^ri-vsute Xjilorarsr ^fg- iVo Price- Date.. Y. "A good liook is tlio nreciou.s life-blood 3] of a master spirit eniDalined and treas- *S] iired up on pun)0sc to a life beyond life." ]a -Millo)!. 7'^/.'2.4*, LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J. Seciien •1L.^«^&^ SKETCHES JUL :•:'. 1924 FllOM THE Life of Jesus HISTORICAL AND DOCTlimAL BY REV. E. W. THAYER SI'RINGFIELD, ILLINOIS • FLEMING H, REVELL COMPANY CHICAGO: I NEW YORK: 148 AND ir)() Madison Street. I ;W Union Sqttake, East, Publishers of Evangelical Literature 1 891 Enterod according to act of Congress, in the year 1891, by Rev. E. W. THAYER, In tlie ofTice of tho Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C THE H. W ROKKBR Printino and Binding Housk. Springfield. .11. PREFACE. It is an 01 loon racing- si|Li:ii of the timos, that so iniich study is devoted to the investigation of the ministry of the great exemplar, and no labor can be more pleasant and profitable than that so expended. Anything that can% contribute to the life-like and realistic view of our Lord in his earthly ministry, is a lasting benefit to the race; as bringing him still nearer to us. Perhaps there may be foun- dation for a criticism of the Lives of Jesus lately offered to the public; that in them, attention is principally directed to the acts of his ministry, to the neglect of the doctrines so inseparably connected with his work, which give the history its whole interest. It is the doctrine that gives the sword its cutting edge, and its penetrating point. The bare incidents of the ministry form a monotonous and somewhat barren narrative. Doctrines are associated with his coming, which are asserted with unparalleled force by the simple presence of a divine actor in human life. These doctrines enforced with demonstration and insistence in the history, are the most important matters in the whole account. The present effoi't is an attempt to portray some of the leading incidents of the ministry in the light of the associated doctrines. The chronology of events is not closely followed in these papers, many occurrences having no connection nor interdependence; but standing alone, a,nd dissociated from any thread of biography. If the following pages should stimulate any to a closer apphcation to the sacred histories, and study of the great central figure, such a result will amply repay all the labor bestowed upon these essavs. K. ^\ . T. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page. Historical Importance of Jesus of Nazareth 1 Reasons for the Delay of the Advent 13 The Birth 23 John the Baptist 35 Call of Peter and His Associates 46 The First Miracle 55 A Sketch of the Ministry (J5 The Expulsion of the Traders 78 Nicodemus 89 Woman of Samaria 101 Recovery of the Centurion's Servant in Capernaum.... Ill The Raising of Jairus' Daughter 122 The First Outbreak of Murderous Enmity IS 3 The Cure of the Paralytic in Capernaum 143 The Demoniac of Gadara 153 The Charge of Complicicity with Satan 163 The Growing Hatred Against the Nazarene 175 The Transfiguration 185 Jesus Walking on the Sea 195 The Lunatic Boy at the Mount of Transfiguration 205 The Penitent Harlot 216 The Syrophenician Woman 226 The Man Born Blind 236 The Rich Young Ruler 245 Conversion of Zaccheus 256 The Raisino- of Lazarus 267 Vlll TA15LE OF CONTENTS. Page. Triiiinplial Eutry into Jerusalem 278 Judas Iscariot 289 Arrest and Examination before Caiaphas 300 Trial Before Pilate 311 Innocence of Jesus. Part 1st 323 Innocence of Jesus. Part 2d ; 335 Bearing- our Sin 34G Atonement 357 A View of His Sufferings 308 The Sum of the Jewish Types 381 The Resurrection of Jesus 31)5 The Resurrection of Jesus. Tale of tlie Soldiers 407 The Resurrection of Jesus. The Witnesses 417 The Twelve Apostles 420 The Ascension 441 The Intercession 454 The Miracles 464 The Teaching- 474 Parables 485 Did Our Lord Teach in Hebrew or Greek? 501 Individuality of the Evangelists 511 The Testimony of History 52(3 The World Could Not Contain the Books 538 CHAPTER I. THE HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE OF Jesus of Nazareth. The most remarkable personage, that has ever appeared on this earth, was Jesus of Nazareth. Obscure and short- lived as he was; since liis time and b}^ an influence emana- ting from him, the complexion of the world in every respect, political, social and religious, has been undergoing a gradual change, that will certainlj^ culminate in a new order of things. Though centuries have been required to compre- hend and apply the principles enunciated by him ; yet their effect is already so visible, that we can forecast the period of their full development. The era of his advent was the sunrising of truth and knowledge; and from it date the decay of idolatry, the birth of real science, the amelioration of government, the extension of liberty, a permanent civili- zation, and an intelligible religion. Nature is revealing her closely-guarded secrets to Christian philosophy ; and real science has established a bureau of discovery and invention : and is almost issuing a new revelation. Governments are becoming paternal, and the welfare of the individual man has become the supreme object of desire. What we see is but the beginning of the stream of influences proceeding from the Man of Nazareth, which, broadening and deepening like a river, has not yet reached its high-tide mark. When we turn back to take a closer view of the person, from whom this force has emanated; we see one possessing not the splendor of a statesman or warrior, or even the 2 SKETCHES FEOM THE LIFE OF JESUS. milder glory of a philosopher. We are at a loss to account for the fact, that one, so utterly destitute of everything at- tractive to the world, should evidently be the source and author of a movement, which is to issue in the entire reno- vation of human society. While he lived, every circum- stance of his condition was such as to render him little and contemptible in the eyes of men. Poverty and mean- ness attached to his lot, such as have often led a proud man to disown his kindred, and blush to acknowledge a parent. Not only did the great and wise regard him with scorn: but the same feeling of contempt unaccountably swayed the multitude — a scorn which it required great moral courage in a disciple to face. Reproach was cast upon him such as to intimidate real and sincere friends; while fears for safety, and even for life, staggered the tried fidelity of disciples. The spirit which animated him, the precepts and the doc- trines which he taught, seem to us, as they did to the men of that age, above the level of our ordinary humanity ; and beyond the reach of our attainment; and when we come to the tragic conclusion of his life, we are astonished at ourselves, that we feel not for him the common sympathy which suffering claims, and which, to bleeding innocence, is never refused. While the accusations and acts of his per- secutors are utterly condemned by us; yet the poor tribute of our tears is refused to him; and he is altogether "with- out form and comeliness, and there is no beauty wherefore we should desire hj-m." Veiled, as he is, hy poverty, re- proach and rejection, yet his importance may be learned : 1. From the length of time his coming had been ex- pected. The announcement to Adam of the appearance of a divine personage, who should also be the seed of the woman, who should crush the head of the old serpent, regain man's lost inheritance, and atone for human sin, was all that pre- served him from the despair and enmity of a devil. The manner in which this atonement should be accomplished was probably set forth at the same time in the institution of the rite of sacrifice,— the first blood shed on the earth being the blood of the lamb, picturing the great substitute and his work. (lod's love forebore to condemn the race, and HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 6 appointed the o-reat sin-bearer, who shoiihl atone by the shedding- of his own blood. Successive revehations, in time, all had reference to the predicted Savior; to the line of his descent, the period of his advent, and the nature of the work which he should accomplish. The most elaborate and particular ])repara- tions, extended through more than eighteen centuries, were made to identify him when he should appear,— preparations which rendered mistake impossible. It was the one vital thing to discover him when he came ; the e^^es of the world, Gentile, as well as Jew, looked with longing for his advent. Prophets, in their peculiar ecstasy, spoke wonderful words, which themselves but half understood, respecting him. A long line of them pointed forward, and proclaimed: "Be- hold, he Cometh!" Th(» mightiest of them was but a mere momentary voice, declaring: "Behold the Lamb of God!" No prophet was thus preannounced except John the Bap- tist, and he only on account of his close connection with the man of promise. As soon as Jesus of Nazareth had completed his course and established the dispensation ; "the vision and the prophecy were sealed up.'' Heaven had no further communication to make. Not only was he thus predicted by verbal announcement; but a system of typical and ceremonial institutions was established, and perpetuated for centuries ; conveying addi- tional knowledge and description of his character and work, defined more accurately' than words could communicate, and above all suspicion of human device. However men may regard him, in heaven he was known to be earth's onlj' hope; the morning star that heralded the close of a night of endless despair; the bow of peace shining in front of the lowering and angry clouds of divine vengeance; the mediator, who reconciles, at the price of his own blood; "the lamb of God which taketli away the sin of the world." 2. His importance is discoverable from the change, which his appearance has produced. At his coming a new sun arose upon the world. Human science advances very slowly, and by a. single step at a time — a single step in a generation or more. From him the liffht shone with the suddenness 4 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. of a tlieophany, and with a flood of brilliance. In the iu- vestio;ation of nature, man ma}' extend his knowledge to indefinite limits; he may measure and weigh revolving- globes, sound the depths of space, and penetrate the se- crets of the universe with angel ken, but in morals he can make no discover}'. All the world knows of morals and religion is contained in the teachings of the Xazarene. There is not an accredited truth but is contained in his sayings ; not a sound maxim of morals but is found there. He flashes upon us in the gospels, teaching with no dele- gated authority, communicating no messa,ge emanating from a source superior to himself. His language is, "I say unto you,'' even while authoritatively expounding the law of God. Moses had not attained to the inculcation of a universal love to all men. Jesus says: "I say unto you, love your enemies'' — a precept which has a force and life capable of yet subduing the world ; a precept which none but he had the soul to utter. For him to have spoken falsely or foolishly- once, would have vitiated all his pretensions and proved him an im- postor: but a divine wisdom sounds in all his words. He held the key of the whole revelation ; and by him the Jewish system, which was the gospel in its bud stage, at once de- veloped into the gorgeous glory of the flower. What dis- covery has since been made in religious science? All pre- ceding prophets, and succeeding apostles and other teachers of the truth, are but as the pale moon, deriving from him what light they dis^minate, and hiding their dim face when he appears. Religion is the most important subject of investigation; and the history of the world shows, that if the minds of a peo- ple are confused and bewildered in their views of religious truth : they are also on all subjects of less importance. The absurd chimeras of blind superstition are associated with the lowest follies of cosmogony and philosophy. Religion is the keystone of the arch of knowledge: and nothing more contributes to the advancement of the human mind, and the excitement of all its powers, than a religion based on everlasting truth, able to endure the most critical exami- nation, and requiring of men those duties which have their HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 5 foundation in eternal right. Let the mind be mystified here, and required to believe what is clearly contrary to common sense; and the door of all knowledge is closed at once. Correct religious views are thus connected with pro- gress in science of everj' kind. Jesus of Nazareth, our onh^ teacher in morals, has thus not only given us a system of divine truth perfect in itself; but one whose reception is connected with all real advance in general knowledge. Science and arts flourish with it; and its extension is accompanied with the improvement in government, comforts and progress visible in Christian lands. Men become exalted and nations are great, because they believe in him. 3. His importance may be learned from the sensation which he produced. No individual has ever made such an impression on the world as Jesus of Nazareth. His record is written on the hearts of men in indelible characters. A nation was never so moved by any personage, as was the Jewish nation by the humble and despised Nazarene. The rage of this people against him was unbounded. With the most determined energy he was rejected by them ; they gnashed their teeth at the mention of his name; they pur- sued his followers with slaughter for his sake. From the time of their rejection of him, their national character underwent an entire change. It is possible for prejudice and passion to gain over men an influence so seated as to render them virtually insane. Pharaoh affords an instance. As we see him rush on the thick bosses of Jehovah's buck- ler, growing more desperate with everj^ successive struggle, we are almost ready to inquire, is this man or demon? King Saul's history shows that passion may come to ]50s- sess so might3' a disturbing force in the mental economy, as to be almost equivalent to madness. Such cases occur occasionally : but eighteen hundred years ago, the spectacle was presented of a whole nation stired to the bottom of their natures, and wild with demonaic rage against one whom they affected to despise. The^' became uncontrollable by Roman gov^ernors, fiercer than wolves against the name of Jesus; so that Paul would sooner be tried before Nero than at Jerusalem. They were ''contrary to all men,'' and 6 SKt:TCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. movers of sedition wlierever the name of Jesus was preached; and their fanaticism reached such a height, that it became necessary to the peace of the world, that Jerusalem should be destroyed. This was not the usual policy of the Roman government; thej' never destroyed cities: they were wiser than to deso- late fruitful countries, and obliterate mighty cities. In their whole history of seven hundred years, they had never doomed but one city to utter distruction and perpetual desolation. This was Carthage, a rival of Rome for the dominion of the world : nor were they hasty in reaching this conclusion respecting her. The intolerance and bitter- ness of the Jewish people had become such, that their national existence was incompatible with the peace of the world : but still, the nmsters of empire were lenient and slow in their procedure; and were forced into the contest by the ungovernable spirit of the deluded nation, who raised the standard of revolt, and themselves began the war. Even then it was not in the heart of Titus to deso- late the country, or destroy the city or temple. The maniac fury of the entire population forced the ruin against the' wishes of the Roman general. The victors found themselves compelled, by the spirit of the people themselves, to blot out the very name of their city, and leave a populous and flourishing country a scene of universal desolation. The rebuilding of the city was forever forbidden, but for- l)idden in vain. The Rcjmans themselves found it necessary to rebuild it, and pj^ocoupy it as a military post: in order to keep it out of the hands of the turbulent and seditious remnant of the scattered nation, whose blood Adrian shed like water, making their metropolis a garrisoned fortress of their foes. No peace seemed possible for the world : until Jewish blood was lost in amalgariiation with the great family of nations: an event destined in the decrees of Jehovah never to occur. Now, what was the cause of all this prolonged passion? A poor and des])ised teacher had for the space of three or four years exercised his ministry among them : and never had such a convulsion of the human heart followed the career of mortal. The like had never been seen on earth. HISTORTCAL AND DOCTRINAL. 7 before or since. The destruction of Jerusalem can be ex- plained only bv admitting the literal truth of the whole o'ospel story. The name of Jesus stands thus engrossed on the pages of history, and furnishes the interpretation of the events of the time. Josephus describes his fellow-countrymen as a nation of madmen. He seems at a loss to account for their fearful corruption : and attributes the displeasure of Heaven against the guilty city to the crime of killing James, the Christian apostle resident; in such a manner as to show that he understood their national depravity to be con- nected, as an effect with its cause, with their opposition to the disciples of the Xazarene, whose name he declined to mention, but of whom he was pondering more deeply than he wrote. He evident^ wondered at the leniency of Titus, and declares that had not the Romans destroyed Jerusalem ; God would have consumed it, as Sodom, by fire from Heaven. Moreover, never did a being on earth excite so deep affec- tion as this Jesus. A continually increasing class of men. attended him, who loved him so as other being was never loved. For him they were willing to endure any suffering, not counting their lives even dear unto them. Povert}', hardship, and persecution had no terrors for them. No worldly temptation could seduce them. A living ideal was before them, whom they followed in the bloody way himself had trodden. Such men as the early Christians, so devoted to a service fraught with every danger, and offering no earthly reward, the world had never seen. And what was the formative cause of their character? The twelve had the advantage of all men, in being intimate associates of the Nazarene. They knew him thoroughl.v; they had passed with him throuiih all the exciting scenes of his ministry. They had heard all his conversations and public discourses : had seen all his miracles, witnessed his crucifixion, and been transfixed by it. Having almost given him up for an impostor, and being sunk in the deepest stagnation of un- belief, and inexpressibly determined to listen to no further deception, they had yet been forced to admit the fact of his resurrection. 8 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. This fact corrected and enlarged their views, and imparted the faith and courage, at which all generations wonder. They had even seen him as a God ascend to his native heaven; and the everlasting doors admitted him. As we look back through the ages at the long line of his followers, we see the generations immediately succeeding the apostles distinguished bj- a timid conscientiousness and an incredible self-denial. Many of the early Christian fathers were superstitious, weak, and foolish; but their weakness was the weakness of excessive conscientiousness. They had not learned the broad and liberal interpretation of their Lord's injunctions current in more modern days. The heretics of the time, also, none, of them denied the existence and ministry of the Savior, or the facts of his career as re- lated in the gospels. Three centuries dimmed the impres- sion of his personality; before the Arian heresy, denying his divinity, took form. Great men, borne on the wave of favoring circumstances, have shaped events, and left their own impress on their gen- eration. Bonaparte accomplished such a result, but onl^^ by the aid of myriads, whose united force was guided by his own great talents. Jesus was unaided by any worldly in- fluence. All the impression which he made was by simple example and teaching. The movement initiated by the mightiest of the sons of men is transcient, often ephemeral; that begun by Jesus of Nazareth is destined to reach to the remotest ends of the earth, and to continue through all time. 4. His importance* is discoverable from the miracles which he wrought. A miracle is a work of God himself operating immediately, and not through the established laws of nature. They are for the instant suspended ; while the omnipotent will exerts its energy. Of course miracles are acts of God alone. The wonders of the Egyptian ma- gicians were mere tricks of legerdemain. The ^vitch of En- dor was moi'e terrified at the real aj^peai'ance of Samuel than was Saul himself. She had never recalled one from the dead before. The most essential point in the discussion of miracles is, that they were never wrought for the relief of human suf- HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. \) fering- merely. Myriads of children have been born blind; we have no account of more than one or two, to whom sight has been restored. Millions of martyrs have been condemned to death, and have been left to die ; no one has ever been delivered except the three Hebrews. The tomb has swallowed an innumerable host ; one only has returned on whom its doors had closed. If miracles were wrought for the relief of men chiefly, they would occur in every age. No emergency has ever been deemed sufficient to demand the visible interposition of Jehovah; but one in which his own honor has been vitally concerned. They are wrought for the cause and the honor of God only, and on no other account. Hence they have been confined to certain epochs; the establishment of a church on earth, when Israel came out of Egypt by mir- acle, and its continued preservation. When miracles have been necessary in order to prevent the knowledge of God from being extinguished, or to de- fend the nation, the sole depository of his truth from de- struction; and no other course would suit the tremendous necessities of the occasion ; the veil of natural law has been drawn aside; and Jehovah has stretched out his naked arm from behind the clouds and thick darkness of his throne for the defense and confirmation of his own truth. His people could not have been delivered from Egypt, sus- tained in the wilderness, and settled in Canaan, with the abiding conviction of those divine truths needful for the world, without the miracles which recorded and enforced them as with a pen of iron. None were wrought but on an occasion big with the honor of the Eternal Jehovah. So, when the nation had almost utterly apostatized, and but a remnant of seven thousand remained faithful; and Ehjah felt that he stood alone against the current of idol- atry; God, in his own sovereign way, "turned their heart back to him," and forced the knowledge of himself upon a backslidden and reluctant people by miracle. So, at Babylon, he secured by miracles the end, Avhich in no other wa^' could have been attained ; recovered his apos- tate people; and made kings their nursing fathers, and their 10 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. queens nursing- mothers. The nunibei- of such dii'eet inter- positions does not reacli four score. Miracles have ceased for eighteen hundred years. Nothing- can occur of ini])ortaiK'e sacred enough to justify a super- natural interference : not the suffering of groaning millions, not the peril of nations or of the race. There exists but one cause of value sufficiently high and holy to call for a miracle; as there is but one purpose for which such a prodigy has ever occurred. The life-time of Jesus and his apostles was an epoch marked by miracles above all others it the annals of time. He was the figure of the age. Heaven emptied out its in- habitants at his birth. The wliole realm of nature felt and owned its Lord ; and its laws, firm as the universe, gave way at the woi'd of one clothed in our humanit3^ Every class of intelligent beings, angels, devils and men: every department of creation, earth, sea and sky; every evil and every good, bowed to him, and acknowledged his suprem- acy. The number of his mighty works was too great for record ; the world could not contain the books. All the wonders which God has ever wrought, had they clustered around one age and one individual, were inferior to the works which attended Jesus of Nazareth, and desig'- nated him as the ^lessiah. If the woi-ks effected b^' prophets prov^ed theui to be what they claimed to be, com- missioners of Jehovah ; we must, by the same rule, receive Jesus for what he professed to be. All these prodigies were not so striking as was the mysterious being himself whose word effected them. 'It was not the works so much as his manner, his word, and his sublime consciousness of ''all power." Now a miracle never lies. We may innocently doubt the statement of the best of men on some occasions ; but a mira- cle commands our implicit faith at once. AVe cannot question without rejecting the authority of Almighty God. No mat- ter how little the miracle may appear to us, if it be only the rod of Moses becoming a ser])ent — Pharaoh disregarded it at the peril of his kingdom and his life. If we refuse the testimony of the works to the divinity of Jesus, we do so at tlie peril of our souls. HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 11 5. His importance is learned from the triumph of his re- ligjion. His is the only eternal religion. Its object of wor- ship, its requirements, nor its doctrinal axioms have un- dergone change since the first institution in the Garden of Eden. It is the only religion that has been extended by reason, conviction and the in-esistible force of truth. The sword of conquerors, or the preponderance of nations has disseminated other forms of faith and worship, which have never owed their prevalence to argument and conviction. A great facilitj' of change in religions has sometimes shown itself in the revolutions of states. Christianity is not an extei'nal dress that can thus be put on or put off. It meets a barrier of resistance in the human soul strong as that which bounds the sea. Each of its doctrines is un- palatable : all of its precepts are too rigid ; and its great central truth is "foolishness:" so astounding,that the mind cannot receive it; and so sanctifying that the corrupt soul rejects it. A religion revealing things so strange respecting God, and requiring of men things so impracticable, will never extend; unless based on impregnable truth and right. Let GamalieFs rule be applied, and a better cannot be sug- gested: "'If this thing be of God ye cannot overthrow it." Its claims have survived the severest scrutiny, and it has lived down every enemy. The Jewish nation set itself against it, and it withered away like the barren fig-tree, dried up to the very roots. The fourth beast of Daniel, "diverse from all others, with claws of brass and teeth of iron, tearing the pre,y and stamping the residue with its feet," placed itself in deter- mined hostilitj^ to Christ; and its power was broken, and its ten fragments are scattered over Europe, The ecclesiastical beast, its successor in the persecution of Christianity, that '"looked like a lamb and spake as a dragon," still sits upon the seven hills; but its day is evi- dently coming. One more vial remains to be poured out to introduce the end. Alone of all religions appealing to reason and fact, (Jhristi- Sbuity has met the stoutest intellectual resistance. Not only has the enemy endeavored to burn it out ; but to write it down; ridicule it out of society; to find weapons against 12 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. it in every natural science ; but his efforts have ever failed. It has steadily progressed. If God has permitted the Roman apostate to dam up the waters of healing for 1260 years ; it has been that their foi'ce may be collected ; and that, when the barrier at length gives way, they may at once over- spread the world. Its enemies, intent on its destruction, like the Jewish priests who watched the sepulchre of the great Redeemer, have not only been ; but will continue to be the unwilling instruments of extending the knowledge of it, and increasing its glory. Time, then, has set its seal. Gamaliel, who saw it in its gloomiest struggles, and felt how unlikely it was to live and prevail, is, by his own prescribed rule, convinced that it is of. God. It conquered in Jerusalem, which was a greater achievement than the subsequent change in the empire from heathen to Christian. Let the world overlook Jesus and undervalue his work : his coming renders this earth more famous than all else that ever transpired upon it. An importance attaches to him beyond our power to express or conceive. Veiled as his glory is by poverty, reproach and suffering; if the ex- pectation of four thousand years can prove matchless dig- nity ; if to be the one object to which .stands pointing every miracle of time, and with which is connected every inspired message ever uttered, shows worth; if, with his blood, to be able to extinguish quenchless fires, cleanse the guilty conscience, and satisfy inexorable justice, demonstrates ex- cellence; then in Jesus Christ is glory. It may be but a dim twilight of the sun of righteousness that we behold here; the full blaze of his effulgence will foi'ever enlighten the world of ji'lory. HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 13 CHAPTER II. REASONS FOR THE DELAY OF THE ADVENT, Gal. iv. 4: But when the fullness of time was come. God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law. to redeem them that were under the law. That, after the fall of iiiau, so long a time should elapse before the advent of the promised Redeemer, has ever been a matter of the gravest astonishment to all inquirers. At least four thousand years, or. according to the Septuagint, five thousand years, of ignorance, crime and ruin dragged their slow length along a track of blood and butchery, pol- lution and lust, before the arrival of the long looked for Savior. Kingdoms rose, and flourished, and fell; mighty empires ruled like wild beasts let loose for carnage, and sunk at last exhausted from internal deca3^ giving way to other powers still more terrible than themselves. A mid- night intellectual darkness prevailed ; and in vain reason inquired, and philosoph}' dogmatized. No condition can be conceived more sad than that of the human race left to the gloom of perfect ignorance about the God above them, and the future before them ; suffering under the scourge of political tyranny; and exhausting themselves in never- ceasing wars : for the historj^ of the ancient world is a his- tory of war only. The individual was worth just as much &,s his bodily strength and physical courage availed ; and thus was estimated only as an animal. Intellectual and spiritual life were hardly taken into account. Often has the heart of the Christian been pained with the inquiry, why was this unaccountable delay in the coming of the promised deliverer? Why were so many generations of men left to descend, in unbroken succession, down to the shades of everlasting death? Shall the world pass more than half its appointed period of continuance before the 14 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. way of salvation becomes perfectly revealed ? — and a score of centuries more, before the tidings reach the entire population of the globe? While we eujo^' the full-orbed light of divine revelation, conscious that we are no better by nature than the ancients, a feeling of wonder, and almost of complaint, that the world should so long be left to the darkness of hea- thenism, canses us to reflect harshly upon the almighty Creator, whose love and power are equall3^ without limit. Can a satisfactory answer be found to such inquiries, which unavoidabl}' arise in our minds? Can the universal love of God be vindicated from all impeachment in the case? "But when the fulness of time was come." God is in no haste in carrying out his plans ; haste belongs to weakness and uncertainty. But while he waits for the period "fully'' to arrive, the destinies of millions are being settled for unending misery. While we bow with hearty submission to his arrangement of all things, can relief be found at all from the difficulties of the situation? 1. Christ came as soon as idolatry had lost its hold upon any considerable portion of mankind. This is the sin of sins ; as it strikes most directly at the glory of God ; denies his supremacy; and deprives him of the worship which is his due. Atheism and idolatry make their attack upon the very throne of the Great Creator, and refuse an acknowl- edgment of his most sacred rights ; but atheism is not con- genial to the feelings of humanity: and has nothing with which to captivate the imagination, and inflame the passions of the soul. Idolatrr^ on the other hand, satisfies the craving for something to worship; excites the imagination to the highest degree: entrenches itself in the superstitions: and takes a hold upon the heart not to be broken by argu- ment, or demonstration, even. It is an assault upon the dearest prerogatives of Jehovah, and aims its blow at the very vitals of divinity. It is a sin of which devils are not guilty, as they believe and tremble; but it roots deep in the corrupt nature of man, until "they become mad upon their idols;" and refuse to receive correction. Its malignity is directed against God, and against God alone. Therefore, the second and most fearful command of the decalogue is uttered against idolatry: "Thou shalt not HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 15 make unto thee a,ii\- oraven image, nor any likeness of any thing that is in the heavens above, nor in the earth beneath, nor in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor worship them; foi- 1, the Lord, thy God, am a jealous God, visiting- the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.'' Idolatry springs from a hatred of the true God : and for it God will visit, not the punishment, but the ini(]uities of the fathers upon the children. His heaviest judgment is divine desertion and abandonment to the full power of evil. In no other way can he express his unutterable abhorrence of idolitry. For it he will forsake a nation, till whole 2'en- erations go down in unbroken column to the pit; neither will he turn from the fierceness of his anger : till the hearts of the people are tui-ned from their sin. In every genera- tion -'it has repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth; and it has grieved him at his heart;" but it has made no change in his administration. His name is "Jealous," and no word could more forcibly express the keenness of his scrutiny, and the determined vengeance of his retribution. In the days of the pi-ophets, argument, ridicule and reason were used in vain against this sin. All that could be done was to testify against it. and leave the evil to coiTect itself. After ages of the worship of false gods, this was accom- plished: the evil did correct itself: and in this wise. The very excess of superstition became its own antidote. The Roman senate adopted the gods of all the conquered nations, and installed them in their own pantheon, as lawful objects of worship. They thus collected a host of divinities, contrary in their characters, opposite in their attributes, in in-econcilable conflict Avith each other : and all of them proper objects of worship. The vote of the Roman senate was all that was needed to make a new god ; and into the number they proceeded to introduce mere mortal men ; and some of the basest of men and most infamous of women became gods and goddesses; and received divine worship at the majority vote of a few fallible men. 1(3 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. At the period of the advent, rehoion had degenerated into the worship of the reignino- eniperor, mainly. Indeed, all the members of the imperial family were deified ; some of them whom, living, the world could not endure. At the time of the appearance of Christ, idolatry had run itself out, was played out, as is said in the west; it was suffer- ing a reductio ad absurdum; its strength was broken, and there was a decided and prevailing reaction toward mono- theism among the philosophers and the people also. Idolatry had begun to destroy itself; and the great heart of humanity was yearning after the true and living God; and this was the proper time for his interposition. As soon as "men returned and inquired earlj- after God," he was to be found of them. He meets the cravings of his children whenever a sincere and honest desire for him springs up within them. We have an illustration in point in the histoid' of modern missions. When Christians in America were moved to send missionaries to the Sandwich Islands, the event proved that God's hand was in the measure. The great king of the islands, Kamehameha I., had died; and the inhabitants of all the islands, without incitement from abroad, of their own motion, agreed to have no more idols and idol worship, which had been usually attended with human sacrifices. A strong reaction had set in from the excessive and cruel idolatrj^ of the reign just ended. Accordingly a large assembly convened, and solemuW broke down the im- ages hitherto held Jiuviolably sacred ; and by vote aban- doned idolatry. God had prepared messengers of his own truth who were already on their way, when this spontaneous reformation occurred: and the missionaries soon arriving were filled witli unbounded astonishment to find the islanders no longer cruel idolaters; but in a posture of mind somewhat prepared for the reception of the gospel. This case is nearly enough parallel to show, that the abandonment of idolatry- is met at once with the favor of heaven, and the speedy revelation of saving truth to the former devotees of error. The result in the islands, after some years of la- bor and enlightment, was a revival of more Pentecostal HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 17 power, than has been seen an^- where on earth probably for eighteen centuries. So it was when Christ came; idolatry had proved its own emptiness and insufficiency. The Jews scattered abroad everywhere bore their con- tinual testimony to the one only living and true God; and the yearning heart of the world was listening with an abandonment of former absurdities, and an earnest long- ing for a divine reality. The world was in the posture of attention; the heavens, heretofore closed against all ap- peals of sinful mortals, opened at last to send down the long expected deliverer. God's honor forbade his being sent at any time previous. While the angel announced his birth to the Jews, the miraculous star proclaimed it to all the world. During all this time God loved the world with a love incapable of increase; he felt as intense pity, as tender mercy; but for his own name's sake, waited until men were turning away from the husks, and, remembering that they had a Father, were longing for the bread of his house. The infatuation of idolatry- is more complete than any other delusion ever exp3rienced, and requires ages to dis- solve it; but the darkness was slowly yielding. The es- trangement of the human soul from God is more deter- mined, lasting and obstinate than any other alienation possible to man. It resists longer, requires more continued •pressure, ;ind yields only when the alternative is utter ruin and destruction. Idolatry had been followed to the bitter end, and proved to be absurdity itself ; and to have no soul- satisfying good to communicate. Only experience of its emptiness could teach. 2. Philosophy was willing to acknowledge its ignorance and ask for light. The principal characteristic of the an- cient philosophy was pride and self-assertion ; its reasoning was altogether a priori. Instead of sitting humbly at the feet of nature, and inquiring as a jjerfectly ignorant learner; she assumed the airs of consummate wisdom, and was ready to dictate and dogmatize rather than be instructed. Her inquiries of course were altogether fruitless; and served only to plunge her followers into still deeper darkness. Like the Pythian priestess, intoxicated by the fumes of the 18 SKETCHES FKOM THE LIFE OF JESUS. cavern iu the temple of Delphi ; her oracles were only o-uesses, and her inspiration came from below. Ihidless discnssion had been made respecting: the origin of all things^ the end for which man existed, the summnm bonum, and the future life, if immortality there were. Discussion set- tled nothing; it only made the darkness palpable. As the case stands, either matter is eternal, and the world has always existed in something like its present form ; or there is an intelligent creator. A fortuitous con- course of atoms, occurring at any period to form the pres- ent world with its occupants, without an intelligent direc- tor to commence and su])ervise the process, is unthinkable: and is much like the evolution of" the present day without an operator. There is but one alternative, really: there is an outside creatoi- and president ; or the world is eternal. The idea of such a being was too mighty- a conception to be admitted: and being destitute of this truth, w^hich is the premise of all reasoning, the discussion of the wise men ended in determining absolutely nothing. Indeed, it seems to be tr-ue that when Christ came, there was no fixed or influential belief even in the immortality of the soul ; to say nothing of the existence of a spiritual, intelligent creator, prevailing in the world. The Jews, dis- persed to all countries under heaven, gave their continuous testimony on all these subjects; and many an aching Gen- tile heart consorted with them, hke Lydia, the widow of. the book of Acts, who was drawn to the Jewish house of prayer by the riv*J side, where she went for comfort in listening to those who prayed to the one living and true God. Philosoi)hy even turned her ear to catch the Jewish teachings; and we are, beyond measure, astonished in read- ing Plato's disquisitions about God and his three-fold per- sonality. His mention of the three elements [goodness, intelligence and soul] as persons, thrills us with wonder. At the same time, we are. not astonished that a great mass resigned themselves to stoicism, which is nothing but stony-hearted Fatalism: submitting to receive whatever might ha])peu to them without murmui'iug and without feeling. Stoicism turns the heart to rock, making it in<'a- pable of any tender feeling towai'd God. and hardening it HISTORICAL AM) DOCTRINAL. 19 ao-ainst all the sufferm^'s of this life. It is not astonishing that, in the Roman world, stoicism should have many fol- lowers; consonant as it is to the sturdy, harsh and cruel Roman charactei". In all this mental movement there was a progress toward monotheism; and the idea of an intelligent (Creator was becoming more easy of acceptance. Polytheism forbids and destroys the conception of a. Creator altogether. The world was "feeling after God, if haply they might find him." The voice of humanity was uttered by the woman of Sa- maria, when she said : "We know that Messias cometh, who is called Christ : when he is come he will tell us all things." We have listened too eagerly to the siren voice of philoso- phy; it has no revelations to make; the philosopher knows no more than the peasant. When the photographer's plate is taken by him out of the camera, where the light of the sun has impressed it, nothing absolutely can be seen upon its surface. It is hur. ried into a darkened room ; and after the developing mixture has been poured upon it, an image begins gradually to ap- pear, and becomes every moment more and more distinct. So, the mind of humanity was beginning to show anew the obliterated image of (lod. The belief in one living and true God is a prime necessity, without which we cannot entertain belief in a creation, a providence, or even in a future immortality. \o human eye was strong enough to pierce the tremendous gloom that hung around the grave; and while there was felt a sad foreboding of the dread future, of which no man can divest himself, yet certainty' did not seem attainable. Philosophy was no longer regarded as a reliable teacher. All the interests of the world and of time dwarf into insig- nificance when compared with these questions of dire im- port: and long waiting began to intensify the longing after sure knowledge. The world, sensible at length of its igno- rance, was ready to hear the voice from heaven; and even philosophy bowed its ear to listen. It recalled the tradi- tions, that were still preserved in the midst of heathenism, of a coming one, who was to overcome the serpent, restore our lost inheritance, and introduce the golden age. In the 20 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. eighth eclogue of Virgil liiimanity is heard sighing for re- lief, and reviving the memory of long-slumbering hopes, built on the faint remembrance of the almost forgotten prophecies of Eden. It is matter of astonishment how long it takes to awa- ken desires after God, and how great and multiplied afflic- tions and grief are necessary to soften and tender the heart ; but the pi'ocess was being conducted by one to whom nothing is impossible. 3. The oppression of the civil power had reached its climax. The dominion of Rome was endured, because it could not be resisted. In the counsels of the skies it was necessary that such a power as the Roman, so stern, so merciless, yet a power of law and justice and order, should get the undisputed ascendency, and realize as nearly as possible universal empire. At the time of the advent, Rome was mistress of the known world : and her irresist- ible legions held the nations at peace. Vain were all leagues and coalitions formed against her, and she dictated terms according to her pleasure to the peoples of far off coun- tries, as well as those near. Her rule was indeed a rule of iron. As Daniel saw the four beasts in his vision of the empires of the earth, the feet of the first were as the feet of a man, so mild was its dominion. An acknowledgment of its su])remacy, and a light tribute was all that was re- quired of a subject nation. But the fourth beast had claws of brass and ,jeeth of iron; it tore and divided and reconstructed at its will. Herod's kingdom was torn into four tetrarchies, with little regard to the affinities and re- lations of the inhabitants: and in like manner throughout tlie world, limits were defined, boundaries adjusted and provinces arranged to suit the convenience of Roman gov- ernors. No tie of kindred, descent, nor community of language was considered, so much as the ease of military- approach, and accessibility from the imperial city. Division was the order of the time; and then the Roman monster ''stamped the residue with his feet;" as good a description in brief as could be given. Judea, ex- hausted 1)V the cruel government of Herod, craved to be HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 21 made a Roman province ; only to learn tliat the little fing-ei- of Rome was thicker than Herod's loins. The taxation im- posed was bejond anything known in modern times, amounting to from ten to twenty per cent, of net income. And then the method of collection, the same practiced by the Turkish government at the present da3', was such that the government was sure of obtaining all it claimed, while the collecting officers had all possible opportunity of extor- tion. The fortunes with which procurators and proconsuls returned from the provinces exceeded computation almost ; and showed that the life blood of subject kingdoms had been coined to fill the coffers of favorites of the emperor or of the senate. Lender this stern rule, however, the nations were in per- fect peace: the sword was rusting in its scabbard, and hel- met and spear and shield were for show and not for use, dur- ing the life of the prince of peace. The sea, out of which the great Ijeasts had arisen, representing the seething, agitated humanity, ceased its raging; the fierce winds of war were hushed : and the sceptre of iron waved over a prostrate world. While the dominion of Rome so oppressed the nations ; it yet unified the world, and harmonized it into the sem- blance of one family. The remains of international roads and bridges existing to the present day, show that great and constant intercourse was taking place between widely separated provinces. As to the topmost and most distant leaf of a tree, there is a direct capillary connection with the deeply hidden root from which it derives its life; so each spot of earth took direction from Rome. Its rulers were men of great ideas : and gave themselves to the affairs of the wide world. When we further consider that there was, as it were, one universal language, superseding by its copiousness and fulness all others, — the language of literature, of cultiva- tion, of the arts, and of trade and commerce. — we easily see that the Avhole world had almost become one family; and that the vibrations of each stirring event made them- selves felt to the ends of the earth. This state of things came about in the all-wise arrangements of heaven, preparatory 22 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. to the g-reat event of time, the birth of the child, the giv- ing of the son, who should be called ''The Wonderful.'' It was in the fulness of time; the world was fully ripe for the event. The clock of destiny had struck the hour: God is in no haste about his special operations. It was not proper to send him forth a mature man like Adam in the day of his creation; but he "was made of a woman:" of the flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary; that "he might be in all points like his brethren.'' He passed through all the stages of human life fi-om the cradle to the grave. He felt the infirmities and temptations of every period. He sounded the depths of human experience. His brethren, /'. e., his relatives who had been brought up with him, knew that he was a man like themselves, and thought for a long time that he was nothing more, — beauti- ful, gifted and peculiar indeed, but still a man, so perfectly conformed was he to our humanity. His fellow-townsmen had observed him for thirtj^vears ; and they knew that he was a man; and thought that he w^as only a man, blessed with the highest endowments. And such he was in all re- spects, sin excepted. His enemies charged: "thou being a man, makest thyself Ciod." All saw that he was really and truly man ; and there is in this profound mystry a spring of comfort evei" fresh and ever new. "He was made under the law," i. e., subject to the con- demnation of the law; "in the likeness of sinful flesh," one of the guilty race; "that he might redeem them that were under the condemnation of the law." To redeem means to buy them out from' that condemnation, which he did b}^ giving his own life and soul a substitute for theirs, and an equivalent for their deliverence. He paid the whole debt; God exacted the uttermost farthing; and no deduction was made from the penalty in consideration of the eminence and ])urity and holiness of the sufferer. The law obtained its full demands, and was honored, when he. who is above all law, became subject to it : audit was "magnified" when he yielded liis soul an offering for sin. HISTOiaCAf. AXD DOCTRrNAr.. 23 CHAPTKK III. THE BIRTH OF JESUS. '•The fulness of time'' was at hand. A fulness of demon- stration had been made that no remedy could be found for the disorders and miseries of humanity. The tendency of society was ever towards a corruption, whose progress finally dissolved the most firmly cemented states. Civili- zation and philosophy had exhausted their force in a vain attempt to arrest the downward current. -Thou hast no healing medicines.*" The weary world was recalling the ancient traditions of the race, and looking with eager eyes for some disclosure from above, which should afford a firm basis for behef, and a, sure ground of hope for the impenetrable, frowning future after the present life. Other worlds than ours were also in the posture of keen ex])ectation. The eternal principles of the divine government needed elucidation. A bari-ier needed to be erected against the further progress of evil, which had already contami- nated two races of beings, and was threatening a farther advance. God makes his beginning of the work of recovery in the most obscure corner of the Holy Land, and in a family re- duced to the lowest straits. The heir of a once illustrious name was toiling for a precarious hving in the remote city of Nazareth. The prestige of the family was gone: and it had no inheritance except the hope of a future deliverer, who was, according to prophecy, to arise like a little stem out of the root of its decayed stump. Joseph was an hum- ble artisan and a righteous man; and had espoused to himself an estimable virgin of the same blood with himself, the two representing the separate lines of descent from the Shepherd King. 24 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. WheD the angel Gabriel, six months after his message to Zacharias in the temple, announced to the Virgin Mary her coming matei-nitv, and the birth of the promised seed from herself, it was the most astounding news that could be communicated : agreeing, however, with the vision of Zacharias, of which she and all of the nation were cogni- zant. As her thoughts reverted at once to this previous heavenly visitation; the angel gave her h sign by which she might know that his words would be fulfilled in their season. This sign was the condition in which she should find her cousin Elizabeth, well stricken in age like Sara, Abraham's wife, far be3^ond such a possibihty ; yet advanced six months in a state of pregnancy. This Mary hasted to verify^ not in order to determine her faith, but to strengthen it. Some one of the great annual feasts was at hand, proba- bly the Feast of the Dedication, in the tenth month, when the whole country would be in motion ; and she could join a caravan to Jerusalem ; and at the termination of the feast, accompany the old priest Zacharias, with another caravan, to his home in the hill country of Judea. The Feast of Dedication is selected ; because in years, when the Pentecost, a movable feast, occurred late; exactly six months would reach to the Feast of Dedication, which would be held three months before an early passover; and these would be the three months of winter, a convenient time for a protracted visit. if this supposition should prove correct, the birth of John occurred shortly after a passover, and the birth of Jesus in the early days of September. Indeed, it is neces- sar3^ whollj^ to repudiate the twenty-fifth of December as the day of the nativity. A natural reason always existed for the observance of that day. It is the oldest holiday of the woi-ld, established as such by the sun-worshipping na- tions of antiquity, -to whom it was the chief festival of the year. Cortcz was amazed to find it observed by the Aztecs of Mexico, who were sun-worshippers. It celebrates the re- turn of the sun from its southern progress, being the first day on which it perceptibly returns towards the north ; and so, the first day that lengthens. Unacquainted, as the an- cient world was, with the causes of the sun's apparent mo- HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 25 tion, its return was hailed with tlie hio-he.st joy, as assuring another succession of seasons. The Pope has evidently attempted to wrest the day from a pagan and idolatrous celebration : and consecrate it to the memory of the great fact in the Christian history. Of course he is no authority in matters of chronology. The faith of Mary must have been immensely strength- ened on learning the condition of Elizabeth, and hearing the predicted character and office of her son; his birth corresponding exactly to that of Isaac, the child of prom- ise and of laughter. The sign given by the angel did es- tablish, beyond the possibility of doubt, the fulfillment of his words respecting herself. Possibly the babe in the womb of the the aged matron gave its first energetic evi- dence of life at the sound of Mary's voice. The intimacy of these two holy women for three months was as close as could exist between mortals, bound to- gether as they were by ties of kindred, and also associated in the accomplishment of the greatest trust ever committed to creatures. With no other could Mary hold unreserved intercourse. These great secrets were "kept in their hearts, and pondered'' there. In due time Mary returned to Nazareth, through Jerusa- lem, in the course of one of the great convocations of the nation ; where she remained for six mouths ; until the decree of the master of the Roman world called her to Bethlehem, the city of her ancestors, for enrolment. A better transla- tion of Jjuke II : 2, can be suggested, to be made by placing the adjective immediately before its noun with which it is associated. The verse would then read: "this first enrol- ment was made under Quirinius, governor of Syria," im- plying a second, when the tax was enforced, also under the government of the same Quirinius. An inscription has been found in Rome, from the tomb of this Roman senator: Bis Syrhv imperator auctore Augusta. The birth of Jesus was thus coincident with the first Roman census of Judea; and his appearance as a son of the law at twelve years of age, was synchronous with the appearance of the first Ro- man procurator of Judea; when the sceptre dropped from 26 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. the hands of Jewish administration, and the lawoiver ceased forever from between the feet of Judah. As we read in Josephus of the slauf^hter of Bagoas. it is impossible to refrain from conneeting it with the departure of the magi from Judea, without communicating with Herod. In that chapter of history we find so many references to matters contained in Luke's account, — such as a plain allu- sion to this enrolment, with which Herod had united an oath of loyalty to himself; the refusal of the ligid Phari- sees to take the required oath to Herod, as expecting the speedy advent of their own king Messias; the predictions fi-eely made, that the government of the Herods would soon terminate ; the expected appearance of the looked-for prince of Israel, who, instead of being born of a virgin, should be begotten by a eunuch; Herod's vindictive jealousy, leading him to slaughter Pharisaic leaders, as well as some of the inmates of his own palace: justif3ing the remark of Luke, that "he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him" — as to suggest that he was writing of that commotion which led to the massacre of the innocents at Bethlehem, the mention of which we might expect Josephus to avoid. If this be so, Jesus must have been born two or three years before the death of Herod, and six or seven years before the A. 1). This would place the date of the nativity at the very time of the remarkable planetary conjunction announced by Kepler, whose recurrence in A. D. 1(503 and 4 led him to devote himself to the .study of astronomy. It was then witnessed,, ^by thousands, crowding the streets of Stockholm night after night. The same configuration of stars graced the sky at the time of the birth of Moses, as Josephus relates, and led to attempts to murder the child. A.ocording to Kepler, this group was not itself the star of Bethlehem ; but the miraculous star associated itself as one ci the cluster, forming a coronet that would attract the gaze of the world. The visit of the Eastern astrologers to Jerusalem, only gave to the phenomenon its true and designed interpretation. I. The first notable fact in the gospel history is the extreme poverty of the wedded pair from whom the Messiah was to descend. And to be i)oor in that age meant more than HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAI.. 2< it does now, and in republican America : it meant to be down-trodden and despised beyond any present example. The low condition to which Mary was reduced, seemed to forbid the expectation of such remarkable exaltation. Her song- of gratitude and joy expresses in varied forms hei- unqualified amazement; that herself, so utterly sunken and scorned, should be selected by the God of Israel as the highly favored among women, whom all generations should call blessed. She speaks as one who had felt the sting of the world's contempt, and experienced the slights so freel}^ bestowed on fallen greatness. The lowest menial in King- David's service had been in easier circumstances than her- self; 3'et the blood of royaltj^ was in her veins ; and to her husband, bj'^ right of primogeniture, belonged the fallen throne of the monarch, to whom God had promised, that he should never lack an heir to occupy his royal seat: and now he could move on an hour's notice; and b}^ the help of a single animal, and on his own sturdy shoulders, could carry his wife and child, household furniture and the tools of his trade. Their only heritage seemed to be the pride of a great name; the possession of which, without the means of upholding it, provokes neglect rather than veneration. Yet poor as they were, angels ever hung around their pathway: and before dangers could harm them, messengers of safety fiew to give warning. The gold was poured into Mary's lap just before she needed it ; and it was literally- true of them that, having Christ, all things were theirs. Though they hardly comprehended the fact, they were the centre toward which the gaze of an admiring heaven was turned; and with them was the secret into which "angels desire to look.'" These shining ones never stopped at the doors of palaces; but haunted the obscure places where duty led this humble pair, whose wants were provided for before they were felt, and from whom every blow was warded before it struck Could our own piivate histor^^ be written by the pen of a ministering angel: it might be as full of heavenly minis- tries, whose source and arrangement are unsuspected by us. The voung lions roar and seek their meat from God : 28 SKETCHE^l FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. he feeds the ravens when they cry ; and before the shaft ain)ed at a sparrow can take effect, the decree must be countersigned with the name of the great father, who per- mits the deed. II. The place of the nativity was not the pubhc inn. Some of the missionaries, seeing the rude accommodations of the oriental caravanserai, seem to have concluded that it must have been the place \vhere the memorable birth occurred ; but it was evidently some small and miserable stable, which had never before been the lodging place for human beings; where none were beside themselves, and no eye of man cared to look; where the virgin received no ministry of female attendance ;' but after the painless delivery, herself took all the care of the frail little babe, its washing, salting and wrapping in cloths previously prepared ; and was able to arise from the earthen floor and deposit her charge in one of the mangers of stone, after cleaning it of the straw left by the feeding cattle. No other babe was housed so poorly. This was the sign given by the angel to the shepherds: there is but one child to be found wrapped in swaddling cloths and h-ing in a manger; and that is the child of pi'omise. Jehovah was saying: ''let all the angels of God worship him:" but he seemed too mean for human homage. Men might have turned from him in haughty disgust: troops, however, of glorious ones, who stand in the sunlight of the eternal throne, were hovering about the stony bed ; as they after- wards stood ready ^o bear him up in their hands, lest he dash his foot against a stone. That the spot where a vagrant family sheltered for a time, should be identified after three hundred years of oblivion ; especially after the storm of war had swept the works of man away with the besom of destruction, is not likely; nor that the stable should prove to be a cave twenty feet under ground; the most unlikely spot in the whole territory of Bethlehem. Its gaudy marble floor is rather polluted than hallowed by the kisses it has received. The same care which pi'ovided, that the sepulchre of Moses should not be known to this day ; lest it become a centre of idola- trous pilgrimage, has also provided, that no trace or foot- HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 29 ])rint should be left of the mig-hty visitor, whose presence here has made this earth famous next to heaven itself. There remains not a foot of territory in the whole holy land of which we can say. here he once trod. III. The manner of the publication of this birth is also amazino-. The little city was at the time filled to overflowing with the oreat families of the house of David, and the princes of the tribe of Judah. Every corner was occupied by the very pride of Israel : but unto none of these was the angel, charged with the proclamation, sent. At a little distance outside, the sheep, either belonging to the residenos of the city or designed for the temple use, were watched by hireling shepherds, who are thus described by one familiar with them and with the country. "The shepherd belongs to the lowest class of the popula- tion. In his filth, no American lady would admit him to her back kitchen. His clothing, hanging from his shoulders, is coarser than a rag-carpet; and his naked limbs and fiesh, seen through the rents of his cloak, are of the color of a baconham or side meat. Everything we see here demonstrates to us more and more the extreme poverty and humility of the surroundings of our Lord in his life upon the earth." Four of these men herding their flocks together, divided the watches of the night: they were sleep- ing on the ground in the open; the very poorest company that could be selected in the neighborhood. It is not known that they had any recommendation other than their low condition. The supposition that they were of a higher class than ordinary, or that they were devout ex- pectants is but a supposition. They were simply plain, honest rustics, capable of bearing testiniony. They were surprised by a sudden glory which awakened the sleepei's, and may have brought them all to their feet; when they became conscious of the presence of a visitant from the spirit world, standing near them. The sight, of course, filled them with mighty fear, which was probably shown by their retreating movements and terror-stricken look. The angel appeared in just the same manner in which Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection. He was unexpectedly standing at their side. He was not 30 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. suspended in the air above their heads, but his feet were on the ground; and he seemed the centre and orioin of the supernatural light. Had all the host that were present Hashed into view sinniltaneously, the sight had been overpowering. There- fore but one was seen; and his splendor was subdued, as it were: and he hastened to calm their fears, and assure them that his errand was one of peace and joy to them and all the people. His words were: "Fear not, for behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people; for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ, the Lord.'' No sooner were the words out of his mouth, than there flashed into view a gi-eat host of unseen listeners; who may have filled the air, or rested on the ground, we know not which ; but a refrain of the heavenly song burst from breasts that could no longer restrain their joy. In Christ there is as glorious a I'evelation to angels as to men. Exalted spirits, sons of light, had been hurled from high seats in glory, on the first appearance of the taint of cor-, ruption upon them ; and themselves had, like Moses, ex- ceedingly feared and (]uaked at the thunderings and light- nings of the eternal throne. To them it had seemed impossible that Jehovah should pass by iniquity, transgres- sion and sin. His hostility to evil had shown itself fiercer than consuming fire, and unquenchable. Merc}^ seemed an attribute, that could not coexist with his fearful holiness, justice and truth, t' The happiness of spirits arises from the soul-humbling knowledge of God: "To know him is eternal life.'" The revelation of his mercy opened to them new discovei'ies in the divine nature more overwhelming, more ravishing than all the experiences of a past eternity. The offering of him- self by Christ as the Redeemer of men, let floods of light into the minds of seraphim and cherubim, and sent deeper throbs of delight into celestial souls. How they watched the development of the great plan, not dumb with awful wonder, but burning in an ecstasy of love and joy! They had never fathomed the depth of the divine compassion, or HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 31 comprehended the tenderness of its yearnino-g, or received the news, that God is love. These morning' stars had hailed the advent of the new- born earth with shouts of joy, as the future theatre of the great revelation ; and had now accompanied the monarch of the skies from his throne of glory, to take up his resi- dence in the body of this little babe; and make him the tabei-nacle of the schehinah. Their appearance on the i)lains of Bethlehem stamps this birth as the event of time. The being, who assumed the humanity of the child, came from the highest heaven ; to which he ascended when his work was finished. This song of angels is but the prelude of an- other song which will make melody for the ears of God himself, which angels cannot sing; but those only who have been redeemed b^'^ blood divine. In that song all parts will be carried, from the finest infant treble, to the deep basso of those who have tasted the bitterness of miserj'- and sin, and wrung out their very dregs. Testimonies to this extraordinary birth were of the most surprising nature. Angel visits had, at times, been vouch- safed during the former ages; but they had been of rarely more than a single celestial messenger; on this occasion there came a multitude of the heavenly host to worship the infant King, and proclaim him. Epochs are spoken of which should be of sufficient importance to be attended with "signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars." Certainly no period more pregnant with great results ever passed, than that connected with the incarnation ; and none so demanding the attention of heaven and earth. A great c^^cle of the ages was rolling in. God has inaugurated all such mighty cycles by a creation. (The first was that of the fish, followed by that of the reptile, and by that of the fowl, and by that of the quadruped, and finally by that of man.) These cycles have been introduced, not by evolu- tions, but by creations; all proceeding in a gradation upward to man, who is the model toward which all previous forms had worked. When the new era was intro- duced, it was ushered in by a creation. The "novus ordo seclorunf came in by a creation in the womb of a virgin of the house of David. Humanity was entering ujjon a new 32 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. stage; and the power of the Hio-hest was introducing a new element and preparing- an advance. It is his to in- augurate the eras. He might have sent his son equipped with a human body in the full maturity of its powers, as was Adam ; but as the soul is probably united to its fleshly tabernacle at birth or before; so our Lord, in order to assume a rational soul as well as a material body, entered life at the same door with us all. This course seems to have been required in order that he might become a perfect man as respects the soul as well as the body, and ''be made in all things like unto his brethren.'* Thus he went through all the weaknesses and pains of infan(*3' and childhood and youth; and experienced all the temptations incident to every stage of life. It is impossible to conceive of a wiser and better way of introducing him into the race, and making him one with us in every respect ; indeed it was the onlj^ way; much as human wisdom may scoff at it. That he was born in Bethlehem was written in blood. An occasion marked by arbitrary bloodshed is not soon forgotten ; especially if it be the wholesale destruction of unoffending babes. By the advent of the wise men, Jeru- salem was as well informed of his presence; as it vvould have been, had the shining angel proclaimed it in the pal- ace of the old king; and had there led in the heavenly song. These things must have appealed to the irrepressible long- ings and expectations of the Jewish people with convincing ])Ower. The Asmorjan famil}' had become extinct, its last member having perished by unnatural violence, at the recital of which humanity shudders; and the heart of the nation turned to the house of David with an eagerness, intensified by the odiousness of the tyrann}' of the Edomite. The old king, knowing that his days were numbered, ren- dered desperate by the hatred entertained for him, and fear- ful of some unforseen catastrophe, that might follow his decease, determined to destroy the child by all means. But "the heathen rage and peoples imagine a vain thing''; when "they take counsel together against the Lord and his anointed.'' "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh at them and the Lord shall have them in derision." At the HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 33 same time all traces of the infant of promise strangely disap- peared. As the city of Bethlehem had been at the time crowded with notables; a poor and vagrant family like Joseph's had not attracted so much attention. And then their stay was but brief; they were gone in a night; but their record had been left indelible. If expectation followed them to Egypt, they did not tarry there long; and whither they went, no one could easily learn: the clue was lost. Joseph's determination to Nazareth seems to have been taken on the road. It was safe that the child should be reared at a distance from Jerusalem, and among the coarse and rude citizens of a remote town. Had he been brought up in the immediate vicinity of the capital, his experience at twelve years of age shows that he might have attracted too great atten- tion; and that he might have been prematurely identified. Nothing lovelier ever appeared on eai'th than a genuine case of infantile piety; and such perfection as shone in him hke a heaven-lighted glory, could not be concealed, where there were eyes to behold. The thread of history was so broken; that many may have supposed, that the heir of David's throne must have perished in the massacre of the innocents. There must still have been those who reflected that God's plans and purposes can never be thwarted, and that the child of promise was somewhere safe. The words of the prophet Isaiah respecting him are re- markable: "Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given;" he uses the very phraseology of the angel, "unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour." He is not so much the property of his parents ; he is humanity's child, the son of the race. His veiy birth removes him from the scale of private individuals, and makes him a pubhc character, belonging to no one age or nation. He is "the second man from heaven;" his relationship is as wide as Adam's; and he stands in a similar relation to the whole human family. He is born to every human being; and born into the souls of those, who are prepared by faith to receive him, upon the inward throne of tlieir affections. "Let the sea roar and the fulness thereof; the earth and they that dwell therein; let the floods clap their hands; and —3 34 SKETCHES FROM THE I^IFE OF -lESUS. let the hills be joyful together before the Lord ; for he cometh to judge the earth."" The trumpet of prophecy had been sounding for four thousand years: '"he cometh;"* "he cometh;"' and a.t length the great prediction is fulfilled. Let an infidel world criticise and scoff at the conception and birth of Jesus : an humble, devout mind will adore the matchless wisdom which has devised a way, by which an infinite and sinless personage has been engrafted upon our fallen race, in such a way as to partake of our nature, and become one of us: able to bear our imputed sin, and atone for our transgressions. Truly "the foolishness of God is wiser than men: and the weakness of God is stronger than men;" "for of him, and through him, and to him are all things; to whom be glory forever and ever."' Amen. ^J HISTORICAL AND DOCTJflNAL. 85 CHAPTER IV. JOHN THE BAPTIST. It had been distinctly announced by the ancient prophets, that a remarkable forerunner should introduce the expected Messiah. Isaiah heard the voice crying in the wilderness: "prepare ye the way of the Lord:'' and Malachi describes him as being his own next successor; and as bein<>- Elijah himself reproduced. The age of the advent, as much apos- tatized as that of Ahab, demanded a reformer possessing a zeal equal to that of the old prophet; and able single- handed to withstand a nation, and make a king tremble on his throne. John filled the description perfectly ; and the goodness of God wa.s wonderfully displayed in provid- ing for the work to be accomplished, a man, who should take the heart of the Jewish nation by storm, as it were. He was their very beau ideal of a prophet; intensely Jew- ish, and well adapted to secure the confidence, and gain the hearts of the people at once. Only a trifling minority re- fused his baptism; on the ground, that Jews of pure and uncontaminated blood could not be subjected like Gentiles to an ordinance, which implied theii- need of spiritual puri- fication equally with the sinners and the uncircumcised. In the first place John was a Nazarite; and the Nazarites were the very cream of Judaism. Their vow was taken usually for a specified term of a month or a year or two. Occasionally in their history had arisen men, who were Nazarites from birth and for life, as Sampson, Samuel, Elijah and Laniel, among the mightiest of their heroes and prophets. John was one of this exalted class, a Nazarite from birth, and for life; and this elevated him in the estimation of the people, and endeared him in their affec- tions, as a successor of the ancient worthies of Israel. Then again asceticism was in high vogue in that ago; the tendency of religious advance being in that direction ; 36 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. and an unbounded veneration was felt for a character of this kind. God sent them in John a man after their own coveted model, a man who filled all their predilections, and commanded their confidence at once. And then he was a prophet born; and needed no creden. tials of miracles to certify his appointment of God. No occurence was ever more openh^ advertised than his birth. The highest ano-el in the skies announced it in the temple, at the time of one of their great annual feasts. "The whole multitude of the people were praying- without" at the time. This expression undoubtedly designates a national atten- dance upon the service in progress. The birth of John was an event of the greatest national importance; and might well be proclaimed to the nation at its principal convoca- tion, probably a passover or a pentecost. Angel communi- cation was the method of revelation hallowed in the mem- ory of the Jew, by the most signal occurences in their nat- ional history ; and agreeing with all the precedents of their ])ast. The feast selected for the announcement was prob- ably the Pentecost ; for this supposition would fix the date of Mary's three months" visit to Elizabeth to the winter months, when traveling would be impracticable to a woman; and she would be compelled to remain with her kinswoman. And indeed we find by computation, that the course of Abia, to Which Zacharias belonged, officiated in the middle of June B. C. 7: when their term may have covered the week of the Pentecost. There certainly if^.^a probability that the appearance of the miraculous star' of Bethlehem may have been coincident with the conjunction of the three largest planets, which Kepler found to have taken place in the years B. C. 6 and B. C. 5. What suggested to him the star of Bethlehem, was, the presence with these three planets, of a fourth star, then seen for the first time, between Jupiter and Saturn, a star of extraordinary brilliancy, and of a different and peculiar color. It was the presence of this temporary, evanescent, companion star, that led him to suggest for the date of the birth of Jesus the year B. C. 6. This rare phe- nomenon of four bright stars in close conjunction continued through portions of two years, the very length of time HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. dT which the Ma.o-i named to Herod: being in fact not quite two years, though Herod in his angei- made it two full years. The star of Bethlehem was an advertisement to the world: the wise men from the east probably were of a class which made the sky their particular study; and hence being- familiar with the expectations of the Jews, who were still a numerous population in the far east, interpreted the in- dications of the sky as designating the immediate appear- ance of the expected King, whose arrival was even then due. Their coming to Jerusalem fixed in the minds of the people the connection between the wonderful circlet in the nocturnal sky, and -'the child that was born, the Son that was given, whose name was the Wonderful." To him nature, angels, and the inspiration of the Holy Ghost gave witness. On the journey of those Magi from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, they had no expectation of seeing the star, which was now a thing of the past; their guide may have been a glorious angel, assuming the lustre and the color of the well known star, and directing them to the very house they sought. The nation were thus abundantly notified of the imme- diate fulfillment of the ancient prophecies, and so of the speedy appearance of the forerunner, who should prepare the way of the Lord before him. His birth was a miracle, like that of the child of laughter, born when Abraham was a hundred years old, and Sarah proportionally advanced ; and John might have been greeted with a like welcome of laughter. All the hill country of Judea was stirred by the event; and all knew that the Lord had visited his people, and had raised up for them a horn of salvation; and was fulfilling the promises made to the fathers, the oath that he had sworn to Abraham. No one taketh the honor of a prophet unto himself, but he that is called of God ; none ever had a clearer designation, or more indubitable cre- dentials. John had a history unparalleled except in the one case. It was impossible to doubt the angelic annunciation, for- tified as it was by the miracle of judgment imposed upon Zacharias for his unbehef, and the further miracle of re- 38 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. lease at tlie iiainiiio: of the child. Heaven called the atten- tion of the nation to him, and accredited him. as no other was ever accredited. During his youth and early manhood, John seems to have been a soHtary man to the time of his public appearance. Great themes occupied his attention; and a responsibility was on him, that he could not divide with another. Per- haps also the unusual influences of the Holy Spirit have a tendency to isolate a man. As the stricken deer forsakes the herd, to langnish in the deepest recesses of the forest, the prophet, burdened with a message from the Most High, has exhaustless food for private meditation. Like Elijah, he was the projjhet of the wilderness, which was his ordinary abode: the wilderness hallowed to the Jews by all the memories of their wonderful history. Like his prototype, he had stood upon the rocky slopes of the Mount of God ; and sheltered in its caverns; devoting his time to commu- nion with his thoughts, and the great Unseen. To such a soul, the wilderness presented attractions. As EHjah came out from the wilderness with the suddenness of an unex- pected flash from a careering cloud, so John, with hair and beard untouched by the hand of man, in coarsest garments and with hardiest fare, presented himself to the men of that generation in a guise suited to command their instant at- tention, and secure their highest respect. He was almost a reproduction of Elijah's self; and like him, was awful in his reproof of sin. The old prophet had been not onlj^ stern, but, as it were, fierce in his denuncia- tions. The man vMo, in his zeal for Jehovah, could with his own hand, in obedience to the law of Moses, immolate the prophets of Baal, was not the man to mince or hesi-, tate in the condemnation of wrong. His romantic courage, and his invincible faith, gave him an undisputed ascendency; the king trembled before him, and the hearts of the people bowed to him. John possessed a kindred zeal and courage, and in his preaching emulated the old reformer, whom he represented. His nu'ssage agreed with the expectations of the people^ l)eing of the same tenor with that delivered b3' the mighty prophets of the past in every degenerate age. as the prepa- HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 39 tion for God's returning favor. By the immediate adherence of the people, he became at once the master spirit of the times. In the brief reports of his addresses left us, we learn that he '"knew not to give flattering titles to men:" but, as one ordaiued of God, spoke ^vith the most blunt direct- ness of address, the most caustic severity, and the most scathing denunciation of sin. For a time he filled the view of the nation; attracted the attention of the Sanhedrim, who, by a special committee, investigated his mission: and drew the gaze of Herod, who invited him to preach before himself and court. The plainness and severity with which he revealed and denounced the Pharisees and Sadducees. ring like the words of Christ himself. He inculcated a spiritual instead of a formal religion, a repentance that should be, as the word signifies, a change of heart; and demanded a reformation that should be a necessary result of this inward grace. He was thus restoring primitive Judaism. His life seems to us, as we read its record, a sad one in- deed. He was destined not to see the victory- of the Mes- siah, nor to understand the outcome of his career; but to die amid the doubts and perplexities arising from his mas- ter's want of success, and fast approaching rejection by his own people. In his despondency even he I'esembles his illustrious prototype. We can hardly recognize Elijah in the prostrate form under the juniper tree. The man of iron, who could face a. frowning world, when he did succumb, seemed to fail entirely, and become weak as any other man. Like him John, notwithstanding the fullest assurances of the Messiahship of Jesus, worn with confinement, tired out with delay, and im]3atient of the darkening prospect, sent messengers to imjuire of the Master: "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" For a time he seemed "a reed shaken by the wind;"" but only for a time. Herodias, the evil genius of Antipas, as Jezebel was of Ahab, was his irreconcilable enemy, h'ing in continual wait, and at length prevailed against him. He was left to die amid the darkness; not favored like Moses with a Pisgah view of the coming: kino-dom. He laid down his life amid the 40 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. deepest shadows of the valley' ; but clinging more closely than ever to him whom he had heralded. A marvellous sympathy for him was in ever^- heart; and not a doubt was felt of his mission as a true propnet. But the like had never occurred before. The messengers whom God had sent had, without exception, been long-lived ; even if they had at last become victims of the rage of enemies. They had been invulnerable by the hostilities of opposers, until the purpose of their life had been accora- pHshed. God had defended them b^- the shield of his own presence ; and saved them by camps of angels in the midst of persecutors. Their service had been extended through years of testimou3' and labor ; but John perished being yet young. Isaiah had prophesied for sixty years; Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Moses and Daniel, forty 3'earseach; John's ministry had continued but little more than a year. An unspeakable sympathy for his untimelj^ end filled the hearts of the nation. That the only prophet, that had appeared for four centuries, should, after thirty years of preparation, be thus cut off after one year of service, proved some deep design of him who worketh all things wiseh^ and well. X melancholjMnterest attached to his memory; and gave rise to the fancy, that he might yet rise from the dead to com- plete his career. But nevertheless his work was done. To designate the great Redeemer was honor enough for any single life. He had time to bear ample testimon3' ; and his loudest procla- mation had been made by his death. He had been superior to Moses and all hij- successors in the woiiders of his birth, and the near position he had held to the man of promise. They had testified of him standing afar off, and looking down the ages; he had laid his hands upon him in that service, by which he had conseci-ated himself to God as his righteous servant .to accomplish the great work of the re- demption of a race. His was the place of honor nearest to the king of glor\': and it was meet that when the Lord ap- peared, the servant should immediately disappear. Such is the conduct becoming the i)Osition which he occu])ied. Every eye was thus turned ui)on him, "who came after him but was before him, and before Abraham, before all HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 41 creatures ; and with God when only God was. As the morning star disappears in the glory of the approaching luminary; so John dropped out of view. His death thus announced the fact, that the sun had arisen ; the man of destiny is standing among you ; the seed of the woman has come ; God has provided nis lamb of whom he spake to Abraham ; the crisis of the world is at hand ; the age of the prophets has passed, and the age of fulfilment has come. God, by snatching away John at this stage of his career, said, as it were, the principal figure is before the eyes of the nation ; let nothing divert their gaze from him. " This is my beloved son, hear him." Come we now to the great incident of the ministry, the baptism of Jesus. John was evidently well acquainted with the son of Mary. He knew doubtless all about his heavenly descent, his miraculous conception, and his sinless life. That his parents should have concealed from him any of the particulars of the history of one, with whom his own life was to be so closely interwoven, is quite improbable. Mary had no confidant but Ehzabeth;'" as "she kept all these things" from the world, "and pondered them in her heart." These matters were not the theme of common gossip; but sacred secrets of which she could speak freely onl}^ with the wife of Zacharias, whose condition of pregnane}^ the angel had proposed to her, as the confirmation of the message deliv- ered to herself. No reason can be suggested, why the two children should not have often met ; and indeed become familiar associates, understanding their relative positions and future connec- tion. John probably knew all that his mother was able to communicate; and the words in which he declined ad- ministering baptism to the only one, in whose case the outward sign of purification seemed inappropriate, and the shock which he evidently felt at the mention of it, demon- strate the fulness of his information. John certainly un- derstood him to be the Holy One of God. The sinlessness of his childhood and youth had distinguished him, as clearly as the immaculate purity of his riper years. His had been a childhood purer than the snow ; a youth whiter than the light; a young manhood of celestial nobility. 42 SKETCH KS KIUIM THK LIFK OF JESUS. The ordinamv of pniificatioii seemed to have no appliea- tiou to him : nor did it, except as an act of consecration on his part. When Jolm said. ''I knew him not." his meaninji' must have been that he did not ottit'ially know him. When God sent him to baptize and to reveal the hidden Christ, lie had not desi^-nated him bv name or by description : bnt had given a sign by whieh he shonld be rei'ognized. when he appeared. John did not even know that the sign would be connected with the administered ordinance. There was a baptism for whieh himself daily prayed ; an inward purification, the only earthly boon he craved ; and Jesus, he knew, had the ]iower to bestow it: the baptism of the Holy Ghost : '■and comest thou to me? " The reply of Jesus to this demurrer was: "Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometli us to fulfill all righteousness," and it implies that our Lord felt himself bound to comply with every requirement exacted of man : and seems to contain an implication, that John's hesitation arose from his knowl- edge of the true standing of the exalted applicant before him. The man, whom the countenance of an angry king could not abash, was thoroughly overcome at the presence of the humble, road-stained traveler from Nazareth. He knew that, by the ordinance, he could no more add to Jesus, than he could add light to the sun, or gild the sky. It was doubtless with trembling hands that he poured the water of consecration upon the head destined to wear the diadem of the universe. It was the one occasion of his life, the crowning act iif his career. As the two, apart from the crowd of spectators, ascended the bank of Jordan together. Jesus prayed, perhaps on this wise: "Lo. 1 come to do thy will. O. God: in the vol- ume of the book it is written of me. Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not : a body hast thou prepared me : burnt- offering and sin-offering thou hast not required: yea. thy law is in my heart." Make me to bear their griefs, and carry their sorrows: to be wounded for their transgressions: and bruised for their iniipiities: let the chastisement of their peace be on me: and by my stripes let them be healed : let me be brouaht as a lamb to the slaua'hter: and lav IIISTOlilCAL AND DOCTUINAL. 48 upon me llie iiii(]nitv of tliein all;" let me bwoino the wcape- goat of human sin and hi.v down my life, the jnst foi- the unjust. As he prayed, the heaven was opened, i. e., a beam of liftht brio-hter than tlie midday sun, came from beyond the region of sun and stars, and illuminated his ])erson ; and in the light the form of the bird of mourning (drcled down; until it alighted upon his head; and abode upon him. All saw the light; foi- .Justin Martyi- i-elates that the banks of Jordan were illuminated fai' and near; but none but the two saw the glittering form of the dov(^ Simultaneously came a voice fi-om heaven ; "this is my beloved son, in whom 1 am well pleased;" and after the form of the dove had alighted, the voice repeated: "thou art my beloved son; in thee I am well pleased." And so was fulfill(!d the scripture in Is. XI; 2, which says, when the little shoot shall sprout from the decayed root of the stump, not of David, for there was nothing royal about him, but of Jesse, the plain, private citizen; "on him shall rest the s])irit of the Lord, the s])irit of wisdom and un- derstanding, the s|)iT-it of counsel and might, the s])irit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;" the seven-fold energies of the divine spirit; or as I'aul puts it, "the spirit without measure." Such influences no mere man can receive and live; more than man can see (Jod and live. There have been instances in which the excess of the divine influence has almost bro- ken the eai'then vessel; and (iod has been besought to stay his hand ; but on Jordan's bank stood one, who could sustain the unstinted measure of holy influence, and bear the face view of the dread Jehovah. This separates him from the mass of mankind, as the one capable of assuming the position of mediator; being able to a|)pear l)y vii-tue of his own i)ersonality before the burning throne. Doubtless he might now have said, as on another similar occasion he did say; "this voice came not because of me; but for your sakes." He needed no confirmation from heaven, to enable him to understand his own high identity; or to encourage him with ai conviction of his high descent. That he should be (lod, as well as man, and not be con- 44 . SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESL'S. scious of his own exalted nature, is too puerile an inter- pretation to be regarded : to say that he who had waited 4000 years, till the clock of destiny had struck the hour of his appearance on earth, should be when he came, uncon- scious of his own personalit3% is to deny that he was God. AVe find him at twelve 3'ears of age filled with the sub- lime consciousness of it. Mary had never communicated to him the secret of his origin; mothers do not speak of such things to their sons; she calls to him at this very time Joseph as his father: "thy father and I have sought thee, sorrowing." His reply was to the effect, I know very well the father, from whom 1 am descended. "How is it that ye sought me," as ye would have sought another boy, through the streets, or in the places of common resort?" "Wist ye not that I should be about my father's business," or in my father's house? as the words might Avell be trans- lated. She was amazed, as she well might be, at his self- consciousness. He needed not that any should tell him. The object of this bestowal of the Holy Ghost was to energize and qualify his humanity for the great work before him. All the abilities and graces which the human nature is capable of receiving, w^ere bestowed when the spirit rested on him "Grace was poured into his lips;" "he was an- ointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows:" "he hath made my mouth as a sharp sword ; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; and said unto me, thou art my servant in whom I will be glorified." The inauguration of a king or president is a great occa- sion and grand ceremony. This induction possessed no pomp or worldly show ; it was enacted in no ca.thedral of solemn architecture, nor with holy oil ; but under the great dome of the sky, the anointing being by the holy dove from heaven, bearing infiuences which none but he can impart. It is impossible to conceive a more public announcement of the actual advent of the Messiah than was thus nmde. The coming of the forerunner was advertised to the nation, at one of the great feasts probably : the birth of the prom- ised seed, and his actual presence in Bethlehem, was pro- HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 45 claimed in tbe court of Herod by the magi from the East ; and in due time the appearance of the last and greatest of the prophets aroused the whole nation of the Jews into an eager and wondering expectancy; and his sudden and al- most immediate disappearance was the loudest possible proclamation that the coming one was alread}^ in their midst. John had only time to say, "Behold the lamb of God," and pointing to Jesus to say, ''this is he of whom I spake:'' and he was gone. He left all eyes strained to catch a view of the prince of Israel; and all hearts beating with a strange expectancy, and ready to receive him. Jesus thus dropped into their very midst, as God's "beloved son, in whom he was well pleased." The way could not have been better prepared for his immediate. and unhesitating reception; and heaven could not have more loudly proclaimed his actual presence. The wonderful scene at his baj^tism was sufficient to remove all doubt. The whole process of the gradual unfolding of the great mystery took place in the keenest sunlight of publicity; and the death of the great prophet was itself the loudest of all the testimonv which his ministrv afforded. 46 SKETCHES FEOM THE LIFE OF JESUS. CHAPTER V. THE CALL OF PETER AND HIS ASSOCIATES. The most iinprestiive method of instruction is b}^ obiect lessons: it was our Lord's favorite method, aud gave an indescribable power to his words. The account of the call of Peter comprises one of the most striking in the history. Before it is considered, it is necessary to have some idea of tlie man. Our Lord's choice of him, for the conspicuous position which he occupied, proves him to have been a re- markable man in some respects. It is easily perceived from his gospel: that he was more affected by the miracles than any other of the twelve; and that he comprehended them better. He was a rude, uncultivated fisherman, noted more for the impulsiveness of his disposition than for any other (|uality. A stronger specimen of this cast of character can hardlj'^ be found. Men of this hasty temper are invariably subject to certain sins. They are constitutionally prone to falsehood, speaking without an instant's deliberation. It is true of them, that things say themselves; and they know what is uttered, only as they hear it. Falsehood was the habit of Peter's life; but not deliberate lies, so much as continual slips of the tongue. Yet he had not the power to deceive; for he was perfectly translucent. To act a part, to carry out an assumed character, was to him an impossibility. This is true of men of his class. Coming into life with so odious a. vice deeply imbedded in the structure of our moral being, and defying all attempts at correction, is one of the sad liabilities of our condition as fallen beings. Another vice, to which such are prone, is profanity. Sins of the tongue are their besetment. The unruly member can no man tame. Every feeling of impatience, of irritability or disappointment, speaks itself out in blasphemy. Peter showed himself familiar with the whole vocabulary of the HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAIj. 47 pit, when he denied his lord and master. This was but a relapse into his confirmed habits of strong language. This habit of profanity is the only recognition of a superin- tending providence, and admission of the being of a God, which some men express. For its formation little teaching or example is needed ; it is the natural language of the hasty, impulsive, impetuous type of human beings. Another weakness of the man was, chameleon-liive, to take the complexion of the company in which he fo^nd himself. He was entirely carried away with .the present occasion ; and entered with the greatest zest into what was passing; and was largely moulded by the interests of the hour. The present was, with him, the whole of life. No man had a keener appreciation of what was taking place, or quicker observation ; indeed he seemed for the time to forget the past, and to surrender himself wholly to the events, amid which he was. Ardent in his attachments, impetuous in his feelings, overflowing with irrepressible zeal, and possessed with a high sense of his own sufficiency, he was always the first in every emergency ; and obeying the dictates of his hasty temper, put himself easily and naturally in the lead among his fellows. He w'as by no means a coward. In the great exigency into which his master came, Peter having found him- self in possession of one of the swords belonging to the company, with full intent to use it against whoever might oppose, be he Jew or Koman, was ready to strike the first blow of a bloody conflict against odds. His estimation of himself was such as to sustain him in any measure he might adopt. Knowing the injustice of the rulers, the meanness and treachery of their method, and keenly sensi- tive to the outrage being perpetrated by them, he took no thought that he was resisting the established authorities; but abandoned himself to a contest, which proved him sin- cere; when he professed himself willing to go to prison or to death with his master. He struck with intent to kill at the first man who laid his hands on Jesus. He was loyal in his adherence; neither did he flee until the use of the sword was interdicted; and no alternative was left him but to flee, or surrender himself to arrest. He followed, how- 48 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. ever, iuto the very den of lions, thus exposino- himself to the cruel temptation, which swept him away. There were grand points in the man's make-up, allied, however, with the most glaring weaknesses. If there was ever a mortal, who stood in need of the in- dwelling superintendence and guidance of a heavenly moni- tor, Peter was the man, With the inward director, he was in himself a host ; without it, he was unsteady, unreliable and wavering. He maj'' have been chosen as the leader on this very account ; th^t his weakness might compel him to rely upon the continual aids of divine grace. Jesus was to be the leader : and the visible conductor was to take orders every instant from the presiding spirit; who was able to make the bruised reed stable as a rock, for which he was named, amid the beating billows of the sea. About one thing he never wavered, the divinity of his master, whose inward direction imparted to the apostle's character a dig- nity, completeness and force never surpassed. He would have been a prominent man in an^-- age or community'. When at length the great crisis arrived, which brought him to the front, the most conspicuous of the twelve; the last touch of preparation, the culminating finish of his education, was the permitting him to fall into the sore temptation, which carried him away as with a fiood. In the hour when his master needed a friend, and "looked around for comforters but found none," this disciple, full of the loudest professions, was left, with harsh and angrj^ voice, in the very hearing of his Lord, to repudiate him with the vilest blasphemy. This denial, coming at the time when it would be felt most deeply, was a part of the suf- ferings of the holy one. But to return to the fisherman, at the time of his call, he had been for some time a nominal adherent of the Xazarene; and had received the surname of Cephas or Peter, transferring his connection from the Baptist to the one whom he heralded. While our Lord remained in Capernaeum, he abode at Peter's house; visiting it after the synagogue servici? on the first memorable Sabbath. During the service a surprising incident had occurred. A man possessed by a demon had been present, who was indeed a HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 49 regular altenclaiit ; and bad been allowed to come, because he 2;enerally conducted himself with proper decorum, as in- sane persons commonly do durino- religious exercises; but who on this occasion became spasmodically' excited at the presence of Jesus ; and interrupted the worship by exclaim- ing in a loud and angry tone, assuming to s]3eak for the whole assembly: "Let us alone. AVhat have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? / know thee who thou art, the holy one of God." This discernment was not the instinct of insanity, which often shows an unexampled intuition; but was the utter- ance of the demon, who alone of all present knew the pre- cise status of the teacher. When Jesus authoritatively commanded him out of his victim, he indeed complied with manifestations of rage; but "came out of him, and hurt him not." The remaining portion of the service Avas eon- ducted amid an awe-struck stilness and attention; but an astounding proclanmtion had been made of the high char- acter of the strange teacher. Coming to Peter's house, greater wonders still ensued. His Avife's mother, the victim of a dangerous fever, was instantly restored to health and strength ; so as to return at once, without an interval of convalescence, to the labors of her housekeepinir. And this was only one of many equally astonishing cures wrought when the sun had set. No one was more impressed by these mighty works than Peter himself, whose penetrating observation and acute judgement served him well. On the next day, as Jesus was walking by the sea of Galilee, a great multitude thronged him; for the people were thoroughl}- aroused, desirous to hear again from the teacher of yesterday. By the shore, in a spot where the water was of suitable depth, lay two ships belonging, one to Simon and Andrew and the other to Zebedee and his sons James and John. Jesus being thus called upon for dis- course, entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him to launch out a little from the shore. When the vessel had been put in about the centre of the cove; our Lord had an improvised pulpit as convenient as —4 50 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. could be arranged, and an audience well accommodated for hearing; and he sat down and taught them fi-oni the ship. Of the subject and tenor of his discourse, nothing is known; except that his personality' was as distinctly audi- ble in his Avords, as his power was visible in his works. At the close he requested Peter to launch out into deep water, and let down his net for a draught, a request with which Peter hesitatingly complied, observing that the^' had "toiled all night and taken nothing.'' There was in his words the tone of an expert, who knows what he is talking about, and is well apprised that there is no possibility of success. The day time and bright sunshine are not the season for fishing; night is the time. The deep waters are not the place for catching with a net; but the shallower sea. But in face of his fisherman instinct he ^vas willing to let down the net "at thy word." The result w^as that the net was neither large enough nor strong enough to hold the finny prey that was captured. It was impossible to haul it to the shore as it was alreadj'- breaking from the abundance of the catch. The solemnity' of the company can be understood from the quiet call to their partners; they beckoned without speaking. When the other ship came to Peter's assistance, the greatest wonder of all was; that as fast as the fish were taken out by scoop nets, other fish continued entering the net, replacing again and again those which had been re- moved; until both the ships were sunken to the gunwales; and a little add^'nonal weight would have carried them to the bottom. Ships of size were used upon the lake, as we learn from Josephus. A big haul of a hundred and fifty and three would not sink a canoe; unless they had been monsters. Enough were caught to furnish each one of the assembled crowd or each family represented with its food for the day. Like the widow's pot of oil which ceased not running until the vessels prepared to receive it were ex- hausted ; the fish came through the broken opening in the net; until there was no room to store them farther. This, occurring in Peter's own trade, with every feature of which he had been familiar from boyhood, carried him entirely awa3\ He left the business of the fish entirel}- to HISTOKICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 51 other hands, transported by an impulse which it was not in him to resist, and turned his attention to the strange preacher cahnlv sitting on his deck, who seemed in some inexplicable way associated with the power that ruled the sea, and to be indeed "the holy one of God."' Judgment had been for some days pursuing him; it overtook him just then; he himself was caught. He was suddenly full of a sense of his unworthiness; "he was weighed in the balance and found wanting;" and would fain have fled to hide himself like Adam. Unfit to occupy the same abode with Jesus, he fell at his knees, with the words pouring from his broken heart; "depart from me, for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord." There is nothing that can produce such certainty of di- vine rule and divine judgment as an awakened conscience- the convictions of reason are shadows in comparison. He could not bear the inspection of this stranger, whose eye seemed to pierce into his naked and open breast. It was not the miracle that so moved him : it was the power be- hind it: and the stainless purity. His prayer was almost a repetition of that of the poor demonized man of the Sabbath just past: "Let us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? I know thee, who thou art: the hol}^ one of God." Our Lord hastened to quiet his fear: we are most acceptable in his sight when least in our own: "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men;" "but rise and stand upon thy feet; for I have ap_ peared unto thee for this purpose to make thee a minister, and a witness both of those things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes; to turn them from darkness to light ; and from the power of Satan unto God ; that they may receive the forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among those which are sanctified through faith that is in me." This was a promise of unprecedented success. He should reap that whereon he had bestowed no labor. Other men had labored ; .lohn the Baptist had sowed the seed through the gloom ; and had not seen one ray of the coming glory. Even Jesus himself had seen little fruit of his labors. On the Pentecost the harvest time of the Jewish nation began 52 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESTS. Peter was eminently fitted for a gathei-er, beino- a man of instantaneous decision himself, hastA' and intense in his emotions and activities, jumping- with all the fervor of his nature to the course to be pursued. His whole emotion cen- tered in the present. He was the man to charge home to the conscience of the Jews the unspeakable guilt of reject- ing their Messiah, and to call upon them immediately to repent and convert. Christ chose Peter, crushed like the broken reed, fit only to be cast aside and rejected. W^'hile his heart was still sore over his own apostasy, he was filled with pity for those who persisted in denying the Lord that bought them, and could address them in their guilt as ••brethren."' Ye denied him before Pilate: "I wot that through ignorance ye did it:" My own denial was in the face of knowledge and profession. The tide of his feeling- rose to the flood as he exhorted them to save themselves from this untoward generation. His preaching must have had in it a wonderful force, if Ave may judge of it by the epistles which he has left. An immense tersene-^s and vigor sound in them ; and we almost hear the word now, now in every exhortation, (lifted with pith}-, nervous address, and capable of herculean efforts on the spur of the mo- ment, he was admirably qualified for the work which he was called to perform. God can indeed make use of any man's individuality, and endue it with such power as to render him the ver^^ man for the age; but God himself must polish the shaft. 2. A long night, of seemingly fruitless toil precedes the ingathering. A season of sowing always precedes the reap- ing season. The work of the sower is longer extended and more arduous than that of the reaper. It is his to watch the favorable moment, and to cast in the seed, when he finds the soil broken up to receive it. In the womb of the earth it may lie buried out of sight long, waiting for the coming of the showers, and the vivifying heat of the sun. The sower does his work with weeping, and soaks his seed with tears. The process of germination is beyond his observa- tion. The christian mother is the seed-sower first in order of time; and her efforts may for a long pei-iod seem un- availino-; vet are thev not abandoned. The christian HISTOKICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 53 teacher and friend are engaged in the same work : and everj' scripture truth u.sed is a seed deposited in a i-eadj soil. The preacher of the gospel is above all others the divinely' appointed laborer, scattering broadcast the seeds of truth. Often one sows and another reaps. The whole life of Eli- jah the mighty prophet appears to have been preparatory and introductory: the fruit was gathered by his; successor. Such were the labors of the Baptist: he was the sower of the seed, while others gathered the harvest. Daniel also in Babylon prepared the way for subsequent results. Every great advance of the church follows a period of protracted, faithful and laborious effort. 3. Success comes at the word of Christ. God can bring men to decision by the arrangements of his providence : as the arrest and condemna.tion of the Nazarene forced Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus to a public avowal of their long-concealed convictions, and to a sincere acknowledge- ment of their allegiance to the rejected one. He knows how to place a man at the point, Avhere the two ways part, and leave him to make his selection. As the ambassador of Rome drew a circle with his cane around Mithridates; and required a definite answer of compliance with the de- mands of the senate, or of refusal, before he crossed the line of the circle: so God hedges a man's way, and brings him to a stand; that he may choose or refuse submission to the requirements of the gospel. He can bring a whole nation to the point at onc^, "multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision:'' as the whole Jewish nation was brought by the resurrection of Jesus : and forced to take sides either for the truth or for the falsehood. Whenever men either single or in crowds find themselves compelled to an immediate decision of compliance with the demands, of the gospel, or of refusal : such a, season may be the crisis of their eternal destin3\ Their whole opportu- nity may be narrowed down; till much may depend upon the conduct of an hour. The kingdom of heaven has come nigh unto such. As the husbandman sows his wheat in the autumn, and sees it buried in the soil during all the frosts of winter, 54 sKirrciiKs kuom riiK likk ok .iksis. \vlitM-(> it cnmiot \ (\nt>l ji(o: so llic spii-itiuil sower u\i\y do- posit his s(M>(l with no i)i-osjK>('t of an ininKMJiatc harvest ; bnt (lod can solt(Mi the soil by th(> «»vnial inlluenci' of the retui'nin^' sun. and send the vivifyino* showers; and the Hov{\ which had seemed dead may start to a. new lif«»; and a mi«ihty field break into ii-r(>enness at once. In tlH^s])irit- ual domain we call such an ev(Md a revival. The Savior is " wisi» in counsel and exc(>ll(Mit in woi'Uin^:" and it is he, who ordcM-s and su|terintends the proj;ri>ss of his church, lie not only prepared the lii^ld. but the reaper. Vetev was (pialitied foi- his woi-k not only by his broktMi h(>a,rted JUMuility; but by the sincerity and transparency of his character, liki* a cl(>ar ii'hiss trausnuttinu; the rays of the lio-h( that slu)ne within him. l''ncourai;"ed by the promis(> of Jesus, and tilltMl with a i-(>al but ,\et untried faith. Simon and .Vudnnv. and shortly aft(M- Jai;;»'s and John, forsook all and followeci him. lb» who comnmnded all the treasures of Ww (hn'p, and who conUl su[)ply the choictvst wine from the common bevera«»e from th(> fountain, could be trusted for all ntvded temporal suppli(>s. TetiM- buoyantly l(>ft his family, and was willinji' to folli>w his master to j>rison ov to death, confroutinji' a world in arms. Their faith was iienuint^: their convictit>ns inunovable: and they wtMH> eai;er to link their fortunes with the tmt ion's dt^livtM-(M-. Views of worldly advancement ami riches never io be attaiutnl ftauuHl a d(>c(>])tive mii'aii'c ho- fore thtMu. Had th(\v known the truth, as tlu\v afterwards leariuMl it. their zeal miuht not have been so ardent; yet their attachnuMit was sinctM'c; and tlu\v committed themselves to tlu> direction of the nt>w U>adtM" without hesitation; expect- uiiX the sjuHMJy fultilluuMit of his word, by the universal con- sent of the nation to his indis|)utable claims. .Mas, how h)n«i- and dark ;r niuht of toil was to inter- venel and how far from univtM-sal was tin* nation's approval and adoption t)f him tt> bel HISTOnirAL AND DOrTIUXAL. 55 CHAPTER VI. THE FIRST MIRACLE, JOHN II; 1-: Tlie first display of divine power by the new teacher took place in an insignificant village of Galilee, whose very name might have been forgotten ages ago, but foi- the celebrity given it by this occurrence. The family, for whose help the miracle was wrought, was not only poor, but of the poorest. The season of the year was jjrobably the time of the vint- age, when winf! making was in progress on ev^ery hand, and a supply could be obtained in any stage of preparation, from the fresh must to the perfectly fermented beverage. The memorable baptism probably took place in the early autumn; and this marriage followed shortly after. Indif- ferent wine was cheap and abundant: that the family was in a condition of poverty is plain, from the fact that a sufficient quantity for the protracted feast vvas not obtained, and that not of the best. The poor were ever the subjects se- lected for the benefits which the Lord V)estowed. The miracle was unexpected : no previous intimation be- ing given. The virgin mother alone seems to have been looking for some display, which might justify the great predictions of angel and prophet. And then no one, not even the servants, who drew the water, saw any steps of a visible process. All was effected silently, and beyond the ken of observation. Had any, previously informed of what was coming, stationed themselves at the water jars to watch the proceeding, it is quite certain that nothing could have been observ^ed, except the deepening color of the water, at the moment when the lips of the governor of the feast tested the cup: and at that moment the miracle .was al- ready past. It had been accomplished in the twinkling of an eye: there was no manipulation. Nor vvas immediate proximity to the water jars on his part necessary at all. 56 ski;t( in:s from the like of jesus. His was a power as effective at a distance as close at hand. Such silent, instantaneous unobservable operation belongs to (lod alone. The first thing suggested b\' this history-, is, that Jesus is the only son, and indeed the on\y child, of Joseph and Marv In several passages of the gospels, he is said to have had brethren and sisters; but according to Hebrew usage of speaking, a man's near relatives were all of them broth- ers and sisters. In 2 Kings x: 13-14, the brethren of Aha- ziah, king of -hidali, are mentioned forty and two men. Ry referring back to 2 Chron. XXII: 1, it is learned that Ahaziah had no brothers, he alone having survived the massacre of the royal family by the Arabians. The brethren spoken of were none of them ne.irer of kin than uncles or cousins. A man's whole kindred were his brothers and sisters: and this ])robably explains the mention of the brethren and sisters of Jesus. Some of the christian fathers suggested that those named in Matt. XIII: 55, James and Joses and Simon and Judy were children of Joseph by a former marriage. This, as Dr. Edersheim has shown, cannot be the case. Our Lord was not n son of David, of whom probably there were scores or hundreds, but the son of David in the direct line. He could not be lawful heir of David by primogeniture through his father Joseph ; except as being his first born son, which he was beyond all (jnestion. He stood thus in the line of direct descent: and Mary was the only wife of Joseph. We find in the Acts and Epistles the apostle James called the I^ord's brother .^.;The two Jameses in the apostolate were sons, one of them of Zebedee, and the othor of Alpheus: and neither of them brothers literally of Jesus. Alpheus is sup- posed by many to be identical with Cleopas; whose wife Mar\- is. mentioned as sister of the virgin. She could not of course haS'e been full sistei', and bear the same name, Mar^'. She was her relative, perhaps cousin : and the apostle James could not have been nearer of kin to Jesus than second cousin; and so according to Hebrew speech his brother. This brief review appears to settle it, that our Lord had no real biother.-^. It seems probable also that he had no sisters: for if Marv had had another son or son-inJaw; the HISTORICAL AND DOf'TRINAL. 57 dying Christ would not have committed his mother to the charge of the apostle John. Some have supposed that as the brothers of the Savior were not believers, this may ac- count for his passing them by. The history however posi- tively states that they had become Vjelievers before the nota- ble pentecost, and likely before the crucifixion; so that this explanation is not tenable. The conclusion then seems inevitable that he was the only child of his parents. This condition isolates him perfectly ; David's direct line coming to an abrupt termination in him : after Jesus there could be no direct lineal descendant by primogeniture from David. This isolation would be more perfect, if Joseph were the only son of Jacob: and Mar}- Eli's only daughter. This direct descent from David continued till the advent of the promised seed : and he stands designated by the finger of providence, as well as that of prophecy, as the expected one, upon whose shoulder the government should revert; and upon whom the hopes of the world should center. The destruction of their genealogical tables begun by Herod, was made entire by the Roman war; but befojfe it was completed, men of that day. who had every opportu- nity of genealogical examination, were not only convinced of his regal claim : but proclaimed it in the face of the nation: and the bitterest enemies of the cross never denied it; though this had been the easiest and surest method of destroying the rising sect. The pedigrees of descent being preserved with a more than religious care, nothing could have been more convincing than the records of the house of David produced to the harm of Christianity. Had it been yjossible, it would have been done without fail. It is enough for us to know that it never was attempted even. His parents were not indeed residents of David's city; and the birth took place while thev were on the move from Nazareth to Egypt : and after a stay of fort^' days, Joseph slipped away a fugitive by night. That the birth occurred there was not only a mattei- of record in the Jewish tables; but it was likewise recorded in letters of blood upon living tablets and broken hearts. 2 This history shows that Mary was not allowed to have a mother's influence over her son: and indeed almost 58 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. no influence at all. We have no reason to believe that his ordinary address to her was, "Woman." There was re- proof in the word unusual upon his lips. He undoubtedly addressed her in the most respectful manner usually ; but now there is an altered tone as well as altered words. She was to understand at once the difference in their position. From being* the most obedient child, complying- with her every wish, listening to every suggestion: he was entering upon his public career as the Messiah, in which he was to suf- fer no dictation, and tolerate no advice. She was to be no longer mother, but woman. His father's business here- after claimed him exclusivel3^ in which he had no counsel- lor. "None can say to him what doest thou?" "He will do his pleasure." The style of the address may seem to us a little harsh; but it was no rougher than was needed at the very outset of his course : that she might not presume upon her connection with him, though the highly favored among women," to whom even the angel of the annuncia- tion appeared to show a deference. Tl^s annihilates entirely the Catholic figment, that Mary even now exercises a commanding influence over her son. A little farther along the gospel story, we come to a time when the country was full of the slander, that he cast out devils by Beelzebub; and that himself was possessed of a devil. It was at this time that Mark tells us Ch. IH; 21; "When his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him; for they said, he is beside himself." They would have used force with him ; and the loving and anx- ious mother doubtless was in full consent. Not being able to approach him for the press, "they sent unto him, call- ing him. And the multitude sat about him ; and they said, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answered them saying: who is my mother or my breth- ren?" He would hardly have spoken thus, if his mother had not been carried away by the considerations of world- ly' policy which guided his unbelieving brethren. Her ma- ternal solicitude led her to listen to counsels utterly un- worthy of her divine son ; and his refusal to see her was a just and merited reproof of her unbelief. How infinitely HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 59 below the standard, her feehngs and purposes really were; she undoubtedly realized afterwards. In all that we know about Mary, we see nothing great or extraordinary in her. Her faith was truly remarkable at the time when she received the angelic visitation. Not- withstanding the difficulties into which the fulfilment of his words would bring her, she believed and said: "Be it unto me according to thy word." But in her magnificat we hear nothing especially sublime; we simply hear the unmeasured astonishment with which she found herself selected as the "highly favored" mother; herself so reduced, so poor, so overlooked by the rich and mighty. This appears to be almost the sole thought of the song; resembling, indeed Hannah's, buh not shining with as bril- liant flashes of true poetry, nor exhibiting a soul so finely sensitive. Had she been carried away by the strongest emotions of the wildest poetry, none could have wondered ; but the whole effusion bespeaks a plain, plodding woman, to whom her son speaks by reproof almost harsh. That the idea of her having been born without sin should ever have been entertained in the professedly Christian church, is simply horrible. But houses of worship stand in cultivated places dedicated to the immaculate conception. We hear the name as though it referred to the one concep- tion; but if we remembered what the designation intends, the words would not be suffered to pass protestant hps. If idolatry ever intruded into the temple of God, and set up its images in the most holy place; this was done when the apostate church, not content with canonizing sinful mortals, and making them authorized intercessors with God, exalts a sinful worm of the dust to the height, on which the holy Son of God stands alone and unapproach- able. The strongest proof of inborn sinfulness is liability to (suffering. Let all men judge if the virgin, whom blas- phemy celebrates as thrice holy, was exempt. This mother certainh^ had no influence in the formation of his character, for she utterly failed to comprehend him. Great men are understood to derive their most conspicuous traits usually from the mother's individuality first; and then from mothers' training, who almost carry the destinies 60 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. of their offsprino- in their formative nursing. This one was run in no human mold, ennobled b}' no human teaching or example: he was what he was from inward forces, that never had place in another-. Neither had the spirit of the age, which shapes the man in every case, to which none can possibly rise superior, any influence in determining his character. The spirit of the age was not embodied in him ; he was at the verj- antipodes of his age. Neither had Jewish training any share in the production of one, who never absorbed one drop of the gall and bitterness of Judaism. No forces in existence operated in his production. He was a growth wholly foreign to our world. Not one stain of the evil, with which the world everywhere abounds, attached to him. "The smell of the fire had not passed upon him." Like the pure ray of light, which cannot be contaminated by contact with filth, he was pure as heaven's light ever in this pandemonium of iniquity. 8. It is proper here to indicate the personal peculiarities of the great teacher, as far as we can gather them from the accounts remaining of him. It is probable that he was, in bodily appearance, beautiful; the beau ideal of humanity; that everything pertaining to his physical organization and outward appearance was faultless. The same body he will carry through etei-nity ; therefore there was about it no defect, no disproportion, nothing offensive to the eye of the most fastidious taste. The features of his countenance were exquisite, doubtless : but there is a far higher grade of beauty than the m'ereh' physical. Of this spiritual beaut3' he was the very highest model. A purity and moral eleva- tion stamped his whole pei-son as being ''fairer than the childi-en of men.'* If low and base passions leave their hideous impress upon the face of mortals; and make the human countenance repulsive; as being a mere nmsk that conceals much, but reveals more; if character writes itself upon the outward tablet; we may justly conclude that all about him corresponded with his inward perfection. Through his eyes looked a soul that had never known sin, a spirit in which was no guile, and which was in uninter- rupted comnmnion with the highest glory, and full of the HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 61 elevation of the loftiest themes. The countenance of clay Avas but a thin veil, concealing- yet revealing the heavenly indweller. His humanity was the enveloping- globe that softened the glare of the too bright enclosed light. That a personality endowed with such immeasurable force should have been destitute of facial expression, is incredi- ble. The irrepressible movements of the human side of his person recorded themselves on features mobile and plastic. Communion with the holy ones made the countenance of Moses shine for a season; but the whole person of Jesus had been luminous ever, as on the Mount of Transfigura- tion, had he permitted it. Tf the light and the glory were not manifested, yet the beauty was there, the beauty of the soul, the beauty of holiness. On this occasion, the great miracle so quietly wrought, the first for nearly five centuries, fastened the attention of all present upon him ; and made him the sole object of re- gard. This he ever was in every company, however im- mense the crowd. All eyes turned ever upon him; and he was master of the situation always. Not a word that he spoke was ever lost; and each had the power of fixing it- self in the memory beyond any example known. His re- plies were repeated from mouth to mouth, until they were in the possession of assembled millions at the times of the great feasts ; and no one had eyes or ears for any other object than to observe or listen to him. Such conspicuous, ness well became him ; for an inimitable grace was in every look and movement; a self-possession more perfect than ever seen through the ages, that could not be embarrassed by an}" possibilty, made him serene and unmoved in the most exciting situations. His look indicated an imperturba- ble repose of soul. The deep calm of his spirit how unlike the unrest of ours, tossing ever like the sea casting up its mire and dirt! In no one respect did his look differ more from the common appearance of mortals, than in this strange and ineffable calmness and self-possession. He was solid rock: everyone else was shifting sand. He was never taken off his guard, or surprised by any sudden attack. Nothing earthly had the power to excite him : the offer of a kingdom could not produce a ripple 62 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. in the still waters. So he was never at a loss, never con- fused, never in need of a moment's reflection. His answers were immediate always, and never missed the mark. They were always pre«:nant with personal application, that could not be evaded: but forced conviction on every ^ainsayer. The quickness and the wisdom of his replies, amaze us at this distance of time, as they did the questioners. Before him, men, whose hearts were boiling over with rage, "held their peace" and answered not again. Such a mental and spiritual superiority marked him, as friends and enemies in spite of themselves, alike were forced to acknowledge. It is beyond our power to estimate the intensit3^ of his chaTacter, the force of his individuality, his power of im- pression. His eye could subdue a man, or control a crowd' It drove Roman soldiers backward to the ground, broke the heart of the recreant Peter in the moment of its great- est hardness, and made the highest Jewish rulers afraid to encounter him. And no one ever trifled with him, or in his presence. Mighty crowds before him observed the most perfect decorum, and were swayed by him at a word. No congregation of worshipers in the temple were more orderlj' or quiet than those assemblies that followed him to the mountain, to the seashore, or the grassy retreat. At his word a host of five thousand seated themselves in ranks with the stilness and precision of mihtary obedience. His voice was easily heard through a press of man^^ thousands bv every individual in it; and all the highest qualifications of a leader were^n him. A greater than Jonas, a wiser than Solomon, a mightier than the mightiest of the prophets, he moved with the e\^e of the nation upon him, the ob- served of all observers. Such greatness was compressed into the limits of our feeble humanity ; that the very won- derfulness of the fact almost surpasses belief. His presence at a marriage festiA^al is demonstration, that his countenance was not always sad. The letter of a pre- tended Lentulus giving a description of him, as wearing a gloom of continual sadness, as often weeping but never laughing, is a forgery of the middle ages. Religious joy is the most intense of all species of happiness, "a well of w'ater springing up unto everlasting life," whose origin is HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 63 too deep for human search. It is as far removed from frivolity as from o^loom. Himseh was "the fountain of liv- ing waters,'' he "had meat to eat that" the world "knew not of." His nature, unlike sinful human nature in which grief is rooted, had the buoyancy and elasticity of perfect freedom from evil. The most common expi-essiou of ordi- nary countenances, is one of utter indifference to others, or of disregard approa(;hing to scorn : every one about the Nazarene on the contrary, realized that his affection em- braced them in its warm folds. That his look was marked with more than a mother's sympathy for each in- dividual; and that a divine compassion, was so conspicuous as to compel the notice of all observers is matter of record. He was in perfect contrast with the austerity and asceti- cism of the Baptist: at the wedding feast he shared the innocent pleasures of the occasion; nor could there be in- decorum or excess in his presence ; even iwere the wine wdiich he made intoxicating, which it is not necessary to admit, for he was the acknowledged master, in whatever gathering he might be. The infinite happiness of the di- vine being arises largely from giving, from the communi- cation of happiness to others. The dispensation of bless- ings on every hand must often have irradiated the face of the Savior with triumphant satisfaction; and his visible exultation over returning penitents could not be concealed. Lv. XY: 2. Occasions are also mentioned on which his joy overflowed. His presence did not cast a gloom over the company in this humble home. With all these marks and accompaniments of true great- ness, he was the most condescending of persons. He could accommodate himself to the smallest child; indeed he was a most remarkable lover of children. The simple, unso- phisticated nature of childhood everywhere recognized him. His kindness and transparent naturalness won the heart of childhood, which opened to him as the flowers do to the sun. In every place childhood gathered to him "as the bosom of the ocean in its tide swells to the moon." In the little infant even, the shapeless hump of humanity, he felt an undissembled interest; though the disciples forbade the mothers' approach; and nowhere in the gospels does he 04 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. touch our hearts more deeply, than iu the scene where he folds them in his arms, and blesses them. Such was the pei'sonage, who now came into pubhc view, manifestinji" for the first time the mysterious power which he possessed, to a company of peasants of Gallilee. His ])resence jerraced the marriage feast; and he gave it the high honor of his first miracle. He, Avho was to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows, showed that he sympathized with the joys as well as with the anguish of human life. Wherever he was. he was the light of the company, the charm of the listeners: and no occasion more richly merited his presence than the joyful celebration of the marriage of the 3'oung. The first benediction recorded in the old tes- tament was upon a wedded pair whom God blessed ; and Jesus hallowed with his first miracle this same institution of marriaji'e. HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 65 CHAPTER VII. A SKETCH OF THE MINISTRY. Jesus of Nazareth was altogether the most striking- char- acter of the age. The eyes of all centered upon him. The theatre of his operations was indeed limited; but Caesar upon the throne of the world commanded far less attention from those within the compass of his jjersonal range. More was condensed into the three or four j-ears of the ministry, than oi'dinary ages could hold. These years were the focal point not only of the world's history; but of the great drama of eternity. It was notorious that, while the leaders despised the prophet of Nazareth, they trembled at him in their hearts. The origin and growth of their oppo- sition is worthy of close attention. I. For a time he was looked upon as a prophet only; his divinity had nideed been proclaimed at his baptism;' but 'Son of God'" was a designation capable of more interpre- tations than one. The tone of his teachings and the man- ner of his miracles soon suggested its true definition ; but on any point of strange and portentous importance, the human mind asks time for reflection; and must look at a question on all sides, in order to mature an opinion. It was not until his disciples had enjoyed many opportunities, and seen much evidence, that he asked them directly: "Whom do men say that I am. and whom say ye that I, the son of man, am?" Outside of their own number none appreciated their mas- ter as the Christ; but accounted for the many mighty works by the theory, that he was one of the old prophets risen from the dead. The disciples had, however, seen enough to convince them, that he was "the Christ, the son of the living God." The supreme diviiuty of the expected Messiah was a matter of so stupendous import; that, how- 66 JSKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JE8US. evei- clearly revealed in the Jewish scriptures, it had ceased to be an article of Jewish faith, as exceeding the bounds of credibility: and was not inculcated by the doctors of the law. The prejudices of education had, however, been re- moved in the minds of the twelve by intimate association with their master. They had seen that he was peculiar; a man, indeed; but separate from men by a chasm of difference. He was peculiar in his miracles. Prophets had been com- missioned to perform a miracle in a life-time, or at great intervals of time. "Many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus: but none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman, the Syrian." Their master healed all that had need of healing, numbering scores in a day often, perhaps hun- •dreds. And full as he was of zeal for the glory of God; yet not a word was Hsped by him implying that the power which he exercised was not his own. His language was often "I will." In addition to his other wonderful works, he forgave sins ; therein assuming an authoi'ity above that of the immutable law of God. That his forgivness removed the sense of guilt, was evident to all, who observed the tears dry at his word, and the countenance shine with the glow of a benediction from above. In this there was enough to change all their preconceived notion^: and lead them to look upon him as the son of God in the full sense of the word. Their master was peculiar in his teaching. He was deliv- ei-iiig no message from a higher authority ; himself was the fountain of wisdom. His whole manner declared: "we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen.'' He was peculiar in his prayers. He was a man of prayer : but oh, what prayers he offered! He made no confession of sin, expressed no self-condemnation, implored no forgive- ness: and his prayers were answered to the full extent of his petitions, and on the instant. Should a man pray in this mnnuer, he might expect in return judgments instead of blessings. Intimacy with such a being gradually wore away all their former conceptions; and prepared them most firmlv to confess him to be the son of the living God. HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 67 II. General opposition to him may be dated from the time, when the proofs of his divinitj' became clear and un- deniable. These claims he did not assert ; nor allow his disciples, or those who had received benefits from him to assert. His works which the Father had given him to do announced him as distinctly as the voice from Heaven. His were not the noisy pretensions of an impostor. They were too solemn for ridicule, which is the incontrovertible weapon of the people against all nonsense. Ridicule was never attempted with him. The facts furnished overwhelm- ing proofs of his standing. His charge was "believe not me; but believe the works.'", He sought the independent convictions of the most close and careful scrutiny. It was impossible to receive him at all in any other character than divine. He was either loved with all the heart, or in- tensely hated; he was either worshipped or abhorred. The opposition kept even pace with the demonstration of his divinity. While in every respect he was a man, he was yet separate from sinners, as the heaven is higher than the earth. All men are liars. It does not take a thousand lies to make a liar. The sacred lips of Jesus were never polluted by a lie; the shade of deceit never darkened his counte- uance. "In his lips was no guile." All men are haters; murderers in heart. Their bosoms burn with malignant passion. Love exists in the human soul: but onh^ towards friends : and them it does not love sufficiently until they are dead. Jesus was all love to friend and foe. His eye shone with heavenly compassion even to his murderers. He was all purity. Nev^er had a blush passed over those innocent features; of shame he was incapable. Before him there was no place for hypocrisy. To deceive him was hopeless; and in his presence self-deception seemed impossible. He came "that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed." It had been as eas^^ to hide the sun at midday, as for an individual to avoid the light of the sun of righteousness. All before him stood revealed in their nativ^e colors; sensible, that in spite of themselves every veil was torn awav. His like never stood on earth; before 68 .SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. whom disguises vanished, and all efforts at concealment ceased. A character mio-ht be assumed before him; but the mask was instantly dropped ; and the man was uncon- sciously betrayed into acting his true self. There never was a more perfect development of real human nature, than in the days of Jesus of Nazareth. All were constrained in some wonderful manner to cast aside their seeming, and to act their i-eal selves; and doubtless many were surprised into words and behavior unaccountable in their own view, nevertheless exhibiting a faithful picture of the human heart, like a fiend of woe gnashing the teeth at the view of unsullied innocence and heavenly love. It stands as a wonder of history, that there was a: Judas. III. The land rang with slanders. He Wcis scornfully reported to be a "NRzarene." That he was born in the city of David was recorded not only in the genealogical tablets, but in the blood of the innocents. ''He is H gluttonous man and a wine-hibber.'' He went wherever he was invited, to the table of friend or enemy. On such occasions, some of his most interesting and forci- ble discourses were uttered. The sabbaths were feast-days with the Jews, all preparations being \nade on the day pre- vious. 'He receiveth sinners and eateth with them.'' If the Mag- dalen became a saint from contact with him; and Zaccheus a friend of the poor: theirs was a, blessed association. "//e eateth bread with unwashen hands/' Forbidden by the traditions, not by the word of God. "//e keepeth not' the Sabbath day.'' "Ought not this woman, whom Satan hath bound these eighteen years, to be loosed fi-om this bond on the sabbath day?" It is the very day for such a joyful deliverance. "He iorgiveth sins.'' Those who received the blessing- were able to testify. The absolution of a priest cannot take away the sense of criminality. "Thou maketh thyself God.'' Not so. \Miat did the woi'ks declare? "He hath a devil.'' In this way they accounted for the super-human in him. They saw in him a composure that could not be rutHed,a compassion that could not beangej-ed. HISTOinCAL AND DOCTRINAL. 69 a .self-possession that no sni'pHse could take off its guard, a peace deep and unchangeable as a river; and they said: "He hath a devil." He was for "a sign spoken against." To all these allegations, the Lord paid no more attention, than to the accusations made before Pilate and Herod. The majesty of infinite wisdom was in all his conduct. He employed himself in going over all the cities of Israel un- deterred bj' clamor. ''Who is blind, but my servant, or deaf as my messenger that 1 sent?'' Though few accepted him in his true character, he caused a deep and wide sen- sation; and his enemies well understood, that a leaven in- fused by him was silently working, whose outcome would be the overthrow of their traditionalism; the substitution of another quality of service in .the place of their vain and empty formalism; and the destruction of their authority as teachers and guides of the people. IV. The rulers began to feel the necessity of ruining him, in order to sustain their own power. They supposed them- selves abundantly able to get an advantage over him in the conflict of wits; their aim was also to develop a charge against him, which would justify them in denouncing him to the Roman governor as a dangerous person. To this work they deliberately set themselves, on the o(;casion of his last visit ,to Jerusalem; sensible that the crisis of destiny was upon them. He had entered the city as the son of David, claiming the title as his due. Before him, when he entered the temple, the sellers of sheep and oxen and the changers of money, the thieves who had made it their den, had fled. He made himself. lord of the holy house, dismissed the guards, as- sumed its police himself; and there wrought his mighty works. On the following morning he was met by an im- posing array of the chief priests and elders with the ques- tion: "by what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?'" They had felt his author- ity to that degree, that the}' had not rebuked the children in their Hosannas; nor were able to stem the (current of popular feeling sustaining him. His i-eply utterly confounded them. He became the questioner, and shut them up to a full admission of his 70 SKETl'HKS FKOM THK LIFE OV JESUS. anthority, or ji (lisclaiiucr of .lolni the Baptist. "1 will also ask you one thin AND DOCTICINAI.. 71 Further, the stamp of Gotr.s ownership is on fill that he has made; his imaj^e is impressed upon the souls and l>odies of his creatures: and the superscription of his rig:ht and title to their service and affection is le"ardless of the numbers to be encountered, and the authority:* behind them, he at once proceeded to abate the nuisance. What rendered this trade more odious still, was the extortion practiced by both bi-okers and venders of animals, who charged excessively for the ex- change of money and for animals bearing the stamp of the priestly inspector, as being without blemish, nnd suitable for sacred use. To effect the ex])ulsion of this trade was no small under- taking. The temple area comprised nine acres of ground by modern nxMSurement of remaining foundations, nearly one-half of which (constituted the court of the gentiles. More than a (juarter million of lambs were re(iuired for HISTORICAL AND DOCTUIXAI.. SI each passover, which weie disposed of from the tenth to the fourteenth day of the month, making sixty thousand sales per day, a large portion of whic-h took place in this court, besides sales of bullocks, doves and young pigeons. If each flock of one hundred lambs had its kee])er. the number of men engaged was not small. The account of our Lord's proceeding is so succint, that we hardly have material to picture the scene; but of some particulars we are apprised. 1. He accomplished the purgation alone, unaided. He had no accomplices to co-operate iu a simultaneous attack upon the animals, to drive them out by force or by strategy. His disciples stood by in silent astonishment, and merely witnessed the procedure. "Of the people, there was none with him;'' no one assisted more than they did at the raising of Lazarus, or when he gave eyes to the man born blind. Indeed, he did not address himself to the animals chieiiy; but to the men in charge of them. 2. It was effected without violence or tumult. No effort was made to stampede the flocks to their serious injury ; as would have resulted, if droves of sheep by tlie thousand, with cattle intermixed, had been rushed in mass through the gates. The riddance was effected with deliberation and without such haste as to threaten damage. There was no pell-mell discharge. Not a lamb was injured, not a dove released. The actor did not put on the frenzy of a mad- man, oi- assume the prophetic fury, or employ any tactics, whose audacity might surprise the keepers into compliance. The history is sufficiently explicit to show, that he pro- ceeded with due regard to the safet}^ of the property, and the consent of those entrusted with it. The scripture was still fulfilled, "he shall not strive, nor cry, neithei' shall any man hear his voice in the street.'" No unnecessary demon- stration attended the performance. His works were all wrought with the smallest possible appeal to public notice. This work was carried ouc with the same quiet but irre- sistible efficiency; and could but have been hailed by the devout as a sign of the returning vitality of their religion. 3. It was executed in the most high handed and sum- mary manner. It is to be supposed, that in some way not 82 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. related, lie secured the attention of the crowd, and made proclamation of his purpose. His voice had a tone to penetrate thiough an audience of tens of thousands. His appearance must have produced a sensation. His presence ahvays seemed to bring God nearer, and to invest the dim and shadowy conceptions of him with a living reality. None beholding him could divest himself of a strangely in- creased sense of accountability to God. Now he rose to the emergency with a demeanor, which brought to their remembrance, that Jehovah had never suffered his court to be defiled with impunity; and that terrible judgments had avenged such audacity; the records of which in their own scriptures came with terrifying force back to their treach- erous memory, and overcame them with alarm. His words were as arrows from the quiver of the Almighty shot out. It was not so much what he said, as what the voice from heaven had proclaimed; and what they saw in him. There are not lacking instances, in which men's consciences have suddenly awakened from deadl3^ slumber in a moment, under the influence of some fearful portent, or imminent peril ; and at a single flash as it were from the judgment seat, transgi-essors have been made to tremble under the mighty Jiand of God. It was so when Jesus spoke. Passing first to the brokers" row he hurled their tables in succession to the pavement, scattering the rolling coins in all dii-ections. He manifested a greater contempt for this class of thieves. He next jiroceeded to the stalls of the dove merchants, and overthrew their seats, ordering the immediate rei'ioval of the cages. The money changers were not in a position to remonstrate; for he left them on their all fours; neither had they time to enter a plea; for they were never busier in their lives, scrambling after the rolling pieces, and taking iu a large area with their eyes. The dove sellers, had not the courage to object; for fear that the fi-ail structures that held their birds might go the way of the seats: and thus their ])roperty become a total loss. He next proceeded to the enclosures of the sheep and bullocks, which were probably made with temporary and moveable fences and ])artitions: as no fixtures were possi- HISTOUICAL AND DOCTRINAT,. 83 ble upon the solid marble pavement. He swun^' wide open the gates of the folds, which he fii'st reached, throwing down the structures which separated flock from dock as far as hands could reach, repeating the command: "take these things hence; make not my father's house a house of merchandise;" emphasizing the word "Father's." Striking with a sharp blow of the scourge in his hand the veteran, trained sheep, leader of the lambs, the bell wether as we call him, of which each flock had one; he started him on the back track to the gate at which he had entered. This course the uneasy animal would readily take, as an escape from enforced confinement amidst strange surroundings. Nature animate and inanimate ever obeyed him : witness the unbroken, unbridled colt, which carried him to Jerusa- lem ; and the fish which brought to the hand of Peter the needed coin. Flock after flock was dismissed so rapidly, as to leaA'e no time for remonstrance from the keepers, who usually went before the sheep; and now found them- selves under the necessity of rushing to the head of the line, and giving their wonted call to their own flock, these animals possessing the most acute distinction of voices of all brutes handled b^^ man. In this way onlj^ could they prevent the intermixing of flocks to their own loss. They Avere of necessity very lively in their movements; and how- ever reluctant to depart had no interval for demur, no one failing to comply with the master's command : even devils were alwaj's compelled to obe3^ A similar course was pursued with the bullocks, and their guardians. The stern directions were neither disputed nor disobeyed. All were yielding to an irresistible influence, and under a spell that conquered them. The tone of the master's voice had in it the ring of absolute command ; and his face was lighted with the consciousness of his own high connection with the unseen divinity of the temple; and his whole animated form rev^ealed this persuasion. Readers of this portion of the New Testament history generally- conceive, it is probable, that at this time his face was marked b}^ harshness and anger; but his countenance probably wore no threatening aspect. There was certainly not a tinge of severity upon it, when at the gate of Oeth- 84 SKETCHES FKO.M THE LIFE OF JESUS. semane. the soldiers went backward from his look and fell to the ground ; but an unparalleled submission lent an al- most celestial radiance to his features, which not only over- awed the men of war, but thrilled the very soul of the Roman governor; subdued the dying- thief; brought groans from spectators of the crucifixion up, as the^^ smote upon their breasts; and extorted a confession from the rugged centurion. A wondrous tenderness was in his words, when he cursed the barren fig tree, Mark XI: 25-26, and Avhen he doomed the holy city. Anger in the human sense he never exhibited, but imagination can never picture that countenance. In the vast court of the Gentiles there was soon but one ob- ject, on which all eyes were riveted ; and a silence had soon fallen upon the place, in which no sound was heard but his. own sharp command. Truly 'it was never so seen in Israel." Instances are on i-ecord in which strong natures have (controlled and overpowered those of weaker mold : they may illustrate, but fail to explain this achievement of the lowly Nazarene, in whom the passive virtues predominated, and had their most perfect development. Unlike all human examples, the force existing in him was that of immaculate holiness, and purity without a blemish. His was the weighti- est personality that evei" moved on earth. His simple presence was a rebuke to evil: and the sight of him sug- gested a contrast in the highest degree unnerving to the beholder. No man, conscious of being in the wi'ong, could stand before him,, or endure his gaze for two moments in succession. His Ibok thoroughly aroused thf sleeping con- science, and brought near the distant thundeisof the Mount, which not even a beast could touch and live. The temple at Jerusalem was in fact another Sinai ; and these desecra- tors of God's house i)ainfully recollected it. The truth flashed upon them. During the seven allotted days of the passover feast, .lesus held possession of the holy house, as he also did at the time of its second purgation, and performed many mira- cles in the days ; as is learned from the statement of Nico- demus, and the testimony of the Galileans, who attended and witnessed them, and were thereby prepared to accept HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 85 his teachings subsequently. Indeed the purification of the temple was a lesson never to be forgotten. A nioi-e fitting- initial work for the opening of the ministry of the Messiah, could not have been selected. This regard for the sanctity- of the house of God he continued to enforce during the days of his occupation, against the laxity- which suffered ttie court of the Gentiles to be made a thoroughfare for passers for the saving of distance. No work could so commend itself to the heart of a godly •lev.-, nor carry with it a stronger conviction, than this work of cleansing- the holy house, which had in every de- generate age been the initial work of revival, and i^eturn to the worship of Jehovah. The words of the prophet Malachi were evidently fulfilled: "'Jehovah shall suddenly come to his temple, even the angel of the covenant, whom ye dehght in : behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who shall abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he shall be like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap." He had dropped down -among them as the angel of the covenant, the angel of the presence, the reformer of abuses, burning with zeal for the honor of God, like the angel of the Lord. The immense reserved force in this calm, gentle character must have impressed thousands, as it did Nicodemus ; when he saw the modest, retiring young teacher from Nazareth flashing like a sword of flame before the eyes of evil doers; and carrying out single handed and alone his work of re- form over all the united power of the ruling clasIFE OK JESUS. dill. None could invent such a thing respecting- God; had he not revealed it himself. The divinity of the doctrine is its own evidence. Such a thing so noble, so good the wildest imagination never conceived concerning him. 1. This love Christ teaches is universal, embracing all the members of the human family. "God so loved the world.'' If he had said : God so loved the Jews ; it would have been in accord with all the prejudices and bigotry of his audi- tor. The Gentiles were not at all accounted of in the sight of God according to the teaching of the times: "they were only as the drippings of a cask, or like spittle." But the import of these words is, that God loved the Gen- tiles ecjually as he did the Jews. Distinction of race and blood count not with him. The object of his regard and affection is man as man. Even in our enlightened day there are those who would prefer to hear Jesus say : God so loved the church, or God so loved the elect : but this is not the tenor of the words, "God so loved the world." Our minds are so limited and narrow, that we cannot take in the whole idea of the entire race in our conception ; and we are forced to lump all the numberless millions of men of all ages in one term "the world." We lose sight of the individual in the general ; but God does not so generalize. To him every individual is present and fully appreciated in his individuality'^, and considered as a unit; and each one as an individual is an object of the divicee love. When our Lord says: "God so loved the world;" the words must mean that he so loved each member of the human race, as to tfive his only begotten son for his indi- vidual salvation. (lod expressly said to Cain, that the way of acceptance and forgiveness was open to him, as well as to. Abel. The words, "Jacob have I loved, and Esan have I hated," were spoken more than a thousand years after the men were in their graves, and had no reference to the individual brothers; but to the nations descended from them respectively. The purport of our Savior's teachings is: God so loved Cain, Ksan. Judas Iscariot, the bloody Mary, Tom Paine and every other enemy of truth and right, as to give up his only begotten son to death for their salvation. 2 Cor. V: 15. most undeniablv asserts that HISTORICAL AND HOC'I KINAI>. 93 Christ died for ••all" in distinction fioni the saved. The word -'aU"" cannot be nan-owed down to the exclusion of any portion of mankind or of any individaal : but is most sweppino- and inclusive. God so loved the world not in the general and totality: but knowing intimately every dis- tinct person, he loved them all in their separate individu- ality. The vilest sinner of the race God loves as David loved his Absalom, the enemy of his throne, and of his life as well. Did not Christ weep over Jerusalem when the things be- longing to their peace were hidden from their eyes? Did not God bemoan himself over the antidiluvians, when "it repented the Lord that he had made man upon the earth ; and it grieved him at his heart?" Jesus does not sa3^ Would God I had died for thee: but over every lost soul he says, for thee I drank the cup of trembling, for thee I laid down my life, and gave my soul as a sacrifice. Over every generation, it repents him that he had made man upon the earth : and it grieves him at his heart. (Jver every generation, Christ says Avith tears: "how often would I have gathered thee?'" "He is not willing that any should perish; but that all should come to repentance." He even makes oath: "As [ live saith the Lord: I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth; but rather that he should tui'n and live." i. e. His death is a grief to me, a wound that I receive. No one then is beyond the pale of God's love. For- wise and inscrutable reasons he suffei's evil to prevail to the eternal ruin of multitudes; because men are left to the freedom of their own will. The responsibility foi- this ruin is on themselves. (jod's love to every individual is real and unfeigned. There is a vast amount of pretended affection on earth; but accursed be the thought of hypocrisy or deceit in him. Love has its origin and home in the bosom of God, and like coals of juniper it has a most vehement flame. Waters cannot quench it, nor floods drown it;" like the flerce burn- ings in the coal oil regions Avliich floods cannot check, which can only be left to burn themselves out; only God's love <'an never exhaust itself. 94 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. Are we severally the objects of such a love? If we deny or doubt it we are rejecting the testimony of "the faithful and true" witness. If any would put this to the test, let him come to Jesus Christ in the exercise of a real faith; and he shall know for himself, if the reality does not surpass the report; and not the half can be told. Such is the nature of faith that to doubt is to reject. 2. Our Lord here teaches that the love of God surpasses belief. "If I have told j^ou earthly things and ye believe not; how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things?" The regeneration of the soul is an earthly thing, and if you can hardly believe what I tell 3^ou of it: were I to tell you of the love that moves in the heart of God, which is a heavenly secret; how could you believe? There is something in it that the largest faith can scarcel3^ credit; and yet the only witness, capable of testifying from his own personal knowl- edge of it, is the speaker, being the son of man, who came down from heaven, and yet is in heaven still. All others are heresay witnesses; he "speaks what he knows and testi- fies to what he has seen;" and his testimony is true. There is a tenderness of sympathy in God, an ardor of desire for our salvation, a slowness and hesitation in pun- ishing, a tireless long-suffering, of which men can form no conception. His love passes all creature affection, as the heavens are higher than the earth. The sun's height is computed, and is nearly a hundred millions of miles; but the height of the heavens cannot be stated in figures of man's arithmetic. The light of some of its shining stars has required thousinds of years to reach us. His thoughts are higher than the heavens. His love surpasses all the wonders of his creative works, and the infinities of his be- ing. The mighty strength of his nature moves in this channel. The ruling, determining power in the mighty cir- cle of his uncreated endowments is love. Standing in the chamber of sickness and death, or in the cemetery by the open grave, exhibitions of the sincerest affection are often seen ; and often has the thought arisen ; real love is here weeping, does God love as tenderly? Some- times separation means death to the survivor. Does God so cling to the objects of his affectionate regard? And we HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 95 fall back upon the testimou}- of the faithful and true witness: and rest assured that the fondness of a creature's love is ice compared with the warmth of the love of God. A mother's love stands as an example of the strongest human affection: but the scriptures tell us that God's love far exceeds. It's channel is deeper, its current is stronger, its volume is immeasurable. Are we the objects of such a love? Is the lowest, the poorest, most despised child of earth cherished in the di- vine regards with such an intensity of devotion? Is his welfare so dear to the great Father? and we fall back upon the words of the faithful and true witness; and believe. "Eye has not .seen; neither has ear heard: neither has it entered into the heart of man to conceive"' the infinite love of God. Could we borrow the language of angels, it would not vehicle the soul-dissolving truth. Could we call from the skies the loving John or the enraptured Paul, he could only say, that the words of earth are insufficient to describe the reality, which might be felt: but could not be told. Lips of clay can never- utter it: the burning tongue of seraph could never tell it. Gabriel could saj no more than that it passes knowledge; and when the attempt is made to declare it, the heavenly host are dumb with wonder; and it remains untold. Can the world be govereued by such a being? do all men share in the affection of such a Father? And we fall back upon the words of the faithful and true witness, who knows the deep things of God. A flood of evil has cer- tainly struck this world, upon whose disastrous current the race are being borne downward to a dark perdition ; we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind are carrying us away hell-ward, as the storm drives the withered leaves. . The heart of the best is a deep sea of in- iquity : the ways of God are inexplicable to our short sight ; but we rest upon the words of the faithful and true witness; and trust, where we cannot understand. We see but in part and know but in part. When the da^^ dawns and the shadows flea away, we shall comprehend some- what of that love, which the world will in no wise believe, thouffh a man declare it unto them. 96 SKETCHES FHOM THE IJFE OF JESUfi. 3. He loved them in their sins. This is the strangest feature of the story. It is no wonder that he loves angels : for they -are holy : it is no Avonder that his tender mercies are over the brutes; for they are incapable of sin; that the sun shines for the beasts of the field; and that the earth spontaneously 3nelds their food ; that he feeds the ravens and supplies the youug lions; these have never raised rebellion against his will, nor stabbed him by their ingratitude. But it is unspeakably wonderful that he should love sinners, wilful and wanton and stubborn rebels. When the sins of men cause the creation to groan, and the very ground utters loud cries to heaven for vengeance for the crimes committed upon it, it is wonderful that a holy (jod should not only forbear his punishment; but that the bowels of divine compassion should move toward the guilty authors of evil. 'How strange the love that him in- clined ! ' " It was not love in the human sense; for there was noth- ing in man to love. It was the purest, most unselfish af- fection possible. There are sights which sicken the behold- ers, from which they turn away unable to bear the view; the sight of sin affects a holy (Jod in just this manner. It excites intolerable loathing; he does not look upon it. What is therf to him attractive in the blind, ungrateful, sinful children of this world ? Is it possible that he should love the transgressors of his law? This is the most won- derful of all the wonders of his being. Is his feeling pity? Pit^' is a loving sympathy for our friends, when we t^^ them suffering. We pity the unfortun- ate; not the guilty ; our fj'ieuds not our enemies. Pity for the guilty would imply sympathy with crime. A full sense of the enormity of an offense just dries up the tears of pity ; and we resign the culprit to the fate which he has wantonly brought upon himself. The ofiiee of pity is to secure aid for the unfortunate, not the guilty. The emotion that ruled in the Godhead was then not like human love nor human pity. It was mercy; kindness to the guilty, the very pui-est form of love; a feeling not found in the heart of man, unknown to human nature; not ex- isting in our experience. It led Christ to pray for liis mur- HISTORICAL AND DOCTUINAL. 97 derers in their sin ; it was love in the purest form it can possibly assume. This was the nature of the mighty love which furnished a savior for man : it \yas love to enemies, while enemies. The whole race are partakers in the de- thronement of God. and the rejection and crucifixion of Christ. They stand by as sympathizers at least if not aiders and abettors: and the Savior's intercession for his murderers is really a prayer for the whole race. 4. This love is to be measured b}- the sacrifices which it makes. If a man g-ives his all for the relief of parties in whom he is interested; or surrenders his life in their be- half, the act certainly expresses the degree of his affection. It shows that he prefers their welfare to his own life. In the case before us God is doing all that he can do in be- half of sinful mortals. In Isaiah Ch. Y, he asks: "What more could be done that I have not done?"" Man could not be rescued by simple power : he is to be redeemed with a price ; and the price exhausted the treasury of heaven : but it was paid. It was the utmost effort of divinity. God did not wait to be entreated: the provision of the deliverer was immediate, spontaneous, gushing. As soon as man fell, the Savior rushed to his rescue. The redemp- tion was not indeed consummated till the fulness of time; but the arrangement was immediate. There was but one being of sufficient dignity and worth to satisfy the law; he that was above all law. His blood not only satisfied; it mag- nified the law. An incident in the history of one of the little states of Greece, Locris, is often quoted as an instance in a hu- man court, illustrating the sacred immutability of law, and the policy of delivering a culprit by substitution, which it well declares. The king, deeply impressed with the necessity of checking the destructive vice of adultery, en- acted a law; that whoever was thereafter found guilty of this crime, should suffer as a penalty the loss of his two e3^es; and that no position nor merit should shield the transgressor. His determination to enforce the law was strengthened by the evident demoralization and ruin effect, ed by the vice, threatening the entire corruption of society. The ejes being the inlet of temptation were to be forfeited 98 SKI:TCHES FitO.M THK life of JE8U8. to the law. Tlie first (leliiiqueiit was his own son, and heir of his throne : and we can imagine the stern old king upon the Judgement seat, presiding at the trial of his first born, and determined at all hazards to sustain the neces- sary law. On full proof he pronounced the voung man guilty, and sentenced him to sustain the dire punishment. The executioner was ordered to take the two eyes, which the law demanded. AVhen one had been thiust out, the king himself descended from the throne, saying: "the law has received one eye; take the other out of my own head." The law shall have its two eyes; but spare my son. This case exemplifies the principle of substitution: bui: liere the criminal endured one-half of the sentence. In our case Christ sustains the whole penalty, pays the whole debt and we are exempt entirely. In all our afflictions and sufferings there is nothing penal ; they are but disciplinary. Not one drop of the cup of trembling are we to drink: rhrist drained the whole in our stead; the cup of poison prepared for us he emptied. The law receives its full de- mands from ou]' substitute ; the rod of affliction smites us, but the sword of justice never. Awaking, as it were, from its sleep of ages, it descended upon the man, that was (iod's fellow. How vividly must the scenes of ('alvary have recalled to Xicodemus the convei-sation three years before in the house at Jerusalem. Every word uttered there must have im- printed itself upon the memory: as all the words of Jesus seem never in any case to have perished fi-om remembrMnce. The necessity of Christ's being lifted up as the serpent in the wilderness: (lod's giving him to death out of his great love; that man might not pei-ish, but have everlasting- life; unintelligible befoi-e, was fully explained by the event. The infinite dignity of the sufferer, the son of God out of the Father's bosom, who while on earth could not but be in heaven also, must have been realized when nature gave signs of woe at his death. He was "the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." The way of sal- vation through him by faith was made clear. How does a lamb take away sin? by suffering the penalty. How does the offerer receive the l)enefit of the sacrifice? bv laving his HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. 99 hand upon the head of the atoning lamlj, confessing- and laying his sin thereon. Faith says, this my Iamb dies for me: he taketh away my sin. This man Nicodemus evidently had not in him the stuff of which leaders are made. In his night interview with Jesus he did not use the singular personal pronoun at all. He spoke the convictions of others, as well as his own. '• We know that thou art a teacher come from (lod. '"Of the chief rulers also many believed on him ; but because of the Pharisees they did not (ronfess him." And when in the council afterwards the taunting question of the scribes, •'have any of the rulers, or of the Pharisees believed on him?," forced him to avow his conviction of the innocence of the Xazarene: his avowal was not open, but covert. The drift of his speech was, '"doth bur law condemn any man, before it hear him and know what it doeth?" One at least of the rulers and Pharisees considered his course with favor. But when the insane fury of the enemies manifested itself in the choice of the most unjustifiable mea^sures of pro- cedure against their victim ; and on the memorable day of the trial before Pilate, when "the blast of the terrible ones was like a storm against the wall:" or like the American tornado prostrating the w^all, levelling the forest, and scraping off the works of man from the face of the earth like toys of the nursery, Nicodemus stood firm against the blast. The tempest of feeling swept away the disciples: shut the mouths of those who had felt the touch of the all-healing power: caused the women to stand afar off beholding; but then this man publicly showed his at- tachment. Yet even then he was the secondary figure. A bolder soul went in and begged the body of Pilnte. Had he but been willing three years earlier to make public his allegiance to the master, whom he felt to be "a teacher come from God;" and by his own profession the Son of (lOd, whose mission to this world could not withdraw his presence from heaven, he might have realized the joys of (Jod's salvation all these yeai's. He would have received •'a hundred fold more in this life, houses, and brethern, 100 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions :*■ and have occupied a far hi,a-her place in the .aospel history than he now does. * HISTORICAL AND DO( TRINAL. 101 CHAPTER X. THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. JOHN iv, The reason of our Lord's leaving; Jiidea, whei'e lie had been teachinjj-, for some months probably, was because the Pharisees were irritated at his increasing populai-it^^ ; and took umbrao'e because the peo])le flocked to him rather than to John. Some of John's disciples also had begun to manifest a jealousy for their master, sinking- as he was into an eclipse. The Savior's prudence always led him away from collisions, and he ever appeased acerbity and prejudice by yielding. His course previously announced in the prophecies of Isaiah, ch. ix: 1, led him to ''honor the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphthali, where the peo- ple that walked in darkness were to see a great light.'" In one of these tribes Nazareth was situated ; and Caper- naum, in the other. For wise reasons he took Jei'usa- lem in his way : and thence his route lay necessarily through Samaria: though from Bethaburu he might have gone by the large caravan road up the east side of the river with- out touching either Jerusalem or Samaria. His object, however, was to deposit the seed' of gospel truth among the hated Samaritans. He made no distinction against the hereditary enemies of his people: but having begun his ministry in Galilee, and then in Judea, he was about to extend the same gospel privileges to the Samaritans. He made no race distinction in his mighty works, blessing with equal kindness Gentile and Samaritan. Twice he vindicated the cause of the Gentiles by (-leansing the court in the temple appropriated to them, embracing in equal affection all humanity. The sixth hour of the day found him sit- ting weary and hungry upon the rock platform of Jacob's well near the citv of Svchar, a suburb of the ancient Shee- 102 SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS. hem. The apostle, throu<»h whom he intended to inaugu- rate his work of love among the Samaritans, was a woman of lax life, and not the best repute, whom the necessities of hei- house brought at that hour to the well for water. God can choose his own instruments, and commence a revival of purity, morality and religion by an outcast. He is wise in counsel, excellent in working and sovereign in method. Jesus introduced the interview by asking her: "(iiveme to drink:'" and actually drank from the vessel polluted by tiie unclean. His disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat. A punctilious Jew would neither eat the bread noi- drink the water of the Samaritans, when compelled to pass through their land; and least of all would he use the vessels of the accursed race. The woman was surprised . and justly so. at a Jew devoid of hatred of her peo|)le, and even of contempt for a woman: and not onl}' so, but dis- tinguished by a benignity and humanity that slione out without concealment: and couldn't forbear expressing her astonishment at what she had never before encountered. " How is it that thou being a Jew askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria?'' Two causes of wonder affected her: that he should apply for relief to a Samaritan, and least of all to a woman of the interdicted blood. She was evidently i)ut perfectly at her ease with him. Our Lord of course answered not her curiosity, and wasted no words: but full of his divine mission came at once to the point. "If thou knewest the gift of God," what wonderful bless- ings he has to be;^tow, "and wlio it is that saith unto thee, give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him : and he would have given thee living water" just as freely as you have just given to him. He directs her attention to himself as God's special messenger to dispense heavenly mercies: who waits only to be asked, in order to grant re- freshments that will never fail in their reviving power. Struck still more by the air and tone of her interviewer, she looked at him more closely. He certainly was no de- ceiver, and possessed evidently the fullest consciousness of greatness and power; though h<> liad just been begging water; and he was full of a loving earnestness that amazed her. Her growing astonishment shows itself in her words: HlSTOUIfAL AND DOCTHIXAL. 103 •■'art tlion