, 
 when they heard these things, were filled with 
 wrath, and rose up, and led him unto the brow 
 
 e Ps. cxvi. 10. f Acts iv. 20. K Luke iv. 17. 
 
 '* Acts xiii. 15.
 
 328 APOLLOS THE PREACHER. 
 
 of the hill, whereon their city was built, that they 
 might cast him down headlong 1 ." And much 
 strife, contention and peril often befell St. Paul 
 and his fellow-labourers from their faithful testi- 
 mony to " the way of the LORD," as declared by 
 them in the synagogues of the Jews Therefore, 
 although the gospel of Apollos, as yet being im- 
 perfect, might in some measure have diminished 
 from that opposition, which its full exhibition 
 was ever wont to arouse, still we must not omit 
 to mark his courageous act, when " he began to 
 speak boldly in the synagogue." 
 
 Two faithful and matured followers of Christ, 
 being husband and wife, were among those who 
 heard him. They did not treat him as unworthy 
 of their care, because, as yet, he was not walking 
 nor preaching in the mid-day light of the gospel. 
 They saw that true light had dawned upon him, 
 and they acted towards him in all faith, hope 
 and love. They regarded him as one, who being 
 taught by the Holy Spirit which were " the first 
 principles of the doctrine of Christ," would go on 
 unto perfection 14 ;" as one of much promise that 
 he would " grow in grace and in the knowledge" 
 
 i Luke iv. 29. 
 
 k Heb. vi. i. That is, a full and advanced knowledge of spi- 
 ritual things, specially concerning the person and work of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, on which St. Paul at once enters. The word 
 " perfect," reXetos, has other meanings also, but it never means 
 moral perfection when applied to man. When applied to our 
 Lord, (e. g. Heb. v. 9) it might, and would of course, have such 
 a meaning ; still even then, it bears quite another signification, 
 i. e. a perfect and complete offering.
 
 APOLLOS THE PREACHER. 329 
 
 of their one LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is 
 written that they " took him unto them and ex- 
 pounded unto him the way of GOD more per- 
 fectly." We know one special point of doctrine, 
 in which, hitherto, he had fallen short. Hitherto 
 he had only " known the baptism of John." The 
 news and character of St. John the Baptist's 
 ministry had been widely spread abroad, and had 
 reached many places and many minds also, where 
 as yet the ministry of Jesus had not fully pene- 
 trated. Many at this time were acquainted with 
 the baptism of John 1 , viz. that " of water unto re- 
 pentance," who as yet were unacquainted with 
 the mightier and more spiritual ordinance of 
 baptism " in the name of the Father, Son and 
 Holy Ghost." Of these Apollos was the represent- 
 ative : and, doubtless, in many other things he 
 needed the instruction of more advanced bre- 
 thren. Such were happily, under GOD'S blessing, 
 at hand : and not only at hand, but able and will- 
 ing to instruct him, according to his need. And 
 now mark his conduct ! Mighty as he was in the 
 Scriptures eloquent as he was in his gifts of ut- 
 terance taught as he was, to a certain point, 
 in the truth fervent as he was in spirit dili- 
 gent as he was in the good work of teaching 
 others he was ready to learn in all meek do- 
 
 ' The spread, influence and acceptation of John the Baptist's 
 doctrine may be illustrated from St. Mark's Gospel, ch.xi. 29 
 33. " All men" (it is written there) "counted John that he was 
 a prophet indeed."
 
 330 APOLLOS THE PREACHER. 
 
 cility; and thus having borne fruit, he was en- 
 abled to bear more and of still richer worth. 
 
 The Holy Spirit is and has ever been the guide 
 of Christ's Church, both collectively and indi- 
 vidually. It was he who said ; " Separate me 
 Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I 
 have called them m ." Hence they went forth to 
 every city, and unto every land, whither GOD led 
 them. The same Spirit now put it into the heart 
 of Apollos to go into Achaia, of which state 
 Corinth was the capital. St. Paul had been there 
 already ; and we know something on the state of 
 that city, as to Christianity, from the beginning 
 of the chapter before us now. And we may con- 
 clude that the means, instrumentally employed 
 by GOD to bring Apollos to that place, may be 
 found in his intercourse with Aquila and Pris- 
 cilla, who had recently come from that city, and 
 were well acquainted with all which had gone on 
 and was going on there. Among these things 
 were fierce opposition to the gospel and its 
 preachers (ver. 6.) and the arraignment of Paul 
 at the judgment seat (ver. 12.) because he would 
 preach that "Jesus was Christ 1 ' i.e. the anointed 
 Messiah and King and tumults from the same 
 cause. But Apollos was in nothing terrified by 
 such accounts, or by that opposition which 
 they plainly announced as about to meet him. 
 He was "disposed" to go thither "wished"" to 
 engage in the Lord's work among the many 
 
 '" Acts xiii. 2. n BovAo/xeVov 8f avrov. v. 27.
 
 APOLLOS THE PREACHER. 331 
 
 Christians dwelling in that city. Letters accord- 
 ingly were written to the brethren there, that 
 they should receive him as a " fellow-helper in 
 the Lord." On his arrival he immediately began 
 his accustomed work in preaching and expound- 
 ing the Word. It is written, that he " helped 
 them much which had believed through grace: 
 for he mightily convinced the Jews, and that 
 publicly, shewing by the Scriptures that Jesus 
 was Christ." (vv. 27, 28.) 
 
 " He helped " the brethren. This expression 
 very much corresponds with that which St. Paul 
 subsequently said of his ministry at Corinth: 
 "Apollos watered ." Watering, in nature, helps 
 and forwards the plants which have already taken 
 root, grown, and appeared. Thus, in a spiritual 
 sense, did Apollos act. And so distinguished was 
 he in his ministerial work, that he is mentioned 
 in the same verse with a Paul and with a Peter''. 
 And this verse, though one of condemnation, may 
 be very well quoted to shew his high position in 
 the eye of the Church. For in the condemnation 
 he was not included any more than Paul himself, 
 or Peter. Those who formed the party or divi- 
 sion those who made any other their head in 
 the place of Christ they were to be blamed, but 
 not Apollos. We are told here one special way 
 in which Apollos helped the Corinthians. By his 
 arguments he overcame the opposing Jews. Thus 
 he confirmed and helped the disciples. In every 
 Church there are many weak brethren ; and even 
 
 \ Cor. iii. 6. P i Cor. i. 12.
 
 332 APOLLOS THE PREACHER. 
 
 those who, are " strong in faith" are not always 
 equally strong in power of argument. We may 
 go farther still. No clearness of Scriptural light 
 no power of " love shed abroad in the heart" 
 will always protect or ensure us against every 
 doubt, or trouble and perplexity, if confronted by 
 some sceptic or opponent of the truth, of ability 
 and skill in his evil ways. Such, probably, at 
 Corinth that city of acuteness and sophistry 
 were some of the resident Jews " disputers of 
 this world%" requiring a sign (ver. 22.), the mighty, 
 the noble, the wise (ver. 26.), full of " enticing 
 words of man's wisdom" (ch. ii. 4.), holding the 
 preaching of the cross to be only foolishness (ch. 
 i. 18.) making the " worse appear the better rea- 
 son." Now, though no arguments, no oratorical 
 art, and no carnal efforts in the world could 
 possibly destroy " the faith of GOD'S elect," still 
 they might, for a time, be much harassed, and 
 perhaps, in a measure, sometimes even silenced, 
 so far as reasoning went, by such cavillers. And 
 happy was it for them that a spiritual champion 
 now appeared in their behalf, raised up, endowed 
 and sent among them by the Holy Ghost. That 
 man that champion was Apollos. He "helped*" 
 them. For he "mightily convinced the Jews, and 
 that publicly, shewing by the Scriptures that 
 Jesus was Christ." 
 
 "That Jesus was Christ!" Thus he gained his 
 victories. As with David in his combat with 
 
 <l i Cor. i. 20. 
 
 r The word is (rvi//3aATo i. e. " contributed to their help" 
 their spiritual help. So help laid on one that is mighty. (Ps.
 
 APOLLOS THE PREACHER. 333 
 
 Goliath, we know what his spiritual weapon was. 
 It was not some long course of philosophic lore. 
 It was not the ministration of the law. It was 
 not a mere enforcement of good works. But 
 it was the testimony to a crucified Lord made 
 the anointed King. This was precisely the 
 testimony borne by Jesus himself: "Ought not 
 Christ (TOV Xpia-rov) to have suffered these things, 
 and to enter into his glory 5 ?" This was precisely 
 the testimony of St. Peter on the day of Pente- 
 cost : " Therefore let all the house of Israel know 
 assuredly, that GOD hath made that same Jesus, 
 whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ 1 " 
 This too not to quote many similar passages 
 was the testimony of St. John : " Every spirit 
 that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the 
 flesh is of GOD U ." Here then was the very point 
 and centre of the contest between the Christians 
 and the Jews, as it is still. Both then expected 
 the Messiah, rrtt'O, in the Hebrew, or 6 X/orroy, in 
 the Greek the Anointed One x , who was to rule 
 over, bless, prosper and exalt to the uttermost 
 
 Ixxxix. 19. (So one in vision calls Paul into Europe ; " Come over 
 into Macedonia and help us." (Acts xvi. 9.) Bo^o-ov agrees with 
 the Sept. translation of the Psalmjust quoted. 
 
 8 Luke xxiv. 26. { Acts ii. 36. u i John iv. 2. 
 
 * " The most eminent use and application of the word is, when 
 it is employed as the title of that sublime personage typified and 
 predicted from the beginning, who was to prove, in the most 
 exalted sense, the Redeemer and Lord of Gon's people. He is 
 spoken of by the Prophets under several characters, and, amongst 
 others, under that of GOD'S Anointed, the Messiah or the Christ." 
 
 Campbell's Prelim. Diss. on the 4 Gospels, Diss. v. Pt. 4 ; a 
 most interesting and instructive essay on this title of our Lord.
 
 334 APOLLOS THE PREACHER. 
 
 GOD'S people Israel. And both expect such a 
 One still, the Coming One the ep-^o^evo? of whom 
 John the Baptist speaks in the message which 
 he sent to the Lord. But neither then nor now 
 would the Jews admit that this same Messiah, 
 this Christ, this Anointed, was first to suffer, and 
 then, after suffering, to enter into his glory, and 
 in due time to return "this same Jesus" "in 
 like manner as he went into heaven y." Therefore 
 to prove this by the Scriptures was the great 
 work of Apostles and Evangelists, indeed of all 
 undertaking to preach Christ in those days. 
 Therefore this was the great work of Apollos. 
 To this GOD called him. He took the Scriptures 
 of the Old Testament, which his opponents re- 
 ceived, and in which they believed. He, like 
 Philip with the Ethiopian z , pointed out and ex- 
 pounded those many passages throughout the 
 whole word of GOD which tell of the Messiah 
 (or Christ) as a suffering Saviour, in sacrifice, in 
 type, in psalm and in prophecy a . He shewed 
 how all, in Jesus, was fulfilled ; and thus, " out 
 of the Scriptures," he proved plainly and beyond 
 contradiction that " Jesus was the Christ." Great 
 and glorious work ! In which we must leave him 
 engaged : for with the exception of those pas- 
 sages, already mentioned in St. Paul's Epistle to 
 the Corinthians, and of another testimony to the 
 
 y Acts i. ii. T Acts viii. 35. 
 
 a This is precisely the way for us to act with the Jews, when 
 we meet any of that nation, and seek to bring them to the Christ- 
 ian faith.
 
 APOLLOS THE PREACHER. 335 
 
 same Apostle's love, care and estimation for him 
 in his Epistle to Titus, (iii. 13.) we are told no 
 more concerning Apollos' 1 , though this last re- 
 ference proves that he was a labourer in the 
 cause of the Gospel for many subsequent years 
 the date of that Epistle being about ten years 
 after the period on which we have now been 
 engaged. 
 
 Many lessons may be learned from this sacred 
 narrative. And there is a kind of specialty in 
 them, which adds to their importance. One 
 thing which renders the biography of Scripture 
 so very precious is the immense variety of truth, 
 for warning or for imitation, thus set before us. 
 Apollos may be studied as one " eloquent and 
 mighty in the Scriptures." We may have no 
 great abilities, and yet, in our measure, we should 
 all cultivate such attainments a capacity to 
 speak in behalf of others about heavenly truth, 
 and a full knowledge of GOD'S revealed will, con- 
 cerning which it is said, not to ministers alone, 
 but to all Christian people : " Be ye not unwise, 
 but understanding what the will of the Lord is c ;" 
 and again : " Let the word of Christ dwell in you 
 richly in all wisdom d ." On this subject I need 
 not dwell at length, important as it is. For many 
 other graces and gifts in Apollos call for our 
 notice. He was " fervent in spirit." Let us aim 
 at this same disposition ! It has been the mark of 
 
 " Unless " Apelles approved in Christ" (Rom. xvi. i o.) be the 
 same person, as some hold. 
 
 c Ephes. v. 17. 'I Col. iii. 16.
 
 336 APOLLOS THE PREACHER. 
 
 all the true saints of GOD from the beginning. In 
 them no coldness no heartlessness no mere 
 form in their services, but zeal and ardour and 
 love to God and man, affections of a stirring kind, 
 and devotion of themselves and all that they had 
 to the Lord. And let it be remembered, that he 
 who is ashamed of this character must not only 
 be ashamed of all such saints, but also of Jesus 
 himself, concerning whom it is said ; " The zeal 
 of thine house hath eaten me up e . 
 
 Nor should we forget the " diligence" of Apollos. 
 Great knowledge, powers and capacity of mind, 
 are sometimes marred and rendered ineffectual 
 by want of diligence of systematic labour in a 
 good cause. And sometimes we may have reason 
 to fear, in the varied failures and sins of our fallen 
 nature, that superior talents are even made an 
 excuse for such deficiency. To correct this, let 
 it be remembered, as a precept, that "to whom 
 much is given, of them shall much be required ;" 
 and as an example, that " Apollos taught diligently 
 the things of the Lord/' 
 
 The statement too, that he so acted " knowing 
 only the baptism of John," may be very valuable 
 in many cases. We are thus encouraged to em- 
 ploy our earliest attainments in a profitable way 
 and for the glory of GOD. Judgment and humility 
 must, of course, have their part here. No one 
 must run where he is not sent. Nevertheless, if 
 there is good reason to believe that GOD has 
 begun His good work of instructing us, in divine 
 
 e John ii. 17.
 
 APOLLOS THE PREACHER. 337 
 
 things, we then need not be silent. No, on the 
 contrary, we may well and acceptably to GOD 
 trade with the " one talent," which He has be- 
 stowed ; and while we act in a full sense of our 
 own deficiency, and cautiously abstain from hand- 
 ling that ^ which may be too high for us, still we 
 may do much in the cause of the Saviour and 
 everlasting souls. And GOD will not withhold His 
 blessing from our labours, accompanied as they 
 will be with prayer and fit use of means for in- 
 creased light and fresh " power from on high." 
 
 Passing over the boldness of Apollos his 
 courage in doing the Lord's work, as a more 
 common topic, suggested by the lives of so many 
 saints, whose acts and sufferings are narrated in 
 the Scripture we may lastly note his "earnest 
 contention for the faith which was once delivered 
 unto the saints f ." Some, no doubt, are naturally 
 predisposed to step forth into the public arena of 
 debate. For them such excitement has its attrac- 
 tions : and therefore, when they are brought to 
 know the Lord, and to contend for Him, they 
 must carefully watch, lest at any time they be 
 too much carried away through the peculiarities 
 of their own temperament. Nevertheless, when 
 grace reigns in the heart, as it does in every true 
 follower of Christ, there this natural turn and 
 temper of the mind, being first sanctified, is often 
 employed and much honoured by GOD for the 
 execution of His own high purposes. On the other 
 hand, if a true Christian has any natural defect 
 
 f Jude 3. 
 Z
 
 338 APOLLOS THE PREACHER. 
 
 in this or that part of his character, GOD wonder- 
 fully fills up his wants, and renders him, per- 
 haps, peculiarly efficient in those very points 
 where he would naturally seem most liable to 
 utter failure. And thus the whole glory is the 
 Lord's. In some instances we know enough con- 
 cerning the lives of the saints, to ascertain how 
 far the natural disposition was restrained and 
 kept down by grace, or, on the other hand, 
 brought into more prominence. In the case of 
 Apollos it is not so. We know not how far that 
 open contention and combat which he waged 
 was naturally alien or congenial to him ; but 
 we do know that he waged it for the Lord's sake. 
 Therefore he was blessed in his work : and bless- 
 ed are all they who refuse not to " fight the good 
 fight of faith," in any place or in any way, when 
 duly called and summoned so to do.
 
 ENOCH AND ELIJAH. 
 
 GEN. v. 22. 2 KINGS ii. 11. HEB. xi. 5. 
 
 IN the history of Enoch and Elijah there is one 
 claim on our attention, not belonging to any 
 other personages told of in the Scripture. And 
 that is not to be sought in any event which hap- 
 pened to them in their lives, eminent as they were, 
 but in the termination of their earthly days. 
 
 We may first take an historical survey of their 
 lives ; then observe the mode in which it pleased 
 GOD that they should depart from this present 
 world ; and lastly, consider them not merely as 
 individuals, but as representatives of a large 
 number in the Church of Christ, whose removal 
 from this present world shall, in many respects, 
 be similar to theirs. 
 
 Enoch was one of that godly family and ho- 
 noured generation descended from Seth, Adam's 
 third son. He is numbered in that list of patri- 
 archs, whose names are given in the 5th chapter of 
 the Book of Genesis, though, as to most of them, 
 little is mentioned except their names, and the 
 long period of life to which they attained. Jared, 
 for instance, who was Enoch's father, lived to 
 the age of 962 years: and Methuselah, the son 
 z 2
 
 340 ENOCH AND ELIJAH. 
 
 of Enoch, lived to the age of 969 years : but " he 
 died," and " he died" is the last record of them 
 all, except of him with whom we have now to do. 
 
 The records or notices of Enoch's life are very 
 slight indeed. Still however they are enough to 
 make us acquainted with his whole character. 
 One of these records is, that he "walked with 
 GOD." Others departed from the Lord. Others 
 were alienated in spirit from Him. Others walked 
 after their own ways, according to the evil ima- 
 ginations of their own hearts. But not so Enoch. 
 He lived with his inward eye continually fixed 
 on GOD and His will. It was his care, business, 
 and delight to please GOD, to imitate Him, to 
 maintain acquaintance and communion with 
 Him ; nor would he follow in the steps of the 
 multitude to do any evil thing. In a word, he 
 " walked with GOD" not only lived with GOD in 
 the " inward man," but ' confessedly and openly 
 shewed whom he served : for this is the mean- 
 ing, in Scripture, of the word "to walk a ," as one 
 going forth in the sight of angels and men, and 
 shewing his inward spirit by his outward ways. 
 
 The name of Enoch is three times honoured in 
 the New Testament. It appears in the genealogy 
 of Christ b , but on that we need not dwell. St. Paul 
 places him second in the list of men distinguished 
 by their faith. " Before his translation he had 
 this testimony that he pleased GOD c ." Oh ! 
 
 a " If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit." Gal. 
 v. 25. So Col. iv. 5. and elsewhere. 
 b Luke iii. 37. c Heb. xi. 5.
 
 ENOCH AND ELIJAH. 341 
 
 blessed rule, motive, and principle of life, that of 
 pleasing GOD ! And how comprehensive too in its 
 application to our thoughts, words and deeds ! 
 
 One more notice remains about Enoch's life. 
 He was a Prophet a Prophet of Christ at his 
 second coming. St. Jude writes, speaking of un- 
 godly men: "Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, 
 " prophesied d of these, saying, Behold, the Lord 
 cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute 
 judgment upon all ; and to convince all that are 
 ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds 
 which they have ungodly committed, and of all 
 their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have 
 spoken against him e ." Therefore by his public 
 words not less than by his daily acts we know 
 of Enoch that he glorified GOD and that too in 
 the noblest way, by announcing the glory of 
 Christ in the future day of His revealed majesty. 
 
 Now let us mark the end of his earthly pil- 
 grimage. In comparison with the other Patriarchs 
 on the same list with his name, Enoch's stay on 
 earth was short. He did not reach near to half the 
 age either of his father Jared, or his son Methuselah. 
 We ever find long life regarded in the Scripture as 
 
 d " Prophesied ; he doth not say, wrote, and therefore from 
 hence it cannot be proved that there was any such book as Enoch's 
 prophecies, received by the Jews as canonical Scripture : but 
 rather ?ome prophecy of his delivered to them by tradition, to 
 which the Apostle refers, as a thing known among them ; ac- 
 cordingly, he argues against these heretics from their own con- 
 cession, as in v. 9." Pool's Comm. The book, styled the "Book 
 of Enoch," so often alluded to by the early Fathers, and quoted 
 by them, is no doubt apocryphal. 
 
 e Jude 14, 15.
 
 342 ENOCH AND ELIJAH. 
 
 no slight gift of GOD, as a most honourable thing. 
 But in this instance, the blessing and the honour 
 was in the short stay of Enoch on earth. And 
 if David could say, as it were with a longing 
 heart, " When shall I coine and appear before 
 Goo f " and if St. Paul could say how he had "a 
 desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is 
 far better s," i. e. far better, for his own personal 
 enjoyment at the time, than any earthly state, 
 however favoured, even to that of the Apostolic 
 office and if St. John could say, " Blessed are 
 the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth 1 ' ;" 
 if all these sure assertions could be made, (though 
 the saint would have to undergo death, probably 
 with pain, like other men, and certainly with 
 humiliation ',) surely then how great was the 
 privilege which Enoch enjoyed, when GOD took 
 him to Himself without the pains or penalty of 
 death at all ! 
 
 It is not with Enoch as it is with Elijah, con-, 
 cerning the particulars of his removal, or, as it is 
 usually called, his " translation" to heaven. They 
 are not written. All that we know is the fact, 
 which both the Old and the New Testament as 
 it were two witnesses declare : " He was not" 
 i. e. he ceased to be on the earth "for GOD 
 took him." Again, in the Hebrews: "By faith 
 Enoch was translated that he should not see 
 death, and was not found, because GOD had 
 translated him k ." Thus he went, in body and 
 
 f Ps. xlii. 2. g Phil. i. 23. '" Rev. xiv. 13. 
 
 i i Cor. xv. 42, 43. k Hcb. xi. 5.
 
 ENOCH AND ELIJAH. 343 
 
 spirit at once, into rest and glory though it is 
 not for us too minutely to discuss now all those 
 particulars and all those questions which might 
 arise here for solution. That would occupy us 
 far too long-. The grand matter is, that GOD 
 made him a special exception to the rule that 
 "death passed upon all men, for that all have 
 sinned 1 :" and sinner as Enoch, no doubt, was, 
 GOD spared him this penalty of sin even the 
 dissolution and death of the body. And this 
 favour of GOD was shared by him with only one 
 other of whom Scripture tells. 
 
 That man was the renowned Elijah. But how 
 can we record his history in brief, if we approach 
 it at all ? Happily it is well known in the church. 
 The glory of his life and deeds shines out so con- 
 spicuously that none can close their eyes to its 
 light, or forget its rich and varied brilliancy. 
 We remember him coming forth (nothing having 
 previously been said of him) in all the power of 
 his prophetic word, and saying to Ahab the king: 
 " As the Lord GOD of Israel liveth, before whom I 
 stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these three 
 years, but according to my word m ." And it was so. 
 For we not only have the history 11 of the drought 
 and dearth which ensued, but the Apostle's own 
 comment on that history is : " Elias was a man 
 subject to like passions as we are : and he prayed 
 earnestly that it might not rain : and it rained 
 not on the earth by the space of three years and 
 six months. And he prayed again ; and the 
 
 1 Rom. v. 12. m i Kings xvii. i. n i Kings xvii. 12. xviii. 2.
 
 344 ENOCH AND ELIJAH. 
 
 heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth 
 her fruit ." We remember Elijah and the widow's 
 miraculous store. We remember the raising and 
 restoration of her son. We remember Elijah and 
 the prophets of Baal, and all the glory which GOD 
 then vouchsafed to him. We remember him too 
 in his tribulation and flight: and we remember 
 again GOD'S visitation of him in the wilderness, 
 the very birds constrained by the Lord to bring 
 him befitting food, GOD'S own mighty interview 
 with him at the entrance of the cave, and his 
 employment by God to go forth and ordain both 
 kings and prophets P. We remember too his 
 denunciation of the wicked Ahab : " In the place 
 where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs 
 lick thy blood, even thine ^;" and how he rebuked 
 the king for his iniquity. Moreover, we remember 
 another warning sent by him to another king, viz. 
 Ahaziah ; and how that king sought to revenge 
 himself on the man of GOD : but God preserved 
 His servant, and inflicted a judicial sentence, by 
 fire sent down from heaven on his enemies 1 ". These 
 are the main facts of Elijah's life : and to name 
 them is enough for all readers of the Scripture, 
 so well are they known. 
 
 But now the time of Elijah's translation had 
 arrived that he, like Enoch before him, should 
 not "taste of death." It is written, how "it 
 came to pass, when the Lord would take up 
 Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah 
 
 James v. 17. 18. P i Kings xix. 15-19. q xxi. 19. 
 
 r 2 Kings x.
 
 ENOCH AND ELIJAH. 345 
 
 went with Elisha from Gilgal 8 ." And the Lord 
 led him hither and thither until he and Elisha 
 came to Jordan's bank. There he smote the 
 waters. They were divided. He and Elisha 
 crossed on dry ground : as they " still went on 
 and talked, behold, there appeared a chariot of 
 fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both 
 asunder : and Elijah went up by a whirlwind 
 into heaven." And, no doubt, his spirit and his 
 body were fitted at once for that blessed place : 
 for there is One who not only has redeemed our 
 spirits, but our bodies too : and He was able 
 then, as always, to " change our vile body, that it 
 may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, 
 according to the working whereby he is able 
 even to subdue all things unto himself 1 ." 
 
 Any full treatise on Elijah would of course 
 require due and close attention to all said of him 
 and there is much in the pages of the New 
 Testament. But that will not be attempted here. 
 It only remains now, that, having marked the 
 historical account of Enoch's and Elijah's life, 
 and also that of their glorious removal from this 
 earth, we should proceed to observe what was 
 represented by these things in a word, their typi- 
 cal meaning, and this is by no means difficult 
 or obscure. In their lives they represent the true 
 saints of GOD. But, in this matter, every holy 
 and righteous man, mentioned in the Scripture, 
 represents, more or less, all the servants of GOD. 
 Therefore it is in their " translation" or removal 
 
 s 2 Kings ii. i. * Philipp. iii. 21.
 
 346 ENOCH AND ELIJAH. 
 
 to heaven without death, that they must be 
 regarded as a special type of a certain number 
 among the true children of GOD. 
 
 And here we must advance to the New Testa- 
 ment. It will throw back its light on that im- 
 portant truth which we have now reached, and 
 which some, living now, and being the servants 
 of Christ, may yet experience in their own bodies. 
 GOD only knoweth. " The times and the seasons 
 He hath put in His own power u ;" but our duty 
 and calling is plain. "Watch ye therefore: for 
 ye know not when the Master of the house 
 cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock- 
 crowing, or in the morning : lest coming sud- 
 denly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto 
 you, I say unto all, Watch x ." 
 
 While then it is a certain fact that already 
 multitudes have died in the faith of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, whose bodies are in the earth or in 
 the sea, awaiting the grand morning of the resur- 
 rection, it is a thing not less certain and sure that 
 some of GOD'S saints will be found alive on the 
 earth at the coming of the Lord the " quick," as 
 our Creed terms them. 
 
 Keeping clear of all difficulties now, and of all 
 disputed points, I shall only observe that which 
 is clearly and indubitably told in the absolute 
 letter of God's word. Three quotations will suffice. 
 Jesus said, when speaking of his own return in 
 his glory : " Who then is a faithful and wise ser- 
 vant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his 
 
 u Acts i. 7. * Mark xiii. 35-37.
 
 ENOCH AND ELIJAH. 347 
 
 household, to give them meat in due season? 
 Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when he 
 cometh shall find so doing? " "Shall find so doing!" 
 Serving the Lord in spirit and in truth mani- 
 festing it in their lives ! in a word, like Enoch, 
 " walking with GOD," in the steps and after the 
 example of Jesus Christ their Lord. Wherever 
 the Gospel is preached (Goo be praised for it) 
 there are some, and in many places there are 
 many, who would thus be found, were the Lord 
 Jesus to appear suddenly, and surely they, like 
 Enoch, would be "translated that they should not 
 see death." 
 
 But there are two passages yet 'to be quoted. 
 The first shall be from the 15th chapter of the 
 1st of Corinthians. There St. Paul prophetically 
 writes on the second coming of the Lord, and on 
 the blessed events of that coming, as touching all 
 true believers in his name. See 51st verse, " Be- 
 hold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all 
 sleep" we meaning here all the Church of Christ 
 from the beginning of the world, and sleep mean- 
 ing here to die "but we shall all be changed." 
 Nor need we here any words of mere human 
 explanation. A better comment is provided in 
 the very next verse : " for the trumpet shall 
 sound, and the dead shall be raised incorrup- 
 tible, and we shall be changed''' It is said just 
 before that we shall not all die, but that we 
 shall all be changed. Evidently, therefore, two 
 classes of believers are mentioned those who do 
 
 y Matt. xxiv. 45, 46.
 
 348 ENOCH AND. ELIJAH. 
 
 and those who do not die before the coming of 
 the Lord ; and of those who live to that time 
 and never shall die at all, Enoch and Elijah are 
 the evident type the first-fruits of this favoured 
 part in the harvest of souls. 
 
 The next and last passage here to be intro- 
 duced makes, if possible, this glorious removal, 
 (which some shall enjoy) more plain and clear 
 still. We refer to the 4th chapter of the 1st of 
 Thessalonians. St. Paul, by the Spirit, is com- 
 forting and cheering those bereaved by death of 
 their dear relatives and friends, who have died 
 as Christians, or, as it is expressed here, " in the 
 Lord." 
 
 And he bids them " sorrow not as others which 
 have no hope" that is, none sanctioned by GOD, 
 because not in Jesus Christ. Then he tells them 
 that, when Jesus, having first appeared in the 
 heaven, shall again visit the earth in his majesty, 
 " them also which sleep in Jesus shall GOD bring 
 with him." Now on this portion of the grand 
 harvest we, at present, are not engaged, but on 
 another. Therefore, having just noticed the fact, 
 that the dead in Christ " shall rise first 2 ," i. e. rise 
 to the surface of the earth we have only to 
 inquire what happens next. This, specially, is 
 the subject now. The 17th verse tells: "Then 
 we which are alive and remain the living Christ- 
 ians the " quick" (as our Creed terms them) of 
 Christ's Church " shall be caught up together 
 with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the 
 z Ver. 1 6.
 
 ENOCH AND ELIJAH. 349 
 
 air." Now this fully explains how those who 
 thus remain, shall not " prevent a them which are 
 asleep b ," because all shall thus enter their glory 
 together, " be for ever with the Lord." And so it 
 is clear of whom, exclusively and specially in their 
 translation, Enoch and Elijah were the types and 
 representatives: and thus all the saved saints, 
 who have died before the second coming of Christ, 
 and all the saved saints who may live to his 
 second coming, shall form the Saviour's most 
 glorious company, out of all lands and all genera- 
 tions of men: and then shall the prophecy of 
 Enoch be fulfilled: "Behold, the Lord cometh 
 with ten thousand of his saints ." 
 
 These things being stated in the Scripture for 
 our learning, application and use, we ought to 
 recognise and feel how the whole Church of 
 Christ, and specially its living members, have 
 in them the very deepest interest. We should 
 be thankful to GOD for all which he has told us 
 in His word on this matter viz. that termina- 
 tion of their earthly course, which those saints 
 or believers, who live to Christ's coming (as some 
 certainly will) shall experience for themselves 
 in their own persons. And specially should we 
 be thankful for those two honoured types, ex- 
 amples and representatives of such a glorious 
 end, which we find in Enoch and Elijah ; and 
 
 a Not enter glory before them not anticipate them so as to 
 leave them behind " prrevenio." So in the collect: " Prevent 
 us, O Lord, in all our doings, with thy most gracious favour." 
 b Ver. 75. ' .Tude 14.
 
 350 ENOCH AND ELIJAH. 
 
 every true, faithful watchman for Christ and for 
 souls should seek to prepare and keep his people 
 prepared, through GOD'S blessing, for such a privi- 
 lege. Farther still. Every one, who believes in 
 GOD'S word, should take heed to these annuncia- 
 tions, knowing that light is given in the Scripture 
 on the events of our Lord's second coming ; foras- 
 much as it is said to all who belong to Christ's 
 Church : " Ye, brethren, are not in darkness that 
 that day should overtake you as a thief d ." We have 
 the light of GOD'S word, brightly shining around 
 us ; and happy are they who " walk in this light," 
 and, at this moment, are ready, through Christ's 
 cleansing blood, merits and righteousness, for their 
 translation to heaven. 
 
 Thus Enoch and Elijah were prepared, when 
 GOD took them ; and not only so, but thus, in 
 reality, all true Christians are prepared, however 
 they may sometimes fail to realise and see those 
 unspeakable privileges which belong to them at 
 all times and in all places, by night and by day, 
 in sorrow and in prosperity, in death should it 
 meet them, or at the Lord's coming, should they 
 live on to that sure and glorious event. 
 
 i These, v. 4.
 
 ISAIAH-HIS LIFE AND PEOPHECY. 
 
 A distinguished commentator says of Isaiah, that 
 he was " a Prophet, who was of royal descent, 
 and a most noble ambassador of Christ." And 
 some have seen, in the style of his writings, to- 
 kens and signs of a manifest familiarity with 
 those very subjects, which one of the highest 
 education would have studied and pursued 3 . 
 
 It cannot be absolutely proved, but it is sup- 
 posed, that his father Amos was son of Joash, 
 and brother of Amaziah, king of Judah : and, if 
 it be true, as stated by Jerome, that Manasseh 
 was married to Isaiah's daughter, here is a cer- 
 tain evidence that he was one of distinguished 
 rank. These things, however, though worthy of 
 a brief notice here, need no additional detail. 
 
 The book of Isaiah's prophecy opens with a 
 
 " The words of St. Jerome, in his preface to Isaiah, illustrate 
 this statement. "How can I adequately praise his Physics, Ethics 
 and Theology ? Whatever is contained in Scripture, whatever the 
 human tongue could announce, or the human capacity receive, is 
 all in the book of his prophecy." Grotius, in 2 Kings xix. 2, com- 
 pares him to Demosthenes. But how all heathen orators or poets 
 fail before him, even in the very gifts which these names convey!
 
 352 ISAIAH, HIS LIFE 
 
 statement concerning the date and extent of his 
 prophetical office, or, at all events, of that time, 
 when he saw the visions which he records. These 
 were vouchsafed to him during the reigns of four 
 kings of Judah, mentioned in the beginning of 
 the book, viz. " Azariah (or Uzziah), Jotham, Ahaz, 
 and Hezekiah." (ch. i. ver. 1.) Moreover, he lived 
 during a portion of Manasseh's long reign. On 
 this chronological subject an interesting extract 
 may be taken from Calvin, who, in the dedication 
 of his Commentary on this Prophet to Edward 
 the Sixth of England, says, that " the experience 
 of Isaiah made him acquainted with five kings ex- 
 ceedingly unlike each other in their dispositions, 
 to whom, in uninterrupted succession, he officiated 
 as a teacher. Uzziah and Jotham were favour- 
 able to him, though they were not so courageous 
 as they ought to have been in maintaining the wor- 
 ship of GOD. His chief contest was with Ahaz ; 
 not indeed as an open enemy, but as a cunning 
 hypocrite, full of fraud and dissimulation. The ser- 
 vants of GOD cannot have a more dangerous class 
 of enemies. His successor, Hezekiah, not only 
 treated the holy man with reverence, but mo- 
 destly submitted to his doctrine, like one of the 
 common people, and, what is still more, endured 
 patiently severe reproof when it was necessary. 
 Manasseh, who was the last of them, whom a 
 strongly supported Jewish doctrine represents as 
 having been his son-in-law, subjected him to a 
 frightful kind of torture, and wickedly put him 
 to death."
 
 AND PROPHECY. 353 
 
 With regard to the domestic history of Isaiah, 
 we know that he was a married man, and that 
 he styles his wife " the prophetess." (ch. viii. 3.) 
 We also hear of two sons, both of them propheti- 
 cally and typically employed by the Lord. Of 
 whom more in their proper places. 
 
 The call of Isaiah is not introduced until the 
 sixth chapter of his prophecy. We might have 
 expected that this would have been the very first 
 thing narrated ; but it is not so. In explanation, 
 it may be suggested, that, after Isaiah had spoken 
 those solemn awakening words, which the earlier 
 part of his prophecy contains, he was led by the 
 Spirit to give an account of that vision, where- 
 with he was honoured by GOD " in the year that 
 king Uzziah died," in order that his countrymen, 
 who perhaps had demanded his authority, or 
 who needed, at all events, its fuller confirmation, 
 might have it thus supplied. To the considera- 
 tion of this vision we may at once proceed, as the 
 first five chapters contain nothing of personal 
 reference to the Prophet, with the exception of 
 the one opening verse, already quoted. 
 
 It pleased God to usher in the call of Isaiah by 
 a marvellous display of his own glory. The word 
 ''glory' may well be repeated ; for when St. John 
 quotes words connected with this very spectacle, 
 and applies them to the life and sayings of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, he adds: "These things said 
 Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him." 
 (ch. xii. 41.) To comment on that glory is <not 
 requisite now. Our call is rather to mark the 
 A a
 
 354 ISAIAH, HIS LIFE 
 
 effect which its awful and sublime grandeur 
 had on the Prophet. It brought him low in- 
 deed. Such displays of GOD'S own might and 
 majesty have always affected his saints in a 
 similar way. GOD appeared to Moses in the burn- 
 ing bush. What ensued ? " He hid his face ; for 
 he was afraid to look upon GOD." (Ex. iii. 6.) GOD 
 spake to Job " out of the whirlwind." (ch. xl. 6.) 
 What ensued ? Job said, " I have heard of thee 
 by the hearing of the ear, but now mine -eye 
 seeth thee ; wherefore I abhor myself, and re- 
 pent in dust and ashes." (xlii. 5, 6.) And even 
 when the Son of man appeared in divine majesty 
 to Daniel and to -John, (both men "greatly be- 
 loved,") the one saith of himself: " My come- 
 liness was turned in me into corruption." (Dan. 
 x. 8.) The other "fell at his feet as dead." (Rev. 
 i. 17.) So too, when Isaiah saw the Lord sitting 
 upon a throne, high, and lifted up, and his train 
 filled the temple;" and when he heard the se- 
 raphims in their adoration ; "Holy, holy, holy is the 
 Lord of hosts : the whole earth is full of his 
 glory:" and when he felt the very temple quake, 
 and saw it filled with smoke, he cried out in these 
 words ; " Woe is me ! for I am undone ; for I am a 
 man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a 
 people of unclean lips ; for mine eyes have seen the 
 King, the Lord of hosts." (ch. vi. 5.) But GOD acted 
 towards His servant and prophet just as He acted 
 towards His other saints, when calling them to 
 some great and special work. He, who first hum- 
 bled, then proceeded to exalt. He who first made
 
 AND FHOPHECY. 355 
 
 his chosen servant to experience his own weakness, 
 in the very faculty where he needed peculiar gifts 
 and extraordinary help, then endowed him with 
 strength for his office. The prophet had at once 
 recognised his own inability, as a sinner and as 
 a weak creature, to speak in the Lord's name. 
 But no sooner did he make this confession, than, 
 at GOD'S bidding, one of the seraphims came 
 forth, and took a live coal from the altar, and 
 laid it on his mouth, and said: "Lo, this hath 
 touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken 
 away, and thy sin purged." (ver. 7.) And then he 
 received his commission to go forth and proclaim 
 desolation and judgment to the nation at large, 
 but grace, mercy and peace to the remnant of 
 godly men. (vv. 9 13.) 
 
 Immediately after the account of this divine 
 call Isaiah appears in one of those prophetic or 
 symbolical acts, by which, in addition to words, 
 the Lord at this time so much taught his people. 
 The two kings of Israel and Syria had joined in 
 a confederacy against Judah, and "went up to- 
 ward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not 
 prevail against it." (ch. vii. 1.) GOD bade Isaiah 
 to take Shear-jashub b his son, and to go and meet 
 Ahaz at a certain place, and there to encourage 
 him with the promise of defence from GOD against 
 his combined foes. Much difficulty attends the 
 passage descriptive of this interview. It appears 
 
 '- The signification of this word is, " The remnant shall return.'* 
 The name had previously been given to the child, and God em- 
 ployed it for a symbolical end. 
 
 A a2
 
 356 ISAIAH, HIS LIFE 
 
 that the Prophet announced to king Ahaz the 
 certainty of GOD'S deliverance, and then bade him 
 choose a definite sign. But Ahaz refused, acting 
 probably from unbelief and contempt of GOD'S 
 message. Therefore Isaiah proclaimed a sign 
 himself telling of that future and most won- 
 drous event, how a " virgin should conceive and 
 bear a Son," whose name should be called Im- 
 manuel. And if GOD, at his own time, would do 
 a thing so surpassingly marvellous as this, was it 
 too hard, or was it impossible for Him to deliver 
 Judah in its present dire extremity? And then 
 (according to Pool) Isaiah points to Shear-jashub, 
 his young child, and tells that before he should 
 be arrived at years of discrimination and intelli- 
 gence, both Syria and Israel would lose their kings. 
 And this literally happened : for they were both 
 slain ; one by the king of Assyria, (2 Kings xvi. 
 9,) and the other by Hoshea in a conspiracy. 
 (2 Kings xv. 30.) But the Prophet did not stop 
 ere he had pronounced God's judgment too, though 
 from another quarter, and not from that whence 
 Ahaz feared it. (vii. 17-25.) 
 
 The prophet is soon re-employed in symbol and 
 in type. First the Lord commanded him to take 
 a "great roll" that is, a folded or rolled sheet, 
 such as that on which the manuscripts of those 
 days were inscribed and to write in it concern- 
 ing Maher-shalal-hash-baz. These words mean : 
 " Hasteneth the spoil ! Soon cometh the prey." And 
 we shall shortly see their application. 
 
 The Lord then bade him take two faithful wit-
 
 AND PROPHECY. 357 
 
 nesses, in regard to a child yet to be born unto 
 him and the prophetess. These men, we conceive, 
 were to bear testimony, as to the significance 
 of the prophetic child revealed to Isaiah, and 
 then mentioned by him to them. Some have 
 spoken of all this as a mere vision, but we think 
 very erroneously. And the name of the child 
 was to be that Hebrew term already mentioned 
 as inscribed on the roll. And then follows the ap- 
 plication of his name to that nation's history, for 
 which Isaiah was ordained. " For before the child 
 shall have knowledge to cry My father and My 
 mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of 
 Samaria shall be taken away before the king of 
 Assyria." (viii. 4.) And here again, let Ahaz and 
 the people trespass on the mercy proclaimed, (as 
 they were only too much inclined to do,) judg- 
 ment was again proclaimed, and the real quarter, 
 namely, Assyria, whence in judgment the sw^ord 
 of the Lord would come. (ver. 7.) 
 
 We cannot pass over the next chapter of this 
 prophecy without some notice, although nothing 
 personal concerning the Prophet's life is therein 
 told. It tells of our Saviour himself. It opens 
 with the news of a " great light," shining forth in 
 a certain land, where all was darkness before 
 "the land of the shadow of death" that very 
 land of Galilee where Jesus chiefly dwelt. Then 
 we hear of joy, illustrated by that of a harvest- 
 home, or a day of triumph in war. And then 
 we hear of a great deliverance from the oppres- 
 sor's yoke of a conquest won, but quite different
 
 358 ISAIAH, HIS LIFE 
 
 from any gained in earthly conflicts of an ordi- 
 nary kind, as with " noise and garments rolled in 
 blood." For the conquest of Jesus Christ over 
 Satan and over all evil was to be one infinitely 
 more mighty and complete, even as the " burning 
 and the fuel of fire" is mightier than all other 
 powers of destruction. And then the one grand 
 living object of all this prophecy appears. The 
 True Light is proclaimed. The Conqueror is an- 
 nounced, even Jesus Christ, whose marvellous 
 birth is thus heralded : " Unto us a child is born, 
 unto us a son is given: and the government shall be 
 upon his shoulder : and his name shall be called 
 Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty GOD, The Ever- 
 lasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (ch. ix. 1-7.) 
 
 Passing on to the 20th chapter, we find Isaiah 
 employed as a living sign or embodied type of 
 GOD'S future purposes. The instances are rare of 
 any such similitudes, as personally shown in him, 
 while in the life of some other prophets (Ezekiel 
 for instance) they are very numerous. Isaiah was 
 ordered by the Lord to walk naked and barefoot, 
 as a sign of the extremity coming upon Egypt 
 from the king of Assyria, and to denote that 
 Judah's expectation from that quarter would be 
 only as trust in a " broken reed." 
 
 The 36th chapter commences that history, in 
 which Isaiah bore a distinguished part. Here we 
 have him exalted before us in a new sphere. The 
 day of Judah's peril has arrived. Sennacherib, 
 king of Assyria, had come up and taken all the 
 defenced cities of Judah. Rabshakeh, one of his
 
 AND PROPHECY. 359 
 
 chieftains, had been sent to Jerusalem with a 
 summons of surrender in the name of the As- 
 syrian king. At this time Hezekiah reigned. So 
 great did the danger appear, that his officers who 
 heard Rabshakeh's message went back to the king 
 with their clothes rent, and told him of it. He 
 too " rent his clothes, and covered himself with 
 sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord ; 
 and he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, 
 and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, 
 covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet, the 
 son of Amoz" And they went to him. Thus was 
 he honoured by man. He was sought out in the 
 hour of national and royal distress. And we shall 
 soon see how he was honoured by GOD also. 
 
 GOD gave him an inspired message of encou- 
 ragement for the pious king in his dire predica- 
 ment. Or, to speak more accurately, GOD gave 
 him two such annunciations. For in the 7th verse 
 of the 37th chapter two virtually are contained : 
 " Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he 
 shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land ; 
 and I will cause him to fall in his own land." 
 Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of As- 
 syria engaged in a new strife through a rumour 
 which he had heard : and when the peril of Jeru- 
 salem seemed again imminent, GOD defended his 
 own beloved city, (as Isaiah had foretold,) and the 
 angel of the Lord smote the mighty host ; and the 
 great enemy of GOD'S people departed and went 
 back to Nineveh ; and there his own sons slew him 
 as he worshipped Nisroch his god.
 
 360 ISAIAH, HIS LIFE 
 
 Shortly after this great deliverance of his king- 
 dom, Hezekiah was " sick unto death." That is, he 
 would have died under his disease, had not GOD 
 specially interposed to preserve his life. Isaiah 
 was here chosen by GOD for four distinct objects 
 in connection with this event. First, he was sent 
 to tell the king of impending death. Then to tell 
 him that GOD had heard his prayer, and would 
 add fifteen years to his life. Then to give him 
 the sign of the sun going back ten degrees on the 
 sun-dial of Ahaz. And lastly, to apply that bodily 
 remedy with which it pleased GOD to connect 
 Hezekiah's cure. (See the course of chap, xxxviii.) 
 But alas ! very soon Isaiah returns with no joy- 
 ous message, but with one of a most awful kind. 
 Hezekiah had fallen into sin, notwithstanding his 
 general piety and excellency. He had fallen into 
 pride; and when the Babylonian king had sent 
 to congratulate him on his recovery, and to in- 
 quire about the wondrous sign c lately given him 
 then, to put it in the very language of Scripture, 
 " in the business of the ambassadors of the princes 
 of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the 
 wonder that was done in the land, GOD left him 
 to try him, that lie might know all which was in 
 his heart." (2 Chron. xxxii. 31.) And so he fell; 
 and Isaiah was appointed to tell the judgment of 
 GOD. Faithfully he told it. Humbly the king 
 received it, saying with all lowliness and submis- 
 
 c This was a subject which would give special interest to the 
 Assyrians, among whom both astronomy and astrology were at 
 all times assiduously cultivated.
 
 AND PROPHECY. 361 
 
 sion : " Good is the word of the Lord which thou 
 hast spoken." (ch. xxxix. 8.) 
 
 The remainder of Isaiah is all prophetical. It 
 has nothing in it personally touching him, or re- 
 cording events of history, as the few chapters do, 
 forming the intermediate part of this book. Con- 
 cerning the Prophet's death nothing is told in the 
 Scripture itself, though it has always been the 
 traditional belief of the Church, that the passage 
 in the Hebrews, which speaks of some among 
 GOD'S faithful servants as " sawn asunder" has 
 reference to him, and that Manasseh was the 
 author of the cruel act. We state this as thus 
 handed down, not as a certain fact Avritten and 
 assured by the Spirit and the word. But no doubt 
 such a tradition as this should be mentioned. 
 Origen, Tertullian, Justin, Chrys.ostom and Au- 
 gustine d , all in a measure, bear their testimony 
 to the truth of this record. Such an end of 
 Isaiah's course seems quite consistent with Ma- 
 nasseh's strange unbridled wickedness in so many 
 other things. He was the Nero of his day. Per- 
 haps, as John reproved Herod, so Isaiah " the 
 aged" reproved him ; and thus through his fidelity 
 it may have been that he won the martyr's crown, 
 after having for so many years spoke the Prophet's 
 word and done the Prophet's work. 
 
 The epithet " evangelical" is often affixed to 
 
 '1 The references may be seen in Calmet's Hist. Diet, on the 
 word Isaiah. Those who have the writings of these Fathers, and 
 wish to refer to the original passages, will probably have that work 
 also, and therefore it is not requisite to introduce them here.
 
 362 ISAIAH, HIS LIFE 
 
 Isaiah's name and writings. And most fitly. 
 For this beautiful word means, in its Scripture 
 sense, " that which has to do with the glad news of the 
 gospel of Christ" And of this subject he is glori- 
 ously full both as to Christ in the day of his 
 humiliation and as to Christ in the day of his 
 coming majesty. 
 
 It has been observed that " more testimonies 
 and quotations in the New Testament are taken 
 out of Isaiah than out of all the other Prophets 6 ." 
 When Jesus stood up in the synagogue of Na- 
 zareth, it was from Isaiah that he read and 
 preached, choosing the passage from the 61st 
 chapter, and saying, "This day is this Scripture 
 fulfilled in your ears." (Luke iv. 21.) The eunuch 
 was engaged in reading Isaiah, when Philip was 
 sent " unto Gaza, which is desert." Philip preach- 
 ed Jesus from a text in the 53rd chapter, and 
 sent him on his way rejoicing. (Acts viii. 26-40.) 
 And many other passages in GOD'S holy word 
 specially honour Isaiah and his prophecy. Of 
 him the Apocrypha tells : " He saw by an excel- 
 lent spirit what should come to pass at the last, 
 and he comforted them that mourned in Sion. 
 He shewed what should come to pass for ever, 
 and secret things or ever they came f ." And from 
 that day to this, writers and authors of every 
 age have ever dwelt on the glory of his subjects, 
 and his doctrine, not less than on the grandeur of 
 his style. It would be out of place to make here 
 any similar attempt, But truly we may thank 
 
 '' Pool, Preface to Isaiah. f Ecclus. xlviii. 24, 25.
 
 AND PROPHECY. 363 
 
 and praise and bless GOD the Holy Spirit, by 
 whom Isaiah spoke and wrote every word of his 
 prophecy, for such a wondrous book ! Let us 
 acknowledge the magnificence of its contents, as 
 adapted to fill with admiration and delight the 
 most gifted mind with which ever man was 
 endowed ! Let us acknowledge its constraining 
 appeals to the deepest and strongest affections 
 of the heart ! And above all, let us thankfully 
 observe that " testimony of Jesus, w r hich is the 
 spirit of prophecy" (Rev. xix. 10.), so abundantly 
 declared by Isaiah, both his humiliation and con- 
 cerning his future glory. Nor, amid the many 
 praises of Isaiah, do I remember any more for- 
 cibly though simply pourtraying the clearness and 
 the fulness of his prophetic page, than the follow- 
 ing old English rhymes s: 
 
 ' And here presented is unto thy sight 
 
 The royal Prophet Esaias Evangel : 
 
 For so, methiiiks, I may term it aright ; 
 
 That Prince of holy prophets doth so well, 
 So lively, Christ's whole history presage, 
 As if he'd lived in that same very age." 
 
 S From an epigram by Francis Hering, quoted in the recent 
 Edinburgh edition of Calvin's Commentary.
 
 JEREMIAH, 
 
 HIS LIFE AND PROPHECY. 
 
 JL HE personal details of Jeremiah's life, which 
 the Book of his Prophecy supplies, are far more 
 numerous than those which the Book of Isaiah 
 or of Ezekiel gives concerning them. Indeed, 
 many parts of Jeremiah's writings are just an 
 historical record of his own condition and times. 
 And those narratives go far to explain and illus- 
 trate those portions of his book, more exclusively 
 of a prophetical kind. I shall make it my en- 
 deavour to interweave all these particulars in the 
 following account of his life and character. 
 
 Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah, of the priestly 
 family, an inhabitant of Anathoth, a town in the 
 Tribe of Benjamin, about three miles from Jeru- 
 salem, and one of the cities, which with its sub- 
 urbs, was given to the children of Aaron. (Josh, 
 xxi. 18, 19.) 
 
 His call is fully recorded in the first chapter of 
 his prophecy ; and by this it appears that he was 
 summoned to his office in very early life and that 
 the word of the Lord came to him in the 13th 
 year of the reign of Josiah, also in the days of 
 Jehoiakim, and to the llth year of Zedekiah 
 *' unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive
 
 JEBEMIAH, HIS LIFE AND PROPHECY. 365 
 
 in the fifth month." (ver.3.) This was a period of 
 40 years : and his prophecy forms a most im- 
 portant link between that of Isaiah, which ceased 
 considerably before the capture of Jerusalem, and 
 that of Ezekiel and Daniel, which only commenced 
 after that event. The first of these Prophets ap- 
 pears to address his people as one mightily striving 
 for their reformation from their course of sin. The 
 second, Jeremiah, seems rather to proclaim the 
 near desolation of his country, now hardened in 
 impenitence ; while Ezekiel and Daniel speak as 
 those who with their pious compatriots have 
 humbly accepted the national visitation, and seek 
 to promote GOD'S honour and glory in the land of 
 the captivity or in Jerusalem, under the judg- 
 ments already sent. 
 
 In the call above mentioned, that high honour 
 which GOD put on Jeremiah is announced : his- 
 humility appears ; and he is strengthened for the 
 work assigned to him. This is the usual, or, it 
 may be said, almost the universal course of all 
 such ordinations which the Scripture contains. 
 The subject has been mentioned already in Isaiah's 
 life, and therefore need not be resumed here at 
 any further length. 
 
 Visions were immediately presented to his 
 gaze : and thus he was taught GOD'S future 
 doings. First was the rod of the almond tree. 
 This is a tree which blossoms early and speedily, 
 and thus represented GOD'S speedy judgments. 
 Next he saw a " seething-pot, with the face 
 toward the north." This indicated whence the
 
 866 JEREMIAH, HIS LIFE 
 
 stroke of affliction should come, viz. from Chaldsea. 
 Then the Prophet is strengthened with divine 
 encouragement of the strongest kind; and al- 
 though the warfare is plainly announced which 
 he would have to wage against his enemies, he is 
 assured of protection from the Most High : " And 
 they shall fight against thee : but they shall not 
 prevail against thee : for I am with thee, saith the 
 Lord, to deliver thee," (ver. 19.) 
 
 Jeremiah is then sent to " cry in the ears of 
 Jerusalem." And thus he begins that solemn 
 and woeful strain, to be continued for forty 
 coming years. And melancholy is his word from 
 its commencement full, no doubt, of GOD'S tender 
 mercy, but full of that mercy as disregarded and 
 despised. Such, for the most part, is the tenor 
 of the first portion of this book. 
 
 In the 7th chapter, GOD orders His Prophet not 
 only to Jerusalem, but specially to " the gate of 
 the Lord's house," there to address all who entered 
 in " to worship the Lord." (ver. 12.) His commis- 
 sion was to preach all vital religion, and all godly 
 practice, and, on the other hand/ to denounce 
 all mere profession and formality. 
 
 Message after message was given to Jeremiah, 
 and each was faithfully delivered by him. The 
 usual results ensued. " Which of the Prophets 
 have not your fathers persecuted?" (Acts vii. 52.) 
 Thus spake St. Stephen in the latter days. The 
 men of Anathoth of his own city sought to 
 destroy him. Their very words are recorded, or 
 their spirit, at all events : " Let us destroy the
 
 AND PROPHECY. 367 
 
 tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him 
 off from the land of the living, that his name 
 may be no more remembered." Moreover they 
 tried to silence him by their threats. They said 
 to him : " Prophesy not in the name of the Lord, 
 that thou die not by our hand." But he prayed 
 against their wickedness. And GOD heard him, 
 and said : ' Behold, I will punish them : the 
 young men shall die by the sword ; their sons 
 and their daughters shall die by famine: and 
 there shall be no remnant of them: for I will 
 bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the 
 year of their visitation." (xi. 19 23.) Of their 
 city no trace remains. 
 
 Jeremiah was often much tried in his inward 
 spirit. Besides the usual warfare, which all holy 
 men must maintain, he had many and peculiar 
 griefs. Like David, (Ps. Ixxiii. 3, 4.) he saw the 
 wicked prospering and the righteous suffering. 
 This sorely troubled him. As it was with Jesus, 
 the great and Divine Prophet, so it was with 
 Jeremiah ; " his brethren did not believe in him," 
 nor they of his father's house, (xii. 6.) The Pro- 
 phets too, who should have been on his side, took 
 the contrary part, (see chap. xiv. 13, and else- 
 where.) But his GOD was with him. GOD even 
 condescended graciously to reason with him. (chap, 
 xii. ver. 5.) GOD put him on his guard against all 
 delusion of fair but false words, (ver. 6.) And 
 in every way, according to the promise, GOD main- 
 tained his cause. 
 
 Jeremiah too, like Isaiah and Ezekiel, was
 
 368 JEREMIAH, HIS LIFE 
 
 employed by the Lord, in his own person, as 
 a prophetic, living and embodied sign. He was 
 commanded to take his linen girdle to "go to 
 Euphrates, and to hide it there in a hole of the 
 rock." (ch. xiii. 4.) " And after many days the 
 Lord said unto him, Arise, go to Euphrates, and 
 take the girdle from thence, which I commanded 
 thee to hide there." He did so, "and, behold, 
 the girdle was marred, it was profitable for 
 nothing." (ver. 7.) There is much difference of 
 opinion, whether this was done by an actual 
 journey, or in vision only: and perhaps it would 
 be rash to pronounce too definitively on the sub- 
 ject. A far more important thing the inter- 
 pretation of the sign was given by the Lord 
 Himself, just as Jesus explained certain of the 
 Parables. " This evil people, which refuse to 
 hear my words, which walk in the imagination 
 of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve 
 them, shall be even as this girdle, which is good 
 for nothing. For as the girdle cleaveth to the 
 loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto 
 me the whole house of Israel and the whole 
 house of Judah, saith the Lord; that they might 
 be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for 
 a praise, and for a glory : but they would not 
 hear." (vv. 11, 12.) " They would not hear!" This 
 declaration of the Lord Himself might be taken 
 as the mark and key of all Jeremiah's prophet- 
 ical remonstrances. And as the people would 
 not understand nor accept GOD'S dealing with 
 them, as told by parable and sign, He Himself,
 
 AND PROPHECY. 369 
 
 here and elsewhere, gave the interpretation by 
 Jeremiah's word. (vv. 12 14.) 
 
 Messages from GOD, through him, now speedily 
 succeeded one another. At one time he was sent 
 to " the king and queen," calling them to repent- 
 ance and humiliation, (ver. 18.) Then he had to 
 tell of the famine or dearth, (xiv. 1.) He had 
 even to remonstrate against his professed bre- 
 thren, bearing the prophetic name. (xiv. 13, &c.) 
 And we find him forbidden to take to himself a 
 wife in his own land, (xvi. 1.) or to fulfil the 
 accustomed rites of mourning for the dead, indi- 
 cating how near was the national doom, (vv.4-10.) 
 And these various signs were to be explained to 
 all observers who inquired what they meant. 
 But in the midst of all these woeful sentences of 
 wrath, mercy and restoration were not forgotten; 
 and the passage, quoted in the Hebrews, appears: 
 "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it 
 shall no more be said, The Lord liveth that 
 brought up the children of Israel out of the land 
 of Egypt ; but, The Lord liveth that brought up 
 the children of Israel from the land of the 
 north, and from all the lands whither He had 
 driven them : and I will bring them again into 
 the land which I gave unto their fathers." (xvi. 
 14, 15.) 
 
 Jeremiah was instructed to give so many signs, 
 of a visible and tangible sort, that we need not 
 follow them out in all detail. But ere long we 
 find him sent to a certain place with a certain 
 sign and with certain words to be uttered there. 
 Bb
 
 370 JEREMIAH, HIS LIFE 
 
 (ch. xix.) That place was the " valley of the son 
 of Hinnom, or Tophet, as it was otherwise called. 
 This being accomplished, he went to the Temple 
 itself, and "stood in the court of the Lord's house," 
 and there repeated the denunciation and woe 
 unto all the people, (vv.14,15.) This immediately 
 brought down upon him violent persecution. 
 And here a most interesting matter begins, and 
 one which ought to be fully understood by all 
 who would comprehend GOD'S dealings with Israel 
 in the Old Testament through the prophets, and 
 GOD'S dealings with Israel (as recorded in the 
 New) by Jesus Christ himself, the great Prophet 
 of the Church. We refer to the contest between 
 the authorities and functionaries of the Jewish 
 Church, who by outward order and ordination 
 held their official place, and those whom GOD 
 specially raised up to declare and perform His 
 will. The former were often real opponents of 
 GOD and His true messengers the last, of course, 
 ever. 
 
 Pashur was at this time the " chief governor in 
 the house of the Lord." He heard what Jeremiah 
 was doing seized him, smote him, put him in 
 the stocks, and exposed him publicly. Nor till 
 the next morning was the Prophet released. He 
 then pronounced GOD'S judgment against Pashur, 
 giving him a new and most appalling name. 
 That name was Magor-Missabib or, fear round 
 about*. All, thereby expressed, was no doubt 
 
 a All the traditions concerning Pontius Pilate, after his cruci- 
 fixion of the Lord and they are very numerous tell of him as
 
 AND PROPHECY. 371 
 
 executed on the guilty man, who thus, like a 
 Caiaphas, withstood GOD'S word and His ordained 
 messenger. 
 
 This very same Pashur was sent to the Prophet 
 by king Zedekiah in his hour of difficulty and 
 peril. The royal message was : " Enquire, I pray 
 thee, of the Lord for us : for Nebuchadnezzar king 
 of Babylon maketh war against us : if so be that 
 the Lord will deal with us according to all His 
 wondrous works, that he may go up from us." 
 (xxi. 2.) But Jeremiah was faithful, and no 
 answer but that of woe could proceed from his 
 lips. Nevertheless, GOD tempered judgment by 
 mercy, and he enabled His servant to give certain 
 details of the coming siege, which, as in the sub- 
 sequent instance of Pella, if duly watched, might 
 be, to the observers, a means of escape with life, 
 (ver. 9.) 
 
 Events of importance now thickly throng in 
 Jeremiah's history. GOD sent him again to the 
 king of Judah. GOD gave him special details 
 concerning the end of Shallum and Jehoiakim. 
 (ch. xxii.) And then vision after vision, including 
 that of the captivity for seventy years b , (xxv. 1 2.) 
 was revealed to the Prophet, and is written for 
 us. But Jeremiah's prophecies now brought 
 him into much peril. The priests and the false 
 
 one whom this awful appellation might well suit. A similar woe 
 is pronounced against the Jews, while in a state of alienation 
 from GOD. (Deut. xxviii. 66, &c.) 
 
 b By the observation of this unfulfilled prophecy Daniel told of 
 the number of the years and acted accordingly. (Dan. ix. i, 2.) 
 Bb2
 
 372 JEREMIAH, HIS LIFE 
 
 prophets sought to kill him sought to enlist 
 the princes in their murderous and profane 
 scheme all because Jeremiah spoke the truth 
 as commissioned by the Lord. " This man," said 
 they, "is worthy of death ; for he hath prophesied 
 against this city, as ye have heard with your 
 ears." (xxvi. 11.) How like the charge against 
 the Lord, and against St. Stephen afterwards ! 
 How akin to itself, at all places and at all times, 
 persecution has been, is, and shall be always ! 
 
 " There was a division because of him." Some 
 wished to put him to death. Some were against 
 it. But the Lord preserved him through the 
 hand of Ahikan i. e. through the power and 
 interest of one in high authority, who now and 
 afterwards befriended Jeremiah, and was sub- 
 sequently exalted to the high office of govern- 
 or of the city of Jerusalem, (ch. xl. 5.) GOD 
 honoured him, who "made much" of His ser- 
 vant in the hour of peril from the hand of man. 
 (Ps. xv. 4.) 
 
 Jeremiah had now to lay before several heathen 
 nations the extraordinary message of GOD, that 
 they should submit at once to Nebuchadnezzar : 
 and not only this, but he had to speak with the 
 same intent to his own countrymen. Much of 
 detailed prophecy on the coming visitations is 
 mixed up with all this. Moreover, in connexion 
 with these things a remarkable event took place. 
 While Jeremiah was bearing this testimony con- 
 cerning the will of GOD, which none could dis- 
 annul, another Prophet, Hananiah, whom GOD
 
 AND PROPHECY. 373 
 
 had not sent on this service, took upon himself 
 to announce peace, when there should be no 
 peace. Jeremiah faithfully contended against 
 him. On which Hananiah took the bonds or 
 yokes of wood (enjoined in the 27th chapter, and 
 now symbolically worn by the Prophet) and 
 brake them, as a sign that the Babylonish yoke 
 should be broken too at a short and a given in- 
 terval, all this being utterly false. It is written, 
 that the "Prophet Jeremiah went his way" 
 letting, as it were, the pertinacious deceiver alone 
 without contention on personal grounds. But 
 GOD sent him back with a message of rebuke 
 on his lips, and in the same year the profane 
 Hananiah died. (See the course of the 28th 
 chapter.) 
 
 The leading work of the Prophet at this time 
 was to bring his countrymen into all submission 
 to the will of GOD as to the national judgments. 
 Accordingly, among his other efforts, he wrote a 
 letter from Jerusalem to the captive Jews, who 
 had been carried into the land of Assyria, and 
 thus gave them counsel as to their true position 
 in the sight of GOD, and as to the duties unto 
 which GOD called them in the foreign land where 
 they were now sojourning. 
 
 Judgment, long proclaimed and by Jeremiah, 
 in the very plainest language, as at hand had 
 now come on Jerusalem. What now was its 
 condition ? That of a besieged city ! The king 
 of Babylon's army was now encompassing it. 
 (xxxii. 2.) And where was Jeremiah ? Shut up
 
 374 JEREMIAH, HIS LIFE 
 
 in the court of the royal prison ; ' ; Zedekiah had 
 shut him up" on account of the testimony which 
 GOD gave him to bear regarding himself, and the 
 nation over which he ruled, and the city of Jeru- 
 salem. But, as with Joseph and with Peter, GOD 
 was with His servant in the prison-house. GOD 
 employed him even there to reveal His will by 
 act and deed, as he had been employed in the 
 days of his liberty. This was done in the follow- 
 ing way. His uncle wished to dispose of a field 
 at Anathoth. The right of redemption was with 
 Jeremiah d . He saw at once that the offer was of 
 the Lord. And he bought the field, and completed 
 the purchase in the presence of due witnesses, 
 and charged Baruch his scribe and disciple 6 , "to 
 put the deeds (as we should call them) in an 
 earthen vessel, that they might continue for 
 many days." (xxxii. 14.) Then he prayed to GOD 
 that He would reveal His will in this matter. 
 And GOD did so. For he gave rich promises of 
 Judah's restoration at His own time, though afar 
 off; and God Himself affixed to the sign its due 
 interpretation : " Like as I have brought all this 
 great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon 
 them all the good that I have promised them. 
 And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof 
 ye say, It is desolate without man or beast ; it is 
 
 c Those who have travelled abroad will remember how a pri- 
 son, dungeon, or " oubliette" is a constant appendage to so many 
 feudal castles and royal palaces of former days. I recall at this 
 moment those of Chinon and Loches. 
 
 d See Ruth v. e Ch. xxxii. 12-16. xliii. 3, 6. li. 61.
 
 AND PROPHECY. 375 
 
 given into the hand of the Chaldeans. Men shall 
 buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, 
 and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of 
 Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem." 
 (4244.) 
 
 Jeremiah remained still in his prison-house, 
 like St. John, in tribulation "for the word of 
 GOD { ." But there the Lord continued to visit 
 him. There GOD gave him the prophetic word, 
 telling no doubt of woes, but telling also of mercy 
 and restoration, and of the Saviour himself : "Be- 
 hold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will 
 perform that good thing which I have promised 
 unto the house of Israel, and unto the house of 
 Judah. In those days and at that time, will I 
 cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up 
 unto David ; and he shall execute judgment and 
 righteousness in the land." (xxxiii. 14, 15.) And 
 in the next chapter he was commissioned to tell 
 Zedekiah about his being carried captive to Ba- 
 bylon ; and in the next, to prove the Rechabites 
 with the offer of wine, that they might be a sign 
 of rebuke to Israel ; and in the next, to write 
 GOD'S judgments in the roll of a book, and to send 
 it to Jehoiakim. His profane treatment of it is 
 then described. Moreover, numerous details ap- 
 pear concerning Jeremiah, all uniting to shew how 
 much importance was attached to his word, and 
 at the same time how much cruel treatment he 
 received because he would persevere in declaring 
 the truth, and would not give utterance, like the 
 
 f Rev. i. i-u.
 
 376 JEREMIAH, HIS [LIFE 
 
 other prophets, to " cunningly devised fables." 
 And the reason why the enmity against him was 
 so fierce arose from this fact the determination 
 of his countrymen not to hear themselves, nor to 
 let others hear, of their impending doom in the 
 capture of Jerusalem. Jeremiah knew that the 
 Lord had determined it. Sometimes he had to 
 tell the truth without invitation on the part of 
 man, and sometimes by express desire of his 
 countrymen, and even of the king himself. But 
 in neither case was he rightly heard. Nay, just 
 the contrary : and though he had done nothing 
 wrong, yet at one time, when he sought to with- 
 draw from the city into some retired place of the 
 land of Benjamin, he was falsely charged with 
 deserting to the king of Babylon, and cast into 
 prison. But this was not all. A new charge 
 was then brought up against him, and when the 
 princes could not take away his life by open 
 violence, (for the king would not absolutely suffer 
 that,) they cast him into a most noisome dun- 
 geon . But from this extremity the king soon 
 rescued him. Nevertheless he would not treat 
 him righteously ; but while he partly feared him, 
 he feared his own people too much to let him go 
 altogether free : and so at one time prophesying 
 in the prison, at another time cast into the 
 dungeon at another sending messages to kings, 
 and at another sent for by them to resolve their 
 difficulties, and being thus tried, tossed about 
 
 S So Paul and Silas, Acts xvi. 24.
 
 AND PROPHECY. 377 
 
 and harassed by wicked men, he remained a 
 prisoner " in the court of the prison until the day 
 that Jerusalem was taken 11 ." (xxxviii. 28.) 
 
 Woe now followed upon woe. Zedekiah's sons 
 were slain before his eyes: and then his eyes 
 were put out, and he was carried captive to 
 Babylon. The nobles of Judah were all slain. 
 The king's house and the houses of the people 
 were burnt down. The walls of the city were 
 overthrown. But, as the Christians were often 
 better treated by the heathens than by their own 
 countrymen, so also the Chaldeans were kinder 
 to Jeremiah than his own nation. The king of 
 Babylon himself gave the command that he 
 should be treated well. He was released from 
 the prison, and permitted to return to his home, 
 (xxxix. 14.) Soon we find him dwelling in safety 
 " among the people that were left in the land," 
 and under the protection of Gedaliah, the governor 
 of the cities of Judah. But his restless country- 
 men would not submit to the Lord's manifest will 
 
 h " It is observable that, though many of these prophecies 
 have their respective dates annexed to them, and others may be 
 tolerably ascertained from certain internal marks and collateral 
 evidence, there appears manifest disorder in the arrangement, 
 not easily accounted for on any principle of regular design. 
 The Prophet delivered his discourses at particular times, in 
 select portions, during forty or forty-three years : and these 
 appear to have been afterwards collected and put together 
 without any attention to chronological arrangement." From 
 Preface to Jeremiah in Bagster's small 410 Bible, 1846 where 
 two systematic arrangements are attempted one from an English 
 and the other from a German writer.
 
 378 JEREMIAH HIS LIFE 
 
 in the way of judgment. Ishmael, one of the 
 royal family of Judah, with other men, conspired 
 against Gedaliah and slew him, and the Jews who 
 were with him. (xli. 3.) Hence the utmost fear 
 of Chaldean vengeance arose among the people 
 of the land: and the chieftains in their extremity 
 resorted to Jeremiah, asking for his prayers and 
 advice. Ten days afterwards he gave them an 
 answer from the Lord. It was, that they should 
 not flee away into Egypt, as they were inclined 
 to do, but that they, " the remnant of Judah," 
 should patiently abide in their own land. To 
 this however they would not hearken. They had 
 come to the Prophet with mere profession on 
 their lips, but with their own minds made up to 
 fulfil their own will : and when they found their 
 purpose forbidden by the message of GOD, they 
 broke out wrathfully against the Prophet : "Thou 
 speakest falsely ! The Lord our GOD hath not sent 
 thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there. 
 And they betook themselves into Egypt, and 
 carried much people away." And among them 
 Jeremiah was compelled to go also. 
 
 And now he is in Taphanes in the midst of 
 the Egyptian territory. Still the word of the 
 Lord came unto him; and at Pharaoh's very 
 gate he was bidden to erect stones, and to pro- 
 claim them as Nebuchadnezzar's throne, (xliii.10.) 
 Moreover, he had there to lift up his voice against 
 the sins and idolatry of his own countrymen : 
 and he warned them against burning incense to 
 other gods in the land of Egypt, (xliv. 8.) But
 
 AND PROPHECY. 370 
 
 they hearkened not ; and he, like his Master and 
 his Saviour, had to endure all "the contradiction 
 of sinners against himself." And thus, as his 
 prophetic life began, so too it ended in earnest 
 contention for the truth of GOD, and in suffering 
 for His name's sake. Of him we know nothing 
 beyond this time ; and it is supposed that he died 
 in Egypt, 
 
 The record of the Prophet's life may speedily 
 be read, or even written. But many and long 
 were the years of his tribulation, now very briefly 
 reviewed. The details, needful to be told in any 
 narrative of his life and history, are very many 
 so many, perhaps, as almost to cause some dis- 
 traction in readers of a statement like this. 
 Without omitting some, it is not easy to main- 
 tain that breadth of portraiture, if we may so 
 term it, which Isaiah and Ezekiel present, just 
 for this very cause, that, personally speaking, we 
 know so much less of them. Still, however, any 
 true and careful notice of this kind may assist us 
 to a clear apprehension of his inspired testimony. 
 The history too of his life, as given in the Scrip- 
 ture, is from the Spirit : and I shall be thankful 
 if this brief narrative should lead any to consider 
 him and his character and writings with more 
 advantage than before, leading them to mark 
 how he was opposed, slandered, assaulted, im- 
 prisoned and persecuted by man how he was 
 honoured, upheld and comforted by his GOD, and 
 how the most strange events verified to the utter- 
 most all his prophetical word. Nor could any
 
 380 JEREMIAH, HIS LIFE AND PROPHECY. 
 
 saint of GOD more rightly be in the Apostle's 
 mind, when he wrote, or in ours, when we hear 
 the words of exhortation : " Take, my brethren, 
 the prophets, who have spoken in the name of 
 the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, 
 and of patience'." 
 
 i James v. 10.
 
 EZEKIEL, HIS LIFE AND PEOPHECY. 
 
 WHILE Jeremiah was prophesying at Jerusa- 
 lem, two more Hebrew Prophets were cotem- 
 porary captives in the kingdom of Babylon. The 
 one was Ezekiel, the other was Daniel; and in 
 passing, it may be observed that each had his 
 own distinct office and work, perfectly dissimilar 
 to that of the other. 
 
 Ezekiel is supposed to have fallen into the 
 hands of the Chaldeans in the year 599 B. C., 
 at the time when Jehoiakin, king of Judah, and 
 many chief personages with him, were taken 
 prisoners to Babylon, (ch. i. 1.) His father's 
 name was Busi, and he was of the priestly 
 race. (ver. 3.) The region assigned to him, as his 
 abode in the land of captivity, was by the river 
 Chebar, which, rising in mount Taurus, runs 
 through part of Mesopotamia, and empties itself 
 into the Euphrates 3 . Nothing is known with 
 certainty as to his age at the time of his being 
 taken from his native country ; and there is con- 
 
 a Diet, de Moreri, on the word Chabur. Spruner's Atlas An- 
 tiquus and Smith's Geograph. Diet, place the source of this river 
 in Mount Masius, a chain branching off and distinct from Mount 
 Taurus.
 
 382 EZEKIEL, HIS LIFE 
 
 siderable doubt as to the meaning of the words 
 of the 1st verse of the prophecy " in the 30th 
 year." We are left to decide whether it means 
 in the 30th year of the Prophet's age or from 
 the finding of the Book of the Law in the 18th 
 year of king Josiah, when those threatenings 
 were read, now executed on the Jews. (See 2 
 Kings xxii. 16.) Thirty years from this date 
 would bring up the time to the 5th year of 
 the captivity. Or the 30th year of the Chaldean 
 monarchy might be meant. It is the statement 
 of Pool b , that " of the two latter explanations 
 both have very weighty authority for them ; and 
 indeed they both concur and meet in the 5th 
 year of the captivity : and so either computation 
 may without mistake be followed." 
 
 Though Ezekiel was thus placed in a far and 
 foreign land, it must not be thought that his was 
 a solitary life, or even one spent apart from his 
 own countrymen. On the contrary, we have rea- 
 son to believe that, in all probability, he was not 
 only one among a large number sent to this lo- 
 cality, but also, that there were many descend- 
 ants of the Ten Tribes placed some time before 
 in this vicinity. For in "the ninth year of Hoshea 
 the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried 
 Israel away into Assyria, and placed them on 
 Halah, and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and 
 in the cities of the Medes." (2 Kings xvii. 6.) From 
 these two circumstances a large body of Ezekiel's 
 own countrymen would be resident in his im- 
 
 b Annotations on Ezekiel.
 
 AND PROPHECY. 383 
 
 mediate neighbourhood, and would naturally 
 become the auditors of his words and the spec- 
 tators of his acts. And we know from the 
 prophecy itself that this was the actual case in 
 very many instances. In fact, Ezekiel (according 
 to the title which GOD gave him) was a " sign" 
 (xxiv. 24.) to his own people. For they were still 
 the people of GOD, though banished to a foreign 
 land, and were not less dwelling in his sight than 
 when on the soil of Judaea not less the objects 
 of his intervention and care, amidst all the judg- 
 ments which were now upon them. 
 
 The Book of Ezekiel opens abruptly. It has 
 very little preface giving us any tidings about 
 the Prophet himself. All which appears in this 
 introduction has been already mentioned. But 
 it may be gathered from other parts of the book, 
 that Ezekiel was now dwelling in his own house, 
 and was a married man, (iii. 24. xxiv. 18.) when 
 " the hand of the Lord was there upon him," (i. 5.) 
 A wonderful vision of heavenly glory appeared 
 to him. The description of it occupies the first 
 chapter. This was " the appearance of the like- 
 ness of the glory of the Lord." " And when he 
 saw it, he fell upon his face, and a voice spake to 
 him." (ver. 28.) And the voice gave him his pro- 
 phetical commission ; and a roll of a book was 
 sent unto him, "written within and without ; 
 
 c " When any of these scrolls (or ancient books) were written 
 on both sides, it contained twice as much as if written in the usual 
 way," viz. only written on the side turned inwards in rolling. 
 Campbell, Diss. ii. sect. 3.
 
 384 EZEKIEL, HIS LIFE 
 
 and there was written therein lamentations and 
 mourning and woe. v (ii. 10.) He was then com- 
 manded to "eat the roll or book" symbolizing 
 how it was to be made his own " marked, learn- 
 ed and inwardly digested." He was thus specially 
 ordained as a " Prophet to the house of Israel," 
 to warn and rebuke, to guide and to teach, and 
 in all things to fulfil the faithful watchman's 
 part. Then he was sent to " them of the captivity 
 at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar d ; 
 he sat where they sat, and remained there as- 
 tonished among them for seven days." (ver. 15.) 
 And there GOD renewed his commission ; and soon 
 after sent him to his own home, where he was for 
 a time bound and imprisoned and became dumb, 
 until the Lord opened his mouth, and bade him 
 speak in his name, commencing with these words 
 of authority from GOD himself : " Thus saith the 
 Lord GOD." (iii. 27.) These latter circumstances 
 may be all gathered from the termination of the 
 third chapter. 
 
 * Mr. Layard describes a journey to the banks of the Khabour, 
 and the monuments discovered by him at Arban, in that neigh- 
 bourhood. He conceives that they convey the impression of 
 greater antiquity than any hitherto discovered in Assyria. " A 
 deep interest," he adds, " attaches to these remains from the site 
 they occupy. To the Chebar were transported by the Assyrian 
 king, after the destruction of Samaria, the captive children of 
 Israel, and on its banks ' the heavens were opened' to Ezekiel, 
 and he ' saw visions of GOD,' and spake his prophecies to his 
 brother exiles. Around Arban may have been pitched the tents 
 of the sorrowing Jews, as those of the Arabs were during my 
 visit. To the same pastures they led their sheep, and they drank 
 of the same waters."
 
 AND PROPHECY. 385 
 
 GOD now bids Ezekiel to perform certain acts, 
 and to put himself in certain strange and peculiar 
 attitudes, in order to arrest the attention of his 
 countrymen, and to be to them not only a 
 speaking voice, but also a living type or em- 
 bodied sign. First, he is told to depict Jerusa- 
 lem on a tile e , as a besieged city. Then he is to 
 take an iron pan, and to place in the midst of it 
 this representation, that it might be encircled 
 with the rim, to denote thus the circle of Jeru- 
 salem's foes enclosing it all around. Then he 
 was to lie for a long time on his right side, and 
 for a shorter time on his left side all to repre- 
 sent certain years of Israel's sin and certain years 
 of Israel's retribution. Then he was to eat his 
 food by weight, and to drink his water by mea- 
 sure and his bread was to be baked with un- 
 clean fuel, such as nothing but famine would 
 bring into use; and all this was to announce the 
 speedily coming woe and destitution of Jerusalem. 
 These symbols are all found in one chapter ; and 
 they are introduced here, because they illustrate 
 the ways and the words of Ezekiel from the 
 beginning to the end of his prophecy. Other 
 acts f and other prophecies succeed, probably done 
 and spoken at the same time. 
 
 e " This is a striking reference to the Chaldeean usage of writing 
 and pourtraying by indented figures upon broad and thin bricks. 
 Great numbers of such bricks, charged with inscriptions in the 
 arrow-headed character and with figures of animals and other 
 objects are found among the ruins of Babylon and other ancient 
 sites of Chalda>a." Pict. Bible. 
 
 f Ezekiel was much oftener employed thus than any other ' 
 C C
 
 386 EZEKIEL, HIS LIFE 
 
 Somewhat more than a year afterwards, Ezekiel 
 was sitting in his own house. The elders of Judah 
 were with him ; and the hand of the Lord again 
 came upon him. He was brought in the " visions 
 of God to Jerusalem," that he might note the 
 wickedness and foul idolatries of its inhabitants, 
 together with the judgments to follow on their 
 sins. This subject occupies the eighth and the 
 three subsequent chapters. The eleventh ends 
 thus : " Afterwards the spirit took me up, and 
 brought me in a vision by the Spirit of GOD into 
 Chaldsea, to them of the captivity. So the vision 
 that I had seen went up from me. Then I spake 
 unto them of the captivity all the things that the 
 Lord had shewed me." 
 
 The spirit of the Prophet is now once more in 
 the Assyrian land in his own dwelling place. 
 In the course of the next seven years he there 
 delivers all the annunciations, messages and 
 exhortations, with which God entrusted him. 
 The exiles among whom he dwelt, and to whom 
 he primarily ministered (I insert the word pri- 
 marily, because his writings are of course a min- 
 istry for all ages) carried and retained with them 
 not only the sins of their own compatriots at 
 home, but also their false and proud expectations 
 as to the permanent glory of Jerusalem. The 
 judgments of GOD, under which their country- 
 men were now suffering, full and severe as they 
 were, only appeared to them mere temporary 
 
 prophet. Isaiah had to act thus through his children, and once 
 in his own person. (Is. xx. 2.)
 
 AND PROPHECY. 387 
 
 interruptions in this state of things. All this 
 was to be beaten down by the Prophet's words 
 and symbolical acts. We must remember that 
 the chronological position of Ezekiel at this time 
 is between the inflictions on his people under 
 king Jehoiachin, and Jerusalem's final captivity 
 under king Nebuchadnezzar. And this latter 
 captivity took place about six years after the 
 time when Ezekiel thus spoke and acted. 
 
 Accordingly, in the 12th chapter we find him 
 commanded by GOD to remove the furniture from 
 his house by day in the sight of his countrymen, 
 also "at even to remove into another place, as 
 those who go into captivity." (ver. 4.) At even 
 too he is to "dig through the wall in their sight," 
 and to carry his goods away. This was to figure 
 the exact kind of straits and calamities which 
 fell upon Zedekiah and his chieftains at the siege 
 of Jerusalem . And when the captives asked 
 for an explanation of the Prophet's strange act, 
 he entered upon it at large, and by the Spirit 
 told its interpretation. But it was received, if not 
 with entire unbelief, still in that spirit which is the 
 next thing to this state of mind. " Well," thought 
 his countrymen, (or said perhaps, one to another,) 
 " these things may be true. They may happen at 
 some distant time 11 . But surely we and our cotem- 
 poraries are but little concerned in them." GOD, 
 however, knew their ways, and as a swift witness 
 exposed their delusions. GOD said to Ezekiel : 
 " Son of man, behold they of the house of Israel 
 
 e 2 Kings xxv. 4, 5. h Compare 2 Peter iii. 4. 
 
 c c 2
 
 388 EZEKIEL, HIS LIFE 
 
 say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to 
 come, and he prophesieth of things that are far 
 off. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the 
 Lord GOD, There shall none of my words be pro- 
 longed any more ; but the word which I have 
 spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD." (xii. 28.) 
 
 In a biography like this, it would of course be 
 quite unsuitable to make any regular analysis of 
 Ezekiel's prophecies. At the same time, as it 
 has been said of many authors, that their life is 
 in their writings, so in a peculiar degree it is with 
 Ezekiel. With many Prophets it is not so. For 
 instance, had Moses never written a word, his 
 life would have been one full of matter for the 
 historian's pen. So in the case of Samuel, of 
 David, and others, and in a certain degree with 
 some, whose writings are but of small compass 
 when brought into comparison with those of 
 Ezekiel. But he is altogether and exclusively 
 known by that inspired testimony which he gave, 
 and by the symbolical acts which he describes as 
 done by him through GOD'S command. Therefore 
 I consider that I have done right in introducing 
 here some detailed specimens, on the peculiar 
 mode in which, as a Prophet, he wrote and acted. 
 And I shall continue the same course (though, 
 henceforth with the utmost brevity) under the 
 conviction, just brought to mind, that the writ- 
 ings of Ezekiel are his life that they make him 
 known to us, and that very clearly if we take the 
 pains duly to examine them. 
 
 It was lately seen how his own countrymen
 
 AND PROPHECY. 389 
 
 received his inspired message. And now he had 
 to become " a man of strife and contention" in 
 the cause of GOD. He had to rebuke and to 
 act against offenders yes, even against those of 
 his own class and calling. The command went 
 forth, that he should " prophesy against the pro- 
 phets of Israel that prophesied out of their own 
 hearts." He obeyed, (ch. xxiii.) Again, there came 
 certain of the elders of Israel unto him, and sat 
 before him, professing, no doubt, to consult him in 
 the Lord's name. But what had he to do ? Two 
 things. First, to expose their hypocrisy, and 
 then to overturn all their vain expectations as 
 to Jerusalem. And something similar occurs in 
 the beginning of the 20th chapter also 1 . But, 
 with these exceptions, nothing which personally 
 touches Ezekiel, or which is requisite for us to 
 consider here, comes forth on his pages till we 
 arrive at the 24th chapter. 
 
 Then we are introduced to a most remarkable 
 scene, illustrating GOD'S ways in His prophetic 
 messages. 
 
 On a certain day, or more probably at night, 
 the Lord told Ezekiel that his wife should 
 
 i Like all GOD'S true messengers, (as St. Stephen so mightily 
 sets forth in his speech contained in the 7th of Acts,) and like 
 Jesus himself, Ezekiel had to bear the " contradiction of sinners 
 against himself," and their neglect and mockery. In the last 
 verse of this chapter there is an outbreak from the Prophet's 
 heart very touching, solemn and impressive. After his utterance 
 of the most mighty and awakening truth as to fact, his word, 
 " Then said I, Ah Lord GOD ! they say of me, Doth he not speak 
 parables ?" How common is such conduct still the spirit of 
 trifling with divine things, as if they were not real facts !
 
 390 EZEKIEL, HIS LIFE 
 
 die k , and that he was to shew none of the ordi- 
 nary signs of mourning or lamentation. He im- 
 mediately told this to the people and be writes : 
 " at even my wife died ; and I did in the morn- 
 ing as I was commanded." (ver.18.) How simply 
 is this told told just as by a Prophet's voice, 
 with nothing which touches himself, or his own 
 feelings, intermingled with it ! To quote the 
 passage once more : " So I spake unto the 
 people in the morning: and at even my wife 
 died ; and I did in the morning as I was com- 
 manded." Astonishment seized all who witnessed 
 this conduct. They could not understand it. "The 
 people said unto him, Wilt thou not tell us what 
 these things are to us, that thou doest so ? (ver. 19.) 
 " To us? Probably by this time after many 
 years of his inspired teaching among them they 
 were accustomed to mark his typical, prophetic 
 acts, and to anticipate their interpretation. This 
 he at once gave seemingly addressed to those 
 around him, but virtually unto his country- 
 men at Jerusalem. For he told how the time 
 would speedily arrive, when GOD would take 
 away all their delights, privileges and enjoy- 
 ments. Moreover, GOD bids him declare that the 
 day would also come when those who had escaped 
 from the midst of this tribulation would seek the 
 Prophet himself, and declare that his word had 
 come true, and that GOD had appointed him to be 
 
 k Something similar appears in GOD'S dealings with Hosea. 
 (ch. i.) There, however, it is through taking a wife here 
 through losing one both events being used as prophetic signs.
 
 AND PROPHECY. 391 
 
 a living sign of all which had been consummated, 
 (vv. 26, 27.) 
 
 Various nations are then judged and denounced; 
 for the Prophet, though chiefly engaged with his 
 own people and Jerusalem, is not, by any means, 
 limited to them. A woe is pronounced on 
 Ammon, on Tyre, and on Egypt, and on seve- 
 ral other nations; though a certain honour is 
 ascribed to Assyria, the sword and executioner of 
 GOD'S own wrath, (chapters xxv xxxiii.) Then 
 follow denunciations of false pastors and rulers 
 both spiritual and temporal authorities being 
 included in these rebukes. And in the 34th 
 chapter, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is graciously 
 announced : " For thus saith the Lord GOD, Be- 
 hold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and 
 seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his 
 flock in the day that he is among his sheep that 
 are scattered ; so will I seek out My sheep, and 
 will deliver them out of all places where they 
 have been scattered in the dark and cloudy day." 
 (vv. 12, 13.) And much of clear and full prophecy 
 concerning Christ, both at his first and his second 
 coming, is contained in that chapter, speaking of 
 him as the Shepherd of his flock, and ruler of his 
 people. Then succeed many and most glorious 
 promises to His Church, and those wonderful 
 passages on Gog and Magog, and on the great 
 confederacy, battle and destruction connected 
 with their name subjects, on which no other 
 part of Scripture has any information, com- 
 parable for its fulness and detail, to that given 
 by the prophet here.
 
 392' EZEK1EL, HIS LIFE 
 
 Then follows, from the 40th chapter to the end', 
 of the book, that connected, but as yet that most 
 difficult and obscure prophecy on the rebuilding 
 of the Temple at Jerusalem, and on the acts of 
 the Lord in the Holy Land, yet to be fulfilled. In 
 all this, however, there is little or nothing more 
 which tells of Ezekiel, in his personal life and 
 career, though much to shew how GOD honoured 
 and employed him as a Preacher and Prophet of 
 His Word. From the other books of inspired 
 Scripture we can gather nothing which relates 
 to him. In the Apocrypha he is thus noticed: 
 "It was Ezekiel who saw the glorious vision, 
 which was shewed him upon the chariot of the 
 cherubims. For he made mention of the enemies 
 under the figure of the rain, and directed them 
 that went right 1 ." Josephus also thus mentions 
 him and his writings. Having spoken of Jere- 
 miah's warnings addressed to Hezekiah, he pro- 
 ceeds : " Ezekiel, being at this time in Babylon, 
 foretold the destruction of the Temple, and the 
 calamities attendant on the people, and sent his 
 predictions in writing to Jerusalem. Nothing 
 is known as to Ezekiel's death. There is much 
 most peculiar in his acts and prophecies ; but all 
 is from the Lord. There is much most peculiar 
 in his position and circumstances ; but the Lord 
 ordained them all. Among the Jews the perusal 
 
 1 Ecclus. xlix. 8, 9. 
 
 111 Autiq. lib. X. ch. 7. The passage is of a greater length, 
 containing an account of an apparent discrepancy between the 
 prophetic statements of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, but both recon- 
 ciled by the end and fulfilment. It concerns Zcdekiah seeing- 
 Babylon.
 
 AND PROPHECY. 393 
 
 of his prophecy was not allowed till after a man's 
 thirtieth year had been attained so obscure did 
 they conceive it. Benjamin of Tudela mentions 
 that he saw near Bagdad a grand mausoleum, 
 still bearing the appellation of his tomb. A 
 few other records concerning him remain, but 
 none worthy of much consideration. And while 
 we possess such a multitude of characters de- 
 scribed in the word of GOD, and more adapted, 
 by the similarity of their position with our own, 
 for examples to us, it would only be a forced 
 thing to make any lengthened or detailed appli- 
 cation of Ezekiel's character. Let us, however, 
 study it with that measure of practical use for 
 ourselves, which we should gather from the life 
 and conduct of every saint of GOD. Let us learn 
 all faithfulness to GOD, all obedience and all holi- 
 ness, and all willingness to bear witness for him, 
 though occasionally and by some our course may 
 be thought strange! Neither let us be deterred 
 by the difficulties in some parts of Ezekiel's writ- 
 ings, from their diligent perusal. " All Scripture 
 is given by inspiration of GOD," and prophecy 
 unfolds itself most fully and richly to those who 
 know it best in its folded state, and who neglect 
 not that which is confessedly " hard to be under- 
 stood"," but, at the same time, patiently and 
 humbly await that explanation which the fulfil- 
 ment can alone supply. 
 
 n 2 Pet. iii. 1 6.
 
 DANIEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 JJANIEL was a member of the royal family 
 of Judah, and was carried captive to Babylon, 
 while yet a youth, in the year 606. With several 
 others of a similar rank, of whom three are men- 
 tioned by name, viz. Hananiah, Mishael, and 
 Azariah, he was chosen for a special training 
 and education, in order to prepare them for the 
 service of the king of Babylon. This training 
 was in part bodily in part mental ; and it was 
 intended to bring up these young men with all 
 those advantages, which the sovereign's will and 
 expenditure could effect. 
 
 The history soon centres on Daniel and the three 
 named above, who, in all probability, were not 
 only his relatives, but also the friends and com- 
 panions of his youth. 
 
 A part of this system for training and educa- 
 tion at the Babylonish court was that of supply- 
 ing food, rich, nourishing, and delicate, called 
 " the king's meat," dressed and prepared by the 
 king's servants. Daniel, being enlightened by the 
 Spirit and the Word, and seeking to keep his 
 " conscience void of offence towards God," soon 
 perceived the sin, to him as a Jew, in partaking
 
 DANIEL THE PROPHET. 395 
 
 of this meat. For this there were two prominent 
 reasons. First, the Gentiles, in their cookery, 
 used promiscuously all sorts of food, much of 
 which to the Israelites was, by the law, " com- 
 mon and unclean." And again, the Gentiles, at 
 their meals, used to dedicate a small portion of 
 the meat and wine (sanctifying, as they thought, 
 the whole) to their gods, either on an altar, if 
 attainable, or by casting it into the fire, if fire 
 was at hand, or in some other way. Daniel, even 
 in his early career, won the love and favour of 
 those around him. He was therefore enabled to 
 persuade the guardian of the royal youths that 
 he would allow him and his three companions 
 the simplest and the poorest, but (in a religious 
 sense) unadulterated fare. But this proved to them, 
 through God's blessing, most nutritious and effec- 
 tive for all the purposes of vigour and of comeli- 
 ness 3 ; and thus they lived, as, no doubt, in all other 
 things also, holily and purely and unblamably 
 before their God: and "God gave them knowledge 
 and skill in all learning and wisdom," and they 
 were "ten times wiser than all the Chaldsean 
 magicians and astrologers :" and of Daniel it is 
 specially written that he " had understanding in 
 all visions and dreams." 
 
 Our history must now and henceforth be con- 
 
 a The Assyrians and Persians paid the greatest attention to 
 beauty of form. Procopius, in his Persian War, states that, 
 among the latter people, it was enacted that even the king's sons 
 should be disqualified from reigning if they had any deformity of 
 bodv.
 
 396 DANIEL THE PROPHET, 
 
 centrated on Daniel alone, except where his 
 conduct and prosperity bear on that of his three 
 companions. 
 
 As in Joseph's case, so in Daniel's, God ad- 
 vanced him through means of a dream, sent to 
 the ruler of the land where he sojourned. About 
 four years after Daniel's arrival in Babylon, Ne- 
 buchadnezzar "dreamed dreams," but could not 
 interpret, nor even tell his dream. In one of 
 those fits of despotic madness, folly, and wicked- 
 ness, frequently found in the history of these 
 ancient Eastern autocrats e.g., in the lashing 
 of the Hellespont by Xerxes, and the order to 
 destroy all the Jews in the province of Babylon 
 by Ahasuerus b the king ordered the destruction 
 of all the astrologers and "wise men" in the 
 country, because they could not tell him what 
 his dream was c . Daniel, who was in peril with 
 the rest, asked for time to give the interpretation 
 of the dream; and having obtained the boon, 
 made the thing known to his companions, that 
 they would pray with him and for him, and 
 " desire mercies of the GOD of heaven concerning 
 the secret." He then received a revelation from 
 GOD on the matter; and having blessed and 
 praised Him for it, he went in to the king, declared 
 and confessed the true GOD before him, told him 
 
 b A remarkable instance of public attention to a dream at 
 Rome is briefly noticed by Cicero. De Div. L. I. . 2. " Quin- 
 etiam memoria nostra templum Junonis Sospitae L. Julius, qui 
 cum P. Rutilio consul fuit, de senatus sententid reficit ex Caeciliae 
 Balearic! filiae somnio." 
 
 l> See the Book of Esther throughout.
 
 DANIEL THE PEOPHET. 397 
 
 what his dream had been, interpreted it, and 
 constrained the king to " honour the GOD of gods 
 and the Lord of kings" in all humiliation before 
 him. We hear, too, how Nebuchadnezzar com- 
 manded that divine honours should be paid to 
 Daniel, though he, no doubt, refused them, like 
 Paul and Barnabas in later times d . However, he 
 was at once raised to the highest civil dignities, 
 and was honoured with great gifts ; and was 
 made " ruler over the whole province of Babylon, 
 and chief of the governors over all the wise men 
 of Babylon ;" and, by his request, his three asso- 
 ciates were advanced to high dignity too and 
 the honour which GOD now put upon him in his 
 youth never departed from him till the end of 
 his days. 
 
 In his third chapter, Daniel records the mighty 
 deliverance of his three friends from the "burning 
 fiery furnace," but he himself appears not in the 
 narrative. The fourth again presents him. 
 
 A period of about twenty-two years passed by, 
 and again Daniel was employed by GOD as the 
 prophet and interpreter of his coming j udgments. 
 According to the record written by the hand, or, 
 at all events, in the person of Nebuchadnezzar 
 himself, all the magicians failing to explain an- 
 other royal vision, Daniel came in again and ex- 
 pounded it. This was the celebrated dream of 
 the Tree, signifying Nebuchadnezzar himself; 
 which in one year, that which Daniel foretold, 
 marvellous as it was, proved true in every respect; 
 
 d Acts xiv. i 4.
 
 398 DANIEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 for, as Daniel had announced, when the day of 
 the fulness of the king's pride came, he was 
 driven, a deranged man, from his palace, and 
 " did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet 
 with the dew of heaven, until he should know 
 that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of 
 men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." 
 Daniel, too, witnessed the royal recovery and 
 restoration to his throne seven years afterwards, 
 as he had also, through God's revelation, foretold. 
 No attempt will be made here to enter into, 
 and still less to solve, the various and contra- 
 dictory opinions regarding the succession in the 
 Babylonish monarchy, which brought Belshazzar 
 to the throne. For this is not needful to illus- 
 trate Daniel's life. And here we must not exactly 
 follow the chapters of the Book of Daniel for his 
 own history, as to the date of transactions where 
 he appears. We must pass over (although to 
 return to it) the record of Belshazzar's feast, with 
 other subsequent events; and, looking to the 
 seventh chapter, note the vision of the Ten King- 
 doms, revealed to Daniel in the first year of 
 Belshazzar's reign; and again in the eighth 
 chapter we shall find, from the second verse 
 compared with the last verse, that, previous to 
 Belshazzar's feast, or " in the third year of his 
 reign," Daniel was officially engaged in adminis- 
 tering public affairs at " Shushan, in the palace, 
 in the province of Elam." And there he beheld 
 the vision of the Ram, and the He-goat, " by the 
 river of Ulai." And there he "heard a man's
 
 DANIEL THE PROPHET. 399 
 
 voice between the banks of Ulai, which called 
 and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand 
 the vision." And dark events were told him. 
 And mighty and mysterious, though full of 
 honour to him, were GOD'S dealings with him. 
 And for a season he had no spirit in him : but 
 after a time he revived, and rose up and " did the 
 king's business." The locality of Daniel at this 
 time must not be forgotten, for it helps to explain 
 a matter of some difficulty, which will soon ap- 
 pear, as we pursue his history. 
 
 The need of a revelation from heaven, to ex- 
 plain a sign or portent among men, again brings 
 Daniel to renown and through him, brings glory 
 to Daniel's GOD. Belshazzar and his lords were 
 at their gorgeous feast ; and in the midst thereof, 
 Belshazzar the king madly and profanely issued 
 his command " to bring the golden and the silver 
 vessels, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had 
 taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem ; 
 that the king and his princes, his wives and his 
 concubines, might drink therein."" And they did 
 so ; " and praised the gods of gold and of silver, 
 of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone." In that 
 same hour the hand wrote on the wall. Judg- 
 ment was now come. Terror was in all faces, 
 dismay in all hearts. But none could understand 
 the mysterious characters. The king cried aloud 
 for his astrologers. They were helpless as babes. 
 They could not read it. Alarm and astonish- 
 ment increased on every side. But at this junc- 
 ture the queen mother (as we may call her, or, at
 
 400 DANIEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 all events, the relict of a former king) heard of 
 the terrifying scene at the banquet-house. She 
 went in and spake of Daniel : " Let Daniel be 
 called, and lie will shew the interpretation." The 
 king seems not to have known him, though to 
 have heard of him ; and of this the explanation 
 may be, that, though in early days, Daniel had 
 been set " over the affairs of the province of 
 Babylon f ," (which must, one would think, have 
 brought him into contact with the king,) yet we 
 know from a passage already quoted, that in the 
 time of Belshazzar's reign Daniel was engaged in 
 business at " Shushan, in the province of Elam." 
 Or it may be that the monarch had little to do 
 with his civil servants, satraps, or governors, and 
 gave himself up to pleasure and to luxury. But 
 this matter need not delay us. Daniel, we know, 
 was in Babylon at the time. The king at once 
 sent for him, and offered him all rich rewards, if 
 he would interpret the writing on the wall. 
 
 Daniel began his address by telling that such 
 gifts would no't open his lips: but yet that he 
 would give the interpretation. Daniel had told of 
 Nebuchadnezzar's fall through his pride. Daniel 
 now told that the hour of Belshazzar's fall, through 
 the same sin, was now come. Daniel proclaimed 
 to him and to his thousand lords, and to all the 
 assembled Babylonish multitude, the one true 
 GOD, in whose hand is the breath of every living 
 thing, and whom all should glorify. Daniel told 
 
 f Daniel ii. 49.
 
 DANIEL THE PROPHET. 401 
 
 how the kingdom was numbered, and also finish- 
 ed how its king was weighed, and was found 
 wanting how his sovereignty was divided, and 
 given to the Medes and Persians. All this the 
 writing, when explained by the Spirit, spake. 
 That very night Daniel was invested with fresh 
 honours and fresh dignities. " And in that night 
 was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 
 And Darius s the Median took the kingdom, being 
 about threescore and two years old." But GOD 
 preserved Daniel, and not only preserved him, 
 but maintained him in all his honours under the 
 new conquering dynasty, and, under Darius, soon 
 added more. 
 
 In ordering his new kingdom, Darius set over 
 it an hundred and twenty princes, and over them 
 three presidents, of whom Daniel was the first. 
 The device of his fellow-rulers to effect Daniel's 
 ruin, and their testimony to his integrity in re- 
 gard to man, and to his piety in regard to his 
 GOD, are so well known that detail is not requisite 
 here. Another mad and profane decree, by their 
 persuasion, went forth. The den of lions was 
 threatened as the penalty for disobedience. Da- 
 niel did fearlessly disobey it, knowing that obedi- 
 ence to his GOD preceded obedience even to his 
 king, and unscared by the terrific death, from 
 which there could be no human means of escape. 
 According to the rule of the Babylonish court, 
 
 This Darius, otherwise Cyaxares, son of Astyages, was the 
 uncle of Cyrus. Cyrus personally achieved the conquest, but in 
 his uncle's name. 
 
 Dd
 
 402 DANIEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 the king himself could by no means deliver him. 
 He was thrown into the den of lions : but GOD 
 shut the lions' mouths, that they hurt him 
 not. And his enemies were thrown to them in 
 his stead, and met the righteous retribution for 
 their deeds against the servant of GOD. And once 
 more a decree went forth " to all people, nations, 
 and languages," honouring the GOD of heaven and 
 of earth, even the " living GOD, and stedfast for 
 ever, whose kingdom should not be destroyed, 
 and whose dominion should be unto the end." 
 (ch. vi. 26.) And " Daniel prospered in the reign 
 of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian." 
 
 In the first year of this Darius, we find Daniel 
 engaged in the study of GOD'S prophetical word, 
 as written in Jeremiah concerning the seventy 
 years of the desolations of Jerusalem 11 . We hear 
 of his fervent devotion, his prayers, his supplica- 
 tions, his fasting, sackcloth and ashes. And 
 while he was thus engaged, Gabriel visited him 
 by the commandment of GOD, and made known 
 to him the prophecy of the seventy weeks, and 
 how the " Messiah should be cut off, but not for 
 himself," and how his nation should be visited 
 with judgment. GOD revealed to him all this, 
 and emplo} r ed him to write these marvellous an- 
 nunciations. 
 
 On Daniel's other visions it is not needful to 
 speak. Nor have we many details of his history, 
 subsequent to those events in his life already told 
 in these pages. Ere his days ended, for he (like 
 
 h Dan. ix. 2.
 
 DANIEL THE PROPHET. 403 
 
 St. John the Evangelist, to whom in many things 
 he bore a similitude) lived to an advanced age, 
 Cyrus had restored the Jews, but Daniel had re- 
 mained in Assyria, fulfilling those high offices to 
 which GOD, in His providence, had brought him. 
 The promise, which ends his book, was fulfilled 
 to him in this present world, typically telling its 
 better and higher fulfilment in the world to come : 
 " Go thou thy way till the end be ; for thou shalt 
 rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days." 
 Again, as with St. John, we know not the exact 
 date nor circumstances of his death, nor the 
 precise extent of his far-prolonged life. Even 
 during that life, his renown for all goodly graces 
 and gifts was exceeding great. His reputation 
 for wisdom and holiness and all kind of moral 
 and religious worth had reached such a height, 
 that Ezekiel, his cotemporary, speaking as taught 
 by the Holy Spirit, twice introduces him by name 
 in his prophecies. One place proves that " wiser 
 than Daniel" was a received saying, even then 
 proverbially used 1 . In the other, GOD himself, as 
 the speaker, ranks him with Noah and with Job, 
 and proclaims him as one whose intercession, if 
 any, would have prevailed for the sinful land 
 now under righteous condemnation k . So far 
 as Scripture presents him, he is a faultless man. 
 No sin is recorded as committed by him no 
 failure in his work no rebuke from his GOD for 
 any thing. Good was his report, both among the 
 Gentiles and among his own people. Living and 
 
 1 Ezek. xxviii. 3. k Ch. xiv. 14.
 
 404 DANIEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 administering public business of state in the 
 mightiest kingdom of his day, he was not only 
 versed and skilled in the affairs of that single 
 empire or that single period, but by dreams, 
 visions, prophecies, and all sorts of divine com- 
 munications, he saw future dynasties rise up and 
 fall again, and told of matters, even at our own day, 
 in progress of their consummation. Early in life 
 his holiness began, and his conscientiousness 
 also his faith in God also his spirit of prayer 
 also his boldness in confessing his GOD. Such 
 was his character all the remainder of his days. 
 The favour of kings marred not his humility. 
 The cares of high civil and responsible rule 
 choked not and checked not the spiritual work 
 of GOD within his soul. Idolatry around him 
 withdrew not his heart from the one true GOD, 
 whom he knew, whom he loved, and whom he 
 served. The word of that GOD was his study, 
 research, and delight; and he applied it practi- 
 cally as each need arose. Nor can we wonder 
 that the same GOD Almighty, who thus endowed 
 him, has given him the title of " a man greatly 
 beloved," and has presented him to us as a noble 
 example of that which the Holy Spirit can effect 
 in the heart and life of a true saint of GOD. May 
 we learn and profit by it ! 
 
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