V.8 DAILY BIBLE ILLUSTRATIONS: ORIGINAL READINGS FOR A YEAR, v» SUBJECTS FROM SACRED HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, GEOGRAPHY, ANTIQUITIES, AND THEOLOGY. ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR THE FAMILY CIRCLE. BY JOHN K1TT0, D.D. F.S.A., DITOR OF 'THE PICTORIAL BIBLE,' ' CrCLOP^EDIA OF flIBJJflA„„ LITERATURE,' ETC., ETC. y^A^vV"* '"C^l (* JAN IS 1911 (gaining ttxiu. ^%^f k {^i$ THE APOSTLES AND EARLY CHURCH. NEW YORK: dOBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, No. 2 85 BROADWAY. 1855. STEREOTYPED BIT PRINTED BY THOMAS B. SMITH, JOHN A. GRAY, 21G William St., N. Y. 97 Cliff Street. PREFACE. The closing volume of the entire series of Daily Bible Il- lustrations is now presented to the reader. The views on which the author has proceeded, and the objects at which he has aimed, have been too often stated to need fur- ther explanation. As this, however, is the last opportunity that will be afforded to him of alluding to the subject, he may be allowed to say, once for all, that, in the execution of this work, it has been his desire to make the new familiar, and to make the familiar new. This has been pronounced by a great authority* to be a worthy object of human endeavor. How far — how very far — the author has fallen short of his own aims and pur- poses, none can know so well as himself: how far he has reached towards them, must be judged by a public from which, during a long intercourse, he has experienced too much indul- gence to have any wish to appeal from its decisions. In the present volume the historical intimations contained in the Epistles have been carefully gathered up, and interwoven with the leading matter from the Acts of the Apostles. The conclusions exhibited are founded on a critical reading of the sacred text — the special results of which are, whenever neces- sary or when peculiarly interesting, explained ; but are more frequently embodied in the statement or recital, without re- mark. Although the author has exercised an independent judgment upon the matters that have come before him in the progress of this work, and has perhaps been favored by circumstances with some peculiar advantages for the undertaking now com- pleted, be 'has felt it due to his readers, to the essential use- fulness of the work, and to the demands of the time, to avail himself of every source of information to which he could ob- * Dr. Johnson in Life of Pope. VI PREFACE. tain access. The essentially popular plan of the work has not, however, allowed of minute references to books. Some have been given, when particularly required ; but the titles of works thus furnished, bear but an exceedingly small proportion to the number actually consulted. It may suffice to state that (apart from Commentaries on the Acts of the Apostles) the works by which he believes himself to have been most materially aided in the present volume, or to which he has had most frequent occasion to refer, are: — Coneybeare and Howson, Life and Epistles of St. Paul, 1853 ; Lewin, Life and Epistles of St. Paul, 1850; Benson, History of the v First Planting of the Christian Religion, 1750 ; Cave, Lives of the Apostles ; Lorenz, Annales Paullini, 1769 ; and the Chronological Writ- ings of Pearson, Burton, Gresswell, Moldenhauer, Schott, "Wie- seler, Anger, and Gumpach ; Hemsen, Der Apostel Paulus, seine Leben, "Wirken und seine Schriften, 1830 ; Schrader, Der Apos- tel Paulus, 1830-84 ; Hessel, Das Leben des Apostel Paulus, 1837; Scharling, De Paulo Apost. ejusque adversariis Com- ment., 1836 ; Biscoe, History of the Acts confirmed ; Paley, Hor® Paulinse, by T. R; Birks, 1850 ; Tate, Continuous History of St. Paul; Neander, History of the Planting, &c, of the Christian Church, translated by T. E. Ryland, 1851; James Smith of Jordanhill, Esq. ; — Yoyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul, 1848 ; Maitland, Church in the Catacombs, 1846. In conclusion, the author trusts it will not be deemed pre- sumptuous to express the hope — the prayer — that a blessing from above may rest upon even this humble endeavor to pro- mote the knowledgo of God's word ; by rendering the appre- hensive study of its contents a labor of love to many. J. K. I«ondon, January, 1854. CONTENTS FORTIETH WEEK Page The Holy Ghost • Jl A New Apostle J* Pentecost • l8 The Gift of Tongues 2 J The Beautiful Gate 2 j> The Lame Beggar 29 All Things Common 34 FORTY-FIRST WEEK. Ananias and Sapphira *'' The Tower 402 FIFTY-SECOND WEEK. A Good Conscience ■ f 08 Felix ■ King Agrippa *™ The Voyage. 424 The Shipwreck ** Melita to Rome **n The Catacombs , 440 LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Frontispiece : — Damascus. St. Stephen's Gate at Jerusalem 69 Modern Turkish School 104 Damascus 129 House on Wall at Damascus 148 Coin of the Emperor Caius Caligula 178 Oriental Mode of Prostration 197 AntaHyah, the ancient Antioch 220 Coin of Herod Agrippa 232 Coin of Cyprus, of the Age of Sergius Paulus 257 Jupiter as the Tutelary Deity of a City 279 Mercury, from an Antique Intaglio 280 Coin of Macedonia Prima 328 Coin of Philippi 329 Turkish Prayer Hut 331 Delphic Tripod, with Priest and Priestess of Apollo 336 Roman Lictor with Fasces 341 Athens 354 The Acropolis at Athens 355 Corinth 365 Figure of Artemis, the Diana of Ephesus 380 Silver Shrine of Diana 388 Coin of Ephesus 392 Roman Soldier and Prisoner 437 The Tullianum 439 The Catacombs at Rome 441 Monogram with Crown and Palm 448 DAILY BIBLE ILLUSTRATIONS. THE HOLY GHOST. ACTS I. 1-15. The last words of our Lord to his apostles, before lie as- oc*ded into heaven, conveyed a promise that, according tc previous intimation, they should speedily be prepared and qualified, by the operation and influence of the Holy Ghost, for the great work that lay before them — " Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." This involved a clear intimation, that the great evangelical message was then to be opened to all nations, and was no longer to be limited, as it hitherto had been, to " the lost sheep of the house of Israel." It also clearly implies, that much as they had been with Christ, much as they loved Him, and had heard all his words, and seen all his miracles, they were still unqualified for the work to which they had been appointed. Whoever has read the preceding volume of these Readings will be at no loss to apprehend this, and will have seen that this state of unfitness still existed, even after the resurrection. The question asked by them of their Master, just before his ascension, — "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel ?" shows that to the last the narrow Messianic notions, to which we have so often referred, still possessed their minds ; and there can be little if any doubt that, evera after the ascension, they still looked for Christ's 12 FORTIETH WEEK SUNDAY. speedy return, in great power and glory, to commence hia Messianic reign. If this be the case, the usual view is too narrow of the work which it remained for the Holy Spirit to perform upon our Lord's chosen disciples. It was the peculiar office of the Holy Ghost, then and since, to qualify the ministers of the gospel for their service, and to render their service effectual. These qualifications — such qualifications as ministers now need — were required also by the apostles. But also under their extended commission to all nations, and as the first com- missioned proclaimers of the gospel, in the fulness of that salvation which it brings, they needed peculiar and extraordi nary qualifications, which should in themselves avouch the truths they declared. Of such qualifications they had al ready received from their Lord the gift of working miracles ; and the most remarkable of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, which it remained for them to receive on the day of Pentecost, was that of " tongues" or languages, whereby they were enabled at once to speak and understand any of the va- rious languages of the nations to which their mission was then extended. But this was not all. The Holy Spirit was to " guide them into all truth," as their Master before He suffered had promised.* He was to teach them all. things, and bring all things to their remem- brance that their Lord had said unto them.f How crude their views previously were ; how imperfectly they realized the full scope of the Divine power for the redemption of a ruined world, we have already seen. They knew less of this than is now known even unto babes ; but, under the influence and teach- ing of the Holy Spirit, they would be enabled to remember much that their Lord had said, which, at the time of utter- ance, had not made any distinct impression on their minds ; and not only to remember, but to understand, that which, when delivered, was, as repeatedly intimated in the Gospels, * John xvi. 13. \ John xiv. 26. THE HOLY GHOST. 13 difficult or altogether incomprehensible to them. But when all had been fulfilled, — when Christ had suffered, had died, had risen, had ascended into heaven; and when the Holy- Ghost came as the promised teacher, comforter, and guide, their understandings were opened ; they were enabled to con- nect the declarations, the acts, and the sufferings of Christ into one harmonious whole, and to apprehend the Gospel plan in all its glorious and beautiful completeness, in all its boundless love, in all its fulness, and its grace. There was thenceforth no uncertainty or obscurity in their views. They knew that they were taught of God ; they knew that they had the mind of the Spirit, who had come to dwell in them, and to abide with them forever. There was now only one strange thing to them, and this was, that they should ever have been so blind in discerning, so .slow of heart in believing, all that the proph- ets had spoken concerning their crucified, their risen, and as- cended Lord. These views opened to them a far different career from that which they had formerly contemplated. They had to cast to ' the winds all their worldly dreams of being princes, lords, rulers of tribes, judges, commanders, officers of high estate ; and to become instead the lights of the world, the salt of the earth, the proclaimers of that everlasting Gospel, whose blessed- ness had now become known to themselves, and to the na- tions sitting in darkness and in the valley of the shadow of death. And their higher charge of opening the gates of mercy to mankind, these chosen servants of the Lord were enabled, under the enlightenment they had now received, to embrace with joyfulness, and with entire devotedness of heart ; although they knew full well that, in the discharge of the ob- ligations it imposed, none of the earthly honors which men covet, and which had formerly seemed glorious in their eyes, awaited them ; but that they should be baptized with the bap- tism their Lord was baptized with, and receive in full measure the heritage of scorns, of revilings, of bonds, of scourgings, and of deaths. But none of these things could move them now. Hence- 14 FORTIETH WEEK MONDAY. forth they were content to suffer the loss of all things, and count them all but dung, that they might win Christ and achieve the real honors of his kingdom. Henceforth they cared not, any more than their Lord, to hide their face from shame and spitting. Henceforth they counted not their own lives dear unto them, but pursued, with resolute steps and un- flinching countenances, the course whose end was in this world death — but glory evermore, and victorious palms, be- yond. FORTIETH WEEK— MONDAY. A NEW APOSTLE. ACTS I. 15-26. The apostles had been instructed by their Lord to remain at Jerusalem until they should receive the Holy Ghost. This took place ten days after the ascension. We are informed that, during this time of waiting for the great blessing which they knew they were to expect, they employed their time chiefly in daily attendance at the temple, where their presence in a body as the known followers of the crucified Jesus, gave evi- dence to his enemies that his party still lived ; and enabled them to satisfy the many inquirers who, doubtless, applied to them for information respecting the extraordinary circum- stances of which they had been witnesses, about which there must have been many and contradictory reports current through the city. The rest of the time they spent mostly to- gether in prayer, and supplication, and godly discourse, in a large upper chamber of the house which some of them occu- pied. Nor were they alone, it seems, in this ; for mention is made of one hundred and twenty disciples and " the women/' Who these women were is not particularly stated, " Mary, the mother of Jesus," being the only one who is named. This is the last mention of her in Scripture ; and from it we learn that she had now cast in her lot with the apostles, to the care of one of whom she had been particularly entrusted, and seems A NEW APOSTLE. 15 to have thenceforth had no other house than his. It is not difficult, however, to apprehend that the other women were pre-eminently those who had been the first witnesses of the Lord's resurrection — Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome the mother of Zebedee's sons ; to these we must probably add the other women who had come from Galilee, Joanna and Susanna. We are unwilling to suppose that the sisters of Lazarus were not among them, as their brother doubtless was among the one hundred and twenty male disciples. There were probably others of whose names we are uninformed. Most of those whom we do know were relatives of the apostles or of Jesus himself; and it is not unlikely that some of the women thus generally indicated were wives of the apostles. "We know that Peter was mar- ried ; and that his wife went about with him •* and this may have been the case with some of the other apostles, as it was a very rare circumstance among the Jews for a man to pass beyond his youth unmarried. The only transaction recorded as having taken place during these ten days, was the election of another apostle to fill up the vacancy occasioned by the treachery and death of Judas. It devolved on Peter to explain this matter to the assembled brethren ; and he took occasion to recite briefly the circum- stances by which this vacancy had been created. The occa- sion suits us well for the same retrospection. When Judas perceived the issue of his treachery in the condemnation of Jesus by the Sanhedrim, his conscience was awakened to the sense of the atrocity of the crime he had committed, and, goaded by its sharp stings, his first impulse was to cast from him with abhorrence, as an unclean thing, the bright silver which had been the fruit, as it had been in some measure at least the incitement, of his sin. The fact that his first movement, under this mental torture, was to cast away the bribe he had won so dearly, seems to denote very significantly that the possession of this had been his strongest inducement, and so far to corroborate the intimations of the * Matt. viii. 14 ; 1 Cor. ix. 5. 16 FORTIETH WEEK MONDAY. evangelists that covetousness was the sin that ruined him. He hastened to the temple, and throwing down the money before the priests and elders, he cried, — " I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood !" They answered him coldly, that this was his concern, not theirs. But he heeded them not ; and, lashed on by the scourging vengeance within, he hastened to a self-inflicted felon's death. " He went and hanged himself ;" and with such angry vehemence did he cast himself off, that the rope broke, and he fell down headlong with such force, that he lay dead upon the ground, a foul, crushed, and disfigured mass. Some have concluded, from this proceeding on the part of Judas, as already intimated, that, when he betrayed his Mas- ter, he did not contemplate the possibility of His being con- demned to death. It may be so. It is possible that he deceived his own heart with the show of good intentions. But if this is not the impression the evangelists themselves received of his character and conduct — and we think that it is not — the ex- planation stands on very precarious ground. Nor is his late remorse at all adverse to that impression ; for how often do we not witness, in the annals of crime, a conscience-stricken horror fall upon the criminal on the completion of the deed, which in the distance he had planned deliberately, and contemplated without dismay. In supplying the deficiency in the number of the apostles caused by the downfall of Judas, Peter stated the qualifications to be, that he should be one who had been their constant as- sociate from the commencement of the Lord's ministry until his ascension, and thus qualified to be a witness of all his say- ings and deeds — and especially of his resurrection. This de- scription seems to indicate that the selection was to be made from the seventy disciples : for it would obviously appear that our Lord's previous selection of these from the general body of the disciples for evangelical service, was in itself a qualifi- cation for the apostleship which could not be advanced by the other disciples. Among the number there were two whose claims from character and standing were so conspicuous, that A NEW APOSTLE. IV the apostles felt unable to determine which of them was enti- tled to preference, or were perhaps divided in their judgment concerning them : one of these was Matthias, and the other Joseph surnamed Barsabas. They, therefore, referred the de- cision to the Lord by the lot, after solemn prayer, that He would be pleased thus to indicate the person He had chosen. The lot fell upon Matthias, who was thenceforth reckoned among the apostles. It is thought by some that it was not merely the difficulty of choice between Matthias and Joseph that induced the apostles to resort in this case to the lot ; but from an unwillingness to appoint a new apostle upon their own authority ; for, seeing that all the others had been specially appointed by Jesus himself, an apostle so appointed might have seemed to occupy an inferior position to them. The text, however, favors the former opinion, seeing that they sup- plicated the Lord to show " which of these two" He had chosen ; indicating that had there been but one, they, in de- pendence on the guidance of the Holy Spirit, would not have hesitated to act in this case. Indeed, the ground for this reference to the lot could not have existed, had there not been two persons before them ; unless, indeed, they had in that case proposed to have asked by lot whether or not (yea or nay) the Lord approved of the person they had nominated. Still the special ground which may have existed for this reference to the lot is very important ; and receives force and illustration from the course taken by St. Paul to insist that his call to the apos- tleship was neither of men nor by men, but from the Lord himself, though it came later in time than any of the others. This speciality, also, removes the case from being used as a precedent for reference to the lot. Of Matthias, thus elected to the apostleship, no further record exists in Scripture ; but there is an uncertain tradition that, after remaining some time in Judea, he carried the Gos- pel into the interior of Asia, where he suffered death from the hands of a barbarous people. 18 FORTIETH WEEK TUESDAY. FORTIETH WEEK— TUESDAY. PENTECOST. ACTS II. 1-3. We formerly alluded to the feast of Pentecost, and de- scribed it as the feast which was, for various reasons, more than any other, frequented by Jews from foreign parts.* It seems, therefore, probable that the wisdom of God deferred for ten days after the ascension of Christ, the striking manifestation which has rendered this Jewish festival memorable in the an- nals of the Christian church, in order that it might occur at a time when Jerusalem was rilled with, strangers, who would bear back the intelligence of it, and of the circumstances con- nected with it, to their distant homes : thus preparing the way for the subsequent appearance and ministrations of the apos- tles in those parts. Indeed, many returned home from this feast as converts to the doctrine of Christ, and were thereby ready in all quarters to receive the preachers of that doctrine with gladness when they came among them. It is impossible to estimate too highly the importance of the occasion, which, through the Jews present at the feast, and afterwards return- ing to the countries of their sojourning, enabled the seed of the Gospel to be sown broadcast into all lands, yielding in the end abundant and glorious fruits. This, therefore, seems to supply the motive — and certainly a most adequate one — for the delay of the ardently expected boon. The feast of Pentecost is not known by that name in the Old Testament, being a Greek term for denoting the festival as being celebrated on the fiftieth day from the feast of Un- leavened Bread or the Passover. It was a festival of thanks- giving for the completion of the harvest, which commenced immediately after the Passover. It is hence called in the Old Testament the Feast of Harvest; and it was also designed the Feast of Weeks, because it was seven weeks, or, according to the Hebrew mode of expression, " a week of weeks," from the * Evening Series • Thirty-First Week — Saturday. PENTECOST. 19 first day of the Passover. The primary object of the festival was undoubtedly to render thanks to the Lord for the bless- ings of the season ; and its first fruits were then rendered as an offering to Him in a basket, with the words given in Deut. ixvi. 5-9, beginning, " A Syrian ready to perish was my father ; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous ;" and proceeding to recite how they were afflicted in that coun- try, and how the Lord, "with great terribleness," delivered them therefrom ; " And He hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey : and now, behold, I have brought the first fruits of the land which Thou, Lord, hast given me." It was hence also called the Feast of First Fruits. There is no trace in Scripture that this feast was also de- signed, at least in part, to commemorate the giving of the law from Mount Sinai ; but this impression was in later times en- tertained, and has acquired especial prominence since the Jews have been cast forth from their own " good land ;" and, in all the different countries of their sojourning, have ceased to be an agricultural people, or to take interest in agricultural affairs. This was one of the three great yearly festivals, which all the adult males were, in strictness, required to attend at the place of the Lord's altar. In most of the places where it is mentioned, under any of its various names, it might seem to be a festival of only a day ; but it was in reality of a week's duration, although only the first day was distinguished by the religious solemnities described in the books of the Law. It was when this first day of Pentecost was fully come, that the apostles (and probably the disciples) were assembled at their usual place of meeting, when the sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, filled all the house where they were sitting. It does not seem that there was actually any wind, but only the sound of it, which sound pervaded all parts of the house. This wind, or sound of wind, was an appropriate emblem of the descent and ingress of the Holy Spirit, which 20 FORTIETH WEEK TUESDAY. is frequently designated as a breath or a wind. Indeed, in the Old Testament the proper term for spirit is a word which equally denotes these two things. It was therefore of the na- ture of a sign to them of what was to take place, and which they were expecting, though they knew not the form of the manifestation. Presently divers masses of lambent flame ap- peared moving through the place, which settled upon their heads in the shape of " tongues of fire," — called tongues, from the general resemblance, both in shape and movement, of a lambent flame to that of a tongue. Thus was fulfilled the prediction that they should be "baptised with the Holy Ghost and with fire" — (Matt. iii. 11) — and the frequency with which the manifestations of the Divine presence are connected in the Old Testament with the appearance of fire, rendered this a peculiarly appropriate and intelligible visible symbol of the descent upon them of the Divine Spirit. They had thus both audible and visible evidence of the reality of this manifesta- tion — audible in " the sound of the rushing mighty wind ;" visible in " the tongues of fire." That these tongues of fire, or rather of flame, should settle upon each of the subjects of this grace, must have been more satisfactory than a single body of flame diffused over the heads of all, as there might then have arisen a question, whether there might not be some who had not received it ; but all misconception was prevented by every one being marked out individually by this fiery sign. And if there were some present who did not receive this power from on high, it was the more essential that those who did receive it, should be thus manifestly distinguished. On this point there is some difficulty. The general impression seems to be, that the apostles only were present, and that they alone received this sign, and the gifts which followed. But we have supposed it probable that the one hundred and twenty disci- ples were also present with the apostles. In that supposition the question arises, Did they also receive the Holy Ghost ? It is impossible to be very positive on this point ; but from the freedom with which we fiud the apostles at all subsequent periods imparting (as they were authorized to do) the gifte THE GIFT OF TONGUES. 21 they on this occasion received, to others who were to preach the Gospel, it seems that these gifts were not by any means intended to be peculiar to the apostles, and suggests the prob- ability that the disciples then present, were also subject to this Divine influence. And this seems to be corroborated by the large terms employed in describing the event, especially in Peter's application to it of the prophecy of Joel (Acts ii. 16-18), the expressions in which are very full and extensive. FORTIETH WEEK— WEDNESDAY. THE GIFT OF TONGUES. ACTS II. 4-47. The " tongues of fire" which rested on the heads of the apostles afforded no vain show. It was a sign, and the fact indicated by that sign was at once known to be a reality by that which at the same moment of time took place within them. "They were filled with the Holy Ghost;" by which term the sacred historian clearly means to understand that they then received in full measure all the blessings from on high, through the Spirit of God, which their Master had so often promised to them. They were at once enlightened, in- structed, cheered, exalted, inspired. This was so well known to have been expected, and to have been received, that the his- storian does not dwell upon the fact, but passes on to specify a most extraordinary endowment, which, from its nature, ex- cited great amazement, and for which expectation had not even in the evangelical circle been distinctly prepared. They " be- gan to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them ut- terance." That is to say, they began to preach the gospel in languages they had not previously known, but the mastery of which was at once given to them. Much has been said to divest this of a miraculous character, under various explana- tions. But it is all in vain. No other hypothesis will agree with what ensued, or meet all the circumstances of the case. 22 FORTIETH WEEK— WEDNESDAY. It was necessary that these men — all belonging to one small nation, and speaking one of the least diffused of tongues — ■ should, in receiving the charge to preach the gospel in all lands, know the languages of the nations among whom they we-e to labor. And it was requisite that they should be either inspired with this knowledge, and thereby be qualified for im- mediate work ; or that they should sit down to learn those languages, and labor at this task many weary years, during which the gospel would remain unpreached. There was there- fore every reason to expect from antecedent probability, that the Lord would in this age of qualifying and attesting mira- cles, remove this discouragement from the path of his servants in the discharge of that duty to which they were called. It was the Lord's purpose that his word should at once have free course and be glorified among the nations through their min- istration ; and how this was to be brought to pass, while the appointed messengers were shut up in the narrow dumbness of one tongue, and mostly with habits of life unused to the acquisition of languages by the common process, it is hard to see. God had undertaken to supply all their needs, and to afford them every requisite qualification for the work to which they were called. There could be for them no need more urgent, no qualication more important, than that they should be enabled to declare to the nations in their own languages, the wonderful works of God ; and therefore, in " the gift of tongues," this need was supplied, this qualification was furnished. Besides, the reality of this marvellous endowment was at once, and on the spot, subjected to test and recognition. There were then present at the feast Jews from all parts, to most of whom foreign tongues were native, just as English, or French, or German, is native to Jews born in those countries. The regions from which they principally came are specified, and these extend from the Euxine to the Indian Ocean, and from the Persian Gulf to the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the coast of Africa. Many of these, together with the native Jews, flocked to the spot, as soon as the report of this marvellous THE GIFT OF TONGUES. transaction had spread into the city. To the latter, who knew not what was said, nor recognized the words as those of known languages, all this seemed idle babble, and they derided the speakers as men drunk with wine. This imputation was warmly repelled by Peter, who pointed to the earliness of the hour (nine o'clock) as an adequate disproof. And such it was. For, although it is certainly possible for men to get drunk be- fore that hour, morning drunkenness is not anywhere usual, and it found a peculiar prevention in Palestine, from the cus- tom of abstaining from meat or drink until that very hour, when the morning sacrifice was offered. But the strangers were astonished, as they recognized these several languages, and said one to another, " Behold, are not all these who speak Galileans ? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherever we were born ; we do hear them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God ?" Perceiving their perplexity, the apostles stood up, and Peter, after vindicating them from the slander just indicated, pro- ceeded to explain the real nature of the transaction, and, in a most noble sermon, to declare the great doctrine of Christ crucified for their sins, and raised again for their justification. This was the first evangelical sermon, and it was gloriously acknowledged by the Holy Spirit under whose influence it was delivered ; for they that heard it were " pricked in their heart," and cried to the speaker, and to the rest of the apostles, " What shall we do i" The answer was ready : that they should repent and be baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus for the remission of sins — thereby attesting their belief in Him as their Messiah and Redeemer, and expressing their purpose of heart to become his followers and disciples. With " many more words" than those recorded, did the earnest apostle press these doctrines upon his hearers, urging them to save them- selves " from this untoward generation." Moved by the Spirit, hundreds — thousands — received these words into their hearts, and that day there were added to the church by baptism no fewer than three thousand souls. This was a glorious triumph, well suited to encourage the apostles in the labors that lay be- 24 FORTIETH WEEK WEDNESDAY. fore them ; for it showed them that there was no limit to their holy conquests, seeing that they were to be won, " Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Bosts !" It is observable that we have here another instance in which the apostles are recognized as Galileans by their dialect. The fact of such a plainly distinguishable provincial dialect, is not at all strange. Every country affords examples of this, and perhaps none more so than our own. We know from various authorities that the dialect of Galilee was reckoned very bar- barous and corrupt by the people of Judea. This dialect seems to have been characterized by a sort of vague or indis- tinct pronunciation of particular letters, and in the mispronun- ciation, confusion, or suppression of certain other letters, espe- cially the gutturals. Thus the nice ear of a metropolitan Jew was often at fault with regard to the meaning of the words ; and, out of their own province, the Galileans were often un- derstood to say something very different from what they meant to express. Many curious instances of this may be collected from the rabbinical writings. Two may suffice. A Galilean woman said, " Whose is this lamb ?" but she pronounced the first letter of the word for " lamb" (immar) so vaguely, that the hearers could not determine whether she meant a lamb, an ass (chamor), wine (chamar), or wool (amar). Another woman, saying to her neighbor, " Come, I will feed you with milk" (tai doclic chalaba), pronounced the two last words in such a manner (toclic labe) that they might be heard as a curse, " Let a lion devour thee." That so many foreign Jews heard the apostles speak in their own tongues, implies that they severally spoke different tongues ; and not that all tongues were at once known to and spoken by all who received this gift. To each was given the power of speaking those tongues he would have occasion to use in the course of his ministrations ; and possibly addi tional languages were given when the occasion for their use arose. If a stranger should come to a place manifestly unable to speak its language, and suddenly acquire power to preach THE BEAUTIFUL GATE. 25 in Jiat language with force and ease — this would be a sign to that people, almost as signal as that by which the strangers at Jerusalem were on this occasion so strongly impressed. That there were differences in this respect is clear, from the declaration of Paul to the Corinthians, that he spoke with tongues more than they all (1 Cor. xiv. 18) ; and this fact corroborates the view we have stated, for the missionary trav- els of this apostle were most extensive, and he had need of many languages, that he might be able to preach the gospel in the various lands to which he went. FORTIETH WEEK— THURSDAY. THE BEAUTIFUL GATE ACTS III. 1, 2. There were many gates to the temple. Those in the ex- tent of the outer wall were surrounded by gate-houses thirty cubits high, and therefore rising five cubits beyond the wall itself, which was twenty-five cubits high. The breadth of these gate-houses was half the height; and the entrance itself was twenty cubits high, and ten broad. These outer gates were of timber, plated with brass, and led into the spacious court called the Court of the Oentiles. No particular sanctity was attached to this court, and hence Gentiles were freely ad- mitted, mendicants were allowed to beg, and dealers to buy and sell. A person was not considered properly to enter " the Temple," in the more definite sense, until he had passed this court, and entered into the interior enclosure. This also had a wall, with gate-houses and gates, covered, not with brass but with gold and silver, Jid leading into the Court of the Women, which (notwithstanding its name) was the common place for worshippers, both men and women. Beyond this, and above it — for it was over an ascending site, crowned by the Holy House — lay the Court of the Priests, wherein the sacred services were celebrated. This had the same wall of VOL. IV. *2 26 FORTIETH WEEK THURSDAY. general enclosure with the Glourt of the Gentiles, but was sepa rated from it by a cross wall, which was pierced by one large and ponderous gate, exactly fronting that of the Holy House. This is the general description. It remains to state, that the Holy House itself fronted the east, and that consequently the principal entrance, in each of the successive walls, was on the same side. On that side there was but one gate to either of the courts; and these standing directly opposite the Holy House, were deemed entitled to particular distinction from the others, in their materials, proportions and ornaments. The gate on this side, in the outer enclosure, had, however, the singular distinction of having the least elevated gate-house, the upper part rising not more than six cubits above the en- try, whereas the others rose ten cubits ; and, instead of being like the others, five cubits higher than the wall, this was no more than one cubit. There was a reason for this. The red heifer directed by the Law to be burned " without the camp," in order that " the water of purification " might be prepared from its ashes, was, after the foundation of the temple at Je- rusalem, burned without the city, upon the Mount of Olives ; and as it was conceived that the blood of the heifer Avas to be sprinkled before, or in presence of, the temple, this gate was kept low, because if it had been as high as the others, the clear view of the temple by the officiating priest would have been intercepted. In another respect, however, this gate, though low, was not undistinguished. It was called " the Gate of Shashan," because the city or palace of Shushan (mem- orable in the history of the captivity) was represented there- on ; or, according to other accounts, was depicted in one of the side-chambers of the gate-house. This was, as some say, by order of the Persian government, to keep the Jews in re- membrance of their allegiance to the power reigning in Shu- shan, or, as others state, as a voluntary memorial of the cap- tivity. The nature of the representation may be guessed, from the mode in which towns and palaces are represented in the Assyrian sculptures, of which some specimens were given in the second volume of our Evening Series, THE BEAUTIFUL GATE. 27 The gate opposite this, across the Court of the Gentiles, and leading into the Court of the Women, being the front and tnerefore the most distinguished of the entrances into what was properly regarded as the temple, was considered the most splendid of all the gates. In comparison with the gate Shushan, this gate "was goodly and lofty (as Lightfoot observes), and stood bravely mounted upon the far higher ground ;" but was mainly distinguished by its materials. The other gates in this enclosure were of wood plated with gold and silver — the posts and lintels, as we apprehend, of silver, and the valves of gold ; but this gate was wholly of " Corinthian brass, more precious than gold." So says Josephus ; and as it was doubtless of the best kind of Corinthian brass, other ancient writers support his testimony to its extreme costliness. "This Corinthian brass" was of several varieties of different values : one which took a golden hue from the quantity of gold ; one of paler hue from the predominance of silver : one wherein the com- ponent metals, gold, silver, copper, and tin, were combined in equal proportions. The use of this metal was probably rare in a country which did not tolerate statuary, and hence this gate would attract, from the unusualness, special attention and admiration. The gate opposite to this, leading directly into the court where the temple stood, was also of bronze, probably of a dif- ferent quality, and seemingly not Corinthian bronze ; and it seems to have farther differed from tho other in that it was not wholly of bronze, but had its posts and lintel of, or over- laid with silver. This gate was, however, distinguished from all others by its large proportions, and the immense weight of its valves. It is said that it required the strength of twenty men to close it ; and of it this wonder is recorded, that notwithstanding the force thus required to shut it, and being besides firmly bolted and barred, it one night flew open of its own accord. This is declared to have been forty years before the destruction of the city ; and as that date coincides with the death of our Lord, it is open to a suggestion that this in- cident (if correctly reported) took place at the same time that 28 FORTIETH WEEK THURSDAY. the veil of the temple was rent, and an earthquake shook the city. Now of these three gates, -which was " the Beautiful Gate," mentioned in Acts iii. 2, where we read that " a certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, to ask alms of them that en- tered into the temple ?" We have no doubt that, judging from the descriptions which we have given, any one would declare for the second or Corinthian gate, which certainly was regarded by those who lived while the temple was standing, as the most magnificent of them. "We are ourselves of this opinion. There is, how- ever, probably from imperfect information respecting these gates, a general impression that the outer gate was meant ; founded perhaps on the notion that beggars were not likely to be admitted into the temple court, and that it is expressly said that this beggar was placed there to ask alms of those " that entered in at the temple." But we have shown that no par- ticular sanctity was attached to the other court, and that the second gate was properly the entrance into the temple. There was nothing to prevent a beggar from being stationed there ; and if he could be placed there, he was more likely to go there than to remain at the outer gate. These grounds of doubt cannot therefore stand ; and we are at liberty to suppose that the gate really most beautiful was the one distinguished as the Beautiful Gate. The object of stationing beggars, especially maimed beg- gars, at the gate of the temple, was evidently in the calcula- tion that the feelings of those who were proceeding to, or had been engaged in, an act of solemn worship, would be more strongly inclined to charity and benevolence than at ordinary times. It is in the same calculation that at the present day the gates of the great continental churches, as well as the ap- proaches to Mohammedan mosques, are thronged with beggars at the hours of prayer. We know also that the Pharisees and others in those days bestowed much alms in the most public places, that their ostentatious charity might " be seen of men f THE LAME BEGGAR. 29 and the perception of this weakness in a class of people so wealthy, had doubtless considerable influence in causing the beggars of Jerusalem to resort in large numbers to places so public, and through which the Pharisees were so continually passing as the gates of the temple — these people being more constant than others in their attendance at the sacred courts. FORTIETH WEEK-^FRIDAY. THE LAME BEGGAR. ACTS III. 3-IV. 31. We have already been told in general, that " many signs and wonders were done by the hands of the apostles ;" and a particular instance is now given, not perhaps as the most remarkable in itself, but as one from which important conse- quences resulted. This was the case of that lame man whom we yesterday saw lying at the Beautiful Gate of the temple ; a case notable from its undeniably miraculous character, and from the great notoriety which the circumstances involved. If the man's calamity had been the result of casuality or dis- ease, it might have seemed more easily cured; but it was known to every one that this man had been lame from the womb — that he never had walked. The mere fact that he was constantly " carried" to the station at the gate, shows tha he could not in the least degree walk or stand. It was a cast past the help of staves or crutches ; for the man's limbs lay at dead underneath him. Besides, he was taken " daily" to th* most conspicuous of the temple gates, and having been ther* day after day for years, he must have been one of the person* best known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and thi<- tended farther to magnify the miracle, when he, whose person and condition were so familiarly known, appeared one after- noon at the hour of public prayer in the temple, " walking, and leaping, and praising God." The circumstances were simple but exceeding^ impressive. Peter and John w r ere proceeding to the tempi© at the time 30 FORTIETH WEEK FRIDAY. of evening prayer, being the nintli hour, or three o'clock, when, as they passed, this lame mendicant asked alms of them, as he did of others. Regarding his disease as incurable, he had long since abandoned the hope of being healed, if he had ever entertained it ; and all his thought was now for the sustentation of his miserable existence — although, perhaps, from the habit that use breeds,* he had himself ceased to feel the misery of his condition. It was Peter who answered this appeal. Earnestly regarding the poor man, the apostle, to fix his attention, said to him, " Look on us." And doubt- less the man looked very eagerly, in the hope of some valua- ble donation. But Peter, perceiving this, proceeded, in words which conveyed the assurance, that he and his friend would willingly relieve his wants, if in their power ; but they also were poor : " Silver and gold have I none." We may easily conceive that the cripple's countenance fell at this, and he was about to turn from this barren sympathy with disappointment, and perhaps with some little resentment at the seeming mock- ery of a frustrated hope. But his attention was forcibly re- called by the words : u But such as I have, give I thee." Then he had something to give after all ; something which is not silver and gold might be as good. And indeed he had. He had that to bestow which was far more precious than aught that the wealthiest of those that passed by could give — far more rich in joy and blessing than he could have received, had " Affluent Fortune emptied all her horn " into his cup. For Peter, in the concentrated energy of faith, cried aloud, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk !" This, at the first view, might have seemed an absurd command. " For the cripple might have readily ob- jected, Why hast thou not first given me legs and feet? For this is a plain mock, when as thou biddest a man without feet to go."f But the man understood the words aright ; for they * " How use doth breed a habit iu a man." — Shakspeare. f Calvin : Comment, on the Acts, in Fetherstone's fine old transla- tion, lately reproduced by the Calvin Translation Society. Edin. 1844 . THE LAME BEGGAR. 31 were interpreted to him by the tingling life that, as they were uttered, rushed triumphantly into his dead limbs. Peter also took him by the hand and helped him up ; and forthwith he followed his deliverers into the temple, " walking, and leaping, and praising God." lie had never before set the sole of his foot upon the ground — never before put one foot before anoth- er, but now he walks and leaps. Perhaps the phrase may be meant to denote that the man's first efforts at the unknown art of progression upon his feet, was a peculiar movement, part- ly leaping and partly walking, as would, we imagine, have been natural under the circumstances. His first impulse would probably be to move both feet at once, and this would be " leaping ;" but finding this was wrong, he would try to move his limbs alternately, and this was " walking." The leaping may, however, have been a spontaneous act expressive of his gladness, and calculated to satisfy himself, and to show others, that he was perfectly healed. The man clung to the apostles, as they made their way to Solomon's Porch ; and the people recognizing his familiar face, and gathering from his bursts of gratitude and adoring praise what had taken place, ran together from all quarters to that spot. Peter took the opportunity of addressing them. Seeing how earnestly the congregation gazed on those who had per- formed a work so marvellous, the apostle disclaimed all inher- ent power or authority to do this deed. It then became neces- sary to tell by whose authority it had been accomplished — who, indeed, was the real author of this miracle. He told them it was Jesus, " the Holy One and the Just," whom, they had lately slain, and the deep guilt of whose death lay at their doors. It was by faith in his name that this man had been made whole. Not, as some imagine, the faith of the man, but the faith which Peter and John had exercised in believing that their Lord would listen to their voice. Seeing that he had made some impression by his first words, the apostle spoke more tenderly, and assured them there was still room for re- pentance, and that they might still secure their part in that Divine kingdom which Jesus had established. To Him all 32 FORTIETH WEEK FRIDAT. the prophets had borne witness, and He still stood ready to bless them — and how ? " By turning them from their iniqui- ties." While he was speaking, or when he had just finished, a re- port — probably vague and garbled — of these proceedings, and of the words of Peter, was carried to the Sanhedrim, then sit- ting in a chamber close by. The members of this high court had not expected to hear anything more of Jesus. He was dead ; and his humble followers, deprived of their head, seemed little likely to revive his cause, or to give any ground of ap- prehension. No. They would doubtless disperse to theif homes, resume their occupations, and look back upon all the past as a time of visions and dreams. They were grievously mistaken ! That which they deemed to be ended was only begun. Probably the quietness of the disciples during the interval from the Crucifixion to the day of Pentecost, confirmed the Sanhedrim in the impression that, through their vigorous treatment of Jesus, they had put an end to a matter that had once seemed so threatening. The boldness, therefore, with which the apostles came forth, after the descent of the Holy Ghost, to proclaim the crucified Jesus as still the Son of God, still the Messiah, still the Hope of Israel, still the Redeemer of the world ; to speak of his death as a murderous and fatal crime, calling for deep repentance ; and to declare that He still lived and reigned — all this alarmed the Jewish rulers ; and they stood observing with deep solicitude whereunto this matter would grow ; fearful of committing any new mistake, but watchful for any ostensible ground of interference. This the present occasion seemed to supply ; and further delay seemed dangerous, as it was evident that a strong im- pression — somewhat analogous to that caused by the resurrec- tion of Lazarus — had been made upon the minds of the people. They therefore sent to apprehend Peter and John, having probably, to overawe the multitude, obtained the assistance of the Roman guard from the adjacent tower of Antonia. It was already later than the time that the court of the THE LAME BEGGAR. 33 Sanhedrim usually rose ; and the members were not inclined to concede an extra or a prolonged sitting to the case of these poor fishermen. No : they might lie in prison till the next day, lest their examination should interfere with the dinner of these " reverend signiors." In the morning, the two apostles, having had their first taste of the " imprisonments" to which they were afterwards so long and so often subjected, were brought up into the chamber Gazeth, where the Sanhedrim usually held its sittings. And from this point it is worth while to note that the Sadducees appear as the chief opponents of the apostles and their cause, and not the Pharisees, as in the time of Jesus. The reason appears to be that the apostles gave prominence to the doctrine of the resurrection, as illustrated by the resurrec- tion of their Lord — a doctrine hateful to the Sadducees, but very acceptable to the Pharisees. Hence we shall see the latter often inclining to take the part of the apostles at times when the Sadducees were most opposed to them. So on this occasion the Pharisees are not named ; but the Sadducees are introduced as " being grieved, that they (the apostles) taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead." Those who had been strongly impressed even to conviction by the discourse of Peter the day before, were not less than five thousand ; and of these there was no doubt a large and anxious number present to watch the course of the proceed- ings. It is not unlikely that the presence of a large audience manifestly favorable to the cause of the accused, may have- had considerable influence upon the demeanor of the Sanhe- drim. On being questioned, Peter spoke boldly, to the same pur- port as in his sermon of the day before. Seeing that the apostles were men of the common class, the learned audience was amazed at the boldness, power, and knowledge with which they spoke ; and seeing that the man who had been healed stood by, ready to extol and support by his testimony the true miracle that had been wrought, the court was not anxious to 2* 34 FORTIETH WEEK SATURDAY. go into any evidence, but, upon conferring together, agreed that " a notable miracle" had undeniably been wrought. It was useless, they admitted, to say anything against it, or to press the inquiry further. The best course must be to smother the matter quietly, and put a final end to these unpleasant matters, by enjoining Peter and John under serious penalties " not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus." But they found to their amazement that the apostles were not at all disposed to be liberated under the shackle of any such con- dition. Both answered, or perhaps Peter for both — " Whether it be right in the sight of God, to hearken unto you more than unto God,, judge ye. For toe cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." So after some further threatening, Peter and John were lib- erated unconditionally, the rulers not finding any matter for which they could be punished, and perceiving that the popular feeling was decidedly with the apostles, on account of the mir- acle of mercy they had wrought upon a poor creature whose miserable condition had, for many long years, been constantly before their eyes. For the man was above forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been wrought, and we know that he had been a cripple from his birth. FORTIETH WEEK— SATURDAY. ALL THINGS COMMON. ACTS II. 41-47 ; IV. 32-35. Before the day of Pentecost, there were at least one hun- dred and twenty disciples at Jerusalem, — that day added three thousand to the church ; and many of those who " heard the the word," after the miracle at the Beautiful Gate, believed, to the number of about five thousand. This makes altogether eight thousand one hundred and twenty souls ; but, besides this, we are told that intermediately the Lord had " daily added to the church such as should be saved." We may, therefore. ALL THINGS COMMON. 35 safely conclude, that the church at Jerusalem comprised at this time not less than ten thousand members. This was the prim- itive church ; and it is deeply interesting to inquire into its state, and examine the principles by which it was animated. The record before us, in the Acts of the Apostles, affords some interesting materials for this inquiry. From this record it appears that the lives and manners of the new converts, after the great day of Pentecost, assumed a character in perfect conformity with the first principles of the religion into which they had been led ; and it were impossible to find a more pleasing picture than that, which these intima- tions give of all that is amiable and instructive in the religion of Jesus. As charity", in the true sense of the word, as the love of mankind, founded on the love of God through Christ, as a more perfect and exalted holiness animated their whole conduct, we behold nothing but that happy community of sentiments, which is the ornament and perfection of the Chris- tian church. Having been through grace enabled to " save themselves " from the entano-lenients and dangers of an " unto- ward generation," they gathered closely around the apostles and early disciples of Him whom they now recognised as their Lord and their Redeemer. " They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine" — hearing the apostles declare the way of salvation : and in manifesting the proper fruits of the Spirit " in fellowship," — that is, not communion but commu- nication, or a generous and unaffected liberality to all the brethren ; " in breaking of bread," — that is, some have sup- posed, in the participation of the Lord's supper, but assuredly, at least in the exercise of an open unrestrained hospitality ; and " in prayer," presenting their united petitions to their Heavenly Father, through Him who alone makes all prayer acceptable, and who had promised that, whatever they should " ask the Father in his name, He would bestow." We are next informed, that they who " believed were to- gether, and had all things common." This we caunot sup- pose to mean either that they assembled at one time in one place-— for their number was too large for this ; nor that they 36 FORTIETH WEEK SATURDAY. resigned all particular interest in the property they possessed ; for some, we soon afterwards find, sold such possessions as they had, that the proceeds might be disbursed to relieve the wants of the poorer brethren, which they could not have done had they literally had all things common before. It is certain, however, that in the time of our Saviour, the apostles held all their property in a common stock, Judas being their treasurer They regarded themselves as a family, having common wants, so that there was no use or reason in their possessing property x by themselves. It was, besides, then a matter of convenience among men living and travelling together as they did ; for one who at any time had something of his own, would find him- self so strongly called to satisfy some wants of others, who at that time had nothing, that it was obviously the best course for every one to cast into a common stock whatever came to him. This practice was without doubt retained by the apos- tles so long as they remained together ; and to the new con- verts it might seem as a model for their proceeding also, at least for the time. Yet, even in our Lord's days, it seems that the apostles themselves did not relinquish all their private property. The Galilean fishermen did not sell their most val- uable possessions — their boats, but still had them, and used them, after our Lord's resurrection. It appears also that John possessed some property which he retained, and which enabled him to offer a home to the mother of Jesus. * It is clear indeed that our Lord did not command tire apos- tles to give up their property into a common stock ; and it is equally clear that the apostles themselves did not enjoin it; for we shall presently hear Peter asking one who had dealt perversely in this matter — " While it remained was it not thine own, and after it was sold was it not in thine own pow- er?"! It was therefore an entirely voluntary act throughout, and by no means imposed upon the new converts, or exacted from them by the apostles. It was a mode naturally suggest - ed by the exigences of the infant church, of applying those principles of brotherly love, and of self-suppression, which the * John xix. 27. \ Acts v. 4. Al,L THINGS COMMON. 37 Lord himself had constantly inculcated. The need to be met was instant and special, and such as did not exist afterwards among the churches formed among the heathen, where con- sequently, we find nothing of this mentioned by the apostles in their epistles, in which the practice actually enjoined was, that every one should lay aside week by week " as the Lord had prospered him," some portion of his earnings for the poor- er brethren : and it was expected that he would contribute liberally, according to his means, to the collections made on special emergencies. We read of such collections among the churches in Asia Minor and Greece for " the poor saints at Jerusalem," in which Paul greatly interested himself, and which he urgently enforced. This constant remembrance of the Christians in Judea by those in foreign parts, points to some peculiar causes of destitution which did not in the same degree exist elsewhere. This is not difficult to find. The converts in Judea, by the mere fact of their adhesion to Christ, " suffered the loss of all things," unless they had property in- dependent of the will, favor, or patronage of others — and the proportion of these was few. So deep an offence against Jew- ish prejudices cast them loose from Jewish charities, and in- volved loss of employment to such as were traders, and dis- missal from their employments to such as were workmen and servants, producing a state of destitution which rendered ex- traordinary exertions necessary on the part of the more pros- perous brethren ; and how nobly they responded to the de- mands of this great emergency is shown in the record before us. This is no conjecture. It is illustrated and proved by what we actually see in operation at this day in Jerusalem. In that city some converts from Judaism are made ; and no sooner does this appear, than they are instantly cut off from all aid, support, and employment from the Jews there, and would starve but for the missionaries, upon whose resources they are entirely thrown, and who are obliged to sustain them until they can find some means of employment for them, or can raise funds to send them out of the country. Henca great sacrifices are made by those on the spot for their relief, 38 FORTY-FIRST WEEK SUNDAY. and hence the earnest appeals sent home for help to the con- verts at Jerusalem. The parallel is as close as can well be. The necessity was too great for the richer brethren to be able to meet it from their income merely ; and therefore they sold so much personal property or real estate (for both are specified) as was requisite to supply the wants of the destitute brethren, and brought the proceeds to the apostles, that they might make the distribution " as every man had need." This practice, through the eager liberality of the prosperous con- verts, soon laid upon the apostles (as we shall presently see) a burden too heavy for them to bear. But the picture of cheer- ful and happy unanimity which prevailed under this state of things in the infant church is most cheering to contemplate, while it yet raises a sigh for that day when we may behold the like again. " The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul. Neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own." They possessed as not possessing, regarding all but as held in trust for the Lord's service, and always ready for any claims which that service made. £oxt$~£ix&t iXIsek— Qmiba$. ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA.— ACTS IV. 36-V. 11. The sacred writer gives two instances of the practice which we last evening inquired into — one an example, another a warning. The first case is that of Joses, a man who, from his excellent qualities and amiable manners, acquired the surname of Bar- nabas, or " son of consolation." This name, which afterwards became illustrious in the church, was that of a Levite, who, although then residing at Jerusalem, was a native of Cyprus. This person sold his estates, and voluntarily bringing to the apostles the produce — which, from the manner in which his ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA. 39 conduct is singled out for contrast with that of another less amiable character, was doubtless very considerable — rejoiced to take his share in the general distribution. Although this extent of relinquishment was not obligatory, yet it was natural that those who thus manifested their love to the brethren, and their devotedness to tho service of the church, should appear to great advantage, and be much looked up to in comparison with those who, although not strictly bound to follow such ex- amples, at least had the same motives to disinterestedness and zeal. Those who abstained from this noble and generous course, unless prevented by some special and recognizable rea- sons, must, in such a state of society, have appeared in a strange and anomalous position, and could not fail to be held in less esteem, if only as " weak brethren." This was felt by a disciple named Ananias, and his feeling was shared by his wife Sapphira — a beautiful name, which the infamy of this woman has unhappily thrown out of use. They loved the praise of men, and could not be content to be held in less consideration than such bright examples as Barna- bas. But, on the other hand, they loved money quite as well — even better. They could not bear the idea of giving this price for the good opinion of others to which they aspired. They had not faith to cast their cares upon God, by giving up all they had for Him. They feared they might come to want — they feared to endanger their comforts beyond recall — they wished to retain some security against the contingencies which the future might produce. In one word, they loved money, and had not the heart to part with it altogether. No doubt man and wife talked over this matter night and day, until they fell upon what both regarded as a brilliant conception, an ad- mirable device for securing both objects, winning the respect of the church, without altogether abandoning their substance. It was known that they possessed an estate ; this they would sell — really sell it. This every one would know ; but it would not have been known what they received for it ; for estates were not in those days sold by auction, and it is likely that the estate was away somewhere in the country, and not near 40 FORTY-FIRST WEEK SUNDAY. Jerusalem. What so easy, then, as to give into the hands of the apostles, for the general good, a certain sum as the whole produce of the sale, reserving the rest as a secret treasure for themselves. They would thus enjoy their private comforts and satisfactions, their little securities against the time to come ; and while thus pursuing very second-rate conduct, they would win the credit of first-rate sacrifices. What could be easier than this ? Nothing. For, " as easy as lying," is a proverb. It was altogether a most precious plot, neat and well com- pacted. In it nothing was forgotten — except God ; everything was remembered — save Him. Yet, although they could de- ceive man, they could not deceive Him — and He was to be their Judge in that day when the dark secrets of many hearts shall be revealed in the eyes of men and angels. And even here, they would not have realized what they sought ; for every day the thought how little they had really deserved the credit they had acquired among their fellows, would have been a sharp sting in the midst of all the enjoyments of their secret wealth. But there was an eye even on earth that saw it — the eye of Peter. He was apprised of what took place by special revelation, perhaps ; or it may be that the important faculty of " discerning of spirits," by which those who had plenarily received the Holy Ghost, as the apostles had, were able to read the hearts and souls of others, sufficed for the occasion. When, therefore, Ananias appeared with his money, and tendered it to the apostles as the produce of his estate, gener- ously and liberally offered by him for the wants of the Church, he was confounded by the stern and solemn voice in which Peter addressed him, — " Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie unto the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land ? While it remained, was it not thine own ; and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? — thou HAST NOT LIED UNTO MEN, BUT UNTO GOD." At these WOrds, which disclosed the deformity and guilt of his conduct to him- self, which declared it in the presence of others ; and, above all, when he was denounced as one who had lied unto God, ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA. 41 the wretched man was overwhelmed, and, without uttering a word, fell to the ground — dead. This was the finger of God — his finger, whether, as some suppose, by the instant and judicial immolation of the offender by supernatural means ; or whether the death was accomplished through natural means — the smiting terrors of his conscience, the shame, the horror, the exposure, at the moment when all seerred most secure, giving such a shock to the frame as might quite suffice to pro- duce sudden death. It has often done so in the cases of other men. Peter did not sentence him — did not denounce his death. But God undoubtedly designed that he should die, to warn the church of His abhorrence of hypocrisy; and whether He saw fit to inflict that death by natural means is of small consequence. This awful judgment made a deep and powerful impression upon those by whom it was witnessed, and indeed upon all who heard of it. When the first agitation had a little sub- sided, the young men of the congregation who were present, advanced to prepare the body for interment. They wound it up in the usual burying clothes and bandages, which served instead of coffins among the Jews, as is still the case in Eastern nations, to which such receptacles for the dead are unknown. They then bore the body away, to deposit in the cemetry be- yond the city. All seems to have been done in an orderly and decent manner, though there must have been an absence of those circumstances which ensued when a man died among his relatives, and in his own nest — the wailings, the train of mourners, and the like. The Jews usually buried their dead soon after death, as we have more than once seen ; but this was quicker than usual — simply because it was desirable to remove the body, and there was an object in not taking it to his own home, even indeed if those then present knew where that was. As some little time had elapsed in the first instance, as then the body had to be prepared for burial, and taken beyond the city, and as the grave had to be digged when the spot was reached, it was three hours after the death of Ananias before 42 FORTY-FIRST WEEK — SUNDAY. the young men returned from the burial. It was just as they reached the place, that another similar judgment upon the wife of Ananias supplied a fresh occasion for their painful services. Sapphira had then entered quite ignorant of all that had occurred, and prepared, no doubt, to receive her share of the consideration and approval which the Christian generosity of her husband must, she supposed, have secured. But Peter knew or suspected her complicity in this shameful business, if, indeed, the crime had not been originally of her suggestion — tempting, like another Eve, her husband to the sin which ruined both. Peter immediately spoke to her when she came in, asking her if the land had been sold for " so much ?" — naming the sum which Ananias had brought as the entire produce of the sale. Thus was an opportunity graciously afforded her for repentance — and in many a guilty but more ingenuous heart, the very question of the apostle would have produced instant and tearful confession of the wrong that had been done. .Such a moment for reflection as was given to her, has often by God's grace saved a soul. But Sapphira's heart was hardened ; and she made herself more guilty than her husband, by deliberately and emphatically confirming the fraud, in answer to a direct question from one of the pillars of the church, and in the presence of that assembly, composed of persons who had come out from the untoward generation of worldly men. Under the fixed eye of the apostle, which was looking into her soul, she blenched not to answer, " Yea, for so much" — an assertion which must have given a thrill of dismay and horror to those, then present, who had not long before witnessed the doom of her husband. Peter himself dealt with this atrocity even more severely than in the case of the husband. Then, he had declared the crime, but did not denounce the punishment. But now, he not only declares the offence, but judicially sen- tences the offender. " How is it," he said with painful emotion, "that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord;" and then raising his voice, yet shrinking to name ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA. 43 directly the doom lie felt impelled to pronounce, he cried : " Behold the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door — and shall carry thee out." Thus in one moment she heard the dreadful information of her husband's end and of the instant approach of her own. Thereon she fell to the ground and died, as he had done, and the young men then coming in, took away the body, and buried her be- side her husband. This latter case being most manifestly the act and judgment of God, shows that both were so. It might be said, and could not be disproved, that Ananias died natur- ally, though suddenly, from the nervous shock his system had received. But this was not the case in the latter instance ; for Sapphira's death, then and there, was distinctly declared by the apostle — and however possible it might be that the shock might kill her also, — the apostle could not have reck- oned upon that as a certainty, and, from the hardihood the woman had evinced, the probabilities were rather against than for this result. The hand of God w r as visible here. It seemed good to Him by this severity of judgment to attest his hatred of worklliness, and double-dyed hypocrisy ; to confirm the au- thority of the apostles, for judgment no less than mercy ; and to maintain the purity of the infant church, which would have been seriously endangered had such offences as these passed without most signal punishment. The effect upon the church of these miracles of judgment was important and solemnizing. " Great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these words." — " And fear, rightly directed, is both proper and salutary to such a creature as man. The fear of God and the dread of sin, as displeasing to God, is the greatest blessing to the soul. This awful example would produce and cherish it. Great fear might well come upon all the disciples when they saw before their eyes the consequence of sin. The consequence w r e are ready to acknowledge ; the difficulty is to feel a due conviction of the truth. We confess that the wages of sin is death. But * because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to 44 FORTY-FIRST WEEK MONDAY. do evil.'* Here the sentence was executed speedily : here that judgment was witnessed, which it is part of our probation to believe — to receive on faith. And the whole event may well incline us to pray with David: 'Keep back thy servant, O Lord, from presumptuous sins : let them not have dominion over me ; then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.' "f FORTY-FIRST WEEK— MONDAY. peter's shadow. — acts v. 12-26. There is evidence that the death of Ananias and Sapphira attracted much public attention at Jerusalem, but it does not seem to have been formally inquired into by the authori- ties. In Eastern cities many things pass without notice, which would not fail to be fully investigated in communities such as our own ; and in this case perhaps sufficient enquiry has been made, or report rendered to the Jewish rulers, to satisfy them that it offered no ground of charge against the apostles, and that any official notice of its occurrence could only tend to exalt them in the opinion of the people. Indeed, we are told that, as it was, this event inspired the unconverted Jews with great reverence for the apostles ; and that while it deterred the worldly-minded or hypocritical pretenders to sanctity from joining the church, the strength and character of which could only have been injured by their presence, it by no means re- pelled the sincere and well-disposed, who were, indeed, attract- ed in large numbers by this new evidence of the Divine au- thority by which the apostles acted, and by the power with which they preached the doctrines of the gospel. Moreover, * Eecles. viii. 11. f Psalm xix. 13. Archbishop Sumner's Practical Exposition of the Acts of the Apostles. 1838. peter's shadow. 45 while they were authorised and enabled to show, that to their hands was in some measure entrusted the sword of God's judgments upon hypocrites, the exercise of mercy and kind- ness was more congenial to their functions ; for their miracles of healing were performed without stint — all who applied — all who were presented to their notice, were forthwith healed. The fame of this spreading abroad — and nothing spreads like this — the sick were brought from the neighboring towns to Jerusalem, to be healed by the apostles. Peter, from his readiness in speaking and in acting, and from his part in the recent transaction, was regarded with especial honor, and was conceived to be specially gifted in this respect, and he was more looked to than the other apostles by the multitude ; and at length the popular appreciation of the powers with which he was invested rose so high, that the sick were laid upon their beds along the streets he was in the habit of passing, in his daily going to and from the temple, in the expectation that the mere falling of his shadow upon them would be effectual for their cure. As he returned, after he had attended the even- ing service, and had remained discoursing to the crowding ad- herents and auditors in Solomon's Porch, which we are inform- ed was the usual place of resort, it was probably towards sun- set when he returned, and his lengthened shadow would be thrown far across the way as he passed. It is not expressly stated that those who took this course were actually healed ; and it is clear the circumstance is mentioned in order to show the estimation in which the healing powers of th^ apostles were held. But the complexion of the statement, taken in connection with the context, seems to make it clear that they were healed. And this impression is confirmed by the analo- gous instances of the woman who secretly touched the hem of our Lord's garment ;* and especially of the application to distant sick of handkerchiefs and aprons, that had been in contact with the person of Paul.f In both these instances cures were effected, and therefore probably in this also, as nothing to the contrary is said ; and any argument that might * Matt. ix. 21, 22. f Acts xix. 12. 46 FOKTY-FIEST WEEK MONDAY. be urged, from the improbability that an apparent superstition would be thus sanctioned, is at least as applicable to the "handkerchiefs," in the case of Paul, as to the "shadow," in the case of Peter. It is clear, however, that the power of heal- ing was not in the shadow of Peter, any more than in the vestments of Jesus, or the handkerchief of Paul, but in the faith of the patients in the power of the Master and his ser- vants to heal. Nor did Peter and the other apostles sanction any such notions, but constantly professed that they did not show forth these mighty deeds by any power of their oivn, but solely through the Divine power of Jesus. The publicity of these proceedings, with the Crowds who gathered around the apostles daily in Solomon's Porch, at length led the Jewish rulers to believe that they could no lon- ger neglect with safety, to take some steps to stem a movement so rapid and so strong. The step they did take w r as very de- cided, for they sent and apprehended the apostles, shutting them up in " the common prison." It is not without meaning that the sacred historian mentions this as especially the act of the Sadducees, with the high -priest, who seems to have been of the same sect. It would appear that at this time the Saddu- cees had gained a paramount influence in the Sanhedrim, and took this measure without the concurrence of the Pharisees who were members of that assembly. The animosity between these two sects was specially calculated to move the Sadducees to hostility against the apostles , as the latter gave great prom- inence to the doctrine of the resurrection, by insisting that Christ had risen from the dead, thus affording their sanction, and gaining popular adhesion to a doctrine which was hotly contested between the two sects ; for the Sadducees utterly de- nied the resurrection of the dead, which the Pharisees as strong- ly maintained. Now therefore, that the Sadducees were able to arrest the apostles, shows that they were at this time in pow- er; and that the apostles upheld a favorable tenet of their op- ponents, supplies a special inducement for their action in this case, where the Pharisees would probably have been passive ; while the leniency of the latter towards the apostles is ex- Peter's shadow. 47 plained by the same circumstance. Besides this, the Saddu- cees were proverbially severe in action and austere in judgment — and their prominence in the Sanhedrim would aloneindicate the probability of active measures being taken against the teachers of the new doctrines. So the apostles were imprisoned, with a view to their ex- amination the next day before the Sanhedrim. But during the night an angel was sent to open the prison doors, and set them free. What course they might have taken if left to themselves, it is needless to inquire; but they were directed by the angel to pursue exactly the same course, of publicly teaching in the temple, that they had followed before their imprisonment. We shall not now enter into the circumstances of this event, as a similar deliverance, related with more cir- cumstantiality, will ere long engage our attention. The next day there was a very full meeting of the council to examine the prisoners, whom the apparitors were sent to fetch from prison. These officers speedily returned, in strange excitement, and related that they found everything secure in the prison — the doors fastened, and the guards keeping watch before them ; but when the door of the chamber into which the apostles had been thrust was thrown open, the place was found to be empty — no prisoners could be found. Before the assembly had recovered from the astonishment which this strange story produced, news was brought that the men cast yesterday into prison were now at large, and were as usual teaching freely and undauntedly in the temple. On hearing this, the captain of the temple himself, with a suitable force, was sent to apprehend them. But from the manifest indications of the popular regard for the apostles, they found it necessary to act with great caution, lest any roughness or violence towards persons so venerated should awaken a com- motion in which they might themselves be stoned to death — for the works of the temple, still in progress, caused many stones to be lying about, which had already more than onee offered a ready resource for tumultuous resistance to armed men. They therefore behaved gently and civilly, and inform- 48 F0RTV-FIR3T WEEK TUESDAY. ed the apostles that the council then sitting desired their pres- ence. The apostles at once obeyed the citation ; and the peo- ple, seeing that they quietly followed the officers, did not at- tempt to interfere. FORTY-FIRST WEEK— TUESDAY. GAMALIEL. ACTS V. 27-42. When the apostles appeared before the Sanhedrim, the high-priest charged them with contumacy, seeing that they still taught the people " in this name," though they had been strictly forbidden to do so. He recognized the rapid progress of their doctrines among the people — " Ye have filled Jerusa- lem with your doctrine ;" and accused them as designing to inflame the public mind against them, by teaching that they had shed innocent blood. His words were, " Ye intend to bring this man's blood upon us." Now, the apostles did un- doubtedly believe that their Lord had been virtually murdered by this council, which had thereby made itself liable to the judgments of God. This they again and again declared in the face of the Sanhedrim itself. It is indeed before that body that they chiefly urge it ; but there is no evidence that they dwelt much upon it in their public preaching — and then, less for the purpose of bringing the council into discredit, than of maintaining the honor of their Lord's character, by showing that He was innocently slain ; and that the nation, which had accepted this act of its rulers, had incurred deep guilt on that account. It is well to take notice how curiously the high-priest evades using the name of Jesus, obscurely indicating Him by the phrases, "This name"— "This man." This contemptuous mode of designating our Lord, as " that man," or " this man," of which we have here the first instance, continued to be in use among the Jews, Many examples of it might be adduced GAMALIEL. 49 from their writings. So a " heretic" is defined as " one that confesses that man;" and "heretics" as those who "are the disciples of that man who turned to evil the words of the living God" — Jesus being meant. In answer to the charge of contumacy, Peter, who as usual undertook to answer for all the apostles, by simply repeating his former declaration, " We must obey God rather than man," reminded the council that he had not undertaken to observe the previous injunction ; and that, indeed, he had then, as now, declared, that he acted under obligations that must overrule any commands of theirs. He then proceeded with unshaken countenance, before that assembly which had condemned his Lord to death, to proclaim that " this man" — that Jesus whom they had crucified — had risen from the dead, and now stood exalted at God's right hand as a Prince and a Saviour ; and he claimed for himself and his companions inspiration by the Spirit of God. On hearing this, the most vehement wrath and indignation seized the hearts of the council, or at least the Sadducean part of it ; and they insisted that it was needful these men should be put to death. It was usual to send prisoners out while the council deliberated on their sentences; but in their heated eagerness, this was now overlooked, until one calm voice was heard directing the removal of the apostles. The voice was that of Gamaliel, the real president of the Sanhedrim, al- though, in right of his office, the chair was taken by the high- priest, when, as on the present occasion, he happened to be present. This eminent man was a Pharisee, and, as such, dis- posed, on the grounds yesterday indicated, to lenient measures with the apostles ; and even without the bias derived from an- tagonism to the Sadducees, he was naturally a man of mild character and moderate views. His eminent position in the council and in the nation, and his high character, together with the fact that his decision was to be regarded as carrying with it that of the powerful party to which he belonged, caused him to be heard with respectful attention, and gave weight to his opinion, even in an assembly where the Sadducean influ- VOL. IV. 3 50 FORTY-FIRST WEEK TUESDAY. ence was so strong. His counsel was admirably framed to serve the apostles, without committing him decidedly to any favorable opinion of their cause. He urged caution and for- bearance, and enforced his advice by examples from the past. Measures of forcible expression would only fan the popular excitement into a higher flame ; whereas, if left to its course, it would die out ; or, if it rose to destructive violence, would be put out by the sword of the Romans, being, either way, extinguished like other great excitements, which he instanced, and which had at first awakened much expectation in some, and alarm in others. If the cause which the apostles upheld were destitute of vital strength, if it were not of God, it would assuredly come to nothing, whatever stir it made at the mo- ment ; but if there were any good in it, it would prosper, in spite of all their endeavors to put it down ; and they would then incur the guilt of having endeavored to lay a curse where God had laid a blessing. Some have thought, from his admitting the supposition that the apostles might prove to be in the right, that he was se- cretly a Christian, or at least had a leaning in that direction. This does not seem to have been the case. The mere suspicion would have neutralized all his counsel. The hypothesis was necessary to his argument, and, as a liberal-minded man, he did not shrink from using it, for what it might be worth, in favor of persons so earnest in bearing testimony to the promi- nent doctrine of the Pharisees, who were not favorable to the apostles, because they believed in Christ, but because they preached the resurrection of the dead. It is likely also that Gamaliel's kindly feeling, if it were such, changed somewhat with the lapse of time; for we know that the man who " breathed threatening and slaughter" against the Christians, came from his school. He also died with a high Jewish repu- tation, presiding over the Sanhedrim to the last, that is, until within eighteen years of the destruction of Jerusalem, or about twenty-two years after this. LightfOot says, " for all the fair- ness of this man at this time, yet did he afterwards ordain and publish that prayer, called 'The Prayer againrt Heretics/ GAMALIEL. 51 meaning Christians, framed, indeed, by Samuel the Little, but approved and authorized by this man, president of the Sanhe- drim, and commanded to be used constantly in their syna- gogues ; in which they prayed against the Gospel, and the professors of it." Gamaliel was a common-enough name among the Jews, es- pecially in and after this age. There is little doubt that the one before us is the most eminent of them, distinguished as Gamaliel the elder. The sacred historian indicates his em- inence in the public view, by describing him as " a doctor of the law, had in reputation of all the people." A doctor or teacher of the law was one who had made the law and the traditions illustrative of it his especial study ; and who taught it to others — like a professor to his class. Gamaliel was the first in reputation of those professors, and it was a distinction to have belonged to his class. This distinction was enjoyed by Paul, who more than once tells us that he was brought up " at the feet of Gamaliel" — which is as much as to say that he had received the highest Jewish education which was ob- tainable at Jerusalem. The information we possess concerning this eminent man entirely coincides with that here given. He was distinguished as Rabban Gamaliel ; and as there were two other Rabbans of the name, one his grandson, and the other his great-grand- son, he was further distinguished as Rabban Gamaliel the elder. Rabban was a title of the highest eminence and note — as much more dignified than Rabbi, as Rabbi was than Rab. There were, in fact, but seven persons, all presidents of the Sanhedrim, who ever bore it, and of these four were of this family. The first was his father, Simeon, whom some have fancied to be the same who toot the infant Jesus in his arms and blessed Him ; and the others this Gamaliel and the two of that name just mentioned. So highly was the present Gamaliel esteemed, that the Jewish Mishna declares that when he died the glory of the law ceased, and purity and Pharisa- ism expired. A great mourning was made for him, and it is recorded that one of his pupils, Onkelos, the Targumist, burnt 52 FORTY-FIRST WEEK WEDNESDAY. seventy pounds of frankincense in honor of the great Rabban when he died. This ostentation was, however, contrary to his wish, for it is recorded that he left orders that his corpse should be wrapped up in linen for burial ; not in silk, as had been the custom. It is added, that this was very grievous to his relations, who thought he had not been interred with suf- ficient honor. So much of Gamaliel, with whose advice to " refrain from these men," that is, to leave them unmolested, the council so far agreed, as to desist from the purpose of putting them to death ; but fearful of compromising their own authority with the people, if they suffered them to go altogether unpunished, after they had avowedly disregarded the injunction which had been laid upon them, they were beaten or scourged, and then dismissed with a renewed injunction, "not to speak in the name of Jesus." This being a Jewish scourging, was of thirty- nine stripes, like those which Paul mentions that he had been subject to. 2 Cor. xi. 24. It was a common secondary pun- ishment among the Jews ; and our Lord had forewarned his disciples that they would be exposed to this pain and shame. Ami how did this first experience of it affect them? "They rejoiced." What for? Certainly nut because they had been scourged, nor because, they had escaped with their lives, but " that they were worthy to suffer shame for his name." The sacred historian is careful to add that, notwithstanding all that had passed, " daily in the temple and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." FORTY-FIRST WEEK— WEDNESDAY. THEUDAS AND JUDAS. ACTS V. 36, 37. Let us this evening return to the speech of Gamaliel for the purpose of bestowing more particular attention upon the historical circumstances to which lie refers. " Fur before these THEUDAS AST) JUDAS, 53 days roso up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody ; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined them- selves : who was slain ; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought. After this man rose up Judas of Galilee, in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him : he also perished ; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. To this mention of Theudas an objection has been taken which it is important to clear up. It is said to be opposed to the statements of Josephus, who, in his Antiquities of the Jews, relates that when Fadus was Procurator of Judea, one Theudas prevailed upon a great multitude to take with them their wealth, and follow him to the river Jordan. For he gave himself out to be a prophet, and declared that the river, dividing at his command, would afford them an easy passage. Fadus, however, suffered them not long to enjoy their delu- sion, but sent a body of horse against them, which, foiling upon them unexpectedly, killed many, and took many alive. They took also Theudas himself, cut off his head, and carried it to Jerusalem.* Now Josephus most expressly tells us that this happened under the administration of Fadus, who was made Procurator after the death of king Herod-Agrippa, in the fourth year of the Emperor Claudius, and therefore many years after this speech was made by Gamaliel. It is therefore urged by misbelievers, that words are put into the mouth of Gamaliel by the writer of the Acts which he never uttered ; that he is represented as relating an event of which he could not at that time possibly have had any knowledge, seeing that it happened many years after. It will be seen that the force of the objection here taken, rests on the assumption that the Theudas here mentioned by Gamaliel, and the Theudas of whom Josephus speaks, are one and the same person. And this is attempted to be proved from the identity of the name and the similarity of the cir- cumstances. Each boasted himself to be somebody, had a number of followers, and was slain. But, these being inci- * Antiquities, xx. 5> § 1. 54 FORTY-FIRST WEEK — WEDNESDAY - . dents common to almost all impostors who raise a rebellion, they by no means prove the point for which they are brought forward. On the other hand, there are also circumstances stated in which the two transactions differ very widely. Gamaliel expressly says that his Theudas was before Judas of Galilee, who raised a sedition " in the time of the taxing," which taxing, as we have seen,* took place when Judea was made a Roman province, in the twelfth year of our era. But the Theudas of Josephus was under the Procurator Fadus, that is, in the year 45 or 46 a.d., as these two years formed the whole duration of his government. There was thus, from the data respectively supplied by the two historians, an interval little short, if at all short, of forty years between the two events and persons. In the next place, the Theudas of Jose- phus gathered together a much larger body of men than the Theudas of Gamaliel; Josephus says, "a very great multi- tude ;" whereas Gamaliel says, " a number of men, about four hundred." Of the very great multitude who followed Theu- das, Josephus asserts that many were killed and many taken alive ; but Gamaliel affirms that when his Theudas was killed, all his followers were scattered. When we take into account this difference of time and other circumstances, it is obviously suggested that Gamaliel and Josephus had two different events and persons in view. No argument to the contrary can be drawn from the name ; for Theudas or Thaddeus was in this age a xery common name among the Jews. Besides these, several persons of the name are mentioned in the Talmud ; and one of the apostles bore the name of Thaddeus. The possibility of this is illustrated by the fact that several seditious leaders in this age were called Judas, besides Judas of Galilee ; and a still larger number of public impostors bor« the name of Simon. It is therefore not in itself unlikely that two leaders of the name of Theudas should appear at an interval of forty years. That thus there was a Theudas, other than the one named by Josephus, who raised a sedition anterior, probably by somo * Evening Series. — Twenty-Eighth Week, Wednesday. THEUDAS AND JUDAS. 55 years, to that raised by Judas of Galilee at the time of the taking, and that it is to him Gamaliel refers, has been the opinion, or rather explanation, given by many of the best ancient and modern interpreters. The insurrection of Judas of Galilee was after the close of the reign of Archelaus ; and we may find a time about the beginning of that reign to which this other sedition may very well be assigned. This was when Archelaus was at Rome, soliciting from the Emperor Augustus the confirmation of his father's will. At that time, as described by Josephus himself, almost the whole of Palestine was in commotion. In Idumea 2,000 soldiers, who had been dismiss- ed by Herod, in conjunction with several others, took the field against Achiab a relation of Herod, and compelled him, with his soldiers, to retire to the mountains. In Galilee, Judas, the son of Hezekiah, the leader of a band of robbers that had been suppressed by Herod, made himself master of Sepphoris, armed his numerous followers from the arsenal of that city, pillaged the country, and spread devestation and terror on every side. In Perea, Simon, one of Herod's slaves, assumed the diadem, collected a band of desperate men, robbed the inhab- itants, and among other acts of violence, burnt the royal cas- tle at Jericho. Another mob fell upon Amathus on the Jor- dan, and burnt the royal castle, A shepherd named Athron- ges also assumed the regal title, collected a large body of fol- lowers, and with his three brothers, all men of gigantic stature, laid waste the country, plundered and slew the inhabitants, and sometimes repulsed the Romans themselves. In short, the whole country was full of bands of robbers, each having a king or chief at its head ; and they seem to have been ex- pecting the Messiah to deliver them from the Romans, who then, instead of protecting the people, increased the distresses of the nation by their extortions. It is thus highly probable that the Theudas of Gamaliel arose at this time. There is certainly room here for him. He may even have been one of those just named ; for, as is well known by the scripture history, it was very common for Jews to have two names, and to be as often denoted by the one 56 FORTY-FIRST WEEK WEDNESDAY. as the other. Archbishop Ussher thinks that the Juda9, son of Hezekiah, mentioned just now, was the same with the Theu- das of Gamaliel. But this is uncertain. However, this consideration makes it also far from certain that this Theudas is not mentioned by Josephus, though not by name, or not by the same name. But, assuming that he does not notice this circumstance, we may with confidence urge that the silence of Josephus concerning it is no good ar- gument against its truth. His history is very brief, in many places passing over a number of years without relating any remarkable fact. This is shown in what he says, and does not say, of the " Judas of Galilee," to whom Gamaliel also re- fers. He has not one word of the death of this notorious per- son and the dispersion of his followers ; yet no one ever doubt- ed these facts because he has not affirmed them. What he does tell us is in agreement with Gamaliel, that Judas excited the people to rebellion, and had many followers ; # and the rest of our information, forming the obvious sequel, we owe to the Rabban, whose speech St. Luke has preserved. Jose- phus does, however, afterwards inform us that Jacob and Simon, the two sons of this Judas, were crucified by the Procurator Tiberius Alexander (a. d. 46-47) only a year or two after the appearance of the later Theudas ;f but he does not even men- tion the crimes for which they suffered, though no one doubts that it was for spreading the seditious opinions of their fa- ther, and attempting to excite the people against the Romans. From the analogy which this case affords, some have suppos- ed that the Theudas spoken of by Josephus, may have been the son of the Theudas mentioned in the speech of Gamaliel, it being no unusual thing for children to tread in the steps of their parents. Of Judas of Galilee we have incidentally given all the in- formation possessed. The "taxing" or census which took place under Cyrenius, when, after the deposition of Archelaus, Judea was made a Roman province, was a step which excited great discontent among the Jews, being regarded as a basis * De Bell. Jud. ii. 8, § 1. Antiq. xviii. 1, § 1. f Antiq. xx. 4, § 2. MUfiMUES. 5V for further exaction by the Romans, and a mark of their com- plete subjection to Rome, which they had in part allowed themselves to forget while ruled by kings and ethnarchs of their own — possessing a shadow of independence. This dis- content the high-priest Joazar exerted himself to allay by all the means in his power. But this Judas, aided by one Sad- due, a Sadducee, more successfully labored to ferment the popular disgust, by representing the census of the people, the valuation of their property, and the payment of direct tribute, as the most shameful slavery, and contrary to the law which required the Jews to own no sovereign but God. By these representations, which had no real foundation in the law of Moses, they now raised a party, and excited great commotions. These, however, were suppressed, and Roman power thoroughly established. But the doctrine taught by these men survived as the tenet of a considerable sect ; and, long after the time of Gamaliel's speech, it again broke out into action, contrib- uting much to the disturbances of the nation, and to that last rebellion against the Romans which ended in that nation's overthrow. FORTY-FIRST WEEK— THURSDAY. MURMURS.— -ACTS VI. 1-6. Although the first converts to Christianity were all Jews, they were Jews of two distinct classes. First, the natives of Palestine, who spoke the vernacular Aramaean dialect, and including perhaps the Jews from the east, by whom the same dialect was in use ; and, second, the western Jews, who, being settled in the different provinces of the Roman empire, gen- erally spoke the Greek language. As Jews, there was always a sort of jealousy between these two classes, arising from the pretensions to superiority of the Jews of Palestine, and par- ticularly those of Jerusalem, on account of their birth and residence in the Holy Land, especially in the Holy City, and 3* 58 FORTY-FIRST WEEK THURSDAY. because the foreign Jews could not so accurately observe the ritual worship as those living in Jerusalem or Palestine ; and also, because they used what was still popularly regarded as the holy language, being in fact a dialect thereof. This state of feeling towards them on the part of the resident Jews, was, naturally enough, resented by the foreign Jews, who, although thev did not despise the privileges on which the others rested their pretensions, considered that they were prized too inor- dinately, and formed no just ground of religious distinction. In fact, from their residence abroad, where many of them had been born, the local ties of this religion were in them con- siderably loosened, and they did not so absorbingly estimate the ritual observance with which, as they were practicable only at Jerusalem, they were comparatively unfamiliar ; and this state of feeling prepared them, better than the native Jews, for the reception of the Gospel. It is always to be re- membered, that Judaism always was, and was intended to be, a local religion, — confined to the Land of Promise ; and such a state of difference, between those who remain in and those who overpass the territorial bounds, is inevitable, under any local religion. It is to be lamented that conversion to Christianity did not entirely extinguish this state of feeling between the two par- ties, making them entirely and completely one in Christ Jesus ; and we now come to a painful indication of its existence. The recent establishment of a sort of universal hospitality among the followers of Christ, under which the rich lay aside the distinctions which wealth confers, and the poor were lib- erally supported from the common fund which the self-denial of the former provided, began to be attended with some diffi- culties as the numbers of the converts increased. Even the apostles were embarrassed by the multiplication of their duties, which extended, not only to the instruction of the people, but to the administration of the secular business of the commu- nity. Negligence or partiality cannot be ascribed to persons whose motives were so pure and spotless as theirs ; but it is MURMURS. 59 clear, from a subsequent avowal of Peter's, that they were not equal to all the duties that grew upon them, and there was much danger that their daily cares in the distribution of the bread that perisheth to so many claimants, left them too little leisure for the impartation of spiritual food to the hungering multitude. An unpleasant incident supplied occasion for the applica- tion of a wise and effectual remedy for this serious and grow- ing evil. It came to the knowledge of the apostles, that " there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews that their widows were neglected in the daily ministration." It may be asked why the " widows," in particular, should be mentioned. In answer we may remark, that the claims of widows to char- itable consideration are prominently produced in the Epistles, and always engaged the special solicitude of the early church. In their case was involved that of young fatherless children ; and it was one of peculiar urgency, when their conversion cut them off from the aid of their natural connections. An Ori- ental widow so circumstanced presents a case of even more absolute destitution than with us ; for, in the East, any re- sources of remunerative occupation to a woman can be scarcely said to exist ; and the comparatively secluded habits of life which custom exacts, prevent her from pressing her claims and wants upon the attention of others, with that vigor and effect which among ourselves a widow may prop- erly do. And it may also be observed, that widows then were more numerous than with us, as the feeling of society, though it did not forbid, or even openly blame, the remarriage of widows, was decidedly unfavorable to the second marriages of women. Hence this consideration for the widows; and the susceptibility of the Hellenist converts, at the apparent neglect of " their widows" in " the daily ministration." It is quite possible that there may have been some founda- tion for the complaints of the Hellenist converts ; for where the numbers to be attended to were so large, it may have happened that the least obtrusive dependents on the common 60 FORTY-FIRST WEEK THURSDAY. fund, kept back also by the use of a foreign language, might be somewhat overlooked. It will further be observed, that the "murmurs" were not against the apostles, but against " the Hebrews" — probably the agents who assisted the apos- tles in the distribution — for it was clearly impossible that the apostles could deal out what was required to every individual with their own hands. Indeed, by the promptitude with which they provided a remedy, the apostles seem to have in some measure admitted the grievance, which we are not to suppose was urged upon their attention with any bitterness, but as an amicable representation of the fact. The apostles convened the body of the believers, and de- clared their intention to abandon to other hands a trust which was already burdensome, and might become invidious. There had been a great increase in the number of the disciples, the charge of whose spiritual interests was quite sufficient to en- gage their entire attention ; and if the temporal charge became incompatible with the spiritual, it could not be a question which of the two they ought to forego. They had decided to give their whole time and thought to the furtherance of the Gospel, and to the discharge of the spiritual trust committed to them. The terms used are remarkable, — " And we will give ourselves continually unto prayer, and to the ministry of the word." Here it is seen that " the ministry of the word" is not placed in the fore-front of their duties, and prayer thrown in as the incident of convenient seasons — but " prayer" is placed in the front as the chief and primary matter, and " the ministry of the word" follows in the second place — per- haps as a sequel or consequence. By this, if we like to be taught, we may learn that prayer holds no second place among our duties, or rather among the qualifying privileges of useful service. Since all success in the furtherance of the Gospel is of God, prayer stands even before effort in the min- istry of the word ; if it be not rather that prayer is in itself effort — and effort of the most prevailing and effectual kind. Determined, therefore, to free themselves from the inferior trusts, which others might discharge as effectually as them- STEPHEN. 61 selves, and to reserve all their strength for their spiritual la- bors, they directed that the church should, after due inquiry, select seven men of exemplary character, and already in pos- session of spiritual gifts and graces, and present them to the apostles, that they might commit to them the trust they were themselves ready to lay down. This course was very accept- able to the church, which in due time made choice of seven qualified persons, who were then solemnly set apart to this service, by prayer and the imposition of the apostles' hands. The names of the persons to whom this high and honorable trust was committed, were Stephen, who is specially distin- guished by the sacred writer as one eminently endowed with faith, and other high gifts of the Spirit ; Philip, of whom we shall hear more anon ; Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, who is noted as " a proselyte of Antioch." From this it may be surmised that none of the others were prose- lytes ; but as all their names are Greek, it may be inferred that they were all Hellenists ; that is, that, in the fulness of Christian confidence and brotherly love, the whole seven had been selected from the body which had felt itself aggrieved — a step which could not fail to cut off for the future all grounds for suspicion or complaint against " the Hebrews" on the part of " the Grecians." FORTY-FIRST WEEK— FRIDAY. STEPHEN. ACTS VI. 8-VII. 60. The first name in the list of the seven deacons is, is we have seen, that of Stephen ; and it is to him that the sacred narrative now calls our attention. Although primarily appointed for a secular object, the dea- cons, in the discharge of their special duty, frequently came in contact with home and foreign Jews ; and since men had been chosen for the office endowed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, they possessed both the inward call and the ability to make 62 FORTY-FIRST WEEK FRIDAY. use of their opportunities for the spread of the Gospel among the Jews. In these endeavors Stephen remarkably distin- guished himself; nor were miraculous deeds wanting to attest the authority of his words. This soon awakened a fresh and vehement persecution, in which we might feel some surprise to find the Pharisees the active parties, notwithstanding their recent toleration, did we not closely examine the circumstances. The fact itself may suggest that some fresh, and to them ab- horrent, aspect of Christian teaching had been produced, which had not indeed been previously suppressed, but which had not before been so strongly enforced upon their attention. If we look into the specimens of apostolic teaching which have hitherto occurred, we shall find it turn chiefly on this head — that the Jewish rulers had incurred deep guilt by the rejection and murder of Jesus, whose Divinity and Messiahship had now been attested beyond all question by his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension into heaven, where He sits, glorified, to bestow blessings upon his followers, and remission of sins to the contrite, and whence He shall hereafter appear to judge the world. But we do not find a word directly applicable to the discontinuance and abrogation of the Mosaic system, as a thing that had become old and must pass away — and had al- ready, as a ritual system, lost all force and binding obligation, by its complete fulfilment in Christ. This truth even the apostles were slow to perceive, as we see by the disputes which, at a later time, arose between Paul and Peter oh this very subject. But such a man as Stephen, who was in some re- spects a harbinger of Paul, had, as a Hellenist, undoubtedly from the first entertained freer notions of the Old Testament dispensation, in its relation to Christianity, than a Jew of Palestine could easily realize ; and therefore the Holy Spirit might the more bring into his view that aspect of Christianity, by which it was to draw the heathen world within the circle of that higher spiritual life which formed its essence, but which necessarily pre-supposed the dissolution of the temple of Jeru- salem as a centre of union. There were at Jerusalem a great number of synagogues, STEPHEN. 63 founded by the foreign Jews for their own use when at the holy city, and for that of their sons who were sent thither to complete their education, and to which schools and colleges were in most instances attached. With the members of these synagogues Stephen naturally came into especial contact, as he, on the assumption of his being a Hellenist, must have be- longed to one of them. The fearless zeal with which Stephen declared to them the whole counsel of God, on points upon which the Jewish mind was most open to offence, and the power of argument and force of eloquence with which he en- forced them, soon awakened the strongest opposition of some of these synagogues, the members of which united their forces to put him down — by dint of argument and insult, or, if that failed, by strength of hand. The synagogues foremost in this design were those of the Alexandrian and Cyrenian Jews ; of Cilician Jews — to which the young Saul of Tarsus then be- longed ; of the Jews from Lesser Asia ; and of the " Liber- tines." This last has given occasion to some controversy. That they belonged to some unknown city called Libertum, is a conjecture to which no weight is now attached. It is better, and is indeed usual, to apprehend that it was a synagogue for the use of those who w T ere freed-men ; that is, Jews and pros- elytes who had been Roman slaves, and had obtained their freedom, and their descendants. We are no_t, however, to suppose that freed-men only were connected with this syna- gogue, any more than that the other synagogues numbered among their members only men of Alexandria, Cyrene, or Cilicia. It is sufficient to understand that persons of this class preponderated in them. The young men must have formed an unusually large proportion of the members of these syna- gogues, seeing that so many were there engaged in their studies, the adult members of whose families were far away ; and this fact, together with the certainty that one of Stephen's most active opponents did belong to this class, warrants the conclusion that this movement against Stephen originated among the Hellenistic students, and was conducted by them. It was not for this the less formidable. Jewish students were, 64 FORTY-FIRST WEEK — FRIDAY. in the essentials of student life and character, the same ai German, English, or French students — heady, reckless, intol- erant, prejudiced, and often ferocious young men, mora vehemently carried away by party zeal than those, to whom more extended years have given broader views of men and things. The first step taken under these influences was, that the synagogues put forward some of their members, of different nations, and skilled in the subtleties of the later Jewish teach- ing, to argue the points in dispute with Stephen. But they " were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake." Ashamed of being thus openly defeated by a single adversary, and incensed that the religion which they opposed had thus received such signal confirmation, they suborned men of profligate consciences to accuse him of blasphemy before the Sanhedrim ; and then brought him tumultuously before the council, in order to obtain a formal decree of condemnation against him. The precise accusation was, " That he had spoken blasphe- mous words against Moses and against God;" and again, " That he ceased not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law : for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and change the customs [or rites] which Moses delivered us." This is said to have been the deposition of false witnesses. From this it does not, however, follow that it was entirely a fabrication of theirs, but only that they had so colored and exaggerated what he did say, as to give it an aspect of blasphemy which did not properly belong to ; though it must be admitted that even a fair report of what the teaching of his Lord authorized him to declare, might have been deemed blasphemous by those before whom Stephen appeared. There can be little doubt that what this holy man had said, afforded some basis for the misrepresentations of the witnesses ; for before this time no- thing similar had been advanced against the teachers of the Christian doctrine. Hence we may be able to collect, that what Stephen really did say was to the tenor already indi- STEPHEN. 65 cated. It is also observable that his defence plainly intimates that he by no means intended to repel the accusation as alto- gether a falsity, but rather to acknowledge that there was truth mixed up with it ; that which he had really spoken, and which was already so obnoxious to the Jews, he had no wish to deny, but only to place what he had stated in its right con- nection, and to show that it was not open to the charge of blasphemy which had been laid against it. The " blasphemy against Moses," of which he had been accused, was probably found in his assertion that the authority of Moses was inferior to, or superseded by, that of Christ. " The blasphemy against God" may have been involved in the blasphemy against Moses, inasmuch as God was the great Author of that religion which Moses had taught the Israelites by His command ; or it may have lain in his ascribing Divinity to one who had lately suf- fered publicly as a malefactor. " The blasphemy against the holy place and the law," seems to have consisted in a predic- tion that the temple was to be destroyed, and the ritual law of course abolished. When these charges were set forth, with a formality which, as before that assembly, invested them with ominous purport to the safety and even life of the prisoner, every eye was di- rected towards him to observe the impression produced upon him, as well as to scan the personal appearance of one, con- cerning whom so much had been lately said in the city. There he stood, serene, collected, and undismayed — if some- thing more be not meant by the declaration that " all that sat in the council saw his face as it had been the face of an an- gel" — words which have led many, not unreasonably, to con- clude that it pleased God to manifest his approbation of his servant by investing his countenance with a supernatural and angelic brightness, such as that with which the face of Moses shone when he had been speaking with the Lord. Stephen in his defence took a rapid and interesting survey of Jewish history from the days of Abraham to those of Solo- mon, refuting the erroneous notions of the Jews concerning the excellence and the permanency of the Mosaic dispensation, 66 FORTY-FIRST WEEK — FRIDAY. and proving to them from the records of their own Scriptures that Abraham and the patriarchs had been chosen of God, and had served him long before the Law was given by Moses, and the tabernacle and temple were built ; that Moses him- self, commissioned as he was by God to be " a ruler and de- liverer" of the people by whom he had been previously " re- fused," and to be the giver of the Law to them, had never- theless foretold the giving of a new law, inasmuch as he had announced, " a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me ; Him shall ye hear." The Law of Moses was therefore avowedly of a temporary nature ; and had on many occasions proved insufficient to keep the people to their obedience ; and the temple, like the tabernacle before it, which had been made by Divine command, and after a Divine pattern, was but of a transient and temporary duration, and was of no essential value in the sight of God. He then burst forth into a strain of severe reprehension, con- demning the wilfulness of their fathers in resisting the Holy Ghost, and their own hereditary stubbornness of heart, charg- ing their fathers with having slain the prophets who had fore- told the coming of the Messiah, and themselves with having betrayed and murdered the Messiah himself, thus rebelling against the Law of which they professed themselves such zeal- ous maintainers, — a Law which had indeed been delivered to them by the ministry of angels, and which the Messiah came bat to perfect and fulfil. Longer than this the audience could not endure to hear him. They would not suffer him to proceed with the appli- cation of his arguments. They broke in upon his defence with all the signs of malice, rage, and fury. " They were cut to the heart, and they gnashed upon him with their teeth." But he, regardless of their rage, and " being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw" the splen- dor of the Divine presence, and Jesus himself — the crucified Jesus — arrayed in glory, and in a posture of readiness to suc- cor and receive him. As he saw, he spoke : " Behold I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right STONING. 67 hand of God." Jesus is usually represented as sitting on the right hand of God ; the difference here is therefore noticeable, as if the glorified Redeemer had risen from his seat in sign of his readiness to aid his servant. If these words do not mean to assert the Divinity of Christ, they have no meaning ; and that the Jews understood them in this sense is clear, for, hearing in them a confirmation and aggravation of the "blasphemy" which he had been before accused of u speaking against God," they raised a tremendous outcry, and rushing upon him with one accord, cast him out of the city, and stoned him; thus inflicting upon him the death which the law awarded to blasphemers, but not await- ing in their tumultuous impatience for blood, all the tedious formalities of judicial procedure. The last breath of the holy man was spent in a prayer to Jesus, first for himself, and then for his murderers. The words employed are more remark- able than they may seem. " They stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." The word God is not in the original, but is supplied, and so printed in italic letters. Omitting this, the passage may read : " They stoned Stephen, invocating and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And, as the stones rained their cruel blows upon his frame, he prayed, " Lord, lay not this sin to their charge," and then he sank to the ground in death ; and such was the composure with which he yielded up his soul, under circum- stances so tumultuous and so terrifying, that, as if he had died quietly upon his bed, the sacred historian says with beautiful simplicity, " And when he had said this, he fell asleep." FORTY-FIRST WEEK— SATURDAY. STONING. ACTS VII. 58. Stoning to death was the ordinary capital punishment among the Jews, just as much as hanging is with us, decapi- tation in France and Germany, and strangulation in Spain. G8 FORTY-FIRST WEEK SATURDAY. In the Law it is assigned to such offenders as blasphemers, false prophets, and the like; but it was not confined to them, >ning i s to be understood wherever the punishment of death is indicated without any particular form being specified. It is true we read of persons being hanged ; but that was the hanging up of the body (in particular cases only) after death had been inflicted. We also find persons "slain by the sword ;" but this was the punishment for military or political offenders, sentenced by the sovereign, just as with us such persons are shot or beheaded, while the ordinary death-pun- ishment is hanging. It is noticeable that it is in the deserts of stony Arabia we first hear of this form of punishment, — having been suggested probably by the abundance of these missiles, and the fatal effect with which they were often em- ployed in broils among the people. It seems a very shocking form of death- punishment, but was less so than it may seem. Originally, it is likely, the people merely pelted the bound criminal with the stones lying about, till he died. But even in this crude form of its infliction, the first stone that struck the bared head would generally close the painful scene. Latterly the punishment assumed a more orderly shape, and was subjected to arrangements, the object of which was to bring the criminal to his end as expeditiously as possible, and to divest the punishment of a tumultuary aspect. The par- ticulars which the Jewish writers have left us, describe a form of stoning materially different from the idea which is usually entertained of that punishment, and which, as existing in the time of Stephen, deserves our attention. From these sources we learn that the manner of execution was this : — A crier marched before the man who was to die, proclaiming his of- fence, and the names of the witnesses on whose testimony he had been convicted. This was for the humane purpose of enabling any one, possessing knowledge of the parties and the circumstances, to come forward and arrest the execution until his further evidence had been heard and considered. Hence, usually, the tribunal which had sentenced the prisoner, re- mained sitting to hear such evidence as might thus be pro- STONING. 69 duced, and did not finally rise until apprized that the execu- tion had taken place. The place of execution was always out- side the town — as was, until about seventy years ago, the case in London, the condemned being conveyed from New- gate* to Tyburn, a distance of nearly three miles, for execu- tion. At this day in Jerusalem, there is a gate which bears the name of Stephen, under the belief, locally entertained, that it was through the old gate which this represents that the martyr was hurried to his death. The vicinity of this gate to the area of the temple (now the mosque of Omar), is in favor of this tradition ; and as there is a path leading di- rect from this gate to the garden of Gethsemane, we may conclude that our Lord often passed through it in his way to and from the Mount of Olives — at least on the awful night of his agony. * Through Holborn aud Oxford Street, to a spot fronting Hyde Park, not far from the Marble Arch, and now a fashionable quarter of the metropolis. Cunningham, in his Iland-Book of London, says, "It [the gallows] stood, as I believe, on the right of Connaught Place, though No. 49, Connaught Square, is said to be the spot." The change to the present practice of hanging the condemned just outside the prison-gate, was made in 1782, and was thus animadverted on by Dr. Johnson, according to Boswell; — "He said to Sir William Scott, ' Tin- age is running mad after innovation, and all the business of the wei*lcl 10 FORTY-FIRST WEEK SATURDAY. Arrived at the place, the convict was divested of his cloth- ing, except a small covering about the loins ; and his hands being bound, he was taken to the top of some eminence — a tower, a building, or a cliff — not less than twice a man's height. When the top was reached, the witnesses laid their hands upon him, and then cast off their upper clothing, that they might be the more ready for the active exertion their position imposed, — being virtually that of executing the sentence which had been the result of their evidence. To prevent the clothes, of which they thus divested themselves, from being lost, they were consigned to the care of some friend ; and in the case of Stephen, the executing witnesses gave their garments in charge of "a young man whose name was Saul," — of whom there will hereafter be much to say — and whose full and hearty complicity in the transaction is not only indicated by this fact, but is afterwards expressly affirmed in the words : " Saul was consenting unto his death." Indeed, from the stress that he himself, after his conversion, laid upon this circumstance — " When the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I kept the raiment of them that slew him" (Acts xxii. 20) — we may gather that that implied a degree of active concurrence in the deed only a degree less than that of the witnesses ; and the words themselves show, as we now explain, that the witnesses were also the executioners. All being thus ready, one of the witnesses cast the con- demned down from that high place with great violence, en- deavoring to do it so that he should fall on a large stone, which was designedly placed below. This usually rendered him insensible, if it did not kill him ; but if he was not dead, is to be done in a new way ; men are to be hanged in a new way ; Ty- burn itself is not safe from the fury of innovation.' It having been argued that this was an improvement — ' No, Sir,' said he, eagerly, 'it is not an improvement. They object, that the old method drew together a number of spectators. Sir, executions are intended to draw spectators. If they do not draw spectators, they don't answer their purpose. The old method was most satisfactory to all parties ; the public was gratified by a procession : the criminal was supported by it. Why is all this to be swept away V " STONING. *71 those below turned hirn upon his back, and then the other witnesses, remaining above, cast down a large stone aimed at the chest. This was generally mortal ; but it* not, the people below hastened to cast stones at him till no life remained. In this way the execution was quickly over, and was attended by fewer revolting circumstances than must have ensued from that indiscriminate pelting by the people, which is commonly sup- posed to have constituted this form of capital punishment. It would seem that Stephen rose from his fall to his knees, and in that posture prayed for the forgiveness of his murderers, — a circumstance which imparts an additionally touching em- phasis to his prayer. In the narrative of our Lord's death, it is made plainly to appear that the Jewish tribunals had no power of inflicting the punishment of death without the sanction of the Romans ; and it may be, and has been asked, how it is that we have here what seems, at the first view, a regular trial before the Sanhedrim, with the deposition of witnesses, the prisoner's defence, and the ordinary capital punishment among the Jews inflicted, without any mention of the Romans. As to the trial merely, that is easily explained. The Jewish tribunal necessarily tried the prisoner to find the nature of his offence ; and if they found him guilty of a capital crime, they pro- nounced sentence against him, and reported it to the Roman governor for confirmation. If confirmed, the offender was given to them for execution by their own mode of stoning, unless the offence were of a political nature, as for sedition, when the Romans took the matter into their own hands, and inflicted their punishment of crucifixion. In the case of Stephen, however, it is very doubtful if the trial even was complete. But supposing that all the forms of legal process were observed, and sentence duly pronounced, it does not fol- low that they did not exceed the bounds of their authority in carrying their own sentence into effect before the Romans could interfere to prevent it. That it is reported as having taken place, by no means proves that the act was legally per- formed. The Roman governor ordinarily resided at Caesarea^ *12 FORTY-FIRST WEEK SATURDAY. and was rarely at Jerusalem, except at the great festivals. In bis absence tbey might feel more at liberty to act in carrying out their own sentence, with little fear of being afterwards called to account on the report of the Roman commandant — partly because the Romans held cheaply the life of any one who was not a citizen of Rome, and partly because the gov- ernor stood in fear of the Jewish authorities at this time, and would be likely to wink at their proceedings. There was hence little to deter them from acting in this case, even if the Roman check upon their authority did really exist. All this is on the supposition that the trial was regular, but the execution irregular. But it will rather appear that the trial itself was irregular, and that the judicial act was not completed. There are, indeed, the witnesses, and part of the prisoner's defence; and here the legal action stops. The high-priest does not, as in our Lord's trial, ask the opinion of the council, and then deliver sentence in accordance with their views. We read of no conference, no sentence. The defence itself it interrupted, by the ungovernable rage of those who heard it ; and when Stephen declared that he saw Jesus stand- ing at God's right hand, they stayed to hear no more, but rushed upon him, and hurried him away to death. This has all the aspect of a tumultuary proceeding — a violent interrup- tion of that course of action, by which they purposed, in the first instance, to reach a sentence, to be reported to the Roman governor for his sanction. Indeed, the matter reached a point at which they might have felt authorized to act without the usual formalities. The words Stephen uttered sounded in their ears as rank blasphemy ; and, when that was the case, the Jews seem always to have been ready to stone a man on the sj>ot without any trial. There are several instances of this in the Gospels, which will instantly occur to the reader's recol- lection. A man taken in the fact might be punished out of hand without trial ; and this rule seems to have been popu- larly extended to blasphemy. So, when Stephen uttered words which seemed to them blasphemous, they may have felt there was no need of any further trial — the case having become one THE PERSECUTION. f3 for instant and summary action, vindicable even to the Roman Governor. It certainly appears from the narrative that Stephen was convicted, less upon the evidence of the witnesses, than upon that declaration of his own, which made them "run upon him with one accord." It seems, therefore, that there is nothing in the case of Stephen to compel us to abandon our previous conclusion, that the Jewish tribunals had been by the Romans divested of the sovereign power of inflicting capital punishment. THE PERSECUTION. ACTS VIII. 1. It has always been, that the ground on which the fertilizing blood of a martyr has been shed, has brought forth fruit, thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold. Nations have been slow to learn this, and have been continually making the great mis- take of supposing, that a great truth could be quenched in the blood of those who upheld it. So, in this case, the blood of Stephen cried from the ground with a voice more eloquent and persuasive than the accents of his living tongue had been. By showing that the Christian faith was stronger than death, the last resort of man's oppression, it ensured its triumph ; and thenceforth every death, thus nobly and cheerfully en- dured, where it dismayed one dastard spirit, quickened a hun- dred noble hearts, and made them, or prepared them, to be proselytes. To receive a man r s testimony with implicit reli- ance, it is necessary to be assured that he is himself sincerely convinced of that which he teaches ; and to lay down his life for the truth which he teaches, is the most certain sign of his sincerity which it is possible for a man to give. His death thus brings credit upon the doctrines he taught, as proclaimed by surviving teachers. In this case, the ever active Pharisees were now on the vol. iv. 4 74 FORTY-SECOND WEEK SUNDAY. alert ; and, enraged to find that the death of Stephen had no effect in suppressing the new religion, the Sanhedrim, now unanimous by the concurrence of the Pharisees with the Sad- ducees, brought into action all the resources it possessed, in a most rancorous and general persecution of the infant church — the nature of which may be judged from the proceedings of Saul of Tarsus, who took a most active and violent part in the proceedings, having, assuredly at his own application, been specially commissioned for this work by the Sanhedrim, who doubtless regarded with encouraging complacency the ardent zeal for Pharisaism of this promising and already distinguished young man. There is indeed reason to suppose that he was himself at this time a member of the Sanhedrim. Some think that his " consenting" to the death of Stephen, implies that he was so when the martyr was condemned. Whether so or not, it is thought probable that he was at least afterwards elected into the supreme court of judicature, perhaps to recompense the zeal he had shown against the new doctrines on that occa- sion ; for, in referring to the affairs of this time at a later period, he says not only that he exercised his powers by a commission from the high-priest, but also that, when the fol- lowers of Christ were put to death, he gave his vote against them. He could only have given his vote as one of the San- hedrim ; and it may reasonably be doubted whether the very important commission which he subsequently received, when he went to Damascus, would have been entrusted to any one who was not a member of that body — his introduction into which might be materially promoted by the fact that Gama- liel, whose favorite pupil he seems to have been, was its president. Out of this arises an important consideration — that to be a parent was a condition of admission to that assembly, because those whose hearts were softened by the paternal relation were supposed to be more humane, more inclined to mercy than others. Besides, among the Jews it was accounted scarcely reputable for a man to remain unmarried after eighteen years of age; and marriages, in general were very early. If, there- THE PERSECUTION. 75 fore, Saul belonged to the Sanhedrim, the probalility is that he was at this time married, and the father of a family. But if so, it would seem that his wife and child, or children, did not long survive, for otherwise it is scarcely possible but some allusion to them would be found in the subsequent narrative, or in the Epistles ; and it is clear that, if he ever had a wife, she was not living when he wrote the First Epistle to the Co- rinthians. 1 Cor. vii. 7, 8. In describing the proceedings of this man against the Lord's disciples, St. Luke says : " As for Saul, he made havoc of the church." How strong this expression ! He ravaged abroad, as a tiger hunting for his prey ; " entering every house, and haling men and women," — separating the parent from the child, distressing the protector and the orphan, — "committed them to prison," whence probably, in many cases, death alone delivered them. But it is to be remembered that this strong language is employed by one who was in after years the inti- mate friend and associate of St. Paul, and is but an echo of the terms in which he himself always speaks of this part of his career. In fact, that Saul was quite the foremost acting man in this persecution, is clear from all the incidents which transpire, particularly from the high commission which sub- sequently acknowledged and rewarded his service against heresy. How widely and prominently his name was con- nected with this persecution, appears from the circumstance that Ananias of Damascus had " heard by many of this man, how much evil he had done to the saints at Jerusalem." Acts ix. 13. From the cruelties practised upon them, and from the efforts made to compel them, as Paul afterwards confessed — (Acts xxvi. 11) — "to blaspheme that holy name whereby they were called," the disciples naturally fled in all directions, probably at the instance of the apostles, who, however, as the governing body, felt it their duty to face the peril of remain- ing at Jerusalem, that the dispersed disciples might know where to apply for the counsel and aid they might require under their altered circumstances. Their departure, also, 76 FORTY-SECOND WEEK — SUNDAY. would have imparted too desultory a character to the disper- sion, and might have tended to render it comparatively un- productive (humanly speaking) of the advantages which re- sulted from it. These advantages were great — so great as to open a new and advanced period of Christian history. In its first epoch, over which we have passed, the Christian society consisted of Jews only, who had hitherto remained in the city of Jerusa- lem. Many, indeed, of those whoj on the day of Pentecost, had come thither from various regions, seem, after their re- turn home, to have imparted to their countrymen some idea, however imperfect, of Christian doctrine; yet its appointed teachers had hitherto remained within the walls of Jerusalem, nor had they taught in any other country. The congregation at Jerusalem was, therefore, numerous. But it had not sepa- rated itself from the Jewish communion ; for we read that, during all this period, the apostles and all other Christians yielded obedience to the Sanhedrim in all matters not con- trary to what they knew to be God's will, and frequented, at the stated hours of prayer, the temple, where the apostles taught. But this persecution had a most salutary widening influence, both externally and internally, upon the church. Instead of confining the benefits of Christianity to the limits of Jerusalem, where its glorious Author had so lately finished his course upon earth, the believers of this faith, trained under the apostles, and disciplined by adversities, went forth pre- pared and eager to make known the truth in which they be- lieved, and many of them well qualified by natural and acquired endowments, and by the gifts of the Spirit, to labor effectually for its advancement ; and hence we shall soon see Christian societies growing up in each of the various regions to which they were dispersed abroad. With this outward expansion there was a corresponding inward expansion. Away from Jerusalem the disciples became more free from the trammels of Judaism, and grew to be increasingly con- scious of the independence of their Divine faith, and its intrin- sic sufficiency as a doctrine destined, without foreign aid, to PHILIP THE EVANGELIST. 77 impart Divine life and salvation to all men, among all nations without distinction. These were splendid results from what, at the first view, seemed so threatening as the persecution following the death of Stephen. But if there be any circumstance which particu- larly displays the supreme majesty of God, and his controlling power over the affairs of men, it k when these events, which we ignorantly call evil, and which appear to us teeming with destruction, are not only removed without these accumulated horrors which we dreaded, but actually leave behind thern the most beneficial effects. Then are we satisfied that " the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men ;" then do we gratefully acknowledge : " This is thy hand, and Thou, Lord, hast done it." FORTY-SECOND WEEK— MONDAY. PHILIP THE EVANGELIST. ACTS VIII. 5-24. Although the apostles remained at Jerusalem, the deacons went away. The consideration already suggested concerning them, with the vehemency with which one of their number had been opposed, and brought to his death, render it probable that all of them were special objects of hostile attention on the part of the Jews ; and as the dispersion of the church left no room for the exercise of their distinguishing office, there was no paramount duty to detain them at Jerusalem. Whither they went we do not know, except of one only of their num- ber. This was Philip, whose name is second (after that of Stephen) in the list of the deacons, and whose place is also second in the apostolical record, — being in fact the only one of the surviving deacons whose name recurs in it, or of whose labors we have any information. He went to Samaria, where, although near, he was much safer than he would have been in many more distant places — in Damascus, for instance — for the Jews had no synagogues in 78 FORTY-SECOND WEEK — MONDAY. Samaria, as they had in many heathen lands ; nor had the Sanhedrim any influence or power there. Indeed, any at- tempt of theirs to exercise authority over any one resident in that territory, would have assuredly been deeply resented and resisted by the Samaritans, and might have led to a popular commotion. it was not, however, from any prominent regard to his greater safety in Samaria than at other places out of Judea, that Philip made that province the place of his retreat; the hope of being there of service in his Master's cause, was doubt- less a prevailing motive with him. The place to which he went is described as " a city [not the city] of Samaria ;" and which we take to have been Shechem or Sychar, and not the city of Samaria itself, which had been rebuilt by Herod, and to which he had given the name of Sebaste, the Greek for " Augustus," in compliment to his patron, the emperor of that name. This was nominally the metropolis of the province, but Shechem was really the more important place, and the chief seat of the Samaritans. Here our Lord had been in person some four years before ; and there can be no doubt that there were many among the inhabitants who retained a lively recollection of that visit, by which, as well as by their comparative freedom from the political prejudices of Judaism, they were in a state of some preparedness for the fuller doc- trine which Philip was ready to impart. This evangelist, being, as we have presumed, a Hellenist, would also be com- paratively free from those angry feelings towards the Samari- tans, which might have deterred a native Jew from going among them. He could not but have known of our Lord's teaching among them ; and this must have seemed to him a sufficient warrant, for offering the Gospel to a people not rec- ognized as within the pale of Judaism ; and if he had hesi- tated, the recollection of our Lord's express order, just before His ascension, for its general diffusion, must have removed his doubts. This, however, was a point on which the apostles themselves did not see their way clearly ; and to Philip may be assigned the distinction of being led by the Spirit to antici- PHILIP THE EVANGELIST. 79 pate the conclusions, to which they were all eventually led or driven. The success of Philip among the Samaritans fully equalled and probably exceeded any expectations he had formed. Very general attention was paid to him ; and very many were so deeply impressed by the doctrine he taught, and by the signal miracles of beneficence which he wrought in confirma- tion of it, that they declared their adhesion to Christ, and re- ceived baptism from the hands of the evangelist. Then there was "great joy" in the city; for many of its inhabitants had found that treasure of the soul, for which there was a general craving at that time. Among these converts was a man who had before been held in high reverence by the people of the place. His name was Simon, and he is described as one of those men, partly philosopher and partly charlatan, of whom there were many in that age, who pretended to have, and per- haps, indeed, deluded themselves into the belief that they had, a special intimacy and intercouse with the hidden spiritual world; and who, either by aid of the powers of darkness were enabled to work real wonders in support of their preten- sions, or by their acquaintance with secrets of natural science now familiar to us, but then known only to adepts, were ena- bled to produce effects which astonished the uninstructed, just as the results of electricity or chemistry do still in many places alarm and bewilder the ignorant. This man had been looked up to with awe and reverence by the people as something more than human, his pretensions being favored 6y the cir- cumstances of the time ; for the general excitement in the minds of men, and the prevalent longing for something higher, to which we have frequently had occasion to refer, led the people but too readily to attach themselves to all such persons who affirmed that they had been favored with glimpses of the spiritual world. So we see here again the necessity of mira- cles — of such miracles as could, from their nature, be subject to no misinterpretation. Simon might here, for instance, do many wonderful things, but he could not heal the sick and dying, and restore strength to the helpless, as Philip did. He 80 FORTY-SECOND WEEK — MONDAY. could astonish and perplex ; Philip also could astonish, but he could do far more — he could, by the beneficent character of all his acts, re-open the springs of gladness in many a forlorn heart, and send thankfulness and joy to many a troubled home. These were practical realities; and no wonder that Simon soon found himself deserted. He therefore seems to have thought that he might maintain his influence better by an ad- hesion to the new cause, than by any hostility to it. He ac- cordingly presented himself to Philip, declaring his belief in Christ, and was in consequence baptised. How far his belief was sincere, or how far simulated, is not for us to say. We know that he was not spiritually converted ; but he may have had an historical belief in all that Philip taught concerning Christ, and may have thought that sufficient. Or it may be that he regarded the works of Philip as the results of an art simply higher than his own, and of secrets to which he had not yet attained ; and he expected to be able to gain pos- session of them by attaching himself to the unsuspicious evangelist. Now, when the intelligence of this success of Philip in Samaria reached Jerusalem, Peter and John went thither to promote and establish this great work. It is to be borne in mind, that though the ordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit were shed abroad in the heart of every true convert, the extraordinary gifts, as those of speaking languages not learned, of working miracles, of discerning of spirits, etc., could only be imparted by the apostles, when not spontaneouly effused, as on the day of Pentecost, or in the house of Cornelius. These gifts they imparted to such as seemed to them fit to receive them ; and in this they could not well be mistaken, as they were endowed with the faculty of " discerning of spirits," that is, the real spiritual condition of those to whom their attention was directed. This they did by laying their hands upon the heads of the persons for whom they sought these benefits, — such being the universal Eastern practice with those who prayed for or invoked blessings upon another. The free Spirit of God was not, however, bound, PHILIP THE EVANGELIST. 81 even by the apostle's invocation. He still dispersed his gifts severally to every man as He would — bestowing upon him that gift which he was best fitted to receive and exercise for the benefit of the church. Still, unlike the spiritual gifts, with which all true converts were enriched, these were mani- fest and palpable gifts, and in the eyes of a worldly man like Simon, must have seemed of immensely greater importance and value than those simply spiritual gifts and graces of the Spirit which, although ostensibly a convert, he had not re- ceived, and was incapable of appreciating. Seeing, therefore, the extraordinary endowments which followed the imposition of the apostles' hands, he was greatly astonished. He meas- ured them by his own standard ; he regarded them simply as greater adepts than himself, or even Philip, in thaumaturgic arts ; and perceiving at a glance how the possession of such a power as that which they exercised, might be made conduc- ive to the objects of his selfish ambition, he thirsted to ob- tain it. He had not approached near enough to the apostles to understand them thoroughly. Notwithstanding the eclat of his conversion, there was something so mutually repellent between their nature and his, that no intimacy had grown up between them. Had that been the case, he would not have had the hardihood, or have committed the serious mistake, of attempting to bribe the apostles by a sum of money — prob- ably a large sum — to impart their own power to him — not simply the power of speaking with tongues, of working mir- acles, of prophesying, of discerning of spirits — but the power of conferring those gifts by the imposition of his hands. The audacious atrocity and worldliness of this proposal, struck the apostles with horror and amazement ; and Peter gave free ut- terance to his indignant abhorrence : — " Thy money," he said, " perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money." He added, with becom ing severity, that he now perceived that Simon had " no part nor lot in the matter," and that his " heart was not right with Ged," and that he was still, notwithstanding his apparent ad- hesion to Chri#t by conversion and baptism, " in the gall of 4* 82 FORTY-SECOND WEEK TUESDAY. bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." Yet, seeing that Si- mon seemed appalled at his denunciation, he added, less se- verely, — " Repent, therefore, of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if, perhaps, the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." Nothing could more strongly manifest Peter's estimate of this infamy than the subjunctive form in which he held forth the possibility of pardon. Simon felt this. The proud spirit of the man, the aim of whose life had been to secure the homage of men, stood rebuked before the plain-minded truthfulness of the Galilean fisherman. The philosophy of his life was at fault. Simple high-toned Christian honesty was a phenomenon which he could not well understand ; it threw him sharply out of his entire course of thought ; and perhaps for that moment he was a better man than he had ever been before, or ever was after. Yet, looking closely, fear seems to have been the paramount impression. He had doubtless heard of the fate of Ananias and Sapphira, and feared that the apostle might inflict on the spot the doom he seemed to denounce ; and when relieved from this by the call of repent- ance, and the reference of his judgment to God, the words he brought himself to utter are less those of contrition for his offence than dread of its punishment : — " Pray for me, that none of those things which ye have spoken come upon me." The word " simony," formed from this man's name, has per- petuated in the church the infamy of his thought, that " the gift of God might be purchased with money." FORTY-SECOND WEEK— TUESDAY SIMON MAGUS. ACTS VIII. 18-24. The Simon who is dismissed from sacred history with the facts which last evening passed under our notice, is taken up by ecclesiastical history and tradition, in which he figures by the name of Simon Magus. According to this source of informa- SIMON MAGUS. 83 tion, his contact with Christianity, and the acquaintance he had formed with its principles, were turned to account for the advancement of his own objects, by a new system of delusion in which some of its elements were, in a more distorted shape, incorporated with something of the later Judaism, and some- thing of the mythic philosophy of the East. According to Justin Martyr, Simon was a native of Gitton in Samaria ; and this agrees very well with the circumstance of our finding him pursuing his practice among the Samari- tans. There is a tradition that he had studied at Alexandria ; and those who are acquainted with the dreamy theology of the Alexandrian schools will think this not unlikely, though we have no very certain evidence of the fact. Josephus speaks of a Simon Magus wdio was high in the confidence of the Roman governor Felix, and the subservient minister of his will. Neander supposes him to have been the same as this Simon. But to this it is reasonably objected that Josephus makes his Simon a native of Cyprus by birth ; whereas Justin, who was himself a native of Shechem in Samaria, and had every op- portunity of knowing the native country of Simon, declares him to have been a Samaritan, and could have no possible in- terest in misrepresenting the truth. Besides, Felix lived too late to allow it to be supposed that Simon Magus could still be actively engaged in those regions where he was procurator ; for Simon seems to have early left the East, and to have be- taken himself to Rome, the rendezvous for all deceivers of this kind. This Justin affirms ; but what he does say, in his First Apology, is so interesting, and has excited so much discussion, that we may give it entire. " After the return of Christ to heaven, the demons put forth certain men, calling themselves gods ; who not only were not persecuted, but honored by you. Such was Simon, a certain Samaritan, who, during the reign of Claudius Caesar, having performed magical works, through the art and power of de- mons, in your imperial city of Rome, was accounted a god, and has been honored by you with a statue as a god, which statue has been erected by you in an island in the Tiber, be- 84 FORTY-SECOND WEEK TUESDAY. tween the two bridges, with this inscription in Latin — Simoni Deo Sancto ; and almost all the Samaritans, and a few also among other nations, acknowledge and worship him as the First God." Recurring to the subject afterwards, Justin says : " As I have before said, Simon being with you in the imperial city of Rome, during the reign of Claudius Caesar, he so astonished and deluded the sacred senate and the Roman people as to be accounted a god, and to be honored with a statue, as the other gods are honored by you. Whence I beg that you [the em- peror, or the emperor and the Csesars] would make the sacred senate and your people acquainted with this our supplication ; so that if any one be entangled in his doctrines, he may learn the truth, and be able to escape from error. And if it be your pleasure, let the statue be destroyed." This statement has been repeated by several of the fathers ; but it has of late been generally supposed that Justin was misled in this by his imperfect acquaintance with the Latin language and mythology, and mistook a statue to the Sabine deity, Semo Sancus, for one to Simon — a conclusion which has been conceived to be much confirmed by a piece of marble having been found in an islet of the Tiber, actually bearing the inscription (possibly, it was thought, the very same that Justin saw), Semoni Sanco Deo Fidio Sacrum. The late learned Dr. Burton, however, in his work on the Heresies of the Apostolic Age, urged some reasons against the supposed certainty that Justin had been mistaken ; and more lately, Professor Norton of New York has so investigated the subject, as to leave strong grounds for doubt whether Justin's story may not have been too readily set aside. Justin, at the distance of a hundred years, may have been in some error as to the circumstances attending the erection of the statue, and nothing more need be understood than that it was set up with the sanction of the emperor, — in whose reign, indeed, it is known that a decree was issued which rendered it impossible that a public statue should be erected without that sanction. It ig, however, little likely that Justin should have committed SIMON MAGUS. 85 a blunder so egregious as to what he had actually seen ; and if he had, it is still less likely but that it would have been pointed out, before presentation, by some friend capable of correcting the error in a public document like the Apology, in which the whole body of the Christians were interested. Or if it had been presented with this blunder in it, the laughter and derision of the enemies of Christianity, at the ignorance of the apologist, must have made the fact known, and would effectually have prevented its being repeated for two hundred years by others, to some of whom it is almost certain that the mistake, if any existed, must have become known. Be- sides, the inscription on the marble is less likely, than seems at first view, to have been thus mistaken by a man even more ignorant than Justin is, upon this hypothesis, unjustly supposed to have been ; for the words cited are followed by others ex- pressing the name (Sextus Pompeius) and titles of the person by whom it was dedicated. It is far from extraordinary that there should be two inscriptions, one to Semo Sancus, and an- other to Simon in this place. We know the city swarmed with statues and inscriptions ; and Semo Sancus was an an- cient well-known god, who had a temple on the Quirinal Hill, and to whom there were several inscriptions in the city. Three besides this one have actually been found, and more are prob- ably buried in the soil ; and this reduces the singularity of the coincidence that one should be found in the same island of the Tiber where Justin saw the statue of Simon. With regard to the fact of its existence, with which alone we are concerned, there is no difficulty in supposing it to have been erected at Rome by some of Simon's followers ; nor is there anything to render it improbable that they might have ob- tained liberty to set up a statue of his in Rome exposed to public view. The deification of contemporaries after death was common in that age. The examples of it in the apotheoses of the Roman emperors, and of those to whom they extended the honor, must be familiar to every one. There is a more affecting illustration of the common conceptions concerning it, in the intention of Cicero to deify his beloved daughter 86 FORTY-SECOND WEEK TUESDAY. Tullia, and to erect a temple to her memory. Similar honors are said to have been rendered at Parium to Alexander the Paphlagonian and to Peregrinus Proteus, impostors of the same class with Simon ; and at Troas to a certain Neryllinus, of whom we know nothing except that he was probably of like character. The more noted charlatan Apollonius of Tyana was also regarded as a god, and thought worthy to have temples built for his worship. But it is indeed quite unneces- sary to adduce these facts, since there is no reasonable ques- tion that Simon was adored as a god, or as God, by his fol- lowers, and therefore no reason to doubt that they might have erected a statue to him with the inscription recorded. Eusebius reports that Simon continued at Rome in the en- joyment of great reputation until the reign of Nero, when his popularity was seriously endangered by the arrival of Peter ; and later writers give a wonderful legend of his destruction at the prayer of the apostle, joined to that of Paul, when, in a last violent effort to sustain his drooping credit, he attempted to fly, with the pretence of ascending to heaven as Christ had done. If he did this, it scarcely needed any miracle that he should fall to the ground and break both his legs, as he is re- ported to have done. It is added that he was carried to Brindes, where, being overwhelmed with shame and grief at his defeat and disaster, he committed suicide by casting him- self from the roof of the house in which he lodged. This may perhaps be connected with the anecdote which we find in Seutonius of a man who attempted to fly in presence of the emperor Nero, but who fell to the ground with such violence that his blood spirted up to the gallery in which the emperor sat. As reported to us, the doctrines taught by Simon resembled those of the Gnostics, of which remarkable sect he is indeed described as the founder ; and the accounts w T hich are given of his later pretensions, however extravagant they appear, cor- respond with the intimation of the sacred historian, that even before his acquaintance with Christianity, he " gave himself out to ba some great one," and led the Samaritans to regard SIMON MAGUS. 8Y him as "the great power of God." It appears, then, that eventually, when he had digested his views into something of a system, he claimed to be nothing less than the incarnate God, and as such became an object of worship to his followers. His deity consisted of certain iEons, or persons, all of which, collectively and severally, he declared to be manifested in himself. Hence he professed to appear as the Father in re- spect to the Samaritans, as the Son in respect to the Jews, and as the Holy Ghost in respect to all other religions ; but that it was indifferent to him by which of these names he was called. According to Jerome, he declared of himself: "I am the Word of God ; I am the Perfection of God ; I am the Comforter ; I am the Almighty ; I am the whole Essence of God." He taught no doctrine of atonement, and denied the resurrection of the body, but admitted the future existence, if not the immortality, of the soul. He did not require purity of life ; but taught that actions were in themselves indifferent, and that the distinction of actions as good or evil was a delu- sion taught by the angels to bring men into subjection. He carried about with him a beautiful female named Helena, whom he set forth as the first Idea of Deity, and who, in con- sequence, was also worshipped by his followers. These blas- phemous and pernicious tenets sufficiently indicate the char- acter of his teaching ; but it may be doubtful how much of this is to be literally interpreted, or how much to be viewed in the light of the highly allegorical character of all Eastern teaching in his day ; and to which, therefore, the beautiful simplicity of the Christian system and teaching, presents the most striking and effectual contrast. The only certain thing is, that Simon was a great impostor, although he may also to some extent have been a self- deceiver. 88 FORTY-SECOND WEEK WEDNESDAY. FORTY-SECOND WEEK— WEDNESDAY. THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH. ACTS VIII. 26-40. When Philip had finished his high work in Samaria, he received a Divine intimation that his services were required elsewhere. The message was, "Arise, and go towards the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert." This last clause has perplexed inquiry until lately, and various fanciful interpretations have been of- fered. The difficulty arose from the fact, that although Gaza had been destroyed ninety-six years before Christ, by Alexan- der Jannaeus, it had subsequently been rebuilt, with other cit- ies, by the Roman general, Gabinius, and was again laid in ruins thirty years after the present transaction. Thus it is not easy to see how it could well be " desert " at that time. To obviate this difficulty, it has been supposed that " the express- ion in the book of Acts, which might at first appear to imply that Gaza was then ' desert,' is more probably to be referred to the particular road from Jerusalem to Gaza on which the Evangelist was to find the eunuch, viz., the southern road lead- ing from Jerusalem to Gaza through the ' desert,' a region without villages, as is the case at the present day."* All this conjecture has been superseded by one of the most interesting practical discoveries of Dr. Keith in Palestine, that the site of old Gaza is at some distance from that of the later Gaza, and lies completely desert — buried in the sand ; and by the cita- tions from ancient authors, who make distinct mention of " new Gaza," as distinguished from " desert Gaza."f The object of this mission does not seem to have been dis- closed to Philip, but he immediately departed, knowing that further light would be given him when it should be needed. On his way to the place indicated, or on his arrival there, his * Kobinson's Researches, ii. 380. \ Evidence of Prophecy, p. 3*76, Ed. 36th, 1848. See, also, Daily BibU Illustrations, Evening Series, Twenty-Sixth Week — Tliwsday. THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH. 89 attention was attracted by a travelling chariot, in which sat a person who was reading as he rode. The dress and equipage of this person, as well as his attendance and escort, indicated the stranger to be a man of high rank and station. He was, in fact no other than " a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship." We need not understand with the painters, that this great lord was a negro. Ethiopia was a term vaguely applied to any countries beyond the range of Southern Egypt and Africa, and even to Southern Arabia. Here we know that it designates the kingdom of Meroe in Upper Egypt, which Pliny informs us was governed by queens who all bore the name of Candace as a title of office. This is a curious and interesting, because incidental, corroboration of the statement of the sacred writer, while it at once points to the locality from which this great officer had come, and to which he was returning. It does not follow, from his being "a man of Ethiopia," that he was a native Ethiopian, but simply that he was resident there, and came therefrom. If so, he was " a proselyte of righteousness," as it was called, to tlie Jewish re- ligion — easily accounted for by the fact that many Jews spread themselves from Egypt southward into Meroe and beyond, in which quarter Judaism had, indeed, made considerable pro- gress. This fact may even suggest the probability at least, that the man was of Jewish descent ; for, from their aptitude for affairs, especially money affairs, Jews often rose to high dis- tinction in foreign courts — just as that at present in Moslem, and indeed in Christian countries, the court banker is often a Jew. What strengthens this probability is, that this person- age appears to have been reading the scriptures in Hebrew — a qualification not possessed by foreign converts to Judaism. He might, indeed, have read the Scriptures in the Greek translation then current, and it is not altogether certain that he did not ; but when it is said, " The place of the Scripture which he read," etc., there seems in the original to be an allu- sion to a division of the Old Testament for public reading, 90 FORTY-SECOND WEEK WEDNESDAY. which had been introduced into the Hebrew copies, but not into the Greek translation. Persons who were really eunuchs could not enter into the congregation of the Lord (Deut. xxiii. 1) ; and as, therefore, this personage had been at Jerusalem to worship, probably at one of the great festivals, the term is doubtless to be understood in its acquired sense, frequent in Scripture, in which it designates any great officer of state. The probabilities seem, therefore, to be that this " man of Ethiopia " was a descendant of Abraham, who had risen to high employment in Meroe, and who on this occasion had in- dulged his pious zeal in the, to him, rare satisfaction of a pil- grimage to the holy city at one of the seasons of high festival. Philip could see that the traveller was reading, but was not near enough to hear what he read. A divine impulse, how- ever, directed him to draw nearer to the chariot, and then he heard that it was the famous passage respecting the sufferings of Christ, in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, that he was read- ing. With us it is so adverse to cultivated habits, to read aloud to one's self, that some commentators have imagined that there was a person in the chariot reading to the Ethiop- ian eunuch. But the text expressly and repeatedly states that he was himself reading; and that he gave a loud oral ut- terance to that w T hich he read, is quite in accordance with the existing habits of the Orientals when reading privately for their own edification, and without any particular intention of being heard by others, though certainly without any dislike of being heard by any whom their voice may happen to reach. Mr. Jowett well describes this in his Christian Researches : "They usually go on reading aloud, with a kind of singing voice, moving their heads and bodies in tune, and making a monotonous cadence at regular intervals — thus giving empha- sis, although not such emphasis as would please an English ear. Very often they seem to read without perceiving the sense ; and to be pleased with themselves, because they can go through the mechanical art of reading in any way." With us a dusty foot traveller, like Philip, would scarcely think of accosting a grand lord riding "by in his chariot, and THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH. 91 pre-occupied in reading. But the customs of the East are dif- ferent ; and Philip was not regarded as guilty of any imperti- nence, when he freely asked the great man if he understood what he was then reading. On the contrary, the grandee, impressed by the earnestness of tone and manner with which Philip put the question, answered with a real interest and a touching simplicity which, together with the fact of his being thus engaged in reading the Scriptures while upon a journey, give us the most favorable impression of his character — " How can I, unless some man should guide me ?" Then, perceiving from Philip's responsive look to this candid confession and in- quiry, that he was able to afford the guidance he desired, he begged him to come up into the chariot and sit with him. Having him there, the treasurer hastened to point out the passage that most perplexed him, and which was indeed that which Philip had heard him read : — " He was led as a lamb to the slaughter ; and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away ; and who shall declare his generation ? for his life is taken from the earth." Now, said the eunuch, lay- ing his finger upon the place, " Doth the prophet speak this of himself, or of some other man ?" Then Philip proceeded to explain it. He showed him that it was a prophecy respect- ing the Messiah whom the Jews had expected so long ; and that it applied exactly to Jesus of Nazareth, who, in the days of his humiliation, was grievously afflicted, but was eminently meek and patient under all. And so he went on preaching Christ crucified; and as the mystery of man's redemption gradually opened to the astonished view of the eunuch, his heart was filled with holy rapture and gratitude, and he longed to enrol himself under the banner of that King whose realm w T as not of this world. From Philip's discourse he had gath- ered that this was to be accomplished by the sign of baptism ; and when> therefore, as they rode along, a stream of water was reached, he cried out with eagerness, " See, here is water ! "What doth hinder me to be baptized ?" Philip answered, "If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest." On 92 FORTY-SECOND WEEK — THURSDAY. which the other, with solemn earnestness, declared, " I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God" — not only that Jesus was the Christ, a Messiah, but that he was the Son of God, and as such able to pardon sin, and mighty to subdue it. Philip being satisfied with this, the chariot was stayed, and the two went down together into the water, where the evangel- ist baptised his illustrious convert ; and no sooner was this done, than the baptizer miraculously disappeared, and the eunuch saw him no more. But this tended to strengthen, rather than to weaken, the convert's faith ; and instead, there- fore, of attempting to search for or follow the evangelist, he, perceiving it was the will of God that they should be sepa- rated, mounted his chariot, and " went on his way rejoicing" — rejoicing in the great light which had shone in upon his darkness — rejoicing in that sweet tranquillity of mind which the new knowledge of the gospel of Christ's salvation could not fail to impart. The conversion of a man of the eunuch's high standing was probably attended by some signal results in the country to which he returned ; and although history has left no record of such results, the great day of disclosures will doubtless make them known. FORTY-SECOND WEEK— THURSDAY. SAUL OF TARSUS. ACTS IX. 1. The history now again turns to Saul of Tarsus, and hence- forth is chiefly engaged in the relation of his proceedings. As therefore this personage is the prominent figure in the re- mainder of this volume, it may be well to look back slightly into the antecedents of his career. It is clear that the family of Saul were Hellenists, understood as Jews speaking the Greek language ; but not Hellenes, or Greeks converted to Judaism. How long the family had SAUL OF TARSUS. 93 been in this position — that is, how long it had been settled in a foreign land, we do not know ; but the aggregate impression made by facts separately few and slight, is, that the family had not been for less than two or three generations absent from Palestine. That, although thus dwelling in a strange land and speaking a strange tongue, the family maintained the purity of its Hebrew descent and of its Hebrew ideas, is clear from the way in which Saul speaks of himself and his ancestors, — " Are they Hebrews ? so am I. Are they Israelites ? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham ? so am I."* So that, as elsewhere he contends that he was not behind the very chiefest of the apostles, he would show that, although a Hellenist, he was in none of those things of which they boasted behind the chiefest of the Jews. Aware of the importance of taking this position, he fails not, on every proper occasion, to insist upon it. Else- where he declares that he was " of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin — a Hebreio of the Hebreim?\ This last was a very proud distinction among the Jews, as it denoted one who was a Hebrew by both parents, and that by a long series of ancestors, without any admixture of foreign or prose- lyte blood. In the same sense, and with an equal feeling of dignity, the Bedouin at this day will boast that he is " an Arab of the Arabs." Usually, persons of the same nation dwelling in a foreign country, learn to merge the special and sectarian differences maintained in their native land. But Saul informs us it was not so in his famiiy ; not only was it in the highest sense Jewish, but it stood upon the principles and practice of the then most orthodox Jewish sect, — he was " a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee."| In standing by birth, he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews ; in standing by training, he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. The fact that his father was a Pharisee — the sect of all others most suspicious of and most opposed to the influences of Grecian culture, would alone suffice to indi- cate that his early training was, as far as possible, Jewish ; and that the acquaintance he afterwards evinces with Greek literature, Greek customs and Greek ideas, rather arose from * 2 Coi. xi. 22. \ Phil. iii. 5. \ Acts xxiii. 6. 94 FORTY-SECOND WEEK THURSDAY. the accidents of his position than from distinct iustruc The knowledge of such matters which we acquire in scIlxm j, must have grown into the living knowledge of an observant and intelligent youth, to whom Greek was the native tongue, who was born and grew up in a Greek city whose very air was redolent of Greek notions and Greek literature, and who had the habits of Greek life and religion daily before his eyes. Of Saul's father, we only know that he was a Pharisee, and that he must have enjoyed the privileges of a Roman citizen, seeing that his son held those high privileges in right of his birth, being " free-born." His mother is never mentioned or alluded to, which may suggest the possibility that she died soon after his birth. He had, however, a sister — probably older than himself, for her son had grown to manhood when Paul was still of middle age.* He names also several of his kindred, male and female — Andronicus and Junia ; Herodion, Lucius, Jason, and Sosipaterf — all of them converts to Christ, and converted probably through him. It is interesting to learn that, so far as we do know, he had not to encounter the oppo- sition of his kindred, but obtained their concurrence and sup- port. Andronicus and Junia became his " fellow-prisoners ;" and the rest were at least converts, if not fellow-laborers. The fact that Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin, suggests how he came to bear that name. In the first man of that name who is historically known to us, the small tribe of Ben- jamin had presented to Israel its first king ; and this being the most illustrious fact in the disastrous history of the tribe, ren- dered the name of Saul popular among its members, who de- lighted to bestow it on their children. Among the other tribes ' the name was cherished with less affection, and was of com- paratively rare occurrence. There are no materials which enable us to determine the position in life of Saul's father. In general, the Jews out of Palestine were engaged in trade and commeree. Some were rich through the extent of their transactions, or the direct re- turns of their capital ; but there were hardly any whose wealth * Acts xxiii. 16. f Rom. xvi. 7, 11, 21. SAUL OF TARSUS. 05 arose from landed estate, as, while Palestine remained a Jewish country, every one who desired that position sought for it there. Egypt may have offered exceptions, and still more the East, as these had been for many generations the real homes of large Jewish populations. Abroad there were few Jews very poor ; as those who were so, rarely left their own country, and those who became so after having left, returned to it, as there they found provisions for their wants, which did not exist or could not be enforced elsewhere. The majority of the Jews abroad were dealers and tradesmen of various kinds, and were generally in good and sometimes in affluent circumstances. It is probable that Saul's father was of this class. That he was not poor is shown by the fact that his son had a first-rate education, which he was sent to Jerusalem and kept there to finish. Yet, on the other hand, this does not imply that he was rich ; for the costs of education were very low, and the objects which Saul's father realized for his son, were not more difficult of attainment than it is now for a humble Scottish or American farmer to give a university education to his son. The fact that the father was a citizen of Rome, implies no- thing as to his condition in life. In regard to this matter, which became of some importance in the subsequent history of Saul, it used to be inferred that Tarsus was one of those cities, all those born in which enjoyed this distinguished privi- lege. But closer inquiry has shown that Tarsus did not attain this position till long after the time of Saul, though it w 7 as in his time a free city, in the sense of being governed by its own law r s and magistrates, and of being exempt from tribute. Hence we find later in our history (Acts xxii. 29), that the tribune at Jerusalem was not debarred from scourging Saul by the knowledge that he was of Tarsus, but desisted when he further learned that he was a Roman citizen. It must there- fore have been an individual right ; but how it was acquired is open to conjecture. As Saul was born to this rio-ht, it must have been derived from his father ; and if Saul could receive it as a birth-right, his father might so have received it likewise. It may have been acquired — as it often was — from 96 FORTY-SECOND WEEK THURSDAY. some service rendered to the Romans, or to some eminent Roman, during the civil wars ; or, although Saul himself was free-born, his father or remoter ancestor may have purchased the right for some "great price." It is even possible that, although brought up at Tarsus, Saul may have been actually born in some other city, the mere fact of birth in which con- veyed the rights of citizenship. It appears, by the subsequent history, that Saul had learned in his youth the trade of a tent-maker, by which he was able to earn his living. But neither does this throw any light upon the position of his father ; for it was a very laudable custom among the Jews, even the wealthiest, that all their sons should learn some trade, as a security against want under all the vicis- situdes of life. Many sayings, enforcing this obligation, are found in the Talmud. Rabbi Judah is there reported as say- ing, — " He who teacheth not his son a trade, doth the same as if he taught him to be a thief." And among the sayings as- cribed to Saul's own master — the Rabban Gamaliel — is this, — " He that hath a trade in his hand, to what is he like ? He is like a garden that is fenced." Having thus to choose a trade for his son, it was very natural that he should select that of tent-making, as this trade was largely carried on at Tarsus. The tents were mostly of goats' hair, and, as in Cilicia, of which Tarsus was the capital, the hair of the goat was remarkably long, it was highly esteemed for the manufacture of the hair- cloth of which such tents and other articles were made. This cloth indeed took its distinguishing name from the locality which afforded the material, and whence the cloth itself, being woven in the province chiefly, came by the name of cilicium. This hair-cloth, being less liable than any other to injury from wet, was used, not only for the coverings of tents, but for the coats of sailors and fishermen ; for sacks in which to carry packages on horseback ; for bags to hold workmen's tools ; for coverings to military engines ; and even to lay over the walls of besieged towns, to deaden the force of the battering-rams, and to prevent the wood-work from being set on fire. All this gave great prominence to this branch of manufacture at Tar- TARSUS. 97 sus ; and as the probability is, that Saul'u father was in some kind of business, and as the men usually give their sons the trades to which they have easiest access, it may seem not un- likely that he was himself in some way engaged in the traffic with, or the manufacture of, hair-cloth. FORTY-SECOND WEEK— FRIDAY. TARSUS. ACTS XXI. 39. Although we may know little of the early life of Saul, and the exact character of his early training, as well as his precise position in life, must be left very much to conjecture, we have at least the satisfaction of knowing the nature of the scenery on which his eyes continually rested, and amid which his ear- ly days were spent. Some may despise this source of pleasur- able emotion, in contemplating the home and cradle of a great man ; but natural sentiment refuses to recognize the indifference which cold philosphy inculcates ; and so long as that sentiment impels men to traverse sea and land in order to look upon the scenes of great events, and the homes and haunts of illustrious men, Tarsus will, for Saul's sake, be a spot of interest to us. Cilicia, of which Tarsus was the capital, was the province of Asia Minor nearest to Syria, being separated therefrom on the east only by the mountains of Adana. It was a plain, backed to the north by the great mountain range of Taurus, and open on the south to the sea, or rather to the gulf of Ci- licia, which, by a breadth of fifty miles, separated this coast from the island of Cyprus. Tarsus stood in about the midst of this province, nearly two leagues from the mouth of the river Cydnus, which was navigable to the city. This river, now called the Kara Su, or Black Water, then flowed through the midst of the city, but now only passes near to it. Strabo says that Tarsus was founded by an Argive colony that went with Triptolemus in search of Io. But this is sim- vol. iv. 5 98 FORTY-SECOND WEEK FRIDAY. ply absurd ; for Io, the daughter of Inachus, must have lived at least eighteen centuries before our era ; whereas, according to the Parian marbles, Triptolemus quitted Eleusis only 1409 years before that epoch ; and even apart from this anachron- ism, which brings into connection persons four centuries apart, what credit can be given to a story in which two such fabu- lous persons as Io and Triptolemus are made to play the prin- cipal parts ? The origin of the name of Tarsos is by another Greek wri- te! (Dionysius Periegetes), connected with another fable, and affords no bad specimen of what Sir William Drummond calls " the dauntless effrontery of the Greeks in tracing foreign names to their own language." In that language, tarsos sig- nifies the bone of the hand or foot, and may, consequently, be put by synedoehe for either one or the other. Taking advan- tage of this figure of speech, Dionysius informs us that Tarsus was so called because it was there the horse Pegasus left his hoof (his tarsos) when Bellerophon fell from him ! Although we are bound to reject the tradition reported by Strabo, it is not to be doubted that a Greek colony had, from very remote times, been established at Tarsus. Grecian learn- ing and philosophy appear to have flourished there ; and Stra- bo mentions some of the distinguished men who were natives of the place, and it was immediately after the time of this geographer that the great apostle of the Gentiles was born at Tarsus. It has already been stated, that the inhabitants did not pos- sess the general right of Roman citizenship till considerably later than the time of Saul ; but that yet there was no reason why a native of Tarsus should not, on other grounds, be a cit- izen of Rome. It is mentioned by Suetonius that many stran- gers, professors of the liberal arts, and teachers of the sciences, were made Roman citizens by Caesar. Now it happens that Tarsus connected itself conspicuously with that great man, and the inhabitants received so many favors from him, and were so greatly attached to him, that they even changed the name of their city, as Dion Cassius assures us, to Juliopolis. TARSUS. 99 Tliis renders it likely that Caesar bestowed the Roman citizen- ship on many persons belonging to Tarsus. This rank could, as the Roman lawyers assure us, be conveyed by inheritance, or even by will ; and thus Saul, though a Jew by birth, may have inherited the right which he claimed. It used to be a somewhat favorite notion, that Tarsus was the Tarshish so often mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures ; but it is now generally admitted that there is no ground for that conclusion. Tarsus was a large, populous, and wealthy town, and hence Saul himself justly calls it "no mean city." Acts xxi. 39. It was eminent not only as a seat of learning, but of commerce ; and although there are few existing remains to avouch its ancient importance, its extent at least is evinced by the fact that the Cydnus, which flowed through the midst of the an- cient city, is, in the nearest part, a full mile from the modern town. The place remained of considerable importance so late as the time of Abulfeda, at the end of the thirteenth and be- ginning of the fourteenth centuries ; for this great geographer describes it as a large place, surrounded by a double wall, and as being then in the hands of the Armenian Christians. It is now a Turkish town, greatly decayed, but still of some rela- tive importance, and carrying on a somewhat active commerce. It exports large quantities of cattle to Egypt ; it collects the cotton of the district and sells it to the merchants of Smyrna, who export it to Europe. Grain is very plentiful ; and in 1845, when there was dearth all over Syria, Tarsus was able to supply its neighbors with many ship-loads of wheat and barley. The modern town contains some very fine buildings and mosques, and is entirely walled in with massive masonry ; but both the exterior and interior are filthy in the extreme. The climate is mild and agreeable in winter ; but is in sum- mer intensely hot and unwholesome. During one week, so late as the middle of October, the thermometer was never be- low 80°, and was, in the experience of one traveller, sometimes high as 93° in the shade. Hence the inhabitants retire dur- ing that season to the mountains. There they live in perfect 100 FORTY-SECOND WEEK FRIDAY. indolence; and the poor man will rather sell anything he may possess than fail to take his family to the mountains dur- ing the summer months. This constant shifting of residence prevents the people from building good houses, either in Tar- sus or in the Yaila, as they call their summer quarters. The inhabitants — Turks, Greeks, and Armenians, are about 6,000 in number, by the latest estimate. About a mile to the north of the town, the river Cydnus, previously of considerable depth and breadth, falls over a bed of rocks about fifteen feet in height, whence it separates into several small channels, turning mills and watering beautiful gardens ; these streams afterwards unite, and so continue to the sea. The plain of Tarsus is bare of trees, but beyond the limits of the cultivated lands, the country is covered with bush- es, among which may be observed the myrtle in great abun- dance and perfection, reaching sometimes to seven or eight feet high, the Vallonia oak, the oleander, the carob, the cassia bush, and many others. Here, then, whatever of man's works may have altered among the scenes of Saul's childhood, " the plain, the moun- tains, the river, and the sea remain to us. The rich harvests of corn still grow luxuriantly after the rains in -spring ; the same tents of goats' hair are still seen covering the plain in busy harvest. There is the same solitude and silence in the intolerable heat and dust of summer. Then, as now, the moth- ers and children of Tarsus went out in the cool evenings, and looked from the gardens around the city, or from their terrac- ed roofs upon the heights of Tarsus. The same sunset lin- gered on the pointed summits. The same shadows gathered in the deep ravines. The river Cydnus has suffered some changes in the course of 1800 years. Instead of rushing, as in the time of Xenophon, like the Rhone at Geneva, in a stream of 200 feet broad through the city, it now flows idly past it on the east. The channel which floated the ships of Antony and Cleopatra is now filled up ; and wide unhealthy lagoons occupy the place of the ancient clocks. But its upper waters still flow, as formerly, cold and clear from the moors of SAUL AT SCHOOL. 101 Taurus ; and its waterfalls still break over the same rocks, when the snows are melting like the Rhine at Schaffhausen. We find a pleasure in thinking that the footsteps of the young apostle often wandered by the side of this stream, and that his eyes often looked on these falls. We can hardly believe that he who spoke to the Lystrians of the ' rain from heaven,' and the ' fruitful seasons,' and of ' the living God, who made heaven, and earth, and the sea,' could have looked with indif- ference upon beautiful and impressive scenery. Gamaliel was celebrated for his love of nature ; and the young Jew, who was destined to be his most famous pupil, spent his early days in the close neighborhood of much that was well adapted to foster such a taste."* FORTY-SECOND WEEK— SATURDAY. SAUL AT SCHOOL. ACTS XXII. 3. We closed our last evening's Reading with an extract from a very able and costly production with which our theological literature has lately been adorned. Desirous to follow the au- thors in their ingenious endeavor to trace the boyhood of Saul, we will commence the present Reading with a further extract from the same work. " It is usually the case that the features of a strong character display themselves early. His impetuous, fiery disposition would sometimes need control. Flashes of indignation would reveal his impatience and his honesty. The affectionate ten- derness of his nature would not be without an object of at- * Life and Epistles of St. Paul. By the Rev. "W. J. Conybeare and the Rev. J. S. Howson. London, 1853. Respecting Tarsus, see also Mannert's Geographie der Greichen undRomer ; Drummond's Origines', Barker's Lares and Penates ; Burckhart's Travels in Syria, etc. ; Irby and Mangle's Travels : Chesney's Expedition to the Euphrates ; Neale's Syria, Palestine, and Asia Minor, etc. 15-j FORTY-SECOND WEEK — SATURDAY. tachment, if that sister, who was afterwards married,* was his playmate at Tarsus. The work of tent-making, rather an amusement than a trade, might sometimes occupy those young hands, which were marked with the toil of years when he held them to the view of the elders at Miletus.f His education was conducted at home rather than at school : for, though Tarsus was celebrated for its learning, the Hebrew boy would not lightly be exposed to the influence of Gentile teaching ; or, if he went to a school, it was not a Greek school, but rather to some room connected with the synagogue, where a noisy class of Jewish children received the rudiments of instruction, seated on the ground with their teacher, after the manner of Moham- medan children in the East, who may be seen or heard at their lessons near the mosque. At such a school, it may be, he learnt to read and to write, and going and returning under the care of some attendant, according to that custom which he afterwards used as an illustration in the Epistle to the Gala- tians (and perhaps he remembered his own early days while he wrote the passage), when he spoke of the Law as the slave who conducts us to the school of Christ.J His religious knowledge, as his years advanced, was obtained from hearing the Law read in the synagogue, from listening to the argu- ments and discussions of learned doctors, and from that habit of questioning and answering, which was permitted even to the children among the Jews. Familiar with the pathetic his- tory of the Jewish sufferings, he would feel his heart filled with that love to his own people which breaks out in the Epistle to the Komans [ix. 4-6] — a love not then, as it was afterwards, blended with love towards all mankind, — but rather united with a bitter hatred to the Gentile children whom he saw around him. His idea of the Messiah, so far as it was distinct, would be the carnal notion of a temporal prince — a * Acts xxiii. 16. f Aets xx - 34 - % Gal. iii. 24.— This text is much marred in the authorized version, where the " pedagogue" is made a " schoolmaster," as he still is iu our common parlance, instead of being, as he really was, the servant who took his master's son to school. SAUL AT SCHOOL. 103 1 Christ known after the flesh,' — and he looked for ward with the hope of a Hebrew to the restoration of ' the kingdom to Israel.' He would be known at Tarsus as a child of promise, and as one likely to uphold the honor of the Law against the half-infidel teaching of the day." We have cited this interesting passage unaltered, concurring generally in its statements. But in some points the less dis- tinction between the condition of a Hebrew lad in a Greek city like Tarsus, and what it was or might have been at Jerusalem, is not sufficiently kept in view. It may be doubted whether in the former city the apparatus for public teaching and dispu- tation was so complete as is here supposed ; and we more than doubt that hatred to Gentile children, however likely to be entertained in Palestine, where strangers were few, was felt so strongly, if at all, among those who had been born and brought up in the cities of the heathen. We take it that there was little positive ill-will, unless in times of excitement ; but that there was simply just that social separation which always ex- ists among persons of different religion and origin, such in fact as may be witnessed every day in our own country. And it is certain that the Jews could never be in social intimacy with any people, their laws respecting food being alone sufficient for social isolation. That the schools, in which the elements of learning were imparted to boys, were similar to those we now behold in the East, there is little reason to question. A short account, there- fore, of these schools, and the instruction given in them, will furnish the best illustration of the subject. With the substi- tution of the synagogue for the mosque, and the Bible for the Koran, the analogy is probably as close as need be desired. The first and earliest object of a parent is to instil into the mind of his son the principles of his religion, and the observ- ances proper to it ; and then he endeavors, if possible, to ob- tain for him the instructions of a school-master, if the small expense can be afforded. Most of the children of the higher classes, and many of the lower, are taught by the school-master to read, and to recite the whole, or certain portions, of the 104 FORTY-SECOND WEEK SATURDAY. Koran by heart. They afterwards learn the common rules of arithmetic. Schools are sufficiently numerous in every large town, and there is seldom any considerable village without one. In metropolitan cities almost every mosque has a school attached to it, in which children are taught at a very trifling expense. SAUL AT SCHOOL. 105 The sum of about a penny paid every Thursday is a very com- mon school fee; and the master of a school attached to a mosque receives also from the endowment some principal arti- cles of clothing once a year, when the boys also obtain some garments and a little money. The lessons are generally writ- ten upon tablets of wood painted white ; and when one lesson is learnt, the tablet is washed, and another is written. As a substitute for this, slates have been found very acceptable where introduced by missionaries. The school-master and his pupils sit upon the ground ; and each boy has a tablet in his hands, or a copy of the Koran, or one of its thirty sections, on a little rude kind of desk of palm sticks. All who are learn- ing to read recite their lessons aloud, at the same time rocking their heads and bodies incessantly backward and forward. This is a practice of almost every one who reads the Koran, being supposed to help the memory ; but the din which it occasions in a school is more easily imagined than described. Yet in the midst of all this noise, the experienced ear of the master instantly detects an error which any of the boys may fall into, and distinguishes the offender, who is forthwith called to account. The discipline of the school is maintained by "The good old rule, the simple plan," of bodily chastisement. This is inflicted by a palm-stick upon the soles of the naked feet ; for in school, as in other places, the heads are covered and the feet bare, and the quantity of shoes near the entrance of the apartment is a strange sight to the inexperienced. Corporal punishment is, however, very rarely inflicted, the real respect with which Eastern children are taught to regard their seniors, being generally quite suffi- cient to maintain the authority of the school-master and the discipline of the school. It will be seen that the common schools teach little more than reading and learning by heart ; the reading lessons being written on the tablets, not by the boys themselves, but by the master ; and one who can read well and recite a good portion of the Koran, is in general held to be quite sufficiently educated. 5* 106 FORTY-THIRD WEEK SUNDAY. The school-masters seldom teach writing ; and it is learnt by few boys but those whose destined employment will require it ; and they then learn it usually of one of the officers employed in the bazaars. Some parents employ a tutor to teach their sons at home ; and those who aspire to a high education can acquire it on easy terms at the Medressehs or colleges attached to the great mosques, answering to the school in which Saul completed his education at Jerusalem. Girls are not taught to read or write, unless in very rare instances ; and we well remember the bewildering amazement, with which the females of a small Eastern town flocked together, to behold an English lady writing in her journal at our evening encampment. Yet there are schools in which they are taught embroidery and needle-work, and in this they excel. Their religious education is, however, very much disregarded, and scarcely any religious duties are expected from them. Among the Jews, the women were not to this degree neglected ; for the females introduced to our notice in the New Testament, are generally well versed in the Scriptures. Among them also, writing seems to have been more generally a part of common education than it is at present in the East ; but with these differences, the parallel seems to run very close. £oxtn~Ql\)\xb fcOeck— it nbag. SCRIPTURE READING. ACTS VIII. 28. It may be pleasant this evening to turn back to the case of the Ethiopian eunuch, for the sake of some practical consider- ations which, in the thoughtful mind, connect themselves with it, or arise from it. Those considerations which pertain to the eunuch's study of the Scriptures are the most important, as well as the most interesting ; and they concern us most, for in this eunuch we have before us an example of those dispositions on which God SCRIPrURE READING. 107 likes to bestow more light, and from which He never eventu- ally withholds it. These dispositions are indeed his gift ; and He fails not in due time to honor the gifts of his own bestow- ing. It is evident that dim and partial as the eunuch's light was, he read the Scriptures with a real and lively interest, and not as a formal duty. , If it had been so, he would have discharged that duty before he began the morning journey, or when he reached the evening rest. He would have duly read the allot- ted portion, and then have laid the sacred roll aside until the set time should again come round. But no ; according to his light, he loved the word of God. In his measure it had be- come " his song in the house of his pilgrimage." Its high and weighty matters w r ere of deeper interest to him than are the papers and books, in red, yellow, and green, which our own time offers to those who travel by the way. Therefore he read the Bible in his chariot — and he read it with absorbed atten- tion even in passing through a country, every brook, and hill, and valley in which might be supposed of special interest to a foreign Jew visiting the land. And was this labor all lost, this interest all wasted, this reading all profitless, because, as he confesses, he could not understand what he read ? Not so. It is very evident that he read with an earnest desire to learn, and therefore he did learn ; — that he hoped to find some fruit from it, and therefore it was not barren to him. In confessing his ignorance, he meant not to say that there was no light for him, but only that he found many dark places — the full mean- ing of which eluded his grasp, and that this was especially the case with the place which then engaged his attention. But all was not dark. Had it been so, his interest in the study of the sacred book could hardly have been sustained. There are many things in Isaiah which need no interpretation ; as when he sets forth the goodness and power of God, inviting the peo- ple to faith in Him, or urging them to a godly life. No one, therefore, can be so ignorant but that he may profit considera- bly by the reading of that book, even though he should scarcely understand more than every fourth verse, And this seems to 108 FORTY-THIRD WEEK SUNDAY. have been the case of the eunuch ; for since, according to nis capacity and moans, he gathered up those things that served for his edification, his studies in God's word were in that meas- ure profitable to him. And observe that, although he met with many difficulties, and was consciously ignorant of many things of which he read, he was not thereby discouraged, nor lost his interest in God's word. He persevered in the search for that light, which he knew to be there, though as yet he could scarcely catch but some glimpses of it. Thus must we also read the Scriptures. We must greedily, and with readi- ness of mind, receive those things in which God plainly opens his mind to us ; and as for those things that are hid, what have we to do but wait until more light is vouchsafed to us, resting assured that all needfid light will, in God's own time, be given, if we faint not. Let us not spoil all by agonizing after the hidden things, before we have fully mastered the plain — moan- ing after the mysteries, and neglecting the elements. If we do this in patient faith, the Scriptures will meanwhile become familiar by continual use ; and this is a great gain — this is a mighty preparation for fuller light. It was so in the case of the Ethiopian eunuch — it was so in the case of Saul of Tarsus. It has been questioned by some — perhaps by many — in what degree it may be desirable to enforce an intimacy with Scrip- ture in early life, upon the regardless or reluctant mind. But the more reluctant the mind is, the more it needs such replen- ishment. The mind must be filled -with something, and with what on earth so good can the mind be filled? God's word shall never return unto Him void — shall never fail to prosper in the thing whereto He sends it ; and how often has not some holy text, some sacred verse, some Scripture example, come down like a conscience upon the soul wandering in the world's ways, or lost in the dens of iniquity, and cast it in dust and ashes at God's feet! That other disposition also, such as this of the eunuch, which perseveres in the study of God's word, even under discourage- ment, and goes on filling the soul's treasury with its gems, al- though the exact value of each stone may not be known, shall SAUL AT JERUSALEM. 109 at length find a day of reward and refreshing as he did ; and the sooner shall it be found by those whose minds remain as humble and as teachable as his. He certainly knew something ; he knew more than many, yet he confesses that he knows nothing — that he is altogether in need of instruction, and that he will rejoice to receive it from any, however low or humble, who may be able to impart it to him. This is the disposition the Lord delights to honor. And He often honors it signally • so that he who takes nothing upon himself, and who claims to know nothing but his own insufficiency and ignorance, may quickly, under the Divine teaching, and in the leadings of Providence, obtain more light of understanding than a life's labor would enable him to realize by his own research or in- telligence. " So," as Calvin remarks, " the Lord will be unto us a Master, though we be but small, if acknowledging our ignorance, we be not loth to submit ourselves to learn. And as the seed, covered with earth, lieth hid for a time, so the Lord will illuminate us by his Spirit, and will cause that read- ing, which being barren and void of fruit, causeth nothing but wearisomeness, to have plain light of understanding." FORTY-THIRD WEEK— MONDAY. SAUL AT JERUSALEM. ACTS XXII. 3. Whatever may have been the condition in life of Saul's father, it seems clear that he designed his son for the learned profession, that is, that he should be educated as a Rabbi. For any other employment or pursuit, the education which he was sent to receive, at Jerusalem, so far away from his pa- ternal home, and during a period extending, it would seem, over many years, would not have been deemed necessary. It would, however, be interesting to know at what age he was sent to Jerusalem. On this point, opinions have been various, and no positive conclusion can be reached. 110 FORTY-THrRD WEEK MONDAY. Some have thought that he was not less than thirty years of age when he proceded to Jerusalem. And in answer to the objection that he is called " a young man," at the time of Stephen's death, it is very well remarked, that the ancients extended the period of youth much farther than we do — too far, in fact ; and that we equally transgress the laws of naturo in making that period too short. Still, this supposition is un- tenable, and there is not an iota of evidence that the Jews postponed to so advanced a period of life the commencement of a learned education. The assertion of Strabo, that the in- habitants of Tarsus were, as a general thing, led by their love of learning, to foreign cities for the completion of their edu- cation, may at the first view seem applicable to this case ; but for the reasons already given, it could have no proper reference to Saul and his countrymen generally, but only to the Greeks. According to the educational rule among the Jews — set forth, indeed, at a later period, but which was doubtless conformable to earlier usage — the study of the Mishna, or expository tra- ditions of the law, was to be commenced by boys at ten years of age, and at thirteen they became wholly subject to the law. If this appointment seems to assign too early a period of life fop such a study, it must be remembered that the Orientals come to maturity earlier than we do, and that with them the thirteenth year corresponds to at least the fifteenth among ourselves. On this account, the same passage of the Talmud from which this rule is taken, designates the eighteenth year as the age proper for marriage. It has therefore been con- cluded that Saul went to Jerusalem at some period between the tenth and thirteenth year of his age. Had it been at any much later age, he could hardly have said, as he did on one occasion, that although born at Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, he had been " brought up in Jerusalem at the feet of Gamaliel." Acts xxii. 3. It was probably with his father, or under the care of some friend older than himself, that the young Saul took this which, we may well suppose to have been his first extensive journey There is every probability that the passage was by water in SAUL AT JERUSALEM. Ill some Phoenician vessel to Tyre, or perhaps to Csesarea, and thence to Jerusalem. " The first time one leaves the land of his birth to visit a foreign and distant country, is an important epoch in his life. In the case of one who has taken this first journey at an early age, and whose character is enthusiastic, and susceptible of lively impressions from without, this epoch is usually remembered with peculiar distinctness. But, when the country which is thus visited, has furnished the imagery for the dreams of childhood, and is felt to be more truly the young traveller's home than the land he is leaving, then the journey assumes the sacred character of a pilgrimage."* The same writer omits not to point out the difference of scenery and cultivation which would meet the eye of one who came from Cilicia. u Not a river, and a wide plain covered with harvests of corn, but a succession of hills and valleys, and ter- raced vineyards watered by artificial irrigation." We have now, then, conducted the young Saul to Jerusa- lem ; and it may not be amiss to inquire for a moment into the nature of the education he there received, and to the ac- quisition of which several years must have been devoted. The instruction of the doctors of the law, of whom Gamaliel was one, consisted almost exclusively in the oral interpretation of Scripture. The object of this interpretation was partly to de- velop from the inspired word the prescriptions of ecclesiastic- al law, and partly to connect with Biblical interpretation va- rious kinds of instruction in ethical science. The Biblical in- terpretation thus conveyed, was not, however, the individual work of the Rabbi who was instructing at the particular time. It consisted rather, for the most part, in the traditions of the past, respecting the opinions and teachings of certain eminent Rabbis, upon the text or subject under discussion. Practically, therefore, the system was one of Scripture exegesis. No book was in use but the Bible ; and there was, indeed, a prejudice against the introduction of any other book. Josephus asserts that this Scripture exposition was the only learning prized among his people. "They award the character of a wise * Howson, in Life and Epistles of St. Paul, i 56. 112 FORTY-THIRD WEEK — MONDAY. man," he says, "only to those who understand the Law, and are able to interpret the sacred writings." Whatever faults and puerilities disgraced the mode of in- vestigation, there can be no question that this concentration of the attention of the students upon one book, and the con- tinual exercise of their ingenuity, if not judgment, in the de- velopment of its meaning, or in the application of every pos- sible meaning it could bear, must have given to them a very thorough acquaintance with the sacred writings. How far this education availed for giving a comprehensive knowledge of the Bible, we may perhaps perceive in the copious and ready use which Paul makes of all parts of the sacred writings, and in the additional fact that he usually quotes from memo- ry. Some inquirers have traced eighty-eight quotations from the Old Testament in his writings, of which, it is thought probable that at least forty-nine are cited from memory — some from the Septuagint version, some from the original Hebrew. The statement of this mode of instruction suggests the no- tion of a lecturer or professor prop ounding his views of the matter in hand, and the students listening to him, and, it may be, taking notes of his discourse. But the real process was very different. The position of the presiding Rabbi was more that of a moderator or chairman than that of a lecturer. He proposed the text or subject, and guided the discussion of it. He questioned, he answered, he proposed difficulties of his own, he solved the difficulties and corrected the errors of others ; and in the course of the operation, in which many took part, he managed, by verbal and literal criticism, by illustration, by analogy, by parable, by allegory, by aphorism, by anecdote, and by reporting the sayings of his predecessors, to throw upon the subject all the light which his learning or his genius could supply. The instruction was, in fact, eminently cate- chetical, and so that not merely the teacher proposed ques- tions to the scholars, but the scholars to the teacher, and to one another. And so partial were the Jews to this mode of teaching, that it was not confined merely to the Rabinical schools, but extended to the synagogue, where the discourses SAUL'S CONVERSION, 113 were concluded, any hearer might propose difficult inquiries, as is done at this day in the Jewish synagogues. Of all this a remarkable instance occurs in Scripture in the case of our Lord, who, when a boy, was found in the Temple " among the doctors," both hearing them and asking them questions ; but this incident has already engaged our attention in the proper place.* FORTY-THIRD WEEK— TUESDAY. saul's conversion. — acts ix. 1-8 ; xxii. 5-16 ; xxvi. 12-18. We must now return to the even current of Saul's history as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. The authorities at Jerusalem could not fail to become soon acquainted with the fact, that the severe measures they had taken against the Christians in that city, had tendered rather to the furtherance than to the suppression of that Gospel, against which their power had been exerted. They learned, that through the labors of the fugitives, this new doctrine was making rapid progress, not only in territories immediately be- yond the borders of Judea, not only in Samaria, in Galilee, and in Perea, but among the Jewish congregations of cities beyond the limits of Palestine. From the greatness of the city, and from the large number of Jews established there, the news from Damascus was of especial and prominent interest ; and the news that did come was, that the Gospel had there been received with remarkable favor. In the disappointment and rage which this intelligence excited, none shared more * On the subject of this evening's Reading, see in Meuschenii Oratio de Directoribus Scholarum Hebraorum in Nov. Test, ex Talmude etAn- tiqq. Hebraor. illustratum. Jost's History of the Hebrew People. Tho- luek's Sketch of the Life and Character of St. Paul, in Biblical Cabinet, No. 287. Cyclop, of Biblical Literature, art. Schools ; and Howson, in Life and Epistles of St. Paul. 114 FORTY-THIRD WEEK TUESDAY. strongly than the furious yourig zealot who had made him- self so active in the home persecution. He grew, as he him- self says, " exceedingly mad" against them, and " breathed out threateniugs and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord." The term chosen by the sacred writer, " breathing out," is very- emphatic, and occurs in the classical writers to express such deep and agitating emotions as produce rapid and violent breathing, as in extreme wrath and the like. Saul's anger was not spent in threatenings merely. In his vehement zeal he thirsted for the punishment of the heretical innovators, and conceived the idea of pursuing them even be- yond the bounds of Palestine. He therefore applied to the high-priest, and requested to be employed in this service. What he desired was, that he should be furnished with a com- mission, in the form of letters to the synagogue at Damascus, authorizing him to seize all those who were found to be disci- ples of Jesus, whether men or women, and bring them in chains to Jerusalem for trial and punishment. The desired commission was gladly given to one so well known, and so distinguished for his zeal as Saul had now become, the high- priest being, doubtless, much rejoiced to find so willing and able an instrument for his own purposes. Presently, then, we behold Saul on the road to Damascus, with a suitable retinue, and armed with full powers as chief inquisitor, for the holy work of extirpating heresy. Never, perhaps, was the heart of a man more elated in the persuasion that he was in the path of high duty, and in the conviction that he was rendering to God a most acceptable service, than was Saul when upon this journey ; and, to the eye of human calculation, never was a man less likely to become a convert to the truth he sought to destroy, than was Saul of Tarsus in that hour when the fair city of Damascus burst upon his view, seated like a bride amid her gardens, with the rivers of Abana and Pharphar watering her feet. Yet this was the man, and this the hour, when the fierce persecutor was to be struck down in his pride of place, and rendered the docile follower of that JSTazarene, at whose name he had formerly ground his teeth, and the most saul's conversion. 115 conspicuous upholder of that truth he was prepared to lead captive in his chains. The time was now fully come — the fit time — the time fittest for himself, for the church then and in all ages, and for the saints at Damascus, who stood in much want of their Lord's protection from this fierce oppressor. The time had come that the Lord had need of him. And so He called him ; and the call was made in a way so effectual as rendered it irresistible to himself, and irresistible for the au- thentication of the great mission entrusted to him. Of this event — the greatest since the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost in all the history of the early church — we have three accounts : The leading narrative by Saul's own confiden- tial friend and follower, Luke ; and two by Paul himself, first in his address to the council at Jerusalem,* and again in his speech before King Agrippa at Cesareaf — by comparing which together, we obtain a clearer view of this most extraordinary transaction. It was not at night, but under the glare of the noontide sun, that Saul approached the city of Damascus. Then sud- denly there burst upon the party not merely a light, but a radiance, an excessive brightness, far exceeding that which is felt in looking in the face of the sun in an eastern sky. So intense was that light, so confounding to the senses, that they all fell to the ground, and lay prostrate there. Then as he lay thus, Saul heard a voice, saying to him in the Hebrew tongue, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me V The whole of them heard the voice ; but none but he to whom it was addressed were able to distinguish the words it uttered. He himself, confounded and amazed, could only say, "Who art Thou, Lord ?" To which the voice answered, " I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest." And, resorting even then to that form of parabolic instruction which had during his abode on earth distinguished his utterance, He added, " It is hard for thee to kick against the goad," — an expression drawn from the act of an unruly ox in resisting the goad by which it is impelled — resistance not only abortive, but greatly increasing its own dis- * Acts xxii. t Acts xxvl 110 FORTY-THIRD WEEK — TUESDAY. tress. As much as to say, — Neither the preaching nor the death of Stephen ; no miracles, no arguments have prevailed with ihee. Now, therefore, I appear to thee in a more express and strange manner, and appoint to thee a great work, to which I call thee, and for which I will qualify thee. All resistance to the power of my grace is as vain as the opposition of the unruly beast to the hand of its master. The full meaning of every word the voice uttered went to the heart of Saul, and threw into his mind a flood of light, stronger far than that which had rendered his outward vision blind. Completely humbled, he could only murmur, " Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ?" He thought perhaps that he should be ordered back to Jerusalem, and there to put him- self under the pupilage of the apostles. Whatever he thought, he becomingly casts himself upon the good pleasure of Him who had now revealed himself to his soul, and, as an obedient convert, submissively awaits His direction. He was probably surprised to hear that he was to proceed to Damascus, and that there he should learn the will of God concerning him. He accordingly arose ; but when he again opened his eyes, which he had instinctively closed at the sudden access of un- earthly brightness, he found that he could not see. He had actually been " Blinded by excess of light f and those who were with him, perceiving his condition, led by the hand into Damascus — feeble as a child, and humble as a condemned offender, the pitiless persecutor whose arrival had, but an hour before, threatened sorrow and ruin to many fami- lies in that city. The blindness of Saul was no doubt merci- fully intended by Providence to strengthen the powers of his mind, by compelling him to attend without distraction to the great matters Nvhich had been placed before him. The fact of this sudden and complete incapacitation, would also naturally prevent his being troubled about the business on which he came, either by those to whom his letters were addressed, or those who had been the companions of his journey. This saul's conversion. 117 lasted three days ; and the state of his mind may be gathered from the fact that he took no food or drink during that inter- val. His soul was full of great matters, which left no taste or thought for meaner cares. And versed as he was in the Bible, he could even in his blindness, search the Scriptures, and, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, was enabled clearly to discern the whole scheme of Christian doctrine in its fulness and truth. He repeatedly declares, in after life, that these things were not taught him by man, not by any apostle or disciple, but were imparted to him by the Spirit of truth. He was thus enabled to speak and teach with the same unde- rived authority and Divine unction as the other apostles. It is important to notice this ; because it might seem to some that Ananias, one of the disciples at Damascus, who had been sent to him, after the three days, in a vision, had been his in- structor ; but the close reader will see that the terms of this person's commission, and the mode in which he discharged it, give no sanction to this impression. The commission with which Saul was charged was well known in Damascus, and no suspicion was entertained that any change had come over him. It was probably conceived that his operations were merely suspended on account of his blindness. When, therefore, this Ananias was directed to go to him, and put his hand upon his eyes to remove his blind- ness, he was greatly astonished, and repeated what he had heard as to the antagonism and fell intentions of this same Saul. But the answer, decisive and full of deep matter, al- lowed no further remonstrance : — " Go thy way : for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the people of Israel. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake." This is the first mention of his high vocation in the direct narrative ; but it appears from the apostle's own account before Agrippa, that this had been very distinctly intimated to himself when our Lord spoke to him from amid the brightness. Thus encouraged, Ananias proceeded, as he had been directed, to " the street called Straight," and inquired at the 118 FORTY-THIRD WEEK — TUESDAY. house of Judas for one Saul of Tarsus ; and soon he was in- troduced to the presence of the man who bore that so lately dreadful name. He at once let him know that he came with a message of peace anci comfort ; and told him that he had been sent by One, now not unknown to him, who had seen and pitied his condition, that he might receive his sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. Saying this, Ananias laid his hands upon his eyes ; and instantly it seemed to him as if the darkening films fell from them, and his sight was completely restored. Saul then lost no time in evincing the new convic- tions which had entered his heart. At the word of Ananias, he arose from the posture of humble resignation in which he had lain, and was baptized, calling upon the name of that Lord who had so signally revealed himself to him. Through- out this interview, it is observable that Ananias does not say a word for the instruction of the convert, nor does he ask him any question as to the measure of his knowledge or the state of his mind. He knew already that Saul had been taught of God, and needed no teaching of his. The case reminds one, ilustratively of the practice in Germany, where, if a person who has already obtained the high degree of Doctor in Divinity, desires to undertake the pastoral office, he is ordained without the examinations which all others must undergo.* * In explanation of what may sound strangely in this statement, the reader may be reminded that degrees are academical, not ecclesiastical distinctions. Even in the Church of England, degrees are not essential to "orders ;" and in Germany, the degree of Doctor of Divinity is often held by distinguished Biblical scholars and professors, who are not clergymen. Thus, the degree of D.D. was lately conferred on Chevalier Bunsen, the Prussian ambassador to our Court, who had been previ- ously Doctor in Philosophy (Ph. D.), which is equivalent to our Master of Arts. Thus also, Tholuck was Doctor in Divinity, and Professor of Theology, before his ordination to the ministry, which, consequently took place without the usual examinations. INCIDENTS OF SAUL'S CONVERSION. 119 FORTY-THIRD WEEK— WEDNESDAY. INCIDENTS OF SAUL's CONVERSION. ACTS IX. 1-8 ; xxii. 5-16 ; xxvi. 12-18. We now wish to call attention to some circumstances in the narrative of Saul's conversion, which last evening we did not pause to consider. That the Jews were as numerous at Damascus, as the com- mission of Saul and its results imply, is not left to mere con- jecture, or to deduction from the narrative itself. The fact is attested by Josephus, who declares that, during the Jewish war, when the inhabitants of many heathen cities committed barbarous executions upon the Jews residing among them, the Damascenes slew in one hour no less than ten thousand Jews. And he intimates, that they kept the design secret from their wives, lest they should interpose to prevent it, as the women were generally favorable to the Jewish religiou. If that were the case, there was no doubt a corresponding proportion also favorable to the doctrine of Christ, and in this circumstance we may possibly detect a studied emphasis in the intimation, that not only men but " women" were included in the op- eration of Saul's commission. But if they were compre- hended in the order that the prisoners should be brought " bound," or in chains, to Jerusalem, this would strongly show the rabid animosity of the Sanhedrim against the religion of Jesus, for this barbarity to females had long been banished among all nations. The old Assyrians were anything but a humane people, but among even their sculptures in which female captives are represented, we do not find ' any who are in bonds. On another occasion, some time subsequent to the former, 18,000 Jews, with their wives and children, were slain at the same place, apparently on no other ground than their sympathy with their brethren in Judea, who were in arms against the Romans. The interval between these massacres was so short, that we must suppose that the numbers represent 120 FORTY-THIRD WEEK WEDNESDAY. contemporary and not successive populations. If, therefore, we take these 18,000 to have been adult males, as appears from women and children being in the latter account distin- guished, and add the usual proportion of females and children, we can see that the Jewish population of Damascus was great indeed, especially as there seems no reason to suppose that all the Jews in the city were slain on these two occasions It seems strange at the first view, that the high-priest and the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem should be able to exercise author- ity in a foreign city like Damascus. The fact that they did so, according to the tenor of Saul's commission, is asserted over and over again, and is corroborated by Ananias, who, when spoken to respecting Saul, had heard that " Here (at Damas- cus) he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call upon thy name." The fact is that the authority of the high-priest and the Sanhedrim was acknowledged by the Jews wherever they lived ; and it was usual for those dispersed in foreign countries to receive orders and instructions by letter from the great council at Jerusalem, which orders they very exactly followed — just as now the authority of the Pope is, as a rule, universally submitted to by Roman Catholics, even though living in Protestant countries. There can, therefore, be no difficulty in conceiving that the rulers of the synagogues at Damascus would readily comply with the import of any letters sent to them from the great council, and would willing- ly assist its commissioner in apprehending and conveying to Jerusalem the persons designated in his letters. The only difficulty is, whether the magistrates at Damascus would suf- fer the Jews to imprison their subjects, and take them to Je- rusalem to be punished. It is to be remembered, that with whatever differences of local administration, Damascus and Jerusalem were virtually under the same general government — that of Rome. Now the Romans had granted to the Jews the privilege of living everywhere according to their own iaws. This, doubtless, included a permission to scourge and to use other minor punishments in the synagogues ; and also to apprehend and send to Jerusalem greater delinquents, who INCIDENTS OF SAUl's CONVERSION. 121 were deemed to deserve more severe correction. "We know that included permission to send annually, from every part of the empire, large sums to Jerusalem, which, in the view of the Romans, was a matter of much greater consequence than their sending now and then a delinquent to be punished. The amount of these collections was so great, that the governors of the provinces were sometimes uneasy respecting it, and ven- tured to seize the money, and lay an injunction upon the Jews within their jurisdiction to send no more. Cicero, in his ora- tion pro Flacco, testifies that Flaccus did this in Asia. Titus, in his speech to the Jews after the taking of Jerusalem, men- tions these indulgences they had received from the Romans, and dwells with much emphasis upon the last of them : — " But, above all, we suffered you to raise a tribute and collect offer- ings for the Deity, and neither admonished nor forbade those who offered them, although you, our enemies, thus became richer than ourselves, and armed yourselves against us with our own money." He therefore regards this as a more im- portant mark of Roman indulgence than allowing them the use of their own laws, even in foreign lands, to which he had previously referred. It would seem that the Jews had a court of their own wherever any considerable number of them resided, to decide all religious controversies, and matters involving the observ- ances and obligations of their law. There are documents in Josephus which show the existence of such courts ; and there are others — decrees of Julius Caesar — which constitute the Jew- ish rulers patrons of their people in foreign parts, and which, in all probability, included the privilege of appeal to them from the decisions of the local courts. It is true that these grants were made to Hyrcanus, at that time prince and high- priest of the Jews ; but there is a later decree of Augustus, confirming to the Jews all the rights and privileges they en- joyed in the time of Hyrcanus. It may thus be gathered that the magistrates of Damascus were not likely to offer any opposition to proceedings in their VOL. IV. 6 122 FORTY-THIRD WEEK WEDNESDAY. city, which had the authority and sanction of the Jerusalem Sanhedrim. A question arises as to the blindness with which Saul was afflicted. Was it natural or supernatural ? He says himself, in Acts xxii. 11, that it was caused by the light he witnessed. " I could not see for the glory of that light ;" it was therefore so far natural ; but the light which produced it being super- natural, the blindness was therefore, so far, supernatural also. The only difficulty to this view of the matter arises from the fact, that although those who were with him are expressly stat- ed to have seen the light, they were not blinded by it. To this it may be answered, that they could not have been on ex- actly the same spot of ground as Saul, and although they saw the light, it did not smite them so fully in the face as in his — did not take their eyes in such full glare as his. It is certainly possible for an intense sudden light so to af- fect the optic nerve as to cause blindness. Indeed, every one has in some measure realized this experience, in being conscious of a momentary blindness after having gazed at the sun, or into a furnace, or upon metal at a white heat. A total loss of sight has also often been caused by a sudden flash of light- ning, by gazing at the sun during an eclipse, or by looking at it as it sets in the west. In all these cases the organ remains to all appearance perfect, although the sight has totally depart- ed. In Persia, where blinding as a punishment used to be frightfully common, it was formerly inflicted by a piece of metal at a white heat being held before the eyes. But it being eventually found that under this process a faint glim- mering of light was still perceptible, the mode was exchanged for the total extirpation of the organ. The blindness of Saul, although certainly a special provi- dence towards him, may thus have been naturally produced in the sense explained. But the cure was certainly miraculous. The blindness thus produced is a species of gutta serena, and is accounted less curable than almost any other form of that calamity. It was Milton's blindness, though differently pro- duced ; and in speaking of it he says : — EVIDENCE FROM SAUL'S CONVERSION. 123 " Thee I revisit safe, And feel thy sov'reign vital lamp : but thou Revisit'st not these eyes, that roll in vain To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn ; So thick a drop serene hath quenched their orbs, Or dim suffusion veil'd." Paradise Lost, iii. 21-26. FORTY-THIRD WEEK— THURSDAY. EVIDENCE FROM SAUL'S CONVERSION. ACTS IX. 1-8 ; xxii. 5-16; xxvi. 12-18. We should lose much of the advantage the narrative of Saul's conversion was doubtless intended to convey, if we neg- lected to notice the conclusive testimony to the truth and power of the Gospel, which it affords. He was himself so deeplv conscious of this, so sensible of the impression it ought to pro- duce, that he uses it as a favorite argument in his preaching, and it forms the main subject of two (Acts xxii., xxvi.) out of the five discourses of his which the Acts of the Apostles has preserved, without mentioning the repeated allusions to it in his epistles. He demands of the Jews, he demands of Agrippa, he demands of the churches, he demands of all, the sentiments that ought to be awakened in any truthful heart, by so glori- ous an interposition on the part of God in favor of the doctrine of Jesus Christ. And he has reason to make this demand, for, as an eloquent writer observes,* " Next to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the descent of the Holy Ghost, the Gospel history has no testimony which equals the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. It has been felt in all ages ; and many a reflective mind, hitherto unmoved, has yielded to the power of this page of the Gospel." The author here certainly alludes to Lord Lyttleton, with whose writings he evinces an acquaintance. * St. Paul : Five Discourses. By the Rev. Adolphe Monod. Trans- lated by the Rev. W. G. Barrett. London, 1853. 124 FORTY-THIRD WEEK THURSDAY. That nobleman became himself a sincere convert from skepti* cal or uncertain views, under the influence of the considera- tions presented to his mind in the attentive study of that page ; and in his Essay on the Conversion of St. Paul, he has left to the world a memorable and ingenuous work in which, the proofs for Christianity furnished by this event are most convincingly produced. The substance of this argument, with, some additional considerations interspersed, may be fitly pre- sented to the readers of this work. It must of necessity be that a person attesting these things of himself was either an impostor or an enthusiast — one who deceived himself, or was deceived by the fraud of others, or that what he declared did really happen, and therefore that Christianity is a Divine revelation. That he was not an impostor can be shown by proving that he had no rational motives, nor any means, to carry on such an imposture. If he expected to gratify his temporal interest or ambition, he would be mistaken ; for the death of Christ had made no impression upon the chief priests and rulers, and these were his masters, from whom alone he must have looked for promotion. Nay, they had begun a severe persecution against the followers of Christ, in which he had himself taken an active part. It was at this instant of time, and under these circumstances, that he became a convert. What could be his motives ? Was it the hope of increasing his wealth ? The certain consequence of taking the part he did, was not only the loss of all he had, but of all hope of acquiring more. Those whom he left were the dispensers of wealth, of dignity, of power, in Judea : those to whom he went were indigent men, oppressed, and kept down from all means of improving their fortunes. Therefore, however such expectations may have been connected with his fir&t conduct, they could not have been grounded on his second. Reputa- tion, honor also — all this lay on the side that he forsook. The sect that he embraced lay under the greatest and most univer- sal contempt of any then in the world. Was it, then, the love EVIDENCE FROM SAUL'S CONVERSION. 125 of power that prompted his behavior ? Power over whom ? Over a flock of sheep driven to the slaughter, and whose shepherd had been murdered but a short time before. Be- sides, he assumed no peculiar pre-eminence in the church. On the contrary, he declared himself the least of the?n, and less than the least of all saints. Neither did he attempt to make any innovations in government or in civil affairs ; he meddled not with legislation, he formed no commonwealths, he raised no seditions, he affected no temporal power. Obedience to their rulers was the doctrine he preached to the churches he planted, and what he taught to others he practised himself. The reason why he interested himself so deeply for his con- verts was, as he tells them, that they might be " blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain, ^ea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all." Are these the words of an imposter, desiring nothing but temporal power ? No, they are evidently written by one who looked beyond the bounds of this life ; one " who preached not him- self, but Christ Jesus the Lord." And all this was done in true humbleness of mind ; for although he had the advantage of higher education and superior learning, he made no im- proper use of these attainments, either by claiming a superi- ority over the other apostles, or by setting at nought those less learned than himself. " I came not," he says, " with ex- cellency of speech or of wisdom, but determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." It is clear, therefore, that by the change he made, Saul had nothing to gain, but had everything to give up. He gave up an advancing fortune, and a high reputation. He gave up his friends, his relatives, and his family. He gave up his religion. And in return for these relinquishments for Christ, he had 126 FORTY-THIRD WEEK THURSDAY. from man everything to fear. Whoever would profess the gospel under such circumstances, without the clearest conviction of its being a Divine revelation, must have been mad ; and if he made others profess it by fraud and deceit, he must have been worse than mad ; for no man with the least spark of humanity in his bosom could subject his fellow-creatures to so many miseries as he knew must inevitably ensue, nor could any man in whose mind the smallest ray of reason gleamed, expose himself to share them with those he deceived, in order to advance a religion which he knew to be false. As Saul had no rational motives, so he had no rational means of making an imposture successful. He had no associ- ates. Not even the apostles were in any confederacy with him. It is, therefore, not probable, nay, it is impossible, that he should solely contend with the power of the magistrates, the influence of the priests, the prejudices of the people, or the wisdom and pride of the philosophers. By the same kind of reasoning, it can be shown that Saul was no enthusiast. He had upon him none of the usual marks of such a character. He possessed, indeed, a manifest warmth of temper ; but it was at all times under the control of his judgment. Neither melancholy, ignorance, credulity, vanity, nor self-conceit, could be imputed to him. Besides, a mere enthusiast could never perform real miracles, as this man in many instances did. Still it may be, and it has been, urged, that a man so ar- dent as Saul, might be very well able, without any very ma- ture deliberation, to pass from one sphere of religious fanati- cism to another. But, as M. Monod remarks, this hypothesis cannot be maintained after five minutes' reflection by any one who calls to mind what the apostle Saul was. Saul had quite enough wherewith to satisfy his religious enthusiasm in his Judaic and Pharisaic faith, whilst in becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ, he lays all that down, and instead of entering into a new fanaticism, he quarrels with the old one. Strange fanaticism in truth is this, of a man who, on occasions the most exciting, uses language stamped with " truth and sober- EVIDENCE FROM SAUL'S CONVERSION. 127 ness ;" of a man who undertakes everything with the most consummate prudence, jealous of all his rights, both social and civil, either when they serve the cause of the Gospel, or when they may save him from needless sorrow; of a man who, when the interests of his ministry require it, goes to the ut- most verge of concession that wisdom counsels, or that con- science authorizes; "weak with the weak, a Jew with the Jews, without law to those who were without law ;" of a man, in short, who pursues his ministry for thirty years in the same spirit, who is not awakened from his dream even by the pros- pect of martyrdom, which, like his Master before him, he has taken care to postpone, although willing to undergo it when the hour of God was come. 1 Cor. ix. 20-22. If, then, Saul did not deceive himself, it is still less likely that he should be deceived by others. It was impossible for the disciples of Christ to conceive such a thought as that of turning his persecutor into an apostle, and to do this by fraud in the very instant of his greatest fury against them and their Lord. If they had even thought of such a conversion, they could not have effected it in this way. They could not have produced a light in the air greater than that of mid-day sun ; they could not first have made him blind, and then restored him to sight ; above all, no fraud of others could have enabled him to produce the miracles he performed after his conversion. It appears, then, as the result of all these arguments, that Saul neither deceived himself, nor was deceived by the fraud of others ; that he was no impostor nor enthusiast ; and then it follows that what he related to be the cause of his conver- sion, and to have happened in consequence of it, did really happen, and therefore that the Christian religion is, what it claims to be — a Divine revelation. Let us add, that the great moral fact — the change, complete and sudden, which made Saul stand up to do the work of an apostle in the same city to which he had so lately come to do the work of a destroyer, can only be accounted for, becomes unintelligible without the supernatural circumstances with which both Luke and Saul himself have invested it. The 128 FORTY-THIRD WEEK — FRIDAY. fact of the change is certain ; and there is no other way of accounting for it but that in which it is accounted for. " If the Gospel is true, if Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and if God has interposed, all is explained. God is not prodigal of miracles ; but we can easily understand that He will have re- course to them, in order to furnish such a demonstration of 4he truth of the Gospel, and to accredit such a minister. But if God did not interpose, if Jesus Christ is not his son, how is this transformation of character to be explained ?"* FORTY-THIRD WEEK— FRIDAY. DAMASCUS. ACTS IX. 19. On a former evening, an allusion was made to the first view of the city of Damascus which a traveller obtains. That view has been celebrated in all ages ; and it is one of the few, per- haps the only one, after Constantinople (which is, however, altogether different), that does not disappoint the expectations which the most glowing descriptions excite. Every traveller still speaks of it with rapture, and acknowledges that its beau- ty " Far exceedeth the report Of lavish tongues." The latest description of it is this : — " A scene of beauty and verdure hung on my view, for which, with all my expectations, I was unprepared. At my feet lay Damascus, embowered in its evergreen forests, as the poet describes it, ' A diamond set round with emeralds.' The morning sun lighted up its white walls, and glanced from its polished domes, and the gilded crescents of its hundred mina- rets. Gardens and orchards teeming with fruit-trees of almost every species surround the city, and spread far away over the plain. An enchanting variety, too, is given to this panorama * Monod. DAMASCUS. 129 of verdure — the foliage of these plantations exhibiting every tint of color, from the sombre hue of the olive, and the deep green of the cypress and the walnut, to the auburn of the apricot, and the reddening shade of the pomegranate, and the white and glistening leaves of the poplar. And the view is as extensive as it is beautiful. Towards the west, over the low range that bounds the plain, towers the lofty Hermon, the hoary-headed chief of the Eastern hills. An undulating country, watered by the ' Pharpar,' stretches along its base. Southward, the low chain of the Jeb-el-Aswad, and the loftier hills of Mani'a rise beyond, while far away in the distance may be seen the dim and blue outline of Jebel Hauran. On the south-east there is nothing to arrest the eye, save -the dim and quivering haze that hovers over the burning desert. East- ward, the morning sun is reflected from the waters of the Bahr-el-Merj [the Lake of the Meadow] and beyond it is a clump of hills, whose graceful summits rise up with clear out- line from the mists that veil their bases. To the north-east runs a long line of hills towards Tadmor in the wilderness. " The fertility and beauty of this vast plain, and the very sxistence of the city itself, depend entirely on the waters of 6* 130 FORTY-THIRD WEEK FRIDAY. the Barada (Abana). Before entering the plain, four large canals are led off from it at different elevations. These are carried along the precipices on each side of the stream, and are often hewed out and tunnelled in the solid rock. Two others are taken from the river before it enters the city, and many more further down. These spread the waters over the plrin in every direction. Where no water can be had for irri- gation, the j)lain is a desert. The river itself flows in a wind- ing course through orchards and meadows till it enters the city. Within the walls, the banks are shut in by mason-work, and in many places the bed of the river is arched over. It flows along the walls of the ancient castle, within which the mortal remains of the great Saladin were first committed to the tomb. It then continues its course along the ancient city wall to the ' gate of peace,' where it emerges from the more modern suburb. Thence it flows through gardens parallel to the city wall, to ' Thomas's Gate,' and afterwards flows due east across the plain."* Another travellerf not inaptly compares the distant view of Damascus to that of "a vast fleet anchored far oft* in a sea of green." The same traveller, an American divine, is naturally most impressed by the Biblical associations of the scene. He says : — " I paused to look upon the scene. Men had dwelt there so long, that it seemed the original home of the human family.]; It had never been desolate since the first shepherd arrived with his flocks from the Euphrates, and pitched his tents by the two crystal floods of the Abana and Pharpar. * Rev. R. L. Porter, " Rivers of Damascus" in " Journal of Sacred Literature" for July, 1853. f Observations in the East By John P. Durbin, D.D. New York, 1845. The description of Damascus contained in this work is perhaps the best that can be found. The modern history of the city is given at some length in Mr. Addison's Damascus and Palmyra. % " Within a day's ride, tradition has placed the house of Abraham, the tombs of Elijah, Moses, Noah, Seth, and Abel, and, I believe, claims also that Adam was made of the red earth found in the neigh- borhood." DAMASCUS. 131 Looking upon the transparent waters, they seem to apologize for 'Naaman the leper,' when, mortified and indignant, he turned away from the ' prophet in Samaria,' who had directed him to 'dip himself seven times in Jordan,' and exclaimed, ' Are not the waters of Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damas- cus, better than all the waters in Israel, may I not wash in them and be clean V Surely he was right, if a comparison of waters was to decide the question. He knew not the power of God until his servant ventured to say, ' My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it ? How much rather, then, wash and be clean.' " My eye wandered over the space to the south of the city ; and as I gazed over the peaceful plain where the furious Saul was struck down, and looked up into the calm, clear heaven, whence descended the celestial voice of the ascended Saviour, I felt that I, a wanderer from a world then unknown, might be a spiritual child of him who was here made an apostle, and afterwards sent ' far away to the Gentiles.' The mission of Paul commenced at Damascus, which may be called the spirit- ual mother of Gentile Christianity." Local tradition professes to be able to point out the precise spot where Saul fell blinded to the earth. It occurs about half a mile from the eastern gate of the town, in the midst of an unenclosed cemetery. The Christians of Damascus have long since marked their veneration for the spot, by making it the place of burial for their dead. The present road is here purposely diverted from the direct course for a few yards, leav- ing apart the spot which was the alleged scene of Saul's con- version. The spot thus respected is evidently a portion of the ancient road, consisting entirely of firmly-embedded pebbles, which, having never been broken up, stands alone, like the fragment of an elevated causeway. The sides have been grad- ually lowered, by numerous pilgrims, who, from year to year, have taken away the pebbles to preserve as relics. A wide arch-like excavation through the midst of this causeway, pro- duced by the same superstitious industry, bears some resem- blance to a dismantled bridge; and it is regarded by the xS2 FORTY-THIRD WEEK — FRIDAY. native Christians as an act of devotion to pass through this aperture. In many Levantine towns there is a street — not always the principal street — traversing the length of the city in a tolera- bly straight line, and usually called Straight Street — like Strada Stretta in Malta. " The street which is called Straight" still exists in Damascus under the same name. It is the most important and capacious street in Damascus, running from east to west, and has long been one of the busiest scenes of Eastern commerce within the city. The reputed "house of Judas," with whom Saul lodged, is still shown and visited. Like most of the " holy places" in Syria, it is a vault below ground, con- verted into a small chapel or oratory, now in the possession of the Latins. Even the house in which Ananias lived, and in which he is said to have been buried, is also shown. It lies northward of the Straight street, and the site offers a little half underground chapel, common to all Christians, and ex- hibiting Latin pictures and Greek crosses. Close at hand is a fountain from which the water used for baptizing the apostle, is alleged to have been brought. It will be seen that these, like other local traditions, involve absurdities not worth ex- posure. Probably, however, these " houses" are only repre- sented as the substructions or cellars of the respective dwell- ings of Judas and Ananias. Some have wondered at the scarcity of ancient remains in Damascus, seeing it is perhaps the oldest inhabited city in the world. But it is probably for the very reason that it has always been a peopled place that so few traces of ancient buildings are found; man being a greater destroyer of old things than time. The oldest standing building is the Byzan- tine Church of St. John, now the chief mosque of the city, and the dome of which figures conspicuously in all the views of Damascus. Of any earlier period there is nothing but portions of wall ; and it is possible that the gate at the eastern end of Straight street, called the gate of the sun-rising, which looks like a Roman work, may have been there in the time of Paul. There is much appearance of dilapidation and of ruined DAMASCUS. 133 houses in Damascus. This is also the case in most other Ori- ental cities of importance. But this less strongly argues decline in an Eastern than in a Western city ; the Orientals generally, and the Turks in particular, being adverse to the repair of old houses, and more inclined to build new ones for themselves, under some superstitious notion that it is more fortuuate to begin life in a new house. There might be some sense in this, if, as with us, domestic architecture improved from age to age, and new houses contained adaptations to health and comfort not to be found in those that are old. But the Orientals go on building as their fathers did ; and their fancy is not for im- proved houses, but for new houses — merely as new. Not- withstanding the decline of Damascus, of which unthoughtful travellers talk, we are inclined to think that it is now fully as populous as at any former period ; and it is enough to the discredit of the East to assume that the population of this great city has not increased, while that of Western metropoli- tan cities has risen from tens to hundreds of thousands, and from hundreds of thousands to millions. The most recent es- timate, given by the Rev. R. L. Porter in the "Journal of Sa- cred Literature," makes the total population " which resides in the district rendered habitable by the waters of the ancient Abana," to be "at the lowest estimate" 150,000, of which 108,579 belong to the city of Damascus. This being a some- what rigid calculation, probably adequately corresponds to the proverbially loose and vague estimates of the Oriental histo- rians, who in former times ascribed to Damascus a population varying from 150,000 to 200,000. The streets of Damascus are narrow, crooked, badly paved, and of irregular width. The houses are of unequal height, from two to four stories, built occasionally. of stone, but gen- erally of sun-dried mud bricks, and without any windows near the ground. The second story, and sometimes the third, usu- ally extends two or three feet over the street, resting upon the exposed ends of the joists, and supported by braces made of roughly hewn and sometimes unhewn pieces of wood. Any windows in these stories towards the street are of close lattice- 134 FORTY-THIRD WEEK — FRIDAY. work ; and as few persons appear in the streets, and there is no rumbling of carts or rattling of carriages, the silence and inactivity that pervade the city, surprise a stranger from the West. This is the external aspect of the city in the parts de- voted to private dwellings. But although the tenements with- in these mud-plastered walls are often wretched enough, yet there are many houses, and even palaces, the interior comfort, elegance, and even splendor of which, offer a strong contrast to the appearance without. The entrance to some of even the finest houses is by a low, mean-looking door in a great blank wall. But this unpromising entrance admits one to a spacious quadrangle paved with marble, in the midst of which a fountain throws up a continual shower, cooling the atmos- phere, and refreshing the evergreens and flowering shrubs that are planted around it. An arcade supported by slender col- umns, runs round this court, to which there is an ascent by a few steps, and into which the various apartments open. These are luxuriously furnished with rich carpets and cushions, and the walls and roof elaborately adorned with painting and gilding, and the cornices enriched with Arabic inscriptions. But here the same strange silence reigns, and the only sounds to be heard are the splashing of the fountain, and the echoing of one's own footsteps over the marble pavement. But all this is greatly changed, when one approaches the part of the city in which its business is concentrated. Here passengers become more frequent, and strings of mules and laden camels begin to obstruct the way. Soon passing from the narrow street, the covered bazaars are entered, and here " the busy hum of men " meets the ear, and the eye is bewil- dered amid the gay colors of the various articles exposed for sale, and of the groups that are seen passing in every fantas- tic variety of Eastern dress. On close inspection, however, some disappointment is felt, for the rich manufactures of which old travellers speak — the brocades of gold, the costly silks, and the unrivalled carpets of the East, we meet at every turn the familiar cottons of Manchester and Glasgow, the cloths of Marseilles, and the prints of Paris ; and instead of the Dam- DAMASCUS. Id5 ascus blades, barrels v and jewelled pistols, we find here the gay swords and showy pistols of Birmingham. Oriental goods and arms there are indeed, but the European predomi- nate ; and beyond doubt the coin of Syria is flowing fast into Europe, and the power-looms of the Christians are rapidly si- lencing the hand-looms of the Moslems. This is one change. There has been a still greater change at Damascus. Being one of the Moslem holy cities, it used to be distinguished for the hatred and intolerance of its inhabitants towards Christians. They were compelled to dismount and walk on foot on enter- ing the gate ; and any one appearing in European dress was sure to expose himself to gross insult, if not to stoning or beat- ing even to death. But all this is altered now. The condi- tion — at least the social condition, of the native Christian has been greatly ameliorated, in so far that his religion no longer subjects him to insult and wrong. Europeans traverse the city with complete impunity ; and the servants and subjects of Christian States enjoy privileges unknown to even the native Moslems. As an American traveller (Dr. Durbin) remarks, — " The head of a principal Turk may be struck off at any mo- ment, without cause, at the command of a Pasha, while that of a black Indian street porter is safe, because he is a subj ect of Queen Victoria." Thus at Damascus, as elsewhere, the East is opening fast to the enterprise, the principles, and the religion of the West; and, although not by might, not by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts, it is quite possible that the day is not far off when the name of Jesus of Nazareth, who there made his glory known to Saul of Tarsus, shall be honored before all other names in this earthly paradise. 136 FORTY-THIRD WEEK SATURDAY. FORTY-THIRD WEEK— SATURDAY. SAUL IN ARABIA. ACTS IX. 19-22 ; GAL. I. 17. It must have been generally known in Damascus that Saul had been blinded by an extraordinary brightness on his ap- proach to the city, and had thus been incapacitated, for the time at least, for the work of persecution for which he had been sent. Further than this nothing could be known, unless Saul had himself disclosed the great change which his spirit had undergone. And this is not likely, and seems to be disproved by the fact that, at the end of three days, Ananias knew no- thing of it. We may, however, suppose that the Christians, from what they did know, would be likely to infer that their Lord had interposed in a special and signal manner for their protection, by the sudden prostration of the intended oppress- or. Great must have been their surprise and adoring thank- fulness when the result appeared. For no sooner had Saul re- covered his sight and been baptized, by which he joined their body and became known to them as a convert, than any dis- trust which may have lurked in their minds for a moment was speedily removed, by the bold and decided measure he took of proceeding at once to the Jewish synagogues, and publicly declaring in them the conviction he had so marvellously real- ized, that " Jesus was the Son of God." He doubtless stated, as he was apt to do, what had brought him to this conviction, and he was now able to employ his rabbinical and pharisaical learning in upholding the cause he had once labored to de- stroy, and in confuting the arguments which had once satisfied his own mind. Blank amazement at the first intimation of this astounding change in such a man, whose doings at Jeru- salem were well known, as well as the object of his presence in Damascus, seems to have been followed by some curiosity to hear how he would account for it. This gained him atten- tion ; and not the less as they saw he was not a man to be put down by idle clamor. But when that curiosity was satisfied, SAUL IN ARABIA. 137 and they saw him prepared to gainsay the whole course of his previous life, and to discard with abhorrence and grief the com- mission with which he had been entrusted, he became the ob- ject of intense hatred, rising into rage with the increasing ener- gy and boldness with which he went on arguing and proving, in the synagogues, with irrisistible force, that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. This could not last long. It is evident that the excitement raised among the Jews of Damascus, who must have regarded him as the most faithless of apostates, would place his life in much danger ; and nothing could be more likely than the speedy arrival of a new delegate from Jerusalem, empowered to supersede him, and to bring him back for condign punish- ment. We know from his own account in Gal.i. 17, that he left Damascus ; and these considerations render it probable that his first stay was not of long duration. He had put in his testimony for Christ, and left it to its work. But where was he to go ? • At the first look one might think that he would be anxious to go to Jerusalem to put himself into communication with the apostles, and advise with them as to his future course, if not to receive their instructions. But we seem to see pruden- tial reasons why he should not go to Jerusalem just at that time, when the exasperation there must have been so strong against him ; and as we find he did not proceed thither, we might suppose that he was prevented by this consideration. But again, we may hesitate to think that one who had con- fronted the Jews so boldly in the synagogues of Damascus, would be prevented by his apprehensions from going to Jeru- salem ; and it may be urged that if he left Damascus to pre- vent the needless surrender of his life, the same consideration should prevent his going to Jerusalem, where the danger was at least equal, and probably greater. If any duty had called Saul to Jerusalem, if his Lord had commanded him to go there, we may be sure that no prospect of danger to himself would have deterred him. But he had really no need to go thither ; and his going at that time might 138 FORTY-THIRL> WEEK — SATURDAY. have been injurious to his future usefulness and influence, by bringing the original and underived authority of his apostle- ship into question. From what afterwards happened at Cor- inth, we can see that advantage would have been taken of this circumstance to insinuate that he had sought, at Jerusa- lem, from the apostles instruction in doctrine, and the confirm- ation of his mission. But the Lord, by the whole course of his action towards him, and probably indeed by direct in- struction, had made him to understand that it was of most essential importance that it should be manifest that he deriv- ed his gospel directly from Jesus Christ — -that He had made him a minister — that He had directly and immediately invest- ed him with plenary apostolic authority, so that he was no whit behind the very chiefest of the apostles.* The more strongly we are enabled, from the Epistles to the Corinthians and Galatians, to realize the importance of these considerations, the more clearly Saul's reasons for not going to Jerusalem may appear ; and as the Lord knew future results which might not then be apparent to Saul's understanding, it may reasonably be presumed that He directed his movements on this as on other occasions, and forbade his proceeding to Jerusalem. It is even possible that our knowledge of the circumstances which led to his quitting the same city on a later occasion, may have too readily induced us to assign the same cause to his previous departure. We certainly do not read that the violence of the Jews compelled him to go away. There may have been other reasons. Some have suggested a possible re- gard for his health — which does not seem to have been ever very strong, and may have been much shaken by all he had lately gone through. This may at least have been added to other reasons; for a man is as much bound to consider his health as his life, so that his care for neither takes him away * This matter may be seen fully developed iu Dr. John Brown's Exposition of the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians — a most valuable recent addition to the series of exegetical works with which, within these few years, the author has, far beyond any writer of this age, enriched the theological literature of this country. SAUL IN ARABIA. 139 from the path :>f duty. Although we should not like to rest much upon this, we can produce facts which would make it appear still more probable to those by whom it has been ad- vanced. The great bane of the delicious environs of Damascus is the insalubrity of the climate. In the summer and autumn, at- tacks of ophthalmia are frequent ; and the intermittent Damas- cus fever is a terrible disease ; and when it has once made its attack it pays annual visits, reducing the patient to a skeleton. This fever and ophthalmia are entirely owing to the extensive irrigation, and consequent exhalation, from the ground. Wher- ever there is water, there are generally no inhabitants. Hence, such of the inhabitants as can possibly manage to do so, leave the city for a time, and retire into the neighboring dry and healthy districts. Saul did this — that is, he went into " Ara- bia ;" but whether from the same, or partly from the same reason, is open to conjecture. It has been thought that cer- tain intimations in the Epistles are best explained by suppos- ing that it was the Lord's pleasure that, although he recover- ed his sight, his eyes should remain weak and tender, as a standing memorial of the circumstances under which he had been made blind. If this were the case, it may be conjec- tured that some indication of an attack of ophthalmia, on the arrival of the unwholesome season at Damascus, may have contributed to the reasons he had for retiring from the city at that time. It may also be conceived, that at this early pe- riod of his new career, he desired to withdraw for a season into comparative retirement for the purpose of giving himself up to solemn meditation and communion with his Divine Mas- ter. Such retirement he could realize in Arabia, but not in Damascus, nor in Jerusalem, nor in Tarsus. It is commonly stated, that he preached the Gospel in Arabia, and some inge- nious comment has been founded upon that conclusion. It may have been so to the extent that a man like Saul would not be likely to neglect any opportunity of usefulness which circumstances might present ; but there is no proof of the fact 140 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK — SUNDAY. in the passage in Galatians, where this visit is mentioned, nor any trace of it in the Acts of the Apostles. And here it may be desirable to remind the reader that the name Arabia is doubtless here employed in a sense different to that which it has borne since the second century, when the geographer Ptolemy gave that definition of the limits of Ara- bia in its three divisions which has been generally adopted. Before that the name was very vaguely applied, and in the times of Saul was extended far northward, encroaching largely upon the borders of Syria and Palestine. Towns lying in the region immediately south of Damascus, that is, in the Hauran (Auranitis) are reckoned by the Roman writers as belonging to Arabia. Early Christian writers, such as Justin Martyr and Tertullian, assign even Damascus itself to Arabia ; and Pliny the elder extends Arabia in this direction over the mountains of Lebanon to the borders of Cilicia. It is not therefore needful to suppose that Saul buried himself in the deserts of Arabia, or sought the dread solitudes of Sinai. It is sufficient to assume that he withdrew to the same quarters to which the Damascenes themselves retreat from the fever and the ophthalmia which in summer afflict their city. GRACE. 1 COR. XV. 8-10. In the frequent references which occur in Paul's Epistles to the great event of his life, it is not difficult to discover the strongest and most prevaling impression it left upon his own mind. It was that of admiring wonder at that high Grace of God, which had singled him out — even him — to be brought near to that Jesus, whose name he had once abhorred, and to spend and be spent in that cause he had labored to destroy. Observe how remarkably, even to iteration, he, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, makes this grace the leading theme of his allusion to that event : — GRACE. 141 "Last of all He [Jesus] was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the Apostles, and not meet to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am ; and His grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain ; but I labored more abundantly than they all : yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." It is all " grace." And this perception of the fulness of that grace could not be real- ized without that correspondingly deep sense of his own un- deservings, which he constantly declares. These two things are inseparable ; for no one can adequately value or under- stand God's grace in saving, who does not know — who does not feel, " in his heart of hearts," that without it he were ut- terly lost — " utterly ;" for as there is no middle condition be- tween living and dying, so is there none between salvation and perdition. What wonder, then, that with this keen perception of the grace that had been so signally manifested towards himself — grace became the darling theme of his writings and discourses ; and that he is never weary in enforcing, by every kind of argu- ment and illustration, the sovereign freedom and exceeding riches of the Divine grace abounding to sinners in the Great Redeemer. In this only he exulted, in this only he rejoiced. Yet did he not consider his most humble and entire confidence in that grace as superseding the necessity of the most constant watchfulness and self-denial. " I keep under my body," he says, " and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast- away." — 1 Cor. ix. 27. The force of the language in which the apostle expresses his meaning may not be readily seen, unless we recollect that throughout the passage, of which this text is part, the images are derived from the contests, the races, the boxing, the wrest- ling, of the Olympic and Isthmian games. He had before said, M Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things." In which he alludes to the severe preparatory train- ing of those who intended to offer themselves as competitors 142 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK SUNDAY, in these games — something like which still exists with us among those preparing for pugilistic and pedestrian contests. But among these ancient competitors training lasted twelve months, during which all the wants of nature, and all sensual indulgences, were strictly regulated under an experienced mas- ter of the gymnastic arts. Their eating, drinking, sleeping, walking, were determined as to time and quantity by rule ; and they were continually exercised in those arts, at the prize for which they intended to aim. " But they do it," says the apostle, " to obtain a corruptible crown ; but we an incorrupt- ible." The crowns of the victors in these games were indeed very corruptible, being simply garlands of laurel, pine leaves, wild olive, or even parsley. The other, " a crown of glory, that fadeth not away." In the passage before us, however, his allusions are to the pugilistic contests. The apostle intimates the stern reality of the conflict in which he is engaged, by treating the body as the opponent in such an encounter. When he says that he keeps it under, he uses a phrase, which, in the original, signi- fies to strike one's opponent, in such a conflict, in the face, or, more exactly, under the eyes, that being the part particularly aimed at in such conflicts, for the purpose of both blinding and disfiguring the antagonist ; and here the blow was con- sidered most effective. So, when he says that he strives to " bring it [the body] into subjection," he seems to pass to an image derived from the practice of wrestlers, who strive to secure the victory by giving a fall to their opponents. Language like this — so explained and illustrated — is strong- ly expressive of a mind at once divested of self-confidence, and, at the same time, well guarded against every tendency to pervert the doctrines of grace to a plea for indulgence to the flesh. Saul was far otherwise minded. He considered the discoveries of the Gospel, as furnishing the most powerful and vigorous motives to constant and vigorous exertion in all the duties of practical religion, and as affording the best as- sistance in them. Thus, again, after having introduced the beautiful allusion to the Olympic games, to which we have GRACE. 143 just referred, by mention of the fadeless prize-crown which is set before the Christian combatant, he proposes himself as an example in that glorious contest — striving to win this high honor for himself. " I so run, not as uncertainly ; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air." Thus he expresses, by fig- ures derived from the same source as the others, that he ran the race set before him, not by a rambling and devious course, but along a determined line to a definite bourne. Just as in the games, the path the racers were to keep was denoted by ivhite lines, or by posts ; and he who trespassed beyond these lines, by diverging from the path which they marked out, lost the race, even though he were the first to reach the goal. So also he fought not in his contest with flesh and blood, with futile and abortive strokes, as one beating the air, but with firm stroke and steady aim, as one resolute in his purposes. In order to acquire the proper dexterity and firmness of muscle, it was usual for the pugilists to exercise themselves with the gauntlets, and to fling their arms about as if engaged with an actual adversary. This was called "beating the air," and came to be a proverbial expression, applied to those who miss- ed their aim in the actual conflict. This seems to be the al- lusion intended by the apostle. In the same spirit he writes to the church at Philippi : — " Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended ; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind, and reaching forth to those things that are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." — Phil. iii. 13, 14. Here also the allusions are to the race, — allusions so frequent with him, because they were not only highly illustrative, but so familiar and intelligible to those whom he addressed. In the entire passage, which in- cludes these two verses, his first and literal meaning is this, — He could not yet exult as one who had attained the goal, and won (though not yet received) the prize ; much less as one already " perfect," or crowned with all the honors of victory. No : not yet (and he wrote this towards the close of his career) had he apjwehended, or taken hold of, the post which marked 144 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK SUNDAY. the goal, and thereby gained the victory. He was yet upon the course, still striving in the race. He lost no time in look- ing back upon the distance he had passed, or to see how far the other racers were behind ; but with his attention wholly fixed upon the space that lay before him — between him and the mark or garlanded post that showed the goal, he pressed with eagerness towards it for the prize, — "the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." He means not that any duty or service was undertaken by him in his own strength. He had once, in his Pharisaic self- esteem, regarded his virtue alone as equal to any labor or suf- fering ; but his more enlightened experience, or rather his Di- vine Master, had shown him his mistake, and taught him to rely humbly and actively upon Him for assistance and success in every undertaking. Under this conviction he continually sought His aid, and entreated his brethren to strengthen his supplications by their prayers for him : — " I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me." — Rom. xv. 30. Indeed to a Divine influence showered upon him, and work- ing in him, he ascribed the honor of every great and good design, every becoming disposition, every honorable and use- ful action of his life. " By the grace of God I am what I am." And it ought to be remarked here, that amidst a series of the most extensive and important services to the cause of Christ, and the best interests of mankind, he speaks of him- self in terms of deep and earnest self-abasement, inventing a superlatively comparative diminutive (ilccx^ioieQog), by which to express that sense, for which no existing word sufficed — the most humbling sense he entertained of his own insufficiency and nothingness, — " less than the least of all saints." Nor was this an unmeaning form of words ; he lived the language he spoke, and exemplified, in all circumstances, the lowly spirit he recommended and expressed. saul's escape from Damascus. 145 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK— MONDAY. saul's ESCAPE FROM DAMASCUS. ACTS IX. 23-25. The duration of Saul's stay in Arabia is uncertain. It is stated by himself, in his Epistle to the Galatians, that his re- turn to Jerusalem, to which he repaired after his final depart- ure from Damascus, was " three years" subsequent to his con- version. This does not necessarily express three complete years ; but may, according to Hebrew usage, denote one en- tire year, and parts of two other years ; just as our Lord is said to have lain " three days " in the tomb, though it was in reality but one whole day and parts of two other days. In the direct narrative in the Acts, which overlooks the interme- diate journey into Arabia, the interval is covered by the gen- eral phrase of " many days ;" and it is a curious coincidence, that in the Old Testament the same phrase of " many days " is used to denote a space of " three years."* Whether the in- terval was three entire years, or three incomplete years, which may have been as little as a year and a half, there are no data for the distribution of the period between the two visits to Damascus and the intermediate sojourn in Arabia. The gen- eral impression, which results from the comparison of the dif- ferent narratives and intimations, seems, however, in our judg- ment, to be that the first visit to Damascus was of short dura- tion, the sojourn in Arabia of comparatively considerable length, and the final visit to Damascus much longer than the first, if not so long as that of the retirement into Arabia. But we cannot proceed without pointing out the very satis- factory manner in which the long interval of " many days," explained as three years, is thus accounted for. From the direct narrative in the Acts it might appear difficult to ac- count for the fact that Saul should, under the circumstances, * 1 Kings ii. 38, 39, "And Shimei dwelt at Jerusalem many days; and it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away." VOL. IV. 7 146 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK MONDAY. have remained so long at Damascus unmolested by the Jews ; but all this is obviated when we find, from the other account, that although the period commenced and ended at Damascus, there was an intermediate residence in Arabia, so that the period of " many days " covers three visits, two to Damascus, and one into Arabia. It is only, therefore, by com- paring the narratives that we get at the full account, by which all difficulties are obviated, and all the discrepancies are re- moved. And in this we find very noticeable evidence of the simple truthfulness and integrity of the sacred writers. Here we have two accounts, neither of which is complete without the other. In the leading narrative in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke has left a chasm which he has nowhere else supplied. But that chasm we are enabled to fill up by the apostle him- self, in letters written long after, and without any design to complete the history of Luke ; for the introduction of this ac- count of the transaction into the Epistle to the Galatians, was for a very different purpose — that is, as was two evenings ago explained, to show that he received his commission directly from the Lord Jesus, and in a manner independent of the other apostles. The two accounts are therefore like the two parts of a tally ; neither is complete without the other, and yet, being put together, they so exactly fit into each other, as to show that the one is precisely adjusted to, and is the coun- terpart of, the other. And as these two parts are supplied by different persons without the least design of adapting them to each other, they show that the writers had formed no collusion or agreement to impose upon the world ; that they are sepa- rate and independent witnesses ; that they were honest men ; that their narratives are true records of what actually occurred ; and that the two narratives, therefore, constitute a strong and very valuable proof of the correctness of the sacred narrative. Dr. Paley, who has very ably wrought out this species of argument through a variety of illustrations drawn from the comparison of the Acts and the Epistles, observes of the pres- ent case : " Beside the difference observable in the terms and general complexion of these two accounts, the journey into saul's escape from Damascus. 147 Arabia, mentioned in the Epistle, and omitted in the history, affords full proof that there existed no correspondence between these writers. If the narrative in the Acts had been made up from the Epistle, it is impossible that this journey should be passed over in silence. If the Epistle had been compiled out of what the writer had read of Paul's history in the Acts, it is unaccountable that it should have been inserted."* If we are led further to ask why Luke should omit this im- portant particular in the Acts, it may be answered that there are many facts and circumstances omitted in all histories from the necessity of the case. This is very broadly stated by one of the sacred historians, with reference to the history of our Lord. — John xxi. 25. After his return to Damascus, Saul seems to have resumed his former course, " preaching boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus." Being unable to meet him in controversy, the Jews conspired to take his life — not seemingly by any judicial pro- cess, but by assassination — a resort for the removal of adver- saries which had already become common in that age, and for which hired agents were never wanting. The plot, how- ever, transpired, though we know not in what way. Saul became acquainted with it. It would seem that he then no longer appeared in public, but kept himself in retirement. His enemies, however, felt assured that he had not left the city ; and their influence with the governor of Damascus was sufficient to enable them to obtain an order that the gates should be watched for his apprehension, should he attempt to escape. The walls were lofty, and there seemed no other mode of egress than by the gates. But the anxiety of the disciples for the preservation of a life so precious, found a means of deliverance, which the zealous watchfulness of the " liers in wait " had overlooked. It is usual in the East for houses to be built against the inside of the town wall, so that many of the house tops are nearly, if not quite, on a level with its summit. Sometimes, indeed, the upper part of the * Hora Paulina, Chap, v., No. 1. Edited by Rev. T. R. Birks. 1850 148 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK — MONDAY. houses rises considerably above the level of the wall, and then sometimes an upper apartment even overhangs the wall, form- ing a kiosk, where the master of the house can, in his recrea- tive moments, sit alone or with his friends, enjoying the view of the open country. Wo might therefore infer, from the leading narrative alone, that it was from some such house that the apostle was let down in a basket ; but his own information, given in 2 Cor. xi. 33, that the basket was let down " through a window," places this beyond question. Houses built against, upon, or overhanging the wall of the city, are still to be seen at Damascus ; some of them near the spot, hard by the Jerusalem Gate, where tradition, with its usual determinateness, places the precise spot of Saul's es- cape. "Passing through the gate of Jerusalem," says Dr. Durbin, " I cast my eyes up to the top of the wall, and ob- served that houses were built upon it ; and near one of them ARETAS THE KING. 149 was a -walled up portal and window, through the latter of which, Christian tradition says the apostle was let down in a basket when he escaped for his life ; and, according to Moslem tradition, the reign of Mohammedanism shall cease whenever a Christian shall enter the gate through the former. Hence it is strongly built up." FORTY-FOURTH WEEK— TUESDAY. ARETAS THE KING. 2 COR. XI. 32. We may this evening give our attention to a curious point in the history of Saul's escape from Damascus, which does not appear in the regular narrative, nor in the apostle's own ref- erence to it. We find it in the second of his epistles to the Corinthians. It is here stated that at the time " In Damascus, the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me." Here the fact that startles us is, that Aretas, a petty king of Arabia Petraea, should be in the exercise of authority, by his officer or eth- narch, in a city not belonging to his proper territory, but un- der the Roman jurisdiction. Neither Josephus, nor any other writer, speaks of Damascus as ever having been subject to Aretas, and the circumstance seems at the first view unaccount- able and even improbable. That the fact is not mentioned by the only one or two writers likely to have noticed it, is not in itself strange, on the principles of historical evidence ; and we cannot pretend to produce any testimony on this point. But, in the absence of this, it is something to be able to show from the information we do possess, that it is by no means improbable that Aretas should at this timelvre had possession of Damascus. This Aretas is the same king of Arabia whom Herod An- tipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, had so deeply displeased by di- 150 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK TUESDAY. vorcing his daughter, in order that he might marry Herodias. The injured princess returned to her father; and he, incensed at the treatment she had received, soon commenced hostilities against Herod, and in the last year of the reign of the Em- peror Tiberius (a. d. 37), had completely defeated his army. Aretas was, like Herod, tributary to the Romans, though in some degree less dependent, and Herod took care to send such a report of the matter to Rome, that the imperial wrath was roused at the audacity of Aretas in waging war with another " protected " sovereign, without the permission or concurrence of the emperor. Tiberius therefore sent orders to Vitellius, the Roman prefect in Syria, to declare war against Aretas, and either take him alive, or send his head to Rome. But Vitellius cherished a dislike to Herod, and seems to have moved with little alacrity in what was essentially his cause. Indeed, the knowledge that this order had been pro- cured by his representations to the emperor, was alone suffi- cient to render it distasteful to him. The reason of his umbrage was this : — There had been a rebellion against the Romans, and great commotions in Parthia. After various attempts to settle these disorders, Tiberius ordered Vitellius to go and contract a league with Artabanus, the king of the Parthians. They met accord- ingly, each with a guard of honor, upon a bridge thrown for that purpose over the Euphrates, where they concluded the articles of agreement. After this they were splendidly enter- tained by Herod, who was present, in a rich pavilion curiously Bet in the middle of the stream — but whether upon the bridge itself, or upon a raft secured in the mid-stream, does not ex- actly appear. Herod then hastened to send to the emperor at Rome intelligence of the conclusion of this treaty, about which he knew that Tiberius felt much interest, with a full account of all the particulars. His messenger arrived considerably earlier than the one sent by Vitellius with his official account. The emperor therefore replied coldly that his intelligence was stale, for that he had already received all needful information from Herod. Vitellius was much hurt at this : and conceiv- ARETAS THE KING. 151 ing that he had been greatly injured in the emperor's favor by the officiousness of the tetrarch, he cherished a secret resent- ment against that personage, — not the less bitter that he was for the present obliged to keep it in his own bosom. For although Herod had lost the favor of the prefect, he had won that of the emperor, which he valued much more, so that it was not long after this that Vitellius received from Tiberius the order we have mentioned, — to employ the Roman forces against Aretas, ostensibly to punish a refractory vassal, but really to avenge the quarrel of Herod Antipas. However slowly and reluctantly, Vitellius was obliged to move in obedience to this order. At first, it was his intention to march his troops through Judea, as the nearest way to the territory of Aretas ; but he was met at Ptolemais by an em- bassy from the Jews, who implored him to change his plan, as they could not suffer the Roman standards, with their idola- trous images, to be carried through their country. Upon this the prefect, who was a man noted for his courtesy, unwilling to give needless offence, sent the troops across the plain of Esdraelon, and went himself, with Herod and some others, to Jerusalem, to offer sacrifices in the temple, at the feast of the Passover, then nigh at hand. Gratified by his ready conces- sion to their religious scruples, Vitellius was received with every possible mark of respect. On the fourth day after his arrival, news arrived of the death of Tiberius, and the accession of Caius Caligula. Upon this he required the Jews to take the oath of allegiance to the new emperor ; and he eagerly seized the excuse of abandoning or postponing the enterprise against Aretas, alleging the necessity of first obtaining the sanction of the new emperor to the orders received from his predecessor. He therefore returned himself to Antioch, and dismissed his troops into winter quarters. Now, seeing how nearly this event appears, so far as can be ascertained, to coincide with, or slightly to precede, the mention of Aretas in the sacred volume, as master of Damascus, what forbids us to conclude, that in the course of the hostilities between him and Herod, upon the Syrian frontier ; or on the withdrawal of Vitellius ; 152 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK TUESDAY. or, which is still more likely, as soon as he knew what he had to expect, under the orders that general had received, to send him dead or alive to Rome, he gained possession of Damascus, which had belonged to his ancestors, and retained it in his possession during all the reign of Caligula. It had become a matter of life or death to him ; and when he saw two legions of Roman soldiers, with numerous auxiliaries, marching against him, he had no alternative but to submit, or to do all that he could to strengthen his position. To submit were death with ignominy ; to resist were, at the worst, death with honor ; and when the Romans had declared war against him, and were pre- pared to hunt him to the death, it was not a time for him to hesi- tate about making himself master of any city he was able to win, and the possession of which was desirable to him, merely on the ground that it was immediately under Roman jurisdiction. The new emperor had little regard for Herod, and seems to have justified the precaution of Vitellius, by not ordering the resumption of the expedition against Aretas. How long this prince held Damascus we know not. It is likely that the Romans came to terms with him, rather than incur the expense and trouble of a profitless little war ; and that then he either relinquished his occupation of Damascus, or was confirmed in the possession of it by the Romans. It seems therefore to us, that the Scriptural intimation, strange as it appears at the first view, fits very well into the common history of these transactions, and indeed furnishes a hint for the completion of an account of matters, which is left unsettled and imperfect. The term (ethnarch), applied to the " governor" of Damascus, under King Aretas, may denote either a civil governor or military commandant — probably he w r as the'latter, or perhaps both, the offices being often united, especially in a recently- acquired town. The influence which the Jews had with him may be ex- plained by considering how much it was his interest to con- ciliate so important a portion of the Damascene population. Besides, the government of Aretas could hardly fail to be VISIT TO JERUSALEM. 153 popular with them. They hated the Roman yoke; and in the quarrel between Herod and Aretas, their sympathies were entirely with the latter. As for Herod, in his own dominions he was not much liked, and beyond them, he was detested. FORTY-FOURTH WEEK— WEDNESDAY. VISIT TO JERUSALEM ACTS IX. 26-30; GAL. 1. 18. On escaping from Damascus Saul proceeded to Jerusalem, where he had not yet been since his conversion. The direct narrative, in the Acts of the Apostles, does not acquaint us with his precise object in at length returning to that city ; but Saul supplies the omission in his Epistle to the Galatians, by stating that he went to Jerusalem " to see Peter." This apostle had been so conspicuous in the first proceedings of the disciples, after their Lord had been taken from them, that one who had regarded those proceedings with hostile attention, as Saul had done, must have seen him often, and probably heard him sometimes. What he had seen thus for- merly, and what he had heard, however adversely it had then impressed him, now interested him deeply, and he longed to form the personal acquaintance of one who seemed a pillar of the rising church, who had been the earliest disciple and close associate of Jesus, and whose history afforded some points in which he could deeply sympathize ; for Peter, after thrice denying his Lord, had been pardoned and restored, and Saul, after being a destroyer of the Christians, had been con' verted to the faith they held, and placed among their leaders and chiefs. Both had " lien among the pots," yet had risen soaringly from their low estate, as " a dove with wings of silver and feathers of yellow gold." He had also, doubtless, heard of Peter from the disciples of Damascus. He was at least as conspicuous a character in their view as he is in ours ; and we, from the Scripture alone, know far more of him than of any of 7* 154 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK — WEDNESDAY. the other original apostles, and understand his character far better It is to be feared that the unfounded claims on behalf of Peter, which a corrupt church has advanced for the promo- tion of its own ambitious aims, have created in many minds an indisposition, if not a repugnance, to recognize his actual prominence in the evangelical history, or to acknowledge his really just claims to consideration. We may see this even in the writings of men of high character and fairness, to whom it would be not only wrong but foolish to impute any more than an unconscious bias. We detect a hesitancy in discussing those great facts in Scripture history in which Peter is the prominent figure — a careful choice of limiting words — a secret fear lest too much to his advantage should be admitted. In all this we see the influence of that natural reaction which takes place, to the disadvantage of those in whose behalf exor- bitant pretensions have been made, creating a disposition to disparage them and to ignore their rightful claims. It is nat- ural ; but it is sadly natural ; and it is wrong. Besides, it is needless. Take any twelve men acting together as a society, a committee, a board, a jury, and we shall always find one who, from his position or character, from his readiness of speech, his exact judgment, his talent for business, or from all or any of the qualities which go to make up an influential character, becomes by much the most prominent man in that body — comes more into view than any one among them — and whose name is much more familiar than theirs to the public ear ; and yet who himself would be the first to deny that he has any right of authority or dominion over those with whom he acts. Of all the modes of influence, this, arising from character and endowments, is the least obnoxious and the most cheerfully recognized. We see it exercised daily in our town councils, in our parish vestries, and why should we be so anxious to deny or to attenuate it in the case of Peter ? Let us meet the case boldly, and say that both on public and private grounds there was much reason why Saul should desire to form a personal acquaintance with the ardent and zealous apostle, who was then the most conspicuous person in VISIT TO JERUSALEM. 155 the church ; in whose character he now saw sj much to respect and admire ; and whose brother in the work and faith of the Gospel, he had, by Divine appointment, now become. Instruc- tion from Peter, or authority or recognition from him, he needed not. Both of them had been taught by the same Master, both authorized by the same Lord. But we cannot doubt that Saul promised himself much satisfaction in hold- ing converse with one who had been so intimately near the Lord's person while on earth, and who could therefore tell him much that he desired to know. On his arrival at Jerusalem, however, his reception by the disciples was not such as he expected. He was regarded with dis- trust and suspicion, and his attempts to unite himself to them were discouraged or repelled. This seems strange to us ; but it is not unaccountable. The disciples would naturally retain a more vivid recollection of the suffering this man had for- merly caused among them, and the inveteracy of his hatred against them, than of the rumor they might have heard a good while since of his conversion in a distant city, subse- quently to which he had for a considerable period disappeared from public view ; and it is likely they had not heard of his reappearance at Damascus, and of the more recent proceed- ings in that city — as the disturbed state of the country, between Aretas on one side, and Herod with the Romans on the other, was unfavorable to communications between the two cities; and although there was ordinarily much intercourse between these places, yet about this time there were circumstances (as we shall presently see) calculated to deter the Christians of Damascus from visiting Jerusalem. Saul also, from the hurried circumstances of his escape, was probably unprovided with those letters of recommendation with which, in those days, a disciple going to another city was usually furnished by those belonging to the place he had left. It is also quite possible that, in attempting to disguise the loss they had sustained, the Jewish authorities had spread reports tending to throw discredit upon the reality or sincerity of his conversion, and to damage him in the estimation of those he 156 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK — WEDNESDAY. had joined. At all events, it seems not difficult to understand how the disciples at Jerusalem should have shrunk with instinct- ive dread and suspicion, from one who had been so violent a persecutor, whose conversion seemed altogether so improb- able, and of whose later proceedings they had no information. From this trouble Saul was relieved by that good Barnabas of whom we have formerly heard, and who in this case also proved himself a true " son of consolation." It is quite likely that Saul and Barnabas had been previously acquainted at Tarsus, and afterwards at Jerusalem ; for Cilicia lay on the part of the Asiatic coast nearest to the island of Cyprus, to which Barnabas belonged, and there was much intercourse be- tween it and the mainland, where Saul's native place was the nearest important city. In this case, or if only because that Barnabas was, like himself, not a native Jew, it was natural that he should apply to him for an introduction to the church at Jerusalem. To him he doubtless explained all that had happened to him, and the course he had taken ; and Barnabas, convinced of his truth, took hirn by the hand, and, by giving the sanction of his high authority to the recital of Saul's conver- sion and recent proceedings, secured for him a most cordial reception from the disciples. He then realized his object ; for Peter took him to lodge with him ; and for a fortnight the two apostles — the great apostle of the circumcision, and the great apostle of the uncircumcision — remained under the same roof. Happy days for both, doubtless, were these ; and one seems to long for further information than has been vouch- safed respecting the first interview and subsequent intercourse between these truly "great men." For this, and for much that we want to know, we must be content to wait. Perhaps Saul will tell us one day ; perhaps Peter will ; perhaps we shall know without their telling. But we do know that these days did not last. Saul, as usual, burning to be useful, put his hand boldly into the hornet's nest, by preaching Christ crucified in the synagogues of the Hellenists — in the very synagogues in which he had last appeared as the most ardent champion and most promising advocate of Pharisaic Judaism. CORROBORATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES. 157 Phis was not to be borne, and a conspiracy was now laid against his life. What was he to do? We happen to know that be was sensitive respecting his recent withdrawal from Damascus, He counts it among his " infirmities," and feared lest it should appear that he had shunned to suffer for Christ's sake. It is likely that, in this state of feeling, he would have remained at Jerusalem, to seal his testimony, as Stephen had done, with his blood. But it was not so to be. The time was not come. There was much for him to do, and much to suffer, before he could obtain that high advancement. He was therefore warned by his Lord in a vision, as he was at prayer in the Temple, that the Jews at Jerusalem would not receive his testimony. This was not his vocation. He was to labor far off among the Gentiles, and to them he was accordingly sent. The disciples conducted him down to the port of Caesarea, and saw him safely embarked for Tarsus, his native city. FORTY-FOURTH WEEK— THURSDAY . CORROBORATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES. GAL. 1. 18, 19. It has been before intimated that the narrative of these transactions, which Saul himself gives in the Epistle to the Galatians, is produced argumentatively for the purpose of showing that he derived not his apostolic authority from any human appointment, nor his doctrine from any human teach- ing. The only fact in his history that could furnish a hold for any contrary conclusion, was this visit of his to Jerusalem. He therefore recites the circumstances of that visit, to show how they agreed with the assertion of his own independence. In doing this, he produces details, which are not furnished by Luke in his general narrative of the events, but which fit ex- actly into that narrative. He shows that, after his conversion, he had little if any intercourse with the apostles at Jerusalem, or with the churches in Judea. After his conversion he with- 158 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK — THURSDAY. drew into Arabia, and it was not until three years subsequently that he went to Jerusalem, after he had already been preach- ing the Gospel boldly, as one fully authorized and qualified to do so. Then, although he did go to Jerusalem, it was only for the purpose of forming a personal acquaintance with Peter ; and his stay was short — only fifteen days, — during which he saw no other apostle, " save James, the Lord's brother." He there could not have been commissioned or authorized by the college of the apostles, for they were actually not at Jerusa- lem ; or, if they were, had not become known to him. It is inferred that all save .two had quitted Jerusalem on various evangelical missions ; but, as the word translated " to see" often means to form the personal acquaintance of one, he may mean, when he says that he saw none of the apostles but Peter and James, that he became personally acquainted only with these two, though more than these may have been at Jeru- susalem. Then, in another place (Acts xxii. 17—21), he gives an incidental corroboration of his statements, by showing that he did not depart from Jerusalem under any delegation or appointment from the apostles, but by special command of the Lord himself, who had appeared to him in a vision. Further, he shows that, when he did take his departure, it was by a mode which precluded him from visiting the Christian churches in Palestine, so that he remained " unknown by face unto the churches of Judea which were in Christ : but they had heard only, that he which persecuted us in times past, now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in me." He adds that fourteen years elapsed before he again visited Jerusalem. All these are new points which do not appear in Luke's narrative, and it is worth while to look at them separately. That of the object, " to see Peter," has already been suffi- ciently considered. From the shortu^ss of the visit, as here stated, an import- ant historical consideration arises, which has been well pro- duced by Dr. Paley, in whose words it had best be given. "The direct account */f the same journey in the Acts ix. 28, CORROBORATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES. 159 determines nothing concerning the time of his continuance there, — ' And he was with them (the apostles) coming in and going out at Jerusalem. And he spake boldly in the name Df the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians : but they went about to slay him, which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea ;' — or rather this account, taken by itself, would lead us to suppose that St. Paul's abode at Jerusalem had been longer than fifteen days. But turn to the twenty-second chapter of the Acts, and you will find a reference to this visit to Jerusalem, which plainly indicates that Paul's visit to the city must have been of short duration, — * And it came to pass, that when I was come again to Jerusa- lem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance ; and saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem ; for they will not receive thy testimony con- cerning me.' Here we have the general terms of one text so explained by a distant text in the same book, as to bring an indeterminate expression into a close conformity with a specifi- cation delivered in another book, — a species of consistency not, I think, usually found in fabulous relations." The same writer points to the distinctive mention of the James, with whom Saul became acquainted at Jerusalem, as " the Lord's brother." " There were at Jerusalem two apostles, or at least two eminent members of the church, of the name of James." This is directly inferred from the Acts of the Apostles, which, in the second verse of the twelfth chapter, relates the death of James, the brother of John ; and yet, in the fifteenth chapter, and in a subsequent part of the history, records a speech delivered by " James," in the assembly of the apostles and elders. It is also strongly implied in the Epistle — " Other of the apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's brother ;" that is, to distinguish him from " James, the brother of John." In this matter the Rev. T. R. Birks, in his ITorce Apostolicce, has pointed out a minute trait of historical accu- racy which Paley had not observed. The apostle James is named three times in the Epistle to the Galatians, but only in this first instance with this distinctive title. The history sup- 160 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK — THURSDAY. plies a full key. These several indications of James occur in connection with the mention of Saul's two visits to Jerusalem, one fourteen years after the other. At the time of the first visit, both the apostles called James being alive, and both usually res- ident at Jerusalem (though one may have been temporarily ab- sent), it became necessary to distinguish the one from the other, to preclude misapprehension. But at the second visit, James, the brother of John, having been long dead, this became need- less, and " James" was alone a sufficient specification. " A dis- tinctive addition to the name was thus as natural in the one case as it would have been superfluous, and even suspicious, in the other." The same distinction is observed in the book of the Acts. In the earlier part the two apostles of this name are distinguished, — " the brother of John," or " the son of Alpheus." But after the elder James was martyred, the one who remained at Jerusalem is three times called " James" simply, without any addition. " This minute propriety," Mr. Birks observes, "is too delicate and refined to be easily ac- counted for, except by the fact, that Luke and Paul were con- temporary with the events they record." In the incidental intimation, that he saw also " James the Lord's brother," there is a curiously minute coincidence, which reconciles the previous statement with the history. Saul him- self has told us, that he went to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. St. Luke tells us that Barnabas took him, and introduced him to the apostles. Now the statements, if completed here, would scarcely be in agreement. But when we learn that he met with a second apostle, though it were only one, they are brought into coincidence, since the plural form requires more than one apostle to have been present, but cannot with certainty imply any greater number. If we turn to the direct narrative in the Acts, we shall re- ceive the impression, that on his departure Saul was conduct- ed to the port of Caesarea, and there took ship for Tarsus. But Saul's own words in the Epistle, — " Afterwards I came to the regions of Syria and Cilicia," — have been thought by some to necessitate the conclusion, that he travelled over land from THE BRETHREN OF JESUS. 161 Jerusalem to Cilicia, and that the Caesarea in question was not the city of that name upon the coast, but Caesarea Phil- ippi, near the sources of the Jordan. To this we may object, that in this case he could not have been, as he says he was, unknown by face to the churches of Judea, and that when the name Caesarea occurs simply, it always denotes the great mar- itime Caesarea, never Caesarea Philippi. Some, who admit the latter fact, conclude that the land journey was made from the city on the coast. If so, it was a very inexplicable pro- ceeding. People do not go far out of their way to a port whence they may find easy and quick access by water to the desired place, and then start on a tedious overland journey to that place. But although Paley declares the connection to be inexplicable without the supposition of such a journey, when the text is closely examined, there will be found no real need for this supposition, nor any want of connection between the passages as they stand. Saul does not seem to refer exclusive- ly or mainly to the few days of his journey, but to the scene of many years' subsequent labor in Syria and Cilicia ; and while he was thus engaged, the churches in Judea, though he was personally unknown to them, " heard " (rather kept hear- ing, that is continually, or from time to time) how zealously he " preached the faith he had once destroyed." FORTY-FOURTH WEEK— FRIDAY. THE BRETHREN OF JESUS. GAL. I. 19. We are quite sure that many of those who have perused the two last Readings have paused over the passages, in which Saul is represented as stating that, besides Peter, he became known only to " James, the Lord's brother," — to consider in in what sense this person could have stood in that relation to Christ. This question is in fact both more curious and more difficult than it even appears ; and for this reason we may not let it pass unexamined. 162 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK — FRIDAY. This carries our recollection back to the instances in the Gospels, in which our Lord's " brethren," and even his " sisters," are mentioned.* Now, at the outset, it is very clear, that un- less there are very strong and very probable reasons why these terms should not be taken in their plain, primary and natural sense, they ought to be so understood. Are there any such reasons ? Some such have been urged, and it is our task to look into them. It is alleged, that the term "brother" is too vaguely and comprehensively used in Scripture, to be insisted upon in the literal sense. It does not appear to us, however, to be more largely used than in our own language, particularly by the elder writers, and especially by theological writers ; and we might easily undertake to parallel every Scripture instance by some from English authors. Yet in every instance, we know or judge from the subject or context, in what sense the term is used ; and if nothing appears to extend the sense, we have no hesitation to take it in its restricted and proper sense. Most stress, however, is laid on the alleged fact, that the term " brother " is often used to denote any near relative. Let us not, in such a case, take anything for granted, but look. We do look and discover that this does not often occur, and that then it does not denote any near relationship, but only one, that of a nephew. The only cases are those in which Lot, the brother's son of Abaham, is called his " brother,"! and in which Laban applies the same term to Jacob, his sister's son,J — that is to say, a man designates as " brother " the children of those to whom he is a brother. Again, these instances oc- cur seventeen centuries before the time of Christ, during which, as was natural, great changes in the use of words took place. Both also occur in the same book. As, there- fore, this employment of the word " brother " does not subse- quently occur, we may infer that it had dropped out of use. The words "kinsman" and "kindred" are quite in such fre- quent use as to show that " brother " and " brethren " need * Matt. xii. 46 : xiii. 56 ; Mark iii. 31 ; Luke viii. 19, f Gen. xii. 5; xiv. 16. X Gen - xxix - 15 - THE BRETHREN OF JESUS. 163 not be employed to denote near relationship for want of more definite terms. It seems, therefore, that although the term " brother " was in patriarchal times used to denote the nearest relation next to a brother, that is a nephew, this was not ex- tended to any remoter relations, and eventually ceased to be applied even to that relationship. David never applies the term to the sons of his sister Zeruiah, although much conver- sation between them is reported. He calls them " sons of Zeruiah." And in the New Testament itself the same rela- tion as that which subsisted between Laban and Jacob is de- noted not by "brother" but by "sister's son," — "Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas, saluteth you."* " Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait."f If this near relationship was not denoted by the term " brother," is it likely that any re- moter relationship should be distinguished by it ? There is, therefore, nothing, we apprehend, in the use of the language alone, to warrant us in taking the terms " brother " and " brethren " in any but the natural and obvious sense. It then remains to ask, whether there be anything in the circumstances of the case to over-rule this consideration, and compel us to receive the term in any other than its obvious meaning. We know not any ; and it seems to us very clear that the idea that these terms were to be taken in any other sense would never have occurred, had not the desire been first felt to throw doubt on the matter, owing to the notions which crept into the church respecting the mother of Jesus — notions which the Roman church still upholds, and which proclaim her to have remained " always a virgin ;" and which have lately had their complete development in the formal recogni- tion by that church of the previously private doctrine, that her own birth was no less miraculous (" immaculate " is their word) than that of her sou ; and this itself having its origin in views dishonoring to the marriage relation, and exaltive of celibacy, which also came to be entertained, but for which there is no Scripture warrant whatever. But we are not bound by Roman views. We are free to see plainly what * Col. iv. 1C, } Acts xxiii. 16. 164 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK — FRIDAY. Scripture teaches; and in the face of what Scripture does teach or intimate, it can only be owing to some taint of the old Roman leaven — the habit of an ancient time — that many among us shrink from the idea, that Mary may have had other child, en than Jesus. If we turn to the passage in which the "brethren" of Jesus are mentioned, there seems to be every needful indication of the simply natural sense, — they are so associated with his mother as would alone, apart from any theory, suggest that they stood in a filial relation to her. In Matt. xii. 46, we read, "His mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with Him," or, as Mark (iii. 31) re- lates it : " There came then his brethren and his mother, and standing without, sent unto Him ;" and so the parallel place in Luke viii. 19. And unless those thus designated stood in the nearest possible relation to our Lord, the reply He gave to the intimation of their presence, loses much of its force ; for in declaring that his mother and his brethren were such as heard the word of God and did it, He plainly means that such were as near and as dear as those who stood in the closest natural relation to Him. Substitute any other word for that of " brethren," and the sense becomes frigid. They appear constantly together as forming one family, in a way scarcely possible among more distant relations. So, in John ii. 12, " After this He went down to Capernaum, He, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples." Still more emphatic is the collective recognition of the family by the offended Jews at Nazareth : " Is not this the Carpenter's son ? Is not his mother called Mary ? And his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas ? And his sisters, are they not all with us?" Matt. xiii. 55, 56. In this text there are not only brethren, but " sisters." Now, we say that no one who reads these passages with a free mind, and without being aware of any reasons to the contrary, would take the terms in any other than the primary sense, — and who is aware of any such reasons ? Still the term " brethren" does not necessarily imply uterine brethren. It is in Scripture applied to children of the same JAMES, THE LORD'S BROTHER. 165 father, but of different mothers ; * or, vice versa, of those born of the same mother, but by different fathers. Either circum stance is supposable in the present case. There seems, how- ever, every reason to infer, from the Scriptural intimations, that Mary never married again after the death of Joseph. If, there- fore, the " brethren" and " sisters" of Jesus were not the child- ren of Joseph and Mary, the probability remains, that they were his children by a former marriage — a probability strength- ened by the considerations which have generally led to the conclusion, that Joseph had passed his youth when Mary be- came his wife. FOURTY-FOURTH WEEK— SATURDAY. JAMES, THE LORD'S BROTHER. GAL. I. 19. If the conclusions which we reached last evening be cor- rect, it seems to follow that " James, the Lord's brother," was either the son of Joseph and Mary, or at least the son of Joseph. But it must not be concealed that there are difficulties stand- ing in the way of this conclusion. This James appears, at least by implication, to have been an apostle ; and in the list of the twelve, the two apostles of that name are called re- spectively the sons of Zebedee and of Alpheus. To meet this it has been suggested that Alpheus was the brother of Joseph, and he having died childless, Joseph, as the law required, espoused the widow, and had by her a child, who was called the son of Alpheus. Thus, " James, the Lord's brother," and " James, the son of Alpheus," would be the same. But this will not bear close examination. It is generally assumed that the mother of this latter James was alive during our Lord's ministry, and that she appears in the Gospel history under the name of " Mary the mother of James." Therefore, under the supposition stated, this Mary would have been Joseph's wife * Gen. xlii. 15 ; xliii. 3. Judges viii. 19. 166 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK SATURDAY. at the time he espoused Mary, the mother of Jesus. But polygamy was not then practiced among the Jews, and it is not probable, even though it had been, that a person in Joseph's circumstances would have had two wives at the same time. It is very clear, then, that if the two designations are not applicable to the same person, " James, the Lord's broth- er," was not one of the twelve. Those, of course, who say that " brother" means merely a near relation, find no difficulty here, considering that James, the son of Alpheus, is called the Lord's brother, as being a near relation — his cousin — the son of his mother's sister. But the notion that even this degree of relationship, or any relationship, did subsist, rests on a very slender foundation ; for it is far from certain that the only text cited in proof of it will bear this meaning. It is that in which the names are given of the women who stood around the cross on which our Lord was crucified, — " His and his moth- er's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene." John xix. 25. Now, although we know from Mark xv. 40, that the mother of James the Less (usually assumed to be James the son of Alpheus), was called Mary, nothing can be built upon the analogy of a name so common as the text just cited shows that of " Mary" to have been. Then it is ques- tionable whether " his mother's sister," is to be taken in appo- sition with " Mary the wife of Cleophas," and does not rather denote a different person. It seems, indeed, very unlikely that two sisters should bear the same name. Then, again, if this Mary were the sister of our Lord's mother, it does not follow that James was her son, for James was the son of Al- pheus, and " Mary the mother of James," is never described as the wife of Alpheus, but as " the wife of Cleophas ;" and it is not certain that the names Cleophas and Alpheus denote the same person. There are thus two uncertain assumptions in the theory which makes James the son of Alpheus even a relation of our Lord, and therefore, even in the remotest sense, his " brother." It claims also to be noticed that several of the early Chris- tian writers distinguish James the son of Alpheus, from James JAMES, THE LORD'S BROTHER. 167 the Lord's brothel" ; and there are lists of the apostles extant in "which the names of Paul, and of James, the Lord's brother, are added to those of the twelve. But we are reminded of the passages in the Gospels which assure us that the brethren of Jesus did not believe in him — were not his followers or adherents. This is true ; and it tells against the identity of James, the Lord's brother, with James, the son of Alpheus, who was not only a believer but an apostle. But the " brethren" did not always continue in this state of unbelief. After the ascension of Jesus, we find them, with Mary, in the company of the apostles, awaiting the day of Pentecost. St. Luke, after enumerating the apostles (among whom, as usual, we find " James, the son of Alpheus"), goes on to say, — they all continue with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. This passage, besides showing that the brethren had become believers, expressly distinguishes them from the apostles, of whom the son of Alpheus is one — another reason against his identification with the Lord's brother. In the list of the " brethren" of Jesus, given by the Jews of Nazareth, there is one bearing the name of James. Here, then, is literally a James, the Lord's brother, and he was not likely to have had another brother of the same name. What hinders us from regarding this one as that brother of our Lord with whom Saul became acquainted at Jerusalem ? It will instantly be replied, he was not an apostle if other than the son of Alpheus. This is more than we can tell. He was not in that case one of the twelve, it is certain ; but he may, nevertheless, have been an apostle. Saul was not one of the twelve, and yet he was an apostle. Barnabas was not one of the twelve, and yet he, with Saul, are called " apostles," in the same book and by the same writer (Acts xiv. 4, 14), whose use of the term in application to " James, the Lord's brother," is under our consideration. There is, therefore, no argument against his being an apostle from the fact that he was not one of the twelve ; nor can there be any from our ignorance of the circumstances under which he was called to the apostolate. 168 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK SATURDAY. The only argument against it that remains to be urged is, the unlikelihood that so recent a convert should so soon be ad- vanced to this high trust. But Saul and Barnabas were still later converts, if, as there is not the least reason to question, James was one of the Lord's " brethren," who remained with the apostles awaiting the day of Pentecost. We should not, however, like to impair the force of the other conclusions, by insisting upon the one which cannot be so firmly established — that this James was an apostle in the fullest and most absolute sense of the word. Paul certainly, and Luke (by implication), call him an apostle ; but it seems that certain men, standing next to the apostles in considera- tion and influence, were popularly called " apostles," and were distinguished in ecclesiastical history as "apostolical men." It is possibly in this sense that James is called an apostle, like Barnabas, who was not, as far as we know, officially an apostle. The results to which all these considerations seem to lead, are — that the persons designated in the Gospels as the " breth- ren" of Jesus, were really his brothers or half-brothers — most probably the latter ; that James, who was one of the twelve, being the son of Alpheus, could not, for that and other reasons, be the same as James, the Lord's brother ; and that the James, thus designated, was probably an apostle, though not one of the twelve. In pursuing this inquiry, we have regarded the number of those bearing the name of James . in the New Testament as three, namely, James the son of Zebedee, James the son of Alpheus, and James the Lord's brother. Some find four or even five, while others reduce them to two, by identifying the son of Alpheus with the Lord's brother. We have shown that there are reasons against that conclusion. The question will pehaps never be divested of all difficulty. The fact that the names of the sons of Alpheus are so nearly correspondent with three of those named as our Lord's " brethren," has seemed to plead for the identification of James the son of Alpheus with James the Lord's brother. Thus the sons of JAMES, THE LORDS BROTHER. 169 AJpheus are stated to be James and Jude; and elsewhere James and Joses are mentioned as the sons of Mary the wife of Alphens (if the same as Cleophas). So then it would seem the sons of this family were James, Jude, Joses ; and these, with the addition of Simon, are exactly the names of those described as our Lord's brethren. The name of Simon in one group, and not in the other, does, however, create a difference. And considering how exceeding common these names were, and that it was the custom of kindred to bestow similar names on their children, no particular stress can be laid upon this sort of coincidence ; and we have, therefore, not taken it into account. Something of the same perplexity arises in reading Josephus, from the frequent recurrence of the same names. Thus we have twenty-one persons of the name of Simon ; seventeen called Joseph or Joses ; and ten named Judas or Jude — many of them contemporaries. It is not unusual among ourselves for the children of related families to have the same Christian names, and very often the same names run in families for several generations. Prior to the careful investigation through which the reader has now been led, we rested in the opinion that " James, the son of Alpheus," and " James, the Lord's brother," were the same person. That against this prepossession we have now reached a different conclusion, may be regarded as strength- ening its claim to attention. Apart from all these questions, however, it admits of no doubt that the James who alone appears at Jerusalem after the death of James, the brother of John, is the one whom Paul designates as " the Lord's brother," and whom elsewhere he indicates, with Peter and John, as " pillars of the church," Gal. ii. 9. If, also, this person — the James whom he person- ally knew — is, as it is reasonably supposed, the one he always has in view, when he speaks of " James" simply, then we gather from 1 Cor. xv. 7, that the Lord appeared to him only eight days after his resurrection. We know not the circum- stances ; but it is reasonable to presume that this mark of distinction shown him, and what was known to the apostles vol.. TV. 8 170 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK — SATURDAY. as having transpired on that occasion, not only decided his own views, but contributed materially to the high considera- tion in which he was afterwards held. The only other scriptural fact concerning him is, that, at the council of the apostles held at Jerusalem, his decision on the questions con- sidered is the only one recorded, and the conclusions of the council were framed in accordance with it. It is to be noted, also, that he gave his vote last — probably as being president of the council, — a station which may have been assigned to him as specially entrusted with the charge of the church in Jerusalem, where the council was held (Acts xv. 12, 13). His decision shows that, although himself a strict observer of the law, and disposed to exact the same observance from Jewish converts, he was not inclined to impose this yoke upon the converts from heathenism. This is the amount of our authentic information concerning James. But much more is said of him by early Christian writers, who agree in recognizing the James who was bishop at Jerusulem as "James, the Lord's brother. Some of this information, embodying the early traditions of the church, is probable enough, some of it questionable, and some of it con- tradictory. The sum of it is this — for we cannot here enter into particulars, or discriminate their claims to consideration, — James was from his childhood brought up as a Nazarite of the strictest sort. He observed this kind of life after he be- came a conspicuous person at Jerusalem ; and this, with his strict observance of the law, and his high character, obtained for him great respect, even from the Jews, so that he acquired the surname of " the Just." The rapid progress of the Gospel in the city, however, under his administration, at length aroused the attention of the chief persons among the ruling party, and induced the high priest, Ananias, to devise his death. He was, therefore, by this pontiffs contrivance, sud- denly cast down from one of the galleries of the temple. But he died not of the fall ; and began, like another Stephen, to pray for his murderers, when Ananias directed that stones THE HEART OF FLESH. 171 should be cast at him ; and he was at length killed by a blow- on the head from a fuller's pole. It is added that Ananias took advantage of the opportunity when there was no Roman governor in the land, Felix having been recalled, and his successor, Albinus, not having yet ar- rived. But we are told that this atrocious deed was greatly disapproved, and much lamented by the wisest of the Jews, whose complaints to the governor, when he arrived, procured the deposition of Ananias. We are also assured, on the authority of a doubtful passage, cited by Eusebius, from Jo- sephus, that the Jews imputed to the death of this just man the calamities they soon after suffered from the hands of the Romans. It is generally considered that this James— that is, the James who was bishop at Jerusalem — is the one who wrote the Epistle of James. Its contents have been shown, by Ne- ander and others, to be conformable to the character and posi- tion ascribed to him ; and commentators have not failed to remark the humbleness with which the writer abstains from denoting his claims as " the Lord's brother" and simply super- scribes himself — " James, the servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ. jFortn-fifti) ttteek— StttriWB THE HEART OF FLESH. PHILIP. I. 8. We have more than once directed attention to the great change which was wrought in Saul by his conversion to Christ. This change affected not merely his views and sentiments, but his temper and character, his mind and heart. In the belief that there are few scriptural topics more truly edifying than the consideration of this change — than the con- templation of the truly Christian character built up by Divine 1*72 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK SUNDAY. grace in this illustrious apostle, we shall this evening request attention to another of its aspects. Let us suppose for a moment that the record of Saul's history ceased with the ninth chapter of the Acts, and that we possessed no autographic intimations in the Epistles of his later temper and conduct, — knowing only the general fact, that he became a great apostle, and labored with extraordi- nary diligence and success in the Lord's vineyard ; what then, with our knowledge of his previous career, with our recollec- tion of its violence, injustice, and cruelty, would have been the idea we should be likely to form of his subsequent char- acter ? It seems likely that, with these recollections, and with our knowledge of the fact that great men are not always ami- able, that good men are not always kind, that pious men are not always tender-hearted, — we should conceive of Saul as one who, in the midst of all his greatness, goodness, and use- fulness, was probably a harsh, austere, and exacting man, in- capable of much tenderness towards others, or consideration for their infirmities. Yet the reverse of all this is the fact. The man has not lived who more than Saul, after his conversion, manifested a gentle, loving, and forbearing temper; or who showed more tender consideration for others, more generous pity for their temporal and spiritual wants. It would be little to say of Saul, that after his conversion he was no longer illiberal in his reproaches, or severe in his accusations ; that he reviled no man ; that he wronged no man ; that he oppressed no man — nay, that he preserved a conscience void of offence ; or even that he adhered strictly to the laws of truth and justice, integrity and faithfulness, in the whole of his conversation and deportment. He was far more than all this. He had learned of his Divine Master lessons of meekness and forbear- ance, gentleness and kindness ; and had imbibed much of His lowly and lovely spirit. He exemplified it by his patience, in the midst of severe afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings. 2 Cor. vi. 4, 5. In one word, he had " put on THE HEART OF FLESH. 173 Christ," and in putting Him on had " crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts," its natural tendencies and impulses, and stood forth complete in Him — a new creature — a far bet- ter, and nobler, and more loving creature. His history and his writings abound in proofs of this.* In this view of Saul's character after the heart of stone had been exchanged for a heart of flesh, there is nothing more worthy of notice than that consummate knowledge of human nature, no less than that tenderness of heart, which led him to encourage in his young converts every opening promise of goodness. He carefully cultivates every favorable symptom. He is " gentle among them, as a nurse cherish eth her children." He does not expect every thing at once ; he does not exact that a beginner in the ways of religion should start into in- stantaneous perfection. He does not think all is lost if an er- ror is committed ; he does not abandon hope if some less hap- py converts are slow in their progress. He protects their bud- ding graces ; he fences his young plants till they have had time to take root. If he rejoices that the hardy are more flourishing, he is glad that the less vigorous are nevertheless alive. There is scarcely a more lovely part of his character, though it may be less obvious to unobservant eyes, as being more tender than great, than the gentleness exhibited to the Corin- thian converts in his second Epistle to them. He is anxious, before he appears among them again, that every breach may be healed, and every painful feeling done away, which his sharp reproof of an offending individual may have excited. He would not have the joy of their meeting overshadowed by any remaining cloud. Want of consideration is an error into which even good men sometimes fall. They do not al- * The instances in proof of this have been collected by Dr. Stephen Addington, in his Life of Paul the Apostle. London, 1784; by Miss Hannah More, in her Essay on the Character and Writings of St. Paid : and by the Rev. A. Monod, in his Saint Paid. London, 1853. Little more, therefore, has here been necessary than to reproduce their in- stances in a combined and condensed shape. 174 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK — SUNDAY. ways enter intimately into the circumstances and character of the persons they address. But Saul writes to his friends like one who felt, because he partook of the same fallen humanity with them ; like one who was familiar with the infirmities of our common nature ; who could allow for doubt and distrust, misapprehension and error ; who expected inconsistency, and was not deterred by perverseness ; who bore with failure where it was not sinful, and who could reprove obduracy without being disappointed at meeting with it. The apostle's tenderness for his converts was, doubtless, increased by the remembrance of his own errors, — a remembrance which left a compassionate feeling on his softened heart. It never, how- ever, led him to be guilty of that mischievous compassion of preferring the ease of his friends to their safety. He never soothed where it was his duty to reprove. He knew that in- tegrity was the truest tenderness ; that a harsh truth which might tend to save the soul, had more humanity than a pallia- tive which might endanger it. The intimate feeling of his own imperfections is everywhere visible. It makes him more than once press on his friends the Christian duty of bearing one another's burdens, intimat- ing how necessary this principle of mutual kindness was, as they themselves had so much to call forth the forbearance of others ; and in his usual strain of referring to first principles, he does not forget to remind them that this was fulfilling the law of Christ. In his most severe animadversions this apostle does not speak of any with hopeless harshness. He seldom treats the bad as irreclaimable, but generally contrives to leave them some degree of credit. He seems to feel that by stripping erring men of every vestige of character, he should strip them also of every glimmering of hope, of every incitement to reforma- tion. Thus, although Timothy is exhorted to have no com- pany with him who obeys not the word of Paul's epistle, the prohibition is only in order " that he may be ashamed ;" yet is he not to be accounted as an enemy, but admonished as a brother. THE HEART OF FLESH. 175 His sorrows and joys, both of which were intense, never seem to have arisen from anything which related meiely to himself. His own happiness or distress were little influenced by personal considerations. The varying condition, the alter- nate improvement or declension of his converts alone, could sensibly raise or depress his feelings. With what anguish of spirit does he mourn over some, " of whom I have told you often, and now tell you weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ." Mark, again, his self-renouncing joy, — " We are glad when we are weak and ye are strong." Again, " Let me rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not lived in vain, neither labored in vain." Self-denial in all things lay at the root of his regenerated character. We find him willing to forego the most innocent and lawful gratifications, rather than grieve or offend the weak. "If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend " — be an occasion either of his offending, or of his being offended, for the original word may perhaps be taken in either of those senses. It may likewise be remarked, that although he neither courted the smiles, nor shunned the frowns of men, by any servile or dishonorable concessions, yet he considered it as the part of wisdom and duty, to accommodate himself in every- thing consistent with truth and a supreme regard to the will of God, to the weaknesses and even the prejudices of those with whom he had to do. But this was merely to secure op- portunities of serving them, manifesting hereby that true phi- lanthropy which is the genuine spirit of the religion of Jesus. His soul, now become truly Christian, was sufficiently en- larged to comprehend all mankind ; and although (or rather because) himself a follower of Jesus on principles never to be shaken, he felt most strongly and tenderly for those he had left behind, entangled in the fetters of Jewish prejudices. Language — even his own nervous and comprehensive lan- guage — could not express in terms sufficiently strong and ten- der, the affectionate good wishes of his soul on their behalf. 176 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK SUNDAY. " Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." Rom. x. 1. But the benevolence of the apostle was not confined within the narrow limits of country or friends. He felt great tenderness and compassion for the unbelieving in general; he poured out his soul in earnest expostulations with them, and in the most earnest prayers to the Father of mercies and God of all grace in their behalf. Truly, concerning such, could Saul say with David, " Rivers of water run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law ;" for in his Epistle to the Philippians (iii. 18) we find this parallel declaration, — "Many walk of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ." But while the zeal of the apostle was thus tenderly solicitous for the spiritual welfare of our entire communities, this did not absorb his warm attachment to individuals ; nor did his ardent regard for their highest interests lead him to overlook their personal concerns. We might produce in proof of this the large number of brethren and sisters who are mentioned by name at the end of most of his epistles, and are greeted one by one with the most delicate manifestations of Christian and faithful love. There is a Priscilla and an Aquila, his fellow helpers in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who have exposed their lives for his ; there is an Andronicus and a Junia, his relations and companions in prison, who were in Christ before him ; there is a Persis, much beloved by him, for she had labored much in the Lord ; and a Rufus, chosen in the Lord, whose mother, he says, is mine. From this point of view, these chapters of salutations, which are often passed over as of no general in- terest, offer us a study most attracting and instructive, by en- abling us to penetrate into the apostle's private life, and into his dearest relationships. But this is not all. Among the numerous Christians who surround him, there are some for whom he reserves a special affection — Luke, the historian, so faithful and affectionate ; Barnabas, his fellow laborer, his love for whom had not been cooled by a temporary alienation ; THE REST OF THE CHURCH. 177 Philemon, to whom he writes with a liveliness of affection which the pen of the most loving woman could not surpass ; Epaphroditus, whom God had restored to health in answer to his prayers, lest " he should have sorrow upon sorrow ;" Epaphras, Tychicus, and above all the others, Timothy and Titus, — Timothy, than his second epistle to whom no mother ever wrote a letter to her son more full of tender solicitude, — Titus, " his own son in the faith," of whom he writes that when he came to Troas, " I had no rest in my spirit because I found not Titus, my brother." In short, all that Saul said, and all that he did, from the day of his conversion to that of his death, was one striking and beautiful comment upon his own declaration to the Philip- pians, — " God is my witness, how earnestly I long after you >ll in the bowels of Jesus Christ." FORTY-FIFTH WEEK— MONDAY. THE REST OF THE CHURCH ACTS IX. 31. The history of the Acts of the Apostles now leaves Saul for a time, and Peter again becomes conspicuous. We are told, first, that " then had the churches rest through- out all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria ; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." That the churches had rest, implies that the Jews had ceased to persecute. One would like to know how this result was produced, seeing that assuredly the offence of the cross had not ceased, and the doctrine of a crucified Messiah had not become less obnoxious to the Jews than it had been before. History is silent on the subject ; but history does show that circumstances about this time occurred, which threw the Jew ish mind into a ferment of such passionate excitement, as could leave no thought for other matters. 8* 178 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK MONDAY. The considerations advanced a few evenings back,* go to show that the condition of affairs which Saul found exist- ing at Damascus, as being then under the power of the Arabian king, Aretas, arose soon after the accession of the Emperor Cali- gula. Allowing that this state of affairs may have arisen some time prior to his arrival there from Arabia, that he made some stay in Damascus, and that " the rest" is historically placed at some time subsequent to his re- tirement from Jerusalem, we arrive at a period in Caligula's reign which, as nearly as can be made out of the absence of distinct dates, coincides with the circumstances to which we shall now call attention. There were frequent differences, on questions of privilege, between the Greek and Jewish inhabitants of Alexandria in Egypt ; and at this time the quarrel rose so high, that both parties sent three deputies to Rome, to obtain the decision of the Emperor. At the head of the Jewish deputation was the celebrated Philo, who has left an account of this affair ; and the leader on the other side was the grammarian Apion, a man of great literary reputation in his day, but now chiefly remem- bered by the answer of Josephus (which we still possess) to a book he wrote against the Jews, whom he intensely hated. Overstepping the proper limits of his commission, Apion un- scrupulously endeavored to excite in the mind of the weak and wicked emperor the same hatred of the Jews which filled his own. To this end he wilily accused the Jews of refusing to the emperor the divine honors which he required, and which all his other subjects rendered to him. Other emperors had claimed the same honors ; but out of regard to what they re- garded as the prejudices of the Jews, they had not insisted upon the reception by them of the images of the deified em- * Fourty-Fourth Week — Tuesday. THE REST OF THE CHURCH. 1*79 peror. But when the matter was thus pointedly brought to the notice of Caligula, he became, as Apion had foreseen, so highly incensed, that he offered nothing but insults to the Jewish delegates, and soon ordered them to return home with- out attending to their business. The matter did not end here. Caligula sent Petronius to supersede Vitellius in the government of Syria, and gave him orders to place his statue in the temple of Jerusalem, and, in case of resistance, to compel submission by force of arms. On his arrival in Syria, Petronius soon learned that he had no easy task before him ; and he therefore assembled such a force as he thought sufficient to deter or put down resistance. With this force he wintered at Ptolemais, and, while there, many thousands of the principal Jews came to him, and implored him to desist from his purpose, declaring that they would sooner die than see the sanctuary of God thus profaned. Petronius had by this time manifestly acquired a disrelish for his task ; but he pleaded the absolute orders of the emperor, which he dared not and could not disobey. To this they retorted, that there was One greater than the emperor, whom they also dared not disobey ; and that, confident of His approval, if they suffered in a just cause, they would sooner die than sub- mit to such a violation of their laws. Petronius began to perceive by this that the mission with which he was charged could not be executed without much bloodshed ; and therefore he crossed the country to Tiberias, to learn what the nature of the public feeling was in that quarter. He was not long left in doubt ; for multitudes of the Jews repaired to him there also, and still more fervently repeated the same protestations which he had heard at Ptole- mais. The governor pointed to the impotency of any war- like resistance on their part against the force under his com- mand. They replied that they by no means purposed to make war with Caesar ; but that still they would sooner die than see their sacred laws transgressed ; and thereupon they cast themselves upon the ground, and stretched forth their throats as if to meet the knife. These proceedings continued 180 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK MONDAY. forty days, during which time the utmost agitation prevailed throughout the country — so that, in the most critical season of the year, the urgent labors of the field were neglected, and the agricultural prospects of the year thereby brought into great peril. Petronius was even more perplexed by this passive resist- ance than by the hints of men which he had elsewhere heard. At this juncture several very eminent Jews arrived at Tiberias, among whom was Hilkias, surnamed the great, and Aristobu- lus, the brother of King Agrippa, who was then at Rome, and known to be high in the favor of the emperor. These person- ages urged Petronius to suspend his measure till he obtained further orders from Rome, writing to the emperor an account of these proceedings, representing the firm resolution of the people, who were, nevertheless, averse to any hostilities with the Roman forces ; showing the impolicy of driving them to de- spair ; and pointing out the disturbed state of the country, and the danger to the revenue, which must result from the neglect of tillage. To this step Petronius was at length brought to consent, though fully alive to the danger he incurred. About this time, however, king Agrippa, at Rome, gave to the emperor a great and costly supper, comprising everything suited to the imperial tastes, which he had studied well. Cali- gula was ineffably pleased ; and when he had well filled him- self with wine, and was in a tipsy good humor, he expressed his high satisfaction at the magnificent testimonial of affection which his old friend had now given ; and as it became not the emperor to be outdone in such proofs of regard, whatever might yet be needful to Agrippa's contentment and happiness (for the emperor had already been very bountiful to him) was freely at his service, to the utmost extent of his imperial master's power. This was the critical moment, and Caligula fully expected, that Agrippa would ask for some large country in addition to the territories he had already received, or perhaps for the revenues of some flourishing cities. Agrippa begged to be excused, as having already received from his imperial friend's THE REST OF THE CHURCH. 181 munificence far more than his ambition ever craved. This parade of disinterested regard, of course, made the emperor the more eager to serve him ; and at length Agrippa ven- tured — at the manifest peril of all his favor, and even of his life — to say, that nothing could be so acceptable to him, he de- sired no other favor, but that the emperor should withdraw the orders he had given to Petronius, hinting at the same time, that the fact of this indulgence having been obtained through his intercession, would materially promote his own popularity among his future subjects. Caligula, though taken by surprise, was struck by the dis- interestedness of Agrippa, and felt some respect for the public spirit which it indicated. Besides, he could not gracefully draw back from his word at such a time. The request was therefore granted, and orders were despatched to Petronius not to persist in establishing the emperor's statue in the temple ; but that if he had already done so, he was to let it remain. This despatch crossed that from Petronius; and when the latter arrived Caligula was greatly enraged. He wrote back, accusing Petronius of having been bribed by the Jews, told him to consider himself as laboring under his sov- ereign's deepest displeasure, and threatening to make him an example to that and future ages, of the punishment due to those who dared to palter with their obedience to the imperial commands. But before Petronius received this dreadful missive, which would probably have induced him, after the Roman fashion, to have become his own executioner, intelligence reached him that the writer was no more. With the death of Caius Caligula the whole matter fell to the ground. It will be observed, indeed, that in the midst of his wrath with Petronius, he did not retract the concession he had granted to Agrippa, of whose services to them on this occasion the Jews always afterwards retained the most grate- ful recollection. This matter occupied the attention of the Jews for a con- siderable time, and left them little leisure to bestow their at- 182 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK TUESDAY. tention on the affairs of the Christians ; and when the storm had blown over, the interrupted habit of persecuting attention was not immediately resumed. Thus the churches found an interval of rest, until the time when that Agrippa, who has just been mentioned, and whom Luke calls "Herod the king," commenced a new persecution. FORTY-FIFTH WEEK— TUESDAY. TABITHA. ACTS IX. 32-43. During the season of tranquility which the church now enjoyed — not, as some say, through the diminished hatred of the Jewish rulers to the Christians, but through the abatement of the activity of their opposition, under the influence of still more exciting claims upon their attention — Peter found the opportunity suitable for re-visiting the churches which had been established beyond the limits of the home district. In the course of this journey he came to the town of Lydda, at that time regarded as a village, though equal to many towns in extent and population. In the Old Testament it is called Lud, but is not mentioned in connection with any cir- cumstances of historical interest. It was destroyed some years after this by the Romans, at the commencement of the Jewish war ; but it was soon after rebuilt, and became known by the Greek name of Diospolis. The foreign names which the Romans were fond of imposing, very rarely, however, took root in the East, and Lydda subsists to this day under its most ancient name of Lud. It is now a considerable village of small houses, with nothing to distinguish it from other Moslem villages except the ruins of the celebrated old church of St. George, the western and more perfect part of which has been built into a large mosque. The St. George of this church is our St. George — that is, the dragon-slaying St. George, who is believed to have been born at this place, and whose remains TABITHA. 183 were removed thither from the place of his martyrdom, and this church built over them, by the emperor Justinian. On his arrival at Lydda, Peter had his attention called to the case of a person named ^Eneas. From the name, which is Greek, it is usually supposed that this person was a Hellen- ist ; and Grotius has deduced the probability that his Jewish name was Hillel. Both points may be doubtful ; but the turn of the entire passage, in the original text, seems to make it clear that he was a Christian. He had been bedridden eight years with a paralytic affection. The Gospel had therefore been brought to his bedside, had found him on the bed of lan- guishing, and had not met him abroad in the synagogues and the highways. And, doubtless, it had since then made sweet and tolerable to him, as it alone can, the weariness of his sick- bed. On beholding this afflicted saint, Peter, feeling within himself that the Divine power would be exercised for his re- covery, said, "^Eneas, Jesus, the Messiah, is pleased to heal thee.* Arise and make thy bed !" And forthwith he left that bed on which he had so long lain, and proceeded " to make " his bed. Some points in this claim our attention, as compared with similar miracles of our Lord. The characteristic differences between original and delegated authority — the different char- acters of the servant and the Son, of the creature and the God, are as Doddridge remarks, everywhere apparent. The same writer (quoting the remarks of Chrysostom indirectly through Clavius), points out, that " no faith on the part of the person healed was required ; and the like is observable in many cases, where persons, perhaps ignorant of Christ, were surprised with an unexpected cure. But where persons themselves petitioned for a cure, a declaration of their faith was often required, that none might be encouraged to try experiments out of curiosity, in a manner which would have been very indecent, and tend • ing to many bad consequences." The analogous miracles of our Lord were performed upon persons who were away from their houses in the open air * This is the precise force of the expressions employed. 184 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK TUESDAY. These he ordered to take up their beds, and carry them home, that the strength and vigor which they manifested in doing this might attest the completeness of their cure. But here Peter heals a man in his own house, and whom he cannot therefore order to take up his bed and walk home with it. He consequently tells him to make his bed ; but how this could afford the same evidence of recovered strength, has somewhat perplexed the commentators. A better knowledge of Eastern customs would have solved the difficulty. The Ori entals do not leave their beds laid out in the places where they sleep, except when actually in use. By day they are removed and stowed away in places reserved for or appropri- ated to them. When, therefore, Peter tells ^Eneas to make his bed, he in effect tells him to clear away his bedding — to fold it up, and take it, together with the bed itself, from the room, to place it in the usual repository. This necessarily involved the lifting and carrying the bed, though for a shorter distance. To understand it of merely re-adjusting the bed and bedding in the place where it stood, which is what we mean by " mak- ing "a bed, deprives the passage of the confirmatory force which properly belongs to it. ^Eneas seems to have been a person well known ; and this miracle of healing by the apostle excited a strong sensation through all the towns and villages of the fertile plain of Sha- ron, and was, in the Lord's hand, made effectual for the con- version of many souls to Christ. While Peter remained at Lydda, the church at Joppa, six miles off, was plunged into much affliction by the loss of one of its most useful members, in the person of a wealthy lady named Tabitha, " which by interpretation is called Dorcas." That is, Dorcas being the same in Greek as Tabitha in Syr- iac — both meaning an antelope. Names derived from animals were not unusual among the Hebrews.* Thus we have Rach- el, a lamb ; and the particular name of Tabitha was not un- common in this age. Tabi is the masculine form of it ; and * See Morning Series, Twenty-Third Week, Friday. TABITHA. 185 the Mishna informs us that Rabban Gamaliel had a man-serv- ant called Tabi, and a woman-servant called Tabitha ; nay, that all his female servants bore the latter name, and all his men- servants the former — which, if true, must have been a serious inconvenience. This lady, who seems to have been a widow, had made her life a blessing to the people ; for " she was full of good works and alms deeds that she did." This was particularly shown in providing clothing for the poor disciples ; and she seems to have employed her own hands, and those probably of others, in making such articles at her own home — keeping up a store from which those that needed could be supplied. The loss of a woman whose faith in Christ thus beneficently operated in loving solicitude for the poor members of his flock, could not but be severely felt in Joppa ; and as it was known that Peter was at Lydda, a message was sent imploring him to hasten over to Joppa. With what object this message was sent, it is not easy to say. Considering that no apostle had yet raised the dead, it has been thought that they could hardly have ex- pected this ; and that they merely wished for the comfort of his presence in their affliction. We think it likely, however, that those who sent, did entertain some vague hope that Peter might be enabled to restore their friend to life — especially con- sidering the strong impression which his recent miracle of healing had made upon their minds. Their request that " he would not delay," seems clearly to intimate a wish that he should arrive before the interment, which, as we know, takes place very soon after death in the East. Meanwhile the body was prepared for burial. It was washed, and removed to an upper chamber. This is the only time that the washing of dead bodies for burial is mentioned in Scripture. This custom has been a very general one among all nations, ancient and modern ; and instead of mul- tiplying examples of tliat which needs no proof, we may men- tion how this matter is now managed among the Jews, in con- formity with their ancient usages. The time of interment is fixed by the officers of the syna- 186 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK TUESDAY. gogue, and must be, if possible, within twenty-four hours after death. The first care is to provide the needful shrouds or envelopes for the corpse, and these being ready, the body is washed. It is laid upon a board, which is called the " purifying board," with the feet towards the door. A clean sheet is laid over it, while the under linen garment of the deceased, after being rent through from the breast downward, is removed. The corpse is then washed with lukewarm water, the quantity of which must not be less than nine cabbin, equal to as many English quarts. The water is poured upon the sheet with which the corpse is cleansed, it being forbidden to touch a dead body with the bare hand. The washing must commence with the head, and so downward to the feet. When the whole body has thus been washed, it is laid on its back, and the nails of the hands and feet are properly cleansed with an in- strument made for the purpose. During these operations, as well as in those that follow, no part of the corpse is left un- covered. The " washing " being thus finished, the corpse has now to pass under the ceremony called Taharah, or "purifica- tion." The operators first wash their hands with clean water, and then wipe them dry with a towel. Four persons now hold a sheet over the corpse. The wet sheet is then withdrawn, and nine cabbin of clean cold water are poured upon the body, commencing as before from the head downward. Previously to pouring this water of purification, they are to repeat as follows : — " And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him to sanctify him Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. And ye shall be holy ; for I, the Lord your God, am holy. — Taharah! Taharah! Taharah!" The corpse is next well dried with a clean sheet, A cap is then put upon the head, with the words : — " And he put the mitre upon his head ;" and when the body is placed in the coffin, the words are uttered : — " May he go to his appointed place in peace 1" TABITHA. 187 The purification board is then carefully cleansed and dried ; and the water spilt upon the ground must also be well died up. It is likewise provided that the water used for the purification shall not be cast where human beings might pass over it, but that it shall be carefully poured out in some secluded place.* These facts are interesting, though it may be hard to say how many of the particular usages, beyond the general prac- tice of washing the dead, may equally belong to scriptural times. Perhaps most of them, as there is usually, in such matters, less change from lapse of time than in any others. In the existing Jewish practices as described, nothing is more worthy of notice than the scrupulous delicacy with which a necessarily unpleasant operation is performed ; and, indeed, whatever else may be said of the Jews, it is certain that no nation surpass, or even come near them (as a people), in per- sonal modesty, both as it respects the living and the dead. Peter at once responded to the application to him, and pro- ceeded to Joppa with the messenger. On his arrival he was taken to the upper chamber in which lay the body of the de- parted, and here " all the widows stood by him weeping, and showing him the coats and garments which Dorcas made while she was with them." These widows were doubtless such as had been particularly benefited by her kindness, and who now lamented their lost benefactress; and here we find another corroboration of the prominent attention paid to the wants of widows in the ancient church. It may be that these widows showed the clothes they wore at the time, and which they owed to the bounty of Dorcas, rather than the stores of cloth- ing she had prepared for the poor. Peter, however, put them all forth gently from the room, as he had seen his Master do, when He raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead. Being thus left alone with the corpse, he kneeled down and prayed — as Elisha had done of old (2 Kings iv. 33), and perhaps be- cause this was a great and strange matter in which he was not yet assured of the mind of God. But he arose from prayer satisfied, and turning to the corpse said, " Tabitha, * Sec "The British -Tews" by the Rev. John Mills. London. 1853. 188 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK WEDNESDAY. arise !" At these words she opened her eyes ; and when she saw Peter, whom she had probably known in his former visit to this quarter, she sat up. But her movements being hin- dered by the habiliments of death, he gave her his hand to help her to her feet; and then calling in "the saints and widows," who were anxiously awaiting the result, he presented to them alive and well the friend whose loss they had so griev- ously deplored. A miracle like this, one so well known and so highly es- teemed as Dorcas, could not fail to make an impression, even stronger than that which the miracle performed upon iEneas had made on the minds of the people. It became a theme of common discourse throughout allthe region of Joppa ; and the immediate result was, that " many believed in the Lord." FORTY-FIFTH WEEK— WEDNESDAY. peter's VISION. ACTS x. 9-23 After the great miracle of raising Tabitha from the dead, Peter did not return to Lydda, but remained at Joppa, his summons to which place had perhaps only slightly anticipated his intention of proceeding thither. It is probable that among the disciples at Joppa there were persons of good worldly standing and consideration, any of whom would have felt honored in receiving the apostle under their roof. But he chose to take up his abode with "one Simon a tanner," of whom we subsequently learn that his house was by the sea-side, that is, beyond the town, for the trade of a tanner was one which the Jews would not allow to be exercised within any of their cities. This w r as from a primary regard to sanitary considerations — which, among this people, always took the form of pronouncing a thing, a trade, a practice, to be " unclean," and which far more effectually realized the objects in view than all the rules of all the " boards peter's vision. 189 of health" in the world. The trade of a tanner was for some reason or other regarded as mean and low among the ancients generally ; and by the Jews in particular was held in great contempt. In the Talmud we read, " Woe unto him whose trade is a tanner !" Being aware of this, we may find some probability in the conjecture of some ancient commentators, that the trade of Peter's host is here so pointedly specified, in order that it might appear that the apostle did not feel him- self elevated by the dignity of the late miracle above mean persons and things. It was during his stay with Simon, at his hou£e by the sea- side, that Peter one day withdrew for secluded devotion to the house-top at the noon-tide hour of prayer. He then became exceedingly hungry, and would gladly have taken some food, but the mid-day meal, being the first considerable meal of the day, was not yet ready. While in this state he fell into a kind of ecstasy or trance, in which, in mental vision, he beheld a vast sheet of open work, probably like a net, let down by the four corners from heaven. Observing this more narrowly, he perceived that it contained all kinds of living creatures — ani- mals tame and wild, birds, and even " creeping things." A voice was then heard : " Rise, Peter ; kill and eat !" But to this, with the prompt readiness of one whose mind was still replete with notions derived from the ceremonial law, Peter objected : " Not so, Lord ; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." The call implied that he might use for food any of the creatures presented to his view ; and his response expressed his reluctance, his moral inability, to eat that which the law of Moses pronounced unclean. To this the voice replied, — " What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." This — whether the entire vision, or the voice only, is not certain — was repeated three times, either to impress it more strongly upon Peter's mind, or to confirm in the strongest manner the truth and certainty of the truth thus conveyed. The reader will recollect other instances in which certainty is indicated by repetition, and especially by threefold repetition. Thus, in Gen. xli. 32, Pharaoh's dreams 190 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK WEDNESDAY. are expressly declared, to have been repeated, in order to indi- cate that the Lord would certainly and shortly bring the things to pass. But what things were in this case denoted by the vision ? This was the question on which Peter pondered. He seems to have been in doubt whether by this vision God meant only to indicate that every distinction of meats was abolished by the Christian religion, and therewith, perhaps, the ceremonial law, of which practically that distinction formed a most prom- inent part ; or whether a yet deeper meaning was not con- cealed under it — namely, that the Gentiles, who did not ob- serve this distinction of meats, and were on that and other grounds accounted impure by the Jews, were to be so regard- ed no longer, nor their society to be any longer shunned, but the doctrines of the Gospel were to be freely preached tc them. His doubts on this point were soon resolved ; and he speed ily learned that this vision had been sent to him in order tG determine and guide his conduct, under circumstances which might otherwise have perplexed him greatly. While he was still considering this matter, three strangers, one of them a Roman soldier, appeared at the tanner's gate, inquiring whether " Simon, whose surname is Peter " (to dis- tinguish him from the master of the house, who also bore the name of Simon) " lodged there." The house was probably not high, so that Peter's attention may have been attracted by the knocking and the enquiries at the gate. And then, to free him from doubt, the Spirit deigned to acquaint him that the men who sought him had been sent by Himself, and that he was to go with them without doubt or fear. On this Pe- ter went down to the strangers, and informing them that he was the man for whom they enquired, asked what they want' ed with him. In reply, they entered into a recital, from which he gather ed that they were servants of a centurion named Cornelius, at Cesarea ; and that their master had sent them to request his presence at that city, as he had been " warned from God by CORNELIUS. 191 a holy angel " to send for him, and to hear words of him. We know more of what had passed than this, but we less suppose that this is a concise statement of the historian to avoid a repetition of the full narrative, than simply just so much as Cornelius had told his messengers to say — not to them entering upon the full explanations which he meant himself to give to the apostle on his arrival. Cesar ea was fully thirty-five miles from Joppa, and the men who had travelled that day and half, needed some rest and re- freshment. Peter therefore did not think of setting out with them at once, but, purposing to go with them the next morn- ing, he meanwhile invited them into the house, and provided them with food and a resting place. The conversation of the strangers during the rest of the day, probably gave ground for the impression, that the occasion was likely to prove one of considerable importance ; and Peter himself had good rea- sons for entertaining that conviction. It was probably, there- fore, in consequence of this that, when he departed the next morning, he was accompanied by six of the disciples at Joppa — not only, of their own accord, to do him honor, but possibly at his own request, to be his witnesses and vouchers under the new, difficult, and deeply-responsible circumstances, in which he could not but already feel that he was likely to be placed when he should reach Cesarea. FORTY-FIFTH WEEK— THURSDAY. CORNELIUS. ACTS X. 1, 2. Cornelius, who had sent to Joppa for Peter, is described as being " a centurion of the band called the Italian band," or cohort. Considerable doubt exists as to what is here meant by the " Italian band." Some writers refer it to the Legio Italica, or Italica prima, so often mentioned by Tacitus ; but we know 192 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK THURSDAY. from Dion Cassius that this legion was raised by Nero ; and, consequently, that it was not in existence when the events narrated by Luke took place. Nor can it have been either of the other two Italian legions (Legiones Italicse), as they were raised long after by Marcus Aurelius. We know from Jose- pbus, that the Roman troops serving in Syria and Judea were mainly composed of levies raised on the spot. We learn, however, that there were volunteer Italian cohorts serving in Syria, from an inscription in Grater, cited by Mr. Akkerman in his Numismatic Illustrations of the New Testament, and from which he concludes that the " Italian band " was most probably a cohort serving in Syria, and quartered at Cesarea, composed of natives of Italy, and called " Italian " to distin- guish it from those which consisted of troops raised in Syria. We see then the exact historical propriety with which Luke uses the word which denotes a cohort {anelqa), instead of that expressing a legion, which would have been improper. Cornelius was thus, it would seem, an Italian, and doubtless, as his name imports, a Roman. That name would lead us to conclude that he was a member of the great Cornelia gens,* which was one of the most distinguished among the Romans, and produced a greater number of illustrious men than any other house in Rome. Tradition assigns this Cornelius to one of the patrician branches of this house; and, accordingly, Julian the Apostate names Cornelius as one of the few persons of distinction who embraced Christianity. This is not, how- ever, certain ; for the Cornelian gens had plebeian branches, and the name eventually became very common, through the step taken by the dictator Sylla, who bestowed the Roman franchise upon 10,000 slaves, and called them all after his own name " Cornelii," that he might always have a large number among the people to support him. This Cornelius is described as " a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the * Gens. Properly a collection of families (the great families patri- cian, but including usually lesser plebeian families), answering, as some say, to the English term " House," but better to the Highland " Clan." CORNELIUS. 193 people, and prayed to God always." This character of him has raised much discussion as to the religious position of Cor- nelius prior to his interview with Peter. From the considera- tions which it involves, the question is of considerable inter- est, and it is entitled to attentive consideration. There are two leading views in this matter. One, that the terms employed are such as can only be properly used with respect to one who was a proselyte to Judaism. The other, that he was still a Gentile ; for that the transaction loses all its peculiar force and meaning under any other view of his position. But it may be proper to explain, that those who take the former view of the case lay down a careful distinction between two descriptions of proselytes, concerning which we learn nothing from the Scriptures, nor even from the early Rabbin- ical authors, but only from those of the later class, from the twelfth century downwards. These speak of two species of proselytes — the proselytes of righteousness and the proselytes of the gate. The proselytes of righteousness were those who, having received circumcision, and placed themselves under all the obligations of the law of Moses, had consequently passed over completely into the Jewish church, and had become a>\ completely members of it as those who were not of the seed of Abraham could become. The proselytes of the gate, we are told, were those who, having renounced idolatry, and wor- shipping only the true God, submitted to the seven (supposed) precepts of Noah, frequented the synagogues, and offered sac- rifices at the temple by the hands of the priests ; but not hav- ing received circumcision, were not reckoned as belonging to the Jews. It is not supposed, by any writers, that Cornelius could have been a proselyte of righteousness ; but that he was a proselyte of the gate is an opinion which has had many and very able advocates. In support of the opinion that he was such a proselyte, and not a mere Gentile, such considerations have been urged as we now proceed to state. VOL. iv. 9 194 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK — THURSDAY. In the first place, it is urged that Cornelius is described a3 " a man fearing God," which is a term applied elsewhere to proselytes of the gate, and applicable to them only. For proof of this we are referred to the 16th, 26th, and 43d verses of the thirteenth chapter of the Acts. Again, Cornelius offered up his prayers at the hours usual among the Jews (see x. 3, 30) ; and that he had read the Old Testament (doubtless in the Septuagint version) is plain, seeing that Peter, in demon- strating to him that Jesus was the Messiah, appealed to the prophecies. He had, too, conferred many benefits on the people — that is, the Jewish people. These reasons seem very strong till the other side is heard ; and what the other side alleges is this : That the term on which so much stress is laid, " fearing God," and correspond- ing terms, are in Scripture applied not merely to proselytes, but any persons studious of piety and filled with reverence to- wards God. See examples of this in the 35th verse of this chapter, and in Luke i. 50 ; ii. 25 ; Col. iii. 22 ; Rev. xi. 18. It is furthermore urged on this side that Cornelius is ex- pressly called by Peter (in verse 28) one of another race or nation, with whom it was not lawful for a Jew, as such, to associate, while there was certainly nothing in the law or in cus- tom which forbade intercourse with proselytes. Nay, the law of Moses permitted to foreigners a perpetual abode among tha Jews, on condition that they abandoned practices publicly offen- sive to the latter, namely, that they renounced idolatry, and abstained from whatever had reference thereto ; as from meat which had been offered to idols, and from food formed from blood.* And further, towards such foreigners the Israel- ites were enjoined to conduct themselves with friendliness, to treat them as fellow countrymen, and to love them as them- selves.f Hence also such persons were permitted free access to the synagogues,^ and familiar intercourse with the Jews.§ Now, the alleged proselytes of the gate could not have stood in a less near relation to Judaism than such persons; and it * Lev. xvii. 10, 11, 13. f Lev. xix. 33, 34. % Acts xiv. 1. § Luke vii. 3. CORNELIUS. 196 seems therefore very certain that Peter could not have described one who was a proselyte of the gate, as belonging to a class with whom it is not lawful for a Jew to associate. To this it may be added that had Cornelius already been a proselyte, the news of his conversion would not have occa- sioned such astonishment to the Jewish Christians as it actually did,* nor would " those who were of the circumcision" have contended so much with Peter on his account.f Moreover, he is expressly classed among Gentiles by James ;J and also by Peter himself, when claiming the honor of having first preached the Gospel to the Gentiles.§ On these grounds it is difficult to resist the conviction that Cornelius was not a proselyte to Judaism. "We have no reason to suppose that Jewish proselytes had not before this been con- verted to Christianity ; and it is certainly, as the first fruits of the Gentiles, as standing distinct from Judaism, that the con- version of Cornelius acquired all its importance and signif- icance. It is to be observed also that the distinction of proselytes, and the assumption that Cornelius was a proselyte of the gate, rest on no solid foundation. There is no evidence that any such distinction existed, or that " proselytes of the gate" were known in the time of the apostles. It has the aspect of later Judaism ; and is not mentioned by any Jewish writer till the twelfth century, nor by any Christian writer till the 14th. Taking, then, Cornelius to have been, not a proselyte to Judaism, but a Gentile, he appears to have been of that class of persons who had so far benefited by their contact with the Jewish people as to become convinced that theirs was the true religion, and consequently rendered their worship to the true God, were more or less acquainted with the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and in many instances observed several Jewish customs, as, for example, their hours of prayer, or anything else not involving a special profession. They had abandoned idolatry, and were many of them persuaded of the sole and * Acts x. 45. f Acta xi. 2. % Acts xv. 14. § Acta xv. 7. /96 FORTr-FIFTH WEEK FRIDAY. universal sovereignty of the Lord, Jehovah ; but they had not embraced the Mosaic law, and were consequently never re- garded as the adopted children of Judaism, nor is the name of proselytes ever applied to them. FORTY-FIFTH WEEK— FRIDAY. THE VISION OF CORNELIUS — ACTS X. 24-33. When Peter and his companions reached Cesarea, about the noon of the day after their departure from Joppa, they were at once conducted to the house of the centurion ; which the apostle, instructed by the vision with which he had been favored, did not hesitate to enter, though it was a Gentile's house. As he entered, the centurion, apprized, if only by the presence of his messengers, of who it was that had come, cast his body to the earth at the apostle's feet, in token of the pro- foundest reverence for him. But Peter, with some haste, raised him from the ground, saying, " Stand up ; for I also am a man." Why did Cornelius do this — and why did Peter forbid it ? This is not clear at first sight, but is clear enough when it comes to be explained that the word " worshipped him," which is applied to the act in our version, does not of itself denote religious homage, to which its actual meaning is now confined, but denoted as often civil reverence. Of this use traces remain in the term " worshipful," applied to magistrate and old cor- porations ; and in the now remarkable phrase, " with my body I thee worship," in the marriage service of the Church of England. In fact, the kind of reverence, homage, or " worship," ren- dered by the utter prostration of the body to the ground, wa^» a mark of profound respect rendered by the Jews, as it is still by various Oriental nations, to kings ; and not only to them, but to other persons of high dignity. It would there- THE VISION OF CORNELIUS. 197 fore seem, at the first view, harmless of the significance which our different western habits would ascribe to it, and which Peter seems to have somewhat feared that it might appear to bear. But although this was a custom of the Jews them- selves, it was not a custom of the Romans, who never thus humbled themselves before any human being, but before their gods only. It was on this ground, doubtless, that Peter declined it ; either as fearing that Cornelius, as a Roman, really attached something more than the Oriental significance to this act, or as apprehensive that it might, however intended, be misunderstood by those who heard of it, in case he suffered it to pass without remark. Considering the character already given of Cornelius, it is diffi- cult to suppose that he had any intention of rendering to Peter the " worship" due to God only. Nor would it have been much otherwise if, as some imagine, the centurion took the apostle for an angel ; for then also it would have been scarcely less improper. Still it is possible, from Peter's re- minding him that he also was a man, that Cornelius was struck with such reverential awe at the presence of one whom he knew to be a legate sent by God expressly to him, that, in the flurry of his spirits, he could not at the moment remember to preserve the due distinction between the honor to be ren- dered to the Sender and to him who was sent. It is, however, quite sufficient to suppose, that Cornelius, knowing that the customs of the East allowed of such reverential homage being shown from man to man, adopted it as the most adequate ex- pression of his feelings, and which Peter, as a Jew, would readily understand ; while, on the other hand, the apostle very judiciously declined this mark of respect, knowing, as he did, that it was an act of religious worship among the Romans themselves, and that his acceptance of it might lead to evil. On entering the reception-room, Peter found himself in the presence of a number of the centurion's relations and friends, whom, expecting the Apostle's visit at this time, he had as- 198 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK — FRIDAY. sembleel together, that they might partake of the advantages he expected to derive from it. We may conceive how anx- iously the centurion had remained with these friends awaiting this arrival, and how eagerly he started from them to meet Peter at the door, when he heard that he was actually come. Finding himself thus singularly situated in the midst of a Gentile company, Peter thought it proper to explain how it was that, contrary to all Jewish ideas and practices, he thus appeared among them. God, he said, had shown him (in the vision), that he was not to account any men " common or un- clean." Under the conviction thus impressed, he had come, without hesitation, when sent for ; and now that he was come, he desired to know for what purpose he had been called. He knew already in a general way ; but he wished to be more fully and particularly informed by the person chiefly concerned ; and if he had fully known these particulars himself, he might have wished his attesting companions to hear an authentic statement from the centurion's own lips. Cornelius began by saying, " Four days ago, I was fasting until this hour." By this he means that four days ago he had been fasting until the same hour of the day as that at which he was speaking, namely, until the. ninth hour (as he pres- ently explains), or three o'clock in the afternoon ; and not, as some had fancied, that he had fasted from the time of the vision to the then present hour. Then, at the ninth hour, being one of the three principal Jewish hours of prayer, he was praying in his house, when suddenly " a man in bright clothing" stood before him, and called him by his name, assuring him that his prayer was heard, and that his " alms were held in remembrance before God." What his prayer was we are not told ; but the answer vouchsafed to it clearly shows that its purport must have been to supplicate for more light to his feet — to implore that he might be guided into all truth. Such prayer was never made in vain ; and in this case it was most signally answered. The angel himself had no commission to impart that light, for the ministry of the Gospel has not been given to angels. The THE VISION OF CORNELIUS. 199 office of the angel here was to give the authenticating assur- ance of a message from heaven, to the informatiou, that by sending to Joppa for Peter, and receiving his instructions, the light he so earnestly desired would be obtained. Cornelius added, that it was on this authority he had sent for the apostle ; and now that he was come, he himself, and those there pres- ent with him, stood ready to receive with respect and attention all things that had been commanded him of God. By this we seem to gather that Cornelius supposed Peter to have been charged with a special message to deliver to him — an impress- ion likely to be strengthened by the .intimation which the apostle had let fall, that he also had received instructions from God in connection with this case. It soon, however, appeared that Peter had but one and the same Gospel message to de- liver to Cornelius and to every other sinner who had been brought to feel his need of a Saviour. Having now passed through the circumstances of the two visions — that of Peter, and that of Cornelius, — it may be well to direct our attention to Paley's excellent remark, that the circumstances of the two visions are such as take them entirely out of momentary miracles, or such as may be accounted for by false perceptions. They belong to that mixed class in which, although the miracle itself is sudden, some circumstance combined with it is permanent. Saul's conversion is another marked example of this ; and of both instances together, Paley observes : " Of this kind is the history of St. Paul's conversion. The sudden light and sound, the vision and vo^e, upon the road to Damascus, were momentary : but Paul's blindness for three days, in consequence of what had happened ; the com- munication made to Ananias in another place, and by a vision independent of the former, and finding him in the condition described ; and Paul's recovery of sight upon Ananias' laying his hands upon him, — are circumstances which take the trans- action, and the principal miracle, as included in it, entirely out of the case of momentary miracles, or of such as may be accounted for by false perceptions. Exactly the same thing may be observed of Peter's vision preparatory to the call of 200 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK — SATURDAY. Cornelius, and of its connection with what was imparted in a distant place to Cornelius himself, and with the message de- spatched by Cornelius to Peter. The vision might be a dream ; the message could not. Either communication, taken separ- ately, might be a delusion ; the concurrence of the two was impossible to happen without a supernatural cause."* FORTY-FIFTH WEEK— SATURDAY. CONVERSION OF CORNELIUS. ACTS X. 34-XI. 18. When Cornelius had finished his recital, Peter, at some length, expressed the conviction, which he had been so slow to realize, and which it had needed a special communication from heaven to impress upon him, that the Gentiles were not any longer to be regarded as unclean, and that the offer of the Gospel was open to them, as well as to the Jews. He then proceeded to explain what that Gospel was, showing that all things that were written in the books of the prophets were accomplished in Jesus — of whom Cornelius and his friends had doubtless heard, for the Gospel had already been preached by Philip in Csesarea — " who went about doing good," who died a shameful death upon " the tree " for man's redemption, who rose again from the dead, and who should hereafter judge the world ,JIe had died to save, and that now peace was preached, now remission of sins was offered to such as believed in his name. While Peter was yet speaking, the Holy Ghost fell upon Cornelius and his friends, and the same miraculous manifesta- tions of this fact followed as had been witnessed on the great day of Pentecost. Indeed, Peter himself, on a subsequent oc- casion, in describing- this event to the apostles at Jerusalem, compared these two manifestations — declaring that the Holy Ghost had descended on this occasion " as upon us at the be- * Evidences of Christianity, Proposition ii., Chapter 1. CONVERSION OF CORNELIUS. 201 ginning." It has hence not unreasonably been conceived, that there may in this case have been even some appearance of light or flame, as in the former instance. And, indeed, the greatness of the occasion — being the first practical opening of the church to the Gentiles — might both require and explain such a manifestation. It is clear, at all events, that nothing like this had occurred since the great Pentecostal effusion of the Spirit. Many had, since then, received the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, but none in this manner. Such gifts had been bestowed after baptism, and upon the imposition of the apos- tles' hands. But here it was direct, and signal, and even before baptism ; as distinct and plenary as on the day of Pentecost. What course Peter himself may have taken, had not this sign been given, it may be hard to say. We should suppose, from the tenor of his discourse, that he would have admitted them to baptism, on their declaring their belief in the Lord Jesus ; and it is only his subsequent conduct at Antioch, in reference to the general question, that leaves the matter open to any doubt. Our own impression is, that he would have admitted these Gentiles to the Christian church ; but that he would have been eventually led to regard the case as excep- tional, and as affording no precedent without such special pre- vious warrant as he had in this instance received. But al- though Peter himself may have been prepared to receive these Gentiles into the bosom of the church, it is doubtful that the " brethren " who had accompanied Peter from Joppa would, and it was nearly certain that others at a distance would not have recognized the rightness of this step, unless this extraor- dinary sign had been previously given. We may, therefore, conclude that it was given for the purpose of rendering the will of God indisputably manifest, and of showing that the course which Peter took was not only in accordance with it, but was absolutely required by it. It was calculated to pre- vent the brethren then present from offering any such opposi don as might have cast a damp and a doubt over the proceed ing ; and it was suited to stop the mouths of any who might afterwards call it in question. 9* 202 FORTY-FIFTH WEEK — SATURDAY. Accordingly, no sooner did Peter witness this, and hear these Gentiles " speak with tongues and magnify God," than he exclaimed, " Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we ?" words, the very cast of which suggest that he was far from certain that the Jewish prejudices of the brethren might aot yet be opposed to this step, or, at least, that they could only have been overcome by such a manifestation of the Di- vine purpose as this. But there was not, and could not be, any answer to such an argument. It was not for man to withhold the baptism of water, where God had given the baptism of the Spirit. Peter therefore " commanded them to be baptised in the name of the Lord." By this it appears that he did not himself baptize them. Indeed, it seems that the apostles very rarely did baptize with their own hands.* This office was, on the present occasion, doubtless discharged by the brethren present with him ; and he might prefer to use their ministry, that by this means the expression of their con currence might be rendered the more explicit. To express their gratitude to Peter for the great benefits he had been the instrument of imparting to them, as well as that they might be further instructed in the way of life, Cor- nelius and his friends implored him " to tarry with them cer- tain days." It is not directly stated that he consented, but it appears from the sequel that he did, and was doubtless in- volved in the charge afterwards made against him, of " going in to men uncircumcised, and eating with them." The latter clause must refer to this subsequent intercourse, for Peter did not previously eat with them. By this he showed that, at least under certain circumstances, he considered himself loosed from the obligation of ritual precepts. It does not seem, how- ever, that though living with Gentiles during this time, he par- took of forbidden meats, for of this there is not a word in the charge afterwards made against him, in reference to these transactions ; nor does it, indeed, appear that any converted Jews did so till after their final dispersion. * 1 Cor. i 14. A MISTAKE. 203 When the tidings reached Jerusalem tharf; the Gentiles had received the word of God, the feeling excited there was not generally one of thankfulness and gratitude. Feeling on this point doubtless varied among different individuals ; but there were certainly many who would not bring themselves to think with any complacency that the Gospel was not the ex- clusive privilege of the Jews, or that it could be reached but through Judaism. By these Peter was warmly censured for his conduct, when, shortly after, he returned to Jerusalem. Then, in his own vindication, the apostle " rehearsed the whole matter from the beginning, and expounded it in order unto them." At the close of his plain recital of the circumstance, he merely added this cogent and unanswerable remark — " Forasmuch, then, as God g'ave them the like gift as He did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand God ?" To the credit of the brethren at Jerusalem, they, on hearing this, not only " held their peace," but " glorified God," for the extension of his mercies to the Gentiles. They doubted so long as it had seemed that Peter had acted on his own judgment and discretion ; but when he had made it plainly appear that the will of God had been clearly manifested, then they abandoned their ground of opposition, and cheerfully acquiesced in the conclusion that " then hath God also granted unto the Gentiles repentance unto life." A MISTAKE. ACTS. XI. 34, 35. The Apostle Peter, near the close of his second Epistle, has a very interesting allusion to the Epistles of " our beloved brother Paul." In them, he says, there " are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable •204 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK SUNDAY. wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, to their own de- struction." It is open to conjecture whether Peter may not have become aware, at the time he wrote these words, as we are now aware, that some of his own words — those with which he opened his address to Cornelius — had been thus perversely and ruinously "wrested" from their proper meaning. The words were — " Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation, he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him." It has been urged that these expressions sanction the notion, that there are in every nation men who, " fearing God and working righteousness," are, on such grounds alone, " accepted of Him," or entitled to salvation, and receiving salvation ; that any one, ignorant or regardless of the revealed covenants, but believing in a supreme God as the Creator of heaven and earth, and walking righteously according to the measure of his light, needs nothing more for salvation. That a He can't be wrong whose life is in the right," is the true saving doctrine. Without pausing further npon this than to remark, that for a life to be in the right, not merely correct moral conduct, but correct motives and principles of conduct are needed, it may be asked : What need was there, then, to Cornelius for the doctrines of the Gospel, which Peter came to teach ? It can- not be denied that Cornelius " feared God and wrought right- eousness," and he, therefore, stands before us a most advan- tageous example of those who are supposed to be thus " ac- cepted," on grounds apart from the plan of redemption which the Gospel declares. Yet that even he was not then in the condition of one " accepted," in the sense put upon the text, is clear from all the circumstances. When Peter spoke these words, Cornelius was in the same condition as when the angel had spoken to him — he had not been converted, he had not received the Holy Ghost, he had not been baptized, the Gospel had not even been preached to him and offered to his accept A MISTAKE. 205 ance ; and that he was not then " accepted," so as to be in a state of salvation, is made manifest by the words of the angel, who, after directing him to send to Joppa for Peter, adds, " who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved" He was to be saved, then, not by his previous qualifications — and these were higher than any mere heathen possessed, seeing that the God he " feared" was Jehovah, the God of Israel — but by that Gospel which Peter was to preach, and which was still unpreached by hi in, when this greatly misconceived declaration fell from his lips. These considerations alone suffice to make it evident that Peter's declaration is not thus to be understood. What he did mean, a little consideration of the position in which the apostle himself stood, and of the great matter which had been occupying his own mind, will make sufficiently clear. We know how slow he and the other apostles had been to re- ceive the idea that, since the Lord's death, the seed of Abra- ham no longer possessed exclusive privileges, and that now the Gospel of salvation was as open to the Gentiles as to them. It was a fixed belief of the Jews that they alone had any in- terest in the blessings of the Messiah's kingdom, which were not to be extended to any other kingdom or people, who they regarded as remedilessly alien from God, and not under his care or protection. When our Lord had prohibited his disciples to preach the Gospel, while he yet lived, to any but the lost sheep of the house of Israel, He had appeared to give his sanction to this impression ; and, as Jews, the apostles were more likely to dwell on these instances, than upon the intima- tions of a larger commission which they received after the resurrection. In this view, therefore, God had seemed " a respecter of persons" — as having had special favor and regard to the Jews, out of respect to his covenant with Abraham their father, and to the high purposes for which He had set them apart as a peculiar people among the nations. This view had been shaken in Peter's mind by the vision of the great sheet, and the application of that vision which the message from Cornelius had compelled him to make. There can hardly 206 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK SUNDAY. be any doubt that all the day after the arrival cf the messen- gers, and during all the journey from Joppa to Csesarea, this had been the engrossing subject of his thought. And when, on entering the house of Cornelius, he declared that God had showed him that he was not to regard any persons as common or unclean, his meaning was just the same as in the words before us — uttered after he had heard the recital of Cornelius. This was, that he was now, at length, enabled to perceive that God was no longer a respecter of persons, as he had aforetime been ; and that no man was now beheld with exclusive regard because he was, as Abraham's son, under a peculiar covenant with God, but that the gates of life were now thrown widely open, so that all, whether Jew or Gentile, who " feared God and worked righteousness," might enter in. But what of these apparent qualifications " of fearing God and working righteousness"? We have seen that they are not stated as conditions of, far less as constituting a sufficient claim to, salvation. To fear God is to know Him, at least, as the God'of nature and providence ; and to walk in that fear is to acknowledge his practical sovereignty in the moral gov- ernment of the world. Paul says : — " He that cometh to God, must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him." Cornelius had certainly reached this state. He was, therefore, in the condition of one standing ready to "come" to God through that "Door" which was now about to be opened to him. The Lord in his high grace had bestowed upon him all that had brought him hitherto, — the knowledge and fear of himself, the thirsting after righteousness, the desire to know Him better and ap- proach Him nearer — the " diligent seeking after Him," which He fails not to " reward " by further disclosures of himself, as He did in the case of Cornelius. Our Lord declared that " no man cometh unto me, except the Father who hath sent me draw him." How God drew Cornelius we have seen. We see how the door was opened to let the stranger in. But we must consider that it was the same power that opened the door which brought him to the door that was to be opened. A MISTAKE. 207 God honored his own gifts. And when we see a man thus, according to his light, " diligently seeking " after God, we may- be sure that the light by which he seeks is of God's bestowing, and that God has purposes of great mercy towards him, and that he will in due time be rewarded by fuller disclosures of the Divine glory in Christ, and will at length be brought fully into the fold. A man must go before he comes ; and if we see one going the right way, we conclude that he will be care- fully guided, and will " come " at last, and will not fail of ac- ceptance to salvation when he comes. Peter in the case before us plainly means this. He saw that Cornelius had been diligently seeking after God. He had the most certain evidence that he was a subject of the Divine grace ; and seeing that there were even among the Gentiles men so favored, he naturally concluded that it must be acceptable to God that the Gospel should be offered to them, which Gospel he accordingly proceeded to proclaim and offer. It appears, therefore, that the text has little or nothing to do with the question which has been fastened upon it — wheth- er the man who walks uprightly, according to the measure of his knowledge, and without any regard to revelation, may or may not be saved. " But may they ?" some will ask. We do not know. It is not revealed. But we do know that besides the name of Jesus " there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved," and that if these are saved it will only be because Christ died. Let us not pry too curiously into these matters. There are things that concern us much more nearly. Remember our Lord's answer to those who asked " Lord, are they few that be saved ?" — " Strive to enter in at the strait gate !" Another thing we know — that it would have been ill with Cornelius if, after the gospel of the atonement had been offer- ed to him, he had rejected it, and had chosen rather to rest his hopes upon his own righteousness. This concerns us more nearly ; for this case, and not the other, is ours. For the Gos- pel is continually preached to us ; and if we trample it under 208 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK — MONDAY. foot, or if we set it aside with decent forms of respect, as a thing we do not want and can do very well without, it were better for us that we had never been born ; for we are then of those servants who knew their Lord's will and did it not, and who therefore shall be " beaten with many stripes." FORTY-SIXTH WEEK— MONDAY. CHRISTIANS. ACTS XI. 19-26. As the result of the persecution in which Saul had taken so active a part, we were told that " Therefore they [the con- verts] that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word."* The sacred historian having now concluded his account of Saul's conversion and of Peter's proceedings, goes back to this point, and proceeds to inform us that some of those who were thus scattered abroad, proceeded even so far as Cyrene in one direction, and Cyprus and Antioch in another, but that they nowhere preached the gospel to any but Jews, that is to say, to the Jews speaking Greek, or Hellenists, as such are called in Scripture. So this went on, as we conceive is to be understood, until after the conversion of Cornelius ; and having just related that great event, Luke proceeds to state that this great fact being noised abroad, gave a mighty impulse to the work of conversion in these same parts ; for some of the Hellenists, converted by those Jerusalem fugitives, no longer hesitated to offer the Gospel to the Greeks or Gen- tiles. And they met with extraordinary success, " for a great number of them believed, and turned to the Lord." This seems to us the correct interpretation of the passage before us. But it may be right to explain the presence of a difficulty. Those to whom the Gospel was preached in the first instance must have been Hellenists, or Jews living in Greek cities and speaking the Greek language, as distinguished from * Acts viii. 4. CHRISTIANS. 209 Hellenes or Gentile Greeks. But in the current texts those to whom the gospel is preached in the second instance are de- scribed as Hellenists not Hellenes. Yet, if this were the case, the second preaching could not have differed from the first, and the Cyrenian and Cyprian brethren would have done no more than had already been done by the brethren from Jeru- salem. It is hence the opinion of the best critics and com- mentators that the word Hellenes, not Hellenists, is here the right reading, especially as it is to be found in some very an- cient manuscripts, versions, and Fathers ; and has accordingly been adopted in most of the recent critical editions of the Greek text. But this being the case, it necessarily follows that some more considerable interval of time than the imme- diate connection might indicate, occurred between the first preaching and the second, because the second preaching being to the Gentiles, it must have been subsequent to the conversion of Cornelius, who was, as we know, the first fruits of the Gen- tiles. Indeed, we may conceive that the tidings of this movement at Antioch might not have been received at Jerusalem with much favor, had not the church there been already satisfied on this point, by the explanations which Peter had given in connection with the centurion's conversion. Antioch being the metropolis of Syria, and one of the three * greatest cities in the civilized world, the intelligence that the Gospel had there been preached with signal success to the Gentiles, could not fail to awaken much attention at Jerusalem ; and it was felt desirable that the interests of the cause of Christ, in a station so eminent, should be carefully watched, guarded, and reported on by some persons in whom entire confidence could be placed. It does not seem that the Cyrenian and Cyprian brethren who had here taken the in- itiative were well known, if at all known to the church at Jerusalem ; and such entire confidence as would leave room for no misgiving as to their proceedings, may not at so great a distance have been entertained. To send an accredited * Rome, Alexandria, Antioch. 210 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK — MONDAY. apostolical agent to observe and aid the great task going on at that place, was therefore the wisest course that could be taken. Nor was the choice of the man for this important mission less wise. It was no other than Barnabas — himself a Hellenist, a Cyprian, and in all probability well acquainted with Antioch — and who, more than all that, was " a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith." Such a man was ex- actly fitted for the highly responsible mission confided to him. Barnabas on his arrival found much cause to approve of what the Hellenist brethren had done in preaching to the Gen- tiles, and he was well satisfied with the manner and spirit in which they had done it, and the results which had flowed from it. It was a good work that had been done ; and he rejoiced in it, and labored diligently to advance it, exhorting them all " that with purpose of heart they should cleave to the Lord." The work here was so great and important that Barnabas soon became anxious to secure the co-operation of his friend Saul, whom he supposed to be at his native city of Tarsus, He accordingly proceeded thither in search of him, and hav- ing at length found him, whether there or not, is not stated, he brought him back with him to Antioch, and there they contin- ued laboring together in the Gospel cause for a whole year. It was first, during this year, and at this place, that the believers in Christ came to be distinguished by the name of " Christians." It has been much questioned by whom and with what view this name was given or assumed. It does not seem that the name was spontaneously assumed by the disciples themselves. If that had been the case, we should probably have met with it frequently m the remainder of the history, as well as in the writings of the apostles. But we find that after, as before, they continued to be styled among themselves " believers," " brethren," " saints," " disciples." In the Acts the term " Christian" only again occurs once (xxvi. 28), where king Agrippa says " Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." And in the Epistles it is found only in CHRISTIANS. 211 I Peter iv., and, as in the instance just cited, seems to be de- scribed as used or applied by persons not themselves professing the religion. " If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye," etc., (verse 14,) and, "yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed," (verse 16.) This scanty use of the name hardly consists with the notion that it was assumed by the disciples, or even that was very readily adopted by them. Neither was it likely that it was given them by the Jews. " Christ" means the same as " Messiah ;" and the main point at issue between the believers and the Jews was that the latter did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, and were, therefore, less likely to call his followers by that name than almost by any other. Any name they could give would assuredly be one of contempt ; and we know that their de- spiteful terms for the disciples were " Galileans," (Acts ii. *7,) and " Nazarenes," (Acts xxiv. 5.) The probability, therefore, remains that the name of " Christian" was first given to the dis- ciples by the Gentiles of Antioch. This becomes the more likely when we consider that through the labors of the two apostles with those of the Hellenist converts, the new religion was brought much under the notice of the Gentiles at Antioch, who would soon feel the want of a name by which to indicate its adherents without circumlocution. They would scarcely be able to appreciate the terms used among the believers them- selves, being rather appellations than names ; and the re- proachful terms employed by the Jews, they were still less likely to know or understand. It was hence natural that they should devise a new name, and what designation would inore easily occur to them than one formed from the name which was so often heard from the lips of the disciples — the name too of one who was understood to be the founder of the sect, and even the object of its worship. It seems by no means clear that, as some have conceived, the name was in its origin despiteful, like the names of Lol- lard, Puritan, Quaker, Methodist, in modern times. But there is no doubt that it eventually became so in the mouths of the Gentiles, when, by becoming widely spread, it attracted more 212 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK — TUESDAY. attention, and caused more alarm, from the manifest hostility of its principles to the prevalent ideas, usages, and systems of heathendom. The name was, however, a good name, and there was nothing in it to prevent the believers from effectually accept- ing it as a proper designation of their body. FORTY-SIXTH WEEK— TUESDAY. SAUL IN CILICIA. ACTS XI. 25, 26. The course of the Apostolical history having brought us into the region to which Saul had retired, and introduced him again to our notice, we naturally become desirous to know where he had been and what he had been doing since we parted from him last. He then embarked at Csesarea for Tarsus ; and it is now to Tarsus that Barnabas goes to seek Saul, and it would seem to be at Tarsus that he found him. This would, at the first view, seem to imply that he had spent all the intervening time in his native city It is probable that he did make some stay in Tarsus on his first arrival. But we have already gath- ered from one of his own intimations, rightly understood, that he, during this time, labored in Cilicia and Syria — doubtless in such parts of Syria, the northern parts, as bordered on Cilicia. It would seem, therefore, that he made Tarsus his head-quarters, whence he made missionary excursions in va- rious directions to neighboring places, and to which he fre- quently returned. With this agrees the brief intimation of the proceedings of Barnabas. He went to Tarsus not to fetch Saul or to confer with him, as certain of finding him there, but to seek him — as expecting that he should either find him at Tarsus, or learn at that place where he was. So it is not clear that he did find Saul there on his arrival, for it is said that " when he had found him," implying that there was some SAUL IN CILICIA. 213 delay in finding him, and suggesting that Saul was in fact ab- sent when Barnabas reached Tarsus, but that he there ascer- tained where he was likely to find, and either followed hirn or sent for him thither. Still, as thus explained, Tarsus became the principal resi- dence of Saul during this period ; and the instructed imagin- ation strives to realize the circumstances of his return to, and sojourn in, his native place — a man greatly changed. Once more we behold him in the home of his childhood — and it is the last time that we are distinctly told of his being there. Now at length, if not before, we may be sure that he would come into active intercourse with the heathen philosophers of the place. In his last residence at Tarsus, a few years before, he was a Jew, and not only a Jew but a Pharisee, and -he looked on the Gentiles around him as outcasts from the favor of God. Now he was a Christian, and not only a Christian, but conscious of his mission as the apostle of the Gentiles. Therefore he would surely meet the philosophers, and prepare to argue with them on their own ground, as afterwards in the " Market" at Athens with the " Epicureans" and the " Stoics."* Many of the Stoics of Tarsus were men of celebrity in the Roman Empire ; and now among these eminent sages, some of whom had been tutors of emperors, appeared one whose teaching was destined to survive when the Stoic philosophy should have perished, and whose words still instruct the rulers of every civilized nation. How far Saul's arguments may have had any success in these quarters we cannot even guess : but although certain salutary impressions eventually product- ive of good may have been made, the fact that the first fruits of the Gentiles in the person of Cornelius and his friends had not yet probably been gathered in at Caesarea, forbids us to suppose that any actual conversions among the Gentiles at Tarsus had been effected during at least the early part of Saul's residence there. And although he may not, until after that great event, have become fully aware of the breadth of his own commission as the apostle of the Gentiles, we cannot ♦Actsxvii. 17, 18. 214 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK TUESDAY. doubt that he was, during this time, preparing, whether con- sciously or not, for its great requirements and weighty duties. Among the Jews at Tarsus — in its synagogues — we cannot suppose that he was silent or unsuccessful. In his own family we may well imagine that some of those Christian " kindred" whose names are handed down to us* — possibly his sister, t*»» playmate of his childhood — and his sister's son,f who after- wards saved his life — were at this time, by his own exertions gathered into the fold of Christ. Much of this is necessarily conjectural. But " whatever length of time had elapsed since Saul came from Jerusalem to Tar- sus, and however that time had been employed by him — whether he had already founded these churches in his native Cilicia, which we read of soon after,J — whether he had there undergone any of those manifold labors and sufferings re- corded by himself,§ but omitted by St. Luke, — whether by active intercourse with the Gentiles, by study of their litera- ture, by travelling, by discoursing with their philosophers, he had been making himself acquainted with their opinions and prejudices, and so preparing his mind for the work that was before him ; or whether he had been waiting in silence for the call of God's providence, praying for guidance from above, re- flecting on the condition of the Gentiles, and gazing more and more closely on the plan of the world's redemption, — however this may be, it must have been an eventful day when Barna- bas, having come across the sea from Seleucia, or round by the defiles of Mount Amanus, suddenly appeared in the streets of Tarsus. The last time the two friends met was in Jerusalem. All that they then hoped, and probably more than they then thought possible, had occurred. God had granted to the Gentiles repentance unto life.|| Barnabas had seen ' the grace of God'^f with his own eyes at Antioch, and under his own teaching, ' a great multitude'** had been ' added to the Lord.* But he needed the assistance of one whose wisdom was higher * Romans xvi. Y, 11. f Acts xxiii. 16-22. X Acts xv. 41. § 2 Cor. xi. || Acts xi. 18. If Acts xi. 23. ** Acts xi. 24. ANTIOCH. 215 than his own, whose zeal was an example to all, and whose peculiar mission had been miraculously declared."* Saul doubtless accompanied his old friend with great readi- ness to Antioch : and the result of a year of their joint labor in that city was last evening noticed. FORTY-SIXTH WEEK— WEDNESDAY. ANTIOCH. ACTS XI. 26. As the first city in which a church gathered directly from the Gentiles was founded, and as the spot where the illustrious name of " Christian" was first heard, Antioch has special claims to our regard, and has the right to be looked upon as the mother church of Gentile Christendom. If the map be consulted, it will be seen that Antioch is sit- uated nearly in the angle where the coast line of Cilicia, running eastward, and that of Palestine, extending northward, are brought to an abrupt meeting. It will also be perceived that, more or less parallel to each of these coasts, there is a line of mountains not far from the sea, which are brought into contact with each other near the same angle, the principal breach in the continuity of either of them being the valley of the Orontes, which passes by Antioch. The first of these mountain ranges is the Taurus, so often mentioned by the writers of Greece and Rome ; the latter is that of Lebanon, a name rendered familiar to us by frequent allusions in the Scriptures. The city established in this spot is not mentioned in the Old Testament, as it was not founded till some time after the close of the Hob ^w canon. The Jewish commentators in- deed make it to h&v^ been the same with the Riblah, which was the head-quarters of Nebuchadnezzar at the time that Jerusa- lem was taken by his generals, and to which Zedekiah was * Howson, in Life and Writings of St. Paul, i. 128. 216 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK WEDNESDAY. brought to meet as a captive his proud conqueror.* If this were so, the place would be of very ancient date, Riblah being named in the time of Moses ;f but there is no real foundation for this identification of Antioch (by the name of Daphne) with Riblah, and there are some serious objections to it. In the Jewish history, which, in Josephus and in the books of the Maccabees, fills the interval between the Old Testament and the New, Antioch is very frequently mentioned, being the seat of that great power to which the Jews were for a long time more or less subject, and against which they were sometimes in arms for their religious and political rights. That power was the Greek empire in Syria, commonly called that of the Seleucidse, from its founder Seleucus, one of the generals who shared among them the empire of Alexander. It was to this personage that Antioch owed its origin, at least as a great metropolitan city ; for it was founded by him expressly as the capital of his western Asiatic States, and as such soon acquired a standing as one of the first among the great cities of the earth, which, under various governments, it maintained for nearly a thousand years. Seleucus was a great founder of cities ; but he had a weakness for calling them after the names of his own family to a degree of iteration, which stored up some perplexities for geographers of future times. To six- teen cities he gave the name of Antiochia after his father ; and of these this Antiochia on the Orontes was destined to become the chief. Seven cities he called after himself, Se- leucia, of which the one upon the Tigris — destined, as the capital of his eastern States, to rival old Babylon — became the chief; while another, distinguished as Seleucia Pieria, at tne mouth of the Orontes, became the port of Antioch. Five cities were called by Seleucus, after his mother, Laodicea ; three from the name of his first wife, Apamea ; and one from his second wife, Stratoniceia. Antioch, like London, rose to the extent and populousness which it eventually attained, by the accretion of the several townships to the original city. These were four in number. * 2 Kings xxv. 6. f Num. xxxiv. 11. ANTIOCH. 21*7 The first of them, built by Seleucus, was peopled chiefly by his removing it to the inhabitants of the neighboring town of Antigonia, which his unhappy rival, Antigonus, had intended for his metropolis ; the second grew out of the overgrowth of the first, and was peopled by settlers from it ; the third was built, or at least consolidated, about fifty years after the first, by the second Seleucus (Callinicus) ; and the fourth about forty years after that, by his grandson, Antiochus Epiphanes, the notorious persecutor of the Jews. Each of these quarters or townships had its own wall, and all the four were enclosed by a common wall of great strength. The cities just named, and a prodigious number of others that the first Seleucus founded, owed their origin chiefly to his energy and perseverance, in carrying out the projects of Alexander for the Hellenisation of his Asiatic empire, by sow- ing it with Greek and Macedonian colonies, which might be- come so many centres of Greek civilization and refinement. And how well this object was realized, is shown in the Acts of the Apostles, by the essentially Grecian character of the incidents that come under our notice in the visits of Saul to the cities of Asia, as well as from the allusions to Greek usages, customs, and ideas, which pervade such of the Epistles as are addressed to the churches in Asia. The measures of Seleucus and his successors were not, indeed, the sole causes of this result, but they contributed very materially towards it. The great difficulty of Seleucus was to find inhabitants for the cities he founded. Sometimes, as we have seen, he adopted, under mitigating circumstances, the barbarous old Oriental policy of removing the inhabitants of an existing town to his new cities. But he was by far too enlightened a man not to discern the essential impolicy of this course ; and his more usual and far better plan was to attract inhabitants, by offer- ing premiums to those who were willing to become citizens. This accounts for the extraordinary privileges which the Jews enjoyed in all of these cities, having equal rights, in all re- spects, with the first class of inhabitants — the Macedonians. Higher privileges than these could not be given ; and that the vol. iv. 10 218 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK WEDNESDAY. Jews understood their value, is evinced by the large bodies of them which formed a prominent part of the population in these cities, in and before the time of the apostles. This was particularly the case at Antioch, not only from the wealth and importance of the city, but from the commercial advantages it offered to a people who had already addicted themselves largely to mercantile pursuits, For, by its harbor of Seleucia, Antioch was in communication with all the trade of the Mediterranean ; and, through the open country behind the Lebanon, it could be conveniently approached by the car- avans of Mesopotamia and Arabia. There was, in fact, every- thing in the situation and circumstances of the city to render it a place of most miscellaneous concourse ; and in the time of the apostles, it was an Oriental Rome, in which all the forms of civilized life in the empire found some representative. It was hence well suited to become the centre of apostolical movements for the diffusion of the Gospel among the Gentiles — among " all sorts and conditions of men." The celebrated names of Ignatius and Chrysostom are con- nected with the Christian history of Antioch : — Ignatius, who is said to have conversed with the apostles, and who, at the be- ginning of the second century, witnessed a good confession be- fore Trajan, at Antioch, where he was bishop, and was sent to be given to the lions in the amphitheatre at Rome ; — Chry- sostom, who was a native of this city, and who, in the fourth century, uttered within the walls of its great church those noble orations which had already made his name illustrious before his removal to Byzantium. Owing to this felicity of its situation, Antioch continued to flourish long after the apostolic age, and to survive disasters which would have ruined most other cities. Even after Con- stantinople became the metropolis of the Roman Empire in the East, its glory was only gradually eclipsed by that of the imperial city ; and in the times of Chrysostom, it still num- bered 200,000 inhabitants, of whom one-half, or even more, were Christians. And the church there maintained 3,000 poor, and afforded occasional relief to many more. It was ANTIOCH. 219 still a great and populous city in the time of the Crusaders, who gained possession of it in 1098, and erected it into a Christian principality. Even down to the year 1268, when it received its final overthrow as a great city from the hand of the Sultan Bibars, it was still so populous that it supplied 100,000 persons to captivity, and 17,000 to the sword. From that blow it never rose to any higher rank than that of a fourth-rate town ; and from even that rank it has declined since 1822, when an earthquake destroyed one- fourth of its 20,000 inhabitants. Had the Egyptians retained possession of the country, it might possibly have risen once more, for it was the full purpose of Ibrahim Pasha to make it the capital of Syria. When he took measures for this end in 1835, the population of Antioch was ascertained to be not more than 5,600, exclusive of about 6,000 Egyptian troops. Of the buildings, with which a long line of Syrian kings and Roman emperors delighted to adorn "The Gate of the East," we may not expect to find that much remains in a city so often ruined by earthquake and by war. The ruins of gates, bridges, castles, towers, and churches, may mostly be traced to the Byzantine and Saracenic periods, and to the age of the Crusades. In an antiquarian point of view, the walls are the most in- teresting. Of their immense strength, ample proof exists in their ruins. They encircled the town in every direction, run- ning down from the highest ridges of the mountains till they reached the embankment of the Orontes, where they were car- ried on in a line parallel with the river, here running nearly due north and south. The gates leading to the bridge by which the river is crossed in proceeding towards Seleucia, are to this day of immense strength, while the bridge itself is one of the finest specimens of architecture in the East. Parts of it have been renewed and patched up, but the arches are of very ancient construction, and still promise to hold out for ages longer against the perpetual warfare they sustain from the rapid waves of the Orontes, which already tell upon the modern portions, though less exposed than the ancient to their action. 220 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK. — WEDNESDAY. The old walls, as well as the strong buildings of the Crusa- ders, were to a great extent blown up with gunpowder by Ibrahim Pasha, for materials wherewith to beautify the mod- ern city. The magnificent barracks, built to accommodate 10,000 men, as well as his beautiful palace upon the banks of the Orontes, were built with such materials ; but these are al- ready in a state of tottering dilapidation, while the towers and buttresses built ages ago, are still as strongly held together by their mortar and lime as at the time of their erection. The walls appear from the existing remains, to have extend- ed about seven miles. But the modern Antakiyah covers but a small part of the site of the ancient city, the remainder being, for the most part, occupied with mulberry groves, vine- yards and fruit gardens. It contains several baths, two khans, some fountains, a Mohammedan college, and fourteen mosques. The Jews worship in a room in the house of the chief among them ; and the Christians meet for prayer in a cavern dedicat- ed to St. John. The inhabitants still cherish the remembrance of St. Paul's visit to their city ; and one of its gates — that leading to Aleppo — is still, among all classes, called by his name. The houses are Turkish as to plan, but of inferior con- ANTIOCH. 221 struction, usually of stone, though frequently consisting of a wooden frame tilled up with sundried bricks, and having a pent roof covered with red tiles. Antakiyah is, in fact, the only town in Syria or Palestine where tiles are used in roof- ing the houses; and this singular deviation from ordinary Oriental practice may probably have been introduced from the west by the Crusaders, as a better protection from the frequent and heavy rains of the locality than the Oriental roof can af- ford. Exterior stone doors lead from a court shaded by orange and pomegranate trees to corridors and balconies; and the doors and windows of the buildings usually face the west, for the sake of the cool breeze coming from that quarter dur- ing the greater part of the summer. The houses are seldom more than one story high, and each house is entirely enclosed by a wall as Hgh as the house itself. Thus the whole street has the appearance of one continuous stone wall, with entrance doors at intervals of twenty or thirty 3-ards, the tiled roofs being the only indication to people in the streets of habitations within. The streets are rather wide for an Eastern town, and are paved about a yard and a half on either side, with a deep ditch or gutter in the centre. Foot-passengers keep to the pavements, and horsemen and laden animals must confine themselves to the ditch. Like all Turkish towns, Antakiyah would be poisoned with filth, were it not that it is built on a gently rising ground up to the foot of the high hill behind. When a shower occurs, torrents of water come pouring down the ravines and chasms of the mountains, and forcing an exit through the streets of the town, carry away everything mov- able before them into the fast-flowing waters of the deep Oron- tes. The result is, that when the rain is over, the streets have been most effectually purified. It is on these occasions that those antique coins and stones are collected for which the place has long been famous. No sooner have the waters begun to abate, than swarms of children may be observed busily oc- cupied in the numerous gutters, armed with sieves, and sticks, and brooms, sweeping and clearing away the mud, and ear- nestly occupied in hunting for antiques. Seldom is the search 222 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK — THURSDAY. fruitless. Some of the young seekers find silver coins, others copper, and some few rejoice in the discovery of gems. Thus do the new generations of Antiochians seek for the memorials of the ancient glories of their city in the very mud of its streets. FORTY-SIXTH WEEK— THURSDAY. A.GABUS. ACTS XI. 27-30. In the course of the transactions at Antioch which have lately engaged our attention, probably during the year of Bar- nabas and Saul's joint labor there, certain " prophets " arrived from Jerusalem. One of these, named Agabus, impelled by the Spirit, stood up in the congregation of the believers, and declared " that there should be great dearth throughout all the world." The historian adds that this prediction was ac- complished "in the days of Claudius Caesar." The disciples, having full faith in this intimation, determined that every one of them, according to his means, should send relief to the brethren in Judea. A collection was accordingly made for the purpose, and the amount thus realized was remitted to the elders at Jerusalem, by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. This is the plain statement of the facts ; but out of it one or two questions arise, which are well entitled to our consider- ation. Who were these " prophets," of whom Agabus was one, and the only one to whom any foretellings are ascribed ? The word " prophet " does certainly, in its primary sense, denote one who foretells future events. As, however, such prophets were commonly regarded as public instructors in religion, and as they constantly appear in that capacity in the Old Testament, this more general idea of a public teacher came to be expressed by the word. In this sense it frequently occurs in the New Testament, where there is no apparent ref- AGABUS. 223 erence to the prediction of things future.* It therefore seema that the " prophets " of the New Testament were such disci- ples as applied themselves to public teaching and preaching, and who were occasionally enabled, under the inspiration of the Divine Spirit, to foretell things to come which it concern- ed the church to know. We suppose that although to foretell future events was not the primary function or gift of these " prophets," and that, although there were probably many who never did predict things to come ; yet that, when such predic- tions were given, they usually came from some one of these prophets. Some also appear to have possessed this endow- ment more signally, or to have been favored with the Divine intimations of this kind more frequently or usually than others. Thus, the only other notice in Scripture that we find respecting this Agabus, is in connection with a similar prediction ; for this is the same person who, at a later period, foretold to Paul that he would at Jerusalem be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. Acts xxi. 10, 11. The other question is respecting the famine thus predicted, and which we are expressly informed took place in the reign of Claudius Caesar. If such a famine did take place, we should suppose that there ought to be some secular record of it, which it would be satisfactory to produce. Is there any such record ? Before proceeding to inquire, it may be well to refer the read- er back to the explanation formerly given f of the limited sense in which such phrases as " all the world," and " the whole earth," must sometimes be understood. It was then shown that in the same writer, Luke, this large phrase is used to de note no more than the land of Judea. We may, therefore, look for some indication in the text itself, whether in this place we are to take it in the larger or the narrower sense ; and that we are to receive it in the latter seems to be indicated by the fact that those, to whom the prediction is delivered, clearly understood that the brethren in Judea would be expos- ed to sufferings from which they would themselves be exempt. * See Rom. xii. 6 ; 1 Cor. xii. 10, 28 ; xiii.2, 8 ; xiv. 3, 5, 24. f Evening Series. Twenty-Eighth Week— Thursday. 224 FORTF-SIXTH WEEK THURSDAY. And this consideration becomes the more emphatic if, as was probable, the money was not sent till the famine had actually commenced. If the calamity extended to Syria, of which Antioch was the metropolis, the brethren there would havje been in as much need of help as those in Judea. History records that there were not only one, but four famines in the reign of Claudius; but none of them were general to all the world, nor even to all the Roman Empire ; and one of them w T as almost confined to Palestine, or was at least more severely felt there than in other parts. The first of these four dearths was at Rome, in the first and second years of Claudius, and arose from the difficulties of in- troducing adequate supplies of corn from abroad. These difficulties must have been chiefly local, for the emperor was considered to have taken the proper measures for preventing the recurrence of a dearth from the same causes, by making at a great expense a port at the mouth of the Tiber, and a con- venient passage from thence up to the city. Before this was done, corn could only be brought to Rome in summer, and was stored in granaries for winter use ; and this, we conclude, must have rendered the last crop of foreign grain generally unavailable for the service of Rome in winter. This could not have been the dearth predicted by Agabus. The second scarcity occurred in the ninth year of Claudius, and is only mentioned by Eusebius,* the sole authority, as afflicting Greece, where a modius of wheat was sold for 6 drachms. This would be 160s. the quarter at the present value of silver ; but silver was then of considerably higher value than it is now. This, therefore, would be a truly famine price, being considerably more than double the present(1853) high price of corn with us. Archbishop Ussher has endeavored to show that this famine was universal, and therefore the one de- noted by Agabus, but the proof of this foils altogether. The third dearth was at Rome in the eleventh year of Claudius. It seems to have been of the same nature as the first. From the terms in which it is mentioned by Tacitus, * Chronicon, i 79. AGABUS. 225 we gather that the granaries had become exhausted, while the ships which might, under ordinary circumstances (if the works of Claudius were then completed), have brought up from foreign ports the produce of the last harvest, were kept away by adverse winds and weather. But this was not of long du- ration ; for when the granaries of Rome were nearly empty, " by the goodness of the gods, and the mildness of the winter, ships arrived with sufficient provisions."* This therefore be- coming merely local and temporary, was not the dearth of Agabus. The fourth dearth, but the second in time, is that which afflicted Judea towards the end of the fourth year of Claudius. It is mentioned by Josephus, and in terms which would alone suggest that this was the famine which the sacred historian had in view. It is adduced by Josephus somewhat incident- ally, in connection with Helena queen of Adibene. This princess was a proselyte to Judaism, and had brought up her son Izates in the same faith, in which he was more fully con- firmed afterwards by a learned Jew called Ananias. Speak- ing of the arrival of Helena at Jerusalem, the Jewish histo- rian says : — " Her arrival was a great blessing to the people ; for the city, at that time laboring under a heavy famine, so that a great many perished for want, the queen sent abroad several of her officers ; some to Alexandria for the purchase of corn, others to Cyprus to buy up dried figs. These having used the utmost expedition, as soon as they returned, she dis- tributed food to those who were in need. By this liberality she laid a lasting obligation upon our whole nation. Moreover, hei son Izates, having heard of the famine, sent a large sum of money to the chief men of Jerusalem."! Afterwards he refers to the same famine, in such terms as seem to show that it was not confined to one season, but extended over two or three years. It is clear from supplies of corn being obtained from abroad, that the dearth was confined to, or was felt with most intensity in Judea. That it did not extend to Egypt on the south is * Tacit. Ann. xii. 43. f Antig. xx. 2, 6. 10* 226 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK — FRIDAY. clear, and if it had been felt to the northeast, Izates would have wanted his money to feed his own people. In this case we see that Helena and Izates, proselytes to Judaism, do the same thing for the native Jews, which the proselytes to Chris- tianity at Antioch, do for the native Christians. It is well rea- soned from this case by Lardner,* who has brought together all the information bearing upon the subject, " that the Jews of Judea seem to have expected it as due to them that some particular regard should be shown them by the rest of their countrymen, and all who came over to the worship of the true God, and were admitted to share in any of the privileges of the Jewish nation. Thus St. Paul assures us :f ( Only they would that we should remember the poor, the same which I also was forward to do.' The very last time that St. Paul was at Jerusalem : ' After many years,' says he, ' I came to bring alms to my nation and offerings.']; Nor was St. Paul's argu- ment a new thought, though expressed by him with a divine temper : ' But now I go unto Jerusalem, to minister unto the saints ; for it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia, to make a certain contribution for the poor saints that are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily, and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in car- nal things." Rom. xv. 25-27. FORTY-SIXTH WEEK— FRIDAY. HEROD AGRIPPA. ACTS XII. 1 The twelfth chapter of the Acts opens with an account of the hostile proceedings of " Herod the king" against the church at Jerusalem. Without information from other sources, we should be con- * Credibility of the Gospel History, ch. 11. f Gal. ii. 10. % Acts x*^- 17 - HEROD AGRIPPA. 227 eiderably perplexed to find Judea again a kingdom, when it was but lately we saw it a Roman province, governed by a Roman procurator ; and we might be somewhat at a loss to distinguish this " Herod the king" from two others of the same name and title mentioned in the Gospels. The first was a real king, Herod the Great ; the second was his son Herod Anti- pas, the tetrarch of Galilee, called " king" by his own subjects ; the third is this Herod — also a real king, possessed of all the territories over which the first Herod had reigned. In com- mon history he bears the name of Agrippa, which was his Roman name ; and writers now usually add this to his Jewish name of Herod, calling him Herod-Agrippa, for the sake of distinctiveness. The first Herod had early strengthened himself by marrying Mariamne, the grand-daughter of the high-priest, Hyrcanus II., the last ruling prince of that noble Maccabsean house which his own had supplanted. By her he had two sons and two daughters. The sons were Alexander and Aris- tobulus ; and they were both in one day put to death by their father on an unfounded suspicion of their conspiring against his power. Aristobulus had espoused Bernice, a daughter of his father's sister Salome ; and of this marriage the issue was the present Herod-Agrippa, Aristobulus, Herod (king of Chal- cis,) and Herodias, the notorious wife of Herod Antipas. Herod-Agrippa himself married his cousin Cypros, daughter of his father's sister Salampsio by her cousin Phasael ; and by this marriage he had five children, three of whom are mentioned in the sequel of the Acts. These three are the "king Agrippa" (Herod-Agrippa II.,) before whom Paul pleaded at Csesarea, after he had appealed to Caesar ; Bernice, who was present on that occasion ; and Drusilla, who is named in Acts xxiv. 24 as the wife of the Roman governor Felix. Thus, then, it appears that Herod-Agrippa was grandson of Herod the Great, nephew of Herod Antipas, brother of Hero- dias, and father of king Agrippa, Bernice, and Drusilla. The history of this man is remarkable for romantic interest and strange vicissitudes. A full exposition of its diversified incidents might be made the vehicle of much information 228 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK — FRIDAY. illustrative of the ideas, and the moral and social condition and usages of the time in which he lived, and of the countries with which he was connected ; but a very concise sketch is all that can here be given. Soon after the death of his father, the young Agrippa was sent to Rome to be brought up at the imperial court. He was well received there, and educated with the younger Drusus, son of the future emperor Tiberius, while his concerns were kindly watched over with maternal solicitude by Antonia, wife of the elder Drusus (brother of Tiberius), and mother of the future emperor Claudius. Antonia was an attached friend to Agrippa's mother Bernice, and for her sake proved herself a fast friend to her son to the end of her life. Bernice herself came to Rome soon after the death of Herod the Great, along with her mother Salome, and her half-brother Archelaus, when the latter went to procure from Augustus the confirma- tion of his father's will. Bernice remained at Rome, in the enjoyment of Antonia's friendship and protection, and watch- ful of her son's interests. As long as his mother lived, Agrippa conducted himself very well ; but after her death he gave full sway to his natural disposition for dissipation and extrava- gance, and in a few years had wasted all his substance in riotous living, and in profuse largesses to those whom he sup- posed able to advance his interests with the emperor. He then began to be in want ; and any prospects of relief or re- stored fortune which he may have founded on the friendship or influence of Drusus, were extinguished by the death of that prince, followed as it was by an order from Tiberius that all the intimate associates of his deceased son should avoid his presence, lest the sight of them should remind him of the loss he had sustained. Sunk into poverty, overwhelmed with debt, and hopeless of the future, Agrippa felt that Rome was no longer a place for him, and he withdrew, with his wife Cypros, into privacy and retirement at Malatha in Idumea. Here he felt quite out of his element ; and brooding daily over his wasted life and abortive prospects, he resolved upon self-de- struction. His purpose was, however, discovered by his wife, HEROD AGRIPFA. 221 who successfully exerted herself to divert him from it. This good wife, having thus found how reckless her husband had become — " As one past hope abandoned, And by himself given over." deemed that the time had arrrived for her to exert herself on his behalf. She therefore wrote a letter to his sister Herodias, describing her husband's forlorn condition, and gloomy state of mind, and imploring her to prevail upon Herod the tetrarch to do something for him. On this Herod sent to invite him to his court ; and on his arrival appointed him to reside at Tiberias, as its magistrate, with a house and adequate pension. Here the thriftless Agrippa relapsed into his old habits of extravagance, and soon wearied out the liberality of Herod, who took occasion of a public entertainment at Tyre to taunt him with his poverty, his extravagance, and his entire de- pendence upon him. Agrippa fired at this ; and freely re- torting taunt for taunt, he flung back his uncle's favors with disdain, and repaired to Flaccus, who was now the Roman governor of Syria, and with whom he had been intimate at Rome. With him he found his own brother, Aristobulus, with whom he was at enmity, and who eventually succeeded in driving Agrippa from the protection of Flaccus, by accus- ing him of having taken a bribe from the Damascenes to sup- port their cause with the pro-consul against the Sidonians. The charge was true ; and Agrippa had again to wander forth in search of means to live. He repaired to Ptole- mais, and the sight of the shipping at that port probably suggested the idea of embarking for Italy, considering that it could not be worse for him there than elsewhere, and might be better. The great obstacle was the want of money ; but this he at length surmounted by procuring from one Peter, who was the freedman of Bernice, the sum of 17.500 drachmae, upon his bond for 20,000. Thus provided, he took ship, and was ready to depart, when he was intercepted by a body of cavalry sent by Herennius Capito, the imperial procurator in Jamnia, for a debt of 300,000 drachmae which he had for- 230 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK FRIDAY. merly contracted. He soothed his captors by professions and promises, but tooK ntage of the night to cut his cables and sail away for Alexandria. Here his wife's security availed to procure him a loan of 200,000 drachmae from Alexander, the alabarch of the Egyptian Jews, after it had been refused him on his own. This person, however, knew Agrippa too well to pay the whole of this large sum down, fearing that he would forthwith squander it away; but gave him part of it, and undertook that the rest should be paid after his arrival in Italy. He then sailed for Italy, and was well received by Tiberius, who was residing in the island of Caprese, and whose grief for the loss of Drusus had been abated by lapse of time. But the very next day a letter arrived from Herennius, giving the particulars of his debt and flight ; and upon this the em- peror forbade him to come into his presence till the debt was paid. From this trouble he was relieved by the kindness of Antonia, who, from regard to his mother, advanced him money enough to satisfy this demand. This restored him to the favor of Tiberius, who directed him to attend upon his grand- son, Tiberius Gemellus ; but mindful of the sincere friendship of Antonia, to which he had been so often indebted, Agrippa gradually attached himself to her grandson, Caius Caligula, and at length became his constant companion, and acquired great influence with him. This sort of life cost money ; but Agrippa had borrowed a million of drachmae, with which he repaid the loan of Antonia, and spent the rest in paying court to her grandson. Troubles, however, still awaited him. Rid- ing out one day with Caius, he incautiously expressed to the latter a wish that the death of Tiberius might soon raise him to imperial power. This was overheard by the charioteer, who afterwards being detected in a theft, intimated that he had something of importance to communicate to the emperor. Tiberius at first refused to hear the man, but at length granted him an audience at the intercession of Agrippa himself. No sooner was the charge made than Agrippa, though clothed in purple, was laden with chains, and remained in close custody until the death of the emperor, which happened six months HEROD AGRIPPA. 23 i after, notwithstanding the exertions of Antonia in his behalf. But the demise cf Tiberius changed his condition from that of a captive to a king. The new emperor speedily called him to his presence. He caused him to be shaved, and made him change his raiment. He then placed a diadem upon his head, and declared him king of Gaulonitis, Batanea, and gave him besides the tetrarchy of Lysanias ; while for the iron chain by which he had been bound to the soldier that kept him, he be- stowed on him one of equal weight in gold. Agrippa was too prudent to manifest much haste to quit Rome. At length in the second year of Caligula he obtained leave to go and settle the affairs of his kingdom. He went by way of Alexandria, where his re-appearance in the charac- ter of a king was hailed with mirth, derision, and insult. In Palestine he was gazed at with wonder, and by his own rela- tions was regarded with envy. Herodias, in particular, was exas- perated at her brother's triumph, and urged her husband to seek for himself equal honors. Herod Antipas, accompanied by her, went to Rome for that purpose, but Agrippa sent an en- voy to resist this claim, and to make certain charges against his uncle ; and afterwards went himsef to render his opposi- tion more effectual by his personal influence. His success was such that Herod was banished to Lyons in Gaul, whither his wife involuntarily followed him, and where they both died. The forfeited tetrarchy, together with the personal property of his uncle, were bestowed upon Agrippa, forming a material addition to his power, and giving him a footing on this side the Jordan. It was during this residence at Rome that Agrippa found occasion to render that service to the Jews, in respect of the image of the emperor, which we have already commemo- rated. He was still at Rome when Caligula died, and Clau- dius succeeded to the empire. "With this prince, the son of his best friend Antonia, Agrippa had been educated ; and his in- fluence over him being great, he took no unimportant part in the measures which secured for him the imperial purple. Im- mediately on his accession, Claudius raised his friend to the rank of consul, he added to his dominions Judea, Samaria, 232 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK — SATURDAY. Abila, and part of Lebanon — so that Agrippa now possessed the entire kindom of his grandfather, Herod the Great. It was in the third year of his reign over all Palestine that the Sacred History takes notice of him* and when he had been about two years in the country. On his arrival at Jeru- salem in a. d. 42, he presented many thank-offerings upon the altar, and suspended near the treasury the golden chain he had received from Caligula, as a memorial of his deliverance. He was covetous of popularity among his subjects, and labor- ed much to gratify them. In this the testimony of Josephus agrees with that of Luke. Some of his undertakings were, however, frustrated by the jealousy of the Romans, as when he undertook to raise and strengthen the walls of Jerusalem. It happens that this is the only Jewish prince of whom any certain likeness exists. It is found on a coin of great rarity and interest, a representation of which is here introduced.* FORTY-SIXTH WEEK— SATURDAY. JAMES THE BROTHER OF JOHN. ACTS XII. 2. It was this man, such as we described him last evening — is called by Luke, " Agrippa the " Herod the king," as he * Copied with the author's kind permission from Numismatic Il- lustrations of the New Testament, by Johx Yonge Akerman, F. S. A. Loudon, 1846. The obverse bears the head of Agrippa, with the title of Megas— BACIAEVC MFTAC ArPIIHIAC. *IAOKAICAP— King Agrippa the Great, lover of Caesar. The reverse — KA1CAPIA H. HPOC. T£2v CEBACYS2j; AIMENI, i. e. Casarea ad portum Sebastum. Fortune standing with her attributes JAMES THE BROTHER OF JOHN. 233 Great,' 1 as lie liked to be designated, who " about that time," — that is, about the time of the visit of Saul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, " stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church." The Christian church at Jerusalem had become too prominent to escape his notice ; and perceiving how deeply that body was disliked and hated by the Jews, he expected to win some favor with them by manifesting hostility against its leading members. That this was his primary object is clear from the fact, that after he had killed " James the brother of John with the sword," and perceived that this atrocity " pleased the people" he caused Peter to be apprehended, with the in- tention of destroying him also after the Passover. The leading principle of Agrippa's life seems to have been to make himself agreeable to all persons whose favor was or might become of any advantage to him. It was now his in- terest to stand w r ell with the Jews, and he knew that there was no way so conducive to this end, as to affect a zeal for the strict observance of the ancient ritual, though on many occa- sions he acted contrary to it in order to ingratiate himself with the Gentiles. He was, in fact, a complete man of the world ; and, as such, he scrupled not to make the passions of other men, in which he had no share, and their prejudices, which he despised, the instruments of his own greatness. How it was that James was selected for the first victim does not ap- pear ; but it may be supposed that he had excited the anger of the Jewish zealots by some particular act or discourse. We must not forget, however, that he was one of the " sons of thunder ;" and the qualities which rendered that designation appropriate, would be likely to make him very conspicuous among the apostles at Jerusalem, and render him a mark for the enemies of the Gospel. That he w T as " slain by the sword," would seem to imply that he was sentenced by the king him- self, rather than by the usual Jewish court of orthodoxy, which would have condemned him to be stoned ; and this "slaying by the sword" is usually, in this case, interpreted to mean beheading ; and perhaps rightly so at this period, though under the Old Testament we should rather regard the express- 234 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK SATURDAY. ion as denoting that a person was thrust through with a sword. There is a tradition concerning the death of James which is worthy of attention, though it is not possible to say- how far it may be relied on. It is cited by Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, from a lost work by Clement of Alex- andria. It is, that the officer who had the apostle in custody during his trial, or, as some say, his accuser, was convinced and converted by his demeanor before the judgment seat, and having confessed Christ, was led out with him to execution. On the way, he entreated pardon of the apostle. The latter thought a little in silence, and then said : " Peace be with thee ;" and kissed him. Such was the first martyrdom among the apostles ; and thus early, to him, was the prediction ful- filled, that the sons of Zebedee should drink of the same cup with their Lord, and be baptized with the same baptism. There is, however, something touching in the contrast between the two brothers. " One died before the middle of the first Christian century ; the other lived to its close. One died just as his Master's kingdom, concerning which he had so eagerly inquired,* was beginning to show its real character ; he prob- ably never heard the word ' Christian ' pronounced. Zebedee's other son remained till the auti-christian enemies of the faith were ' already come,'f and was laboring against them when his brother had been fifty years at rest in the Lord."J This James was one of the three apostles whom our Lord favored with his special intimacy and confidence ; yet he scarcely ap- pears individually in the evangelical history, and there is hard- ly any one of the apostles concerning whom we have a less dis- tinct impression. His early death — before any of the original apostles had travelled out of Palestine — would seem to exclude his name from the record of apostolic missionary labor. Yet it has long been the general opinion of the people of Spain that he planted the Gospel in that country. He is their St. Jago. But the alleged fact seems so impossible from all the circumstances of the case, and is so unsupported by the testi- * Mark x. 35-45 ; Acts i. 6. f 1 John ii. 18 ; iv. 3 ; 2 John 1. % Howson, in Life of St. Paul, i. 138. THE PRAYING CHURCH. 235 monies of any ancient writer of credit, that the notion is gen- erally abandoned even by Roman Catholic writers out of Spain. There is in Jerusalem, upon Mount Zion, within the walls, the Armenian convent of St. James the son of Zebedee. It is the largest establishment of the kind in the place, and is capable of affording accommodation to three thousand pil- grims. Here is a fine library, agreeable gardens, the most extensive in the city, and a church larger and more handsome than any other in Jerusalem. The building is supposed to cover the site of St. James' martyrdom, and the very spot where he died is pointed out. It was in the eleventh century that a monastery was first built over the spot. But, as Mr. Williams remarks, it is difficult to reconcile this tradition, which is not very ancient, with the established historical fact, that the executions of the ancients took place without the gates.* .forts- Senentl) toeek— Stmcas- THE PRAYING CHURCH. ACTS. XII. 5. We have seen that Peter was cast into prison, with the known intention of Herod Agrippa that he should be taken from it only to his death. We may readily conceive the deep concern of the believers in Jerusalem at this event, and at the threatened addition to the loss they had already sustained. And what did they under these circumstances ? Did they not move heaven and earth for his deliverance ? They sought to move heaven ; and left it to heaven to move the earth. They were of that plain, right-minded people who deemed that both the surest and readiest course of proceeding for the attainment of any object was to go direct, and first of all, to him who holds all the elements, and all the interests, and hearts, and lives of men in his hands. We therefore read of nothing that * Holy City, i. suppl. p. 23 ; ii. 559, 560. 236 FORTY-SEVENTH WEEK SUNDAY. they did, but that " prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him." In the first place it might be asked, what possible use could there be of prayer in such a case as this ? Here was Peter in a strung and well-guarded prison, chained to soldiers conscious of his slightest movements, and reserved for death by a tyrant not likely to be moved from his purpose by any influence that could be brought to bear upon him. There never was a man in a case, deliverance from which could seem more of a moral and even physical impossibility. Yet the believers, though they knew all this, prayed not the less earnestly and hopefully for him. Prayer, like faith, of which prayer is the expression — " Laughs at impossibilities, And cries, 'It shall be done !' " " The first Christians were persuaded that nothing is impos- sible to him that believes, because nothing is impossible to God. Daniel was preserved in a den of Lions, and the three Jewish confessors in the midst of a fiery furnace. God could bend the heart of the tyrant to mercy, or defeat his purpose by his sudden death, or incline the people to intercede for the life of his servant, or deliver him by a miracle. They did not limit the Holy One of Israel, and say, ( How can this thing be V Reflecting on his power, they overlooked the obstacles to the answer of their prayers, and being strong in faith, gave glory to God."* It may be that the Lord permitted that combination of cir- cumstances which rendered the release of Peter impossible to any human means or influence, in order that the believers might look entirely to Him for the deliverance of Peter ; and that this deliverance, being granted solely by his power and in manifest answer to their prayers, might strengthen their faith, and recover them from any discouragement the loss of James had occasioned, by assuring them that, although he had been taken from them, their interests w T ere not un watched, nor their safety unguarded ; and that James had not died becai?