"GRANNY'S CHAPTERS"

(ON SCRIPTURAL SUBJECTS)

BY

LADY MARY ROSS.

THE NEW TESTAMENT,

WITH A SKETCH OF THE SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF
THE JEWS.

NEW EDITION.

LONDON:
HATCHARDS, PICCADILLY.
1882.

PREFACE TO VOLUME IV.

The New Testament has been treated in a manner somewhat different to that adopted in regard to the Books of the Old Testament.

The object has been, to sketch out the earthly Life of our Blessed Lord, and to draw attention to a few important points.

It was obviously impossible to dwell particularly upon the details of every Miracle, Parable, and Conversation, recorded by the Evangelists. Nor was such a course necessary.

The language of the Gospels is so simple and clear, that details are better read from Holy Writ itself.

That this volume may lead the young to a reverent study of our Saviour's character, and an earnest endeavour to "follow the blessed steps of His most Holy Life," is the earnest prayer of the Author.

MARY ROSS.

November, 1871.

CONTENTS

(Transcriber's Note: This table of contents is added for readers' convenience, it does not appear in original book)

PART I.

Chapter I.—JOHN THE BAPTIST BORN.

We have now seen that the Sceptre had departed from Judah. The whole country was subject to the Romans, who had appointed Herod to govern it for them; and the time was now come when the blessed promises, that "the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head," and that "in the seed of Abraham all nations of the earth should be blessed," were to be fulfilled by the coming of the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer; born of a woman, that thus being as Man upon the earth, He might suffer for man, and make that atonement for man, which He could only make because He was the Son of God. Unless the Messiah had been at once God and Man, He could have been no Saviour for man; no mediator between a holy God and His sinful creatures.

Very soon after the death of Herod's sons, Alexander and Aristobulus, the last princes of the Asmonean family, the wonderful events related in the New Testament began to take place. No doubt we are all well acquainted with the story of the priest Zacharias, a good and holy man, who, whilst performing his duty in the house of God, saw an Angel standing on the right side of the altar of incense. Zacharias was an old man, and his wife Elisabeth was also an old woman, and therefore when the Angel told him that the Lord would work as great a miracle as He had done in Abraham's case, and give a son to Elisabeth, as He had given Isaac to Sarah, Zacharias must indeed have been greatly astonished.

The Angel moreover told Zacharias, that this child, whom God would give him, was to be named John; and that he should be in an especial manner guided and protected by the Holy Spirit, for that he was to be the messenger spoken of by prophets, as sent to prepare the way for the Messiah, and give notice of His coming. Such particulars should have overcome any doubts which Zacharias might at the first moment have felt; but his faith failed him, and therefore, considering only the impossibility of such an event happening without the special interposition of the Lord, he, guided by sight and not by faith, presumed to ask for some sign, to assure him that what the Angel spake would really come to pass.

This sinful unbelief was punished, even whilst his faithless request was granted; for Zacharias immediately lost the power of speaking, and remained speechless for many months: but his unbelief was gone, and he certainly made his wife Elisabeth acquainted with the promises and directions spoken by the Angel.

About six months after this appearance of the Angel Gabriel to Zacharias, He "was sent from God, unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary." The Angel told Mary, that she had been chosen by the Almighty to be the mother of the promised Messiah, whose birth was to be a miracle; inasmuch as He would have no earthly father, but should be called the Son of God. Gabriel also told Mary, that when she had brought forth her son, she should call His name Jesus; that is, a Saviour. Mary was greatly troubled when the Angel first spake to her, and when she expressed her wonder and astonishment, He comforted her, and told her that her cousin Elisabeth, the wife of Zacharias, was also about to become a mother; adding, "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Mary's faith now showed itself, and she said, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." Meaning that she was willing to serve the Lord in everything, and suffer whatever might come upon her in consequence. For, as she had no husband whom she could name as the father of her Child, she was liable to punishment. When Joseph, to whom Mary was espoused, or promised in marriage, found that she would have a Son, he was astonished, and had some thoughts of putting her away from being his wife; but being a just, or good and kind man, he meant to do this quietly and secretly, or "privily," so as not to expose Mary to blame or punishment. But while he thought on these things, behold the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, and told him not to fear about taking Mary to be his wife, for that the Holy Spirit had worked a great miracle, and that Mary was to be the mother of the promised Messiah; and as the Angel had said to Mary herself, so He now repeated to Joseph, "she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins." Then all Joseph's doubts and fears were at an end: he did as the Angel bade him, and thus was looked upon by men as the father of Mary's holy Son, who had in truth no Father but God.

The Scripture tells us, "Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel; which being interpreted is, God with us." That is, God taking the form and nature of man; living as man amongst men; dying as man for men. "Emmanuel—God with us."

The next thing we read of is, that "Mary arose and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah" where Zacharias dwelt, that she might talk over with Elisabeth all those wonderful things which the angel Gabriel had said to her. "And she entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth"; who, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, "spake out with a loud voice" words that must have greatly comforted Mary. Elisabeth told her, that she was blessed among women in being chosen for the mother of the Messiah, and said, "Whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" meaning that she was not worthy of the honour of receiving in her house one who was to be the mother of the Son of God. Elisabeth ended by commending Mary for her faith and trust, saying, "blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord."

Mary now uttered that beautiful hymn of praise, beginning, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." A hymn familiar to us all, as part of our Liturgy, or form of public worship, used in our Churches. This hymn, called "The Magnificat," is said or sung after the first Lesson in the Evening Service.

Mary abode with her cousin for about three months, and then returned to her own home, at Nazareth, in Galilee. Not long after Mary's departure, John the Baptist was born; "Elisabeth brought forth a son. And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her. And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child," and give him a name, as amongst us is done in Baptism; for Baptism in the Christian Church, takes the place of Circumcision in the Jewish Church.

When the friends of Zacharias wished to give the infant his father's name, Elisabeth spoke out at once, and said, "He shall be called John." This surprised them so much, that they at once asked Zacharias "how he would have him called." Zacharias immediately, by signs, asked for a writing-table, or rather for a tablet, upon which to write, and then wrote down, "His name is John. And they marvelled all." They must have marvelled, or wondered, still more, when suddenly Zacharias recovered his power of speaking; for "his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake and praised God." Now he could tell all that had happened to him, and how his unbelief in the Angel's promise had been punished by temporary dumbness. "And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judæa: and all they that heard" these things "laid them up in their hearts": took notice of them, and remembered them, "saying, What manner of child shall this be!" The extraordinary events connected with the birth of John, made all men believe that a child so born must be intended to do great things during his lifetime. Zacharias, inspired by the Holy Spirit, then uttered the hymn called "The Benedictus," sometimes said in our Churches after the second Lesson in the Morning Service, instead of the Psalm (c.), "Jubilate Deo," also belonging to our Liturgy. In this hymn, Zacharias praised and blessed God for the coming of the Saviour; and then, addressing the unconscious infant John, he foretold that he should be the messenger to prepare the way of the Lord Jesus Christ, and incline men to listen to, and believe in, Him.

Of John's infancy and childhood we are told nothing, except that he grew in body, and waxed strong in spirit, and that "the hand of the Lord was with him." "And he was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel." He passed a quiet and retired life, until he was called upon to baptize the people, and point to the Son of Mary as the Son of God; the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.

Chapter II.—BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST.

Mary and her husband Joseph lived at Nazareth, a town in Galilee not far from the lake of Tiberias, or Sea of Galilee; and the prophets had declared that the Messiah should be born in "Bethlehem of Judah," a small place to the South of Jerusalem, nearly a hundred miles from Nazareth. That Mary should take such a long journey to a strange place, instead of staying quietly at home until her Child was born, was the most unlikely thing that could well be imagined. Here, therefore, we again see how wonderfully the Lord rules all things, and makes use of people who know nothing of Him, to do what He wills should be done. God now made use of a heathen Emperor, to accomplish His will, that Jesus Christ should be born in Bethlehem.

The Roman Emperor Augustus, in order to know what taxes he could lay upon the different parts of his dominions, determined to take the number of the people who were subject to him; and in order to do this, he commanded that the name of every one should be written down. As Judæa was now under the dominion of the Romans, all the inhabitants of that country were obliged to put their names upon lists, prepared for the purpose: but all belonging to the same tribe or family were to go to one place, so that many of the Jews, who were scattered throughout the country, had to travel a long way to the place appointed for the registering of their tribe.

Amongst these were Mary and Joseph, who were both "of the house and lineage of David"; that is, both were descended from David, who was of the tribe of Judah; and therefore Bethlehem was the place in which they must appear before the Roman officers, appointed to take down the names of all the people, and register, or make lists of them. The commands of the Roman Emperor were not to be disobeyed: and Mary and Joseph set out upon their long and fatiguing journey. Upon their arrival, they found the place so full of people come upon the same business, that there was no room for them in the inn, and they being poor, and not able to pay for better accommodation, were glad to lodge in a stable; and here, it pleased God, that Jesus Christ, the Lord of Life, the King of Glory, should be born: and Mary "brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger."

But though born in a stable, unnoticed and uncared for by men, the Angels of God proclaimed the wonderful event to the Shepherds, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

At that time, there was amongst the Jews, a general expectation that the Messiah would soon appear upon earth: those who believed all that God had made known by the prophets, seeing that the sceptre, or kingly power, had departed from Shiloh, were daily looking for the fulfilment of the blessed promise, and were ready to welcome the Saviour under any circumstances: of this number were the Shepherds, who, when they had heard the "good tidings of great joy," at once followed the direction to go to Bethlehem: and when they found all things there, exactly as the Angels had told them, they at once believed, and acknowledged the Infant as their Saviour; and "made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them of the Shepherds." They wondered; but alas! too many of them only wondered, and did not believe. The greater part of the Jews at this time had forsaken their God, and had become careless about pleasing Him. They expected a Messiah, but regardless of the prophets who had spoken such different things, they had formed their own notions on the subject, and looked for the Messiah to come as a king or conqueror, surrounded with pomp and splendour. These men would not believe that a helpless infant, born in a stable at Bethlehem, could be the Son of God, the promised Messiah, Who was to be the Saviour of the world: pride and unbelief led them to reject the Lord, even from His birth. Mary, who knew that her Son was no common child, marked everything that happened; "she kept all these things, and pondered," or thought over "them in her heart."

Jesus Christ came not only to be a sacrifice for sin, but also an example of godly life; He was to fulfil all righteousness, and therefore, though He came to do away with the ceremonial Law, and establish a better covenant, He submitted to all the Ordinances of the Law, just as if He had been a sinful mortal.

Thus on the eighth day He was circumcised, and publicly received the name of Jesus, which had before been given to Him by the Angel Gabriel. And again, in obedience to the Law, the infant Saviour was brought by His mother to Jerusalem "to present Him to the Lord." We have heard before, that among the children of Israel, the first-born child, if a son, was especially dedicated to the service of the Lord; though afterwards, the whole tribe of Levi was taken, "instead of the first-born of all Israel." The same Law ordained, that after a certain time, called "the days of her Purification," every woman to whom God had given a son or daughter, should offer in sacrifice, a young lamb and a turtledove or pigeon. But if she was too poor to be able to bring a lamb, she was allowed to bring two turtledoves or pigeons instead; and this sacrifice Mary brought with her Son, into the temple. Then were fulfilled the prophecies, that the Lord should come suddenly into His temple; and that the glory of the second temple should exceed that of the first. At the Presentation of Jesus Christ in the temple, a remarkable testimony to His being the promised Messiah was given by the just and devout Simeon, to whom it had been made known by the Holy Ghost, that he should not die until He had seen the Lord's Christ. Full of faith, this old man was "waiting for the consolation of Israel," the Messiah, Who was to save His people from their sins. Guided by the Holy Spirit, Simeon was in the temple "when the Parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him after the custom of the Law." At once the Holy Spirit made known to the aged Simeon, that in this infant he beheld the Saviour for whom he waited; "Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel." We are told that Joseph and Mary marvelled at those things which were spoken by Simeon; and we may be sure that Mary treasured them up also in her heart, and looked upon her infant Son with reverence, as well as love. Then Simeon blessed Mary, and warned her of future suffering. Another testimony to the divinity of Jesus Christ was then given by an aged widow, who coming into the temple "in that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." Nor did these aged Jews alone bear testimony to the Messiah. The glorious light of the Shechinah, the visible sign of the presence of God, which had not been seen for many hundred years, until it appeared surrounding the Angels who proclaimed the birth of Jesus to the Shepherds of Bethlehem, was not seen by them alone. In far off countries, it was seen as a remarkable star. The inhabitants of Chaldea, part of the once famous Babylonian Empire, were at this time very learned in Astronomy: that is, they studied the stars, and the motions of the heavenly bodies. They worshipped the sun, because they thought that must be the best representation of the Deity: had they known the real true God, the God of Israel, they would not have worshipped any of His works, which He had created and made. The wise and learned men of Chaldea were called Magi, and many of them were princes and rulers in their various tribes. Some of these Magi, generally supposed to have been three, (though the Scripture says nothing as to their number,) saw a wonderful star shining in the direction of Judæa. They at once concluded that this star signified the birth of the king of the Jews—and immediately they set off and travelled towards the land of Judæa. And when they reached Jerusalem, they enquired, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him." That is, in the Eastern land where they lived, they had seen this star.

Chapter III.—FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.

To understand the question of the Magi, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" a few words of explanation may be useful.

The expectation of a coming Messiah was not confined to the Jews: through the long captivity of the Jews, the writings of the prophets had become known throughout many lands, and there was therefore at this time, in all the countries of the East, a general idea that a King would shortly be born in Judæa, who should rule over all the world. Balaam, who was well known in those countries of which we are speaking, had said, "there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall arise out of Israel"; hence it was generally believed, that the appearance of some peculiar star in the Heavens, would inform mankind of the birth of this mighty King. The Messiah, we must recollect, was promised to Gentiles as well as to Jews; and therefore all nations who had heard any of the prophecies concerning Him, expected some benefit from the birth of this wonderful Being. Under such circumstances, we can easily imagine that the Magi, who paid such attention to the stars in general, should eagerly watch for the appearance of one, which was to announce, that the long-looked-for King was born in Judæa. Hence, when from their home in the East, they beheld the glorious light of the Shechinah, shining in the direction of the land of Judæa, they felt no doubt as to its meaning; and without hesitation, they at once set off on their long journey, to worship and do honour to the new-born King. The star had disappeared; but the prophets had so plainly pointed out the land of Judæa as the birthplace of the Messiah, that the Magi fearlessly and confidently journeyed on to that country. When at length they reached it, they naturally expected that so wonderful an event would be well known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and that they should have no difficulty in finding the abode of this glorious Child; therefore, as soon as they arrived in the city, they asked, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him." When Herod the King had heard these words he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

The birth of Jesus Christ made known by Angels to the Shepherds, and by them "made known abroad" among their neighbours and friends, the humble of the land, does not seem to have been noticed by the rulers and Priests living at Jerusalem. Their own Scriptures taught them that the Messiah was to come; and they expected that His birth would be immediately followed by Revolts and Wars, Earthquakes, Famine and Plague; therefore they might well be "troubled," when they heard He was actually come; though, if they had rightly believed and understood the great blessing He was to bring to mankind, they would have rejoiced at His coming, and thought all temporal sufferings easy to be borne for His sake.

Herod was troubled; for though he was now an old man, and not likely to live till a new-born Infant should grow up, yet he did not like the idea of another king to interfere with him: he did not understand the nature of the Messiah's kingdom, and thought only of a king who would govern the country and the people, make laws, and impose taxes; he had no idea of a King who was to reign over the hearts of men on earth, and finally receive them into His kingdom in heaven.

Herod's behaviour on this occasion showed a strange mixture of belief and unbelief. In common with the Jews in general, he believed that the Messiah was to come; and he evidently believed that the Child, whose birth had been made known by the star, was indeed the Christ. He therefore called together the wise and learned men, well acquainted with the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and asked them where the Messiah should be born. The chief priests and Scribes at once declared that Bethlehem was pointed out by the prophets as the birthplace of Messiah; thus giving another proof, that the Infant just born in that place, was the promised Messiah. So far Herod believed; but now his unbelief was shown by his fancying for one moment, that if this Child really was the Messiah, he could kill him, and so frustrate the purpose for which he was sent by God.

It seems strange that any one believing as Herod did, that the Infant whom the Magi were seeking was really the Messiah, should have thought it possible to fight against God, and destroy His Anointed: but so it was. Herod, under pretence of wishing to go himself and worship the King of the Jews, begged the Magi to come and bring him word when they had found the young Child; and he also asked them particularly about the time at which the star had first appeared, that he might know what would be the age of the Babe, whom he was determined to destroy. The wise men, or Magi, departed, and though they had received no clear directions from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, better help was at hand: the star which they had seen in the East, now appeared to them again, and even moved on before them: "when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy," and followed it, until "it came and stood over" the stable "where the young child was." "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him:" at once they acknowledged him to be something more than an earthly king—a Being entitled to worship. Then they gave such presents as were given to kings. It was the custom in the East, where presents were so much given, to proportion their value to the rank and station of those to whom the gift was offered. Mary and Joseph were poor and in a humble rank of life, and to their infant, therefore, flowers or fruit, or something of little value, would have been a sufficient gift. But in the Son of Mary, the Magi acknowledged the long-promised Messiah; and to Him they gave the most valuable gifts, suitable for a King to receive: "when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." Thus the Lord provided Joseph with the means for taking proper care of the young child and his mother. At Bethlehem, the place of his birth, Jesus had now been worshipped as a King, both by Jews and Gentiles; thus fulfilling prophecy, and showing that the Messiah was to be the Saviour of Gentiles, as well as Jews. Our Church has appointed a day, to be observed in remembrance of this first showing, or manifestation, of Christ to the Gentiles. In common talk we call this day Twelfth Day, and the custom of drawing for King and Queen is very old, and is founded upon the visit of the Magi, or kings of the East to Bethlehem. The name by which Twelfth Day is distinguished in our Prayer–Book is the "Epiphany," a word which means "manifestation" or "showing"—the manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.

The wise men, not suspecting Herod's wicked purpose, would no doubt have gone back to him as he desired, but "being warned of God in a dream" not to return to Jerusalem, "they departed into their country another way."

After the departure of the Magi, the Lord, Who knows the secrets of all hearts, warned Joseph in a dream, that Herod would seek the young child to destroy him. In obedience to the command then given to him, Joseph "arose, and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt"; thus fulfilling a prophecy which had spoken of that country, as the place where the Messiah should for a time dwell. At this time, a great many Jewish families lived in Egypt, and supported themselves by their own industry: there were so many of them, that they divided themselves into companies, according to their trades or occupations: there was a company of silversmiths, who manufactured articles of gold and silver, set jewels, and made ornaments to be worn; there was another company of weavers, who wove threads of flax and silk, into linen and silk of which garments were made; and so on. In short, every trade had its own company; so that if a poor Jew came into any city inhabited by his fellow countrymen, he always knew where to find those who carried on the trade which he had learned: then he could join them at once, and so find work, and earn a maintenance for himself and family.

Perhaps Joseph joined one of these companies of his countrymen; but the presents given by the Magi, would for a long time supply him with all that he needed.

Chapter IV.—THE INNOCENTS.

Herod anxiously expected the return of the wise men, with full information as to where he might find the infant King of the Jews: but, as day after day passed and they came not, he saw that they did not mean to do his bidding. "Then was Herod exceeding wroth, and sent forth his soldiers, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof,"—that is, in the neighbouring parts of the country,—"from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men." As much less than two years had passed, since the wise men saw the star which heralded the birth of the Messiah, Herod made sure that, by killing all the little boys under that age, he should destroy the infant King of the Jews, and so rid himself of any further anxiety.

Terrible was the distress and mourning amongst the poor Mothers, who saw their infants torn from their arms and murdered! but their dear babes were safe; taken from the dangers and troubles of this world, to be for ever happy in the presence of God: "for they are without fault before the throne of God."

Our Church sets apart three days, immediately after Christmas Day, in remembrance of three classes of Martyrs. A Martyr is one who suffers in the cause of duty, and will die rather than give way: those who thus suffered for Christ, and would die rather than offend or forsake Him, are called Martyrs. "The Innocents," as the murdered babes of Bethlehem are called, suffered death for Jesus's sake; but, of course, they had no will in the matter; they were too young: these were the first Martyrs.

The day after Christmas Day is called "St. John the Evangelist's Day": St. John was, when Jesus grew up, one of His disciples: he dearly loved his Master, and was ready to die for Him, but he was not called upon to give up his life, though he suffered much for Jesus's sake. The day following "St. John's Day," is called "St. Stephen's Day": St. Stephen was the first who willingly gave up his life for the sake of Jesus Christ. Thus we have three classes of Martyrs commemorated in our Church: Martyrs in Deed only—the Innocents; Martyrs in Will only—St. John; Martyrs in Will and in Deed—St. Stephen.

But to return to our history. Herod was guilty of a great sin; and, in spite of all his wickedness, the Child Jesus lived and was safe.

It is said that Antipater, who had caused the death of Mariamne's sons, advised his father to slay the infants of Bethlehem. Antipater was a bad man, and, as he was very anxious to be King of Judæa whenever Herod should die, he wished to destroy one who might, as he feared, dispute the kingdom with him: no doubt he rejoiced when the cruel deed was done, concluding that Jesus had perished, and that he was now sure of the throne: but he was disappointed; for very shortly afterwards he in some way displeased his father, who at once caused him to be put to death. It is dreadful to think of the numbers of persons killed by Herod's orders, but Antipater was the last; for five days afterwards Herod himself died.

This Herod, called Herod the Great, left four sons living—Archelaus, Herod Antipas, Philip, and Herod Philip. There are three other Herods also mentioned in Scripture—Herod Agrippa, and his brother, also called Herod, who were sons of Aristobulus, and consequently grandsons of Herod the Great; and, afterwards, a son of Herod Agrippa, called by the same names as his father, Herod Agrippa. As it is difficult always to know which Herod is spoken of, the Table below will be useful to refer to.

After the death of Herod the Great, Archelaus became governor of the provinces of Judæa and Samaria, and Herod Antipas ruled over the province of Galilee, under the title of Tetrarch: but upon this subject we must say a little more before we go on with the history of Jesus Christ.

When Herod died, he left a Will, in which he declared his wish, that his son Archelaus should be king over the greatest part of his dominions: but as the whole kingdom was subject to the Romans, this could not be done without the Emperor's leave. Before Archelaus could go to Home to ask this permission, there was a great disturbance amongst the Jews in Jerusalem, in consequence of Archelaus refusing to grant some request: they assembled in great numbers in the Courts of the Temple, and behaved in such a riotous and disorderly manner, that Archelaus ordered his soldiers to attack them, and 3,000 men are said to have been killed on this occasion; a piece of cruelty which probably disinclined the Emperor Augustus to give Archelaus as much power as his father Herod the Great had had; at any rate, Archelaus only succeeded in being made Governor of Judæa and Samaria, with the promise, that if he acted so as to give the Emperor satisfaction, he should have the title of King: but instead of obtaining this, he behaved so ill, that a few years afterwards he was deprived of all power, and banished to a city in Gaul, where he died.

Returning to the history of our blessed Lord, we find that after the death of Antipater and Herod, the Angel appeared to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead which sought the young child's life." The Angel did not name any particular place for the young Child to go to, but the Messiah was not to stay long out of the Holy Land, given to Abraham and his descendants, as a heritage for ever. When Joseph, with Mary and the holy Child, got back into the land of Israel, he found that "Archelaus reigned in the room of his father"; that is, he was Governor of Judæa; fearing his cruelty, he was afraid to take the young Child and his mother there, and the Lord, by means of a dream, warned him to go into the land of Galilee, which was under the government of Herod Antipas.

Joseph in consequence made choice of Nazareth in Galilee as a dwelling-place, and there the Lord Jesus Christ lived till he grew up to be a Man, and was ready to begin the work which He came into the world to do. During all these years, up to the time when Jesus was thirty years old, we are told nothing of what He did, except His questioning the priests in the temple, when He was twelve years old. Twelve was the age appointed for the young Jews to begin to keep the Feasts and Fasts prescribed by their Law; and accordingly, Jesus, who came to fulfil all righteousness, accompanied Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem on this occasion: but after all the ceremonies had been observed, He, unknown to them, remained behind, and going into the temple astonished the priests and learned men by His questions, His knowledge of the Scriptures, and the way in which He spake: no wonder that all who looked upon Him merely as a human being, should be astonished. When Mary missed her Son, she and Joseph returned to Jerusalem, where "after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions." To His mother's gentle rebuke, "Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us?" the holy Child made that answer at once referring to His divine nature, and to the work for which He had left His Father's kingdom, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" They understood not fully then His meaning; but Mary "kept all these sayings in her heart."

But Jesus had now done all that was to be done for many years, as to His great work; and therefore, though He knew Himself to be the Son of God, He submitted to His earthly parents: He went "down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them"—thus in His first work, setting us the great example of obedience to parents—an example which all of us must carefully and cheerfully copy. No sin, not even the least approach to it, was found in Him: one act of disobedience would have prevented His making atonement for us. And this perfect Being so loved us, His sinful creatures, as to die for us: let us love Him; and show our love by trying to copy His example in all things; beginning with obedience to our Parents, and all whom they set over us.

Chapter V.—BAPTISM OF JESUS.

How gladly should we all learn something of our Saviour's early life; of His childhood; of the pursuits of His youth and manhood! But these things are hidden from us, and whatever legends may exist respecting such matters, we must remember that Scripture has not revealed to us any knowledge of these things. For the eighteen years following His questioning the learned men in the temple, one entry suffices—"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." As partaking of the human nature, His body grew gradually to its full size and strength, enduring, no doubt, pain and sickness, so inseparable from mortality: in this, all who are born into the world follow His example, whether they will or no; but are all careful to "increase in wisdom, and in favour with God and man"? And yet this is what all may do. These words again set the Saviour before us, as an example to be diligently followed: by prayer and study of the Scriptures, we shall obtain from God, that heavenly wisdom which will make us wise unto salvation; that practical wisdom, by which we shall walk daily in a manner pleasing to God; so shall we, day by day, grow in favour with our heavenly Father, and with all men whose approbation and favour is worth securing.

Of John the Baptist's early life we have not even one glimpse afforded us, beyond the notice "that the child grew, and waxed strong in the spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel." In silence and solitude was the wonderful son of Zacharias prepared for his work: the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and under its blessed influence he became strong to do, and suffer.

For thirty years did the Sons of Mary and of Elisabeth wait patiently, unnoticed, till the time came when they were to enter on the work appointed for each. At that time, Herod Antipas (one of the sons of Herod the Great) was tetrarch or governor of Galilee, while his brother Philip was tetrarch of Ituræa, and of other parts of the country lying to the East of the Sea of Galilee and the river Jordan.

Archelaus, as we have already said, had for his misconduct been banished by the Romans into Gaul, and the province of Judæa was governed by a Roman, called Pontius Pilate. Augustus Cæsar, who was the Emperor of Rome when Jesus Christ was born, died when our Lord was about fourteen years old; and another Emperor, called Tiberius Cæsar, ruled over the vast possessions of the Romans, when Jesus and His forerunner John the Baptist, entered upon their public ministry.

The Bible tells us, that at this time Annas and Caiaphas were high priests: by the Law of Moses, the Jews could only have one high priest at a time, and when once appointed, he continued to hold that high office as long as he lived; but when the Romans took possession of the Holy Land, they appointed the high priest at their pleasure—often depriving one of the office, in order to bestow it upon another. Annas was high priest for eleven years, and then the Roman Governor deprived him of the office, and made Caiaphas, who had married the daughter of Annas, high priest in the place of his father-in-law.

According to the will of the Romans, therefore, Caiaphas was actually high priest at this time; though, according to the Law of Moses, he had no right to be so, as long as Annas was alive. No doubt the more devout Jews, who wished to keep their Law, looked upon Annas as their high priest; whilst those who were careless and indifferent, and wished rather to please the Romans, acknowledged Caiaphas: for this reason St. Luke speaks of them both as high priests.

We must remember that John was born a few months before Jesus, to "go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways," consequently he was the first to appear in public. He went first as a Messenger, to prepare the people to listen to the Messiah: John came, and called upon all men to repent of their sins and wickedness, to leave off doing wrong, and to do such things as God commanded them to do. John also invited the people to be baptized. Baptism was a rite or ceremony in use amongst the Jews before this time, by way of admitting strangers into their Church: for instance, if any Gentiles wished to join the Jews, and worship God as they did, they were baptized, or washed with Water; and after this ceremony, they were looked upon as new creatures, fit to be admitted into the Jewish Church.

The Jews, by baptizing the heathen, admitted them into their Church, into a new religion; John called upon the Jews to be baptized, because they were to change their religion, and become members of a Church, which should have Christ for her head. The Jews baptized persons who, according to their Law, were unclean, in order to purify them; but John called upon those, who according to the Law were clean already, to come to him and be baptized, in order to show, that all who would belong to Christ must purify their hearts, and obey the spirit as well as the letter of all the commandments.

This distinction between the letter and the spirit of any commandment, must be carefully and constantly borne in mind, by every Christian.

For example, the Sixth Commandment says, "Thou shalt do no murder"; therefore all, who do not actually kill a fellow creature, may be said to obey the letter, or exact words, of this commandment; but to obey the spirit, we must never do anything wilfully to hurt our neighbour in any way; we must, on the contrary, do all the good we possibly can to our fellow creatures.

To make this plainer, suppose a mother to say to her children, "You may go out, but it is so hot that you must not run about": the children go out, and then amuse themselves by jumping—they have obeyed the letter of their mother's commands, for they did not run, but they have broken the spirit—she wished them not to heat themselves,—that was the spirit and meaning of the precept; and that they have broken, just as much as if they had run about.

The Jews must have well understood, that when John the Baptist called upon them to be baptized as if they were unclean, he meant to show them that the Messiah required men to be holy, far beyond what they then were; and great numbers of the people listened to his teaching, and went out unto him, and were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

"And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbad 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 righteousness. Then he suffered him." John spake of the baptism administered by him, as "the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins"; meaning that those who repented and were baptized, would have their sins forgiven and done away with, so that they would no longer be looked upon as guilty. John knew that Jesus was perfectly holy, and had no need of the baptism of repentance, so necessary for mere mortals. John had also told those who came to him to be baptized "with water unto repentance," that they still needed another baptism from the Son of God; even the gift of the Holy Spirit, without which no man could please the Lord. He told them, "there cometh one mightier than I after me, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear,"—"the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose,"—"He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost."

In Eastern countries, the visitors to princes and great men, took off their shoes, that is, the sandals or slippers worn upon the feet, and left them at the door, whilst they went barefooted into the presence of the prince. The fastenings or latchets of these shoes were often undone by a slave, who also held the shoes till his master again required them. Thus to unfasten or bear the shoes of another, signified being his servant, ready to do any service that might be required. John therefore meant, that He who was to come after him was so greatly his superior, that he (John) was not worthy even to do for Him the lowest offices required from a slave. No wonder that with such feelings, John objected to Jesus being baptized by him, who was in every respect so far His inferior; and who, like all other human beings, had need of the Holy Spirit which God alone could give.

But amongst the Jews, those who were admitted to perform the office of Priest were always anointed and baptized; and, as Jesus came to be our great High Priest, it was necessary that He should observe this form, as He had undergone the rite of circumcision. He came to fulfil all righteousness, to do all that was right, and then to suffer punishment, as if He had been sinful instead of sinless. To make atonement for the sin of man, it was necessary that He Who made it, should obey and fulfil perfectly the whole Will of God, and then suffer, "the just for the unjust." Only so could atonement be made: this Jesus explained to John, and then the Baptist no longer hesitated to baptize with water the sinless Son of God.

Chapter VI.—JESUS TEMPTED OF THE DEVIL

"And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The Three Persons in the Holy Trinity were thus at once made manifest, or shown to John the Baptist: before Him, under the form of Man, stood God the Son: God the Holy Ghost came down from heaven in a bodily form, with a gentle motion like that of a dove, and rested upon the Son of God: God the Father was not made visible to the eyes, but His voice was heard, declaring Jesus to be His Son, the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world.

After His baptism, Jesus was, by the appointment of His Father, "led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil." It was necessary that Jesus should gain a victory over the great enemy of mankind, and show that the Devil had no power to lead Him to do evil. Since Adam fell, no human being had ever so completely resisted the Devil as to deserve the favour of God; thus no one had ever earned eternal life even for himself. Jesus came to make atonement for the sin of countless millions: but He could not have made satisfaction for the sins of others, if He had in the least thing given way to the Devil. Therefore He must fight and conquer, or the work which He came to do must have remained for ever undone.

In Scripture, Jesus Christ is called the second Adam: "the first Adam is of the earth, earthy, the last Adam is the Lord from heaven." The first Adam was created holy and good, but he was tempted by the Devil and sinned; "so by the disobedience of one man came death, for in Adam all die." All who bear the same nature, must share the punishment due to that sinful nature. But the Holy and Eternal Son of God took upon Himself the human nature of man, and became subject to the like infirmities, but without sin. Thus was atonement made—"in Christ shall all," who give themselves to Him, "be made alive": "thus by man came also the resurrection of the dead." The Devil exerted all his power to lead Jesus to do something which would displease God, and destroy the blessed work of redemption. Taking advantage of Jesus being hungry and faint after long fasting, the Devil gently proposed that He should turn some stones into bread, and thus at the same time supply His own wants, and give a convincing proof that He was indeed the Son of God, as He had been just declared to be.

We are ready enough to take any excuse for doing what we wish to do; and by this means we often fall into the snare which Satan so cleverly spreads for us. But Jesus thought of nothing but how to do the Will of His Father completely and entirely. He had been led into the wilderness by the Spirit of God, and it was the Will of His heavenly Father that He should now be enhungered. Jesus was therefore determined to leave the matter entirely in the hands of God. This is what we should all do, rather than try to help ourselves by doing anything that we fear may displease God.

Satan next wanted Jesus to throw Himself down from the roof of the temple into the court below, where the people were assembled, and thus show them at once that He was the promised Messiah, the Son of God, of whom David had written, God "shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." But Jesus, still bent upon doing His Father's will, answered from Scripture, "It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God," meaning that no one must run into unnecessary danger, to try whether God will preserve him: this is tempting Providence, and is sinful. To do our duty in spite of danger is trusting God, and is right: but to run into danger just to please ourselves, expecting that God will preserve us, is presumptuous and sinful.

Satan made a last attempt to get Jesus to bow down to him, by promising to give Him power over all the kingdoms of the world; but Jesus was content to have only what God saw fit to give Him, and replied, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."

The battle was over; the victory was gained: as Man, Jesus had been tempted; as Man, He had resisted the Devil. He had fought and conquered, and thus could go on with His blessed work, which He never could have accomplished, had He at this, or any other time, given way in the least degree to the Devil. For the first time since the Creation, Satan found himself defeated: against our blessed Saviour he could not prevail, as he had done against Adam and his descendants; He departed therefore: we are told, "Then the Devil leaveth Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto Him." The Father sent His Angels to minister to His Son; that is, to serve Him; to supply those wants to which, as Man, He was subject. No doubt they brought Him food of which His human nature stood greatly in need.

We have seen how Jesus resisted the Devil; each time using the very words of Scripture, which forbade Him to do as the Tempter proposed. The Devil is constantly tempting every human being to sin, by suggesting that they had better follow their own wishes and inclinations, instead of denying themselves, and trying in all things to please God. We should therefore bear in mind, that we possess the same Scriptures, and far more; since we have now our Saviour's own words whilst He was upon earth, and also the letters of His Apostles: and then, when we are tempted to do what is wrong, let us remember what the Scriptures say, and obey that, instead of following our own wills. The young are never too young to begin to resist the Devil, who has temptations suited to every age and condition: if you feel disinclined to obey your Parents cheerfully, remember that the Bible says, "Children obey your Parents in all things": let all inclination to dispute with one another be driven away by the recollection of the precept, "Be ye kind one to another."

The direction, "Speak every man truth with his neighbour," should strengthen you to resist every temptation to hide a fault, by saying what is not true, or even by keeping silence, or doing anything to deceive another. The fault into which so many young people fall, of being idle and careless about their lessons, would best be checked by calling to mind the precepts, "Be not slothful in business," and "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as unto the Lord." These, and many like precepts, warn us to conquer faults of which we are apt to think too lightly; not seeing that they are temptations set before us by the Devil, who strives to destroy our souls. But it is also written, "Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you." Begin at once to resist him with all your strength—struggle against your own will and inclinations, which will too often incline you to yield to his suggestions. Fight manfully as long as you live upon earth; praying always for help from God, without Whom ye can do nothing. If thus steadily and heartily you endeavour to renounce the Devil and all his works, with all the sinful lusts of the flesh, and do everything to please God, you will hereafter receive your reward in Heaven for Jesus Christ's sake.

After the Baptism and Temptation of Jesus Christ, He began His work amongst men, by declaring to them the blessed truths of the Gospel.

The first men who became disciples, or followers of Jesus Christ, were Andrew and John, who were already disciples of John the Baptist. "The next day," after the Baptism of our Lord, "John stood and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!" The Priests and Levites, as well as all the people of the Jews, knew that lambs were daily offered up as an atonement for sin, but that the blood of these creatures could never wash out the stain of sin, nor obtain its forgiveness. They were quite aware that these sacrifices were only offered up as a type, or sign of the Messiah; for Whose coming they looked, to make atonement for the sin of the whole world. John the Baptist had repeatedly told his disciples that he was not himself the Messiah, but was the messenger to prepare his way before Him. When, therefore, John the Baptist exclaimed, "Behold the Lamb of God," Andrew and John at once understood, that this was indeed the long-looked-for Messiah, the true Lamb of God, Who was to take away the sins of the whole world. "The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." Jesus asked them, "What seek ye?" At once acknowledging Him to be their Master, the disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day; for it was about the tenth hour." That is, it was about two hours before sunset.

Andrew next went in search of his own brother Simon Peter, and "saith unto him, We have found the Messiah." Simon Peter at once believed these glad tidings, and went with Andrew to Jesus, who received him kindly. The next day Philip, who lived in the same town as Andrew and Peter, and had no doubt often talked with them of the promised Saviour, also became a follower of Jesus; and he likewise brought a friend called Nathanael, of whom we must say something more.

Chapter VII.—THE FIRST MIRACLE.

Nathanael, who was brought to Jesus by Philip, was one of those devout Jews who had studied the writings of Moses and the prophets, and was in consequence anxiously expecting the coming of the promised Messiah. Philip went and told him that the Messiah was really come at last, and that he himself had seen the wondrous Being, of whom Moses and the prophets had written; and that He was no other than Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Now at that time the inhabitants of Nazareth did not generally bear a good character, and were not therefore held in esteem by their fellow countrymen; and besides, Nathanael had learned from the Scriptures, that Christ should be born in Bethlehem; hence he doubted the possibility of Jesus being the promised Redeemer, and asked in a tone of incredulity, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip, whose faith was firm, gave the best answer which ever can be given to those who doubt the testimony of others, "Come and see"; certain that if Nathanael were to see and talk with Jesus, he would be convinced that He was indeed the Messiah.

Nathanael, who was willing and anxious to learn the truth, laid aside all prejudice, and went to Jesus; and fully was he rewarded for his willingness to learn. When Jesus saw Nathanael coming unto Him, He spoke in a manner which surprised the latter, and made him ask, "Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee." It seems that Nathanael, following a custom amongst the devout Jews, had gone into a quiet, retired part of his garden, to meditate and pray. Here he knew that no human eye could see him, and therefore the words now spoken by Jesus convinced him that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the promised Messiah; he doubted no longer, but without hesitation, exclaimed, "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel." Jesus, pleased with Nathanael's willing faith, told him that he should see greater proofs of His being indeed the Son of God, the promised Messiah. The word Rabbi means a "teacher having authority." Andrew and Peter, James and John, of whom we have heard as the first disciples of Christ, did not at this time remain with Him as his constant attendants, but returned to their own occupation as fishermen: they all lived at Bethsaida, a town on the northern coast of the sea of Galilee.

The next event which we have to notice, is the first miracle worked by Christ, at Cana in Galilee, where with those who had already become his disciples, He attended a marriage feast. Here, when wine was wanted, Jesus performed His first miracle, by turning water into wine. Thirty years had now passed away since the birth of Christ; the Shepherds, and others who had seen or heard the wonderful things which took place at that time, had probably ceased to think much about them; or if they thought of them, it was probably to wonder what had become of the Holy Babe, Who had been declared by Angels to be "Christ the Lord." Such a miracle as that now worked at Cana, would be talked of far and wide; and those who remembered the birth of Mary's Son at Bethlehem, would have no difficulty in believing that Jesus Christ was that wondrous Child. To all who were inclined to listen to Jesus, miracles were a confirmation of their faith; for these wonderful displays of supernatural power plainly showed Him to be the Son of God; yet in spite of such unmistakable signs, few of the Jews accepted Jesus as their expected Messiah. The poorer people, the lower classes, who benefited mostly by his miracles, "heard him gladly," for a time, at least; though at the period of His crucifixion their voices called out, "Crucify him, Crucify him!"

When we read the account of Christ's life and miracles, it does seem most extraordinary, that throughout His career on earth, very few of the higher class of Jews, or of the Priests and those best acquainted with the Scriptures, would acknowledge Him. But we must remember that they had made up their minds, in spite of all that the prophets had said to the contrary, that the Messiah was to come as an earthly King and Conqueror, surrounded with pomp and splendour: this idea they would not give up: they were not like Nathanael, willing to be taught, and they could not bear the idea that a poor man, born in a humble rank of life, and only distinguished from other men by his holiness, should be their Messiah. Besides this, the greater part of the Jews had by this time grown careless about their religion; they still observed the outward forms and ceremonies ordered by the Law, but they did not obey the command given through Moses, to love the Lord their God with all their heart: they did not wish to be holy, as Jesus plainly told his disciples they must be. He went about preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, that is, telling all men that they must repent of all their sins, and leave off doing wrong, and try to please God in everything, if they would hereafter be received into the Kingdom of Heaven. Such doctrine was very displeasing to the Jews, and therefore they were determined not to own such a Teacher as their Lord: thus they rejected the true Messiah, whilst they pretended to be anxiously looking out for His coming.

Not very long after the miracle at Cana, we are told that "the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." The Law of Moses commanded, that at this feast every male among the Jews, should appear before the Lord in His holy temple; and Jesus, Who was to set an example of perfect obedience to all the commandments of God, journeyed from Capernaum up to Jerusalem, to keep the feast in the place which the Lord had chosen. When Jesus went up to this Passover, He drove the buyers and sellers out of the temple, an action repeated on a future occasion. At this time St. John says, that Jesus "found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: and when he had made a scourge of small cords, He drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise."

It is not meant that these animals, or the money changers, were in the building of the temple itself, but in one of the courts surrounding it.

So many creatures were required for sacrifices, that it was a great convenience for persons coming from a distance, to be able to buy what they wanted on the spot; and therefore it had long been the custom for traders to establish themselves outside of the outer Court of the temple, to supply the worshippers with oxen, sheep or doves. Then again, people coming from a distance, might bring their money in a large sum, and then they would want to have it changed for coins of less value; just as we might carry a sovereign, which would give us no trouble to carry, and then get it changed into shillings, when we wanted to spend it. Some Jews also, who came to the temple from time to time, lived in foreign countries, and they would naturally bring the money of those countries, which would be of no use in Judæa; and they would therefore wish to change their foreign money into the money current amongst the Jews. For these reasons the money changers were most useful; and they therefore established themselves with the traders, outside the temple Courts.

But the Priests, as well as the people, became careless about obeying God perfectly, or worshipping Him in a proper manner and honouring His house; and therefore, at length, these money changers and sellers of cattle, established themselves in the Court of the Gentiles, and so carried on their trade within the sacred precincts of the temple. This outer Court, in which the money changers and those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves appear to have established themselves, was the Court of the Gentiles; and was intended for the use of devout persons, who, though not willing in all respects to imitate the Jews, were to worship the One True God. In this Court also, all Jews who happened to be unclean, performed their devotions, as they were not then allowed to go into the inner Court. There were very many things which caused a Jew to be looked upon as unclean, without any fault of his. Illness, a death in the house, nursing the sick; and many other things, rendered a man "unclean," and unfit to enter the inner Court. Under these circumstances, there were always many unclean Jews, worshipping God in the Court of the Gentiles; and the presence of the traders and money changers was a great disturbance to both Jews and Gentiles; for they could not attend properly to their prayers, in the midst of all the noise and confusion made by the buyers and sellers. This wrong state of things Jesus put an end to, by driving all these traders out of the temple courts; telling the people not to make the house of God a house of business, a place for buying and selling.

The disciples of Jesus who witnessed his conduct on this occasion, remembered that David, speaking of the Messiah Who was to come, said, "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up," words that meant, that Jesus would not allow any dishonour or disrespect to be shown to the House of God.

By saying to the people, "Make not my Father's house a house of merchandise," Jesus plainly declared himself to be the Son of God; and the Jews so understood His words, though they would not own him to be the Son of God, but immediately asked, "What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?" that is, What proof can you give us that you are what you say, and that you have any right to turn these people out of the Court of the temple?

Had this question been asked in a proper spirit, from a real desire to know for certain, in order that they might worship Jesus as the Messiah, they would no doubt have received a plain and direct answer. But they had no intention of following and obeying Jesus as their Lord and Master, and only wished to find excuses for not believing in Him; therefore our Lord, Who knew all the thoughts in their hearts, answered them in a very remarkable way, giving them a sign which would hereafter prove Him to be indeed the Son of God.

Chapter VIII.—NICODEMUS COMES BY NIGHT TO JESUS.

To the question, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." These words were a prophecy: Jesus "spake of the temple of his body," and thus declared that His own body would be killed, but that after three days He would rise to life again.

The Jews, thinking only of the building before their eyes now, exclaimed in astonishment, "Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?" It had taken Herod forty-six years to repair and beautify the second temple, and the Jews might well doubt its being done in three days: they thought of nothing further, and were probably quite satisfied that Jesus had now said what could not possibly be. But the disciples felt sure that these words of their Lord had some hidden meaning, though they did not understand what: they therefore remembered them; and after their accomplishment their faith was strengthened; for we read, "When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had said."

All Scripture, as we know, was written for our instruction, and therefore we must always think what we can learn from it: now the clearing of the temple court by Jesus teaches us two great lessons: first, that we must never use the House of God for any purpose but that for which it is intended. Now, to us, our Churches are the house of God; and if we do not use them as we ought, we sin as did the Jews. Of course, we cannot make them a house of merchandise as the Jews did; but if we are thinking of our business, or our pleasure, or anything else, instead of attending to what is going on, we are not using the house of God in a proper manner. Our Churches are set apart for the worship of God as much as the Temple was; and if we do not worship God when we go for that purpose, we displease our heavenly Father. Everything belonging to God must be treated with reverence, and honoured by being used according to His Will. In this way, therefore, we must reverence and honour His day, His house, and His word. You will thus see that being careless and inattentive at Church is a great sin. God sees your heart, and knows all your thoughts, so that if you are thinking of something else, though you may be sitting still and thus appear good to man, He will be displeased.

In all the prayers you must join heartily: when the Lessons are read, you will generally be able to understand them. When the Clergyman begins to preach his Sermon, try to understand what he says: if you really cannot understand his sermon, then think about some person mentioned in Scripture, as Adam, Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon, Samuel, and many others, and consider what they did to please or displease God; or say over your hymns and texts to yourself: this will prevent your thoughts from wandering off to your business, or pleasures, or any such things. In the house of God, you must think of nothing but God, and how to please Him.

Now let us talk of the other lesson, which we are to learn from what Jesus did.

Jesus spake of His body as a temple; and St. Paul tells us, that all who love and follow Christ are so joined together in Him, that they are like stones joined together to build up a holy temple, for an habitation of God through the Spirit. As Christians baptized in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, we have all become stones or parts of that holy temple the Church of Christ; members or parts of His body: for the Scripture calls the Church of Christ His body. Now as long as we are obedient and faithful members of Christ's body, the Church, the Holy Spirit will bless and help us: but if we give way to our own sinful feelings, we bring bad passions into this holy temple, the Church of Christ, and "defile," or make it unclean, as the Jews defiled the temple built by hands by bringing oxen and sheep into its courts. St Paul warns us of the consequence of such sin: "If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy."

But further, the same Apostle St. Paul teaches each one of us to look upon our own body as a temple, for the abode of the Holy Spirit. Now, as a temple is devoted to the service of God, so we must employ our bodies in serving Him, and doing His will. The temple must not be defiled; so we must try hard to keep all naughty tempers out of our hearts. Disobedience, passion, quarrelsomeness, idleness—in short, all the faults you can have—are evil things which defile the temple, and render it unfit for the abode of the Holy Spirit. If you try to resist evil, the Holy Spirit will help you to do so; but if you give way to bad passions, and allow the Devil to govern you, you will grieve the Holy Spirit of God, and at last force Him to leave you to follow your own ways. To be left to follow your own evil ways is the most dreadful thing that can happen to you. Pray to God, and try to have Him always for your friend.

We have said that during our Saviour's ministry on earth, few of the higher class of Jews became His disciples; but there was one remarkable exception, in the case of a man named Nicodemus, whose conversation with our blessed Lord is particularly instructive. We read in the Gospel of St. John, "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." Nicodemus was a man of sense, and the miracles of Jesus had convinced him; for he felt certain that no one but the Son of God, the Messiah, could do such things. He was willing to acknowledge this; but afraid of the ridicule or reproaches of his friends, he came to Jesus by night, that no man might know of his visit. Christ, who is very merciful, did not refuse to listen to Nicodemus, but began to show him that there must be some proof of faith in a holy life. So when Nicodemus declared his belief that Jesus came from God, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus, not understanding the real meaning of these words, "saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old?" meaning that it was impossible for a man who had been born many years before, again to become a baby. "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Jesus meant that, as to the body or flesh, no man could of course be born again; but that by the help of the Holy Spirit, the man's nature might be changed so that he would become holy, trying in all things to please God: such a change in the character, temper, and disposition might be compared to a new birth; and without such a complete change, no one could enter into the kingdom of God. Such teaching might well cause Nicodemus great surprise; and Jesus said unto him, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." In these words our Saviour warns Nicodemus, that a man's conduct only can show whether he has been born of the Spirit: just as we cannot see the wind, but we know that it blows, because we hear the noise it makes, and see its effects in the way the trees and other things are blown about.

Nicodemus, in astonishment at all he heard, now said, "How can these things be?" and then Jesus told him how necessary it was to have faith when hearing of heavenly things, since it is impossible for man to understand how the great works of God are done. At this time Jesus uttered that remarkable prophecy, comparing His crucifixion to the setting up of the Brazen Serpent in the wilderness; saying, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." When the children of Israel were dying from the effects of the bites of the fiery flying serpents, those who so believed the words of Moses, as to look up at the brazen serpent, were saved at once from the death of the body. When all the children of men were dying from the effects of sin (the bite of that old serpent the Devil), all who would in faith look up to the cross of Christ, and believe in Him, would be saved from the far more dreadful death (or eternal misery) of the soul. And then our Saviour went on to speak of the great love of God, as shown by His giving His Son to die for man.

"After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judæa; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. And John also was baptizing in Ænon, near to Salim, because there was much water there": here many of the people came to John, and were baptized. Some of those who came to him, seem to have been rather distressed or surprised that Jesus was drawing men away from him; and they said, "Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him."

John immediately reminded his hearers, that he had always told them that he had only come as the messenger of Christ to prepare His way, and that now that Christ was come, his ministry was ended, and he had only to rejoice in the success of his Heavenly Master. He himself was but a man, "of the earth, earthy"; but of Him whose messenger he was, he said, "He that cometh from above, is above all." Moreover, John said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." Jesus had just begun His work, which would go on and increase; John's work was finished, and he himself would not long remain on earth.

And so it was; for very shortly afterwards, John the Baptist was shut up in prison by Herod Antipas, the governor of Galilee.

Chapter IX.—JOHN PUT INTO PRISON.

Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great, was governor of Galilee: Philip, another of them, was governor or tetrarch of Itruria. The word "tetrarch" means the governor of a certain portion of a kingdom. The land of Palestine being subject to the Romans, they had divided it into portions; and the governors of each portion were styled tetrarchs. Philip had a wife called Herodias, a bad woman, who behaved ill to her husband, and at length left him, and became the wife of his brother Herod. Now this was a great sin on the part of Herod, as well as that of Herodias, and John the Baptist reproved them for it: this holy man was not afraid to speak the truth, though doing so was sure to bring trouble upon himself, for Herod was a proud man, who would not like to be told of his faults, and Herodias would be much more angry.

But John had been sent by God the Father to prepare the way of the Lord, by teaching His Will to men, and exhorting them to repentance and amendment of life: this John was determined to do, undismayed by any fear of what man might do to him; and therefore he told Herod, that it was not lawful, not allowed by the Law of God, that he should thus take his brother's wife to be his wife.

The consequence was, that John was immediately put into prison. Herodias, who hated him for reproving her, would gladly have had him put to death; but she could not yet prevail on Herod to consent to so wicked an act.

There seems to have been two reasons which made Herod unwilling to put his prisoner to death. In the first place, many of the Jews looked upon John as a prophet and a teacher sent by God; and Herod feared that there might be some riot amongst the people, in which case the Romans might accuse him of having misgoverned the country, and suffer him to be no longer governor. The other reason was, that although Herod was angry with John, he could not help seeing that he was a good and holy man; so much so, that he listened to his advice on many points, though he would not act according to it, in the matter of Herodias. Even after John was cast into prison, Herod often "sent for him, and heard him gladly, and did many things."

Well would it have been for Herod, if he had done all things according to John's advice.

"Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God": preaching, that is, the good tidings of how sinful man might enter into the kingdom of God, from which the Fall of Adam had shut him out. "Repent ye and believe the Gospel," was the sum of his preaching: true repentance would make men leave off sinning; and belief in the Gospel would lead them to strive to be holy, out of love for the Saviour, who was come upon earth to deliver them from eternal misery.

He preached the Gospel of the kingdom of God to all who would hear him; they naturally told others; so that "there went out a fame of him through all the region round about." Besides this, "Jesus taught in their synagogues." Synagogues were buildings in which the Jews assembled to pray to God, and to hear the holy Scriptures read and explained. The use of synagogues began after the return of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon; and in our Saviour's time there were great numbers of them, not only in towns and villages, but all over the country: some writers tell us, that wherever there were ten grown-up men, able to form a congregation, the Jews thought it right to build a synagogue.

It would be well if Christians had in this matter followed the example of the Jews; for unhappily there are not now nearly enough Churches in our land, so that there are great numbers of men, women, and children in England, who could not go to Church if they wished to do so, because there is not room enough for them. This is very sad, and we should always be ready to give our money to help in building Churches, which are so much wanted all over the country.

The Synagogues were generally built close to rivers and brooks, so as to have water at hand for all the ceremonies of purification: it was right in the Jews to observe these outward ceremonies, but it would have been better for them if they had remembered, that they were only ordered, to show the necessity of purifying the heart and life from sin. Let us remember this, and pray to God, "Make me a clean heart, O God."

The daily service in the Synagogue, consisted of prayers and the reading of a portion from the books of Moses, which was afterwards expounded or explained: on the Sabbath days, a second portion of Scripture, from the writings of the Prophets, was read in addition. A certain number of wise and serious men, were chosen to be Rulers of each Synagogue; that is, to settle all matters concerning it, and to arrange the services, and appoint the readers. The readers were usually some of the Scribes; but strangers were often allowed to read and expound the Scriptures in their place, and any one who was looked upon as a prophet, would be eagerly listened to. To show their reverence for the Scriptures, the Jewish doctors stood up whilst they read the daily portions, and then sat down, whilst they explained the meaning to their congregation. Whenever any person among the Jews set himself up as the founder or leader of a party, by teaching any peculiar doctrines, he was allowed by the Rulers to explain these doctrines publicly in the Synagogues; so that all men might have an opportunity of hearing his opinions, and judging whether such a teacher spoke according to the Scriptures, and ought to be listened to, and followed. In consequence of this custom, Jesus Christ, and in after times His Apostles also, were allowed to read and expound in the Synagogues.

Every considerable synagogue, that is, every one so situated as to have a large congregation, had attached to it an academy, or school for elder children, who here studied the Scriptures under the guidance of the Rabbis. But unfortunately, with the Scriptures, which are the Word of God, these Rabbis instructed the Jewish youth in the traditions of man. "Traditions" were sayings and doctrines which had never been written down, but had merely been told by word of mouth from father to son, and had thus been handed down through many generations. Many of these traditions, which had some truth in them at first, had become sadly altered by thus being told by one to another; so that some of them were, in our Saviour's time, quite contrary to the commandments and precepts of God.

Other traditions again had been entirely invented by men, and were not deserving of any attention; but the Jews received them all, and looked upon them as equal in authority, or rather as superior, to the Holy Scriptures themselves.

The Rabbis who taught in the academies attached to the synagogues, sat in the midst of their scholars, who all stood round them.

We have said, that "When Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee," preaching and teaching throughout the country. "And leaving Nazareth," which had been the home of His childhood, "he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast (of the lake of Tiberias), in the borders of Zabulon and Nepthalim." Thus was fulfilled the prophecy spoken by Esaias, that is Isaiah, "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." In the holy Scriptures, the word "darkness" constantly means ignorance and sin; whilst "light" is used to express the contrary, as knowledge and goodness. The people of Galilee were ignorant and sinful, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ was as a light to drive away this darkness, by teaching men to believe in their Saviour, and obey the Will of God. This blessing was now brought, as the prophet Isaiah had foretold, to the country round about Capernaum.

From this time, Capernaum seems to have been the home of Jesus Christ; as far, at least, as he could be said to have a home, when His whole life was spent in moving about the country from one place to another, "teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people."

In the Four Gospels you must look for the full account of the miracles, parables, and conversations of our blessed Saviour; here many of them will be only briefly mentioned.

In passing on one occasion from Judæa into Galilee, "He must needs go through Samaria." His disciples being gone into the town to buy food, Jesus asked a woman of Samaria who came to draw water from the well, to give Him to drink; and He took this occasion to tell her, that it signified little in what place men worshipped God, if they worshipped Him properly "in spirit and in truth," that is, truly and sincerely, in faith; and he ended by telling her plainly that He was the Messiah, expected by Samaritans as well as by Jews. In consequence of what passed between our Lord and this woman, many of the Samaritans believed in Him as the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

Jesus appears to have remained at Samaria for two days; and we may be quite sure that during that time He preached "the Gospel of the Kingdom" to all who would hear His words.

Next we hear of another miracle worked at Cana, where He had changed the water into wine. A certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum, came to Him to implore His help: this nobleman believed that Jesus could heal his son, and his faith was rewarded by having his child restored to health. After this, Jesus "came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him," eagerly expecting the explanation of this passage of holy writ. Jesus told them, that this prophecy was now fulfilled in Him; and when they hesitated to believe in "Joseph's son," and seemed to wonder why He did not work miracles there, He reminded them that miracles were worked, and always had been worked, just according to the pleasure of God, who often chose the most unlikely persons to work his miracles upon. His words made all who were in the synagogue very wrath; "and they rose and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow (or edge) of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong," and so put an end to his life and his preaching; but not yet, and not so, was the Son of man to die. He therefore worked a miracle to save himself, and "passing through the midst of them, went His way."

Chapter X.—CALLING OF SIMON AND OTHERS.

The number of Christ's disciples increased, but it was necessary that He should have a certain number of faithful men constantly with Him, to be witnesses of all that He said and did whilst on earth; so that they might teach "the Gospel of the Kingdom" to others, when he should have returned to His Father in Heaven. To this end, therefore, when walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus bid the two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew, leave their occupation of fishermen, and follow Him wheresoever He should go; telling them that He would make them fishers of men: meaning, that as by putting their nets into the sea, they had hitherto brought fish to land; so now, by preaching the Gospel, they should bring men to the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus did not speak in vain: "straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. And straightway he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him." A miracle quickly confirmed the faith of these four disciples. The people, who had gathered round our Lord to hear his words, so pressed upon Him, that He entered into Simon's ship, and from thence taught the people. When He had spoken to them for some time, "he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught." Now Peter, who had been toiling all night, which is the best time for catching fish, knew that there was little chance of taking any then; but the command of his Master was enough for him. His obedience was rewarded by a wonderful draught (or take) of fishes, which greatly astonished Simon and Andrew, as well as their partners, James and John. Peter, seeing the wonderful works of God, felt that he was utterly unworthy even to be the servant of so glorious a Being, and falling at Jesus's knees, he exclaimed, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" But Jesus encouraged him, and repeated His promise, that His disciples should by their preaching of the Gospel bring the hearts of men to love and obey the Lord, for "he said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him."

From henceforth these four disciples, who had been especially called, became the constant attendants of our Lord. Three of them, Simon, James, and John, were more particularly favoured; for they are mentioned as being with the Lord on many occasions, when His other disciples were not with Him; thus they were witnesses of all the wonderful events in His life.

After the calling of Simon and his companions, Jesus went with them into Capernaum; "and on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught." Jesus did not talk to the people, as many of the Scribes did, about ceremonies and traditions; but he tried to draw their thoughts away from such comparative trifles, and fix them upon the Lord God Almighty—upon His goodness and mercy, and upon the necessity of faith and love producing perfect obedience to His holy Will. Jesus spake of holiness and righteousness in a way that they had never before heard; and he spake also in a tone of authority as One who had a right to command. He told them that he was indeed the Son of God, and that he spake unto them in the name of the Lord God of Israel: He warned the impenitent and disobedient, that they would bring eternal misery upon themselves, while He promised eternal happiness to all who would believe and obey. No wonder that His hearers were astonished at such teaching, from one who appeared to be merely a man like themselves. But to convince them that they might safely believe in Him, Jesus, even in the synagogue, healed a man who had a spirit of an unclean devil, so that "the people spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this? for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. And immediately the fame of him went out, and spread abroad throughout all the region, into every place of the country round about Galilee."

"And when they were come out of the synagogue, Jesus with James and John entered into the house of Simon and Andrew: here the mother of Simon's wife lay sick of a fever." The poor woman's friends besought Jesus for her; He took her by the hand; the fever left her at once; and then, instead of being weak, as people naturally are after a fever, her health and strength returned at once, and "immediately she arose and ministered unto them." The news of so wonderful a cure, increased the fame of Jesus.

The wonderful cures performed by Jesus brought many to ask His help. "And when the even was come," that is, as soon as the Sabbath was over,—for the Jews reckoned their Sabbath to begin at sunset, or about six o'clock on Friday evening, and to end at the same hour on Saturday night,—as soon, therefore, as the Sabbath was past, "all the city was gathered together at the door, and they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick." Thus were fulfilled the words spoken, 700 years before, by Esaias the prophet, who said, "Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."

This prophecy was doubly fulfilled: first, by healing sicknesses and diseases, Christ, during his lifetime, took away the consequence of the punishment of sin; secondly, by His death upon the Cross, He took away sin, and procured forgiveness and salvation, for all who seek it in the way appointed by Him.

"And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place and there prayed." Having taken upon Himself the form and nature of man, Jesus now set His disciples an example of what prayer ought to be. It is a blessed thing to be allowed to pray to God—to tell Him of all our joys and sorrows—and to beg Him to bless us, and make us able to do well, whatever work He may give us to do. We sinful creatures have also another thing to pray for; and that is, forgiveness of our sins for Jesus Christ's sake, and such true repentance, as will make us try every day to do His holy Will better and better. For all these blessings we should constantly pray: but you must remember, that it is quite possible for you to kneel down every morning and evening and repeat the prayers which you have learnt, and yet never really pray one bit.

Prayer is speaking to God, and begging Him to give us what we stand in need of, both for our souls and bodies. Now, amongst ourselves, it is thought very rude and disrespectful, to speak to any person without thinking of what we are saying: and what should we think of a person who went into the presence of an earthly king, to ask some great favour, and then spake in a careless, indifferent manner, without seeming to know or care what he was asking for? We should all blame such a person; and think that he did not deserve to have his petitions granted. What must it be, then, to speak to the Lord God Almighty, the King of Kings, in such a manner? Then, again, if you really wanted your Parents to do anything for you, or give you anything, you would not ask them carelessly, as if you did not care whether they said "Yes" or "No"; you would beg and pray earnestly with all your heart. Now this is what you should do when you say your prayers to God, your heavenly Father, Who can give you all you need on earth; and can besides, put His holy Spirit into your heart, and give you eternal happiness hereafter. Try, then, always to pray from your heart, and never allow yourself to repeat words carelessly, as if prayer was a task, to be got through as soon as possible. Such prayers can never please God; on the contrary, by praying in such a way we commit a great sin; for we take God's holy Name in vain, every time we kneel down to say our prayers. Written prayers are useful as helps; but you should also try of your own self to ask God to forgive you for any naughty things you have done, and help you to do better: God does not care what words we say, if our hearts really pray.

Jesus, you will observe, got up before it was light, and went into a quiet place, where he could pray without interruption. He would rather give up His night's rest, than not have time to pray to His heavenly Father; and we must remember, that as He had taken upon Him the nature of man, He was just as liable to be tired and sleepy as we are; and therefore, He suffered as much from giving up his night's rest as we should do; let His conduct, therefore, be an example to us.

In the morning, "Simon and they that were with him," (the three other disciples already called,) missed their Master, "and followed after him. And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee." No doubt, as soon as it was day, all they that had any sick in their families, brought them to be healed, and were disappointed at finding only the disciples.

After this, "Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria; his wonderful cures were heard of in neighbouring lands, and they brought unto him all sick people and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic (or mad); and he healed them." And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judæa, and from beyond Jordan.

Chapter XI.—THE LEPER HEALED.

We read so often in the Gospels, of Jesus casting out devils and unclean spirits, that it may be as well to say something on this subject, as in these days there is nothing of the kind. We know that the Devil has ever been the greatest enemy of mankind, trying to destroy the souls and bodies of men. In the Old Testament, we read of diviners, enchanters, wizards, sorcerers, and magicians, who were all persons wicked enough to try to have communication with evil spirits; and we also read that the children of Israel were commanded to put all such to death. But it seems that when men would persist in doing the Devil's work by sinning against God, the evil spirits were allowed to have power over their bodies, as they had, by listening to his temptations, given him power over their souls. Certain it is, that in the time of our Lord, the evil spirits had some extraordinary power over the bodies of some men; entering into them as it were, and making them do things hurtful to themselves and others. Such people are spoken of as "demoniacs," or as being "possessed of devils" or "unclean spirits."

Most likely the reason why God allowed the Devil to have power over the bodies of men, was to show the people the reality of a "ghostly enemy"; and to remind them, that if they allowed the Devil to get into their hearts and make them serve him, they would be unfit ever to go into the kingdom of God. The sad state in which these poor demoniacs were, was a sort of sign of the dreadful condition in which all the descendants of Adam must for ever have continued, if the Son of God had not come down to destroy the works of the Devil, and free the souls of men from his power.

When Jesus cast the devils and unclean spirits out of the bodies of men, it was a plain proof that His power was greater than theirs; and that he could, therefore, most certainly deliver the souls of men from the power of their enemy.

Evil spirits were thus allowed to show their power, in order more clearly to manifest, or show forth, the great power and glory of the Son of God, Whom even the devils were bound to obey: they were, moreover, forced to bear witness to the fact that He was the Messiah, for on many occasions they cried out, "Thou art Christ, the Son of God."

When we read of these unhappy men who were possessed by devils, let us remember that the same evil spirit is watching to destroy us; and that though he has now no power over the bodies of men, he tries to get possession of our hearts, and unless we resist him steadfastly, he will succeed. To encourage us to fight against the Devil, we must remember that he has no power over our souls but what we give him, by wilfully sinning against God. Powerful as our enemy is, our Friend and Saviour is vastly more powerful; and He will bless and keep all who do resist the Devil, and strive to obey and serve God faithfully.

The next miracle mentioned, was the cure of a leper. Both Jews and Gentiles looked upon leprosy as a type of sin; that is, as being to the body, what sin is to the soul: the leprosy first shows itself in a little spot, but quickly spreads, and covers the whole body with sores. Sin begins in some act of disobedience; not being resisted, one sin leads to another, till the whole heart is filled with evil passions.

The leper was considered unclean, and was not allowed to live amongst God's people, nor enter into the Courts of the Temple; typifying that sin is hateful in the sight of God, and that those who persist in it cannot enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

The leprosy was looked upon as incurable by any human means, and therefore whenever a leper was healed, it was attributed to an especial exertion of the Divine power. In like manner, God only could take away the guilt and punishment of sin, and cleanse the heart of a sinner.

The Leper, who went to Jesus beseeching Him, knew that no human skill could heal his disease; but believing Him to be the Son of God—the Messiah, he "fell on his face worshipping Him, and saying, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean."

Pleased with the man's faith, Jesus touched him, and said, "I will; be thou clean: and immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them." The Levitical Law declared, that the priests were to be judges in all cases of leprosy. Any one suspected of having this dreadful disease, was to be examined by the Priest: if the Priest pronounced his disease to be leprosy, he was at once considered unclean, and cut off from all communication with his fellow men. In like manner, if it pleased God to take away the disease, the leper was to go again to the Priest to be examined, and if he pronounced him to be cured, the poor man was then considered clean, and restored to the society of his fellow creatures.

When our Lord dismissed the leper, He told him to "offer those things which Moses commanded." The ceremony of cleansing, to be observed by every one who had been cured of leprosy, was as follows:—Two live and clean birds were to be taken, with cedar-wood, hyssop, and other things; one of these birds was to be killed over a brook of running water, and its blood received in an earthen vessel: the living bird, with the other things mentioned, was to be dipped in the blood of the dead bird, and the leper was afterwards to be sprinkled with the blood. This was to show, as all sacrifices were intended to do, that sin and uncleanliness could only be done away with, by shedding the blood of the innocent and clean: and thus pointing out to all men, that the blood of Jesus Christ, the spotless lamb of God, could alone wash away the sin of man.

The living bird was then to be let loose in the open fields, to signify that the leper now cleansed from his plague, was free to go where he would amongst his fellow men. This was the ceremony which Jesus bade the leper observe, and he was not to mention his cure until all was accomplished. For this there appear to have been two reasons: in the first place, Jesus did not wish His ministry to be disturbed, by the excitement which the knowledge of such a miracle would create amongst the people, who on several occasions desired to make Him their king even on earth. In the second place, the Priests were so obstinately prejudiced against our Lord, that they would have been very unwilling to pronounce the leper to be clean, had they known how his cure had been effected: but when once they had declared him to be healed, they could not unsay their own words.

The healing of this leper, was the plainest proof that Christ could give of His being indeed the Son of God; for there was a tradition universally believed by the Jews, that when the Messiah should come, He would cure the leprosy.

The leper did not keep silence, but began to publish it abroad, and so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and "to be healed of their infirmities; insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter the city," without exciting that attention, which at present He wished to avoid: and "He withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed": but even here, "they came to him from every quarter."

"And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them." When we read of the multitudes who crowded to hear Jesus, it does seem sad that so few profited by what they heard: let us try not to be only "hearers of the word, but doers also."

One day, when Jesus was thus teaching, with Pharisees and doctors of the law, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judæa, and Jerusalem, sitting by, a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed which was borne of four, was brought to be healed.

The palsy is a sad disease, which often takes away the use of the legs and arms, and renders the poor sufferer perfectly helpless; nor can the physician restore the use of the limbs.

Those who had brought this poor man on a kind of litter, sought means to bring him into the house, and lay him before Jesus: and when they found that they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they went upon the house-top, and uncovered the roof where he was; and when they had broken it up, they let the poor man down through the tiling with his couch, into the midst of the multitude, before Jesus. The Jewish houses, as we must remember, were only one story high; and in the flat roof was an opening, leading directly to the room below.

This opening was closed by a flat door; but it seems that when they had uncovered the opening, by removing the trapdoor, the aperture was not large enough for the litter to pass through it; and therefore they broke up some of the roof, so as to enlarge the opening, and when they had done this, they fastened ropes to the four corners of the sick man's bed, and so let him down at Jesus's feet. The trouble they had taken to bring to Him a man, who, as they well knew, could not be cured by any human creature, showed that those who brought him, believed that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, able to heal all manner of diseases. And they received the blessing sought in faith.

Chapter XII.—CALLING OF MATTHEW.

When Jesus saw the faith of those who had brought the man sick of the palsy, He said, "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." These words offended the Scribes (or Doctors) and the Pharisees who were sitting there; and they said within themselves, or thought, "This man blasphemeth," that is, He takes to himself a power which no human being can possess, for "Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" Here they were right: no man could forgive sin, nor with a word take away the diseases consequent upon sin.

The Scribes and Pharisees do not appear to have even spoken their thoughts to each other, but Jesus, by the Spirit of God which was in Him, perceived that they so reasoned within themselves; "and knowing their thoughts, He answering, said unto them, Why reason ye these things, and think evil in your hearts?" that is, why do ye think evil of Me, and condemn Me as guilty of blasphemy, because I have spoken such words? Then Jesus asked them, "Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed and walk?" Thus Jesus reminded the Scribes and Pharisees, that to heal a man sick of the palsy was as impossible for a man, as to forgive sin; and that therefore He who could do such things, must be indeed the Son of God: and he instantly gave this proof of his being the Messiah, saying, "But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins"—no more words were necessary, the sentence was ended by an action; for turning to the sick of the palsy, he saith, "I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up the bed whereon he lay," that is, the mattress, rolled it up, "and went forth before them all, and departed to his own house, glorifying God." Had the Pharisees and Scribes been really anxious to know the truth, praying to God to show it to them, this miracle must indeed have convinced them that Jesus was the Messiah; but their hearts were hardened against believing in a Messiah, who did not come as a king in earthly power and glory.

But whilst the Scribes and Pharisees would not believe the evidence of their own eyes, the poorer people were less obstinate. When they saw the poor sick man walk away completely cured, the multitude were all amazed at such a wonderful proof of the power of God. "And they said, We have seen strange things to-day: we never saw it on this fashion: and they glorified God, which had given such power unto men." Perhaps some of these people became real and true followers of Christ: but many of them, notwithstanding all they had seen, did not like to give up their sins, so as to become holy, as Christ's disciples must be. We think it strange that men could see such miracles, and not believe and follow Jesus: but do we do everything that He bids us? and yet we know Him to be the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. Let us take care that we do not love our sins, so as to make us unwilling to be true followers of Jesus Christ.

After these things, we read that as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw "a man, a publican named Levi," also called Matthew, "sitting at the receipt of custom." A publican was a tax-gatherer; one who was appointed by the Romans to collect the taxes which they required the inhabitants of Judæa to pay. The Jews disliked paying taxes very much, because it was a mark of their being under the dominion of Gentile rulers: and therefore they hated all publicans or tax-gatherers. In general, too, the bad characters and ill conduct of these men did not tend to make men like them: the Romans were in the habit of farming out the taxes; that is, they appointed some person who was willing to give them a certain sum of money, and take his chance of what taxes he could collect. If the taxes he collected did not amount to as much as the sum he had paid to the Romans, of course he was the loser: if, on the contrary, the taxes came to more than what he had to give to the Romans, he was the gainer: thus the publicans, having paid a large sum of money for the privilege of collecting the taxes, were anxious to collect as much as possible, in order to have more for themselves: and so they often oppressed the people, by making them pay more than was right; and of course the people could not like those whom they found so troublesome and unjust, and therefore they hated the whole class of tax-gatherers.

Levi, or Matthew, of whom we are speaking, was a Jew, who had taken the office of tax-gatherer under the Romans: his particular business seems to have been to receive the money, which every person who carried goods across the Sea of Galilee was obliged to pay as a tax to their Roman masters. Matthew was sitting in his appointed place for the receipt, or receiving, of "custom," that is, of the tax which it was the custom to pay on landing, when our Lord passed by and saw him.

The Pharisees and Scribes looked upon all publicans, whether they were Jews or not, as heathens, unfit to be even spoken to: they would not even try to make them better, as they chose to think that God had quite cast them off. Jesus taught a very different lesson, and showed that God is ready to receive all who will repent of their sins and follow Him. Jesus, who sees what thoughts and feelings are in the heart of every one, made choice of Matthew as a fit man to be one of His constant attendants, and therefore, when he saw him sitting at the receipt of custom, "He said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him." At once, without doubt or hesitation, Matthew left all and followed Jesus: now, Jesus calls all of us when we are baptized; but how few of us try to follow Him really and truly? We might perhaps think that it was wrong of Matthew thus to leave his business and go away, because then the people who crossed the sea would not pay the tax required by the Romans: but as he had paid money to the Romans for the situation, they would not be cheated out of the tax: he himself would be the only sufferer. If this had not been the case, he would have been wrong to go away before some other person was appointed in his place: for the Bible teaches us, that we must do our duty to man fairly and faithfully, in whatever state of life we are. By doing our earthly business honestly and well, we serve God: if our business takes up too much of our thoughts, and makes us forget God and neglect His worship, then we must give up our business; for we should always think first of pleasing God.

The next event we hear of in our Saviour's life is, that with His usual obedience to the Law, He went up to Jerusalem to keep a "feast of the Jews": most probably the feast of Tabernacles; a feast celebrated in the Autumn, as a thanksgiving for the harvest or in-gathering of corn, grapes for wine, and all other fruits of the earth: this feast was also intended to remind them of the journeyings of their forefathers in the wilderness, where they lived in booths or tents for forty years; and therefore they were to keep it, by dwelling for seven days in booths, made of the branches of trees.

It seems that by the Sheep Gate, on the eastern side of Jerusalem, there was a pool of water, in which at a certain time of the year God showed His almighty power, by the miraculous cure of any sick person, who, after the troubling or stirring up of the water, first stepped into the pool. By this pool was a building, having five porches, through which the unclean went down to wash in the pool. This building was properly called Bethesda, a Hebrew word, meaning the House of Mercy; and the pool was from it called the pool of Bethesda. Jesus visited this place, where, in the porches, "lay a great multitude of impotent folk," that is, people who were unable to help themselves on account of blindness, or of diseases which took away the use of their legs and arms. These poor creatures were waiting for the moving of the waters; each hoping that he might be the one to get first into the pool, and be cured. Amongst these was a certain man, who had been unable to walk for thirty-eight years. Jesus chose this man as the object of a miracle, and saith unto him, "Wilt thou be made whole?" The poor man, thinking only of the pool, told the Lord that he had no chance of being healed, for he had no friends to help him; and that long before he could drag himself to the water, some other person was sure to step in and secure the blessing. Jesus then "saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."

Whether this poor man had heard of Jesus before, we do not know; but he at once showed his faith, by trying to do, what he knew he could not do, unless he received some miraculous help from God. How delighted he must have been, when he found that a perfect cure was the reward of his faith and obedience!

It was on a Sabbath day that this miracle was worked; and the Jews, probably the Scribes and Pharisees, found fault with the man, saying, "It is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed on the Sabbath day." This was so far true, that in the Law it was written, "Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day"; and the Pharisees, and others who were fond of adding to the outward observances of the Law, and of keeping traditions, reckoned a man guilty of breaking the Law, if he even carried anything in his hand on the Sabbath day. When the Jews blamed this man, he answered very properly, that he could not be wrong in obeying the commands of one who had showed that he had power from God, by healing him of his disease. The Jews allowed that a prophet had power to excuse men from the strict observance of the Sabbath; and, as Jesus had proved Himself to be more than a prophet, they could say no more on that subject; but wishing to have something to find fault with, they asked the man, "What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?" This question the man could not answer, for he "wist not who it was, for Jesus had conveyed Himself away" after working the miracle at the pool of Bethesda.

Chapter XIII.—THE PHARISEES' PRETENDED ZEAL FOR THE SABBATH.

The man whom Jesus had healed at the pool of Bethesda, seems to have made the first use of his restored power by going into the House of God, to thank and praise Him for having been made whole. Jesus, finding him in the temple, bade him remember the cure which had been worked upon him, and show his gratitude by forsaking all his sins and leading a holy life, so that he might not bring upon himself far more terrible sufferings than any which he could feel upon earth. The man now understood who had cured him, and went "and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole": evidently believing that Jesus was the Messiah, and that His command was quite sufficient to justify a man for doing that which was not strictly lawful on the Sabbath day. The Jews, however, would not allow this: therefore did they "persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day."

Jesus, then, in a conversation of which St. John gives us an account, tried to convince the Jews that He was indeed the Messiah, and as such, had authority even to heal on the Sabbath. On this occasion He gave the Jews advice that all of us should listen to and follow; for He said, "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." The Jews believed that the Scriptures of the Old Testament, which were all that at that time were written, were indeed the Word of God, and that they showed them how to obtain eternal life: Jesus therefore bids them read and study them honestly and carefully, and that they would then see that He must be the Messiah, of whom those Scriptures testify or speak. We know that the New Testament as well as the Old, is the Word of God; and that it shows us the way to eternal life. Let us then obey our Lord's command, and search the Scriptures, that we may learn His will in order to do it.

Jesus also told the Jews, that Moses, whom they pretended to obey exactly, wrote of Him; and that if they really believed Moses, and wished to obey the Law, they would acknowledge Him to be indeed the Messiah, of whom Moses and all the prophets had written. All that Jesus said, does not seem to have had any effect; for on the next Sabbath, something of the same kind happened. The disciples who were following Jesus through the corn-fields, being hungry, began to pluck the ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands, to take off the husk, and eating them as they went. It might seem to us that the disciples had no right to take ears of corn which did not belong to them, but this was, under the circumstances, allowed by the Law of Moses, or the Levitical Law: a hungry man, who was passing through standing corn, might pluck the ears with his hand to satisfy his wants, though he was forbidden "to move a sickle unto his neighbour's standing corn."

The Pharisees, who were constantly watching for an opportunity to find fault, now asked Jesus, why He allowed his disciples to do what was not lawful for them to do on the Sabbath day.

For very many years the Jews had neglected to observe the Sabbath in a proper manner, and this neglect of a positive command, had been one cause of the destruction of their kingdom, and of all the misery they afterwards suffered. Now their descendants had gone into another sin, and instead of making the Sabbath a day of rest from worldly cares,—a day to be devoted to the service of God, and to thinking of all His mercies,—they made so many rules as to what might or might not be done, that the most common and necessary actions, such as healing the sick, or saving the life of an animal, came to be looked upon as unlawful, and therefore sinful. Jesus reminded the Jews who thus blamed His disciples, that David was not considered to have broken the Law of Moses, because once, when pressed by hunger, he and his followers had eaten the shewbread, which it "was not lawful to eat, but for the priests alone." He also told them, that no one accused the Priests of breaking the Law, because on the Sabbath day they, in performing the temple services, did things in themselves forbidden on that holy day. Jesus ended by declaring, that "the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath": that is, that the Sabbath was meant for the benefit of mankind, as well as for the glory of God, and not to be an oppressive burden; and that the Son of man was Lord also of the Sabbath, and had therefore power to dispense with its rigorous observance; and that if they had understood the meaning of God's words, "I will have mercy and not sacrifice," they would not have been so ready to blame His disciples, as if they had been guilty of a crime, merely because, to relieve the pangs of hunger, they had plucked a few ears of corn on the Sabbath day.

On another Sabbath, Jesus went into a synagogue and taught: and behold, there was a man whose right hand was withered; that is, his hand was so shrunk and dried up, that he could make no use of it. The Scribes and Pharisees, thinking it likely that Jesus would heal this man in spite of its being the Sabbath day, watched him; that they might find an accusation against him. "But he knew their thoughts" and purposes, and said to the man with the withered hand, "Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth" in the sight of all the people in the synagogue. "And the Scribes and Pharisees seeing this, asked him, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days? that they might accuse him." One party of Jews, in their mistaken zeal for the strict observance of the Sabbath, had come to the extraordinary decision, that no one might comfort the sick or mourning on that day; though another party did permit the people to prepare medicine, and to perform any service which was required for the actual preservation of life. Instead of answering a question only put for the purpose of having something to accuse Him of, Jesus said unto them, "I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil? To save life or to destroy it?" for He knew that they wished to destroy Him, whilst He only wanted to do good to a suffering human creature. Whatever might be their wishes, they could not openly declare that it was more lawful to do evil than good; therefore they made no answer, but held their peace. "And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath-day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." To such words the Jews could make no answer. Jesus, grieved to see the hardness of heart that prevented the Pharisees believing in Him, and made them angry instead of glad, to see a fellow-creature relieved; "looked round about on them with anger, and saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand": the man had faith to try, and the power to do so was given to him; "he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other." Then the Pharisees, almost beside themselves with anger, are said to have been filled with madness; and they went forth, with the Herodians, and straightway held a council against him; and communed one with another, what they might do to Jesus, and how they might destroy him. It is sad to think that all the proofs of our Saviour's power, only made the Pharisees and others more and more anxious to put Him to death.

When we read such accounts as these, let us be thankful for our Sabbaths, and try to keep them holy; spending our time in worshipping God, in learning our duty, and in doing good to others. Above all, let us take particular care to be holy on this holy day; and not to do the least wrong thing, on a day which is called the Lord's Day.

The time was not yet come for Jesus to give up His life, and therefore, knowing that the Pharisees sought to destroy Him, He withdrew Himself from Jerusalem, and went with his disciples into Galilee "to the sea; and a great multitude followed him" from all parts, even from beyond Jordan; and also many of the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, having heard what great things Jesus had done, came unto him. As many as had plagues or diseases "pressed upon him for to touch him," and he healed them all. "And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God." Thus was fulfilled what had been said 700 years before by the prophet Isaiah, who declared that when the Messiah should come to set up a new Law, even the Gospel, He would use no force nor violence, but do it entirely by kindness; and by showing an example of kindness and forbearance to the weak, encouraging them to become better. The prophet's words, put into his mouth by God, were, "Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased; I will put my spirit upon him; and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust."

An example of goodness and holiness and kindness, has more effect than all that can be said on the subject. By the piety and good conduct of the followers of Jesus, men were led to take the same part, and thus by the blessing of God, has the Gospel spread over the earth. All Christians should remember this, and try to show by their conduct that they are followers of Jesus. Even children can set an example to other children, either for good or evil: but if they do it for evil, they are doing the work of the Devil.

Chapter XIV.—THE APOSTLES CHOSEN.

As Jesus was to live only for a short time on earth, it was needful that He should leave behind Him others who should carry on His work, and preach the Gospel after His death. But if these men were to repeat to others the words which Jesus had spoken, and show them the wonderful things which He had done, it was necessary that they should be constantly with their Lord, so as to be able to bear witness as to all that He had said or done.

During the time that our Saviour had been teaching and healing the sick, many persons had become His followers, besides those whom He had especially called to be His disciples. From amongst the number of those who had become disciples, twelve were now to be chosen, to be in constant attendance upon their Master, that they might, after his death, bear witness to His life, and actions, and teaching.

The night before this choice was to be made Jesus "Went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God." Thus He set us an example of the way in which we should prepare ourselves for any important work we have to do; and that is, by asking guidance and help from our heavenly Father.

"And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples whom he would; and they came unto him: and of them he chose twelve (whom also he named Apostles) that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils." He ordained twelve—Simon (whom he also named Peter) and Andrew his brother; and "James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder; and Philip, and Bartholomew; and Matthew, and Thomas; and James the son of Alphæus, and Judas Thaddæus, the brother of James; and Simon the Canaanite, called Zelotes; and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him."

We have already seen how Andrew, Simon Peter, James and John the sons of Zebedee, Philip, and Matthew, were called in the first instance to be the disciples of Jesus: Bartholomew, who was also ordained an Apostle, is supposed to be the same person spoken of as Nathanael, who being brought to Jesus by Philip, at once acknowledged Him to be the Son of God, and became one of His disciples. Of the other five apostles, we know nothing previous to their being now chosen: to the name of one, there is a terrible distinction, "who also betrayed him"; and in the three accounts of this event, written by different writers, he is thus pointed out as "the traitor." Of the twelve Apostles, five have left us valuable records of our Saviour's life and teaching.

You will remember that in the Bible we have Four Gospels; that is, four different accounts of our Lord's sayings and doings whilst on earth, and of the Gospel which He came to teach. The first of these was written by Matthew, about five years after the death of Jesus Christ. The Gospels "according to St. Mark and St. Luke," were written about twenty-seven years later: St. Luke was a disciple of Christ's before His crucifixion, and St. Mark was probably one also, but neither of them was an Apostle. As the Gospel of St. Matthew gives an account of the birth of Jesus Christ, St. Mark's says nothing on the subject, but begins with the public appearance of John the Baptist; whilst, on the contrary, that of St. Luke gives many particulars omitted by St. Matthew. St. John, who lived to be 100 years old, did not write his Gospel until sixty-four years after the death of Christ: he seems to have written it, in order to tell us many things not mentioned in the former Gospels, particularly the conversations and discourses of our Lord: and he repeats very little of what is recorded by the other Evangelists, as we call those who wrote the Gospels. Out of the four Evangelists, two were Apostles also, and two were not. St. Luke has also left us another very valuable record, of the acts done by the Apostles after our Saviour's death: this is the only history of all that the Apostles did and said, and it is called "The Book of the Acts of the Apostles." Before St. John wrote his Gospel, he wrote what is called "The Book of the Revelation of St. John," being an account of visions vouchsafed him, and prophecies made known to him, whilst in banishment in the isle of Patmos, on account of his religion.

St. John also wrote three of the Epistles, or Letters, which form part of the New Testament. Peter wrote two Epistles, James and Jude, or Judas Thaddæus, each one: but the greater number of the Epistles were written by St. Paul, who did not become a disciple or follower of Jesus until after the crucifixion.

The Jewish Rabbis preferred to take as their pupils and disciples, rich and learned men; but, as we have seen, Jesus chose poor and ignorant men, to show that learning was not necessary to enable men to understand the Gospel; for that its truths are so plain, that even the most ignorant person, who in his heart loves God, can understand the Gospel, and learn how to please God.

Multitudes of the people continued to come to Christ, to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases: he healed them all, and also tried to show them how they ought to behave, in order to obtain the blessing of God. Seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and there spake all the words which we call the "Sermon on the Mount": an account of this Sermon is given to us both by St. Matthew and St. Luke. All Christians should study it, and try to obey it: even children can understand a good deal of it, if they will try.

When Jesus "had ended his sayings," and was come down from the Mount, "he entered into Capernaum, where at this time He worked the miracle of healing the Centurion's servant." A Centurion, amongst the Romans, was the captain or commander of 100 men. This Centurion, though he was himself a Gentile, was kindly disposed towards the Jews, and had at his own expense built a synagogue for their use: he also believed in Jesus as the Son of God; and did not doubt that at His word the disease of which his servant was dying would at once be removed: therefore, not thinking himself worthy even to speak to the Lord, he sent unto Him the elders of the Jews; probably the elders belonging to the synagogue he had built. Jesus immediately went with these elders; but when they got near the Centurion's house, some of his friends came at his desire, to beg that Jesus would not trouble himself to come, for if He would only speak the word, his servant would be healed. It would seem that the Centurion himself quickly followed the last messengers; and he received the reward of his faith, for his servant was healed, and at the same time Jesus told those about Him, that the Centurion had shown more faith than He had found amongst the Jews; and that many Gentiles would through their faith be received into the Kingdom of Heaven, whilst many of the Jews would be shut out, on account of their wilful unbelief.

The next miracle we hear of, was the bringing to life of the widow's son, who was being carried out of Nain to be buried, when Jesus came to the gate of that city. "And there came a fear on all" who saw these things: "and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and that God hath visited his people." These people rightly felt, that the Doer of such things must indeed be the Messiah: and this saying was spread abroad, not only throughout all Judæa, but throughout all the region round about. "And the disciples of John" went to him in prison, where he had been, as we have heard, put by Herod; "and shewed him of all these things." "Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he, calling unto him two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus," telling them to say, "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" John did not send to ask this question for his own satisfaction; he knew well enough that Jesus was indeed the Messiah that "should come," and that no other was to be looked for: but he wanted to strengthen the faith of his own disciples, and convince them that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, and that they must follow Him.

"When the men" whom John had sent "were come unto" Jesus, "they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?"

This question our Lord did not immediately answer, in words, at least; but "in the same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind, he gave sight."

Then Jesus, answering the question put to Him by the disciples of John, said unto them, "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached unto them." The Jews all knew perfectly well, that the doing of all these wondrous miracles was to be a sign to point out the Messiah, for the prophets had declared that He should do them. Now these things were being done every day, and therefore it was quite clear, to all who were not determined not to believe, that he who did them was the promised Messiah, the Son of God. All who heard what Jesus now said must have understood Him to mean that He was the promised Messiah, and that they need not look for another.

Chapter XV.—JESUS IN SIMON'S HOUSE.

When the Baptist's messengers were gone away, Jesus spake to the multitude about him; telling them that John was the messenger spoken of by the prophet Malachi—the Elias, who was to come before the Messiah. He also told them, that John the Baptist was more than a prophet, but that the humblest follower of Christ might become greater than he was. Many other things spake Jesus unto the people: those who were humble, and felt that they were sinners, gladly accepted the offer of forgiveness, on the condition of repentance; but the Pharisees and Scribes, who thought themselves righteous, neglected His gracious offers of mercy.

It seems that before Jesus left Nain, where He had raised the widow's son, a Pharisee named Simon "desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat." Whilst he sat, or rather reclined upon a couch, as was the custom at meals in those days, a woman, well known to have been a great sinner, came "and stood at his feet behind him, weeping; and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment" which she had brought.

The Pharisees considered themselves too holy even to touch any person whom they looked upon as a sinner: when, therefore, the master of the house saw that Jesus allowed this woman to touch Him, he said within himself (or thought), "This man, if he were a prophet, would have known what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner." Meaning, that if Jesus had known how greatly this woman had sinned, He would not have allowed her to touch Him. But Jesus did know all, and more than the Pharisee knew; for He knew that this woman, however sinful she had been, was now truly sorry for her sins, and anxious to lead a better life; and such truly penitent sinners He was, and is, always ready to receive. Jesus therefore, knowing what Simon's thoughts were, spake to him, and told him a little parable, to show him that this poor woman, whom he so despised, had given proofs of greater love towards Himself than Simon had done; and He ended by turning to the repentant woman, and saying the comforting words, "Thy sins are forgiven." With what joy must the poor sinner have heard these words! But we are not told what her feelings or words were; we are only told, that "they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?" They might easily have known that He could be none other than the Son of God, the Messiah; but they would not own as such a poor man who went about amongst publicans and sinners.

That He did show such love towards sinners, is our greatest comfort; for we are all sinners, and stand greatly in need of His mercy. Knowing how the Pharisees were offended by His words, He only repeated His assurance to the woman in other words; saying, "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace." Her faith had brought her to Jesus; and those who come to Him in faith and penitence, He will in no wise cast out.

In the parable which Jesus spake to Simon, reference is made to two customs of the Jews: one, washing the feet, or making the servants wash the feet, of every guest, to remove the dust which must settle on the feet during the shortest journey; the other, the custom of welcoming a distinguished guest with a kiss, as a sign of respectful attention and love.

Jesus continued to go throughout the country of Galilee, "preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, and certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance." These women, one of whom, at least, had been delivered from bondage to Satan, having "substance," that is, some property of their own, seem to have been constant attendants upon our Lord, and to have supplied His temporal wants. Jesus so devoted himself to the work He had undertaken, that from the constant thronging of people around Him, He had not time "so much as to eat bread."

At this time there was brought to Jesus a wretched object, a man possessed with a devil, who was also blind and dumb: "and he healed him," so that the man who had been blind and dumb both saw and spake. The multitudes marvelled, saying, "It was never so seen in Israel"—never before had such things been done in the land of Israel; and therefore the multitude rightly felt, that He who could do such wonderful things must be a very different Being from any of their teachers, or from the prophets or holy men of old.

Seeing the wonderful miracles worked by Jesus, "all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the Son of David?"—that is, is not this Man, who can cast out devils, the Messiah of David's seed, so long promised to our fathers and to us?

These people saw the truth; but the Scribes and Pharisees laboured hard to prevent their accepting Jesus as the promised Messiah: and they immediately declared, that the evil spirits were only cast out by the permission of Beelzebub, or Satan, the prince of the devils; and that therefore, so far from proving Jesus to be the Messiah, these miracles showed that He was under the power of the Devil, and that no one ought to listen to His teaching. This was dreadful blasphemy; and might have drawn upon them the immediate wrath of God: but instead of punishing them, Jesus tried to show them and all the people, how foolish it was to suppose that the Devil would fight against himself, and undo his own work. But when people are determined not to listen to those who warn them of their sins, and point out their duty, they will believe, or pretend to believe, anything however foolish, that gives them an excuse for not listening to good advice.

Jesus warned the Pharisees, that speaking of the work done by the Holy Spirit of God as being done by the Devil was a most fearful sin; and one for which there could be no forgiveness.

Jesus also told the people, that if the heart of a man was not full of faith and love, it would be as impossible for him to do anything pleasing to God, as it would be for a bad tree to bring forth good fruit; for the quality of the tree is known by its fruits; and the heart of man is known by his conduct and actions.

Certain of the Scribes and Pharisees, asked Jesus to give them a sign of His being indeed the Son of God. This was displeasing to the Lord, for His miracles were a sufficient sign of His having come from Heaven; and from the writings of their own prophets, the Jews should have understood, that the promised Messiah whilst on earth would be in a humble condition, and be finally put to death for the sins of His people. Jesus therefore told the Scribes and Pharisees, that no further sign of His being the Messiah would be given, than the sign of the prophet Jonas, or Jonah. "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." The meaning of this was, that the only further sign they could expect as to His being the Messiah, would be that one, of which Jonas was a type (or sign): for that as Jonas, though buried in the whale's body, came out alive; so He would be buried in the ground for three days, and then rise up again to live for ever. Then Jesus took occasion to show the Pharisees, that they were more sinful in the eyes of God than the men of Nineveh, "because they repented at the preaching of Jonas," whilst the Scribes and Pharisees refused to listen to Him, who was far greater than Jonas.

Many other things Jesus said unto the people, teaching them also by parables. One parable spoken at this time was that of the Sower. Afterwards, when they were alone, the disciples asked Jesus the meaning of this parable, which He immediately explained: teaching them that many may hear the Gospel, and receive no benefit from it; either because they listen carelessly; or because, having listened, they have not faith to hold its doctrines fast when temptations and trials come; or because they allow the cares and pleasures of life to take up too much of their hearts, and so prevent their serving God properly. None of these will be the better for hearing the Word: but those who listen to it with a sincere and honest intention of obeying it, and pray to God for grace to do so, striving at the same time to root out all those sinful feelings and passions which, like stones and thorns, prevent their bringing forth the fruit of good works; those, and those only, will bear fruit pleasing unto the Lord.

Let us learn from this parable to listen attentively to the Word of God, and try to do whatever it bids us.

Other parables, which seem to have been delivered at this time, are those of the Tares, the Grain of Mustard Seed, and the Leaven: "and with many such parables spake he the word unto them"; "and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples," and added the parables of the Hidden Treasure, the Goodly Pearl, and the Net. "And it came to pass when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence."

After this, Jesus went down to the Lake of Gennesareth, "and said unto his disciples, Let us go over unto the otter side of the lake." "And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him." And there were also with him other little "ships." "And they launched forth."

Chapter XVI.—STILLING THE TEMPEST, ETC.

The Lake of Gennesareth, or Sea of Galilee, is a large body of water; and the River Jordan, which runs through it, causes at all times a considerable motion in the centre of the lake; when the wind blows strongly from the S.E., and meets the current of the river, the sea becomes so rough, that any small vessels are in the greatest danger, and in this way many are lost. We read, that as they sailed, Jesus fell asleep. We must remember, that for our sakes Jesus had become subject to all the pains of hunger, fatigue, cold, &c.; well might He, therefore, be tired out with his continual labours, for He never spared Himself, or consulted his own ease or comfort; but was always at work, going from one place to another, doing good to others. What a difference between Him and us! For we are unwilling to deny ourselves in the least thing for the sake of saving trouble to others; nor are we willing to give up our own wills, even for the sake of pleasing God.

Whilst Jesus and his disciples were now crossing the Lake of Gennesareth, "there came down a storm of wind on the lake," and a "great tempest in the sea," "insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves," and was filled with water, and in great danger of sinking. "And Jesus was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow." The disciples knew where to look for help; they were in jeopardy or danger, so they "came to Him and awoke him, saying, Master, carest thou not that we perish? Lord, save us: we perish!"

The fears of the Apostles were at this time stronger than their faith; they should have felt that sleeping or waking their Lord could preserve them through every danger. For this they were blamed, for "he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" but He had compassion on their weakness, for "he arose, and rebuked the winds and the raging of the water: and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." After a great storm the waves naturally continue rough for some hours, but now at a word the waters of the lake became at once smooth and still. This sudden ceasing of the storm filled the Apostles, accustomed as they were to see wonderful works done by Jesus, with astonishment and awe. We are told, that "the men marvelled, and they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this? for he commandeth even the winds and the water, and they obey him." Such a miracle must have strengthened the faith of the disciples, and convinced them more and more, that he who could do such things, was indeed no mere man, but the Son of God, the Ruler of the universe, to whom all things do bow and obey. The voyage was now over; the ship reached the shore; and Jesus and His disciples came into the country of the Gadarenes, or Gergesenes, where Jesus immediately performed another miracle, on a man possessed with devils, exceeding fierce. Jesus, pitying the condition of this unhappy man, commanded the unclean spirit to come out of him. Then the devil who spake in this poor demoniac, cried out, "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? I beseech thee, torment me not." Even the devils acknowledged Jesus to be the Messiah; and knew well that in the end of the world, all evil spirits would be driven away into misery and darkness; but he now asks Him not to interfere with his power before that time. To such a request Jesus could not, of course, listen: and the devils, finding that they must leave the poor man whom they had so long tormented, then besought Him that He would at least suffer them to go away into a herd of swine, which were feeding nigh unto the mountains, a good way off from them. "And Jesus said unto them, Go." No sooner was the permission given, than the evil spirits entered into the swine, and the whole herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters: and they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country; and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.

Pigs were unclean animals, and it was therefore sinful of any Jew to keep them: if the owners of these swine were Jews, they were justly punished for their disobedience. Perhaps the Gadarenes were not Jews, and kept these swine to show that they did not regard or obey the Law of Moses; if so, it was well for them to see that the Lord God of the Hebrews could force men to obey His commands. When we read what happened as soon as the evil spirits took possession of the swine, we should remember the dreadful fate of all who suffer themselves to be led or guided by the Devil. There is no escape for them; the swine could not help themselves, but the Devil has no more power over us now than we choose to give him. If we resist him, he will not harm us; he will try, and we may have to fight hard, but if we do, we shall be more than conquerors through Jesus Christ.

We read that the keepers of the swine fled, and told how they had been destroyed, and how the demoniac had been healed. The men of the city, grieved at the loss of their property, and probably afraid that if Jesus remained amongst them the same sort of thing might happen again, besought Him to depart out of their coasts: a request in which the whole multitude of the Gadarenes joined. They had better have besought Him to remain, and teach them what they should do. It is a dreadful thing to wish God to leave us undisturbed in our sins! The man who had been delivered from the power of the Devil, wished, on the contrary, to go away in the ship with Jesus and his disciples; but he was told rather to go home to his friends, and tell them what great things the Lord had done for him. And he did so, and declared through all the country what great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.

After this, Levi, or Matthew, made a feast for Jesus in his own house; and a great company of Publicans, and of others, and of sinners, sat down together with Jesus and his disciples. The Scribes and Pharisees took occasion to find fault with this, and asked the disciples, "How is it that your Master eateth with publicans and sinners?" But Jesus told them, that it was to do good to sinners that He was come upon earth: He reminded them that it was only sick people who had need of a physician, and that those who thought themselves well, would not send for one; and that it was the same with Him, for He was come as a Physician to heal the souls of the sick, and that therefore He must go amongst those who, feeling themselves to be sinners, wished for pardon. The Pharisees thought themselves righteous, and therefore they did not feel the need of a Saviour. After these things, Jesus appears to have returned into his own city, that is, to Capernaum, where He had taken up His abode, at those times when He was not occupied in going about the country.

Here a ruler of the synagogue, named Jairus, came to entreat Jesus to go and heal his little daughter, who was dying. Jesus immediately went with him, and on the way He cured a poor woman, whose faith was strong enough to make her believe that if she did but touch the hem of His garment she should be made whole. Her hopes were not disappointed, and Jesus commended her faith. While Jesus was yet speaking with her, messengers came from the ruler's house to tell him that his daughter was even now dead. The Lord, however, bid Jairus not to be afraid, for that if he would only believe, his child should still be made whole. No doubt the miracle that Jairus had just witnessed strengthened his faith, and the result was, that his little daughter was restored to life. On quitting the house of Jairus, two blind men followed our Lord, who gave them sight; and He also enabled a dumb man to speak, by casting out the devil which possessed him. The multitudes were filled with wonder in seeing things which had never been so seen in Israel; but the Pharisees again declared, "He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils."

Jesus continued to teach, and to preach, and to heal sicknesses and diseases, in spite of the unbelief of the people; for though they all marvelled, and some doubtless became his disciples, many rejected Him, saying, "Is not this the carpenter's son?" meaning that a man in such a humble condition of life could not be the Messiah. After this, Jesus gave his Apostles a more solemn charge or commission for the work they were to do. For He called the twelve together, and gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease; and then He sent them forth two by two to preach the Gospel, and to heal the sick. The Gospel was to be first offered to the Jews, and therefore Jesus now commanded the twelve, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And as ye go say, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Jesus also bade the twelve not to make any provision of money or food for their journey, but to depend on the charity of those to whom they should preach: promising a blessing to those cities where they would be well received. Many other things did He say unto them at this time: and when He "had made an end of commanding His twelve disciples, He departed thence, to teach and to preach in their cities."

And the twelve also departed, and went through the towns, preaching the Gospel, that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, healing them everywhere.

Chapter XVII.—DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

We must now return to the history of John the Baptist; he was about this time put to death by Herod, who, as we have already seen, had thrown the Baptist into prison to please Herodias, who was angry with him because he had reproved her and Herod for their sins. But this wicked woman was not satisfied with the imprisonment of this holy man; she wanted to destroy him, and watched for an opportunity of doing so. It is a terrible thing to determine in one's heart to do a wicked action: it is bad enough to give way to temptation, and so sin against God, but to make up one's mind to break His commandments, is far worse.

After John the Baptist had been in prison for some months, Herod's birthday came round; and to celebrate this event, the king made a great feast to the officers of his household, and the chief men in Galilee. On this occasion, Salome, the daughter of Herodias, came in and danced before Herod and his guests, in order to amuse them. This was a very old custom among the kings of the East at that time, though to us it seems a very strange and bad custom. Herod and those who sat with him, were very much pleased with the damsel's dancing; and Herod, very rashly and foolishly, made a solemn promise, that he would, as a reward, give her anything she liked to ask for. "And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask?" Herodias had probably expected something of this kind; at any rate, she had an answer ready, and said, "The head of John the Baptist". It does not seem that Salome was astonished at this advice, or that she was at all unwilling to follow it: for she returned straightway with haste unto the king, and said, "I will that thou give me by and by in a charger, the head of John the Baptist". A charger was a large dish or tray: in some countries, even to this day, when the king orders a great man to be beheaded, the head is brought to him afterwards, to show that his commands have been obeyed. Such a request as Salome now made, startled even Herod himself: we read that "the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat at meat with him, he would not reject her." He therefore sent an executioner, who cut off John the Baptist's head in the prison, and brought it to Salome, who gave it to her mother. This history teaches us many things: first, although it is the duty of children to obey their Parents, they must obey God before them: thus, if Parents are unhappily so wicked as to tell their children to do anything that God has forbidden, they must please God rather than their Parents. Children should, be very thankful when they have Parents who will never wish them to break the Lord's commandments. Another thing we learn is, to be careful how we make promises. A solemn promise once made ought to be kept, however inconvenient it may be to keep it; and therefore we should never promise positively to do anything, unless we are quite sure that we can do it. But though it is displeasing to God that an oath should be broken, it is still more displeasing to Him that it should be kept, when it can only be done by committing some positive act of sin. Herod made a rash oath, and to keep it, he was guilty of the murder of a good and holy man.

Although Herod was angry with John, he had a high opinion of his holiness and goodness, and would not willingly have put him to death: but amongst men it was considered shameful to break an oath; and Herod, caring more for the praise of men than the praise of God, sacrificed John the Baptist at the request of a bad woman.

When the disciples of John heard of their master's death, they came to the prison, and took up his body and laid it in a tomb, and went and told Jesus.

After this, Herod heard of the fame of Jesus, and of all the wonderful things that He had done, and he was greatly troubled, and knew not what to think. Some people said, "That John was risen from the dead;" others, "That Elias, who was expected to come before the Messiah, had appeared;" and others, "That one of the old prophets was risen again." Amongst these different opinions, Herod was greatly perplexed: like most of the Jews of high rank, Herod belonged to the sect of the Sadducees, who denied that the body would rise again, or the soul live for ever. He would not, therefore, willingly allow the possibility of John the Baptist having returned to life; but his fears got the better of his opinions. His conscience told him that he had done wickedly in putting to death a true servant of God, and therefore, when he heard that there was One going about the country working miracles, he feared that John had returned to life, armed with power to punish all who had ill-treated him.

Herod, disturbed by all he heard of Jesus, questioned his servants who told him these things, and said, "John have I beheaded; but who is this of whom I hear such things?" He could get no satisfactory answer, and his guilty conscience drove him to the conclusion, "It is John whom I beheaded; he is risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him." "And he desired to see Jesus." Herod's desire to see Jesus, does not appear to have been gratified until just before our Lord's death; and then the king derived no profit from the interview. Herod had had plenty of opportunities for learning the truths of the Gospel from John the Baptist. He would not make use of them. Our Lord has told us, that if we do not make a good use of all the opportunities given to us, He will take from us the blessings we will not use. In our country, the young are blessed with innumerable opportunities of learning their duty to God: make a proper use of them, and do not force the Lord to take them away, and leave you in wilful ignorance and sin.

The Feast of the Passover was now drawing near: the second Passover which had occurred, since our Saviour had entered on his public work. For this Feast, our Lord went up to Jerusalem; and on His way, He fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two small fishes; and after they had all eaten as much as they wanted, pieces enough were left to fill twelve baskets; although the whole quantity of loaves and fishes, if they had at first been broken into pieces, could not probably have filled one of these baskets. In working this miracle, Jesus taught us never to waste anything; he said, "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." Let us remember that many things that we do not want, may be useful to others, and that nothing should be wasted. Children should be careful not to ask for more food than they are sure they can eat, for that is wasteful.

The people, who had been fed in such a wonderful manner, now said, "This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world": meaning the Messiah, spoken of by all the prophets, and whose coming was expected about this time. Having come to this conclusion, the people, according to their mistaken ideas, that the Messiah was to be an earthly sovereign and conqueror, determined to make Him king over the land of Judæa. But Jesus desired only to rule the hearts of men; "When, therefore, he perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king," He sent His disciples by ship unto Bethsaida, and having dismissed the multitude, He went up into a mountain alone to pray.

A storm of wind overtook the disciples in the midst of the lake, and then it was that Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. If the faith of the disciples had been strong, they would have felt that it was as easy for Jesus to walk on the water, as to work any other miracle; but they could not believe it was Him, and "they cried out for fear." The Lord, in His mercy, spake straightway unto them, saying, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." "And Peter answered, and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And He said, Come." Peter at once obeyed; but his faith was not strong enough to carry him through this trial: for a little while he walked on the water to go to Jesus, but when he found himself in the midst of raging waves, with a boisterous wind howling around him, his faith failed, and he was afraid. But he had not forgotten where to look for help; and finding himself beginning to sink, he cried out earnestly, "Lord, save me." Immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said, "Oh thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?—why didst thou doubt my power and my will to save thee?" No sooner had Jesus with Peter come into the ship, than the storm ceased, and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went. They were sore amazed: but "they came and worshipped Him saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God."

Chapter XVIII.—THE WOMAN OF TYRE.

In the land of Gennesaret again, the people flocked to Jesus to be healed of their diseases: and when Jesus returned to Capernaum, many followed Him: and the Lord spake to them and told them that they only came to Him because they had seen His miracles, and more particularly because they had partaken of the loaves and fishes; and He warned them, that they had better seek those far greater spiritual blessings, which the Son of Man could give them. Many things He said unto them, trying to persuade them to believe in Him, as the Messiah the Son of God.

What our Lord said, displeased those who were not really willing and anxious to be taught their duty, in order to do it: and in consequence, many of those who had been reckoned amongst His disciples, "went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?" Peter, in the name of the rest, immediately declared his faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, saying, "Lord to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." Believing this, Peter declared that whatever happened, they would hold fast to Him, and obey Him: let us make the same determination; and obey the Word of the Lord, whether it tells us what we like or not. Jesus now showed, that He knew the hearts of all men; for alluding to Judas He answered, "Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" thus teaching Peter not to be too hasty in answering for other men, since even in so small a number as the twelve, there was one whose heart was not really devoted to Him.

The Pharisees with certain of the Scribes came together unto Jesus, and blamed Him for not observing all the "traditions of the elders." Then Jesus explained to the Pharisees, that all their washings and outward performances could never please God, unless they also loved and served Him, and put away all their sins.

In one of those journeys which Jesus was constantly taking, He went to that part of the country bordering on Tyre and Sidon. Here a poor woman, a Gentile, came to Him, and prayed Him to heal her daughter, who had an unclean spirit. This woman, living on the borders of the land of Judæa, had doubtless heard that the Messiah was expected; and she was certainly convinced that Jesus was that Messiah, and that He had power even to cast out devils. This poor woman now came to Jesus, and cried, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil." At first Jesus took no notice of her, and answered her not a word. The poor woman continued her supplications, but still in vain; this greatly surprised the disciples, who were used to see their heavenly Master listening to the prayers of all who were in distress: they were grieved also for this poor creature, who followed them, crying out for mercy; and therefore they begged their Lord to "send her away," that is, to grant her petition, that she might go away in peace. Jesus answered, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." The benefits of Christ's teaching and miracles, were at first to be offered to the Jews, the chosen people of God; and this woman, being a Gentile, had no claim to share them. The whole nation of the Jews, scattered without any ruler or shepherd, might well be called "lost sheep"—sheep who had strayed from their Shepherd, even from God, and who must be lost unless they were brought back to Him. The Scriptures often speak of the people of God, as his sheep: and sinners are compared to sheep, who, instead of following their shepherd, have gone astray. In the Confession, which forms part of our Morning Service, we say, "We have erred and strayed from Thy ways like lost sheep." In the East, sheep were not driven by the shepherd as with us, but followed him: remembering this fact will be a help towards understanding many passages of Scripture, especially some in the Gospel written by St. John. The poor woman continued to implore mercy; and coming nearer to the Lord, "She fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me!" Jesus now answered, and said, "Let the children first be filled; for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs."

The Jews looked upon every nation except their own as "unclean"; and likened them to dogs, which are unclean animals. Jesus Himself did not look upon the Gentiles as dogs, but He spoke thus to try the faith of the woman, and to show those who were about Him, that faith in Him would save Gentiles as well as Jews.

The Lord's reply to the Syrophenician woman would have disheartened most, and offended many; but she was too much in earnest to be repulsed easily: she was quite willing to own that the Gentiles were not worthy to be looked upon, as in any way equal to the children of Israel, God's peculiar people: she knew she had no claim to the mercy of the Lord; but still, hoping to share it, she reminded Jesus, that even the dogs were allowed to pick up the crumbs which their masters did not need: she believed that in Jesus there were help and mercy for every living creature, and that He could heal the Gentiles, without taking any blessing from the Jews; therefore, she at once answered, "Truth, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs." Jesus was no longer silent: pleased with her faith, He said aloud, "O woman, great is thy faith: for this saying, be it unto thee even as thou wilt: go thy way: the devil is gone out of thy daughter." Even as He spake the words, the unclean spirit was cast out: "And her daughter was made whole from that very hour;" so that when the mother, who at once went home, "was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed."

This poor Gentile woman is an example to us, to go on praying earnestly to God, although He may see fit not at once to grant our petitions. When we know that we are asking right and proper things, we must pray on in faith, and wait patiently. We should pray that the Devil, and all the bad feelings and thoughts he puts into our hearts, may be cast out of us, and of those we love. For this we must go on praying earnestly: Jesus granted the prayer of the Syrophenician woman because of her faith; and if we have faith like hers, He will most certainly answer our prayers: but we must watch and fight, as well as pray: for, if we encourage the Devil to abide in our hearts, we cannot expect that the Lord will cast him out.

After this miracle, Jesus, "departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, came unto the Sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis." Here we are told, that He cured one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and that "great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus's feet; and he healed them: insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel." They glorified and praised God with their words, because of the wonderful things they had seen; but few of them, it is to be feared, glorified Him in their hearts, by becoming His disciples.

At this time, Jesus, having compassion upon the multitude, who had been with him for three days, listening to His words, and were now faint for want of food, fed 4,000 men, besides women and children, with seven loaves and a few little fishes: this time, seven baskets were filled with the pieces left, after everybody was satisfied.

Soon after the feeding of this multitude, Jesus "entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the coast of Magdala, into the parts of Dalmanutha," to the S.E. of the Sea of Tiberias. "And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf." Jesus, who lost no opportunity of impressing His lessons on His disciples, now "said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the Sadducees, and of the leaven of Herod." By leaven, our Saviour here means the doctrines and opinions taught by the Pharisees and Sadducees; doctrines very different from His, for they looked upon religion as consisting mostly in outward forms and ceremonies; whilst, in their hearts, they indulged all manner of evil passions. Jesus desired to teach His disciples, that, if they in any way followed the doctrines of the Pharisees or Sadducees, they would soon become quite unfit to be His disciples; just as leaven quite alters the nature of the dough with which it is mixed. At first, the disciples did not understand their Lord's meaning, and thought that He was reproving them for having forgotten to bring any bread with them. But Jesus reproved them for their want of faith, in being uneasy about a supply of needful food, after seeing the miracle worked with seven loaves and a few small fishes: and he said, "How is it that ye do not understand, that I spake it not to you concerning bread? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."

Jesus then cometh to Bethsaida, where he healed a blind man; not all at once, but first allowing him to see objects indistinctly, and then restoring his sight, so that he saw all things clearly. What happened in the case of this man's bodily sight, happens generally as regards our spiritual sight, that is, our understanding of spiritual things. Even in common learning, we do not all at once acquire knowledge; it comes by little and little, as we strive to gain it. So our understanding of things spiritual is a gradual work, carried on in our mind, by the Holy Spirit working with us; but we must work, and strive, and pray, that we may grow wise unto salvation.

Chapter XIX.—THE TRANSFIGURATION.

"And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Cæsarea Philippi:" that is, into the country and towns round about Cæsarea Philippi, a town some miles to the north of the Sea of Galilee. The name of this city had been Paneus; but Philip, governor of that part of the country, repaired and beautified its houses and other buildings, and added more, so making quite a new and large city, which he called Cæsarea, in honour of Tiberius Cæsar, who became Emperor of Rome about fourteen years after the birth of Jesus Christ. There was another town called Cæsarea, on the Mediterranean Sea; and to distinguish between the two, that which Philip had beautified was called Cæsarea Philippi. Like most of the flourishing cities mentioned in the Bible, Cæsarea Philippi has been completely destroyed; and amongst its ruins there is a little village, consisting of twenty miserable huts, inhabited by Mahometans, for the Holy Land now belongs to the Turks, who are not Christians.

This little village is called Paneas or Baniass. The walls of the great city can be distinctly traced. Whilst they were on this journey, Jesus "asked his disciples, Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?" They told Him that some thought Him John the Baptist; others, that He was Elias; others, that He was Jeremias, or some other of the old prophets, risen again from the dead. Jesus then put the still more important question, "But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

The Apostles were thoroughly convinced by all that they had seen and heard, that Jesus was indeed the expected Messiah. No doubt they had often talked over the matter together, and now, in the name of all the rest, Peter, always first and foremost when anything was to be done, declared most positively and unhesitatingly their belief in Jesus, as being at once God and Man. Jesus then pronounced Peter to be blessed in having such faith. Then He told him, that the fact of His being the true Messiah was the rock upon which His Church was to be built: that is, that it was only by depending and resting upon this truth that men could become his followers, and form a Church. Jesus also told Peter, that He would give unto him the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and power to unbind or unloose. By which He seems to have meant, that Peter would have power to open the way for the Gentiles to join the Church of Christ; and that he should have power to declare how far the Laws of Moses must be kept or dispensed with; that is, what things were lawful or unlawful.

After the disciples had declared, through the mouth of Peter, their firm belief that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, He began to speak to them of His sufferings and death; but the Apostles could not easily give up the idea held by the Jews in general, that the Messiah was to establish a kingdom upon earth; and Peter therefore expressed his belief, that such terrible things could not happen to the Lord. For this, Peter was severely blamed by Jesus, who told him, that by objecting to the way appointed by God for the salvation of man, He was in reality doing Satan's work, and was an "offence" or hindrance in his Master's way.

At this same time Jesus taught those around Him the duty of self-denial; the necessity of giving up everything we most value, and bearing any pain or trouble, rather than do the least thing contrary to the Will of God. He said, "If any man will come after me," to be my disciple, "let him deny himself" the indulgence of his own will, "and take up his cross daily"; bearing cheerfully all those daily troubles and anxieties which may be called crosses, and "follow me"; follow in all things my example, for I came not to please myself, but to do the Will of God. Jesus also impressed upon them the fact, that the soul was of infinitely more value than the perishing body, and that our first object must be to secure the salvation of our souls, at any cost, for "what" (said He) "shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

About a week after this, what is called the "Transfiguration" took place. St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke all give an account of this event: the place where it occurred was probably Mount Tabor, which lies a little to the S.W. of the Lake of Galilee: into this mountain Jesus went up, taking with Him Peter, and James, and John his brother.

The brief account of the Transfiguration is, that whilst Jesus was praying in the Mount, the disciples fell asleep: suddenly, when they awoke, they saw a wonderful and glorious sight—"Jesus was transfigured before them": that is, His appearance was entirely changed; "his face did shine as the sun," and "his raiment became shining," "exceeding white," and "glistening." Nor was He alone; for "behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias; who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish in Jerusalem." All that the three disciples now heard, should have convinced them that Jesus must indeed die, and that His death would give the very strongest proof of his being really the Son of God, the promised Messiah. The disciples would further learn, that everything which Moses and the prophets (represented by Elijah) had taught, was intended to prepare the Jews to believe in Jesus, and follow Him.

Peter, dazzled and confused at the wonderful scene before him, exclaimed, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if thou wilt let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias." Peter seems to have had an idea, that Moses and Elijah had returned to remain on earth; and that if three tents were set up, they might abide with Jesus in the Mount, where he and the other disciples might be constantly with them. But as we read, "He wist not what to say, for they were sore afraid." Whilst Peter yet spake, an answer came; "a bright cloud overshadowed them," "and they feared as they entered into the cloud;" "and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." And when the disciples heard it, knowing it to be the voice of God, "they were sore afraid, and fell on their face." "And when the voice was past, Jesus, was found alone;" "and he came and touched the disciples, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only." Moses and Elias had disappeared; whilst the voice of God had plainly declared, that as the people of God had hitherto obeyed Moses and the prophets, they were in future to look to Jesus only, the Messiah of Whom Moses and the prophets did write. The old dispensation of the Law had passed away; but the new dispensation of the Gospel had taken its place, and would last for ever.

That the Law of Moses, even as regarded ceremonial observances, should ever be abolished or done away with, was what the Jews could not or would not believe. Even many years after the Resurrection of Jesus, we read, that many thousand Jews who believed in Christ were also zealous for the Law, that it should still be observed. It was not, therefore, at this time suitable to speak to the Jews in general of the abolition of the Law of Moses; and therefore as Jesus came down from the mountain with His disciples, He "charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen from the dead." "And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen:" "questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean." It was at this time, that in answer to a question from His disciples, whose thoughts were naturally full of what they had just seen, Jesus told them that the Elias spoken of by the prophets, as coming to prepare the way before Him, was not Elijah himself, as many supposed, but John the Baptist, who had already been put to death; and that the Son of man must in like manner suffer death.

When Jesus was come down from the mount, He found the disciples, who had not accompanied Him, surrounded by a great crowd, and the Scribes questioning, or disputing with them. A man, whose only child was possessed of an evil spirit, had brought him to the disciples, begging them to cast out the devil; "but they could not." This failure of the Apostles gave the Scribes an opportunity of trying to persuade the people, that the power of Jesus was not so great as His disciples taught; and most likely what they said made the poor father doubt the power of Jesus, in whose name he had expected the Apostles to heal his son. When Jesus heard all that had passed, He lamented the perverse want of faith, which prevented men from believing in Him. Then He said to the man, "Bring thy son hither." Even whilst He was coming, the Devil gave a proof of his power over this poor child; and still more to convince all who stood round, that the boy really was possessed by a devil, and could not be cured by any human means, Jesus asked his father some questions on the subject: He then told the poor man, that if he could really and truly believe, there was nothing too difficult for God to do. The father did believe; but fearing that his faith was weak, and that he had sinned in allowing the Scribes to raise a doubt in his mind, he "cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief!" This was enough, and "the child was cured from that very hour."