K. D.

 
 THE STORT OF 
 THE NAZARENE
 
 \
 
 [THE SrORT OF 
 
 THE N^Z^RENE 
 
 f'C 
 
 IN ANNOTATED PARAPHRASE 
 
 By 
 Noah K. Davis, Ph. D. 
 
 University of Virginia 
 
 6 Xoyn^ ffdpl; iylvero, KOI iG/trjvwaev iv r/fitv 
 
 New York Chicago Toronto 
 
 Fleming H. Revel I Company 
 
 London and Edinburgh 

 
 Copyright 1903 by 
 FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 
 
 (November) 
 
 New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
 Chicago: 63 -Washington Street 
 Toronto: 27 Richmond Street, W. 
 London: 21 Paternoster Square 
 Edinburgh: 30 St. Mary Street
 
 To Clara Bell
 
 Preface 
 
 THE following narrative repeats the gospel story 
 as told by the four Evangelists. Their narra- 
 tives are here combined, neglecting doctrinal 
 matter in favor of events. It arranges all, save one of 
 these, in their actual historical order as to time and place. 
 Uncertainties are not discussed, but the solution that 
 seems most reasonable is adopted and stated without 
 demur. Much care has been taken with the natural and 
 logical divisions of the events in order to correct a very 
 common confusion, and to enable the gospel reader to 
 acquire such a clear and correct notion of their orderly 
 occurrence as is perhaps rarely attained. 
 
 As an aid to a better understanding of the events the 
 related secular history of the day, both Jewish and 
 Roman, is interwoven in the narrative. Other accessory 
 matter has been added concerning chronology, geography, 
 topography and localities, the social customs and political 
 incidents of the time in accord with recent biblical 
 scholarship, and the approved results of archaeology. 
 Still there is no deviation from the traditional view of 
 Protestants and Catholics alike, unless for cogent reasons. 
 
 5
 
 6 PREFACE 
 
 The Gospel text is paraphrased so far as is needful to 
 unfold its meaning. Annotations are incorporated in the 
 account for sake of explanation and illustration, without 
 extracting moral lessons, which have more virtue clad 
 in their native armor of fact. In many cases, however, 
 the scanty outline sketch of the Evangelist, though 
 rigidly retained, has been filled in with imaginary details 
 of strictly reasonable probability, so as to depict the 
 scenes distinctly and vividly. 
 
 The work has been done reverently, with hearty con- 
 fidence in the historic verity of its basis, a confidence 
 unshaken by its supernatural marvels, unshaken because 
 begotten of clear reason, which sees spiritual energies, 
 human and superhuman, dominating ever the course of 
 history. Men will never tire of the story that has proved 
 to be the most momentous episode in the annals of man- 
 kind, and the most beautiful in all literature ; the story 
 of the time when the three spheres were tangent, and 
 Heaven heroically wrested our World from the mastery 
 of Hell ; the story of Christus, victor, salvator, consolator ; 
 the love story of the wooing of humanity to become the 
 bride of the princely heir to the throne of the universe.
 
 Contents 
 
 PART FIRST HIS ADVENT 
 
 I. THE ANTICIPATION . . . . .13 
 
 II. THE ANNUNCIATION . . . . .19 
 
 III. THE INCARNATION ..... 27 
 
 IV. THE RECEPTION ...... 37 
 
 PART SECOND HIS INVESTITURE 
 V. THE PREPARATION . . . . . -55 
 VI. THE INAUGURATION ..... 66 
 
 VII. THE ATTESTATION ...... 86 
 
 PART THIRD HIS FIRST JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 VIII. THE INCEPTION ...... 105 
 
 IX. THE INTERRUPTION . . . . .116 
 
 PART FOURTH HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 X. THE NEW HOME . . . . . .133 
 
 XI. THE FIRST TOUR AND ITS SEQUEL . . .146 
 
 XII. THE EXCURSION AND RETURN . . . 161 
 
 XIII. THE SECOND TOUR BEGUN . . . .176 
 
 XIV. THE SEQUEL OF THE TOUR . . . .185 
 XV. THE THIRD TOUR. FATE OF JOHN . -194 
 
 XVI. THE CLOSING SCENES ..... 204 
 
 PART FIFTH HIS EXILE 
 XVII. IN PHOENICIA AND DECAPOLIS 
 XVHT. IN THE REGION OF MT. HERMON 
 
 7
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PART SIXTH HIS SECOND JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 XIX. THE WORK IN JERUSALEM .... 239 
 XX. THE TOUR AND ITS CLOSE .... 255 
 
 PART SEVENTH HIS PER^EAN MINISTRY 
 XXI. THE WORK INTERRUPTED .... 265 
 XXII. THE GREAT MIRACLE . . . . .275 
 
 PART EIGHTH HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 XXIII. THE ROYAL PROGRESS 289 
 
 XXIV. THE REJECTION 307 
 
 XXV. THE PROPHECY .... 
 
 PART NINTH HIS PASSION 
 XXVI. THE PRELUDE .... 
 XXVII. THE EUCHARIST 
 XXVIII. THE ARREST .... 
 XXIX. THE ARRAIGNMENTS 
 XXX. THE EXECUTION 
 
 PART TENTH HIS REVIVAL 
 XXXI. THE RESURRECTION DAY 
 XXXII. THE FORTY DAYS 
 XXXIII. THE AFTER DAYS 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 
 INDEX TO ACCESSORIES 
 
 320 
 
 327 
 338 
 346 
 
 354 
 37 
 
 389 
 
 399 
 
 407 
 
 4*7 
 
 424 
 427
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 NAZARETH* TITLE 
 
 MAP OF PALESTINE 19 
 
 BETHLEHEM OF JUDEA* 30 
 
 MAP OF JERUSALEM 55 
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST AT THE RIVER JORDAN .... 69 
 
 PLAN OF THE TEMPLE 105 
 
 THE TEMPLE BUILT BY HEROD 105 
 
 NABLUS AND VALE OF SHECHEM* 123 
 
 PHYSICAL MAP OF PALESTINE* 133 
 
 THE SEA OF GALILEE 137 
 
 THE HORNS OF HATTIN 172 
 
 THE RETURN INTO EXILE 224 
 
 BETHANY OF JUDEA* 275 
 
 JESUS LOOKING UPON JERUSALEM 304 
 
 * Acknowledgment is due Professor R. L. Stewart for the use 
 of these illustrations from his book " The Land of Israel"
 
 PART FIRST 
 His Advent
 
 NEARLY two thousand years ago a great event 
 took place. It was the birth of a man child. 
 His advent had been dimly foretold in the 
 garden of Eden, on the fall of the first Adam. The ark 
 of Noah prefigured his work ; and the altar of Abraham's 
 son was a presage of the means. Moses, the lawgiver 
 and leader, the counsellor and commander, the minister 
 and mediator, offering himself in atonement for the sin 
 of his people, foreshadowed the high offices of his celes- 
 tial antitype, and established a typical ritual which sub- 
 sisted till he came. Thus during four millenniums, more 
 and more clearly in the wistful eyes of the waiting elect, 
 he was coming, coming, coming, coming. 
 
 Also throughout four prophetic epochs he was an- 
 nounced. David, his royal ancestor, celebrated his 
 advent in imperishable songs. Elijah, the forerunner 
 and reformer, standing for loyalty and legality in the dark 
 days of defection and disorder, preached repentance for 
 the remission of sins, and cried, Make ye ready the way 
 of the Lord. The inspired seer Isaiah, to whom the 
 future was present, with burning lips called out, Awake, 
 awake ; put on thy strength, O Zion ; put on thy beauti- 
 ful garments, O Jerusalem. Arise, shine ; for thy light is 
 come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 
 And Malachi, closing the long prophetic roll, stood forth 
 at last, in the name of Jehovah proclaiming, Behold, the 
 Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, 
 
 13
 
 14 HIS ADVENT 
 
 even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in. 
 Yet who may abide the day of his coming, and who 
 shall stand when he appeareth ? But unto you that fear 
 his name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with heal- 
 ing in his wings. - The time is ripening. Only four 
 centuries remain. Now, O voice of prophecy, hush. 
 
 During all those early ages, throughout the gentile 
 world far and near, unconscious prophecies of his coming 
 abounded. In the poignant consciousness of innate de- 
 pravity and overt guilt, mankind instinctively sought for 
 atonement in sacrifice, for remission in the vicarious 
 shedding of blood, even of human blood. And so it 
 was that every temple and every altar, every priest and 
 every augur, betokened his coming. In many strange 
 fables too, as of Pandora and of Prometheus, of Danae 
 and of Perseus, the mythologists anticipated the 
 evangelists. Groping thus in the valley and shadow of 
 death, four races of mankind in diverse quarters of the 
 world gathered severally at the feet of four great sages to 
 be taught the way of light and life, hoping that in the 
 teacher was life, and the life the light of men. 
 
 Confucius, for nearly twenty-five centuries, has been 
 the supreme and undisputed teacher of the most populous 
 quarter of the globe. Leaving a memory perpetuated 
 even yet in manners, gestures and dress, leaving analects 
 of ethical maxims so wise and pure as to command uni- 
 versal admiration, he justly ranks as a leader of humanity, 
 and as a type of the true light. 
 
 Buddha, The Enlightened, The Light of Asia, was 
 hailed as a deliverer, teaching a way of salvation from 
 the miseries of life by the transmigration of Karma, and 
 the reabsorbtion of Nirvana. In the Buddhistic Canon
 
 THE ANTICIPATION 15 
 
 of the Three Baskets, including the Path of Virtue by 
 which alone this salvation is attained, most of the moral 
 precepts of the Gospel are found, and its doctrine is 
 to-day the confession of one fourth of the human race. 
 
 Zoroaster, in the scriptural Zend-Avesta, taught the 
 knowledge of good and evil, personified in Ormuzd and 
 Ahriman ; also the unity, invisibility and eternity of the 
 supreme being, and the immortality of the soul. To the 
 Magi he forbade the building of temples, and the making 
 of graven images. Recognizing the Sun as the source 
 of light and life, he directed divine worship through it ; 
 so that " an incense of pure offering went up to the 
 Eternal God, even from the rising of the Sun." 
 
 These three were of the East. On the West, Socrates, 
 in revolt against the skepticism of the Sophists, reasoned 
 of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. 
 With the spirit of an apostle, he sought out and taught 
 the eternal principles of public and private justice. En- 
 amored of truth in its highest and widest reach, he 
 endorsed the doctrine of Anaxagoras, that the divine 
 mind, which, as the finest among all things, is simple 
 unmixed and passionless reason, and distinguished from 
 material natures by its unity, independence, knowledge 
 and power, itself brought order out of chaos, and as a 
 supreme divine intelligence governs the world. This, 
 supplemented by the still earlier doctrine of Anaxi- 
 mander, that all things must in equity give satisfaction 
 and atonement for injustice, furnished the basis for 
 building an enduring scheme of philosophical ethics, 
 which became a powerful factor in European civilization. 
 Reminiscent of the rejection and fate of this martyr of 
 philosophy at the outset of the four silent centuries, 
 Plato, the disciple whom he loved, was moved to write.
 
 16 HIS ADVENT 
 
 " Should ever a man perfectly just appear among men 
 he will be bound, scourged, racked, tortured, and at last, 
 after suffering every kind of evil, he will be impaled." 
 
 These unconscious prophecies of the coming, stimu- 
 lated by the instinctive longing of humanity for a teacher 
 and redeemer, were attended by a dream of universal 
 empire, by the vision of a King who should rule the 
 world in righteousness. In the effort to realize this 
 dream, four powerful monarchies in succession arose, 
 symbolized by a colossal image whose head was of fine 
 gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of 
 brass, and its legs and feet of iron. 
 
 The Assyrio-Babylonian Empire culminated under 
 Nebuchadnezzar who was the head of gold. Despite its 
 splendor, this loose aggregate of powers, having the im- 
 perfection of elementary civilization, and being corrupted 
 by the vices of luxury, was foredoomed to ruin. 
 
 Upon its ruins arose the silver Medo-Persian Empire, 
 under Cyrus, the Sun. Him the evangelical prophet 
 announced, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of his messiah, 
 of Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and shall perform all my 
 pleasure; and whom Xenophon, the Attic bee, in his 
 later evangel, idealized as a just, generous and patriotic 
 king, a wise leader and commander of the people. 
 
 After two centuries, at the battle of Arbela, the latter 
 monarchy was replaced by the bronze Greco-Macedonian 
 power, and Alexander, with no more worlds to conquer, 
 took his seat at Babylon on the throne of a universal 
 empire. At his death it disintegrated ; for thus saith the 
 Lord God, Remove the diadem, and take off the crown ; 
 I will overturn, overturn, overturn, until he come whose 
 right it is to reign, and he shall reign forever and ever. 
 
 The seat of these three empires was the eastern Baby-
 
 THE ANTICIPATION 17 
 
 Ion. The throne of the fourth, the iron Roman Empire, 
 was the western Babylon. Julius Csesar led his victori- 
 ous legions to the far North; Pompey swept over the 
 East; and the Roman sway extended from Britain to 
 the upper Nile, and from the Pillars of Hercules along 
 the Mediterranean coasts, beyond Syria, to the historic 
 Euphrates. Octavius Csesar, at Philippi and Actium 
 consolidated this vast empire, and became without a rival 
 an absolute monarch, and a king of kings. Under the 
 surname Augustus, he gathered into his own personality 
 all the chief titles of honor and offices of power, and 
 thus was at once proconsul, tribune, legislator, censor, 
 pontifex maximus and imperator. During twenty years 
 his conquering legions under Varus enlarged the borders 
 of his empire, but in the year 10 B. c., the world being 
 quiet under the iron heel of Rome, the temple of Janus 
 was closed, and the monarch was hailed as Prince of 
 Peace. Temples were erected to his name, sacrificial 
 altars placed before his statue, divine honors lavished 
 upon him, and the evangelical Eclogue of Vergil an- 
 nounced a return of the golden age. 
 
 The four monarchies were the presage of a fifth, soon 
 to arise. The fullness of time was come, the advent of 
 The Prince of Peace was at hand. Let mankind pause to 
 receive Him ; hush, peace, be still. 
 
 " No war, or battle's sound, 
 Was heard the world around ; 
 
 The idle spear and shield were high up hung ; 
 The hooked chariot stood 
 Unstained with hostile blood ; 
 
 The trumpet spake not to the armed throng ; 
 And kings sat still with awful eye, 
 As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by."
 
 i8 HIS ADVENT 
 
 For unto man a child is born, unto man a Son is given ; 
 and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, and 
 The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government 
 and peace there shall be no end ; his kingdom shall be 
 established with judgment and with justice from hence- 
 forth, even forever more. 
 
 Of an heir so illustrious the world would reasonably, 
 and according to its custom, ask the royal descent. It is 
 given. First the legal descent, showing him to be right- 
 fully the crown prince, is traced from Abraham, the 
 founder of the nation, through David, its first king, 
 through a long line of kings, throughout three times 
 fourteen generations through Matthan, the grandfather 
 of his reputed father, Joseph ; by which, according to 
 law, he was entitled to the throne. Secondly, the natural 
 descent is traced, in reverse order, from his mother, 
 through her grandfather, Matthat, through Zerubbabel 
 the restorer, through David the king, through the patri- 
 archs, to Adam, the Son of God. 3 
 
 JV. B. The figures at the ending of paragraphs refer to the Synopsis 
 appended to the book.
 
 PALESTINE 
 
 in the time of Christ. 
 
 R A R C IH Y 
 
 :X:l^e/]LoPE R 
 
 mo.th Gilead^ JS ~^ /_ 
 
 ^ / ~ 7J / < 
 
 JERUSALEM' -^^< 
 
 "Bethlehem^' ' 
 
 ^^'-x;-:o 
 
 Copyright iS03 by Fltming H. Revell Company.
 
 II 
 
 THE ANNUNCIATION 
 
 IT was ordained that the coming prince should have 
 an immediate forerunner to serve as a reformer 
 and a herald, with his parentage the story begins. 
 
 An aged priest, Zacharias, whose home was in middle 
 Judea, with his aged wife Elisabeth, was childless. Their 
 lives were blameless, but sorrowful. With devout piety 
 they had often prayed that the void in their hearts might 
 be filled, and the reproach of barrenness taken away. 
 But now, in normal order, they could no longer hope. 
 All this is natural, simply human, nothing could be more 
 homely. 4 
 
 And now the gospel story opens as is fitting, in the 
 holy City, in the holy Temple, in the Holy Place. 
 
 In September of the year 6 B. c., Zacharias went up to 
 Jerusalem to take his turn in the priestly office. One 
 morning it was allotted to him, which could occur 
 only once in a lifetime, to offer incense on the altar in the 
 Sanctuary, while the people stood praying without. 
 Immediately the story leads us into the realm of the 
 supernatural ; for, as Zacharias was burning incense, an 
 angel appeared standing on the right of the altar. The 
 natural dread of the supernatural fell upon the priest, and 
 he trembled. 
 
 " Fear not, Zacharias," said the angel. " Thy prayers 
 are granted. Thou shalt have a son whose name is John 
 (gift of Jehovah). He shall be great in the sight of the 
 
 19
 
 20 HIS ADVENT 
 
 Lord, and like Elijah, he shall prepare the way of the 
 Lord." 
 
 But Zacharias, who believed in natural order as firmly 
 as a modern scientist, and who, as a Jew, wanted a sign, 
 replied : 
 
 " Whereby shall I know this ? Both I and my wife 
 are very old." 
 
 The angel, indignant at the doubt, answered severely : 
 
 " I am Gabriel (hero of God), that stand in the pres- 
 ence of God ; and I was sent to bring thee good news. 
 A sign ? Thou shalt have it. Be thou dumb until my 
 words are fulfilled." 
 
 When Zacharias (remembered of the Lord) came out 
 of the Sanctuary, he could not speak to the waiting peo- 
 ple, but by gestures made known that he had seen a 
 vision. His persistent dumbness was evidence, that the 
 vision was not an hallucination ; accordingly, on return- 
 ing to his home at Hebron, twenty miles south of 
 Jerusalem, he made known to Elisabeth (worshipper of 
 God), doubtless by writing, what he had seen and heard. 
 In a similar case, Abraham believed, but Sarah laughed 
 incredulously. Here the reverse ; Zacharias doubted, but 
 Elisabeth believed, saying joyfully : 
 
 " The Lord hath taken away my reproach." 
 
 About fifty-four miles north of Jerusalem, nestled in 
 the bosom of the hills of lower Galilee, is the village of 
 Nazareth. A valley, only a mile or so long, leads up 
 from the plain of Esdraelon, and widens at its head into 
 a basin, on whose western slope lies the village. The 
 broad area in its shelter of hills enjoys a mild climate, is 
 fertile and cultivated; abounding in grain-fields, gardens 
 and orchards, all the fruits of the region, as the pome-
 
 THE ANNUNCIATION 21 
 
 granate, orange, fig and olive, ripening early and attain- 
 ing high perfection. From the surrounding heights are 
 seen, towards the north, the ridges of Lebanon and the 
 snowy crown of Hermon ; eastward, Tabor and Gilboa ; 
 southward, the plain of Esdraelon and the mountains of 
 Samaria ; on the west, Carmel, the bay of Akra and the 
 blue Mediterranean beyond. 
 
 In the secluded village in those days dwelt Joseph, a 
 carpenter by trade. He was a middle-aged man, and un- 
 married, but betrothed to his cousin german, a simple 
 village maiden named Mariam, or as we now call her 
 Mary. She was about sixteen, or perhaps eighteen years 
 of age, and being an orphan, her home in Nazareth was 
 with another Mary, the wife of Clopas who was probably 
 a brother of Joseph. Well versed in the Hebrew scrip- 
 tures, she lived a blameless life in the practice of unassum- 
 ing piety. 5 
 
 On a certain spring morning, March 25th, Lady Day, 
 six months after the vision of Zacharias, while Mary in 
 her private chamber was kneeling in humble devotion, 
 the angel Gabriel sent from God, his wings still redolent 
 with the airs of heaven, came in unto her and said : 
 
 " Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with 
 thee." 
 
 Mary was greatly troubled, and full of wonder at this 
 strange salutation. Then said the angel : 
 
 " Fear not, Mariam, for thou hast found favor with 
 God. And behold thou shalt conceive, and bring forth 
 a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, 
 and shall be called the Son of the most High ; and the 
 Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father 
 David ; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob unto 
 the ages ; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."
 
 22 HIS ADVENT 
 
 But Mary, not understanding this dignified, royal woo- 
 ing of her Sovereign through an ambassador, in perfect 
 simplicity and maidenly purity, exclaimed : 
 
 " How shall this be, seeing I know not a man ? " 
 
 The angel answering said unto her : 
 
 " The power of the Most High shall overshadow thee ; 
 wherefore the holy one that is to be born shall be called 
 the Son of God." 
 
 But, though the will of a sovereign was hereby an- 
 nounced, her free consent was sought. In order to give 
 her confidence and assure her of sympathy, the angel 
 told her also of what had befallen her kinswoman Elisa- 
 beth. Then Mary, with hands folded on her bosom and 
 a bowed head, with a gentle and humble submission 
 whose beauty is unparalleled, replied : 
 
 " Behold the handmaid of the Lord ; be it unto me 
 according to thy word." 
 
 Now when the angel departed from her, how did the 
 innocent heart of the young girl flutter ! First in con- 
 sternation, then more strongly in presentiment of celestial 
 honor. To Eve it was promised that her seed should 
 bruise the serpent's head, and over her first-born she cried 
 out exultingly, I have gotten the man, even Jehovah. Her 
 error left the hope, cherished for ages by every godly 
 woman, especially by every Hebrew woman enlightened by 
 clearer messianic prophecy, the hope of being the mother 
 of the promised seed. And now the word had come to this 
 humble village girl. Could it be possible ! She knew 
 that the prophet had said, Behold, a virgin shall conceive, 
 and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel, God 
 with us. Can it be, this divine gift, for me ! 
 
 Longing for sympathy and wise counsel, which, con-
 
 THE ANNUNCIATION 23 
 
 cerning such matter, she obviously could not venture to 
 seek in her home or of her betrothed, Mary remembered 
 the hint given by the angel of a like case with her kins- 
 woman. Keeping the sacred secret, she hurriedly ar- 
 ranged to make her a visit. It is seventy-four miles in direct 
 line from Nazareth southward to Hebron, and of course 
 more, if measured on the travelled way. But Mary ar- 
 rived speedily and safely, and saluted the aged Elisabeth, 
 who instantly reversed their usual relations, taking a 
 lower rank with homage to the young girl, and cried 
 aloud by inspiration, saying : 
 
 " Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the 
 fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the 
 mother of my Lord should come unto me ? For behold, 
 when the voice of thy salutation came into mine ears, 
 the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is 
 she that believed ; for there shall be a fulfillment of the 
 things which have been spoken to her from the Lord." 6 
 
 To this first beatitude of the Gospel, the root of all 
 others, Mary replied with a burst of holy enthusiasm and 
 inspired confidence : 
 
 " My soul doth magnify the Lord, 
 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 
 For he hath looked upon the low estate of his handmaiden ; 
 For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed." 
 
 In this exalted strain she continued throughout the 
 poetical Magnificat, so named from its first word in the 
 Latin Vulgate, the first line reading, Magnificat anima 
 rnea Dominum. It recalls the song of Hannah, and is 
 full of expanding reminiscences of the psalms which she 
 had by heart. Her prediction that, From henceforth all 
 generations shall call me blessed, has been marvellously ful-
 
 24 HIS ADVENT 
 
 filled, and even to-day, around the globe, she is known as 
 The Blessed Virgin. 
 
 The tendency of the world to offer divine honors to a 
 virgin is remarkable. Witness, among many others, the 
 grand temple of Athena Parthenos, the virgin, at Athens, 
 and the wondrous temple of Artemis Parthenos, the 
 chaste, at Ephesus ; also the constellation Virgo of the 
 zodiac. Perhaps because a virgin best represents inno- 
 cence, purity, and holy love. But with the virginity of 
 Mary is singularly combined the ineffable grace of ma- 
 ternal devotion to a divine son. Hardly then should we 
 wonder that for ages, before innumerable shrines, men 
 have bowed with the prayer, Holy Mary, Mother of God, 
 pray for us sinners. 
 
 " O sanctissima, O purissina, 
 
 Virgo Maria dulcis ! 
 
 Mater amata intemperata, 
 
 Ora, ora pro nobis." 
 
 In violent reaction against Romanism, Protestants pro- 
 test against Mariolatry, objecting even to the title Blessed. 
 But the world will have grown gray and imbecile before 
 it ceases the adoration of pure, sweet girlhood, and tender, 
 devoted motherhood. 
 
 " Ave Maria ! thou whose name 
 All but adoring love may claim, 
 
 Yet may we reach thy shrine ; 
 For he thy son and Saviour, vows 
 To crown all lowly lofty brows 
 
 With love and joy like thine. 
 
 " Bless'd is the womb that bare him, bless'd 
 The bosom where his lips were press'd; 
 
 But rather bless'd are they 
 Who hear his word and keep it well, 
 The living homes where Christ shall dwell, 
 
 And never pass away."
 
 THE ANNUNCIATION 25 
 
 The visit to her kinswoman was prolonged for about 
 three months. Considerations of propriety and delicacy, 
 and indeed certain pathological reasons, forbade her pres- 
 ence on the impending occasion, and so Mary returned 
 to her home. 
 
 Now Elisabeth's time was fulfilled that she should be 
 delivered ; and she brought forth a son. Her wondering 
 friends rejoiced with her. On the eighth day, according 
 to the law, they came together to circumcise and name 
 the child. Usually, in preparation for this rite, a chair is 
 placed for Elijah, and he invoked to come according to 
 prophecy, at that time. These knew not as yet that this 
 babe was himself the expected Elijah. The rite was per- 
 formed, and the friends proposed to name him after his 
 father. But the mother said : 
 
 " Not so ; he shall be called John." 
 
 They offered the remonstrance : 
 
 " There is none of thy kindred that is called by this 
 name." 
 
 So they enquired by signs of his father, what he would 
 have him called. Zacharias wrote on a tablet : 
 
 " His name is John." 7 
 
 Immediately upon this compliance with the direction 
 of the angel, his tongue was loosed, and he who had been 
 dumb for many months, spake freely the inspired Bene- 
 dictus, Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel. As his last 
 words were words of doubt and unbelief, so now his first 
 are words of assurance and praise. In accord with the 
 angelic message, he addresses the child as a prophet and 
 a herald of the dawn, the day spring from on high. 
 
 While Mary's Magnificat is widely Cosmical, this Bene- 
 dictus is closely Judaical ; and fitly so, for the mission of
 
 26 HIS ADVENT 
 
 John was to his people only. The predictions of the 
 priestly father were noised abroad throughout Judea, 
 filling the people with wonder and fear. And all they 
 that heard them pondered in their hearts the question, 
 What then shall this child be ? 
 
 And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit. In 
 due time, possibly soon after the death of his aged 
 parents, of whom we hear no more, he took up his abode 
 as a Nazirite and anchorite, as an ascetic and recluse, in 
 the lone Wilderness of Judea.
 
 Ill 
 
 THE INCARNATION 
 
 MARY is now in Nazareth again at her home 
 in the family of her relatives. Three months 
 have passed since the annunciation and im- 
 maculate conception. Probably another three months 
 were passed in the usual quiet life, outwardly ; but in- 
 wardly, what were her anxious forebodings, mingled with 
 secret exultation. Then the time came when her condi- 
 tion could no longer be concealed. It became known to 
 Joseph. Did Mary, advised by Elisabeth, tell him her- 
 self? Hardly, for her story he surely would not believe, 
 and so would judge her doubly false. Rather it was a 
 whispered rumor that reached his ear, and when it was 
 confirmed, there was for Joseph but one explanation. 
 Naturally he was indignant and greatly troubled. 
 
 What was to be done ? The law accounted betrothal 
 as marriage, and its violation adultery. The penalty was 
 stoning. Thus was the life of Mary in jeopardy, and the 
 Lord of Life himself threatened with violent death even 
 before he was born. Doubtless they were safe, for the 
 air was swarming with invisible angels. 
 
 But Joseph had no legal proof, either exonerating him- 
 self or detailing incidents of her long absence from home. 
 Moreover, as a just man of mature years, he was sorrow- 
 fully considerate of the state of the unhappy young girl, 
 his near relative, whom he had loved and hopefully cher- 
 
 27
 
 28 HIS ADVENT 
 
 ished. Unwilling to put her to an open shame and make 
 her a public example, he was disposed to give her, as the 
 law allowed and honor bound, a private letter of divorce, 
 with two subscribing witnesses. 8 
 
 The only hope of the innocent maiden was for help 
 from on high. In answer to her agonizing prayers it 
 came. On a certain night, while Joseph communed with 
 his own heart upon his bed and was still, an angel ap- 
 peared unto him, saying : 
 
 " Thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mariam 
 as thy wife ; for that which is conceived in her is of the 
 Holy Ghost. And she shall bear a son ; and thou shalt 
 call his name Jesus, Saviour, Immanuel, God with us." 
 
 Then Joseph, in whom was no guile and having now 
 his honorable scruples allayed, was not disobedient unto 
 the heavenly vision, but speedily espoused Mary, and 
 lived with her in reverent abstinence. 
 
 In the patent facts, so far as known to them, the gossips 
 of the village, notorious for its malevolence, descried a 
 delicious bit of scandal. During a month or two, but for 
 the tender respect of Joseph, Mary's circumstances would 
 have been intolerable. The whole community was scan- 
 dalized. Her former associates passed her by on the 
 streets wagging their heads, and whispering to each 
 other. When she went, as was customary, to draw water 
 at sundown from the fountain at the head of the valley 
 just outside the village, now called The Fountain of the 
 Virgin, the women assembled there would meanly hint of 
 the slander, and torture her with innuendoes. There is 
 no scene in dramatic literature more pathetic than that of 
 Gretchen at the Fountain. But Gretchen had the solace 
 of guilt, while Mary was the victim not of suffering only, 
 but of injustice. Some of the gossips who were not quite
 
 THE INCARNATION 29 
 
 so venomous approved of the marriage, seeing in it an 
 acknowledgment, and saying : 
 
 (> " Of course, he could do no less ; the paternity bound 
 him to make this reparation; unless, indeed, she fasci- 
 nated him into overlooking her folly." 
 
 Whoever rejects the supernatural features of this story, 
 and, while admitting it to have an historical basis, insists 
 on natural order, thus denying the virginity of the mother 
 of Jesus, must fall in with the views of the gossips of 
 Nazareth, and hold either that Joseph was a vile seducer, 
 and Jesus begotten out of wedlock, a legitimized bastard ; 
 or that Mary was a harlot, legally amenable to stoning, 
 who by extravagant lies imposed upon the pious simplic- 
 ity of her fascinated betrothed, and that Jesus the fruit 
 of this wickedness, was a bastard of unacknowledged pa- 
 ternity. 
 
 The time for the nativity was drawing near. The iron- 
 bound world was at peace, silently, unconsciously await- 
 ing the event. Augustus Caesar was seated at Rome on 
 the throne of universal empire. Herod the Great, his de- 
 pendent creature, was seated at Jerusalem, King of all 
 Palestine. He had reigned harshly for about thirty-three 
 years, and was now old and infirm. His people were 
 longing for a deliverer. 
 
 Two years before this Augustus had decreed an enroll- 
 ment or census of the Roman Empire, including, as Taci- 
 tus tells us, the Regna or dependent kingdoms. This 
 census, very repugnant to the Jews, was now taking in 
 Herod's realm. According to Jewish method each citi- 
 zen was enrolled in his own city. So Joseph, being of 
 the house of David, must go for enrollment to the city of 
 David, to Bethlehem.
 
 30 HIS ADVENT 
 
 Should Mary go ? True she also was of the house of 
 David, but there was no demand, for at that day and 
 with that people it was not customary to enroll women. 
 Moreover, the eve of motherhood is a perilous time in 
 which to undertake a rough journey. Yet despite this, 
 and the wintry season, she resolved with Joseph's consent 
 to go. Why ? Sufficient reason is not far to seek. To 
 be left just then alone in the slanderous village, would be 
 intolerable ; alone, for Joseph only knew her true story, 
 and by all others she was defamed and ostracized. Al- 
 ready under social ban, and rather than suffer complete 
 isolation amid calumny, she would brave all peril and go. 
 Thus it was that this mother and her babe, when most 
 they needed home, were banished. And thus it was that 
 the imperial Caesar by his decree, and the gossips of Naz- 
 areth by their evil tongues exciting the modesty and 
 timidity of a helpless girl, unwittingly combined to realize 
 prophecy, and brought it to pass that Jesus should be 
 born at Bethlehem. 9 
 
 It was about sixty miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem, 
 six miles south of Jerusalem. The journey was made, 
 Mary riding a donkey, Joseph walking beside her, carry- 
 ing her little bundle in his knapsack. The route was first 
 down the little valley, then across the plain of Esdraelon 
 then through Samaria, then, passing by Jerusalem on 
 the left outside the Joppa gate, to the village of Bethle- 
 hem. It required two or three days. Doubtless there 
 were special hardships, for it was winter ; but they 
 reached the village safely in the evening twilight of De- 
 cember 24th, near the close of the fifth year before the 
 common era. 
 
 They found Bethlehem alive with men who were there 
 to be enrolled. The hour was late, too late to seek un-
 
 THE INCARNATION 31 
 
 announced the hospitality of private homes. So the 
 jaded travellers turned to the public inn. This was a 
 khan or caravansary ; that is, a square enclosed by a stone 
 wall, having on the inner sides of the wall sheds, built of 
 boards with floors a foot above the ground, and open 
 towards the middle of the square. In these sheds travel- 
 lers, bringing their own rations and pallets, find bare 
 lodging. In the court thus surrounded but open to 
 the sky, their riding animals and beasts of burden are 
 picketed. The caravansary of Bethlehem stood against 
 a small hill in which was a cave, whose mouth was an 
 opening in the wall, and whose recesses were used, when 
 the season was inclement, as a stable for the animals of 
 the caravans. 
 
 When Mary attended by Joseph rode into the court 
 of the hostel, it was thronged with beasts and men. For 
 the newcomers evidently there was no room, not a single 
 vacant shed. The host met them, and with oriental 
 obsequiousness stated that the only accommodation in 
 his power to furnish was a lodging in the stable, which 
 was not quite full. Yielding to necessity Joseph assisted 
 Mary to alight, then leading the donkey and guided by 
 the host carrying a lanthorn, they passed under ground, 
 down a steep incline into the cold, damp, noisome 
 cavern. Having found a vacant place Joseph tethered 
 the donkey, while Mary, tired, anxious, and distressed, 
 lay down on the straw that littered the stone floor. 
 There the host with his lanthorn left them in the dark. 
 Mary fell into a troubled sleep. This was her refuge 
 from the calumny at home. 
 
 After midnight the pains of travail came upon her. 
 She awakened Joseph, who groped his way out seeking 
 assistance. Now alone, under ground, on the damp
 
 32 HIS ADVENT 
 
 straw, in the cold, in the dark, she brought forth a son 
 The man child was born. 
 
 Loosing her little bundle on which her head was 
 pillowed, and finding and spreading, as well as she could 
 in the dark, the swaddling-cloth she had prepared, Mary 
 herself inwrapped her babe. With what strength was 
 left she lifted it, laid it in the horse-trough lest the beasts 
 should trample it, and then sank back upon the straw 
 exhausted. And then in the slow hours she listened to 
 its struggles for a breath of the foul air, and to its feeble 
 crying in the night. 
 
 Oh, the pity of it, the pity of it ! And the humiliation 
 of the innocent maiden mother ! And how humble the 
 entrance into life of this royal child, this " son of heaven's 
 eternal king, of wedded maid and virgin mother born ! " 
 Usually the birth of an heir is an occasion of rejoicing. 
 In European monarchies, the nativity of a prince, espe- 
 cially of an heir apparent, is anticipated with anxious 
 solicitude and elaborate preparations ; the dignitaries of 
 the court are assembled, the happy event is ceremoni- 
 ously announced, and the glad news is heralded 
 throughout the realm. Shall the birth of the Heir 
 of heaven, shall the nativity of the Prince of peace, 
 born to be King of kings, come to pass with no royal 
 honors ? 
 
 " It was the winter wild, 
 While the heaven-born child 
 
 All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies ; 
 Nature, in awe to him, 
 Had doff 'd her gaudy trim, 
 
 With her great Master so to sympathize ; 
 Only with speeches fair 
 She wooes the gentle air
 
 THE INCARNATION 33 
 
 To hide her guilty front with innocent snow ; 
 And on her naked shame, 
 Pollute with sinful blame, 
 
 The saintly veil of maiden white to throw ; 
 Confounded that her Maker's eyes 
 Should look so near upon her foul deformities." 
 
 In the snow-clad field a mile east of Bethlehem, where 
 Ruth had gleaned, and David made his sheep to lie down 
 in green pastures, lived certain shepherds who, this night 
 of Christmas eve, were watching their flocks folded for 
 the winter in sheep-cots. It was needful to guard, espe- 
 cially by night, from evil beasts and indeed from evil 
 man, these sheep, although they were intended for the 
 sacrificial altar of the Temple. Little thought the shep- 
 herds then that the great Shepherd of the Sheep was 
 kindly come to live with them below. But suddenly on 
 the eve of dawn, an angel stood by them, and the glory 
 of heaven shone round about them. They were sore 
 afraid. But this first evangelist said unto them : 
 
 " Fear not ; for behold, I bring you good tidings, the 
 gospel of great joy to all people ; for unto you is born 
 this day in the city of David, a Saviour, the Lord 
 anointed. And the sign is, ye shall find a babe wrapped 
 in a swaddling-cloth, and lying in a manger." 10 
 
 Then the heavens blossomed with angels, and a great 
 host appeared, singing the Gloria in Excelsis : 
 
 " Glory to God in the highest, 
 And on earth peace among men." 
 
 " In heaven the joyous song began, 
 
 And sweet seraphic fire 
 Through all the shining legions ran 
 That strung and tuned the lyre.
 
 34 HIS ADVENT 
 
 " Swift through the vast expanse it flew, 
 
 And loud the echo rolled, 
 The theme, the song, the joy was new, 
 'Twas more than heaven could hold. 
 
 " Down from the portals of the sky 
 
 The impetuous torrent ran, 
 
 And angels flew with eager joy 
 
 To bring the news to man." 
 
 Now it came to pass that when the angelic chorus 
 went away into heaven 
 
 " The air, such pleasure loth to lose, 
 With thousand echoes still prolonged each heavenly close." 
 
 Then said the shepherds one to another : 
 " Let us go now even unto Bethlehem, and see this 
 thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made 
 known unto us." 
 
 And they came with haste, procured torch-lights, en- 
 tered the cavern, and found both Mary and Joseph who 
 had returned, and the babe lying in the manger. 
 
 " No peaceful home upon his cradle smil'd, 
 Guests rudely came and went where slept the royal child." 
 
 Doubtless the young mother was shocked by the 
 sudden intrusion of these rough looking men, but they 
 were reverent in telling their story, and gentle in their 
 wonder. How much more than they may we wonder, 
 we who have noonday light, wonder at the incarnation 
 of Deity, at the Word made flesh to dwell among us, at 
 the realization of the manifold paradox : 
 
 The King of the Universe hidden in a cave ; 
 The great God become a little babe ; 
 The Ancient of Days a new-born infant ; 
 The Eternal One an hour old ;
 
 THE INCARNATION 35 
 
 " Rugens sidera sugens ubera ; " 
 
 The Almighty helpless ; 
 
 Whom the heavens cannot contain laid in a manger ; 
 " Forsook the courts of everlasting day 
 
 And choose with us a darksome house of mortal clay." 
 
 The shepherds departed, glorifying and praising God, 
 and making known, as the second evangelists, the won- 
 ders they had seen and heard. But Mary kept these 
 things, pondering them in her heart ; 
 
 " While all about the courtly stable 
 Bright-harness'd angels sit in order serviceable." 
 
 In the year 325 St. Helena, the mother of Constantine 
 the Great, the first Christian Emperor of Rome, visited 
 Palestine, and moved by reverence for the Holy Places, 
 built, among other monuments, the Church and Convent 
 of the Nativity. After the lapse of more than sixteen 
 centuries, it is still standing over the traditional place of 
 the birth. In the marble floor of the crypt beneath the 
 principal chapel, where sixteen lamps are perpetually 
 burning, is a silver star, with the legend : 
 
 Hie de Virginie Maria Jesus Christus natus est. 
 
 The exact date of the nativity is uncertain. There is 
 now among chronologists a fairly general consensus that 
 it occurred in the fifth year before the Christian era. 
 What day of what month is quite indeterminable. In 
 the absence of definite data, the tradition of the Roman 
 Church, widely accepted by the Protestant Church, is 
 questionable. That it brings the annunciations to coin- 
 cide nearly with the equinoxes, and the births of John 
 and Jesus to connect with the summer and winter sol- 
 stices, the four cardinal points of the year, touches it 
 with a breath of suspicion. Moreover, the suspicion is
 
 36 HIS ADVENT 
 
 deepened by the facts that the early church habitually 
 converted the chief heathen festivals into Christian holi- 
 days, and that December 25th, when the sun perceptibly 
 begins his annual meridional ascent (Dies natalis solis 
 iwvincti, Birthday of the unconquered sun), closed the 
 week of the Roman Saturnalia. But Christmas Eve and 
 Christmas Day have become consecrated by a millennium 
 and a half of observance, are adorned by beautiful myths 
 and customs, and hallowed by charming and precious as- 
 sociations of childhood. 
 
 " Some say, that ever 'gainst that season comes 
 Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated, 
 The bird of dawning singeth all night long ; 
 And then, they say, no sprite can walk abroad, 
 The nights are wholesome, then no planets strike, 
 No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm, 
 So hallow'd and so gracious is that time." 
 
 This tradition of the day and hour when the Christ- 
 child was born is fixed in the minds and hearts of mil- 
 lions, it has gathered into itself the purest sweets of love 
 and joy, and Christendom will never consent to remold 
 the exquisite crystallization. 
 
 It is, however, well worth noting that, although 
 throughout Christendom every official document regis- 
 tered Anno Domini, and every printed sheet and every 
 letter dated by the hand of man, recognizes this eventful 
 epoch in history, still the uncertainties involved provi- 
 dentially hinder its excessive veneration. Moreover, the 
 extreme humility of the nativity in all its human aspects, 
 together with the bare simplicity of the subsequent life 
 in utter disregard of all pomp and circumstance, indicates 
 disapprobation of ceremonial display in Christian observ- 
 ance as obscuring and demeaning its sublime spirituality.
 
 IV 
 THE RECEPTION 
 
 BEFORE sunset of Christmas day Joseph secured 
 in some home in Bethlehem a more suitable re- 
 treat for his virgin wife and her babe. On the 
 eighth day was the circumcision, a rite at once national 
 and religious, of which the mother of the babe born 
 under the law might say, Thus it becometh us to fulfill 
 all righteousness. 11 
 
 Mary in tears, holding her babe in her lap, is the first 
 to be sprinkled with his blood. The officiating priest, a 
 typical Jew, wipes his knife and washes his hands, un- 
 willing that even his robe should be stained with that 
 blood. " As the eastern sky catches at sunset the color 
 of the reddened west, so Bethlehem is a prelude to Cal- 
 vary, and even the infant's cradle is tinged with a reflec- 
 tion from the redeemer's cross." 
 
 " He, who with heaven's heraldry whilere 
 Entered the world, now bleeds to give us ease ; 
 Alas, how soon our sin sore doth begin 
 
 His infancy to seize, 
 
 And seals obedience first, with wounding smart, 
 This day ; but oh, ere long, huge pangs and strong 
 
 Shall pierce more near his heart." 
 
 According to the instruction of the angel to Mary at 
 the annunciation, and to Joseph in his dream, the babe 
 was named Jesus. This is the Hebrew name Hoshea, 
 meaning salvation, or Joshua, meaning whose salvation 
 is Jehovah, modified through the Greek into the Latin 
 
 37
 
 38 HIS ADVENT 
 
 and English form, Jesus. In those days it was quite a 
 common name, but though Joshua is still common, the 
 name Jesus has become sacredly peculiar. 
 
 The forty days required for legal purification having 
 passed, the Holy Family go to the Holy City of Jeru- 
 salem, " Taking the Lord of the Temple into the Temple 
 of the Lord," to offer at the altar two turtle-doves, the 
 sacrifice appointed to the poor. 12 
 
 There was then in Jerusalem an old man, Simeon by 
 name, very devout, to whom it had been promised by 
 the Spirit that he should not see death before he had 
 seen the Lord's Christ. He was moved to come into the 
 temple at this time, met the Holy Family, took the child 
 Jesus in his arms, and lifting his eyes to heaven, said : 
 
 " Now dost thou let thy slave, O Master, depart in 
 peace." 
 
 Thus begins the Nunc Dimittis, in which psalm, Sim- 
 eon is the first to proclaim Jesus to be the Messiah of 
 prophecy, and a light for the unveiling of the Gentiles. 
 Then, after blessing the parents, he told Mary that her 
 child was set for a test of character among men, and 
 added : 
 
 " Yea, and a sword shall pierce through thine own 
 soul." 
 
 The sorrows of the joyful mother were not at end. 
 
 In the same hour came Anna, a prophetess, a widow 
 of great age, who made her home in the temple and en- 
 gaged in continual worship. Looking on the Christ- 
 child, she recognized him, gave thanks to God, and then 
 published, to all who, looked for the redemption of Jeru- 
 salem from the Romans, the glad tidings ; whereby she 
 became the third evangelist.
 
 THE RECEPTION 39 
 
 Thus, by the voice of man and woman, the new-born 
 King was greeted with welcome to his palace. 
 
 " His throne, thy bosom blest, 
 
 O Mother undented ; 
 That throne, if aught beneath the skies, 
 Beseems the sinless child." 
 
 The law in all righteousness being fulfilled, the family 
 returned to the temporary home in Bethlehem. 
 
 At this time, as already stated, Herod the Great, so- 
 called by the historian Josephus, was king at Jerusalem 
 over all Palestine. Herod was the son of Antipater, an 
 Idumean. The Idumeans were descendents of Esau, and 
 dwelt south of the Dead Sea. In the year 1 30 B. c. they 
 accepted Judaism as their religion, and otherwise sought 
 to affiliate with the Jews. After the battle of Pharsalia, 
 48 B. c., Julius Caesar made Antipater, who was a man of 
 ability, procurator of Judea and a Roman citizen. Antip- - 
 ater appointed Herod to be governor of Galilee, who, 
 although quite young, soon distinguished himself by the 
 energy of his government conducted in defiance of all 
 Jewish law and authority, and by the exercise of a ruth- 
 less severity which gave presage of his later cruelties. 
 He gained the favor of Anthony, the triumvir of Rome, 
 who, after the death of Antipater, made him tetrarch of 
 Palestine. Forced to abandon Judea by the revolting 
 Jewish Asmonean dynasty aided by the Parthians, he 
 fled to Rome, was well received by Anthony and Octa- 
 vius, and decreed by the senate King of Judea. Return- 
 ing with an army, he stormed Jerusalem with great 
 slaughter in the year 37 B. c., and reigned there for thirty- 
 three years, a usurper of the throne of David.
 
 40 HIS ADVENT 
 
 Herod was a man of consummate address. Imme- 
 diately after the battle of Actium, 31 B. c., wherein An- 
 thony, his friend and ally, was defeated by Octavius, he 
 hastened to Rhodes, and presented himself before the 
 victor. He had not miscalculated his personal influence 
 over the young Octavius. Instead of apologizing for his 
 faithful adherence to Anthony, he adroitly urged it as a 
 proof of the constancy to himself which the conqueror 
 might expect. He returned to Judea invested anew with 
 the diadem, and honored with marks of personal favor. 
 It is said that next after Agrippa, the lifelong friend, 
 counsellor and prime minister of Augustus, he, the Em- 
 peror, held Herod in highest esteem. 
 
 The confirmed king sought to ingratiate himself with 
 his Jewish subjects in various ways, but especially by lav- 
 ish expenditure on public works, in imitation of his 
 Roman masters. He built on the coast the splendid city 
 Caesarea, and furnished it with a vast artificial harbor. He 
 rebuilt the city Samaria, naming it Sebaste, the Greek for 
 Augustus, and restored the demolished Samaritan temple 
 on Mount Gerizim. He constructed aqueducts for Jeru- 
 salem, and many other works ; as, the Antonia, a fortress 
 adjoining the temple, named from his friend Anthony, 
 then three impregnable towers on the western wall of the 
 city, also a magnificent palace for himself near by the 
 towers, besides a fortified palace and a mausoleum, the 
 Herodium, about twelve miles southeast of the city. 
 His most famous work was the rebuilding of the Temple 
 at Jerusalem on a magnificent scale to vie with that of 
 Solomon. This great work, though unfinished at the 
 time of his death, is known in history as Herod's Temple. 
 But along with these and other large and liberal schemes, 
 there was a constant effort to Romanize, to liberalize and
 
 THE RECEPTION 41 
 
 heathenize the nation, very like the effort made a century 
 and a half before by Antiochus Epiphanes to Hellenize it, 
 which for the stiff-necked Jew was intolerable. 
 
 Moreover, Herod's personal crimes made him odious 
 to the people. Their detail would be sickening, their 
 catalogue alone too long. Just what concerns his family : 
 He divorced the first of his ten wives Doris, the mother 
 of his eldest son and presumptive heir Antipater, to 
 marry Mariamne, a beautiful Jewish princess of the As- 
 monean line. In fits of royal jealousy he murdered her 
 and their two sons, also her mother Alexandra, and her 
 brother Aristobulus. Josephus says : " Herod slew all 
 those of his own family who, siding with the Jews, looked 
 forward to a change in the royal line." The jealousy of 
 royal succession, ever how prolific of crime ! Just before 
 his death he murdered Antipater also. Enough. 
 
 With all his unquestionable ability and royal magnifi- 
 cence, Herod was an odious tyrant, and a bloody crimi- 
 nal. His exactions and massacres were so great and 
 frequent that Augustus declared : " The survivors are more 
 wretched than the slain." His title, the Great, cannot 
 be denied on these lines. It was, however, an inversion 
 of that conferred on John by the angel of annunciation : 
 " Great in the sight of the Lord." 
 
 At the time of the advent, this Idumean usurper was 
 old and diseased, remorseful and irritable. His hope of 
 perpetuity in a purely Herodian dynasty, was turning to 
 despair. But it was his ruling passion, and at the last the 
 dying flame leaped up in final glow upon the occasion 
 now to be narrated. 
 
 Not long after the presentation of the infant Jesus in 
 the Temple, all Jerusalem was stirred by the coming of
 
 42 HIS ADVENT 
 
 certain Magi from the far East, and their public in- 
 quiry: 
 
 " Where is he that is born King of the Jews ? For 
 we, while in the East, saw his star, and are come to pay 
 him homage." 13 
 
 The Magi, or wise men, were Chaldaeans from Meso- 
 potamia in the far East. They were magicians, sooth- 
 sayers, astrologers, professing to read the fate of men and 
 nations in the stars, and represented the science of that 
 day. They belonged to an order supposed to have 
 originated with Balaam, who fourteen centuries before 
 was brought from Chaldaea to curse Israel when about to 
 enter the promised land, but whose curse was changed to 
 blessing. For he heard the words of God, and saw the 
 vision of the Almighty, in a trance, but having his eyes 
 open, and thereupon uttered the grand prophecy : 
 
 " I shall see him, but not now, 
 I shall behold him, but not nigh ; 
 There shall come a Star out of Jacob, 
 And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel ; 
 And he shall have dominion." 
 
 Eight or more centuries after this, Nebuchadnezzar 
 applied to the Magi to tell him his forgotten dream. 
 They could not. For this cause the king was angry and 
 very furious, and commanded to slay all the wise men of 
 Babylon. A hundred years afterwards, Ahasuerus, the 
 Persian Xerxes of Grecian history, consulted the Magi in 
 the case of Vashti his wife, and adopted their advice of 
 divorce. During Persian dominion, the Magi were 
 avowed followers of Zoroaster, one of the four great 
 sages of antiquity, and besides divination practiced as 
 priests the worship of fire and of the starry spheres.
 
 THE RECEPTION 43 
 
 In later times, visits of the Magi to the west were not 
 infrequent. Diogenes Laertius writes that Aristotle said 
 a Syrian Magician predicted to Socrates he should die a 
 violent death. Seneca tells that Magi, qui forte Athenis 
 erant, visited the tomb of Plato and offered him divine 
 honors with incense. 
 
 Also it is worthy of note that the historians Tacitus, 
 Suetonius and Josephus concur in the statement that 
 there prevailed in those days throughout the East an in- 
 tense conviction, due to ancient prophecies, that a mon- 
 arch should arise in Judea, and gain world- wide domin- 
 ion. Josephus, as courtier, persistently points to Ves- 
 pasian as this monarch, but Vergil, in his fourth Eclogue, 
 to the son of Pollio. The expectation was familiar 
 with the Jews in their Messiah, and, owing perhaps to 
 Balaam's prophecy, they connected his advent in some 
 vague way with a star. Even a hundred years after 
 Christ, in the reign of Hadrian, Bar-Cocheba, son of a 
 star, professing to be the Messiah, incited an insurrection 
 of the Jews. Its duration and extent is indicated by the 
 fact that coins, still extant, were struck for his followers 
 in his name. 
 
 In the year 1603, Kepler, the Danish astronomer, ob- 
 served a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in 
 the zodiacal sign Pisces. On calculating back, he found 
 that this had occurred in the year 7 B. c. (A. u. c. 747), 
 and that Mars joined them in the spring of the following 
 year. This was nearly two years before the nativity at 
 the close of 5 B. c. (A. u. c. 749). For this reason, the 
 captivating supposition of Kepler, that the conjunction 
 was the " Star in the East," is now discredited. Besides, 
 the record is distinctly of a star, not of a group or con- 
 stellation. Still we may be sure that a phenomenon so
 
 44 HIS ADVENT 
 
 extraordinary deeply impressed the Chaldaean astrologers, 
 and perhaps as it occurred in the sign Pisces, which their 
 science connected with the fortunes of Judea, it turned 
 their thoughts thither; and that the meteoric star, the 
 same that afterwards guided their steps, first appeared to 
 them while yet in the far East, on the very night of the 
 nativity, a scintillation from the flaming glories that were 
 dazzling the shepherds of Bethlehem. 
 
 The preparation of their caravan, and the journey of 
 the Magi with their servants and camels to Jerusalem, 
 occupied at least six weeks. When Herod the usurper 
 heard of their arrival and inquiry for the new-born King, 
 he was greatly troubled ; the jealousy of succession came 
 upon him. He proceeded very adroitly, with the stealth 
 of a tiger-cat. Calling a council of the learned Jews, he 
 inquired where Messiah should be born. The answer 
 was, according to prophecy, in Bethlehem of Judea. He 
 then privately interviewed the Magi, and having ascer- 
 tained from them when the star appeared, directed them 
 to Bethlehem, and said to them with bland hypocrisy : 
 
 " Go, find the young child, and bring me word, that I 
 also may come and pay him homage." 
 
 They at once began their quest, though night was 
 closing in ; and lo, the star, which they had seen in the 
 East, went before them unto Bethlehem, and came and 
 stood over the house where the young child was. 
 
 " Heaven's youngest teemed star 
 
 Hath fix'd her polished car, 
 Her sleeping Lord with handmaid lamp attending." 
 
 And they came into the house, and saw the infant 
 Jesus with Mary his mother; and they fell down and
 
 THE RECEPTION 45 
 
 worshipped him ; and opening their treasures, they 
 offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 
 This homage to royalty ended, they left the house for 
 the camp of their caravan just outside the village. It 
 was now late in the night. While they slept in their 
 tents a dream angel warned them that they should not 
 return unto Herod. In the early morning they quietly 
 folded their tents, and silently stole away. 
 
 The Judean shepherds were the first to worship him, \ 
 then secondly the Chaldaean Magi ; the Jew first, then the 
 Gentile. The scene is known as the Epiphany, or 
 manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. It was the 
 morning star of the universal Church ; and ever since 
 that morn, through the growing centuries 
 
 " Behold her wisest throng thy gate, 
 
 Her richest, sweetest, purest store, 
 Yet own'd too worthless or too late, 
 They lavish on thy cottage floor." 
 
 " Thee, on the bosom laid 
 
 Of a pure virgin mind, 
 In quiet ever, and in shade, 
 
 Shepherd and Sage may find ; 
 They who have bowed untaught to Nature's sway, 
 And they who follow Truth along her star-paved way." 
 
 The Epiphany was moreover the homage of Science 
 to Religion. Her gifts were symbolical, recognizing the 
 royalty, the divinity, the mortality of the King, divine, 
 incarnate. 
 
 Concerning this event many traditions have been 
 handed down, some merely silly. That the visiting 
 Magi were three in number is inferred from the gifts 
 being three; though Chrysostom and Augustine say
 
 46 HIS ADVENT 
 
 four times three or twelve, the number of the tribes, and 
 of the apostles. The venerable Bede names the three, 
 Melchior, Balthazar, Caspar. Melchior is said to have 
 been an old man, a descendent from Shem, an Asiatic ; 
 Balthazar, a middle aged man, a descendent from Japhet, 
 a European ; Caspar, a young man, a descendent from 
 Ham, an African. Thus are represented the three 
 periods of life, the three races of mankind, and the three 
 old-world continents. That they were oriental kings is 
 inferred from the prophecies : 
 
 " And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, 
 And kings to the brightness of thy rising." 
 
 " The kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall give presents ; 
 The kings of Arabia and Saba shall bring gifts." 
 
 The adoration of the wise men occurred late in the 
 evening after dark. At midnight the dream angel, who 
 was quite busy that night, appeared to Joseph as he 
 slept, saying : 
 
 " Arise and take the young child and his mother and 
 flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I tell thee ; for 
 Herod will seek the young child to destroy him." u 
 
 So Joseph arose, made hasty preparation, aroused the 
 mother and babe, and fled with them in the wintry night 
 from Bethlehem southward, he afoot, Mary riding the 
 donkey and carrying the babe. It was about sixty miles 
 to the southwestern border of Palestine ; the district be- 
 yond was known as Egypt. Once across the border they 
 were out of Herod's jurisdiction, and safe from his 
 power; for he would not dare to offend his Roman 
 masters by transgressing the bounds they had set.
 
 THE RECEPTION 47 
 
 The descent in a few hours from the receipt of the 
 homage and gifts of the Magi to this anxious flight by 
 night into Egypt, was a sudden and piteous humiliation. 
 While yet a suckling only six weeks old, the babe is 
 again threatened with violent death, and to escape be- 
 comes an exile. The hardships must have been great. 
 Years afterwards he counselled his followers in Judea to 
 flee from danger, but to pray that their flight be not in 
 winter. 
 
 Of the incidents of this journey and of the exile in 
 Egypt, nothing is known, but there are many idle tradi- 
 tions. In the pseudo-gospels it is told that on the way 
 roses of Jericho sprang up and blossomed from his foot- 
 steps, that at his command the lofty palms bent down 
 and yielded their fruit, that lions and dragons shrank back 
 in terror and robbers were overawed by his majesty, that 
 the journey was miraculously shortened, and that on his 
 entrance into Egypt all idols fell and were shattered, all 
 demons fled, and all disease disappeared. 
 
 Next morning after the Epiphany and the Flight, 
 Herod, to whom the Magi had paid no homage and 
 given no presents and made no report of their discovery, 
 was exceeding wroth. He was suffering now at the age 
 of seventy years from an ulcerous disease that was prey- 
 ing upon his vitals. He had recently been to the warm 
 baths of Callirhoe on the east coast of the Dead Sea, 
 seeking relief. Finding none, he returned through 
 Jericho, and while there ordered representatives of the 
 chief families of Judea to be shut up in the hippodrome, 
 and to be put to death as soon as he himself expired, 
 that his funeral might not want mourners. Soon after 
 his return to his palace at Jerusalem, he was alarmed by
 
 48 HIS ADVENT 
 
 the inquiry of the Magi, and then enraged by their 
 mockery of his command. 15 
 
 Herod made no more search for the new-born king, 
 but in his inflamed jealousy of succession, promptly sent 
 a detachment from his bodyguard of foreign mercenaries, 
 the customary executioners of oriental tyranny, with 
 orders to slay all the male infants in Bethlehem of two 
 years old and under. Why did he limit his order to the 
 male infants ? Because the new-born king was desig- 
 nated as a man child, and because females were not eligi- 
 ble for the throne. Why did he extend the order to 
 infants of two years? Probably because when he in- 
 quired of the Magi particularly what time the star 
 appeared, they had told him not only of the meteoric 
 star, but also of the planetary conjunction in Pisces of 
 two years before, which had so greatly impressed them ; 
 and he confusing these phenomena, and wishing to make 
 sure work of it, named the full time. 
 
 This heartless, this terrible order was thoroughly exe- 
 cuted. 
 
 " The darlings of their Lord 
 Play smiling at the flashing sword ; 
 And, ere they speak, to his sure word 
 
 Unconscious witness give." 
 
 But the babe whom the massacre was designed to in- 
 clude was now out of reach of the dripping swords, and 
 out of hearing of the wailing mothers who would not be 
 comforted. The babes that suffered were the first Chris- 
 tian martyrs, the proto-martyrs, flores martyrum. Their 
 murder, believed to include his, covered the escape of the 
 child Jesus. They died for him that he might live, he 
 would die for them that they might never die. The man 
 Jesus loved little children. He took them in his arms
 
 THE RECEPTION 49 
 
 and blessed them, with a silent thought perhaps of the 
 little ones whose blood was shed for him. 
 
 " Mindful of these the first-fruits sweet 
 Borne by the suffering Church her Lord to greet, 
 Bless'd Jesus ever loved to trace 
 The starry brightness of an infant's face ; 
 He raised them in his holy arms, 
 He bless'd them from the world and all its harms ; 
 Heirs though they were of sin and shame, 
 He bless'd them in his own and in his Father's name.' 
 
 The Massacre of the Innocents is the most detestable 
 crime, save one, in all history. The number slain was 
 probably not more than ten, or twenty at most, but the 
 inherent cruelty of the deed, the practice of arbitrary 
 royal power upon innocent and helpless babes, and yet 
 more the intended regicide of the Lord of glory, have 
 excited intense horror in all Christian times and realms. 
 The ancient writers of secular history neglect to mention 
 it. But why should they not? The crimes of Herod 
 were so many, so extensive and so atrocious, that we can 
 readily understand the oversight of one, especially of 
 one whose peculiar monstrosity was not apparent to the 
 early historians ; for, in those days, infanticide was com- 
 monly unheeded or lightly regarded. As an instance, a 
 curious parallel to Herod's deed is barely mentioned by 
 Suetonius in his Life of Augustus. He tells that 
 shortly before the emperor's decease, there was a 
 prophecy in Rome of a king ; whereupon the senate de- 
 creed that all male children of the nobility born during 
 the year should be exposed ; but the senatorial matrons, 
 prompted by maternal instinct and affection, to which 
 was superadded in each case the hope of being the
 
 50 HIS ADVENT 
 
 mother of the predicted king, contrived to elude the de- 
 cree of their lords. 
 
 Satisfied that he had succeeded in destroying the new- 
 born King of the Jews, the despotic usurper turned to 
 other matters. Some months before this time, Antipater, 
 his eldest son and presumptive heir, had plotted the 
 death of his father, was detected, condemned and im- 
 prisoned, and was awaiting the edict of Augustus per- 
 mitting his execution. It came. The father hesitated. 
 Meantime in a frenzy he attempted suicide. The son 
 hearing a false report of his death, tried to bribe his 
 jailer to release him. The father, learning this, imme- 
 diately ordered his execution, and the son was strangled 
 in his cell. History has a curious reference to this act. 
 Macrobius, writing in the fifth century, says : Augustus, 
 when he heard that among the boys of two years old 
 whom Herod the King of the Jews ordered to be slain, 
 his own son also was slain, said, It is better to be Herod's 
 swine, ov, than his son, ulbv. The imperial punster 
 speaking Greek, and sarcastically hinting that Herod's 
 religion protected his swine but not his sons, confuses 
 the massacre of the babes with the execution of Antip- 
 ater, and thus incidentally confirms the historic actuality 
 of the former. 
 
 Herod immediately changed his will and nominated 
 Archelaus, another of his sons, to be heir to the crown. 
 Then, only five days after the execution of Antipater, he 
 himself died, and Archelaus reigned in his stead. He 
 was honored with a splendid funeral, the remains being 
 escorted with great pomp past Bethlehem to the Hero- 
 dium. But there was no mourning. The chiefs im- 
 prisoned in the hippodrome at Jericho were set free, and 
 the people took heart again.
 
 How hath the oppressor ceased, the gold-exactor 
 ceased ! The staff of the wicked is broken, the sceptre 
 of the ruler. The earth is at rest. The fir trees rejoice, 
 the cedars of Lebanon break forth into singing. Hades 
 beneath is moved for him, to meet him at his coming. 
 It stirreth up the dead, all the chief ones of the earth. 
 They speak and say : Art thou become as weak as we? 
 Art thou become like unto us ? Thy pomp is brought 
 down to the grave, the worms cover thee. How art thou 
 fallen, thou surnamed the Great ! Thou didst say in 
 thine heart, I will ascend to the heaven, I will ascend 
 above the clouds, I will exalt my throne among the stars 
 of God. Yet now thou art brought down to Hades. Is 
 this the man that did shake kingdoms, and destroyed the 
 cities thereof; who built new cities, and temples and 
 palaces ? How art thou fallen from thy heaven, O 
 Lucifer, star of the morning ! 
 
 After this greeting the host conducts Herod with high 
 acclaim from the open gates of Hades to the great hall 
 of Pandemonium. Satan descends from his high throne 
 of royal state to welcome him. They embrace. 
 
 Satan in Eden had heard the promise of seed that 
 should bruise his head, and had been anxiously expecting 
 its advent all afong the many and slow centuries. He 
 was in possession of the world, and Herod was a vice- 
 gerent doing his will thoroughly. Both were startled by 
 the star of BethlehemA-Satan instigated the massacre. 
 Now at this meeting they congratulated each other on its 
 success. Satan remounts his throne, seats Herod at his 
 right Hand, and calls upon all potentates, principalities 
 and powers of the realm of darkness to do honor to him 
 by whose master stroke dominion in the upper world 
 was thenceforth made secure. At the conclusion of this
 
 52 HIS ADVENT 
 
 ceremony, he nominated Tiberius Csesar to be his im- 
 perial vicegerent. Then with the surety that his worldly 
 affairs were in competent hands, and under the delusion 
 that the seed of the woman had been destroyed, he re- 
 laxed his vigilance, and spent with Herod thirty years in 
 malignant gaiety and fancied security. 
 
 The death of Herod occurred about April 1st, 45. c., 
 shortly before the Passover. The exile of Jesus in Egypt, 
 just beyond the southern border of Palestine, continued 
 through the months of February and March. At Herod's 
 decease, the dream angel ordered Joseph to return with 
 his charge into the land of Israel. So the Holy Family 
 promptly came, about the time of Passover, to Hebron, 
 where it lingered awhile in the home of its kinsfolk, the 
 aged Zacharias and Elisabeth with their babe John now 
 nine months old. Apparently Joseph intended returning 
 to Bethlehem and making it his permanent home. He 
 would thus avoid the malignant gossips at Nazareth, and 
 properly respect the momentous events, significant of 
 royalty, which had occurred at Bethlehem. But when 
 he heard that Archelaus ruled in his father's stead, he 
 feared to go thither. Then the dream angel, appearing 
 to him the fourth time, commanded his return to Naza- 
 reth, which was beyond the jurisdiction of Archelaus. 
 Obediently Joseph led the donkey bearing the Virgin 
 and child northwestward, leaving Bethlehem and Jerusa- 
 lem on his right, towards Joppa, then followed the coast 
 along the plain of Sharon, crossed the ridge of Carmel 
 and the plain of Esdraelon, entered the little valley, and 
 reached the home in Nazareth there to dwell ; for, of the 
 child it was decreed, He shall be called a Nazarene. 16
 
 PART SECOND 
 
 His Investiture
 
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 THE PREPARATION 
 
 THE final will of Herod the Great divided his 
 kingdom. To Philip II, son of his fifth wife, it 
 gave the portion north and east of Galilee, with 
 the title of Tetrarch. To Antipas, son of his fourth wife, 
 a Samaritan, it gave Galilee and Persea, with the title of 
 Tetrarch. To Archelaus, a younger brother of Antipas, 
 it gave Idumea, Judea and Samaria, with the title of 
 King. Philip I, son of his third wife, was disinherited 
 because of the supposed treason of his mother, as were 
 also for like reason the descendents of Mariamne his sec- 
 ond wife. 
 
 Archelaus was at once recognized by the Jewish au- 
 thorities as king in Judea, and thereupon he offered royal 
 sacrifice in the Temple. During the Passover, just then 
 at hand, rebellious murmurs were heard among the peo- 
 ple, and reported to him. He promptly suppressed the 
 incipient revolt by a military slaughter in the Temple of 
 three thousand men. Probably it was the news of this 
 dreadful event that alarmed Joseph at Hebron, making 
 him fear to return to Bethlehem. 
 
 The several bequests named above were not valid until 
 confirmed by the emperor, Augustus Caesar. To seek 
 this confirmation Archelaus now set out for Rome. He 
 was followed by a deputation of five hundred Jews pro- 
 testing against his rule. Also he was followed by his 
 elder brother, Antipas, who had reasonably expected to 
 
 55
 
 56 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 receive the kingdom of Judea, and who now set himself 
 to contest the claim of Archelaus. Nevertheless, Augus- 
 tus confirmed the bequests of Herod, except that he as- 
 signed to Archelaus the title of Ethnarch of Judea in- 
 stead of King, with the imperial promise of the latter 
 title should his conduct prove him worthy. Thus with 
 the death of Herod the supremacy of Judea in the Pales- 
 tinian domain came to an end. The sceptre departed 
 from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his feet, for 
 Shiloh had come. 
 
 Archelaus returned to Jerusalem embittered, and en- 
 tered upon a rule marked by the vices and severity, with- 
 out the ability, of his father. His story thus far is prob- 
 ably the historical basis of the parable of The Pounds, 
 Luke 19 : 12-27. After a disorderly rule of nine years as 
 Ethnarch of Judea, complaints prevailed, and Archelaus, 
 suddenly summoned by Augustus to Rome, was banished 
 to Vienne in Gaul. 
 
 Idumea, Judea and Samaria were then, 6 A. D., united 
 as the Roman Province of Judea, and governed for the 
 emperor by procurators, whose seat of government was 
 Caesarea. The sixth procurator was Pontius Pilate, who 
 held office from 26 to 37 A. D., when he was deposed 
 and banished. 
 
 During four decades under the milder rule of Antipas, 
 Galilee enjoyed comparative quiet. Of what occurred at 
 Nazareth in the twelve years following the return of the 
 Holy Family from exile in Egypt, there is nothing to tell. 
 The history of those years is an eloquent silence. To 
 meet a natural and vehement curiosity, a variety of mar- 
 vellous stories were invented in the early centuries, which 
 passed into oral tradition, or were recorded in apocryphal
 
 THE PREPARATION 57 
 
 gospels. Of these the Protevangelium, the Arabic Gos- 
 pel of the Infancy, the Pseudo-Matthew, and some others, 
 are still extant. They not only tell us that all Nature 
 stood still in the hour of the nativity, and that marvels 
 attended the flight and sojourn in Egypt, but also they 
 ascribe a number of puerile miracles to Jesus during his 
 childhood at Nazareth. These apocryphal stories are of 
 little interest and of no profit, except to illustrate by con- 
 trast the simplicity, the reserve, and the good taste of the 
 veritable gospels. 
 
 There is no reason and no need to suppose that the 
 childhood of Jesus differed outwardly from that of other 
 children at Nazareth, or even that he was what is called a 
 precocious child. We know certainly that he grew and 
 waxed strong, becoming full of wisdom and grace, that 
 his physical health and increasing vigor were attended by 
 expanding intellect and spiritual aspiration. 
 
 " For nature, crescent, does not grow alone 
 In thews and bulk ; but, as this temple waxes, 
 The inward service of the priestly soul 
 Grows wide withal." 
 
 No doubt the child Jesus had his playthings, and his 
 playmates. His constant companions were his little 
 cousins, James, Joses, Judas and Simon, with their sisters, 
 children of Mary the wife of Clopas and sister-in-law of 
 Mariam the Virgin. So intimate were the families that, 
 especially in later years, they were usually regarded as 
 one. It is quite possible that, at six years of age and 
 after, Jesus went to school in the Synagogue, where the 
 teaching was altogether oral, merely a citing and reciting 
 of Scripture texts. But it was standing by the knee of 
 his gentle young mother that he learned to read the Scrip-
 
 58 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 ture himself, and to con the sacred roll, until under her 
 loving guidance he became familiar with its story and its 
 mystery, and knew by heart its glowing songs. Thus 
 passed the childhood. 
 
 Jewish law required the men who were its subjects to 
 attend .the annual Pascha, or Feast of the Passover. It 
 was not required of the women ; yet Mary accompanied 
 Joseph in these yearly visits to Jerusalem. The Pascha 
 of the year 9 A. D. began on Friday March 29th, and 
 continued as usual for a week. Jesus was now twelve 
 years and three months old, or in his thirteenth year. 
 As twelve was the legal age, his parents took him with 
 them on this memorable occasion, to have him recognized 
 as a Son of the Law, thus fulfilling all righteousness. 
 
 The country was quiet. Archelaus had been deposed 
 and banished, and Coponius, the Roman procurator, was 
 governing the province of Judea from his seat in Caesarea. 
 The Holy Family journeyed southward from Nazareth 
 going up to Jerusalem, about fifty-four miles, in company 
 with their kinsfolk and neighbors. The pilgrims beguiled 
 the tedium of the way by singing the appointed Songs 
 of Ascent, Psalms 120-134, or by recounting with patri- 
 otic fervor the stories of ancient days. For at every step 
 they were treading on history, and its monuments were 
 seen on every hand. On their left is the Shunem of 
 Elisha, the Gilboa of Saul and Jonathan, the royal city 
 of Jezreel ; they cross the river of Kishon of Debora and 
 Barak, and climb the Carmel of Elijah ; before them lies 
 the ancient city of Samaria now renovated and renamed 
 Sebaste ; they reach Shechem, and rest by Jacob's well, 
 between Mts. Ebal and Gerizim, and camp there for the 
 night ; next day they pass Shiloh and Gibeah of Saul,
 
 THE PREPARATION 59 
 
 Bethel of Jacob, and Ramah of Samuel ; then, ascending 
 a rising ground, they overlook Jerusalem, the beautiful 
 city, its towers and palaces kneeling in homage before 
 the great white Temple of Jehovah our God. As they 
 approach the gates, thronged with other pilgrims, they 
 joyfully chant : 
 
 " I was glad when it was said to me, 
 Let us go unto the house of Jehovah. 
 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem, 
 Jerusalem, the city that is compactly builded. 
 
 " Thither the tribes go up, according to the law for Israel, 
 To give thanks unto the name of Jehovah. 
 For there are set the courts of judgment, 
 The thrones of the house of David. 
 
 " Pray ye for the peace of Jerusalem ; 
 Let them prosper that love thee. 
 Peace be within thy walls, 
 And security within thy palaces. 
 
 " For my brethren and companions' sakes, 
 Again I say, Peace be within thee. 
 Ever will I seek to promote thy good, 
 Because of the Temple of Jehovah our God." 
 
 When the services of the first two days of the Pascha 
 were fulfilled, Joseph and Mary started to return home, 
 but the boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem. His 
 parents not knowing this, but supposing him to be in 
 one of the returning companies, went a day's journey. 
 Then, after they had sought for him in vain at the camps 
 of their kinsfolk and acquaintance, they returned, another 
 day's journey, to Jerusalem. On a third day's search in 
 the city, they found him Tuesday morning in the Temple, 
 under one of the interior colonnades, sitting, the posture 
 of a teacher, in the midst of the Doctors of the Law, both
 
 60 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 answering and asking questions ; and all that heard him 
 were astonished at his understanding and his answers. 17 
 
 Among the Doctors of the Jewish University who 
 were amazed and confounded at the erudition and spirit- 
 uality of the boy Jesus, we reckon Annas, lately ap- 
 pointed High Priest ; and Caiaphas, his future judges ; 
 also the aged Hillel, the Glory of the Law, founder of the 
 Liberal School; and Simeon his son and successor, 
 afterwards president of the Sanhedrin, possibly he 
 \ who had blessed the babe Jesus and pronounced the 
 Nunc Dimittis. Gamaliel, the son of Simeon, the famous 
 third head of the School and teacher of Saul of Tarsus, 
 at this time a young man, was perhaps an amazed 
 listener ; and Philo of Alexandria, the famous Hellenizer, 
 then likewise a young man, was possibly present. 
 
 Unawed by the august faculty in session, the mother 
 of the boy Jesus kneeled beside him and put her arms 
 around him, saying : 
 
 " Child, why hast thou thus dealt with us ? Behold, 
 thy father and I sought thee sorrowing." 
 
 There is a tone of gentle reproof in this maternal com- 
 plaint which is quite reasonable and natural. Jesus rose 
 to his feet, and with a new dignity replied : 
 
 " How is it that ye sought me ? Wist ye not that I 
 must be in my Father's house ? " 
 
 Or more literally : 
 
 " Did ye not know that it is binding on me to be 
 (engaged) in the things (affairs, interests) of my 
 Father?" 
 
 These words repudiate the paternity referred to by 
 Mary, claiming one higher, one even of God. Here in 
 the Temple, in converse with the Doctors, first dawned 
 upon the boy Jesus a consciousness of his celestial son-
 
 THE PREPARATION 61 
 
 ship and terrestrial mission, a consciousness doubtless 
 obscure at first and only gradually clearing and expand- 
 ing with maturing manhood. It was the new birth of 
 his spirit. Perhaps herein is the chief reason why the 
 history, giving no other incident in the course of thirty 
 years, details so emphatically this visit to Jerusalem. 
 
 According to Jewish tradition it was at twelve years 
 of age that Moses left the house of Pharaoh's daughter, 
 that Samuel heard the voice calling him, that Solomon 
 pronounced his first judgment, and that Josiah dreamed 
 of his great reform. Now, at like age, to one greater 
 than these, is revealed himself and his appointed work. 
 Promptly he accepts and avows his mission. 
 
 Thus his first recorded saying was of his Father ; his 
 last dying words were to his Father. The thought of 
 his Father dominated all his conduct and teaching. My 
 meat is to do the will of my Father. His first, consecrat- 
 ing avowal was not understood by those who heard it. 
 And so throughout his life it was his lot to be constantly 
 misunderstood. He was in the world and the world 
 knew him not. But Mary kept all these things and 
 pondered them in her heart. 
 
 The foregoing episode marks the passage from child- 
 hood into youth. The family returned home to Naza- 
 reth. Then for eighteen years history is silent, saying 
 only that Jesus advanced in wisdom as well as age, and 
 in favor with God and man. Some facts, however, may 
 be reasonably inferred. Only one face of the moon is 
 visible ; the other, though unseen, may in some respects 
 be portrayed. 
 
 Having become a Son of the Law, Jesus was bound to 
 attend annually certain feasts at Jerusalem. Doubtless
 
 62 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 he fulfilled this righteousness. Hence also the city, the 
 Temple, its services and desecration, were already familiar 
 when he reached manhood. 
 
 Again, as a Son of the Law he was legally emanci- 
 pated in some important particulars from parental 
 rule. Nevertheless, he is recorded as voluntarily sub- 
 ject during this period of his youth unto his par- 
 ents. Hence, along with his growth in wisdom and 
 grace, an early and constantly manifest trait was hu- 
 mility. 
 
 He learned and practiced his father's trade; for, of 
 himself it was asked, Is not this the carpenter? By 
 a wholesome and admirable custom every Jewish boy 
 was taught a trade. The Rabbis were sometimes known 
 by their trades as surnames. Paul was a tent-maker. 
 Jesus was a carpenter. He made or repaired tables and 
 chairs, ploughs and yokes, and was paid wages for his 
 work. Thus he dignified, for all time, manual labor. 
 The Greeks and Romans, as Cicero tells, held mechanics 
 in contempt, which we hear echoed in the Shakesperian 
 phrase, Ye base mechanicals. Heathen opponents of 
 Christianity in its early ages scoffed at its lowly origin. 
 An historical instance, both curious and illustrative, may 
 be noted. In the latter part of the fourth century, when 
 the Roman emperor Julian invaded Persia, Libanius, a 
 famous sophist of Antioch, asked of a Christian jeeringly, 
 What is your carpenter doing just now ? The answer 
 was, He is making a coffin. Soon after came the news 
 of Julian's death. Modern evolutionists there are who 
 scoff at the Biblical account of creation as the carpenter 
 theory, in scorn of its mechanical aspect as compared 
 with their development hypothesis. They speak better 
 than they intend; for the world was made by him,
 
 THE PREPARATION 63 
 
 and without him was not anything made that was 
 made. 
 
 His youth was spent in quiet, patient industry, in a 
 loving communion with Nature, and in thoughtful study 
 of the written Word. In after years the Jews marvelled 
 at his familiar knowledge of the Scriptures, saying, How 
 knoweth this man letters having never learned ; that is 
 to say, having never attended the schools of the Rabbis. 
 In his privacy he acquired also a knowledge of several 
 languages. Besides the Aramaic, which was his mother- 
 tongue and vernacular with the Jews, he learned the 
 ancient Hebrew, and also the current Greek, which, in- 
 troduced by the successors of Alexander the Great into 
 Palestine, was the language of the court and of the culti- 
 vated classes. Possibly he knew the Latin tongue of 
 the then dominant Romans. That he was bilingual is 
 quite certain, for he quoted the Septuagint or Greek 
 Scriptures. Yet it is noteworthy, that throughout his 
 recorded life he never made any reference to profane 
 history or literature. His was a life apart. He was 
 a self-made man. 
 
 The years of his home life at Nazareth were his happy 
 years. They were quiet, unostentatious, concealed from 
 history. Notwithstanding the shadow on his birth, he 
 was personally popular with the Nazarenes, enjoying a 
 steady advance in favor with men. Yet far, far more did 
 he enjoy his advance in favor with God. The gradually 
 developing consciousness of his filial relation, and of his 
 momentous embassy of love, filled him with joy unspeak- 
 able. That he did nothing wonderful, says Bonaventura, 
 was itself a wonder. The masterly patience with which 
 during thirty years of concealment he prepared for three 
 years of public work, silently awaiting the coming of the
 
 64 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 hour when with complete consciousness and perfected 
 powers he should begin to work the works of his Father, 
 is a lesson for all time to all mankind. 
 
 It was during this period of the youth of Jesus, tradi- 
 tion says when he was nineteen years of age, that Joseph 
 died. Soon after, Jesus and his widowed mother went 
 to live with the family of her sister-in-law Mary, the wife 
 of Clopas of Nazareth, and such was the intimacy of the 
 families that their children were called his brothers and 
 sisters. In this union of families for the ten years follow- 
 ing, he supported his mother by his labor as a mechanic. 
 She had an own sister, Salome, the wife of Zebedee, 
 whose home was at Capernaum, and whose two sons, 
 James and John, became prominent in the subsequent 
 history. 
 
 In the year 14 A. D., Augustus Caesar died, and Ti- 
 berius Caesar, the appointee of Satan, assumed the 
 imperial purple. He reigned twenty-three years, seven 
 beyond the death of Jesus in 30 A. D. Tiberius sent 
 Pontius Pilate to be governor of Judea in 26 A. D., the 
 year before that in which Jesus began his public minis- 
 try, and he continued in office until the decease of the 
 emperor. 
 
 For many years, Philip I, Herod's eldest surviving son, 
 lived disinherited in Rome as a private citizen. Antipas, 
 his younger half-brother, was tetrarch of Galilee through- 
 out the lifetime of Jesus. He built or rebuilt a city on 
 the southwest coast of the lake, and naming it Tiberias 
 in honor of the new emperor, took up his residence in 
 it, thus locating near the centre of his realm. Philip II, 
 the younger half-brother of Antipas, was during the 
 same time tetrarch of the region north and east of the
 
 THE PREPARATION 65 
 
 lake. On taking possession of his realm, he renovated 
 the town Bethsaida (house of fish) on the north coast of 
 the Sea of Galilee, which he surnamed Julias after 
 the daughter of Augustus, and occupied it for some years 
 as the seat of his government. Afterwards he rebuilt a 
 city twelve miles south of Mt. Hermon, called Paneas 
 after the sylvan god Pan, and renamed it Caesarea -in 
 honor of Augustus. It was known as Caesarea Philippi, 
 to distinguish it from the Caesarea on the Mediterranean 
 coast. Personally Philip II was the best of the Herods ; 
 Antipas the worst. 
 
 Herod the Great had in succession ten wives, the first 
 five and their children are the only ones that figure in 
 history. The following table exhibits these and will 
 serve to clear the somewhat intricate relations of the 
 Herodian family. 
 
 A. HEROD THB GREAT. 
 
 Wives. Sons. 
 
 i. Doris i. Antipater j 
 
 ii. Mariamne, a princess 2. Aristobulus > Executed by their father. 
 
 3. Alexander ) 
 
 iii. Mariamne, d. of Simon 4. HEROD PHILIP I Lived at Rome. 
 
 iv. Malthace, a Samaritan 5. HEROD ANTIPAS Tetrarch of Galilee. 
 
 6. ARCHELAUS Ethnarch ofjudxa. 
 
 v. Cleopatra 7. HEROD PHILIP II Tetrarch of Northern part. 
 
 m. Salome, d. of Philip 
 I. and Herodias. 
 
 B. Children of Aristobulus. 
 
 1. HBROD ACRIPPA I King of Judxa (Acts 12: i). 
 
 2. HERODIAS, married Philip I; 
 
 then Antipas. 
 
 C. Children of HEROD AGRIPPA I. 
 
 1. HEROD AGRIPPA II (titular king, Acts 25 : 13) Tetrarch of N. part. 
 
 2. BERENICE Named in Acts 25: 23. 
 
 3. DRUSILLA, m. to FELIX Named in Acts 24: 24.
 
 VI 
 THE INAUGURATION 
 
 A HALF year before the birth of Jesus at Bethle- 
 hem, John was born at Hebron. Both births 
 were miraculous. The one child was of royal, 
 the other of priestly lineage. They were kindred. The 
 childhood of the one at Nazareth, and that of the other 
 at Hebron, were contemporary. Both were early taught 
 lessons of practical piety. Except once while infants, it 
 is probable they never met until mature manhood, and 
 so were unknown to each other by sight. 
 
 The boy John grew and waxed strong in spirit. His 
 parents already aged could hardly, in the order of nature, 
 have lived much beyond his childhood. What would 
 the orphan boy do ? The angel of his annunciation, 
 while divinely naming him The Gift of Jah, and promis- 
 ing an early and constant fullness of the Spirit, decreed 
 for him an abstemious life. He was to be a Nazirite 
 from his mother's womb, as were the reforming judges, 
 Samson and Samuel. The law of the Nazirite forbade 
 drinking wine, shaving the hair, and touching a corpse. 
 In pursuance of the ascetic life to which he was thus de- 
 voted, he retired in early youth from Hebron, and took 
 up his abode in the Wilderness of Judea. 
 
 The great and terrible wilderness of Mts. Horeb and 
 Seir, in which the tribes wandered and suffered for forty 
 years, was prolonged northward into Judea along the 
 west coast of the Dead Sea, even beyond Jericho. This 
 
 66
 
 THE INAUGURATION 67 
 
 prolongation occupies fully one-fourth of the district of 
 Judea, of which another fourth is the Philistine plain 
 along the shore of the Mediterranean, and the remainder 
 is the hill country of Judea lying between, and crowned 
 with Hebron at its summit. The eastern region along 
 the Dead Sea is desert and desolate, unhabited and 
 almost unhabitable save by wild beasts and reptiles. It 
 is not wholly destitute of vegetation, having here and 
 there spots of pasture and clumps of stunted trees. But 
 the rocky ground is untillable, and abounds in pits of 
 slime. The deadly influence of the asphalt sea spreads 
 over it like a pall. It is the valley of the shadow of 
 death. 
 
 In this dreary desert John spent at least fifteen years 
 before his showing unto Israel. His food was locusts and 
 wild honey, his raiment a sackcloth shirt. A life of ab- 
 stinence, of exposure, of hardships ; a seclusion, a thought- 
 ful silence, a solitary self-communion ; a patient, con- 
 templative preparation of fifteen years for less than one 
 year's ministry. In him patience had her perfect work. 
 
 At last when he was thirty and a half years old, the 
 summons came, and John emerged from his solitude. 
 Taking his stand on a rock overlooking the frequented 
 highway between Jerusalem and Jericho, he cried aloud to 
 those passing by : 
 
 "Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at 
 hand." 18 
 
 A crowd soon collected, drawn at first by curiosity. 
 A strange figure, on his lofty pulpit of rock, outlined 
 against the blue sky, clothed only in a sackcloth shirt 
 girdled by a leathern strap, his legs and arms naked, his 
 head bare, his long black hair and beard unkempt, a
 
 68 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 staff in his hand which he waved as he cried again and 
 again : 
 
 " Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." 
 
 Men of our time and clime would say, a lunatic at 
 large, a Meg Merriles, or perhaps the Wandering Jew. 
 But the Jews of that day recognized the rebuking garb 
 and cry of a reforming prophet, their ideal of Elijah, and 
 they said, Is it indeed he, the promised of Malachi ? 
 
 The nation was then groaning under the oppression of 
 Tiberius Caesar, emperor, and of his creature Pontius 
 Pilate, governor of Judea, and of Herod Antipas, tetrarch 
 of Galilee, and of Caiaphas and Annas, irregularly ap- 
 pointed by the Roman power high priests in the dese- 
 crated Temple at Jerusalem. The land swarmed with 
 hungry Roman soldiers whose meat was violence, and 
 with thirsty Jewish publicans whose drink was extortion. 
 The languishing people knew that their sacred books 
 foretold a deliverer, a Messiah, an anointed King, who in 
 the hour of their deepest need should appear, reestablish 
 the throne of David, and reign in righteousness. Ex- 
 pectation was now rife, for the time was ripe. The sud- 
 den startling proclamation by the wayside stranger of a 
 heaven-born kingdom, enlivened the long deferred hope, 
 and they asked one another, Is not this he, the Christ ? 
 
 John led the swelling crowd down the steep road past 
 Jericho to the Jordan ford. Standing there by the edge 
 of the stream, he preached to the multitude gathered 
 under the shade of the tamarisks and overhanging wil- 
 lows, the baptism of repentance unto the remission of 
 sins ; and many were baptized of him in the river Jordan 
 confessing their sins. The preaching and baptizing was 
 protracted day after day, for many days. A revival of 
 religion stirred the hearts of the people. It spread
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST AT THE RIVER JORDAN
 
 THE INAUGURATION 69 
 
 abroad and many came from Jerusalem, and from all 
 Judea, as well as from the region round about Jordan, to 
 hear the new prophet, and consecrate themselves anew 
 in baptism. 
 
 The preaching of John was very plain, personal and 
 practical. His constant theme was, Repent and do the 
 works of repentance. Nor did he butter his words. 
 When he saw many of the jealous Pharisees and haughty 
 Sadducees, who ever sought to swim with the popular 
 tide, coming to him for baptism, he cried : 
 
 " Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from 
 the wrath to come ? First bring forth fruit worthy of 
 repentance. Think not to be spared because ye have 
 Abraham to your father ; for God is able of these stones 
 to raise up children to Abraham. And every tree that 
 bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down, and 
 cast into the fire." 
 
 To them he speaks in the severe imagery of the wil- 
 derness ; vipers, stones, barren trees ; but to the common 
 multitude who asked, Teacher, what must we do ? he 
 said, Share your goods with the needy. To the tax- 
 gathering publicans who asked, Teacher, what must we 
 do ? he said, Extort not more than is appointed. To the 
 hired soldiers who asked, Teacher, what must we do ? he 
 said, Do no violence, nor accuse any, but be content 
 with your wages. Charity, honest dealing, forbearance, 
 quiet contentment ; these were wholesome teachings. 
 
 Impressed by the dignity of the prophet, by his fear- 
 less bearing, and by his refined doctrine, the people were 
 reasoning in their hearts, Surely this is the Christ. But 
 John, catching the whispered word, answered them all : 
 
 " I indeed baptize you in water ; but there cometh he 
 that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am
 
 70 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 not worthy to stoop down and unloose ; he shall baptize 
 you in the Holy Spirit and fire." 
 
 As the Pharisees and Sadducees play an important 
 part in the subsequent events, it will be well to give, on 
 this their first appearance, a brief account of them. 
 John's denunciation is a fair premonition of their char- 
 acter and conduct. 
 
 The Pharisees, the Separated, a religious sect, were 
 extreme formalists. They held that besides the written 
 law there was given to Moses an oral law to complete and 
 explain the written law, and that it had been transmitted 
 orally. In addition they held traditions of decrees of the 
 prophets and sages, and of legal decisions by ecclesias- 
 tical authorities. Upon the strictest conformity to all 
 these they insisted, formalizing and defining the minutest 
 particulars of ritual observance. The Mishna, or second 
 law, which forms the first part of the Talmud, is a digest 
 made in the second century A. D. of Jewish traditions and 
 rituals. It abounds, for example, in minute distinctions 
 as to what is clean and unclean, prohibits even touching 
 unclean things, and in case of contact, prescribes elabor- 
 ate purifications. By such weak and beggarly elements, 
 they laded men with burdens grievous to be borne, and 
 because of their tradition made void the word of God. 
 They taught, moreover, the doctrine of necessitated will, 
 of resurrection from the dead, of a future state, and of 
 angelic spirits both good and evil. As a class they were 
 not wealthy, but belonged to the middle and lower social 
 orders. Josephus says they lived frugally, not yielding 
 to luxury, but following the leadership of reason, and 
 hence had great weight with the populace. That they 
 were proud and self-righteous was an inevitable conse- 
 quence of their intense formalism ; for it is evident that
 
 THE INAUGURATION 71 
 
 men whose lives were spent in the ceremonial ritualism 
 of the Mishna, would acquire a self-complacent, spiritual 
 pride incompatible with true devotion. 
 
 The Sadducees were a religious sect in opposition to 
 the Pharisees. Though holding to many traditions, they 
 denied that any supplementary oral law was given to 
 Moses, and maintained the sufficiency of the written law. 
 Also they denied necessitated will, the resurrection from 
 the dead, and the existence of angels or spirits. As a 
 class they were free-thinkers, less numerous and less in- 
 fluential with the populace than the Pharisees, but 
 wealthy, luxurious, haughty and aristocratic, and holding 
 the chief offices of public trust. 
 
 The Scribes, so often named in connection with the 
 Pharisees, were not a religious sect ; indeed many were 
 Pharisees. They were lawyers or doctors or teachers of 
 the law ; they were the learned class. They devoted 
 themselves to a careful study of the scriptural text, laying 
 down and following rules for transcribing it with the most 
 scrupulous precision. In the words of Ezra the Scribe, 
 the duty of a Scribe was to seek the law of the Lord and 
 to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. 
 The words of the Scribes as interpreters came to be hon- 
 ored above the law. Their passion for distinction was 
 insatiable, and the ascending scale of Rab, Rabbi, Rabban, 
 presented so many steps on the ladder of ambition. For 
 the Scribes the best places at feasts were reserved, and 
 the chief seats in the Synagogues. The salutations in 
 the market-place, the reverential kiss given by pupils to 
 their teacher, or by Rabbis to each other, the greeting of 
 Abba, Father, the long robes with wide fringes, the 
 broad phylacteries, all these enter into the picture of a 
 Pharisaic Scribe so vividly sketched by Matthew.
 
 ?2 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 A report of John's preaching and baptizing reached 
 Jesus at Nazareth. It was near the beginning of Febru- 
 ary, A. D. 27, and Jesus was thirty years of age. His 
 hour was nigh. His herald had announced him. He 
 put away his tools, kissed his mother good-bye, should- 
 ered a knapsack, and with a new wander-staff in hand, 
 walked across the country to the camp-meeting. 19 
 
 " It was a green spot in the wilderness, 
 Touched by the river Jordan. Softly in, 
 Through a long aisle of willows, dim and cool, 
 Stole the clear waters with their muffled feet, 
 And, hushing as they spread into the light, 
 Circled the edges of the pebbled pool 
 Slowly, then rippled through the woods away." 
 
 Here at high noon Jesus presented himself to John for 
 baptism. John, it may be, was made aware that this was 
 his kinsman, of whom, though unseen since infancy, he 
 had heard from his parents and others. He knew him 
 to be a sinless man, but not that he was the one whom 
 he heralded. Awed by the presence of such manly 
 purity, John, with instinctive humility, at once said : 
 
 " I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou 
 to me f " 
 
 But Jesus answering said unto him : 
 
 " Suffer me now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all 
 righteousness." 
 
 This is his second recorded utterance. But why indeed 
 should Jesus be baptized ? It has been aptly said, Not 
 that he should be sanctified by the water of baptism, but 
 4hat the water of baptism should be sanctified by him. 
 
 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight- 
 way out of the water, and in the centre of a semicircle of 
 a thousand witnesses, kneeled upon the strand with out-
 
 THE INAUGURATION 73 
 
 stretched hands and upturned eyes in prayer. Then the 
 blue curtain of the upper sky was drawn aside by angel 
 hands, and a broad beam of celestial light, in which the 
 sun turned pale, illumed the scene. Then saw they the 
 Spirit descending in bodily form as a dove, circling in 
 the aerial light, narrowing its flight, and resting upon 
 him. And a voice came out of the heavenly glory, 
 saying : 
 
 " Thou art my beloved Son ; in thee I am well 
 pleased." 
 
 Then John knew that this, his stainless kinsman, was 
 the very Christ of his appointed message. For after- 
 wards he testified saying : 
 
 " At first I knew him not ; but he that sent me to bap- 
 tize in water, he said unto me, Upon whomsoever thou 
 shalt see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon him, 
 the same is he that baptizeth in the Holy Spirit. And I 
 have seen and bear witness that this is the son of God." 
 
 Here where the Old Testament and the New Testa- 
 ment conjoin, where the old dispensation merges into the 
 new dispensation, is the only recorded instance wherein 
 the persons of the divine Trinity were simultaneously 
 manifest. And fitly so, for on this august occasion, the 
 beginning of the gospel in the descent of the Spirit 
 from the Father, the man Jesus of Nazareth came out 
 from the dim consciousness awakened in his boyhood in 
 the Temple and enlightened gradually in the course of 
 years, unto a full, completely clear and distinct, adequate 
 and intuitive knowledge of his divine personality and 
 Sonship, co-equal with the Father and the Spirit in the 
 holy, blessed and glorious Trinity. 
 
 No sooner had Jesus risen to his feet, than he found
 
 74 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 himself constrained to follow the dove, who slowly wing- 
 ing on before led him away, far away into depths of the 
 Wilderness, and left him there alone to undergo another 
 baptism, to be tempted of the devil. 20 
 
 Here is an insoluble mystery : The second person of 
 the holy Trinity, just honored and proclaimed by the 
 first person, immediately humiliated by the third person, 
 driven into solitude, there to be led to and fro and, in so 
 far, subjected by the devil, indeed to be tempted by him 
 to sin. How vast the downward plunge from the high- 
 est height at once to the lowest depth. Who can tell the 
 measure of this celestial diameter ? To be tempted. 
 How could the divine Son, though incarnate, be tempted ? 
 There is no answer. Was it in him posse non peccare, or 
 non posse peccare ? No answer. But we know, 'Tis one 
 thing to be tempted, Escalus, another thing to fall. God 
 never made but two men, Adam and Jesus. In each 
 was realized his ideal of a man. The first Adam was 
 tempted and fell ; the second Adam was tempted and fell 
 not. And so this also we know, that having been him- 
 self tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. 
 
 In view of the extraordinary facts, so briefly sketched, 
 imagination takes fire, and irresistibly depicts the several 
 scenes in minute detail ; though restrained by a reverent 
 regard for the scanty outline given, wherein invisible 
 things are clearly seen, being perceived through the 
 things that are made known, and by reasonable concep- 
 tions, bringing to light the hidden things of darkness, 
 and making manifest the counsels of the heart. 
 
 In those days Satan was abroad. He had been wan- 
 dering among the nations, inspecting his terrestrial realm, 
 and was satisfied in seeing his progressive work of ruin 
 well done. But, jealous of John, he was present at the
 
 THE INAUGURATION 75 
 
 baptism of Jesus. He saw the dove descend, and heard 
 the approving voice. Startled, nigh thunder-struck, 
 awhile he surveys the exalted man with wonder ; then in 
 dire consternation with envy fraught and rage, spreading 
 his broad wings upon the subservient air, he swoops 
 headlong, downward to the dark region between the 
 world and Hades. There in mid air he, the Prince of 
 the Power of the Air, summons to high council all his 
 mighty peers. Within thick clouds, before his throne of 
 flame, the assembly meets. First Herod in disgrace is 
 banished to lowest hell, a failure and a fraud. Then 
 Satan, lamenting his fancied security for the past thirty 
 years, announces that the seed of the woman, dreaded 
 through so many centuries, having escaped the slaughter 
 done at Bethlehem by his blundering tool, was now a 
 man, recognized and consecrated by the heavenly pow- 
 ers. He ends his speech with the monition : 
 
 " Ye see our danger on the utmost edge 
 Of hazard, which admits no long debate, 
 But must with something sudden be opposed, 
 Ere in the head of nations he appear, 
 Their king, their leader, and supreme on earth." 
 
 The councillors anxiously consult, and in conclusion : 
 
 " Unanimous they all commit the care 
 And management of this main enterprise 
 To him, their great dictator, whose attempt 
 At first against mankind so well had thrived." 
 
 Satan accepted the grave commission arrogantly say- 
 ing:
 
 76 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 " I, when no other durst, sole undertook 
 The dismal expedition, to find out 
 And ruin Adam, and the exploit perform'd 
 Successfully. A calmer voyage now 
 Will waft me ; and the way found prosperous once, 
 Induces best to hope of like success." 
 
 The assembly dissolves and returns below, a shower of 
 baleful stars ; while towards the destined planet, Satan 
 shoots upward, an obelisk of fire. 
 
 Satan haunted the wilderness. With the wisdom that 
 cometh from below, he would use, not force, but well 
 couched fraud, well-woven snares. First he would reduce 
 the son of man to extremity by hunger, the great motive 
 power of the world, whose excess drives men into crime. 
 
 Jesus passed forty days without food, as did Moses and 
 then Elijah in this same wilderness. Here was an intense 
 physical tension, followed by languishing weakness. 
 And Jesus was alone. But no ; with him were the beasts 
 of the desert, so wild that they were tame. They harmed 
 him not, for to the sinless it was promised, The beasts of 
 the field shall be at peace with thee ; and 
 
 " Thou shall tread upon the lion and the adder, 
 The young lion and the dragon shall thou trample under foot." 
 
 But Satan hoped that, frantic with hunger, this man 
 also would become as one of them, that the physical 
 strain would rupture the spiritual restraint, and rush into 
 brutish rebellion. 
 
 The lenten season passed with no sign of yielding. 
 The wily tempter saw that something must be added. 
 Not death, which was near; that would not do. He 
 wanted something worse ; he sought for sin. If only he
 
 THE INAUGURATION 77 
 
 could inject a doubt, incite a wayward act. Man's ex- 
 tremity, it is said, is heaven's opportunity. Yes. But 
 also it is hell's opportunity. 
 
 Jesus is sitting at the foot of a tamarisk tree, faint, 
 weak, exhausted, famishing, suffering the fearful pangs of 
 deadly hunger. Satan comes to him in the guise of a 
 prophet. Is this John? No. Jesus knows not who. 
 The seeming prophet speaks kindly : 
 
 " Young man, are you suffering ? " 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 " From hunger ? " 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 " Let me help you to rise, and give you to eat." 
 
 But without aid Jesus rises to his feet, and with sus- 
 picion confronts his hypocritical adversary. 
 
 Now a great duel is to be fought. Standing eye to 
 eye are the champions of heaven and hell, and the wager 
 of the single combat is the sovereignty of the world. 
 The one paladin is at every disadvantage, weakened by 
 fasting and dizzy with faintness, alone, with no support, 
 abandoned, taken unaware of the cause and of his foe ; 
 the other is alert, skilled, able, keenly aware of his risk 
 although already in full possession of the prize at stake, 
 and is supported by a legion of demons expectantly 
 perched on every rock, grinning from every bush, and 
 swarming like bats in the trees. The sword play begins : 
 
 " You are famishing ? " 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 Why so ? " 
 
 " It is his will." 
 
 " Whose ? " 
 
 " My Father's." 
 
 " Bah ! Have we met before ? "
 
 78 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 " It may be." 
 
 " Are not you the young man I saw baptized six 
 weeks ago, to whom the heavens opened, on whom the 
 dove descended, and of whom the voice said, Thou art 
 my beloved son ? " 
 
 " I am." 
 
 " Beloved ? " 
 
 " Yea verily." 
 
 " And left with the beasts to famish ? " 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 " Bah ! Hallucination." 
 
 " Nay, nay." 
 
 " You believe yourself the Son of God ? " 
 
 " I do." 
 
 " Hungered ? " 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 Satan stooped, picked up a stone about the size and 
 shape of a loaf, and holding it before him, said taunt- 
 ingly : 
 
 " Well then, if thou art the Son of God, command this 
 stone that it become bread." 
 
 This was an adroit thrust. It proposed an appar- 
 ently easy and complete test of the sonship, if in the least 
 doubted, together with a relief of the carnal pressure, the 
 lust of the flesh, by which Satan had often triumphed.' 
 But Jesus instantly parried the thrust with the sword of 
 the Spirit. 
 
 " It stands written, Man shall not live by bread alone, 
 but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of 
 God." 
 
 Satan's master-stroke was foiled. He shrank away 
 into the gathering night. Jesus exhausted, and again 
 prostrate, slept.
 
 THE INAUGURATION 79 
 
 The temptation was addressed to his divinity ; it was 
 answered in his humanity. He foiled it not as very God, 
 but as very man. It was repeated at Calvary in, If thou 
 be the son of God, come down from the cross. Now, he 
 does not answer the doubt ; then, he does not answer 
 at all. 
 
 Next day, about the hour of evening sacrifice, Satan 
 returned. He was disguised now as a priest, in mitre, 
 robe, ephod and embroidered girdle, and carried in his 
 hand a roll of the book of the law. Endowed with au- 
 thority, he said to Jesus : 
 
 " Come." 
 
 At once they were in Jerusalem, in the Temple, on 
 the pinnacle of the Temple. Its recent renovation had 
 added to the Sanctuary, \>a6<s, a towering portico, which 
 overlooked the whole Temple, lepov, and thus was 
 properly the pinnacle. Standing together on the flat 
 top of this lofty height, and looking down on the great 
 altar smoking with the evening sacrifice, and on the 
 serving priests and praying people, the priest-like tempter 
 said to Jesus : 
 
 " Seest the sacrifice ? " 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 " Knowst its meaning ? " 
 
 " Yea, it is I." 
 
 " Thou ? Bah ! Dost love this people ? " 
 
 " Yea, verily." 
 
 " Wouldst be their priest and king ? " 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 " Wilt be despised and rejected." 
 
 " Alas ! " 
 
 " Unless, indeed you "
 
 8o HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 "What?" 
 
 Satan remembered the sword of the Spirit by which 
 he had been foiled. He bethought him that now, in his 
 priestly guise, he might venture to appropriate it him- 
 self. But he blundered, or perhaps bungled it purposely, 
 in the reply : 
 
 " Why this : If indeed thou be the Son of God, cast 
 thyself down hence ; for it stands written, he shall give 
 his angels charge concerning thee ; and in their hands 
 they shall bear thee up, lest haply thou dash thy foot 
 against a stone. Assembled Israel, seeing thee descend 
 with angelic guard, will at once recognize and joyously 
 accept its Messiah." 
 
 But Jesus, though loving and longing, did not yield 
 to the lust of the eyes, but detecting the fallacy, the 
 presumption of the proffered test, warded off the in- 
 sidious blow of his adversary with his own true blade, 
 saying : 
 
 " It stands written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy 
 God." 
 
 Satan, smitten with amazement, vanished, and Jesus 
 found himself again in the lone wilderness. 
 
 Night was coming on. Satan, having found the inroad 
 of hunger a failure, and now baffled in his attempt to 
 excite a rebellious tempest within the soul of Jesus, re- 
 solved in his rage to storm its defensive outworks. He 
 summoned in malignant cruelty the powers of the air 
 and darkness to his aid. Gathering clouds doubled the 
 night. The wind in active preparation, swept through 
 the haunted wilderness in heavy gusts ; and from the leafy 
 copse came no longer whisperings and sighs, but groans 
 and voices in angry contention, and weird mocking laugh-
 
 THE INAUGURATION 81 
 
 ter, mingled with the rustling and whizzing of wings. 
 The air to its remotest depths was peopled, a vast amphi- 
 theatre seen by the fitful lightnings, with an assembling 
 multitude of faces, grim and darkly undefined, innumer- 
 able, and settling in frowning expectation. At midnight 
 hour the storm burst in dire fury. Pelting rain beat the 
 ground, freezing hail tore the foliage, whirling wind 
 twisted trees from their roots and wafted them as feathers 
 in mid-air. A lightning flash, like a flaming sword, split 
 the darkened firmament, which closed again with crash- 
 ing reverberations. The ground heaved and rocked in 
 the giant grasp of an earthquake. The beasts of the 
 desert, abandoning their lairs, rushed madly to and fro 
 with wild howls of terror. Broad sheets of light fell like 
 curtains from sky to earth, and vanished with stunning 
 explosions. The crashing of the tornado through the 
 forest, vying with the thunder in its hideous roar, was 
 mingled with shrieks and yells, gibes and curses, fierce 
 clamors, and the weird shoutings of a multitude. The 
 frightened hours lost their measured course, and pro- 
 longed the dreadful night. The sun delayed his coming. 
 The infernal powers, loosed in high revel, incited each 
 other saying, Let us work the works of him that sent us, 
 while yet it is night ; for the day cometh, when no 
 demon can work. 
 
 " Thus passed the night so foul till Morning fair 
 Came forth, with pilgrim steps, in amice gray ; 
 Who with her radiant finger stilPd the roar 
 Of thunder, chased the clouds, and laid the winds, 
 And grisly spectres, which the fiend had raised 
 To tempt the Son of God with terrors dire. 
 And now the sun with more effectual beams 
 Had cheer'd the face of earth, and dried the wet 
 From drooping plant or dropping tree ; the birds,
 
 82 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 Who all things now behold more fresh and green, 
 After a night of storm so ruinous, 
 Clear'd up their choicest notes in bush and spray, 
 To gratulate the sweet return of mom." 
 
 Satan, now in the guise of a gentleman, his favorite and 
 most dangerous mask, approaches Jesus leaning for sup- 
 port on a rock, almost lifeless from enforced fast, vigil, 
 and exposure. He feigns great surprise, expresses gentle 
 sympathy, and offers to relieve his pain and destitution. 
 Come with me, says he, and I will do thee good. Jesus 
 feeble as he was, found himself constrained to go, and 
 was led up onto a supernatural mountain, exceeding high. 
 Together they stand upon the lofty summit and look 
 abroad. Satan waves his wand, and the convex world 
 gradually turns to concave, slowly lifting its expanding 
 horizon to a level with their eyes. With a princely air 
 he shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, and the 
 glory of them, in a moment of time. In the far be- 
 nighted East, lies the eastern Babylon, the seat of the 
 three great Empires, now in ruin, but replaced by the 
 unconquered Parthian power at Ctesiphon. Behold it 
 issuing from the city gates for war against the Scythian. 
 
 " He looked and saw what numbers numberless 
 The city gates outpour'd, light-armed troops, 
 In coats of mail and military pride ; 
 In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong. 
 He saw them in their form of battle ranged, 
 How quick they wheel'd, and flying behind them shot 
 Sharp sleet of arrowy showers against the face 
 Of their pursuers, and overcame by flight. 
 Such and so numerous was their chivalry." 
 
 He turned, his gaze sweeping over Antioch and 
 Athens, to the enlightened West. Behold the city of
 
 THE INAUGURATION 83 
 
 the seven hills, the western Babylon, whose radiating 
 roads stretch to the watery confines of earth, whence 
 fleets extend her sway. 
 
 " The city, which thou seest, no other deem 
 Than great and glorious Rome, queen of the earth. 
 All nations now to Rome obedience pay, 
 To Rome's great emperor, whose wide domain, 
 In ample territory, wealth and power, 
 And long renown, thou justly may prefer 
 Before the Parthian. These two thrones except, 
 The rest are barbarous, and scarce worth the sight. 
 These having shown thee, I have shown thee all 
 The Kingdoms of the world and all their glory." 
 
 Jesus gazed upon the magic panorama with longing 
 eyes. Satan was seeking to stir in him that last infirmity 
 of noble minds, ambition. Believing that every man has 
 his price, he hoped to purchase him with the pride of 
 life. He now calls attention to himself. Lo, a change ! 
 
 " High on a throne of royal state, which far 
 Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind, 
 Satan exalted sat. His haughty head 
 The likeness of a kingly crown had on, 
 His hand a sceptre swayed." 
 
 He sits some moments in quiet majesty, hoping to 
 impress the dazed man at his footstool ; then descends 
 from the aerial throne, takes off his crown, and offering 
 them to Jesus, says : 
 
 " To thee will I give the authority over all those king- 
 doms, and the glory of them ; for it hath been delivered 
 unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou 
 therefore wilt bend thy knee to me, all shall be thine." 
 
 But Jesus, then for the first time recognizing the Ad- 
 versary, instantly commanded :
 
 84 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 " Begone, Satan. It stands written, Thou shalt worship 
 the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." 
 
 The sword of the Spirit was still in his hand, and with 
 this final, fatal stroke he conquered. The whole phan- 
 tasmagoria vanished, sudden darkness engulfed the 
 world, and Satan fell like lightning from heaven afar to 
 his own place. 
 
 Instantly eager angels, no longer restrained, found 
 Jesus lying in the midst of the wilderness unconscious. 
 With loving hands and softly waving wings, they bear 
 him aloft and away to a pleasant grove surrounding a 
 luxuriant garden, where was a spacious royal tent of blue 
 fabric borrowed from the sky, upheld by golden shafts 
 of light. Laid gently on a richly cushioned couch, they 
 anxiously bend over him, bedew his temples with their 
 tears, and fan him with their perfumed wings. Revived, 
 they offer him on bended knee, from platters of trans- 
 lucent gold, bread and wine. When strength returns 
 and the pulse of life beats free, a luxurious banquet is 
 spread of nectar and ambrosia, garnished with rare fruits 
 of the celestial Paradise. Now while he feasts a choir of 
 seraphim, with harps attuning, chaunt a triumphal anthem 
 of praise. 
 
 " True image of the Father ; whether throned 
 In the bosom of bliss, and light of light 
 Conceiving ; or, remote from heaven, enshrined 
 In fleshly tabernacle ; thou hast avenged 
 Supplanted Adam, and, by vanquishing 
 Temptation, hast regained lost Paradise. 
 Hail, Son of the Most High, heir of both worlds, 
 Queller of Satan ! On thy glorious work 
 Now enter, and begin to save mankind." 
 
 Ended the feast and pean, then dusky Evening and
 
 THE INAUGURATION 85 
 
 balmy Slumber came, hand in hand, to offer rest. The 
 curtains of the tent are closed, four ardent cherubim with 
 flaming swords stand sentinel, and Jesus sleeps. 
 
 Paradise lost in the garden ; Paradise regained in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 With a sharp reminiscence of the humiliation and 
 struggle which he was led into and then delivered from 
 by the Spirit, Jesus afterwards taught his followers to pray, 
 Lead us not into temptation ; but, if it must be, deliver 
 us from the Tempter. 
 
 He himself throughout life was beset by many further 
 trials. The Adversary had been cast down, but not 
 destroyed. He departed only for a season. Soon he re- 
 newed the affliction and the smiting, which culminated at 
 Gethsemane and Calvary. Then he entered on a fierce 
 and truceless war, lasting now through two millenniums, 
 and still prolonged by the sullen and slowly retreating 
 foe ; while the ascended Christ waits at the right hand of 
 the God of Hosts until he makes his enemy his footstool.
 
 VII 
 
 THE ATTESTATION 
 
 AT some time during the forty days, John the 
 baptizer moved up the river Jordan to Bethabara, 
 or house of passage. This was an upper ford 
 midway between the lakes, where, in the days of the 
 judges, Gideon intercepted the fleeing Midianites. Near 
 by was a village called Bethany of Peraea or beyond 
 Jordan, to distinguish it from the Bethany near Jeru- 
 salem. Here John pursued his vocation. Multitudes 
 attended, many hearers were baptized, and all held him 
 for a prophet. Shortly after the forty days, Jesus return- 
 ing from the wilderness came to Bethabara, and mingled 
 in the crowd of the people. 
 
 The religious revival awakened by John had made such 
 a stir throughout the country, and even in Jerusalem, 
 that it attracted the attention of the Sanhedrin, auvtdpiov, 
 an assembly sitting together in council. This was the 
 high ecclesiastical court of the Jews, consisting of the 
 high priests and selected elders and scribes and lawyers, 
 to the number of seventy members, and having authori- 
 tative oversight especially of all matters relating to the 
 religion of the Jewish state. It was legitimate, there- 
 fore, that this court should inquire into the preaching 
 and baptism of John. 'Accordingly, it commissioned a 
 deputation of priests and Levites, among whom were cer- 
 tain Pharisees, all probably members of the council, to 
 visit Eethabara seeking information. 21 
 
 86
 
 THE ATTESTATION 87 
 
 Now the hour is come for the temptation of John. As 
 the haughty Sanhedrists in their robes of state and with 
 broad phylacteries bound upon their foreheads, approach 
 with measured step and slow the baptismal scene, the 
 crowd respectfully gives way and awaits in silent awe the 
 official investigation. The prophet, yea more than a 
 prophet, the immediate herald, meets the commissioners 
 on the river bank beneath the wide spreading foliage. 
 They ask him : 
 
 " Who art thou ? " 
 
 John knew the surmise which was whispered abroad 
 that he was the Christ. So, replying to the thought of 
 the Sanhedrists, he confessed, saying : 
 
 " I am not the Christ." 
 
 What then ? Art thou Elijah ? " 
 
 " I am not." 
 
 " Art thou the prophet ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 The increasing brevity of John's answers savors of 
 growing impatience. Perhaps they saw this, and less 
 curtly than before ask him again : 
 
 " Who art thou ? that we may give an answer to them 
 that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? " 
 
 " I ? I am nobody, merely a voice, crying in the 
 wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord." 
 
 Thereupon the Pharisees of the deputation asked : 
 
 " Why then baptizest thou ? " 
 
 Had John in reply to these questions professed to be 
 somebody, one authorized to baptize, the next question 
 would have been, What sign showest thou ? This was 
 Jewish custom. Elijah had attested his prophetic mis- 
 sion by signs from heaven. Similar evidence would 
 have been required of John. But unlike his prototype,
 
 88 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 John throughout his career did no miracle. Such 
 work would have confused him in the minds of men 
 with the one he heralded. But on this occasion, to re- 
 fuse a sign would discredit himself. Hence he made no 
 direct reply to the question, Why then baptizest thou ? 
 But his eye falling on Jesus standing in the midst, 
 he said : 
 
 " I baptize in water. But in the midst of you standeth 
 one whom ye know not, even he that cometh after 
 me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to 
 unloose. He shall baptize you in fire." 
 
 Perhaps each of these Sanhedrists thought that John 
 appropriately referred to him, and was flattered. Any- 
 how they had to be satisfied with the humble self- 
 renunciation of the truly great man, for they got no 
 more, and so went their way. 
 
 John did not point out Jesus to the constituted au- 
 thorities ; but the next day, seeing Jesus coming to him, 
 he cried aloud to the common people around about : 
 
 " Behold the Lamb of God which beareth the sin 
 of the world. This is the Son of God." ffl 
 
 The startling attestation did not, apparently, take 
 effect. It was more than could be at once received. 
 But next morning about ten o'clock, as John and two of 
 his young disciples were conversing, he saw Jesus pass- 
 ing by, and said to them : 
 
 " Behold, the Lamb of God ! " 
 
 Then the two disciples followed Jesus, who turned 
 and said : 
 
 " Whom seek ye ? " 
 
 They answered indirectly, asking timidly : 
 
 " Teacher, where abidest thou ? "
 
 THE ATTESTATION 89 
 
 " Come," he answered kindly, " and ye shall see." 
 
 So the young men went with him to his lodging in the 
 village, and abode with him that day. It was the 
 Sabbath. After some converse, one of the two, Andrew 
 by name, went out first and found his brother Simon, 
 and told him : 
 
 " We have found the Messiah." 
 
 This surname, Messiah, is Hebrew for Christ in 
 Greek, for Anointed in English. 
 
 Then Andrew brought Simon his brother to Jesus ; 
 who, looking intently upon him, said : 
 
 " Thou art Simon the son of Joanes ; thou shalt be 
 called Cephas." 
 
 This surname, Cephas, is Aramaic for Peter in Greek, 
 for Rock in English. 
 
 The other one of the two young men who had 
 followed Jesus was doubtless John, a son of Zebedee and 
 Salome, the sister of the Virgin Mary, and hence was 
 cousin to Jesus. He also went forth, and found his 
 brother James, and brought him to Jesus. All four of 
 these young men lived at Capernaum, or its suburb 
 Bethsaida in Galilee, and were trading fishermen. The 
 little room where they were assembled on that Sabbath 
 day, listening to Jesus, was the cradle of the Christian 
 Church. 
 
 The next day, Sunday, Jesus proposed to return 
 to Galilee with these four, now his companions. Upon 
 starting they met with Philip, who, being also of Beth- 
 saida, greeted his fellow-townsmen. To him Jesus in 
 passing on, said : 
 
 " Follow me." 
 
 A word from the others to the astonished Philip was 
 sufficient. Immediately he assented, then hastily found
 
 90 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 his friend Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, to whom he an- 
 nounced : 
 
 " We have found him of whom Moses and the 
 prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth." 
 
 Nathaniel, disposed to be skeptical in so weighty 
 a matter, said : 
 
 " Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ? " 
 
 Here is a glimpse of the bad repute of Nazareth, 
 heightened it may be by the usual jealousy of neighbor- 
 ing villagers. Philip answered simply : 
 
 " Come and see." 
 
 Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, and graciously 
 said: 
 
 " Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." 
 
 A personal compliment, rare from those lips. But 
 Nathaniel, not pleased perhaps with this prompt com- 
 mendation by a questionable stranger, asked curtly : 
 
 " Whence knowest thou me ? " 
 
 Looking him expressively in the eyes, Jesus said : 
 
 " Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the 
 fig tree, I saw thee." 
 
 Probably Nathaniel, when under the fig tree, was 
 engaged in private devotion, and believed himself 
 screened from all but divine eyes. That Jesus divined 
 his secret service, convinced him. So at once making 
 the first full confession, he responded heartily : 
 
 " Rabbi, thou art the Son of God ; thou art the King 
 of Israel." 
 
 Pleased with this ready attestation, Jesus replied : 
 
 " Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig 
 tree, believest thou ?. Thou shalt see greater things than 
 these." 
 
 Then he added, with an allusion to the ladder of
 
 THE ATTESTATION 91 
 
 Jacob's vision, introducing it with that solemn and 
 emphatic formula, now first heard : 
 
 " Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye shall see the 
 heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and de- 
 scending upon the Son of man." 
 
 How readily these ingenuous youths believed and en- 
 gaged ! Their noble hearts fresh and free were already 
 beating in unison with one loving and true. A word 
 welds them. The sky-born rain-drop and the earth-born 
 dew-drop, touch and are one. The magnet stirs many 
 metals, but steel leaps into contact, and then is ever 
 itself magnetic. 
 
 It has been supposed that the personal appearance of 
 Jesus was a part of his attractive power. This gives 
 occasion for some words about it. Happily there is no 
 authentic portrait of him on canvas or in marble extant ; 
 happily, for were there one, it would be idolized. But 
 mankind cannot avoid forming an ideal picture of him, 
 influenced by inferences from Scriptural hints, and by its 
 own predilections. 
 
 The early Church, under persecution, was averse to a 
 pictorial representation ; and viewing with repugnance 
 the beautiful statues of the Greek and Roman gods, it 
 found sympathetic comfort in dwelling on the figurative 
 statements of Isaiah that, " His visage was marred more 
 than any man, and his form more than the sons of men ; " 
 that, " He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we 
 shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire 
 him ; " and that, " We did esteem him stricken, smitten of 
 God and afflicted." Accordingly Justin Martyr describes 
 him as " without beauty, glory or honor." Origen says : 
 " His body was small, ill-shapen and ignoble." Clemens
 
 92 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 of Alexandria says : " His beauty was in his soul and 
 in his actions, but in appearance he was base." And 
 Tertullian says : " His body had no human handsome- 
 ness, much less any celestial splendor." 
 
 This conception lingered long and has never been 
 wholly effaced. But after Constantine, in the Church 
 politically victorious, the opposite ideal prevailed. The 
 beauty of David and of Solomon was attributed to him 
 by Augustine, citing : " Fair, fair art thou above the 
 sons of men, the chiefest among ten thousand, and alto- 
 gether lovely." And Jerome says : " Certainly a flame 
 of fire and starry brightness flashed from his eyes, and 
 the majesty of the Godhead shone in his face." John 
 of Damascus, in the eighth century, says that he re- 
 sembled his mother, that he was beautiful and strikingly 
 tall, with fair and slightly curling locks, on which no 
 hand but his mother's had ever passed, with dark eye- 
 brows, black beard, an oval countenance, a pale and olive 
 complexion, bright eyes, an attitude slightly stooping, 
 and a look expressive of patience, nobility and wisdom. 
 But the famous Latin letter of Publius Lentulus, sup- 
 posed to be a procurator of Judea and contemporary 
 with Pilate, though evidently apocryphal and probably 
 not older than the twelfth century, is yet so interesting 
 for the history of Christian art, and so clearly derived 
 from long current traditions, that it may be quoted at 
 length. It is addressed : " The President of the people 
 of Jerusalem, to the Roman Senate, Greeting " ; and says : 
 
 " At this time has appeared a man who lives till now, 
 a man endowed with great powers. Men call him a great 
 prophet, and his disciples term him the Son of God. 
 His name is Jesus 'Christ. He restores the dead to life, 
 and cures the sick of all manner of diseases. This man
 
 THE ATTESTATION 93 
 
 is of noble and well proportioned stature, with a face 
 full of kindness, yet firm, so that the beholders both love 
 him and fear him. His hair is the color of wine, and 
 golden at the root, straight and without lustre, but from 
 the level of the ears curling and glossy, and divided 
 down the centre after the fashion of the Nazarenes. His 
 forehead is even and smooth, his face without blemish, 
 and enhanced by a tempered bloom. His countenance 
 is ingenuous and kind. Nose and mouth in no way 
 faulty. His beard is full, of the same color as his hair, 
 and forked. His eyes are blue, and extremely brilliant. 
 In reproof and rebuke he is formidable; in exhortation 
 and teaching, gentle and amiable of tongue. None have 
 seen him to laugh ; but many, on the contrary, to weep. 
 His person is tall, his hands beautiful and straight. In 
 speaking he is deliberate and grave, and little given to 
 loquacity. In beauty surpassing most men." 
 
 The painters and sculptors of Christendom in medieval 
 and modern times have vied with one another to depict 
 or model the man on the general type here described. 
 This artistic reiteration, though varied, of perfect manly 
 beauty has fixed the ideal, so that not only in art but in 
 the minds of men the representations of the Nazarene 
 resemble one another. Not any one is universally ac- 
 cepted, but perhaps among the Salvator pictures the 
 Christ of the Cenacolo, by Leonardo da Vinci, is most 
 generally approved, and among the Ecce Homo pictures, 
 that by Guido. A sober judgment, however, while dis- 
 approving the ancient caricature and pleasingly impressed 
 with the modern type of perfected beauty, would per- 
 haps refrain from an enthusiastic extreme, and favor a 
 representation of medium comeliness as more probably 
 in accord with the historical reality. Such view avoids
 
 94 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 the offense of deformity on the one hand, and on the 
 other the largely sensuous attraction of physical perfec- 
 tion in form and feature, a needless and unworthy addi- 
 tion to spiritual personality. 
 
 Jesus with his six companions left Bethabara on Sun- 
 day to return to Nazareth. He wanted to see his 
 mother, and allay the anxiety she would naturally feel 
 because of his protracted and unexplained absence of 
 more than six weeks, much longer than was expected 
 when he left home. The distance to be walked was 
 nearly thirty miles. They reached Nazareth about Mon- 
 day afternoon, and found that the mother of Jesus had 
 gone to Cana, Nathaniel's village, some five miles north 
 of Nazareth, to attend a wedding. Also they found 
 awaiting them invitations to the wedding for Jesus and 
 his friends. So next day, Tuesday, they went to Cana to 
 be present at the marriage on Wednesday, the third day 
 after the Sunday on which they started, and the day of 
 the week on which Jewish marriages customarily took 
 place. The facts that Jesus and his two cousins and their 
 companions were asked to the marriage, that Mary went 
 some days beforehand as if to assist in the preparations, 
 and that on the occasion she seemed much at home, was 
 anxious about the provision, and gave orders to the 
 servants, make it likely that it was a family affair ; and, 
 since the feast was usually held in the home of the 
 bridegroom, a marriage of some male relative. 23 
 
 The feast is in progress. The large room where it is 
 held is decorated with branches of fresh green leaves, 
 interspersed with garlands of flowers ; for it is the latter 
 part of March, the first month of Spring. The festive 
 board extends the length of the room, with couches
 
 THE ATTESTATION 95 
 
 alongside on which the guests recline, leaning on the left 
 elbow and managing the viands with the right hand. At 
 the upper end is the ruler of the feast, whose office is to 
 approve the dishes offered, and to regulate their changes. 
 On his right is the bridegroom. The bride and her 
 maids have withdrawn, it being unusual among the Jews 
 for women to recline at feasts. But the mother of Jesus 
 is passing to and fro superintending the service at this 
 first feast, as did Martha of Bethany at the last feast. 
 Jesus and his young disciples are accommodated with 
 couches. 
 
 By his presence Jesus sanctioned, not only the mar- 
 riage relation, but joyful festivity. We may be sure that 
 as a genial gentleman he wore no sad countenance de- 
 pressing the gladness around, but that with ready smile 
 he sympathized with the general hilarity, and shared in 
 the good cheer. In the eyes of all, save his mother and 
 disciples, he was simply one of the guests from Nazareth. 
 
 Before the close of the feast the wine was exhausted, 
 due perhaps to the accession of more guests than were 
 expected. This scant provision indicates that the bride- 
 groom furnishing the feast was not wealthy, indeed that 
 the occasion, entertaining a carpenter and several fisher- 
 men, was an humble one. Mary was in consternation at 
 the failure of the wine. But she had pondered many 
 things in her heart concerning her son, and now a thought 
 struck her. Stepping beside his couch she whispered : 
 
 " They have no wine." 
 
 This hint of the cause in his increase of the company, 
 with a hint of a remedy due, is thoroughly feminine in 
 its delicate indirection. Jesus replied : 
 
 " Woman, what have I to do with thee ? mine hour is 
 not yet come,"
 
 96 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 This sounds a little rough in our English ears, but the 
 address, Woman, with the Greeks and Jews was perfectly 
 respectful, corresponding to our Madam or Lady. Thus 
 Augustus, on arriving in Egypt after the victory at 
 Actium, said kindly to the despairing queen Cleopatra, 
 Be of good cheer, O Woman. Yet there is a shade of 
 mild reproof, at least a remonstrance, in the reply of 
 Jesus, a disclaimer of responsibility in the case, and a re- 
 pudiation of parental authority. The Son was now Lord 
 of his mother also. The reply may be fairly para- 
 phrased : 
 
 " Why should you press me, Lady ? the time for my 
 work is not yet." 
 
 Mary retired from his side, and still expectant and con- 
 fident, ordered the servants privately : 
 
 " Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it." 
 
 In the outer gallery leading to the banquet room were 
 set six earthenware water-jars, whose average capacity 
 was seventeen gallons, making for the six jars one 
 hundred and two gallons. They held the supply of water 
 used in the profuse ceremonial ablutions practiced at 
 feasts. Some of this water had already been drawn off. 
 Jesus said quietly apart to the servants : 
 
 " Fill the water-jars with water." 
 
 So they went out, and refilled them to the brim. Then 
 upon their report of this to him, he said : 
 
 " Draw out now, and bear unto the ruler of the 
 feast." 
 
 , They did so. And when the ruler had tasted the 
 water that had become wine, and knew not whence it 
 was, he turned to the bridegroom, and said in jocose 
 compliment : 
 
 " Every man setteth on first the good wine ; and when
 
 THE ATTESTATION 97 
 
 men have drunk freely, then that which is worse ; but 
 thou hast kept the good wine until now." 
 
 This beginning of signs attesting by superhuman 
 power his divine commission, did Jesus in Cana of Gali- 
 lee. His first miracle was a miracle of luxury, and of 
 abundance far beyond the need of the occasion, a wed- 
 ding present of a hundred gallons of the best wine to his 
 humble relatives. He who a week ago had refused to 
 turn a stone into bread for his own relief when starving, 
 now turns a hundred gallons of water into wine to pro- 
 mote the festivity of his friends, and to store richly the 
 cellar of his host. It was the lavish gift of a prince, royal, 
 divine plenty. 
 
 This manifestation of his glory, in advance of his pub- 
 lic revelation soon to be made, was especially for his 
 relatives and personal friends, and amid its humble sur- 
 roundings, was very unostentatious. The sign was 
 known first to the servants only. When it became 
 known to the company, it must have produced a deep 
 impression ; yet, while his mother of course and his dis- 
 ciples believed, it seems that others doubted, among 
 whom probably were his so-called brothers from Naza- 
 reth. They did not doubt the matter, but the man ; a 
 judicial blindness more marvellous than the miracle. 
 " Lympha pudica Deum vidit et erubuit" 
 " The conscious water saw its God and blushed." 
 In that life-giving presence even lifeless water woke to 
 consciousness, and our best emblem of purity lost 
 countenance before him. Yet there were men in that 
 presence who seeing did not see, and did in nowise per- 
 ceive ; whose eyes were holden lest haply they should 
 understand with their heart, and should turn, and be 
 made anew.
 
 98 HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 Let it be noted that the change wrought was not alto- 
 gether similar, as Augustine suggests, to that which takes 
 place in the natural process of growth, wherein the rain 
 of the sky is transformed into the juice of the grape, ex- 
 cept that, as Olshausen adds, the process is hastened. In 
 natural growth all the materials are present, and are rear- 
 ranged, transformed. But in this case it was not merely 
 a transformation of materials at hand, but a transubstan- 
 tiation. In every thirty gallons of wine there is one 
 pound of carbon. Whence came the three and a third 
 pounds of carbon ? Here was a new vitalizing and per- 
 fecting element, imported by power divine. 
 
 Moses, the lawgiver and leader, a prototype of Christ, 
 wrought great miracles. He, the organizer of the Old 
 Testament dispensation, as his first sign, turned water 
 into blood. It was symbolic of condemnation, and of 
 judgment to come. His antitype, the founder of the New 
 Testament dispensation, as his first sign, turned water 
 into wine. It was symbolic of regeneration ; of the reno- 
 vated life of mankind ; of the prophetic call, Ho, every 
 one that thirsteth, come ; and of the new wine which he 
 shall drink with us at the marriage supper of the Lamb. 
 
 It will be appropriate to make here some remarks 
 about miraculous signs in general. It has been often said 
 that a miracle is impossible. Indeed many skeptics, es- 
 pecially those of the school of the Positivists, assume this 
 as a scientifically axiomatic postulate. Now an atheist 
 may take this position consistently ; but sincere atheists 
 are so rare that we may here pass them by. An agnostic 
 may not make the assertion consistently ; he must say, I 
 do not and cannot know. Let us pass him by. A deist, 
 one who rejects the inspiration of the Scriptures yet be-
 
 THE ATTESTATION 99 
 
 lieves in the existence of a divine Creator and Ruler, can- 
 not consistently say that a miracle is impossible, for crea- 
 tion is the greatest of all miracles. Also in admitting the 
 reality of divine overruling power, he fully admits the 
 possibility of any and all miracles. 
 
 The deist indeed may say, I cannot conceive how 
 water became wine, it is utterly incomprehensible, not to 
 me only but to the human mind. Granted, but the 
 futile effort to conceive how this came about, is an effort 
 to conceive either an intermediate process where there 
 was none, or the manner in which the cause operated. 
 But the manner in which any cause operates to produce 
 its immediate effect is inconceivable. One cannot con- 
 ceive how the earth attracts a falling stone, we know only 
 that it does ; or how a man bends his arm, we know only 
 that he bends it. In the conception of water becoming 
 wine, we have in the jars water, then wine ; also we have 
 sufficient antecedents in the water and divine will, and 
 the effected consequent in the wine. For the conception 
 no more is needed, no more is possible. We have no 
 other conception of bending an arm. The antecedents 
 are a straight arm and a man's will, the consequent is a 
 bent arm. That is all we know or can know about it. 
 Neither physiology nor psychology, nor physiological 
 psychology pretends to offer any explanation of how a 
 man's will affects his brain so as to bring about the con- 
 traction of a muscle. Let us await the solution of this 
 problem before we ask how water became wine. 
 
 Some deists object with Hume, that a miracle is con- 
 trary to all human experience. But this begs the ques- 
 tion. It is equivalent to saying that since no miracle has 
 ever been experienced, therefore no miracle has ever been 
 experienced. If one miracle has been experienced, then
 
 lop HIS INVESTITURE 
 
 \ N 
 a miracle is not contrary to all experience. Moreover, it 
 
 is not strictly proper to say that a miracle is contrary 
 even to general experience, but only not in accord with 
 general experience. And this is easily true of things not 
 miraculous. Some years ago it was contrary, or more 
 properly not according to experience that two persons 
 miles apart should engage in quiet oral conversation, but 
 it has now become a familiar experience. Hence what 
 is contrary or not according to general or even universal 
 experience may nevertheless be not only possible and con- 
 ceivable, but also credible. It is simply a question of fact. 
 The chief difficulty in accepting miracles as facts arises 
 from the modern scientific conception of natural law as 
 expressing irrefragable, inviolable order. A miracle is 
 supposed to violate this inviolate order, or as Spinoza 
 puts it, therein the God of grace contradicts the God of 
 nature ; a self-contradiction, and absurd. But let us con- 
 sider the scope of natural law. If it expresses merely 
 the play of physical forces apart from will, then indeed 
 it expresses uniform inviolate order, order without alter- 
 native. And this is a true conception. But if the free 
 force possessed by will intervenes, this produces results ir- 
 reducible to law. If I put kindling and coal in my stove, 
 and start a fire, I bring about a certain combination and 
 state of things which would not occur in nature apart 
 from will, and is not as a whole conformable to any irre- 
 fragable law, yet no one calls this a violation of natural 
 law. The exercise of the human will is surely apart from 
 the uniform order of nature as expressed by law, though 
 indeed it is not accounted supernatural. But the power 
 of a free will, be it human or divine, free to use or not to 
 use, and to direct and vary the intensity of a physical 
 force, must be taken into account in the matter before us.
 
 THE ATTESTATION 101 
 
 We are greatly in need of a definition of a miracle. 
 Stated generically, a miracle is a supernatural phenome- 
 non. A phenomenon is aught that appears to an ob- 
 server. By supernatural is meant that which transcends 
 for its production all forces exclusively physical, and any 
 combination with them of the power of human volition. 
 Now defining specifically, we have : A miracle is a su- 
 pernatural phenomenon caused by an intervention of the 
 energy of divine will in the established order of nature, 
 subjecting it to variation or exception. Herein the 
 divine will is exercised intelligently to direct or modify 
 physical forces, bringing about extraordinary results ; 
 historically, at a particular time, and for a special purpose. 
 This cannot be called a violation of natural law any more 
 than we may so call the intervention of voluntary human 
 energy. A locomotive engineer controls his machine and 
 its train at will by handling a lever. The Ruler of the uni- 
 verse directs its progress, and upon historic occasions has 
 likewise at will modified natural order for specific purposes. 
 
 Of the very many miraculous signs which are stated in 
 the Gospels to have been wrought by the divine power 
 of the Christ only about forty are specifically recorded. 
 They were his credentials which attested his mission 
 from the Father to mankind. They were all miracles 
 of mercy and love, instructive of his own personal char- 
 acter, and of the purpose of his commission. Some 
 such convincing evidences were needful in the beginning 
 and the early days of the Church ; but its historical 
 progress through many centuries, its spread in the world, 
 and especially the development of its doctrines, furnish 
 superseding evidences, so that the apologist no longer 
 offers the miracles in proof of Christianity, but Christian- 
 ity in proof of the miracles.
 
 PART THIRD 
 
 His First Judean Ministry
 
 HEROD'S TEMPLE 
 
 Based on Actual Survey of the Site. 
 
 GAZITH f 
 
 COURT OF ISRAEL 
 
 COURT OF GE'N TILES 
 
 BRIDGE 
 
 o o o o 
 Herod's Basilica 
 
 HULDAH GATE 
 
 BOHMAY A CO., N.Y 
 
 Copyright taos by Fleming U. Revel! Company.
 
 VIII 
 
 THE INCEPTION 
 
 THE story of the Nazarene as here told accepts 
 the gospel narrative as veritable history. The 
 incidents are recited in the order assigned them 
 in the standard harmonies with little deviation. Their 
 distribution is more independent. Our story proposes to 
 dwell chiefly on the human personality of this many- 
 sided man, this God's ideal of a man, to present him as 
 he must have appeared to an unprejudiced observer of 
 that day, as a man among men taking part in the life of 
 the time, an historical phenomenon in conflict with his 
 surroundings yet originating a new and mighty move- 
 ment in the world. We shall neglect doctrines in favor 
 of events, filling in the outline given by the evangelists 
 with such details as may be fairly inferred from the text, 
 and supplying collateral matter from archaeology and 
 contemporary history. The formal purpose is to bring 
 Jesus nearer to us without ignoring his divinity, to bring 
 the man Jesus home to us by a true and vivid represen- 
 tation of his humanity. 
 
 After the wedding at Cana, Jesus with his mother and 
 brethren and disciples went down to Capernaum. It was 
 now about the beginning of April in the year 27, and the 
 feast of the Passover was at hand. It was the intention 
 of Jesus and his six disciples to attend this feast, and they 
 went to Capernaum to join some one of the many Gali- 
 
 105
 
 lean caravans preparing to go to Jerusalem. The Jews 
 of Galilee on going to Judea felt a strong repugnance to 
 passing through the inhospitable district of Samaria, peo- 
 pled by an alien, heretical, and socially hostile race. 
 They were therefore accustomed to cross the Jordan just 
 below the lake of Gennesareth into Peraea, to move south- 
 ward past Bethabara to the ford opposite Jericho, and 
 crossing there into Judea to go up to Jerusalem, thus 
 avoiding a passage through Samaria. 
 
 The caravan which Jesus and his disciples joined pur- 
 sued this route, whose length from Capernaum was about 
 one hundred miles. At Bethabara Jesus met John for 
 the third and last time. After some days journey the 
 pilgrims surmounted Olivet, and came in sight of Jerusa- 
 lem and the Temple. 
 
 The view from the brow of Olivet overlooking the city 
 is famous. Beyond the Temple the hill of Zion was cov- 
 ered with dwellings and palaces, divided into blocks by 
 narrow streets, and surrounded by a lofty and strong 
 stone wall having fortified towers standing on it at inter- 
 vals like sentinels. 
 
 Between Olivet and the city is the temple hill, whose 
 broad flat top nearly square and about a thousand feet 
 each way, was enclosed by high and massive stone walls, 
 from which on the right and left, the city walls began 
 their circuit. Against the further half of the northern 
 wall of the Temple, on the right, outside the enclosure, 
 stood the great square tower or fortress of Antonia, built 
 by Herod on the site of Baris, an Asmonasan fort. It was 
 about 400 feet square and of such height that it over- 
 looked frowningly the temple enclosure into which it 
 opened by a gate and stairs. At this time it was the lodg-
 
 THE INCEPTION 10; 
 
 ment of a Roman garrison, whose specific duty was to 
 keep order among the crowds of turbulent Jews visiting 
 the Temple. 
 
 The vast square enclosure paved with marble tesselated, 
 was entered from the city by gates, chiefly the four on 
 the further or western wall. Against the inner sides of 
 the enclosing wall were four porches or porticoes sup- 
 ported by colonnades, each extending the full length of 
 the side. Under these colonnades the Schools of the 
 Doctors were ordinarily held, there the boy Jesus con- 
 versed with them, and there Paul sat at the feet of Gama- 
 liel. These colonnades were built of white marble, the 
 columns were lofty, sculptured in the elaborate Corinthian 
 style, and ranged in a double row. The portico running 
 along the eastern side was called Solomon's Porch. That 
 along the southern side was called Herod's Porch. It 
 was wider than the others, and had a quadruple row of 
 columns, with a nave of great height running along the 
 middle in the style of a Roman Basilica, and hence was 
 called also the Stoa Basilica. A gate at its western end 
 gave exit over a massive stone bridge crossing the Ty- 
 ropceon valley, between the Temple and city, and ending 
 at the Asmonsean palace. 
 
 In the midst of the square surrounded by the porticoes 
 and open to the sky was a smaller square of about 500 
 feet each way, marked off by a balustrade, the Soreg, 
 within which strangers were forbidden to enter on pain 
 of death. The space covered by the porticoes, together 
 with the open space outside the balustrade, was free to all 
 comers, and hence was called the Court of the Gentiles. 
 Within the balustrade on a raised platform was the en- 
 closure of the Sanctuary, standing a little to the right of 
 the middle. It consisted of marble walls pierced by lofty
 
 io8 HIS FIRST JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 and highly sculptured gateways, four on each of the 
 northern and southern sides, leading into two courts sep- 
 arated by a cross wall and open to the sky. The eastern 
 court was the Court of Women, entered on the east by a 
 famous and highly decorated gate, the Beautiful Gate. 
 The passage from this to the other court, the Court of 
 Israel, was through a splendid arched gateway whose 
 gate was of Corinthian brass, known as the Nicanor Gate. 
 In the midst of the Court of Priests, which was central to 
 the Court of Israel, stood the Brazen Laver and the great 
 Altar of Burnt Offerings. 
 
 Beyond these was the Sanctuary itself, which consisted, 
 first, of the Holy Place, having the Golden Candle- 
 stick, the Table of Shewbread, and the Altar of In- 
 cense ; and secondly, separated by the Veil of the cella, 
 the Holy of Holies, or Most Holy Place, containing 
 nothing. 
 
 The front of the Sanctuary, V a6<s, was adorned by a 
 wide and lofty porch, the pinnacle overlooking the whole 
 Temple, lsp6v. Around the Sanctuary and the Courts 
 adjacent were chambers for various purposes connected 
 with services of the Temple; also halls, among which 
 was probably the hall Gazith wherein were held the sit- 
 tings of the Great Sanhedrin. 
 
 This extensive and splendid structure stood on the site 
 of the post-exilian Temple of Zerubbabel, and of the orig- 
 inal Temple of Solomon, but occupied a greatly en- 
 larged area. It was the work of Herod the Great who, 
 inspired by his Roman masters, had a passion for build- 
 ing. He rebuilt also the Samaritan Temple on Mt. 
 Gerizim, and added a grand Temple to Augustus Caesar 
 at Caesarea. The renovation of the Temple at Jerusalem, 
 begun in 19 B. c., was far from finished at the death of
 
 THE INCEPTION 109 
 
 Herod, was still building according to his plans after the 
 lapse of forty-six years when Jesus came to it in 27 A. D., 
 was finished at last by Herod Agrippa II, great-grandson 
 of Herod the Great, in 65 A. D., and was finally destroyed 
 by the Roman soldiers of Titus, though his intent was to 
 spare it, at the overthrow of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. Its 
 elaborate character may be surmised from the fact that 
 King Herod Agrippa I, on being solicited to undertake 
 the renovation of the eastern cloister of Solomon's porch, 
 declined, saying that he would rather undertake to pave 
 the whole city with marble. The general magnificence 
 of the structure was perhaps unsurpassed by any of the 
 famous heathen temples of antiquity. And it is well 
 worth noting that it was the inverse of these ; for, while 
 their splendor was external, facing outward, its glory was 
 internal, looking inward. To the Jews it was of the pro- 
 foundest interest and significance, being at once the acra, 
 the citadel or fortress of Jerusalem, the peoples' bank, the 
 national treasury, the centre of national religious worship, 
 and the palace of the covenanted King, Jehovah. 
 
 When Jesus and his disciples stood on the brow of 
 Mount Olivet at noon that memorable day, the pth of 
 April in the year 27, and looked down upon and within 
 the enclosure of the Temple, the gleaming splendor of 
 the white marble colonnades and brazen gates, the majes- 
 tic central Sanctuary with its towering portico and gilded 
 roof, offered a dazzling sight, gorgeous to the lust of the 
 eyes. The nation was assembling for the Pascal Feast, 
 and the courts of the enclosure were swarming with 
 thousands of stirring people engaged in worship or other- 
 wise, while the smoke of the great altar of sacrifice 
 ascended in a waving column to the skies. But Jesus
 
 no HIS FIRST JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 was not dazzled. His divine eyes saw far more than this 
 brilliant show. Nor did he pause long to gaze upon it, 
 but descended the mount with his disciples, passed by 
 Gethsemane, then through the city gate, and going round 
 to the western side, where were the great gates, entered 
 the enclosure. Thus the Lord came suddenly to his 
 Temple. 24 
 
 The vast area of the outer court was filled with a 
 surging crowd of many thousands. The surrounding 
 colonnades had been fitted up as bazaars, where mis- 
 cellaneous articles, such as might be desired by worship- 
 pers and visitors, were being sold with all that noisy 
 clamor usual in oriental traffic. In every available nook 
 money-changers had set up their tables where large 
 moneys could be broken into small change, and foreign 
 moneys exchanged for Jewish coin, in which alone the 
 temple tribute was payable. On all exchanges, a con- 
 siderable, usually an exorbitant per cent, was charged, 
 from which the total revenue was enormous. Here also 
 were noisy altercations over the weighing of coins, the 
 deductions for short weights, the charges for exchange, 
 arguing, disputing, bargaining. Moreover, the open 
 courts were markets where cages of doves, the sacrifice 
 of the poor, were on sale ; also, for burnt offerings, flocks 
 of sheep huddled in groups, and even oxen tethered to 
 the balustrades. These mingled their bleating and low- 
 ing with the clamor of the traders and buyers. 
 
 The temple traffic was licensed by the Jewish authori- 
 ties to whom, those engaging in it paid a heavy tax for 
 the privilege. This was distinct from the regular temple 
 tribute applicable to the current expense of the temple ser- 
 vice. The payment for the license to trade went into the 
 pockets of the chief members of the hierarchy, and of
 
 THE INCEPTION ill 
 
 the Sanhedrists. Especially the High Priests, Annas and 
 Caiaphas his son-in-law, profited and were enriched by 
 it. Indeed they themselves engaged indirectly in the 
 traffic itself ; there were temple bazaars known to be and 
 styled, the Bazaars of the Sons of Annas. These facts 
 and the exorbitant rates made the temple traffic unpopu- 
 lar with the masses, even the traders themselves feeling 
 that, though licensed, it was illegitimate, and a gross 
 desecration. 
 
 When Jesus entered his Temple and witnessed these 
 things his eyes flamed with indignation, and a consuming 
 zeal possessed him. He made a scourge of small cords, 
 as a symbol of punitive authority, and cast all out of the 
 Temple both the sheep and the oxen ; and he poured 
 out the changers' money, and overthrew their tables ; 
 and to them that sold doves he said : 
 
 " Take these things hence ; make not my Father's 
 house a house of merchandise." 
 
 This is an extraordinary scene. He opens his public 
 ministry abruptly by an act of aggression, an act at once 
 of a reformer and a judge. He presents himself for the 
 first time to the Jewish people assembled at their princi- 
 pal national feast, the Passover, at Jerusalem, in the 
 Temple, by doing haughty violence to an established 
 custom sanctioned by the ruling authorities. And there 
 is no resistance to this violent purgation of the Temple 
 by a single man, a stranger, in the dress of a Galilean 
 peasant. Was it a miracle ? Not necessarily : for there 
 was that in his mien which overawed resistance. More- 
 over the traders were conscience-made cowards knowing 
 very well both the extreme unpopularity of their busi- 
 ness, and the dangerous character of the easily aroused 
 Jewish mob. Hence as here was apparently a leader,
 
 ii2 HIS FIRST JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 they were glad to escape quickly with their scattered 
 moneys regathered, their chattels and their beasts. 
 
 The news of this transaction was immediately known 
 to the Court of the Sanhedrin, which during the Pascha, 
 was in constant session in its hall Gazith. Its members 
 were insulted at the assumption in the Temple of an 
 authority which they considered exclusively their own, 
 and incensed at the interruption of a business which was 
 to themselves so profitable. The Court, therefore, with a 
 formal propriety, deputed certain of their number to 
 inquire into the affair. When these deputies, surrounded 
 by a multitude watchful and curious, confronted Jesus, 
 they too were overawed by his majesty, and cowed by 
 conscience and the dread of the turbulent mob. Hence 
 they dared not attempt his arrest, but haughtily asked : 
 
 " What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing thou doest 
 these things ? " 
 
 This was a call for his credentials to be shown to the 
 proper parties. Evidently they understood his high 
 claim. Signs from heaven had been given by Moses, 
 and by Elijah on demand ; so they were due from him. 
 Jesus answered enigmatically : 
 
 " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise 
 it up." 
 
 They replied with characteristic scorn : 
 
 " Forty and six years was this Temple in building, and 
 wilt thou raise it up in three days ? " 
 
 But he spake of the temple of his body. The deputa- 
 tion retired discomfited, not daring to press him further, 
 and made their report. His meaning was not under- 
 stood, but his words were long remembered by the 
 Sanhedrists, and three years afterwards were recalled and 
 misused against him. Nor did his disciples understand
 
 THE INCEPTION 113 
 
 his meaning until after the resurrection, which was to be 
 for them, and for the whole world throughout the ages, 
 the great, the greatest sign of his divine commission. 
 
 The disciple John had a home in Jerusalem, as a 
 convenience in his business of supplying the fish-market 
 there, and his cousin Jesus was now his guest. During 
 the Passover week Jesus wrought signs, and many be- 
 lieved. But he understood human nature too well to 
 trust himself to them at once. One night, however, a 
 wealthy Pharisee, an eminent doctor of the law and a 
 member of the Sanhedrin, named Nicodemus, visited 
 him. The night-time was chosen possibly in fear of his 
 hostile confederates or in prudent caution, but more 
 probably because of its greater convenience for private 
 conversation. His address to Jesus was in full recogni- 
 tion of his claim, and profoundly reverential : 
 
 " Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from 
 God ; for no man can do these signs that thou doest, ex- 
 cept God be with him." M 
 
 The response of Jesus is his first teaching. It is the 
 doctrine of the necessity of a new birth from above, and 
 experience of the purifying power of the Spirit for all, 
 excepting himself; for he said, not we, but ye must be 
 born anew. He used figurative speech, which Nicodemus 
 took literally and was perplexed, saying : 
 
 " How can these things be ? " 
 
 The answer of Jesus is tinged with sarcasm. 
 
 " Art thou the teacher of Israel, and understandest not 
 these things ? " 
 
 Then, having affirmed his own knowledge of them, he 
 adds: 
 
 " If I have told you earthly things, and ye believed
 
 114 HIS FIRST JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you heavenly 
 things?" 
 
 Clearly this closes the interview. Further teaching 
 would be vain. John, who was probably present during 
 the conversation and who fifty years afterwards records 
 its substance, proceeds with comments saying : 
 
 " And no man hath ascended into heaven, but he 
 that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man 
 which is in heaven." 
 
 Were these words spoken at the time by Jesus, they 
 would be inexplicable ; and hence, on that supposition, 
 they have been regarded as a gloss. But taken as John's 
 words of many years afterwards, they are a clear and 
 highly significant endorsement of Christ's knowledge of 
 heavenly things. Then John affirms that, if the world 
 is to be brought to Christ, he must be lifted up, pro- 
 claimed by his followers, even as Moses lifted up the 
 healing sign. Upon this the famous verse sixteen fol- 
 lows, John's epitome, the gospel in miniature, the little 
 Bible, as Luther called it, which as an inspired utterance 
 is not less authoritative or precious than if uttered by 
 the Saviour himself. 
 
 In the course of the story of the Nazarene, we shall 
 hear of Nicodemus again. Tradition has it that in after 
 years he was baptized by Peter and John ; that con- 
 sequently he was deposed from the Sanhedrin and 
 exiled ; that though rich he became poor, and gained his 
 living as a scavenger ; but that finally he rose to be the 
 Christian bishop of Caesarea. 
 
 After the Pascal Feast, Jesus and the disciples who 
 came with him from Galilee tarried, not in Jerusalem, 
 but in the country of Judea. They journeyed from place
 
 THE INCEPTION 115 
 
 to place, making a tour of the towns and villages which 
 were numerous round about Jerusalem, Jesus teaching 
 and his disciples baptizing the many who believed on 
 him. This Judean ministry continued for about eight 
 months. We have no incidents preserved ; but it is 
 probable that during this time Jesus made acquaintance 
 with Joseph of Arimathea, a good and just man, a mem- 
 ber of the Sanhedrin, and with the sisters Martha and 
 Mary and their brother Lazarus, whose home was at 
 Bethany less than two miles east of Jerusalem. All 
 these became believers, and a warm personal and mutual 
 friendship sprang up between Jesus and the members of 
 the family at Bethany. They too will reappear in the 
 progress of the story. 26
 
 IX 
 
 THE INTERRUPTION 
 
 
 
 FOR a clear understanding of subsequent events, 
 it is needful to recur to the history of the Herodian 
 family. It has already been said that Herod's 
 eldest surviving son, Philip I, was living privately at 
 Rome. He had married his half-niece Herodias, grand- 
 daughter of Herod and Mariamne the Jewish Asmonaean 
 princess, and daughter of their son Aristobulus, executed 
 by Herod. Philip I was his son by a later marriage, 
 and hence the half-uncle of Herodias his wife, by whom 
 at Rome he had a daughter Salome. 
 
 Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea, had set up his 
 court at Tiberias. He, half Idumean, half Samaritan, 
 was married to an Arabian princess, the daughter of the 
 emir, or king, Aretas, of Petraea south of the Dead Sea. 
 On a ceremonial visit to Rome to condole with Emperor 
 Tiberius on the death of his son Drusus, 23 A. D., while 
 the guest of his elder half-brother Philip I, he became 
 enamored of Herodias, Philip's wife, his own half-niece also. 
 She was a very ambitious woman, and rather than live pri- 
 vately at Rome, she consented to elope with Antipas, 
 and share his principality in Palestine, he promising to 
 divorce his Arabian wife, and marry her. Accordingly 
 they fled from Rome to Tiberias, taking with them her 
 daughter Salome. The wife of Antipas, forewarned, had 
 already fled to her royal father Aretas at Petrsea, who soon 
 made war on Antipas to avenge her. Her formal di- 
 
 116 .
 
 THE INTERRUPTION 117 
 
 vorce, it seems, was accomplished, but not that of 
 Herodias ; nevertheless Antipas and Herodias lived as man 
 and wife at Tiberias. This scandalous affair, and the con- 
 nection, at once adulterous and violative of other sacred 
 family ties, was of course notorious. The Jews, especially 
 those of Galilee and Peraea, keenly felt it to be a social 
 and national dishonor. 
 
 While Jesus with his six disciples was still pursuing 
 his ministry in Judea, John the baptizer moved from 
 his station at Bethabara, up the Jordan to JEnon, the 
 Springs, near to Salim in southeast Galilee. There he 
 renewed his camp-meeting. After a time some of his 
 disciples got news of the successful ministry of Jesus in 
 Judea, and of the great numbers who were there baptized. 
 This awoke their jealousy, and they went to their mas- 
 ter John with querulous words. But the grand man 
 rebuked them grandly, saying with joy, yet with a 
 humility that is sublime : 
 
 " He must increase, but I must decrease." 
 
 Then, after some further testimony, this last repre- 
 sentative of the old dispensation uttered his last recorded 
 teaching, which, fusing the old and the new, condenses 
 the whole of the Gospel of Salvation. 
 
 " He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life ; but 
 he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the 
 wrath of God abideth on him." 
 
 This remarkable utterance, recorded in John 3 : 36, 
 resembles yet contrasts with the precious verse sixteen 
 of the same chapter. The one, in the spirit and manner 
 of the Old Testament, closes with threatened wrath ; the 
 other opens widely the New Testament with the promise 
 of everlasting life.
 
 HIS FIRST JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 John, now at JEnon, not far south of Tiberias, was 
 preaching to crowds of people, who held him to be a 
 prophet. He, being enquired of concerning the court 
 scandal, expressed freely and publicly his condemnation. 
 Antipas hearing of this, had him arrested on the pretext 
 that the crowds he collected endangered public safety. 
 John was taken bound to the palace at Tiberias, and im- 
 prisoned in its dungeon. Soon a preliminary trial 
 was ordered, and he stood in the throne-room before the 
 royal pair. 27 
 
 The splendid hall, of marble floor and frescoed ceiling, 
 surrounded by galleries supported by marble columns, 
 had near its upper end a raised dais on which stood the 
 carved and gilded throne relieved against richly embroid- 
 ered curtains. The galleries were filled with men and 
 women courtiers ; the bodyguard, dressed and armed 
 in Roman fashion, were ranged between the columns ; 
 counsellors were at their desks on either hand of the 
 throne, upon which were seated Antipas and Herodias, 
 arrayed in robes of state with all the insignia of royalty. 
 Antipas was then nearly fifty years of age, Herodias about 
 thirty-five. He was of handsome build, but of foxy 
 countenance and restless eyes. She, inheriting the 
 famous beauty of her grandmother Mariamne, was in 
 the maturity of her feminine charms. Her splendid 
 eyes were steady and bold, her mien haughty and 
 queenly. 
 
 And now a prisoner in bonds is brought forward, and 
 made to stand in the vacant centre of the scene. His 
 long black hair and beard, his sackcloth shirt and 
 leathern girdle, his bare arms and sandaled feet, contrast 
 strongly with the brilliant surroundings. But though 
 manacled and fettered, his bearing is brave, his posture
 
 THE INTERRUPTION 119 
 
 erect, and there is fire in his eye a chained eagle of the 
 wilderness. 
 
 By Roman law a prisoner may be put to the question, 
 and his answers used in evidence. Accordingly, Antipas 
 asks : 
 
 " By what authority do you hold assemblies within my 
 domain ? " 
 
 John firmly and boldly replies : 
 
 " By an authority higher than thine." 
 
 This answer gives Antipas to pause. He quails be- 
 fore the piercing eye of the prophet. He knows the 
 story of Ahab and Elijah, and trembles. But Herodias, the 
 Jezebel of the time, does not tremble. She defiantly asks : 
 
 " What is it you said of us ? " 
 
 John gives no heed to her query. He does not even 
 look towards her. After a moment of silence, Antipas, 
 glad to be relieved, commands : 
 
 " Answer that question." 
 
 " I said, and say again, It is not lawful for thee to 
 have thy brother Philip's wife." 
 
 Herodias is enraged. To be thus insulted in royal 
 court by a rough adventurer, is intolerable. Moreover, 
 it may lead to unsettling her position. So, lest there be 
 more of this non licet, John is promptly remanded to his 
 dungeon. 
 
 Then Herodias set herself against him, and desired to 
 kill him. But she could not ; for Antipas feared John, 
 knowing that he was a righteous man and a holy, and 
 kept him safe from her hands. At other times Antipas 
 sent for and heard John gladly, though he was much 
 perplexed, for Herodias pressed him. But as there were 
 still in him some dregs of a conscience and a will, he re- 
 sisted this unscrupulous and vindictive Lady Macbeth.
 
 120 HIS FIRST JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 Yet probably he would have yielded and put the prisoner 
 to death, had he not feared also the multitude ; for they 
 counted John as a prophet. 
 
 The foregoing scene has often been repeated. John 
 before Antipas reminds us forcibly of Ambrose before 
 Theodosius, of Becket before Henry II, of Knox before 
 Mary Stuart. 
 
 Here ends the public career of John, the reformer, the 
 herald, the baptizer. After fifteen or more years of soli- 
 tary and silent preparation in the deserts, he spent hardly 
 so much as one decreasing year along the Jordan ; then 
 was chained in a dungeon for life. Apparently his 
 career was a piteous failure. Naturally he was depressed ; 
 for, though used to solitude, the free man of the desert 
 chafes at imprisonment. 
 
 As soon as Jesus in Judea heard that John was cast 
 into prison, he saw proper to close his work there, and 
 return to Galilee. Besides, the Pharisees of the temple 
 party had heard of his success, that he was making and 
 baptizing more disciples than John, which aroused anew 
 their jealousy and fanned their incipient hostility. As 
 this would likely bring about some embarrassing inter- 
 ference, he resolved to retire for the present from that 
 field of labor. The return into Galilee with his six com- 
 panions, could not be made prudently by the route 
 through Peraea ; for this would bring him to pass along 
 the coasts of Tiberias, just now excited by John's im- 
 prisonment, where he also would be liable to molesta- 
 tion, and even arrest. Hence he must needs pass through 
 Samaria. 28 
 
 The repugnance of the Jews to passing through the dis-
 
 THE INTERRUPTION 121 
 
 trict of the inhospitable Samaritans has already been men- 
 tioned. The deep seated hostility of these neighboring 
 peoples now calls for explanation. 
 
 In the year 721 B. c., the city Samaria was taken by 
 Sargon, king of Assyria, which put an end to the north- 
 ern kingdom of Israel. This was immediately followed 
 by the final deportation of the ten tribes, often spoken of 
 as the Lost Tribes of the House of Israel. 
 
 In 678 B. c., Esarhaddon, king of Assyria at Babylon, 
 colonized the depopulated districts of Ephraim and West 
 Manasseh, south of Carmel, the best portion of Pales- 
 tine. The colonists were idolatrous Cuthaeans of five 
 different nations, each having its own god. They were 
 soon infested by pestilence, and also by lions and other 
 beasts of prey, which had probably multiplied in the in- 
 terim. So they appealed to the king of Assyria, who 
 sent them one of the Jewish captive priests teaching 
 them to worship Jehovah, the god of that land. This 
 they did, but continued to serve also their graven images. 
 After a time the city of Samaria was rebuilt, and this 
 alien and mixed people of mixed religion became known 
 thenceforth as the Samaritans. 
 
 In 5 36 B. c. the Jews began to return from their east- 
 ern captivity, and the next year the rebuilding of the 
 Temple at Jerusalem was undertaken by Zerubbabel. 
 The Samaritans proposed to help, but were repulsed ; so 
 they hindered, and the enmity began. The walls of 
 Jerusalem were rebuilt by Nehemiah in 444-3 B. c. in 
 spite of the active opposition of the Samaritans under 
 Sanballat their Moabitish leader. 
 
 About the year 409 B. c., Manasseh, a deposed and 
 expelled Jewish priest, took refuge with the Samaritans, 
 and built a temple to Jehovah on Mt. Gerizim. This in-
 
 122 HIS FIRST JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 tensified the mutual animosity of the peoples, which found 
 vent in mutual aggression and retaliation. The Samari- 
 tans adopted the Pentateuch of Moses, but rejected the 
 rest of the Jewish canon. They observed the Law with 
 great exactness, and have been justly charged with ultra- 
 Mosaicism. They even went so far as to claim descent 
 from the Jewish patriarchs. All this excited intense 
 scorn in the Jews. A Samaritan was not allowed to 
 testify in court, was not admitted to proselytism, was 
 formally and publicly cursed in the synagogue and denied 
 the hope of eternal life. " Thou dog of a Jew," was 
 constantly met by the bitter, " Thou art a Samaritan, and 
 hast a devil." 
 
 In 332 B. c., Alexander the Great destroyed the city 
 Samaria, and in 109 B. c., Hyrcanus,a Jewish Asmonsean 
 prince, destroyed the Samaritan temple. Both were 
 soon, but poorly, rebuilt. Herod finally took them in 
 hand. He renovated the city and renamed it Sebaste, 
 the Greek for Augustus, in honor of the Roman emperor. 
 Also he renovated the temple on Mt. Gerizim. 
 
 The city Shechem, the centre of Samaritan life, was 
 contemptuously nicknamed by the Jews Sychar, meaning 
 falsehood or drunkard. After the time of Christ it was 
 ruined, but was rebuilt a little westward of its old site by 
 Vespasian, the Roman emperor, and named Neapolis or 
 New Town, which has been corrupted to Nablus. It still 
 exists under this name. A remnant of the ancient 
 Samaritans, about 200, have a settlement there, and still 
 observe the Mosaic Law and celebrate the Passover on 
 Mt. Gerizim. 
 
 As Jesus and his company journeyed afoot northward, 
 they came in Samaria nigh to the small city Sychar or
 
 THE INTERRUPTION 123 
 
 Shechem, situated between Mts. Ebal and Gerizim, the 
 mounts of the Cursing and Blessing. And Jacob's well 
 was, and still is, there. This well is one of the few 
 memorials of remote antiquity identified beyond all 
 question. It was dug by the patriarch Jacob about 
 eighteen centuries before Christ came to it in the latter 
 part of the year 27, and it still remains after nearly nine- 
 teen centuries more have passed away. It is remarkable 
 that a hole in the ground should be more a permanent 
 memorial than vast cities and massive monuments. The 
 well is seven and a half feet in diameter, is lined with 
 rough masonry, and is now about seventy-five feet deep, 
 being partly filled with stone rubbish. Its opening was 
 formerly protected by a low parapet surmounted by 
 stone coping. The site is a mile and a half east of 
 Shechem, which is supposed to have extended nearer in 
 the year 27, sufficiently near to be convenient for persons 
 living in the eastern suburbs. It is close by the foot of 
 Mt. Gerizim, on which stood the Samaritan temple. 29 
 
 When at noon the travellers reached the well, Jesus, 
 hungry and thirsty, foot-sore and weary, sat down just as 
 he was on the coping to rest, while his companions, leav- 
 ing him alone, went to the town to buy food. He could 
 not quench his thirst, for he had no means to draw water 
 from the well. But, says Bengel, Ubi sitis recurrit hom- 
 inis, non agues defectus est. After a time there came, 
 perhaps from work in the fields near by, a woman of the 
 town, with a water-pot and long cord, to draw water. 
 She saw a Jew sitting there, but disdainfully disregarding 
 him, proceeded to let down her water-pot. When she 
 had drawn it up again full and dripping, Jesus asked her, 
 very gently and courteously : 
 
 " Give me to drink."
 
 124 HIS FIRST JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 She turned to him rudely, and snappishly refusing 
 said: 
 
 " How is it that thou being a Jew, askest drink of me, 
 which am a Samaritan woman ? " 
 
 Evidently she was a shrew, ready for an altercation. 
 But Jesus replied mildly and impressively : 
 
 " If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that 
 saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have 
 asked of him, and he would have given thee living 
 water." 
 
 Observe that this greatest of all teachers habitually 
 made use, as here, of objects at hand to illustrate figura- 
 tively his teaching. He knew the force of a sensuous 
 impression, especially on undisciplined minds, and made 
 it serve to convey spiritual truth. Thus the water made 
 wine was symbolic. At the very outset of his public 
 ministry, he said in the Temple to the Sanhedrists de- 
 manding a sign, Destroy this temple and in three days I 
 will raise it up. How like was he to the Temple their 
 eyes beheld, plain without, all glorious within ; and how 
 much greater the rebuilding in three days of his temple 
 than of that whited sepulchre. When he would teach 
 Nicodemus the work of the Spirit, he said, The wind 
 bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice 
 thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither 
 it goeth ; so is every one that is born of the Spirit. We 
 may be sure that as he thus spoke, there was a wind, 
 invisible, intangible, but full of power, soughing and 
 vociferating around the house wher-e they were sitting. 
 Now to the Samaritan woman at the well, he spoke of 
 the water of life. It is further to be observed that what 
 he spoke literally was often taken figuratively ; and what 
 was figurative was taken literally. So the Sanhedrists,
 
 THE INTERRUPTION 125 
 
 and even his disciples, understood him to refer to the 
 marble Temple; Nicodemus interpreted the new birth 
 literally ; and now likewise the Samaritan woman, puz- 
 zled by the mystery of his reply, yet mollified and inter- 
 ested by its hint of a gift, says : 
 
 " Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is 
 deep ; from whence then hast thou that living water ? " 
 
 Then forgetting the distinction just now made, and 
 claiming kindred, she sneeringly adds : 
 
 " Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave 
 us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and 
 his cattle ? " 
 
 Jesus answered more explicitly : 
 
 " Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst 
 again ; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall 
 give him shall never thirst ; but the water that I shall 
 give him shall become in him a well of water springing 
 up unto life eternal." 
 
 The woman, altogether materialistic and hopeful of 
 gain, replied : 
 
 " Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come 
 all the way hither to draw." 
 
 The relation is reversed ; now the woman asks for 
 water. But her persistently blind literalness made it 
 needful to try some other method. So Jesus said 
 abruptly : 
 
 " Go call thy husband, and come hither." 
 
 She was startled, and after some hesitation replied with 
 a flushed face : 
 
 " I have no husband." 
 
 Jesus looked her straight in the eyes, and said signifi- 
 cantly : 
 
 " Thou saidst well, I have no husband ; for thou hast
 
 126 HIS FIRST JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 had five husbands ; and he whom thou now hast is not 
 thy husband ; this hast thou said truly/' 
 
 The woman, abashed, turned away, looked down the 
 well where truth lies, and murmured : 
 
 " Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet." 
 
 This implied a confession ; also a recognition of super- 
 human insight. But that a Jewish stranger should thus 
 in bald words lay bare her private life, was intolerable. 
 She dared not resent it, but would evade it. She did not 
 want to talk about that. Promptly, with feminine adroit- 
 ness, she changed the subject, and plunged at once into 
 polemical theology ; a trick that history has made very 
 familiar. 
 
 " Our fathers worshipped in this mountain," said she, 
 pointing to Mt. Gerizim and its temple ; " and ye say, 
 that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to 
 worship." 
 
 She was doubtless well posted, and quite ready to 
 gnaw this old bone of contention between the Samaritan 
 and Jew. But the response of Jesus left no room for 
 discussion. 
 
 " Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when neither 
 in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the 
 Father. God is Spirit ; and they that worship him must 
 worship in spirit and truth." 
 
 This grand revelation of the pure spirituality of God, 
 and of his worship, as independent of place and cere- 
 monial circumstance, was more than she could grasp. 
 Hence her reply : 
 
 " I know that Messiah cometh ; when he is come, he 
 will declare unto us all things." 
 
 Jesus saith unto her : 
 
 " I that speak unto thee am he."
 
 THE INTERRUPTION 127 
 
 It is wonderful that this first, clear and distinct avowal 
 of his Christhood, should be made in private to a strange 
 Samaritan woman of known bad character, thus utterly 
 violating all antecedent expectation. Yet it was thus in 
 strict consistency with his lowly birth, his life through- 
 out, and his death. Moreover let it be noted that, while 
 Jesus permitted his six followers from the outset, and 
 afterwards the apostles, to regard him as the Messiah, the 
 Christ, he charged them, lest it should embarrass his 
 teaching, to keep it a secret, and himself never avowed 
 it publicly until, at his fatal trial, he was finally put upon 
 oath by the High Priest. 
 
 The woman upon this avowal to her, was surprised, 
 amazed. Under a sudden impulse, she turned and has- 
 tened away without a word. 
 
 Just as she was leaving, the disciples returned with food, 
 and marvelled that he was speaking with a woman. For 
 in those times woman was slightly esteemed, and it was 
 a condescension in man to treat her with consideration. 
 That a Rabbi should converse with a woman was a 
 marvel. And this was a Samaritan woman. How much 
 greater would have been the wonder of the disciples had 
 they known what sort of a woman their Master con- 
 descended to teach ; and how much greater still would it 
 have been, had they known what those teachings were, 
 teachings of higher grade, revelations more distinct and 
 sublime, than any they themselves had yet received. 
 They had much to learn ; especially that, in the Christian 
 dispensation, which they were destined to administer, all 
 movements were to be from the lowly upward, and that 
 in its ordinance, there can be neither Jew nor Gentile, 
 there can be no more male and female ; for all are one in 
 Christ Jesus. Woman's rightful parity in the home, in
 
 128 HIS FIRST JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 society, in the Church was founded here in Samaria, and 
 is vindicated wherever Christianity prevails. 
 
 The wondering disciples however durst not ask any 
 questions ; but offering the food they had brought, they 
 said to him simply : 
 
 " Rabbi, eat." 
 
 But he apparently exhilarated by the recent interview, 
 replied : 
 
 " I have food to eat that ye know not." 
 
 Seeing them whispering one to another, Hath any man 
 brought him aught to eat ? thus taking him literally, he 
 explained : 
 
 " My food is to do the will of him that sent me." 
 
 Then referring to wheat-fields near by, which at that 
 season were still green, he added : 
 
 " Say not ye, There are yet four months to harvest ? " 
 
 Then waving his hand towards the town, he continued : 
 
 " Behold fields white already unto harvest. . . . 
 One soweth, and another reapeth." 
 
 This last probably refers to the work of John the 
 baptizer, whose latter stations were near the borders of 
 Samaria, and whose teachings had drawn and prepared 
 the Samaritans of Sychar. 
 
 The woman hurried to the town, leaving her water-pot 
 standing on the curb-stone, either for the accommodation 
 of the travellers, or more probably forgetting it in her 
 eager haste to be the first to tell the news, and said to all 
 the men she met : 
 
 " Come and see a man which told me all things that 
 ever I did. Can this be the Christ ? " 
 
 Jesus had told her one thing only ; she said, all things. 
 We may pardon this feminine, or perhaps it would be 
 safer to say, oriental exaggeration, in view of her enthu-
 
 THE INTERRUPTION 129 
 
 siasm, and of its clear characterization, a final graphic touch 
 perfecting a vivid portrait. Tradition gives her name as 
 Photina, but the history exposing her character, with- 
 holds, with greater delicacy, her name. Evidently she was 
 known to be a gossip and a news-monger ; for her towns- 
 men, who afterwards heard Jesus and believed, said to her : 
 
 " Now we believe, not because of thy speaking ; for we 
 have heard for ourselves." 
 
 There has been a vast deal of pious sentiment written 
 up about this woman of the well, even making out, de- 
 spite her refusal to give a cup of cold water to the thirst- 
 ing, that her coming to draw water was an act of devotion, 
 and that she was turned into a saint on the spot ; whereas 
 there is not a word that she says or a thing that she does 
 which lends the slightest color to such fancies. The 
 scene is charming in its naturalness, and external simplic- 
 ity, and vivid delineation, and striking contrasts ; the 
 teacher, in his doctrine and revelation, is sublime; the 
 pupil, a smart but commonplace woman of the slums, 
 fails, so far as the history goes, of her opportunity, and is 
 never heard of more. 
 
 Those who came out to the well that afternoon to hear 
 him, besought him, Jew as he was, to abide with them. 
 So he spent two days teaching in Sychar, the town of 
 liars and drunkards; and many more believed. This 
 brief yet fruitful service was the second Act in his public 
 ministry. And be it noted that Jesus never at any time 
 uttered a word disparaging the Samaritans. 
 
 After this short sojourn, he and his company went for- 
 ward into Galilee, he to his home at Nazareth, his com- 
 panions to their homes at Cana and Bethsaida. 
 
 Thus ended his first Judean Ministry.
 
 PART FOURTH 
 
 His Galilean Ministry
 
 Physical Sketch Map tuortffM 
 
 or in & f*T f #,*G 
 
 S - Of -* ' 
 
 Land of h reset 
 
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 nt? trie relative 
 
 and Depressions 
 
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 X 
 THE NEW HOME 
 
 THE ministry of Jesus in Galilee dates from his 
 return home, about the first of December, A. D. 
 27, and lasted, including preparations and an 
 excursive visit to Jerusalem, sixteen months. The sub- 
 stance of his teaching, as that of John, was, The time 
 is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand ; repent 
 ye, and believe in the Gospel. The report of his work 
 at Jerusalem witnessed by many Galileans there, and of 
 his Judean ministry, preceded him, and he was glorified 
 of all. 3 
 
 Before this general work began, however, there was an 
 interval of rest, a change of home, and some special prep- 
 aration. 
 
 Having lingered about a week at Nazareth with his 
 mother, he visited Cana, where Nathaniel dwelt, and was 
 the guest of his newly married relations. At this time 
 the son of Chuza, as seems quite probable, was lying sick 
 of a fever at Capernaum. Chuza, the husband of Joanna, 
 was a royal officer, steward of the household of Herod 
 Antipas. He hearing of the return of Jesus into Galilee 
 sought and found him at Cana, and besought him that he 
 would come down and heal his son, who was at the point 
 of death. Jesus said to him : 
 
 " Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will in nowise 
 believe." 31 
 
 133
 
 134 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 Chuza, not disposed to consider generalities, anxiously 
 urged his practical point. 
 
 " Sir, come down ere my child die." 
 
 Jesus yielding to the importunate prayer, said : 
 
 " Go thy way ; thy son liveth." 
 
 This was about one o'clock in the day. Chuza be- 
 lieved, and returned leisurely towards Capernaum, stop- 
 ping over night on the way. Next morning his slaves met 
 him, sent by his wife with the good news that their son 
 was restored. Being asked at what hour he began to 
 amend, they told him, The fever left him yesterday at the 
 seventh hour. This is Jewish time corresponding to our 
 one o'clock. Hence Chuza and his whole house became 
 believers. 
 
 The grant was to a slave holder ; also to an officer of 
 Herod Antipas, who at that very time was holding John, 
 an innocent and holy man, the friend and kinsman and 
 herald of the benefactor, in chains. For Chuza himself 
 there was no reproach ; but, in view of his official relation, 
 it was the extreme of generosity, of liberality. 
 
 The miracle has been considered especially wonderful 
 because of its telepathic character, Jesus being at Cana, 
 while the cure was effected at Capernaum, fifteen or more 
 miles away. But why specially wonderful ? The earth 
 sways the moon, a physical telepathy. But how ? No- 
 body knows. Newton established the fact and general- 
 ized from it, but could not explain it. Surely then, there 
 is no occasion for sterile astonishment, if the energy of 
 the divine will intervenes among physical forces, and at 
 a distance, small or great, enforces new combinations. 
 
 This was the second of the first two recorded miracles. 
 Cana was made famous forever as the place of both. We 
 have already heard the Nazarene as teacher. With this
 
 THE NEW HOME 135 
 
 second miracle he enters upon his supplementary work 
 as Heliand, the healer. 
 
 Jesus returned from Cana to Nazareth, and on the Sab- 
 bath went as usual to the Synagogue. On this occasion 
 he proposed to offer the gospel of salvation first in Gali- 
 lee to his townsmen. He stood up to read and selected 
 a passage from Isaiah descriptive of Messiah's beneficent 
 work, and having read it to the congregation, whose eyes, 
 full of expectant curiosity were fastened upon him, he 
 sat down, the attitude of a teacher, and said : 
 
 " To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your 
 ears." M 
 
 And as he proceeded all wondered at the grace of his 
 words, and whispered one to another, Is not this Joseph's 
 son ? Perhaps there was in this an allusion to his ques- 
 tionable birth. Certainly it was an expression of indig- 
 nation that one so familiar to them for thirty years and 
 of humble station should presume upon his lately acquired 
 fame to teach them and make such haughty claims ; and 
 it was dictated by jealousy of his doing, while in Cana the 
 rival village, a work of healing at Capernaum, in another 
 district. The teacher, knowing what was in man, and di- 
 vining their thoughts, said : 
 
 " Doubtless ye would apply to me the proverb, Physi- 
 cian heal thyself; and say, Whatsoever we have heard 
 done at Capernaum, do also here in thine own country. 
 But verily no prophet hath honor in his own country." 
 
 He then cited two well-known historical instances of 
 preference given by prophets even to foreigners. The 
 divine irony of his speech, and the hint of his mission 
 to the Gentiles, aroused the wrath of the Jewish as- 
 sembly. Suddenly it changed to a frantic mob, rushed
 
 136 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 upon him with senseless clamors, took him out of the 
 town to a precipice, intending to hurl him down head- 
 long. But at the last moment Jesus overawed them, 
 and passing out from among them, returned quietly to 
 his home. 
 
 It is hard to realize this mad attempt to lynch him, 
 harder to understand it, and still harder to own these 
 wretches as fellow-men. Such casting of pearls and 
 rending of swine would be almost incredible, did not the 
 history of mankind record many instances of fanatical 
 persecution only a little less wicked, stupid and brutal. 
 Happily the Steep of Precipitation, under the denuding 
 influences of time, has disappeared, even more com- 
 pletely than its congener the Tarpeian Rock at Rome, 
 whence in early days state-criminals were hurled ; else 
 surely humanity through all the Christian ages would, 
 on bended knees, with covered faces of shame, do vain 
 penance at its foot. 
 
 Subjected to such gross indignity, and threatened 
 again with death by violence at the hands of his towns- 
 men, Jesus could no longer dwell at Nazareth. Im- 
 mediately he changed his home, and with his mother 
 went down and dwelt at Capernaum. 
 
 Capernaum was a populous, prosperous and proud 
 city, situate in Gennesaret, the northwest coast of the 
 Sea of Galilee or Lake of Gennesaret. It occupied a 
 long slope from the upland to the coast, having con- 
 spicuously at its centre a marble Synagogue. It was the 
 home of Zebedee and his wife Salome, the sister of 
 Mary the Virgin and mother of James and John, which 
 perhaps was a reason why Jesus selected it as his new 
 \ home. Along the coast the city spread into suburbs on
 
 THE SEA OF GALILEE FROM THE NORTH.
 
 THE NEW HOME 137 
 
 the right and left ; that on the south was Bethsaida, 
 house of fish, the home of Philip, Andrew and Simon 
 Peter ; the northern suburb was possibly Chorazin. The 
 principal commerce of the city was in fish from the 
 lake. These were distributed throughout Palestine, even 
 to Jerusalem, where, as we have seen, John the son of 
 Zebedee, a fisherman, had a dwelling or business station. 
 This source of wealth made Capernaum the chief city of 
 Galilee, throughout which its highways radiated. Hence 
 his new home was an advantageous position from which 
 Jesus proposed to evangelize Galilee. 
 
 The adjoining Lake of Gennesaret is especially in- 
 teresting. It is about six miles broad by thirteen long, 
 and its surface is 700 feet below the Mediterranean. 
 Lying thus in a deep valley with massive hills on the 
 east and west, it is fed by the upper Jordan springing 
 from Mt. Hermon and entering on the north about three 
 miles above Capernaum, and is discharged from its 
 southern end along the lower Jordan into the Dead Sea. 
 It is liable to sudden and severe storms, caused by the 
 cold and heavy air from the Hermon range sweeping 
 along its surface to displace the hot and light air of the 
 lower Jordan valley. But ordinarily it is smooth, bright 
 and sunny. Its waters are clear, fresh and sweet, 
 abounding in fish ; and the little white-winged ships of 
 the fisherman constantly enliven the surface. Towns 
 and cities cluster on its borders, and between them the 
 shores down to the water's edge are clothed with bloom- 
 ing oleanders. 
 
 The Dead Sea or Lake Asphaltes, seventy miles to the 
 south, is ten miles broad by forty-five long, and its sur- 
 face is 1,300 feet below the Mediterranean, and 3,900 feet 
 below Jerusalem. It contrasts in several particulars with
 
 138 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 the Galilean lake. It has no outlet ; hence its waters are 
 intensely salt, and hence also there is no life in its bosom, 
 on its surface, or around its borders of wilderness and 
 desert. Storms do not awake it, silence reigns above it, 
 and it spreads its pall over the cities of doom. 
 
 These two lakes are symbolic, the latter of death from 
 which is no escape, the former of the open way of life. 
 The one lies dark in the shadow of God's frown ; the 
 other gleams brightly with the sunshine of his love. 
 The one is bitter, telling of sin and sorrow ; the other is 
 sweet, telling of purity and joy. The one stands for the 
 Law, Do that, and thou shalt die; the other for the 
 Gospel, Do this, and thou shalt live. The one speaks of 
 penalty, the other of pardon. The one is the lake of 
 the Old Testament, which mentions it only ; the other is 
 the lake of the New Testament, which mentions it only. 
 John, the second Elijah, closing the old dispensation, 
 lived in the wilderness on the borders of Lake Asphaltes 
 nearly all his solitary life. See him in his prophet's garb 
 sitting on a rock that overhangs its gloom, meditating 
 and assimilating the stern, uncompromising Law. At 
 last he passes up the Jordan and meets with Jesus, who 
 says, Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. 
 Then and there the Law merges into the Gospel. John 
 ascends the river nigh to Lake Gennesaret, is arrested, 
 imprisoned, returned to the borders of his own lake and 
 murdered. Jesus passes down into its bordering wilder- 
 ness, is confronted and does battle with Satan, then re- 
 turns to dwell by the Gospel lake. See him sitting in 
 the gently rocking boat, telling of eternal life to the 
 eager crowd on shore. The lake is his to teach along its 
 shores, to rest upon its bosom amid sunshine and storm, 
 and to make its freshness, its life, its stirring scenes,
 
 THE NEW HOME 139 
 
 symbolic forever of the Gospel of that salvation which 
 he still lives to bestow. 
 
 The fame of the Nazarene was already rife in Caper- 
 naum when he made it his home. One day, very soon 
 after his arrival, as he was walking on the shore of the 
 lake, a crowd of people gathered around him. So he 
 stepped into a boat belonging to Simon, who was near 
 by with his brother Andrew washing their fish-nets, and 
 asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat 
 down and taught the people from the boat. When he 
 had done speaking he said to Simon : 
 
 " Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a 
 draught." B 
 
 Night-time was more favorable for fishing with nets, 
 
 the fish being attracted to the boat by the light of 
 
 torches. Hence Simon, with a doubt in his mind, said : 
 
 " Master, we toiled all night, and took nothing ; but 
 
 at thy word we will let down the nets." 
 
 When they had done so they enclosed a great multitude 
 of fishes ; and their nets were breaking. So they signalled 
 to their partners, James and John, in another boat, for 
 help. They came, and both boats were filled nigh unto 
 sinking. When Simon Peter saw it, overwhelmed with 
 the sense of divine presence, and recalling his doubt and 
 personal unworthiness, he kneeled down to Jesus, saying : 
 " Depart from me ; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." 
 To this impromptu prayer Jesus graciously replied : 
 " Fear not ; from henceforth thou shalt catch men." 
 When they landed he said to Peter and Andrew : 
 " Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of 
 men." 
 
 These then left their nets and followed him. Going on
 
 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 from thence, he saw the brothers, James and John, who 
 had already returned, in their boat mending their nets. 
 He called them also, and straightway they left their father 
 Zebedee in the boat with the servants, and followed 
 him. 
 
 This beautiful lake scene, the first, of a series, was very 
 significant. The miraculous draught of fishes, besides be- 
 ing a princely compensation to its owners for the use of 
 the boat, was at once a proof of divine authority for the 
 call about to be made, and a promise of divine assistance 
 and abundant success in their prospective avocation. The 
 impulsive Simon Peter here first comes to the front in his 
 habitual role as spokesman. The four young men now 
 called to be the constant companions of Jesus, and to be- 
 come with others his apostles, were of those who accom- 
 panied him in Judea. They knew him very well, and 
 hence responded to his call readily and heartily. 
 
 And when the Sabbath day was come, the first Sabbath 
 in his new home, Jesus went as his custom was to public 
 worship. This was held in the house of prayer, the Beth 
 Tephillah, or the place of assembly, the Synagogue, the 
 great central building of Capernaum. There he took his 
 seat on the platform and proceeded to teach the congre- 
 gation. Though already a celebrity among them, the 
 people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught 
 them not as the Scribes, the Doctors of the Law, with 
 hesitation and submission, but with words of authority. 
 He was interrupted, however, by a man in the congrega- 
 tion, who had a spirit of an unclean demon. 
 
 Here in the story of the Nazarene we come upon the 
 obscure and difficult subject of demoniacal possession.
 
 THE NEW HOME 141 
 
 In the midst of all that is bright and beautiful, this dark 
 shadow falls. The general conception is of an evil spirit 
 taking possession of a man's brain, the demonic will over- 
 mastering the human will, and controlling ideation and 
 corporal action. The man's mind or spirit is not wholly 
 displaced by that of the demon, but subjugated, and he is 
 forced to think the thoughts and speak the words of his 
 master. He is tortured with a confused dual conscious- 
 ness, so that when perhaps he would do good, evil is pres- 
 ent with him. An especial mystery is that in some 
 cases a number of demons are represented as possessing 
 the same person. 
 
 The credibility of demoniacal possession, like that of 
 miracles, rests primarily on the belief in the existence and 
 providence of God, and in supernatural, transcendental 
 realities. If there be good spirits, there may be evil 
 spirits. Since God permits evil men to be, surely for 
 some like inscrutable reason he may permit evil demons 
 to be. Hardly less credible is the further permission, in 
 special cases, to take masterful possession of a man's 
 brain and body, thus to deal more effectively with mate- 
 rial things, and indulge native malignity. 
 
 Historically we have the testimony of the evangelists 
 and apostles that these things were sc3, that their day was 
 marked by an extraordinary accession of Satanic influence. 
 Matthew distinguishes lunacy or epilepsy, and the physi- 
 cian Luke distinguishes diseases in general from posses- 
 sion. Jesus recognizes the personality of the demon as 
 distinct from the personality of the possessed. Whoever 
 rejects this must give up the integrity of the Gospels. It 
 seems that the phenomenon is peculiar to the New Testa- 
 ment history. There is little, if any, mention of it in the 
 Old Testament. It has been freely attributed by Chris*
 
 142 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 tian writers, to heathen peoples, ancient and modern, and 
 formularies for exorcism, found in the ritual of the early 
 Church, have been in use until quite recent times. But 
 authentic evidence of cases of demoniacal possession is 
 lacking for times and places beyond the New Testament 
 scope. It disappeared with miracles, at the close of the 
 apostolic age. 
 
 It will be remembered of the great temptation in the 
 wilderness, that when Satan had exhausted his wiles, he 
 departed for a season. But it was only for a season. He 
 soon recovered from his defeat, and sent a legion of his 
 vassals into the land to annoy, to embarrass, to entangle 
 and if possible to debase his victor. These emissaries 
 swarmed around about him, and with malignant glee did 
 what they could to work their master's will. They in- 
 stigated the mob at Nazareth, they spread distempers of 
 body and mind among the people, they perched upon 
 the shoulder of many a jealous fanatic, and whispering vile 
 suggestions in his ear, used him as a tool. Their spirit 
 essence being intangible and invisible, the boldest sought 
 to enlarge the limit of their power by stealing and using 
 the brain and brawn of human victims, and thus more 
 directly bring their force to bear upon the world of men 
 and things. Yet u'hile rejoicing in iniquity and distress, 
 they never lost sight of the special purpose of their mis- 
 sion, to tempt, ensnare and overthrow the Nazarene. 
 
 In the Synagogue of Capernaum, as Jesus was teach- 
 ing, an unclean spirit, speaking by the tongue of the 
 man he possessed, suddenly vociferated: 
 
 " Ah, what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of 
 Nazareth ? Art thou come to destroy us ? I know thee 
 who thou art, the Holy One of God." *
 
 THE NEW HOME 143 
 
 A slight analysis finds this to be a very remarkable 
 speech. The questions indicate that the conspirators be- 
 lieve and tremble. The first is a disclaimer for the 
 whole cohort, and a lie. The second admits and depre- 
 cates his adverse power. Then follows an assertion of 
 the speaker's own knowledge, testifying the divine char- 
 acter and origin of the teacher, and a truth. So anxious 
 is the demon to reach his end, that he violates his own 
 innermost nature, and tells the truth ; another form 
 of lie. See herein also a very artful temptation. Had 
 Jesus accepted this freely offered, supernatural and true 
 testimony in his behalf, or even allowed it to pass, it 
 would have compromised and entangled him. But, 
 however skillfully laid the snare, he could not be taken in 
 its toils. Promptly he rebuked and commanded the 
 demon : 
 
 " Hold thy peace, and come out of him." 
 The demon, having violently convulsed his victim as a 
 parting token, obeyed with a loud cry of rage, came out 
 of him, and so disappeared. The people were amazed 
 at this exhibition of power and the report of it went out 
 through all the city. 
 
 From the Synagogue, Jesus went with the brothers, 
 Simon and Andrew, to dine and spend the Sabbath 
 afternoon at their home in the suburb Bethsaida. The 
 brothers, James and John, their partners in the business 
 of fishery, also were invited, and accompanied him. 
 There Simon Peter's wife's mother lay sick of a great 
 fever. Jesus was told of it, and was besought for her. 
 Consenting, he wt nt in unto her, stood over her, took her 
 by the hand, and raising her up rebuked the fever which 
 immediately left her, and she arose and served in the en-
 
 144 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 tertainment of the guests. The remainder of the day 
 was spent in quiet social converse. 35 
 
 The whole city was outwardly quiet that Sabbath 
 afternoon, but noiseless rumors of the exorcism in the 
 Synagogue, and also of this fever cure, were flying, in 
 the winged way that rumors have, through all its courts. 
 In many a home of sickness and sorrow hope sprang up, 
 and busy preparation. When the sun had set, which 
 closed the Jewish Sabbath day, the people, restrained 
 thus far by their scrupulous regard for its sanctity, poured 
 into the streets, bearing their sick and afflicted, and 
 made their way to Bethsaida. Soon in the twilight hour, 
 a great crowd of hundreds gathered before the door 
 of Peter's home, and filled the air with clamorous suppli- 
 cations. Here a young man supports the tottering 
 steps of his feeble brother ; there a father carries gently 
 in his arms a pale little girl. Yonder a widow leads her 
 boy frantic with a demon ; beside her a husband holds in 
 strong embrace his dying wife ; and here two stalwart 
 sons bear on a litter their aged palsied mother ; these, 
 and a hundred others, press forward, crying out for help 
 and healing. 
 
 Heliand stands in the doorway, and glances over 
 the crowd of anxious people. They hail him in loud 
 petitions. Moved with compassion, he steps down 
 among them, a word here, another there, a touch on the 
 right, another on the left, for this, for that, for the other 
 sufferer. With rebuke he casts the demons out, not 
 permitting them to speak, for they know him. And as 
 he moves amid the thronging sufferers, with tears of 
 pity in his eyes, there are before him clamors and groans 
 and cries of pain," and shrieks and calls for succor ; 
 behind him are shouts of joy, glad greetings and loving
 
 THE NEW HOME 145 
 
 embraces, tears and smiles of gladness, and even psalms 
 of thankful praises. As he passes through, groans abate, 
 songs multiply, until at last there is a universal jubilee. 
 For he healed them all, every one. On that blessed 
 evening, in the twilight hour, he turned sickness and 
 sorrow to health and gladness, and his. new home, 
 Capernaum, was cleansed.
 
 XI 
 THE FIRST TOUR AND ITS SEQUEL 
 
 THE" next morning, which was Sunday, Jesus 
 rose before dawn, and went out to a solitary 
 place, as was his custom, for private prayer. 
 Simon Peter and the others followed him, and when they 
 found him they said, All men seek thee. And the mul- 
 titudes also sought him, and came unto him, wishing 
 him to stay, that he should not go from them. But he 
 said to them, I must preach the good tidings to other 
 cities also, for therefore was I sent. To his immediate 
 disciples he said, Let us go elsewhere into the next 
 towns, that I may preach there also, for to this end 
 came I forth. And he went into the Synagogues 
 throughout all Galilee. 
 
 That part of Palestine lying between the Mediterranean 
 Sea and the Jordan with its lake, and north of the Carmel 
 ridge, was called Galilee. The name Galilee, means a 
 circle or circuit, and was originally applied to the region 
 around Kedesh in which were situated twenty towns 
 given by Solomon to Hiram, King of Tyre, but ultimately 
 was applied to the whole district. Except the triangular 
 plain of Esdraelon in the southwest, the country is hilly 
 and especially in the north mountainous, reaching up 
 into the Lebanon range. In the first century Galilee was 
 very populous, having a great number of towns and vil- 
 lages. The Jewish population was mixed with Phceni- 
 
 146
 
 THE FIRST TOUR AND ITS SEQUEL 147 
 
 cians, Greeks, Syrians and Arabs, particularly in the 
 northern part, so that upper Galilee was sometimes called 
 Galilee of the Gentiles. While Greek was a familiar 
 language, still the vernacular of its Jews was Aramaic, 
 spoken however with a peculiar accent and dialect. 
 Because of the Gentile admixture, the southern Jews in 
 Judea, of purer speech and greater refinement, despised 
 the rough Galilean Highlanders. But these were more 
 prosperous, and progressive than the self-satisfied and 
 privileged Judeans, and comparatively free from priestly 
 and pharisaical domination. It was a common saying, 
 If one wants to be rich, let him go north ; if he wishes to 
 be wise, let him come south. Galilee was the chief part 
 of the tetrarchy of Herod Antipas. 
 
 The tour of Jesus attended by his four elect disciples 
 throughout all Galilee, began in December, A. D. 27, and 
 ended in the latter part of March in the next year, thus 
 occupying nearly four months. During this time he was 
 engaged in teaching in the Synagogues of the towns, 
 and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and curing all 
 manner of disease, all manner of sickness among the 
 people. And the report of the healing Nazarene went 
 forth into all Syria. And they brought unto him all that 
 were sick, holden with divers diseases and torments, 
 demoniac, epileptic, and palsied, and he healed them. 
 And there followed him great multitudes from Galilee 
 and Decapolis, Jerusalem and Judea, and Peraea. 36 
 
 According to this statement it is conjectured that 
 the route of the tour was : First, northward along the 
 Jordan, and westward along the confines of the tetrarchy 
 of Philip, which would disseminate his fame in Syria ; 
 secondly, by the coasts of Phoenicia, southward ; thirdly,
 
 148 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 eastward, along the borders of Samaria, the nearest 
 approach to Judea : and lastly, along the borders of Peraea 
 and Decapolis, northward again towards Capernaum. A 
 vast region evidently was aroused by his wonderful and 
 beneficent works, and his popularity, unhindered as yet 
 by envious contradictions, was ascendant. 
 
 Of this great teaching, preaching and healing tour, 
 only one particular incident, occurring apparently near 
 its close in lower Galilee, is given. It is told in the fol- 
 lowing words : 
 
 " And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and 
 kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt 
 thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with 
 compassion, put forth his hand and touched him, and 
 saith unto him, I will ; be thou clean. And as soon as 
 he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from 
 him, and he was cleansed." 37 
 
 Nothing can be more beautiful than this exquisitely 
 simple story, told for us in the purest English without 
 an excessive word. The picture is equally simple, and 
 vividly sketched. Yet the matter far surpasses the man- 
 ner. The contrasts are extreme and striking : foul dis- 
 ease and pure health, weakness and power, the suppli- 
 cating knee and the condescending touch, the contagion 
 reversed, the will to be clean and the will to make clean, 
 the helpless and the helper, the human need and the 
 divine grace. The pathos is deep and moving: the 
 suffering of the wretched outcast, the pity of the com- 
 passionate touch, the instant life and vigor, purity and 
 joy. But all this, exquisite as it is, pales before the sub- 
 lime love and power of a present deity in this miraculous 
 work of his will.
 
 THE FIRST TOUR AND ITS SEQUEL 149 
 
 Leprosy is a virulent, deadly disease of the skin and 
 flesh, incurable by any art, that gradually eats its way 
 into the vitals. It is highly contagious, and hence by 
 law the leper is driven from his home and the haunts of 
 men, and required to dwell apart. Anciently, there 
 being no provision for shelter, he wandered in desert 
 places, and was required to warn wayfarers by crying, 
 Unclean ! The ailment is a biblical type of inveterate 
 sinfulness, and was the subject of special enactments of 
 ceremonial law. It is evident therefore, that this healing 
 of the leper is representative of the abundant work of 
 the whole tour, both the healing from disease, and the 
 cleansing from sin. In the conviction and faith of the 
 suppliant, and the instant and complete work of cleans- 
 ing grace, is seen a universal type of regeneration. 
 
 The foregoing outline sketch of the scene has, with 
 poetic license, been filled in and colored thus : 
 
 " Room for the leper ! Room ! And as he came 
 The cry passed onward. And aside they stood, 
 Matron and child, and pitiless manhood, all 
 Who met him on the way, and let him pass. 
 And onward through the open way he came, 
 A leper with the ashes on his brow, 
 Sackcloth about his loins, and on his lips 
 A covering, stepping painfully and slow ; 
 And with a difficult utterance, like one 
 Whose heart is with an iron nerve put down, 
 Crying, Unclean ! Unclean ! 
 
 " Not one of all 
 
 The many whom he loved, nor she whose name 
 Was woven in the fibres of his heart 
 Breaking within him now, to come and speak 
 Comfort unto him. Yea, he went his way, 
 Sick, and heart-broken, and alone to die ; 
 For God had cursed the leper.
 
 t$o HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 " It was noon, 
 
 And now he knelt beside a stagnant pool 
 In the lone wilderness, and bathed his brow, 
 Praying that he might be so blest, to die. 
 Footsteps approached, and with no strength to flee, 
 He drew the covering closer on his lips, 
 Crying, Unclean ! Unclean ! and in the folds 
 Of the coarse sackcloth shrouding up hij face, 
 He fell upon the earth till they should p ass. 
 Nearer the stranger came, and bending o'er 
 The leper's prostrate form, pronounced his name, 
 Helon ! arise. And he forgot his curse, 
 And rose and stood before him. 
 
 " Love and awe 
 
 Mingled in the regard of Helen's eye, 
 As he beheld the stranger. In his mien 
 Command sat throned serene, and as he smiled, 
 A kingly condescension graced his lips. 
 His garb was simple and his sandals worn; 
 His stature model! 'd with a perfect grace; 
 His eye was blue and calm as is the sky 
 In the serenest noon ; his hair unshorn 
 Fell to his shoulders ; and his curling beard 
 The fullness of perfected manhood bore. 
 He look'd on Helon earnestly awhile, 
 As if his heart were moved, and stooping down, 
 He took a little water in his hand, 
 And laid it on his brow, and said, Be clean. 
 And lo ! the scales fell from him, and his blood 
 Coursed with delicious coolness through his veins, 
 And his dry palms grew moist, and on his brow 
 The dewy softness of an infant's stole. 
 His leprosy was cleansed, and he fell down 
 Prostrate at Jesus' feet, and worship'd him." 
 
 Jesus charged the healed leper to tell no man, but to 
 go show himself to the priest, and make the required 
 offering. This also is typical. But the man could not, 
 or at least did not hold his peace, but began to publish it 
 abroad, insomuch that Jesus could not openly enter into
 
 THE FIRST TOUR AND ITS SEQUEL 151 
 
 Capernaum, but stayed without in desert places. Yet 
 great multitudes came together -to hear, and be healed. 
 His popularity was now at its height. 
 
 After some time Jesus went privately to Capernaum, 
 and to his home. The tour was ended, but several inci- 
 dents occurred as its sequel. Soon it was noised that the 
 famous Nazarene had returned. A crowd collected, fill- 
 ing the interior court of the house, and blocking the en- 
 trance. There were present Pharisees and Scribes, Doc- 
 tors of the Law, from Galilee and Judea, and even from 
 Jerusalem. While Jesus was teaching, four men came 
 bringing on his pallet or thin mattress a paralytic who 
 had been smitten since the general healing of the city 
 more than three months before. They could not enter 
 the court by the doorway because of the crowd, so they 
 mounted by an outside stairway to the roof, and remov- 
 ing the covering, perhaps an awning, over the place 
 where Jesus was, lowered by means of ropes the pallet 
 with its burden so that it rested just in front of him. He 
 seeing their faith said to the palsied man : 
 
 " Son, be of good cheer ; thy sins are forgiven." M 
 
 But the Scribes and Pharisees began silently to reason, 
 Who is this that speaketh blasphemies ? Who can for- 
 give sins but God alone? Then Jesus, knowing their 
 thoughts, said : 
 
 " Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts ? For 
 whether is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven ; or to 
 say, Arise and walk ? But that ye may know that the 
 Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins (he 
 said to the palsied man), Arise, take up thy couch, and 
 go unto thy house." 
 
 Immediately the man rose up before them, took up
 
 152 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 that whereon he lay, and departed to his house. And 
 amazement took hold on them all, saying, We have seen 
 strange things to-day. 
 
 The Doctors reasoned well, but one of their premises 
 was false. This Jesus showed by cogent logic a fortiori. 
 He condescended to reason with them. They were con- 
 futed, and let us hope convinced. Moreover, here for 
 the first time he formally and distinctly offers a miracu- 
 lous sign as a credential of his divine authority, as a cer- 
 tificate of his commission to be a plenipotentiary ambas- 
 sador from the court of heaven. 
 
 Soon after this Jesus left the house, and went down to 
 the lake-side. He was followed by many ; and as he 
 walked he talked with them, as did likewise the peripa- 
 tetic Aristotle with his disciples three centuries before. 
 It was a busy mart at the wharf of Capernaum, for there 
 the fisheries of the lake, the principal commerce of the 
 city, debarked and disposed of their produce. And pub- 
 lican tax-gatherers were there to collect the customs or 
 tolls. 
 
 The publicans were inferior officers employed as col- 
 lectors of the Roman revenue intended for the treasury, 
 publicum. The Roman senate farmed out the provinces 
 to capitalists, publicani, who paid a definite rent, and then 
 employed natives as collectors, rsJ.wvat, portitores, publi- 
 cans. In order to profit, the principals encouraged their 
 agents in fraudulent exactions, overcharging whenever 
 they could, making accusations of smuggling so as to 
 extort hush-money, and the like, the agent sharing the 
 profit. Such employment brought out all the besetting 
 vices of the Jewish character. Moreover, whether it was 
 lawful for Jews to pay Roman tribute at all, was a ques-
 
 THE FIRST TOUR AND ITS SEQUEL 153 
 
 tion to which the Scribes answered, It is not. Hence, by 
 many, the publicans were regarded, not only as willing 
 tools of the oppressor, but as traitors and apostates. 
 They were classed with the heathen, and with harlots and 
 sinners. So, to eat and drink with a publican seemed to 
 the patriotic and zealous Pharisee incompatible with the 
 character of a Rabbi. 
 
 As Jesus with his followers passed along the market- 
 place near the shore, he saw a publican named Levi or 
 Matthew sitting at the place of toll. This was a tent or 
 booth open in front with a table serving as a counter be- 
 hind which he with his assistant was sitting. Then Jesus, 
 looking upon him intently, said : 
 
 "Follow me." 39 
 
 Of course Matthew knew very well the works and 
 character of the Nazarene, and so was in a measure pre- 
 pared for this call. Still his unhesitating and unreserving 
 obedience is remarkable. Instantly he arose, forsook all, 
 and followed. He must now be added as a fifth to the 
 four constant companions of the Master, Peter and An- 
 drew, James and John. Philip and Nathaniel have not 
 reappeared since the return from Judea. 
 
 This call was a momentous event for Matthew. It re- 
 leased him from the base service of Roman excise, to be 
 a constant associate of the Lord, soon to become one of 
 the elect apostles, and eventually to write an evangelical 
 biography which has blessed mankind, and made him 
 famous forever. On the other hand the call was a 
 momentous event in the life of Jesus also. It was cau- 
 sally the beginning of a decline in his popularity. In 
 the Galilean spring-time this had grown rapidly and flour- 
 ished and culminated. All eyes throughout the region 
 were fixed on him in wonder and hope. The enthusiasm
 
 154 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 of the multitudes was boundless. But the call of a pub- 
 lican to be his intimate associate was a shock and a 
 check. Henceforth there is a piteous descent in popular 
 favor. 
 
 At the time of the call Matthew had riches, which we 
 may be sure he had acquired without gross dishonesty. 
 On the next day he gave Jesus a great feast in his house, 
 a joyful recognition of his new bond, and a farewell to 
 his friends, and to his all, on turning to a life of poverty 
 and dependence. At this feast many publicans and sin- 
 ners were guests, and reclined on the festal couches along 
 with Jesus and his disciples, whereat the good society of 
 Capernaum was greatly scandalized. For, in accordance 
 with oriental custom, many uninvited spectators entered 
 and stood around about the hall, overlooking the guests 
 as they feasted. Among these were Pharisees and their 
 Scribes. These murmured, and said to his disciples : 
 
 " Why eateth your Master with publicans and sin- 
 ners ? " 
 
 When Jesus heard the self-righteous murmur, he an- 
 swered with divine irony that gave deep offense : 
 
 " They that are whole have no need of a physician, but 
 they that are sick. I am not come to call the righteous, 
 but sinners to repentance." 
 
 Some disciples of John the baptizer were looking on. 
 Their master was now in prison, and consequently they 
 were fasting. Seeing the feasting they asked : 
 
 " Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples 
 fast not ? " 
 
 Jesus, mindful of the prospective bereavement of his 
 own, replied : 
 
 " Can the sons of the bride-chamber mourn, as long as 
 the bride-groom is with them ? But the days will come
 
 THE FIRST TOUR AND ITS SEQUEL 155 
 
 when the bride-groom shall be taken away from them, 
 and then they will fast." 
 
 Here is the first faint shadow of coming events, and 
 the first allusion to his union with his church as a bridal. 
 To illustrate the matter further, he added two parabolic 
 similitudes, the new cloth on an old garment, and the new 
 wine in old bottles, which in homely aptness are strik- 
 ingly Socratic. 
 
 While he was yet talking, spicing the feast with wis- 
 dom, Jairus, one of the rulers of the Synagogue, came 
 into the banquet-room, and kneeling down at the foot of 
 the couch whereon Jesus lay, besought him, saying : 
 
 " My little daughter is at the point of death. Come 
 and lay thy hands on her that she may live." ffi 
 
 Of course Jairus knew of the healer. Why did he 
 delay until the last moment ? Perhaps pride of office 
 made him unwilling to condescend. Perhaps the scandal 
 about consorting with publicans and sinners had already 
 reached his ears. But his little daughter, his only daugh- 
 ter, a child of twelve years of age, was enshrined in his 
 heart ; and at last, at the article of death, the haughty, 
 aristocratic, Jewish ruler gave way, and the loving father, 
 heedless of publicans and sinners, heedless of scowling 
 Scribes and Pharisees, bowed down with tears and sobs 
 of supplication at Jesus' feet. 
 
 The interruption did not offend the teacher. His 
 human sympathies were stirred. He had just now 
 spoken of himself as a physician, and now the teacher 
 gave way to the healer. Instantly he arose, forsook all, 
 and followed. Andrew remained to represent him at 
 Matthew's feast ; Peter, James and John accompanied 
 him.
 
 156 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 As .they were going through the streets a multitude 
 thronged him. Then a woman afflicted with a desperate 
 disease came in the crowd behind, and touched the bor- 
 der of his garment, for she said within herself, If I do but 
 touch his garment, I shall be made whole. And imme- 
 diately she was healed. Jesus, feeling the passing of his 
 power, turned about in the crowd, and said : 
 
 " Who touched my garments ? " 
 
 When all denied, Peter said : 
 
 " Master, the multitudes press thee, and sayest thou, 
 Who touched me ? " 
 
 But Jesus insisted : 
 
 " Some one did touch me ; for I perceived that power 
 went forth from me." 
 
 And he looked round about to see who had done this 
 thing. Then the woman, fearing and trembling, came 
 and fell down before him, and told him all. But Jesus, 
 with a reassuring smile and calling her Daughter, the 
 only one he ever thus addressed, kindly said unto 
 her: 
 
 " Daughter, be of good cheer ; thy faith hath made 
 thee whole ; go in peace." 
 
 Just then a messenger came to Jairus from his home, 
 saying : 
 
 " Thy daughter is dead ; trouble not the Master." 
 
 But Jesus hearing this, and seeing the father's anxiety 
 sink to despair, promptly said to him : 
 
 " Fear not ; only believe." 
 
 When they reached the house and saw the flute- 
 players, which oriental custom required in such case, and 
 heard the crowd bewailing her and weeping and making 
 a tmnult, Jesus commanded ;
 
 THE FIRST TOUR AND ITS SEQUEL 15; 
 
 ' Give place. Why make ye a tumult and weep ? 
 The child is not dead, but sleepeth." 
 
 He spake rhetorically, hinting her revival ; but they 
 laughed him to scorn, knowing that literally she was 
 dead. But he, having put them all forth, took the father 
 and mother of the child, and his three disciples, and went 
 with them into the chamber of death. 
 
 Of all the sad scenes in this world of sorrows surely one 
 of the saddest is this of a loving father and mother kneel- 
 ing beside the couch of their only daughter, a little girl of 
 twelve years, from whom the breath of life has just passed 
 away. That the old should in their ripeness die, is in the 
 order of nature ; but the young unfolding flower, why ? 
 The mystery of death is doubled as one gazes on a life- 
 less maiden, and asks why is this promise and perfection 
 of life laid low and sealed. 
 
 1 He who hath bent him o'er the dead, 
 Ere the first day of death is fled, 
 The first dark day of nothingness, 
 The last of danger and distress, 
 Before decay's effacing fingers 
 Have swept the lines where beauty lingers, 
 And marked the mild angelic air, 
 The rapture of repose that's there, 
 The fixed yet tender traits that streak 
 The languor of the placid cheek, 
 And but for that sad shrouded eye, 
 That fires not, wins not, weeps not now, 
 And but for that chill changeless brow, 
 Whose touch thrills with mortality, 
 Yes, but for these, and these alone, 
 Some moments, aye, one treacherous hour, 
 He still might doubt the tyrant's power, 
 So fair, so calm, so softly sealed 
 The first, last look by death revealed.
 
 i $8 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 Hers is the loveliness in death 
 
 That parts not quite with parting breath ; 
 
 But beauty with that fearful bloom, 
 
 That hue that haunts it to the tomb, 
 
 Expression's last receding ray, 
 
 A gilded halo hovering round decay." 
 
 The humane pity of Jesus was moved. Were there 
 not tears in his eyes ? He took the little pulseless hand, 
 hardly cold as yet, in his own, and said tenderly, in his 
 soft mother-tongue : 
 
 " Talitha, Kumi" (Little girl, Arise). 
 
 And straightway her spirit returned, and she rose up, 
 and was folded in her mother's arms. All were as- 
 tonished and stood in amaze, except one, who at this 
 supreme moment, with unruffled calm, and practical 
 common sense, ordered that they give the child some- 
 thing to eat. This is admirable; nothing could better 
 mark his self-possession, his sublime superiority, than 
 this kindly attention to a simple natural need, amid the 
 general and stupefying consternation over a supernatural 
 resurrection. Also he charged them much that no man 
 should know this. Nevertheless the fame thereof went 
 forth into all the land. 
 
 This notable day was not yet done. As Jesus was re- 
 turning home apparently alone, two blind men followed 
 him, crying : 
 
 " Have mercy on us thou son of David." 
 
 Notwithstanding this messianic recognition, he passed 
 quietly into the house ; but the blind men came in unto 
 him, and he said to them : 
 
 " Believe ye that I am able to do this ? " 
 
 They replied :
 
 THE FIRST TOUR AND ITS SEQUEL 159 
 
 " Yea, Lord." 
 
 Then touched he their eyes, saying : 
 
 " According to your faith be it done unto you." 
 
 And their eyes were opened. And he charged them : 
 
 " See that no man know it." 
 
 Evidently he wished to avoid an increase of the 
 notoriety that was already embarrassing. But they went 
 forth, and spread abroad the matter. 
 
 As they were going out others brought in to him a 
 dumb demoniac. He exorcised the demon, and the 
 dumb man spake. When this too was made known 
 abroad, the people marvelled, saying : 
 
 " It was never so seen in Israel." 
 
 But the offended Pharisees said : 
 
 " By the prince of the demons casteth he out 
 demons." 
 
 This bitter, insulting sneer, here first appearing, marks 
 the beginning among men of organized, malignant hos- 
 tility to the teacher, the healer, the redeemer and king. 
 
 The foregoing series of miracles, including a recall 
 from death to life, gives occasion to remark the amazing 
 incredulity of many eye-witnesses of the wonderful 
 works of the Nazarene. The facts themselves were not 
 doubted by the observers, and their supernatural charac- 
 ter was generally recognized ; to question either was re- 
 served for a later age. But the character and claims of 
 the wonder-maker were disparaged and discredited. It is 
 amazing. We must, however, recollect that in those 
 days, and especially in the East, necromancers, exor- 
 cists, magicians, sorcerers, whose works were commonly 
 accredited as supernatural by the superstitious people, 
 abounded. Witness Simon Magus, Elymas, and the
 
 160 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 sons of Sceva, in sacred history ; also Empedocles, Apol- 
 lonius of Tyana, and a hundred others of less note, 
 in secular history. Because of this wide-spread and 
 deep-rooted superstition, and the familiarity with suc- 
 cessful impostures, such as were habitually practiced in 
 the heathen temples, the people at large probably re- 
 garded Jesus as an especially skillful magician in league 
 with supernatural powers, but did not otherwise dis- 
 tinguish him. Hence they were ready to accept the 
 pharisaic dictum, By the prince of demons casteth he out 
 demons.
 
 XII 
 THE EXCURSION AND RETURN 
 
 AFTER these things there was a feast of the Jews, 
 and Jesus with his five chosen companions went 
 up to Jerusalem. It cannot be said with certainty 
 that this was the pascal feast, but the reasons in favor of 
 that view are very weighty making it most probable ; hence 
 it is here adopted. This Passover fell on the last days of 
 March, in the year 28. 
 
 On Saturday, the Sabbath of the feast, Jesus walked 
 out alone to the pool of Bethesda, house of mercy, out- 
 side the Sheep-gate in the city wall, north of the Temple. 
 The pool was surrounded by porches in which were lying 
 many sick waiting for the movement of the water. For 
 the pool was fed by an intermittent spring, and was 
 stirred by its flow once or twice a day ; and the people 
 fancied that an angel went down at those times, and 
 troubled the water, giving it power to heal whomsoever 
 then first stepped in. 41 
 
 Among those who were waiting was an impotent man 
 who had suffered from an infirmity, a consequence of 
 sin, for thirty-eight years, just as long as his fathers had 
 wandered in the Wilderness. He had, however, no 
 friend to help him reach the healing waters. When 
 Jesus saw him, he pitied him, and said to him : 
 
 " Wouldst thou be made whole ? " 
 
 The sick man replied courteously to the sympathizing 
 stranger : 
 
 161
 
 162 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 " Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put 
 me into the pool ; but while I am coming another step- 
 peth down before me." 
 
 This he said hoping that the stranger would help him 
 into the water. But Jesus said : 
 
 " Arise, take up thy bed and walk." 
 
 Straightway the man was made whole, arose, folded 
 his pallet, threw it upon his shoulder, and having lost 
 sight of the stranger in the crowd, went his way to the 
 city. 
 
 As he went he met with certain zealous Jews who said 
 to him censoriously : 
 
 " It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for thee to carry 
 thy bed." 
 
 Jeremiah indeed had declared, Thus saith the Lord, 
 Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sab- 
 bath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. 
 There, then, was a literal infraction of this command. 
 
 The Jews at this time had many stringent rules for the 
 Sabbath. One of these forbade even a blind man to carry 
 a staff on that day, for to do so would be bearing a bur- 
 den. A man might not wear a sandal with nails in it, 
 for that would be bearing burdens. One might not carry 
 a handkerchief, unless indeed he pinned it to his robe, 
 thus making it a part of his dress. One might not light 
 a fire, or snuff a candle, for that would be work. A Jew 
 might employ a gentile servant to do domestic work 
 on the Sabbath, but must himself refrain ; yet he might 
 indulge in hilarious amusements and feasting. In ex- 
 treme cases of Sabbath-breaking the punishment was 
 death. 
 
 The man on being reproached with violating the law 
 was alarmed, knowing the possible consequences. At
 
 THE EXCURSION AND RETURN 163 
 
 once he meanly sought to shift the responsibility on to 
 his healer, and answered : 
 
 " He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take 
 up thy bed and walk." 
 
 The Jews were so very zealous of the law that they 
 disregarded the cure, and asked : 
 
 " Who is he that said unto thee, take up thy bed and 
 walk ? " 
 
 But the man wist not who it was ; for Jesus, as soon as 
 the healing word was spoken, had conveyed himself 
 away, a multitude being in the place. 
 
 In our special study of the human personality of the 
 Nazarene, we should not overlook the fact that he dis- 
 liked a crowd. Already we have had a number of in- 
 stances where he sought to escape from the multitudes 
 pressing upon him, and others will occur. And indeed 
 what is more offensive to a delicate sensibility than to be 
 jostled and hustled in a mass of vulgar people disagree- 
 ably assailing one's eyes, ears, and nostrils, breathing each 
 other's breath, and violating one's proper isolation by 
 unavoidable contacts and rough pressures. . All this to a 
 refined gentleman, such as was Jesus, is extremely dis- 
 tasteful, and is avoided when possible. According to the 
 history Jesus was no demagogue. Even when there 
 was not a crush, yet a body of humanity reducing indi- 
 viduality to a mass, such occasion was apparently less ac- 
 ceptable to the teacher than a small group of distinguish- 
 able individuals, or a single pupil. Witness his revela- 
 tions to Nicodemus, to the Samaritan woman, and subse- 
 quently to Martha of Bethany, and others. How often 
 too, yet oft in vain, did he seek at times to be apart, 
 alone, which to every reflecting mind is a spiritual neces- 
 sity. On the particular occasion now before us, it is
 
 164 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 therefore quite in character that Jesus conveyed himself 
 away, a multitude being in the place. 
 
 Some days afterwards Jesus met in the Temple the man 
 he had cured, and as a kindly admonition said to him : 
 
 " Behold thou art made whole ; sin no more lest a 
 worse thing befall thee." 
 
 Without a word of grateful acknowledgment the 
 man went directly to the Jews who busied themselves in 
 the matter, and vilely purchased impunity for himself by 
 becoming informer on his benefactor. 'Tis well his 
 name was left to perish. He told them that it was the 
 Nazarene who had made him whole. Therefore did the 
 Jews prosecute, idiwkov, Jesus, they brought an action at 
 law against him, before the Sanhedrin, then, as usual 
 during the Passover, in session within the Temple pre- 
 cinct?. The incident thus far is narrated especially as a 
 motive for what follows. 
 
 The court of the Sanhedrin had been stripped of its 
 political functions by the Roman power, but was allowed 
 to retain jurisdiction over the Jews in matters pertaining 
 to their religion, about which the Romans cared little. 
 It administered among others the laws concerning Sab- 
 bath-breaking and blasphemy. Jealous of its remnant 
 of authority the court was disposed to be severe, but 
 was restrained from executing the death penalty, this 
 being reserved to the Roman courts. 
 
 It will be remembered that, just one year ago, the 
 Nazarene, as they called him, had deeply offended this 
 Jewish senate by the purgation of the Temple. Now he 
 reappears at this second Passover, and gives new offense. 
 The still glowing hostility is fanned into a flame. An 
 indictment is speedily prepared containing two counts,
 
 THE EXCURSION AND RETURN 165 
 
 the work of healing on the Sabbath, and the inducing 
 another to bear a burden on the Sabbath. Then the 
 Nazarene is summoned to answer to these things. 
 
 The Sanhedrin is holding its session in the large semi- 
 circular hall Gazith. Its seventy members in their robes 
 of state are seated on the platform opposite the main 
 entrance. We know some of them. Yonder in the 
 middle sits the high priest Caiaphas, ex-officio president 
 of the senate, resplendent in his rich robe and tiara, and 
 haughty in his bearing and speech. On his right is 
 Annas, his father-in-law, the deposed high priest, an old 
 gray-beard of sneering lip and evil eye. A little re- 
 moved with anxious brow is Nicodemus, at once a 
 member and the secretary of the senate. Near him is 
 Joseph of Arimathea, likewise anxious. And yonder 
 with thoughtful mien is Gamaliel, the teacher of Saul 
 who, having finished his studies, has returned home to 
 Tarsus, a Pharisee of the Pharisees. The galleries and 
 floor of the hall, save within the bar are crowded with 
 men, curious spectators. Many are Galileans come to 
 the Passover, among whom are the five disciples with 
 their young master, he under arrest. 42 
 
 The case of the Nazarene is called. Jesus steps within 
 the bar to the centre of the semicircle of judges, and 
 confronts Caiaphas. He stands firmly erect, in the simple 
 garb of a Galilean peasant, his head bare, his golden hair 
 tossed back, his flashing eyes defiantly sweeping the 
 senate, then fixing on its president. The indictment is 
 read by Nicodemus with unsteady voice. Then Caia- 
 phas proceeds, in accordance with the form of Roman 
 law, to question the accused of working on the Sabbath. 
 
 " You have heard the charge. What say you ? " 
 
 The answer comes clear and ringing :
 
 166 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 " My Father worketh even until now, and I work." 
 
 This is a full defiant confession, and an assertion of 
 his intention to persist. Moreover he justifies his course 
 by the example of God his Father. Caiaphas was in- 
 dignant and ready to rend his robe in holy horror. 
 That the Nazarene claimed God as his own Father, 
 making himself equal with God, was, in the ears of his 
 judges, blasphemy. So they sought the more to kill him 
 by adding this charge to the other. 
 
 In what follows in the gospel history we have probably 
 only an epitome of what was said by Jesus on the occa- 
 sion of this his first arraignment before the Sanhedrin, 
 the official representative of the Jewish nation. The 
 questions of his judges, their reiterated charges and 
 taunts, are wholly omitted, but by the breaks in the dis- 
 course, one can see pretty well where they came in, and 
 reading between the lines, fairly apprehend their purport. 
 
 Jesus did not explain away his words but enlarged and 
 enforced them, claiming, now first publicly, to be the Son 
 of God. He did not at this time specifically claim to 
 be the Messiah ; for, since Messiah was expected to be 
 king, that would have involved political consequences, 
 and collision with the Roman governor, Pilate, then 
 in Jerusalem. But as the Son of God he claimed to be 
 the judge of his judges, of all the earth, of all living 
 men, and of the dead who at his voice should come from 
 their tombs to his judgment. He then proceeds to ar- 
 raign the Sanhedrin, pronounces judgment on his judges, 
 and denounces their hypocrisy and worldliness, and their 
 rejection of himself as the ambassador of heaven. 
 
 Overwhelmed by this avalanche of denunciation, over- 
 awed by the majestic assumption of authority, and con- 
 science-stricken under the scathing condemnation, the
 
 THE EXCURSION AND RETURN 167 
 
 subverted court was paralyzed, and the disconcerted 
 Sanhedrists put to open shame. Caiaphas himself was 
 enraged, bold and vindictive ; but in distrust of his in- 
 timidated confederates he would not risk a vote, and 
 seeing the threatening frowns of the rough Galilean 
 Highlanders who had gathered in force, he prudently 
 dismissed the case, and adjourned the court. 
 
 The proud Sanhedrists felt themselves defied. It was 
 a question of power. The Sabbath law was one of the 
 few laws that the Romans had left to their jurisdiction, 
 and was perhaps the stronghold of their influence with 
 the people. It must be maintained. But they dared not 
 press the prosecution of the Nazarene in the presence of 
 the multitude attending the Passover, with whom he was 
 very popular. Especially his Galilean compatriots, ani- 
 mated by sectional pride and jealousy, formed uncon- 
 sciously a bodyguard about him. For the ready turbu- 
 lence of the people was well known to the rulers, violent 
 riots having occurred frequently in the Temple itself. 
 This knowledge had deterred their action at the previous 
 Passover, and now at this second Passover they were 
 again intimidated by the dread of a mob. Evidently if 
 they would compass their end, his favor with the popu- 
 lace must be turned to disfavor. In this purpose they 
 engaged certain Pharisees from Galilee to dog his foot- 
 steps and spy out ground for new accusation, but above 
 all by every means to bring him into discredit with the 
 people at large. 
 
 Evidently it would be unwise for Jesus, with the Temple 
 party mortified, enraged and seeking his life, to linger in 
 Jerusalem or Judea. Therefore, with very little delay he 
 set out for home.
 
 1 68 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 The next Sabbath, early in April, as Jesus and his 
 company were journeying in Peraea northward, they 
 came to a field of ripe wheat. In passing through it, the 
 disciples, being hungry, plucked some ears of the wheat, 
 and rubbing off the husks in their hands, ate the grain. 
 They were justified in doing so by the law in Deuter- 
 onomy 23 : 25 ; yet the resort to such means of suste- 
 nance indicates poor and hard living. The spying Phari- 
 sees, who were in the company, called the attention of 
 the Master to their act, saying : 
 
 " Behold thy disciples do that which is not lawful to 
 do upon the Sabbath." fi 
 
 This referred to the oral law, claimed as a tradition 
 from Moses to supplement the written law. One of its 
 requisites was that on the Sabbath day a man must not 
 tread upon grass, for in doing so he might crush a seed 
 out of its husk, which would be threshing, and threshing 
 is work. Hence, on the Sabbath, keep off the grass. So 
 a man might pluck and eat the ears of corn, as permitted 
 by the law referred to above, at other times, but not on 
 the Sabbath day. 
 
 On hearing the charge of Sabbath -breaking, the dis- 
 ciples shrank back in alarm ; for how could they hope to 
 withstand this Sanhedrin. But Jesus, offended by the 
 microscopic cavil, promptly came to the defense of his 
 humble friends, saying : 
 
 " David was your prophet and king ; was it a sacrilege 
 to him to eat the shewbread ? Do not the priests work 
 about the altar on the Sabbath day ? Perhaps ye will 
 say the Temple sanctifies their work. But I say unto 
 you that one greater than the Temple is here, one who 
 is prophet, high-priest, and king ; so that the son of man 
 is Lord even of the Sabbath. If ye had known what this
 
 THE EXCURSION AND RETURN 169 
 
 meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not 
 have condemned these guiltless men. For the Sabbath 
 was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." 
 
 Nearly nineteen centuries have passed, and yet not 
 even Christendom has fully apprehended and practically 
 applied the principle contained in these wise words. 
 They teach a lesson hard to learn, that all law is for 
 service, not for mastery, that kings and rulers are merely 
 ministers, that government is for freeing and uplifting, and 
 not for subjecting, the people. 
 
 The next following Sabbath found Jesus tarrying in 
 some town of lower Galilee. As usual, he went to the 
 synagogue, and taught. The spies were there, watchful 
 that they might find an accusation against him. They 
 laid a trap. They called his attention to a man there 
 having a withered hand, by asking : 
 
 " Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day ? " ** 
 
 They knew very well, from recent events at Jerusalem, 
 what his answer would be, and they hoped that now, 
 amid other surroundings and other people, he would so 
 speak and act as to impair his good repute, and give 
 ground to accuse him here in Galilee within Herod's ju- 
 risdiction. Jesus knew their intent, and said to the man : 
 
 " Rise up, and stand forth in the midst." 
 
 He did so. Then Jesus replied by the counter question : 
 
 " I ask you, Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do 
 good, or to do harm ? to save life or to destroy it ? " 
 
 This implies two important ethical principles. First, 
 actions are either good or evil ; there are no indifferent 
 actions. Second, to neglect an opportunity of doing 
 good is not a mere negative ; the sin of omission is pos- 
 itive, it is to do wrong. Jesus asked moreover :
 
 I/O HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 " Doth not even your pharisaic law permit one to pull 
 a sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath day ? And is not a 
 man better than a sheep ? " 
 
 He condescended to argue with them. To his logic a 
 fortiori, they made no reply. In reason there was none. 
 During the silence that followed, Jesus became angry, 
 and as he looked around on them a fire of indignation 
 flamed from his eyes. That these sinister men thought 
 to prohibit the relief of a sufferer, grieved and angered 
 him. In the next moment he turned to the trembling 
 and helpless man, and with an encouraging smile of 
 sympathy, said kindly : 
 
 " Stretch forth thy hand." 
 
 He did so, and immediately it was made whole. 
 
 Let it be remarked that psychologically no voluntary 
 effort can be made, unless the agent first conceive that 
 perhaps its realization is possible ; as, no sane man can 
 try to fly. So the man of the withered hand could not 
 have made even an incipient effort to stretch it forth, un- 
 less he had at least some little belief that perhaps it was 
 possible to obey the command. Even this small degree 
 of faith in Jesus was enough to condition his cure. 
 
 The generous people hearing the argument and 
 witnessing the miracle, gave glory to God; and Jesus, 
 instead of being discredited, was exalted in their eyes. 
 The Pharisees, seeing their plan brought to naught, were 
 filled with madness. They went out and straightway 
 took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they 
 might destroy him. 
 
 The Herodians were a patriotic political party which 
 sought to maintain and promote the power of the 
 Herodian family in order to preserve its national ex- 
 istence in opposition to Roman encroachment. They
 
 THE EXCURSION AND RETURN i;i 
 
 were of course influential in the court of Herod Antipas 
 at Tiberias. As Jesus was now in the realm of Herod, 
 the detectives from Jerusalem, wishing to compass his 
 arrest and imprisonment along with John, sought the aid 
 of these partisans and courtiers. But in this also they 
 failed of course ; for politicians are ever wary of stem- 
 ming an incoming tide of popular favor. 
 
 In connection with the three preceding events, the 
 healing the impotent man at Jerusalem, the eating the 
 wheat in Peraea, and the healing the withered hand 
 in Galilee, we find especially indicated the teaching 
 of Jesus relative to Sabbath day observance. On these 
 and on other occasions he utterly disregarded the preva- 
 lent doctrine, and indeed he openly and pointedly 
 violated again and again the traditions and the teaching 
 of the Scribes and Pharisees, so that they might fairly 
 consider him the most defiant, persistent and intentional 
 Sabbath-breaker known in their history. He was the 
 champion of human freedom. Yet after the lapse of 
 centuries, men are still encumbered with the fragments 
 of the fetters he shattered. 
 
 Very soon it was noised abroad that the healer had re- 
 turned into Galilee, and a great multitude flocked to 
 him, not only from Galilee, but from all the surrounding 
 regions. Jesus with his vast and increasing following, 
 went northward to a station near the lake, somewhere be- 
 tween Tiberias and Capernaum. He was now safe from 
 the machinations of his enemies, because of the enthusi- 
 astic multitude. He healed many, insomuch that those 
 who had plagues pressed upon him that they might 
 touch him. The demoniacs fell down before him, crying,
 
 172 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 Thou art the son of God ; but he silenced them. He 
 healed all. But so great was the assembling multitude 
 that he spake to his disciples that a little boat should 
 wait on him, because of the crowds, lest they should 
 throng him. 45 
 
 It is highly probable at this time he restored Mary 
 Magdalene, who was afflicted with seven demons. The 
 scene was near the coast-town Magdala, from which her 
 surname seems to be derived. This Mary of Magdala 
 became one of the attendants of Jesus, and her pure yet 
 passionate love of him is one of the most beautiful traits 
 of the subsequent story. 
 
 In the evening when it was growing dusk, Jesus 
 stepped ashore, and went up into a mountain, or rather a 
 hill, within sight of the lake, to spend the night. The 
 hill, now called the hill of Hattin, from a little village at 
 its foot, rises above the plain about sixty feet to a nearly 
 level and tolerably large plateau, on which stand two 
 peaks called the Horns of Hattin. Probably the disciples 
 and many of the multitude bivouacked on the plateau. 
 But Jesus went up alone into one of the peaks, and there 
 he continued all night in prayer to God. 46 
 
 Early in the morning, the morning of a great day, he 
 called his disciples to him, and chose twelve, the number 
 of the Israelitish tribes. Them he ordained to be minis- 
 ters and apostles or missionaries, for he would send them 
 out to teach, to preach, and to heal. The work was ac- 
 cumulating so that he needed assistance. The twelve 
 were the brothers Andrew and Simon Peter, the brothers 
 James and John, and the friends Philip and Nathaniel or 
 Bartholomew, who now reappear ; to these add Matthew, 
 also already known to us, and Thomas ; then James the
 
 THE EXCURSION AND RETURN 173 
 
 son of Alpheus, and Judas or Thaddeus his brother ; then 
 Simon the zealot, and lastly, Judas Iscariot. The latter 
 five are heretofore unknown to us. James and John, the 
 sons of Zebedee and Salome a sister of the virgin Mary, 
 were first cousins to Jesus. James the less and Judas or 
 Jude or Thaddeus, and perhaps Simon the zealot, were 
 sons of Alpheus or Clopas, probably a brother of Joseph, 
 the husband of the virgin, and thus were reputed cousins 
 to Jesus. All were Galileans, except Judas Iscariot who 
 probably was a Judean. All were young men and 
 earnest men, and five of them, we happen to know, were 
 busy men, who might have excused themselves, saying, 
 We have not time. But just that sort of men Jesus 
 preferred. 
 
 The selection and ordination finished, Jesus came 
 down from the peak to the multitude on the elevated 
 plateau. Finding a rock suitable for a pulpit, he 
 mounted it, and sat down, the usual attitude of Jewish 
 teachers. His disciples gathered close around about 
 him, and he opened his mouth and taught them. 47 
 
 Then follows the most wonderful discourse ever 
 listened to by man, the Sermon on the Mount. Atten- 
 tion is arrested at the outset by an octave of paradoxes, 
 and at every onward step thought is startled by authori- 
 tative statements of truths new and profound, many 
 in sharp conflict with doctrines then current, but all 
 in deep spiritual accord with the Law and the Prophets. 
 The opening beatitudes, the closing foundations, and 
 several intermediate passages, flow in the forms of 
 Hebrew poetry, and the passage, " Consider the lilies," 
 with its enthusiastic praise, revealing a passionate love of 
 flowers, is unsurpassed in rhetorical beauty. No other
 
 174 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 oration has influenced so deeply the course of human 
 history, civil, social, religious. Fifteen centuries prior to 
 it, the Law, a ministration of death, was announced 
 by Moses to the twelve Elders and the trembling people, 
 amid the thunders, clouds and darkness of Mount Sinai. 
 Thus opened the old Mosaic dispensation. Here the 
 Gospel, a ministration of life, is announced by Jesus to 
 the twelve Apostles and the joyful people, under the 
 calm blue skies of Galilee, on the sunlit Mount of Beati- 
 tudes. Thus opens the new Christian dispensation. For 
 the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came 
 by Jesus Christ. 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day Jesus walked with 
 the twelve some six or seven miles northward to Caper- 
 naum his home. On entering the city, he was met by 
 the elders of the Synagogue, led probably by Jairus its 
 ruler. They were bearers of a request from the wealthy 
 centurion in command of the Roman garrison of Caper- 
 naum, that Jesus would heal a boy about to die, a slave 
 of the centurion and very dear to him. The elders ear- 
 nestly urged the request on Jesus, appealing to his patri- 
 otism and saying : 
 
 " He is worthy that thou shouldst do this for him ; 
 for he loveth our nation, and himself built us our 
 Synagogue." ^ 
 
 This was doubtless the great central marble Syna- 
 gogue, where Jesus taught, and whose remains have 
 lately been discovered at Tell-Hum. 
 
 The reply of Jesus is prompt, and businesslike : 
 
 " I will come and heal him." 
 
 When he was near" the house, the centurion sent other 
 friends, with the message :
 
 THE EXCURSION AND RETURN 175 
 
 " Lord, trouble not thyself; for I am not worthy that 
 thou shouldst come under my roof; wherefore neither 
 thought I myself worthy to come unto thee ; but say the 
 word and my boy shall be healed." 
 
 He added that he was familiar with the obedience of 
 soldiers and slaves, and quite confident that the powers 
 of healing would likewise obey their master's word. 
 Doubtless he knew of the healing of the courtier's son, 
 five months before, at Capernaum by a word spoken at 
 Cana ; and also of the raising of the little daughter of 
 Jairus. His beautiful humility and confidence gave Jesus 
 a thrill of pleasure. He marvelled, and notwithstanding 
 he knew the man to be both a soldier and slave-holder, 
 he turned and said to the multitude following him : 
 
 " Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great 
 faith, no, not in Israel." 
 
 He further spoke of it as a token of the incoming of 
 the Gentiles. Then said he to the messengers : 
 
 " Go and tell him, As thou hast believed so be it done 
 unto thee." 
 
 And they, returning to the house, found the slave boy 
 perfectly healed. 
 
 The hour was now late. Jesus was tired and needed 
 rest. The stir and the work of the last two days, with 
 the vigil of the intervening night, had wearied him. He 
 turned and sought his home, from which he had been 
 absent for nearly a month. We may imagine the pleas- 
 ant greetings, the questions asked and kindly answered, 
 the simple supper of bread and wine, then Jesus retiring 
 to rest in the little dormitory reserved for him, and 
 sleeping. 
 
 So closes this notable day.
 
 XIII 
 THE SECOND TOUR BEGUN 
 
 IT is quite probable that the pharisaic spies, after 
 conspiring with the Herodians, had gone to Caper- 
 naum, and were lying in wait for Jesus. He, hearing 
 of their presence, and wishing to avoid conflict with 
 them, resolved at once to leave home, and enter upon a 
 second tour of Galilee. Accordingly, early the next 
 morning, he summoned the twelve and departed. To 
 evade a following, they took boats on the lake, and sailed 
 nearly to its southern end, and thence walked some 
 twelve miles to Nain. 
 
 Nain, now a hamlet on the northwestern slope of little 
 Hermon, was then a considerable town. It is approached 
 from the east by a narrow road winding around the north 
 side of the mount. Not far from the hamlet are still to 
 be seen holes in the rock of the steep roadside, the 
 ancient deposits for the dead. There can be no doubt 
 that between these tombs and the hamlet is the very spot 
 where the following event took place. 49 
 
 As Jesus, with his disciples and a multitude which 
 soon gathered, came near the town, he was met by a 
 funeral train. Death had entered the town before him, 
 and had struck its heaviest blow. On the bier lay his 
 trophy, a young man, the only child of his mother, and 
 she was a widow. Jesus also was a young man, the only 
 child of his mother; and she was a widow. And both 
 
 176
 
 THE SECOND TOUR BEGUN 177 
 
 shall rise from the dead. For Jesus, moved with com- 
 passion, said tenderly to the weeping mother : 
 
 " Do not weep." 
 
 Then he laid his hand upon the bier, and pronounced 
 that great word which already had awakened a little girl 
 from death's slumber, saying : 
 
 " Young man, Arise." 
 
 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. 
 And he gave him to his mother. There was great 
 wonder, and great joy ; and that which came out as a 
 funeral train, returned as a festive procession. 
 
 " That afternoon in Spring, 
 The dull low murmur of a funeral 
 Went through the city, and a sound of feet 
 Unmixed with voices, as the bearers passed, 
 Bending beneath their burden. There was one, 
 Only one mourner. Close beside the bier, 
 Crumpling the pall up in her withered hands, 
 Follow'd an aged woman. Her short steps 
 Falter'd with weakness, and a broken moan 
 Fell from her quivering lips. The pitying crowd 
 Follow'd apart, but no one spoke to her. 
 She had no kinsman. She had lived alone, 
 A widow with one son. He was her all, 
 The only tie she had in the wide world, 
 And he was dead. 
 
 Jesus drew near to Nain. His lips were parched 
 With the noon's sultry heat. The beaded sweat 
 Stood thickly on his brow, and on the worn 
 And simple latchets of his sandals lay 
 Thick, the white dust of travel. He had come 
 Since sunrise from Capernaum, staying not 
 To catch Gilboa's light and spicy breeze, 
 Nor turning once aside, but pressing on 
 Amid the hills to reach the homes of Nain, 
 The place of his next errand. 
 Forth from the city gate the pitying crowd
 
 178 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 Follow'd the stricken mourner. They came near 
 The place of burial ; and with straining hands, 
 Closer upon her breast she clasped the pall, 
 As with inquiring wildness in her eyes, 
 She saw where Jesus stood beside the way. 
 He looked upon her, and his heart was moved. 
 Weep not, he said ; and as they stayed the bier, 
 He gently drew the pall from out her grasp, 
 And laid it back in silence from the dead. 
 With troubled wonder the mute throng drew near, 
 And gazed on his calm looks. A minute's space 
 He stood and prayed. Then taking the cold hand, 
 He said, Arise ; and instantly the breast 
 Heaved in its cerements, and a sudden flush 
 Ran through the lines of the divided lips ; 
 While with a murmur of his mother's name, 
 He trembled and sat upright in his shroud; 
 And to his mother he delivered him. 
 Then while the joyful mourner hung upon his neck, 
 Jesus went calmly on his way to Nain." 
 
 On entering the town a little before sunset, Jesus took 
 his stand in the market-place or public square, which was 
 speedily filled with his followers and the towns-folk. In 
 that hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and 
 evil spirits, and on many blind he bestowed sight. 
 
 John the Baptist had been five months in his dungeon 
 at Tiberias, about thirteen miles from Nain. It seems his 
 disciples were permitted to visit him, and through them 
 he had heard of the doings of Jesus, whom he had her- 
 alded as Messiah. But to the depressed man who had 
 lived so free, his prison had become Doubting Castle. 
 Can this indeed be the one foretold of Isaiah as sent to 
 proclaim liberty to . the captives, and the opening of the 
 prison to them that are bound ? Then why should he 
 leave me here to languish in chains ? To resolve this
 
 THE SECOND TOUR BEGUN 179 
 
 doubt, he sent two of his disciples, bidding them ask, 
 Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another ? *> 
 
 These messengers, favored by the occasion, joined the 
 followers of Jesus on the way to Nain, and there in the 
 market-place delivered their message. Jesus replied : 
 
 " Go your way, and tell John what things ye do hear 
 and see." 
 
 To these proofs he added a word of encouragement, 
 but no promise of help ; and that was the last word be- 
 tween them. 
 
 It is strange that Jesus, who made the lake and the 
 cities on its shores his own and famous forever^ was never, 
 so far as history tells, in Tiberias, apparently having 
 avoided it. It is strange that Jesus, who took for his 
 text in the Synagogue at Nazareth the prediction of 
 Isaiah and applied it to himself, and who on that occasion 
 also referred to it as being literally fulfilled in himself and 
 his work, nevertheless left John, an innocent and holy 
 man, his friend and kinsman, his forerunnefand divinely 
 appointed witness, to pine in captivity. It is strange that 
 Jesus, who in no other case declined to relieve suffering, 
 but was prompt to apply abundantly his beneficent 
 power, in this case alone gave no help or heed to a suf- 
 ferer whose cry was seemingly the most appealing of all, 
 but left him to his tragic fate. And still the mystery 
 deepens, for no sooner had the two messengers departed 
 than Jesus pronounced in the ears of all the people a 
 splendid and glowing eulogy on John, as an ascetic, as a 
 man, as a prophet, as the Messianic herald, hidden from 
 the worldly wise, but revealed unto his disciples as unto 
 babes. Moreover, as John was the only one whom Jesus 
 ever neglected, so was he the only one whom Jesus ever 
 eulogized.
 
 1 8o HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 It may fairly explain and justify his neglect of John to 
 note that Jesus did no miracle for his own personal bene- 
 fit, or for that of a kinsman or disciple which would have 
 been nepotism, and the misuse of powers devoted to 
 other ends. John the baptizer, his kinsman and herald, 
 was too nearly one of his own to be the recipient of 
 miraculous help. Witness also the host of Christian 
 martyrs, for whose relief there has been in no case mi- 
 raculous intervention. 
 
 In the deepening twilight Jesus continued talking to 
 the people assembled in the market square. It may be 
 that mingling with the crowd there were laborers come 
 from the fields bearing burdens and seeking rest after the 
 day's weary work. As he looked upon these, and many 
 others of the meek and humble souls before him, labor- 
 ing without promise of reward, weary without promise of 
 rest, he was moved with compassion, and stretching 
 forth his arms he cried passionately, in words of pity, 
 love and promise, sweeter than an angel's song : 
 
 " Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
 and I will give you rest. Learn of me, for I too am meek 
 and lowly in heart ; and ye shall find rest unto your souls." 
 
 In the outskirts of the crowd was one burdened soul 
 that resolved to take him at his word. She was a sinner 
 indeed, one notorious in the little town, and so scorned 
 and degraded that, even in the gathering darkness, she 
 dared not go forward. But he had said, Come, all ; this 
 included even her, and she would come. The crowd be- 
 gan to disperse ; he also was now going. She followed 
 in the dark, unobserved even by his companions, but 
 watchful of him. 51 
 
 A magnate of the village, Simon by name, a Pharisee,
 
 THE SECOND TOUR BEGUN 181 
 
 asked Jesus to sup with him. He was doubtful of the 
 propriety of this step, but curiosity urged him on. His 
 condescension, however, had a limit, and the invitation 
 being accepted, he omitted some of the common rights 
 of hospitality, thinking he had gone far enough in admit- 
 ting Jesus to a place at his table. 
 
 Imagine it spread in a large room lighted by cande- 
 labra, Simon the host reclining on his couch at the upper 
 end, the place of dignity, Jesus reclining at the lower end 
 nearer the entrance door with perhaps two or three dis- 
 ciples, other guests on couches, and uninvited visitors 
 eager to see and hear, standing against the walls around 
 the room. The supper proceeds, little attention being 
 paid by the haughty host to his humble guests. 
 
 Now a woman comes in, stealthily and unnoticed. 
 Half creeping in the shadow of the couches, she soon 
 finds the one whereon Jesus lay. Kneeling at his feet 
 extending beyond the short couch, she clasps them in 
 her hands, kisses them again and again, and wets them 
 with her flowing tears. Then still weeping, she brings 
 round her long tresses, and wipes the tears, not from her 
 eyes, but from his feet, as if her tears were polluting. No 
 one observes ; Jesus does not even glance towards her. 
 She takes from her bosom an alabaster flask, and break- 
 ing the neck, pours precious spikenard over those weary 
 feet. The odor fills the room. Simon perceives it, and 
 looks around inquiringly, for he had not been so lavish 
 as to provide perfume on this occasion. His eye falls on 
 the notorious woman clinging to the feet of Jesus, and he 
 said within himself, Surely this man is no prophet, else 
 he would know what sort of woman that is, and not 
 suffer her to touch him. But Jesus, knowing his thought, 
 said unto him :
 
 i$2 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 " Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee." 
 
 " Teacher, say on," is the condescending reply. 
 
 " A certain man had two debtors ; the one owed five 
 hundred pence, and the other fifty. When they had not 
 wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which of 
 them therefore will love him most ? " 
 
 Simon, surprised at the simplicity of the question, not 
 seeing the sharp spear-point inwrapt in it, smilingly con- 
 ceeds : 
 
 " Why, I suppose, he to whom the most was for- 
 given." 
 
 Jesus assents significantly : 
 
 " Thou hast rightly judged." 
 
 He then contrasts the behavior of Simon with that of 
 the woman, making a fearfully sarcastic exposure of his 
 meanness. Both were debtors, having nothing where- 
 with to pay. But, as the Pharisee owed very little, he 
 would not love much. See the divine irony. Hear his 
 telling words; 
 
 " Seest thou this woman ? I entered into thine house, 
 thou gavest me no water for my feet ; but she has wetted 
 my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. 
 Thou gavest me no kiss ; but she, since the time I came 
 in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil 
 thou didst not anoint ; but she hath anointed my feet 
 with ointment. Hence I say unto thee, her sins, which 
 are many, are forgiven, in that she hath loved me much ; 
 but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." 
 
 Turning now for the first time to the loving penitent, 
 he said lovingly to her : 
 
 " Thy sins are forgiven. Thy faith hath saved thee ; 
 go in peace." 
 
 A fewjiours before, he had raised a young man from
 
 THE SECOND TOUR BEGUN 183 
 
 the dead. That was a physical resurrection. Now he 
 raised a young woman, dead in sin, to a new life. This 
 was a spiritual resurrection. She had knelt at his feet, 
 a vile, polluted, degraded outcast ; she arose from her 
 knees as pure as an angel. She had come in misery, her 
 bosom torn with anguish ; she went away with a heart 
 full of the peace of God that passeth understanding. 
 
 In this most exquisite incident, the Symposium of 
 Luke, it is curious to note a parallel in the much earlier 
 Symposium of Plato. In both a rich aristocrat enter- 
 tains a poor but famous teacher reclining at supper with 
 some of his disciples. In both the discourse is of love. 
 In both the Socratic method of asking entangling ques- 
 tions is employed. In both there enters a sinner, sinning 
 in the name of love, whose sensuality serves by contrast 
 to brighten the shining purity of love divine. Still, amid 
 the resemblances, the differences are as many and as great 
 as those between Socrates and Jesus. 
 
 The woman who was a sinner, whose name the history 
 with delicate forbearance withholds, is identified, by a 
 somewhat late tradition, with Mary Magdalene. So the 
 novelists, the poets, and the painters innumerable. So 
 the Magdalen societies and asylums for the reformation 
 of fallen women. Yet there is not a single biblical rea- 
 son supporting this tradition ; on the contrary, there are 
 excellent reasons proving it false. Alas that the surname 
 of the pure, sweet, lovely Mary should have become 
 throughout Christendom the synonym of a reformed har- 
 lot. Alas that the outrageous slander should be perpetu- 
 ated in literature, art, and common speech, to be rectified 
 only at the last day. 
 
 Of the penitent woman is known nothing more than 
 what is here told ; except, indeed, that she has now been,
 
 1 84 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 for nearly two millenniums, in the promised rest, in heaven 
 with the Lord to whom she came, whose feet she kissed 
 and washed with her tears and wiped with her hair and 
 anointed with ointment. 
 
 The second tour throughout the many cities and vil- 
 lages of Galilee, beginning at Nain, lasted five or six 
 months, from about the first of May to October or No- 
 vember. The history is silent, as in the case of the first 
 tour, concerning the events of this long interval after the 
 departure from Nain. As in the first tour a single typ- 
 ical event is narrated, so in this second the incidents at 
 Nain may be regarded as representing the untold healing 
 and teaching of half the year. w 
 
 The chosen twelve were with him. But what more 
 particularly characterized this tour is that he was accom- 
 panied by many women whom he had healed, and who 
 gratefully ministered of their substance unto him and his 
 followers. Three women are named ; Susanna, i. e., Lily ; 
 and Joanna the wife, or now perhaps widow, of Chuza, 
 Herod's steward, whose son, six months before, he while 
 in Cana had healed at Capernaum ; and Mary Magdalene, 
 whom he had freed from demons, and who now for the 
 first time appears, evidently a new figure in the history. 
 Their supply of means indicates that these ministering 
 women were socially of the better class. Moreover, the 
 record here marks the Christian emancipation of woman 
 in its best sense, and the beginning of her practical work 
 in the Church.
 
 XIV 
 THE SEQUEL OF THE TOUR 
 
 IT should be observed of the three Galilean tours that, 
 while there is almost no specific record of the events 
 occurring in the many months they occupied, yet im- 
 mediately upon the return of Jesus home to Capernaum 
 there is in each case a specific detail of incidents and 
 teachings comprised within one or two days. Thus on 
 the return from the second tour, quite a number of im- 
 portant events, as its sequel to be narrated under the 
 present topic, all occurred in a single day. 
 
 When in the autumn Jesus returned home he found 
 that the Scribes and Pharisees, the emissaries from Jeru- 
 salem, had turned from him the tide of popular favor. 
 However, a blind and dumb demoniac was brought to 
 him, and he healed him. A great crowd had collected in 
 the house where he was, and the beneficent miracle 
 seemed about to win them again, for they asked in 
 amaze : 
 
 " Is not this the son of David ? " M 
 
 But the Scribes and the Pharisees, repeating their 
 former insulting accusation, said among the people : 
 
 " He himself is possessed of Beelzebub, and by the 
 prince of demons casteth he out demons." 
 
 Jesus knowing of this, called them to him, and pub- 
 licly exposed the absurdity of the charge, and its heinous 
 
 185
 
 1 86 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 blasphemy. Finally he denounced them bitterly, as John 
 had done, saying : 
 
 " Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak 
 good things ? " 
 
 Then these malignants taunted him with : 
 " Master, we would see a sign from thee." 
 Their meaning is that what they had seen was no 
 proof. He must, like Moses and Elijah, bring down a 
 sign from heaven. This Jesus refused, and referred as 
 once before at the cleansing of the Temple, to his com- 
 ing resurrection, as the great and eternal sign of his 
 heavenly commission. 
 
 Meantime his friends heard of what was going on, and 
 they came quickly together with his mother and kins- 
 men, all infected apparently with the disseminated distrust ; 
 for they proposed to lead him away and take charge of 
 him, saying, He surely is insane. But they could not en- 
 ter the house because of the crowd sitting there. So 
 word was passed to him while he was yet speaking : 
 
 " Thy mother and thy brethren are standing without, 
 desiring to see thee." 
 
 But Jesus said unto them that told him : 
 " Who is my mother, and who are my brethren ? " 
 Then stretching forth his hand towards his disciples, he 
 added : 
 
 " Behold my mother and my brethren. For whosoever 
 shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, he is 
 my brother, and sister and mother." 
 
 This emphatic preference of spiritual to natural ties is 
 very significant, especially with reference to the Virgin 
 Mary. 
 
 About noon of this eventful day, Jesus left the house
 
 THE SEQUEL OF THE TOUR 187 
 
 where the contention occurred, and attended by the 
 twelve and other disciples and followers, went down to 
 the lake shore, probably a little south of the wharves of 
 the city and opposite the suburb Bethsaida the home of 
 several apostles. There a very great multitude collected 
 and pressed upon him. So he entered into a boat, which 
 was then moved out a few yards from -shore, and he sat 
 down and taught the people standing on the beach, many 
 things in parables, saying : 
 
 " Hearken. Behold the sower went forth to sow." M 
 Possibly there was one in sight to whom he pointed 
 as an object lesson, for such was his custom in teaching. 
 
 A parable in its primary meaning is a comparison, a 
 putting things side by side, whereby familiar matter is 
 made to illustrate something less familiar and more im- 
 portant. The New Testament parable is distinguished 
 -from a simile by being more elaborate, and from a fable 
 by being physically possible. Generally it takes the 
 form of a short fictitious narrative of a like case or of an 
 example, in a few instances expanding into an allegory. 
 Altogether there are twenty-nine parables spoken by 
 Jesus and recorded in the synoptic, the first three,, Gos- 
 pels ; there are none in the fourth Gospel. In general, 
 they occur in four groups ; one in this Galilean ministry ; 
 another in the second Judean ministry, and given by 
 Luke only ; a third in the Peraean ministry, also given 
 by Luke only ; and a fourth on the final Tuesday. All 
 are marked rhetorically, on the surface, by extreme sim- 
 plicity and elegance ; logically, in their depths, by pro- 
 found wisdom, both human and divine. The marvellous 
 genius of the man whose vivid imagination and pene- 
 trating insight invented these exquisite stories, one after 
 another on the spur of the moment, stories so delectable,
 
 1 88 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 monitory and significant as to live throughout all time, 
 for the delight of every child, the counsel of every man, 
 the research of every sage, is a genius unequalled in the 
 history of mankind. 
 
 The parables spoken from the boat, resting on the 
 gospel lake, paled in with men, were five in number ; 
 The Sower, The Growing Seed, The Tares, The Mustard 
 Seed, and The Leaven. By means of a comparison with 
 familiar things, each illustrates some attribute of the 
 kingdom of heaven already proclaimed by John and 
 by Jesus. 
 
 Leaving the multitude on the shore Jesus went into 
 the house, probably the home of Simon Peter. The 
 twelve and other disciples followed, and when they were 
 alone they asked him : 
 
 " Why speakest thou to them in parables ? " 
 
 For the disciples were much surprised at this indirect, 
 parabolic teaching which was a distinct departure from 
 his usual, direct method. Jesus answered : 
 
 " Unto you is given to know the mysteries of the 
 kingdom of heaven, but unto them that are yet without 
 the kingdom, all things are taught in parables, because 
 seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither 
 do they understand." 
 
 Evidently Jesus painfully felt that the hostility of the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, and the general distrust with 
 which they had affected the people, were so great ob- 
 stacles to their receiving his word, that a new method 
 was requisite to reach them. Therefore he would hence- 
 forth use the distinction prevalent in the Greek and per- 
 haps in the Hebrew schools, of exoteric teaching for 
 them that were without, reserving his esoteric teaching 
 for his immediate disciples. A similar distinction is
 
 THE SEQUEL OF THE TOUR 189 
 
 made to-day between popular scientific lectures, and the 
 specific instruction given to students of science. 
 
 Having answered their question, Jesus proceeded to 
 expound to them esoterically the parable of The Sower. 
 Thereupon at their request, he explained also the parable 
 of The Tares. These two expositions furnish the basis 
 for interpreting the parables generally. Then he added 
 three other parables ; The Hidden Treasure, The Pearl 
 of Great Price, and The Drag-net. Thus while with 
 many such parables spake he the word unto the people 
 as they were able to bear it, privately to his disciples he 
 expounded all things. 
 
 The practice of the parabolic method, beginning with 
 this group of eight parables, marks a distinct epoch in 
 the teaching of The Teacher. Also it is worthy of note 
 that while from this time forth his miracles diminish in 
 frequency, the frequency and fullness of his parables in- 
 crease ; and that the total number, about thirty, recorded 
 in each series is nearly the same. 
 
 In the mid-afternoon, Jesus, depressed by the insult 
 and slander of the forenoon, distressed by the fickle 
 people's heart waxed gross, annoyed by the curious 
 multitude lingering and gathering about the door of his 
 refuge, said to his disciples : 
 
 " Let us go over to the other side of the lake." M 
 
 So they helped him, even as he was, to the boat, 
 launched forth, and set sail for the opposite shore. 
 Jesus, harassed and weary with the toils of the day, lay 
 down in the stern of the boat, and pillowing his head 
 upon the cushion of the seat, soon was rocked to sleep. 
 It toucheth us nearly, this tired, sleeping man. 
 
 It has already been noted that the Galilean lake is sub-
 
 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 ject to sudden and violent storms, owing to the cold and 
 heavy air of the northward mountains flowing along its 
 surface to displace the hot and light air of the deep Jordan 
 valley on the south. When the boat in which Jesus was 
 sleeping was midway in its course, one of these storms 
 arose. Heavy clouds veiled and darkened the sky, and 
 a thick fog settled on the lake. Then an aerial avalanche 
 came roaring down from the mountains, and smote upon 
 the waters, lashing them into wild waves that dashed 
 hissing on the little boat. Its sails were furled, and the 
 sailors grasped their oars to steady and control its course. 
 Yet, mid all the hideous roar of the tempest, the deep 
 slumber of the tired man was unbroken. But the tu- 
 multuous waves rising higher dashed over the gunwale 
 of the tossing boat, and it began to fill. Then thought 
 the despairing disciples, He can save, and he alone. 
 One of them, Peter we think, tottered aft, shook the 
 sleeper by the arm, crying : 
 
 " Master, carest thou not ? Save ; we perish." 
 As a man, Jesus slept ; he awoke as a god. First he 
 calmly reproved the frightened men : 
 
 " Why are ye fearful ? Where is your faith ? " 
 Then standing firmly erect on the wavering board, and 
 looking abroad over the tempestuous elements, in a loud 
 voice he commanded : 
 " Peace ; be still." 
 
 And immediately there was a great calm. The waves 
 did not gently subside, but abruptly shrank ; the winds 
 did not lull, but instantly ceased, and the air stood still ; 
 the clouds did not disperse, but vanished, and the un- 
 veiled sun flashed beams of light gilding the peaceful 
 scene. Then Jesus lay down and slept again. The res- 
 cued mariners marvelled, whispering one to another:
 
 THE SEQUEL OF THE TOUR 191 
 
 " Who then is this, that even the wind and sea obey 
 him?" 
 
 This miracle overwhelms sense and taxes credulity. 
 It is commonly regarded as one of the greatest displays 
 of divine energy. But have we any dynamometer with 
 which to measure miraculous power? Can we grade 
 miraculous signs as less and greater ? The changing 
 water to wine, the healing a fever, the withering a fig- 
 tree ; in what are these inferior to raising the dead, or 
 stilling the tempest ? Only that they impress less forci- 
 bly our short-sighted sense. Divine power in one is the 
 same as in another, and knows no measure. 
 
 Also the stilling of the tempest is commonly cited as 
 a manifest violation of natural law. What natural law ? 
 I should be glad to see it formally stated. A law of na- 
 ture becomes a law, and becomes known as a law, only 
 by virtue of the axiomatic truth that like causes have like 
 effects. Were like antecedents, including the will of 
 Jesus, assembled on the lake to-day, it is unquestionable 
 that like consequents would follow. There is in the case 
 no more violation of natural law, a phrase greatly need- 
 ing definition, than when a child tosses a ball. In this is 
 involved human will ; in that superhuman will. How 
 the will works its end is inexplicable in either case. 
 
 Peace; be still. To whom were these words ad- 
 dressed? Certainly the winds and waves had no ears to 
 hear ; nor could they be rightly said to obey, as the 
 simple disciples imagined ; for obedience implies a sub- 
 missive will in the one commanded. The usual reply is 
 that the words were spoken merely that the disciples 
 might hear and understand. Then the command was 
 fictitious, a pretense, a sham. Rather let us remember 
 that Satan, the Prince of the Power of the Air, was
 
 192 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 abroad, and perhaps seized upon this favorable oppor- 
 tunity to destroy his prospective supplanter. He com- 
 missioned his myrmidons to execute his will. How, we 
 know not; but we know that a child may start an 
 avalanche. The tempest was roused and energized by 
 demoniac powers. Then there came a conflict of wills. 
 In the command, Peace, be still, was uttered the domi- 
 nant will, and Satan and his hosts heard and obeyed. 
 
 The boat had been driven by the storm on a south- 
 easterly course, and was now near the eastern coast. A 
 landing was effected very late in the day, nigh to Gerasa 
 or Gergesa, a village of the coast inhabited mostly by 
 Greeks. Immediately Jesus with his company encoun- 
 tered a raging demoniac who dwelt in the tombs which 
 are even yet to be seen on the hillside. He was exceed- 
 ing fierce so that no man could bind him, or had strength 
 to tame him ; naked, and all bloody from self-torture. 
 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and kneeled to 
 him, doing homage. Jesus at once commanded the 
 demon to come out. But he cried with a loud voice : 
 
 " What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the 
 Most High God ? Art thou come hither to torment me 
 before the time ? " 
 
 Then Jesus asked his name, and was answered, Legion ; 
 for we are many. And they implored him not to send 
 them into the abyss. 
 
 Near the recently identified ruin of Gerasa, is a long 
 steep slope like a hillside, extending from the upland to 
 the water's edge. On this was a great herd of about 
 two thousand swine feeding, probably the property of 
 Greeks, as swine-flesh was forbidden to the Jews. The 
 hapless demons begged leave to enter the swine, and
 
 THE SEQUEL OF THE TOUR 193 
 
 Jesus gave them leave. Note that he did not require, 
 but merely permitted this ; and remember the mysteri- 
 ous yet familiar fact that God permits a multitude of 
 evils in the world. Then the demons left the man and 
 took possession of the more fitting dwelling; but even 
 the swine revolted, and panic stricken the whole herd 
 rushed madly down the steep, and plunged into the sea. 
 
 The swine-herds fled into the town to report the dis- 
 aster and the people came out to see what had come to 
 pass. They found the well-known demoniac, clothed 
 and in his right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus. They 
 were filled with fear, the more so as they attributed to 
 this wonder-worker the loss of their property, and knew 
 not what other losses might follow. The rescue of the 
 wretch was little to them in view of the surface of the 
 lake strewn with the floating bodies of their swine. So 
 they besought the stranger to depart at once from their 
 coasts. His refuge was denied him. The sun ashamed 
 sank behind the hills, and night frowned darkly on. In 
 its gloom Jesus ordered a return. As he was entering 
 the boat, the freedman begged to go with him, but was 
 sent away to his home to tell of God's mercy on him. 
 
 Then Jesus with his disheartened company sailed 
 slowly away over the now submissive sea, amid the 
 whispering airs, under the wondering stars, to his own 
 sad home again. 
 
 Thus ended this eventful and distressful day.
 
 XV 
 THE THIRD TOUR. FATE OF JOHN 
 
 JESUS having returned to Capernaum was again be- 
 set by the multitude awaiting him. So, with the 
 twelve, he promptly left the city, and entered upon 
 the third Galilean tour. 
 
 As a beginning he went direct to Nazareth. Twelve 
 months before this, at the outset of the Galilean ministry, 
 he had taught in the Synagogue at Nazareth, offering 
 himself first of all to his home people. But they re- 
 jected him, and even tried to kill him. Now, with a 
 heart full of generous, forgiving love, he again visits them, 
 longing to bless the old home of his childhood, youth 
 and manhood. 87 
 
 So, when the Sabbath was come, he taught many in 
 their Synagogue. They were astonished, and said : 
 
 " Whence has he this wisdom, and these mighty 
 powers ? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Miriam, 
 and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon ? 
 And are not his sisters all here with us ? Whence then 
 hath this man all these things ? " 
 
 Thus they were scandalized in him, and scorned him. 
 Their reasoning though utterly illogical, is not unusual. 
 This Jesus remarked, saying to them : 
 
 " A prophet is not without honor, save in his own 
 country, and among his own kin, and in his own house." 
 
 Even he himself, with all his knowledge of what is in 
 man, marvelled at their unbelief. And because of this 
 
 194
 
 THE THIRD TOUR. FATE OF JOHN 195 
 
 unbelief, some faith being prerequisite, he could do 
 among them no mighty work ; only he laid his hands on 
 a few sick folk, and healed them. Then he departed ; 
 and Nazareth disappears from history. 
 
 Thence Jesus went forward to teach and to heal in the 
 numerous cities and villages of Galilee. But when he 
 saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for 
 them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd, 
 and he said, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the 
 laborers are few. So he called the twelve together, and 
 gave them power over demons, and to cure diseases. 
 For now, as apostles, he would send them abroad to heal 
 the sick, and to preach the kingdom of God. Freely ye 
 received, said he, freely give. 88 
 
 " Largely thou givest, gracious Lord, 
 Largely thy gifts should be restored ; 
 Freely thou givest, and thy word 
 
 Is, Freely give. 
 He only, who forgets to hoard, 
 
 Has learned to live." 
 
 St. Paul, in his charge to the Ephesian elders, tells 
 them to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he 
 himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive 
 (Acts 20 : 35). This saying is not found in the Gospels. 
 When did it occur ? Perhaps here, in this charge to the 
 apostles. 
 
 Furthermore he charged them to make no provision 
 for their journey, and to conduct themselves with dignity. 
 He told them of dangers and even persecutions to be 
 undergone, but bid them not to fear, for they should be 
 under a special providence. Himself came not to bring 
 peace, but a sword, and a man's foes, said he, shall be
 
 196 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 they of his own household. Yet whosoever shall give to 
 drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water 
 only, in the name of a disciple, verily he shall in no wise 
 lose his reward. Thus instructed and encouraged, they 
 departed, two and two together, and went through the 
 villages, preaching the Gospel, and healing everywhere. 
 
 This third and final Galilean tour was begun, like the 
 second, in lower Galilee, and continued nearly five 
 months, from the latter part of the fall of the year 28, until 
 April of the next year. Of what further events took 
 place in Galilee during this long interval there is, as in 
 the case of the two previous tours, no specific account. 
 Only, in general, of Jesus it is said that wheresoever he 
 entered, into villages, or into cities, or into the country, 
 they laid their sick in the market-places or by the way- 
 side, and besought him that these might touch if it were 
 but the border of his garment ; and as many as touched 
 it were made whole. But the particular characteristic of 
 the tour was the apostolic mission, in which the twelve 
 were passed temporarily and tentatively from disciples to 
 teachers. At its close the apostles gathered themselves 
 together at Capernaum unto Jesus, and reported whatso- 
 ever they had done, and whatsoever they had taught. 
 
 History records, however, an important event that 
 occurred outside of Galilee while Jesus and his apostles 
 were evangelizing that district. 59 
 
 It will be remembered that, more than a year before 
 the date we have reached, John the baptizer was 
 arrested and imprisoned at Tiberias by Herod Antipas, 
 probably upon the - flimsy pretext of his endangering 
 public safety. It was done doubtless at the instigation of 
 Herodias, the paramour of Antipas, she being embarrassed
 
 THE THIRD TOUR. FATE OF JOHN 197 
 
 in her scheme of marriage with Antipas, and deeply 
 offended by the bold non licet of John. Vindictively and 
 unceasingly she sought to take his life. But Antipas 
 withheld his necessary consent while in Galilee; for, 
 knowing John to be a righteous man and accounted a 
 prophet, he feared the people. So he tried to compro- 
 mise with Herodias by keeping him in prison. 
 
 Also it will be remembered that, when Herodias, 
 accompanied by her young daughter Salome, eloped 
 from Rome with Antipas, he was the husband of a 
 daughter of Aretas, an emir of Arabia, whose seat was 
 at Petraea south of the Dead Sea. The wife hearing of 
 her husband's conduct, and of his promise of divorce in 
 order to marry his paramour, fled to her former home at 
 Petraea. Her father, to avenge the outrage, very soon 
 declared war against Antipas. He made elaborate 
 preparation, and was now threatening the southern 
 border of the adjoining tetrarchy of Antipas which, on 
 the east of the Dead Sea, extended to the river Arnon. 
 
 Antipas had sent troops to defend his frontier, but now 
 resolved to go thither himself and superintend operations. 
 He ordered therefore a transfer of his court temporarily 
 from Tiberias to Machaerus. This was a castle or frontier 
 fortress, east of the Dead Sea, and within the domain of 
 Antipas, originally built as a defense against the Arabs. 
 It was surrounded by ravines, at some points not less 
 than one hundred and seventy-five feet deep, and in 
 addition to this natural advantage, was strongly fortified. 
 Its supply of water was unfailing, and it was never 
 reduced by siege or taken by storm. A citadel, accord- 
 ing to Pliny, second only to Jerusalem. Herod the Great 
 rendered it attractive by adding splendid porticos and 
 other extensions, and it became one of his favorite resorts.
 
 198 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 The route of Herod Antipas and his cohort was from 
 Tiberias, across the Jordan just south of the lake, and 
 thence directly southward, a full three days' journey. 
 The order of march approaching Machserus (i. e., Diadem 
 of the Desert) may be imagined : The vanguard, a body 
 of infantry equipped as Roman soldiers ; then the pseudo- 
 king, riding on a magnificently caparisoned charger, 
 and surrounded by his immediate bodyguard of richly 
 dressed and armed mercenaries ; then three white horses 
 abreast, gaily harnessed, drawing a splendidly gilded 
 chariot, in which two beautiful women are seated, 
 Herodias and her young daughter Salome ; then a young 
 man afoot, clothed in only a sackcloth shirt with a leathern 
 girdle about his loins, his legs, arms and head bare, his 
 long black hair and beard unkempt, emaciated but with 
 eyes of an eagle, his hands pinioned behind him, and 
 a long leash from his neck to the triumphal car of 
 Herodias ; a special guard attending him ; then follow 
 on horses or in chariots the retinue of courtiers, and the 
 marching rearguard of troops. When Machasrus comes 
 in sight, the eye of John turns from the prison fortress, 
 and sweeps sadly over the sullen surface of the sea to the 
 wilderness of Judea beyond, within whose shades he had 
 lived many years, alone, but free. 
 
 The court was installed within the luxurious precincts 
 of the castle, the troops were posted on its battlements 
 as guards, while John was consigned to one of its deep 
 dungeons. 
 
 Not long after this arrival, the birthday of Herod 
 Antipas occurred. He was now about fifty years old. 
 The birthdays of Herodian princes (Hc/odis Dies, of the 
 Roman satirists) were usually celebrated with great 
 pomp. Accordingly, Herod invited on this occasion the
 
 THE THIRD TOUR. FATE OF JOHN 199 
 
 lords and officers of his court and army to a banquet and' I \ 
 symposium in the great hall of the castle. 
 
 The hall brilliantly lighted by candelabra, was sur- 
 rounded by cushioned divans against the walls, leaving 
 the middle floor-space clear. On these divans the guests 
 reclined, and were served by richly dressed pages with 
 viands and wines. No women guests. Herod the king, 
 so-called, occupied a couch placed prominently on one 
 side, and raised a little higher than the range of the 
 divans. Perfumes enriched the air, music entranced the 
 ear, and dancing girls bewitched the eye, so that every 
 avenue of sensuous pleasure was thronged. 
 
 The luxurious feast progressed until host and guests 
 were well wined. Then at a signal the central floor was 
 cleared, a lively burst of music dispelled languor, a door 
 was thrown open, and there tripped in with quick but 
 measured steps, a beautiful young girl, waving and beat- 
 ing her tambourine. It was Salome. The Herodian 
 princesses, descendants of the famous Mariamne, as 
 Herodias herself, Berenice, Drusilla, inherited her marvel- 
 lous beauty, her physical grace and charm. And Salome 
 was already famous for her beauty. Educated at Rome, 
 she was skilled in the graceful art of dance, and was now 
 sent by her shameless and intriguing mother to execute 
 a pas seul for the entertainment of the tipsy king and his 
 tipsy guests. She wore a bodice of scarlet satin, a short 
 skirt of pink silk, and little slippers of silver-gilt; a 
 richly embroidered and bejewelled belt, bracelets on her 
 bare arms, pearls about her neck and woven in her dark, 
 floating hair. With smiles and nods of recognition, and 
 easy, graceful steps she made a dancing tour of the hall, 
 keeping time to the bright music with her high swinging 
 tambourine. Loud, boisterous acclaims greeted her on
 
 200 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 every hand. The guests expected, at this simulated 
 Roman symposium, to be entertained with dancing, but 
 not this unprecedented honor by the belle of the realm, 
 and a princess of the highest blood-royal. Nor was it 
 anticipated by Herod himself ; truly he was surprised, 
 yet, regardless of decorum, he too was out of measure 
 delighted. 
 
 Salome danced to and fro throughout the room, ex- 
 hibiting her skilled grace and youthful charms to the 
 leering men, then with a pirouette came to a stand facing 
 the king. The music suddenly ceased, the applause 
 hushed, there was silence. Then the king, leaning his 
 flushed foxy face forward, and with bleared eyes ogling 
 the beauty, spluttered out : 
 
 " Well, that's th' purtst thing, hie, ever saw. Ask for 
 anything, you sh'll have't. I sware by all that's holy, 
 hie, in J'rus'lm or Rome, I'll give't you, even half my 
 kingdom, sware I will, by Jove." 
 
 With a curtsied obeisance she replied : 
 
 " I will consult my mother." 
 
 Tripping out of the hall, she found the queen at hand, 
 listening and anxiously expectant. 
 
 "What shall I ask?" 
 
 " The head of John the Baptist." 
 
 Straightway the girl returned to the hall, and with a 
 new obeisance, said to the king : 
 
 " I will that thou forthwith give me in a charger the 
 head of John the Baptist." 
 
 At this Herod was sobered and grieved ; he saw the 
 trap, but too late ; now because of his oath, and of his 
 guests that heard it, he would not refuse. Solomon 
 broke a sober promise to his mother. Might not Herod 
 break a drunken pledge to a dancing girl ? Oh, no ; he
 
 THE THIRD TOUR. FATE OF JOHN 201 
 
 was too high-minded and honorable. Sooner he would 
 murder a prophet ; yea, and one much more than a 
 prophet. So he ordered one of his bodyguard there 
 present to bring the head. The soldier left the castle 
 hall, and descended the long steep winding stone stairs, 
 that led to the deep dungeon far beneath. 
 
 Meantime, while he was doing his deadly work below, 
 the music above struck up, and Salome entertained the 
 king and his company overhead with a lively castanet 
 dance. 
 
 Very soon the guardsman returned up the stairway, in 
 his right hand a bloody sword, a trunkless head swinging 
 from the other by its long black hair. With vigilant 
 provision, a large silver dish or charger was ready at the 
 door. He laid the head upon it, and carried it into the 
 hall. The music stopped, the dancer stood still, and the 
 guardsman on bended knee, offered the girl the charger. 
 Graciously she received the gory trophy, and lifting it on 
 high before her lest the drippings from the over-hanging 
 hair should fleck her silken skirt with crimson stains, she 
 smilingly left the hall, and bore it to her mother. 
 
 The queenly face of Herodias flushed with triumph, as 
 seated in her boudoir she received at last the reward of 
 her pains. Imitating the deed of Fulvia, the wife of 
 Anthony, upon the head of the silver-tongued Cicero, 
 Herodias took the charger on her lap, forced open the 
 jaws of the stiffening head, dragged out the tongue that 
 had dared to utter non licet, then drawing from her thick 
 tresses a long, bejewelled bodkin, she thrust it through 
 the silenced tongue again and again, the tongue that had 
 proclaimed, Behold the Lamb of God. Salome laughed 
 to see her mother's rage, who putting aside the charger, 
 and looking on her stained hands, joined in the laugh,
 
 2O2 
 
 and said, Come, let us wash our hands ; a little water 
 clears us of this deed. Then she summoned a man- 
 servant, and with a muttered curse ordered him to toss 
 the head from the battlements into the ravine. 
 
 It was done. The body also was tossed from a postern 
 into the ravine, to glut wolves and vultures. But several 
 loving disciples of John, who had followed him to Ma- 
 chaerus and were lingering in the neighborhood, having 
 heard of these things, found and gathered together the 
 remains, and laid the corpse reverently in a tomb. Then 
 they journeyed northward to Capernaum, and told Jesus 
 what was done. 
 
 Once hereafter Herod Antipas reappears in the gospel 
 story, yet a few words may be said here about his subse- 
 quent and final history. Not long after the tragedy nar- 
 rated, his troops were defeated with great slaughter by 
 those of Aretas, a defeat attributed by the Jews to his 
 murder of John. He fled with his court back to Tiberias. 
 There his guilty soul was racked by fears. Hearing of 
 the wonderful works of Jesus whom he had never seen, 
 he, though professedly a Sadducee denying all resurrec- 
 tion, in superstitious alarm cried out even to his servants, 
 It is John whom I beheaded ; he is risen. Indeed ever 
 after, his table was haunted, like Macbeth's, by a phan- 
 tom guest ; he too found no minister to a mind diseased ; 
 the very air he breathed was red. 
 
 The death of our Lord occurred in the year 30. Ti- 
 berius Caesar, emperor, died in 39, and was succeeded by 
 Caius Caesar, or Caligula, with whom Herod Agrippa the 
 first, a brother of Herpdias, was a favorite. Apprehend- 
 ing deposition in favor of Agrippa, Herodias urged 
 Antipas to go with her to Rome to counteract his influ-
 
 THE THIRD TOUR. FATE OF JOHN 203 
 
 ence. Antipas reluctantly yielded. The deposition, 
 however, took place, and he was banished, in his old age, 
 to Lugdunum in Gaul (now Lyons, France) after a reign 
 as tetrarch of forty-three years. Herodias, passionately 
 refusing all indulgent favor, followed him into exile, where 
 both disappear. Prior to their departure for Rome, Sa- 
 lome married her great uncle, Philip II, tetrarch of Iturea, 
 who was about fifty years of age. After his decease, she 
 married Aristobulus, king of Calchis. She had by him 
 three sons, one of whom became a king. Tradition as- 
 cribes to her a tragic death by decapitation ; but it is 
 equally probable that she died peacefully, like Lucrezia 
 Borgia, in the odor of sanctity.
 
 XVI 
 
 THE CLOSING SCENES 
 
 THE apostles, having returned from their mis- 
 sionary tour, and having reported to Jesus at 
 Capernaum, were wearied, and needed rest. 
 Jesus too was wearied and needed rest. Moreover, he 
 was depressed by the news of the tragedy of Machaerus, 
 and longed for a little retirement. But this seemed al- 
 most impossible in Capernaum, especially just then, on 
 the eve of the Passover, when the people of upper 
 Galilee on their way to the feast were gathering there in 
 great numbers. These, impelled by curiosity, thronged 
 him and his companions so that they had no leisure so 
 much as to eat. Then said Jesus to the twelve : 
 
 " Let us go apart into a desert place, and rest awhile." * 
 
 So they went away in a boat to the head of the lake, 
 and landed just east of the mouth of upper Jordan, 
 and south of the town of Bethsaida Julias, where were 
 alluvial meadows and neighboring heights that promised 
 retirement. 
 
 But the vagrant people having watched the boat fol- 
 lowed, many in boats, but thousands afoot along the lake 
 shore, to the place ; for the distance from Capernaum 
 was only about three or four miles. 
 
 So it was that a great multitude speedily gathered, and 
 surrounded Jesus and the twelve stationed on a little knoll. 
 As Jesus overlooked the swelling throng of men, women 
 and children, he was moved with compassion, because 
 
 204
 
 THE CLOSING SCENES 205 
 
 they were as sheep not having a shepherd. He wel- 
 comed them, healed their sick, and began to teach them 
 many things. 
 
 " A voice amid the desert, Not of him 
 Who in rough garments clad, and locust fed, 
 Cried to the sinful multitude, and claim'd 
 Fruits of repentance, with the lifted scourge 
 Of terror and reproof. A milder guide, 
 With gentler tones, doth teach the listening throng, 
 And in the guise of parable allured 
 The sluggish mind to follow truth and live. 
 They whom the thunders of the Law had stunn'd 
 Woke to the Gospel's melody with tears; 
 And the glad Jewish mother held her babe 
 High in her arms, that its young eye might greet 
 Jesus of Nazareth. It was so still, 
 Though thousands cluster'd there, that other sound 
 Break not the spell of eloquence which held 
 The wilderness in chains, save now and then, 
 As the gale freshen'd, came the murmur'd speech 
 Of distant billows, chaffing with the shores 
 Of the Tiberian sea." 
 
 Evening came on, and with it hunger. Then said the 
 
 twelve unto him : 
 
 " The place is desert, and the day is now far spent ; 
 
 send them away that they may go into the country and 
 
 villages round about, and buy themselves somewhat 
 
 to eat." 
 
 But Jesus, knowing what he would do, replied : 
 
 " They have no need to go away ; give ye them 
 
 to eat." 
 
 And turning to Philip, he spoke, proving him : 
 " Whence are we to buy bread that these may eat ? " 
 Philip knowing and lamenting their poverty, answered : 
 "Judas hath in the common purse only two hundred
 
 206 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 denarii (about $34), which is not sufficient that every one 
 may take a little." 
 
 Then said Jesus unto his willing servants : 
 
 " How many loaves have ye ? Go, and see." 
 
 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, replied : 
 
 " There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves and 
 two small fishes ; but what are these among so many." 
 
 " Bring them hither to me," said Jesus ; " and make the 
 people sit down in companies, about fifty each." 
 
 And they did so, making them all sit down in ranks 
 upon the green grass, in number about five thousand 
 men, beside women and children. 
 
 It is permissible to note that Mark says, " upon the 
 green grass " ; for this is the only touch of color in the 
 Gospels, unless we except the " green tree " of Luke, 
 meaning live tree, also " red " as a sign of weather, in a 
 doubtful passage of Matthew, and the " purple " or 
 " scarlet " robe occurring six times ; in which cases, how- 
 ever, the colors are not descriptive but symbolic. 
 Throughout the Iliad of Homer, who surely was at least 
 color-blind, the " rosy-fingered Aurora " is the only trace 
 of prismatic hue. His scenes are all in clare-obscure, or 
 white and black, like a steel engraving. So likewise are 
 the Gospel scenes colorless photogravures, with the one 
 slight exception of this descriptive "the green grass." 
 Imagination, however, with her rainbow pencil, readily 
 sets them all aglow. Remembering the fondness of 
 orientals for gaily colored costumes, we may be sure that 
 when Jesus from the little knoll was overlooking the 
 vast multitude seated in ranks on the green grass of the 
 meadow under the slant rays of sunset, the scene was like 
 a garden of variegated flowers, blooming and brilliant in 
 red and blue and yellow on the surface of green.
 
 THE CLOSING SCENES 207 
 
 Now Jesus took the five loaves and two fishes, and 
 looking up to heaven, he asked his father's blessing ; 
 then he break the loaves, and gave to the disciples to set 
 before the people ; and the two fishes divided he among 
 them all. And they did all eat, and were filled. 
 
 " No fiery wing is seen to glide, 
 
 No cates ambrosial are supplied, 
 But one poor fisher's rude and scanty store 
 
 Is all he asks, and more than needs, 
 
 Who men and angels daily feeds, 
 And stills the wailing sea-bird on the barren shore." 
 
 Then said he to his wondering disciples : 
 
 " Gather up the broken pieces which remain over, that 
 nothing be lost." 
 
 So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets. 
 A lesson of economy amid abundance. A beautiful, 
 kindly miracle of growth and plenty without waste, sym- 
 bolic of the abundant sufficiency of divine grace to all in 
 time of need. 
 
 The sated people were astonished at the miracle, and 
 said, Of a truth this is the prophet. They began to con- 
 sider and to consult one with another, and quickly con- 
 spired to proclaim him and to make him by force a king. 
 For, how fine it would be to have a king who should 
 feed them all, freely, abundantly. No more toil, no more 
 anxiety about daily bread, but like the proletariat of 
 Rome fed by the power and bounty of the emperor. 
 Moreover, they longed for a king to free them from the 
 Roman yoke. And was there not a promise of one ? 
 The time is ripe ; the Passover is at hand ; he has come. 
 This wild project, at once selfish and patriotic, won the 
 sympathy and perhaps the connivance of the twelve. 
 Jesus, knowing it all, promptly constrained his disciples
 
 208 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 to enter into the boat, and told them to begone home, 
 while he dispersed the multitude. This he did, and then 
 went up into a neighboring height alone, for prayer. 
 
 Anthony, in his oration over the broken body of his 
 friend Caesar, tells of that he thrice refused a kingly 
 crown. Here John, in his evangel over the broken body 
 of his friend Jesus, tells of that he once, at once, and 
 once for all, refused a kingly crown. The one refused 
 from worldly policy, dreading failure. The other refused 
 from heavenly wisdom, confiding in the assurance of a 
 kingdom that cannot be moved. 
 
 The disciples, starting for home about dark, encoun- 
 tered a stiff wind from the southwest, blowing contrary 
 to their course, retarding and driving them somewhat 
 aside, so that, though they rowed distressfully between 
 three and four miles, and though the night was then far 
 spent, they had not yet reached their shore. They were 
 worn out by the toil of contending with the waves, and 
 disheartened ; for, after the setting of the pascal moon, 
 then nearing full, in the dark hour before dawn, they 
 knew not just whereabouts they were. 61 
 
 Amid this perplexity and distress, a gleam of light 
 shone along the waters, and they beheld a figure in a 
 halo, the figure of a man with garments of light, approach- 
 ing, walking on the sea. The conscious waves on either 
 hand stood still as he passed, and those before him sank 
 prostrate to a level way illumined by the glory shining 
 from him as he came. Then upon the boatmen fell the 
 human dread of the supernatural, and startled by the 
 apparition, they huddled together and cried out in terror. 
 But the well-known' voice of Jesus came sweetly to their 
 ears:
 
 THE CLOSING SCENES 209 
 
 " Be of good cheer ; it is I ; be not afraid." 
 
 From the lonely mount to which he had retired, Jesus 
 
 had been looking out with his divine eyes into the night 
 
 over the agitated waters 
 
 " Where far below, Gennesaret's main 
 
 Spreads many a mile of liquid plain, 
 Though all seem gathered in one eager bound, 
 
 Then narrowing clears yon palmy lea, 
 
 Towards that deep sulphureous sea, 
 Where five proud cities lie, by one dire sentence drown'd." 
 
 " The pascal moon above 
 
 Seems like a saint to rove, 
 Left shining in the world with Christ alone ; 
 
 Below, the lake's wry face 
 
 Stirs roughly in th' embrace 
 Of mountains terrac'd high with mossy stone." 
 
 The seer had watched the tossing boat and the toiling 
 boatmen through the weary watches of the night, and 
 then, at the last, in the extremity of their distress, he 
 came to them. 
 
 " Be of good cheer ; it is I ; be not afraid." 
 " Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee upon the 
 waters." 
 
 Thus spake the impulsive Peter, and Jesus bid him 
 come. He would teach him by an experience his weak- 
 ness and dependence. So Peter went down from the 
 boat, walked upon the water, and came to Jesus. But 
 the boisterous wind frightened him, and then beginning 
 to sink, he cried out : 
 " Lord, save me." 
 
 Immediately Jesus took hold of him, and said : 
 " O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ? " 
 And when they were gone up into the boat, the dis,-
 
 210 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 ciples worshipped him, the wind ceased, the day dawned, 
 and they found themselves at the land Gennesaret, at the 
 moorings of Capernaum. 
 
 The multitude whom Jesus had fed and afterwards dis- 
 persed came together again in the morning, asking, 
 Where is the Nazarene whom we would make king? 
 They had seen him send his disciples away, and there 
 was no other boat by which he could have gone. Yet 
 he was nowhere thereabout. So, taking their own boats, 
 and others which had been driven by the gale from Ti- 
 berias to the north shore, they returned to Capernaum, 
 seeking Jesus. Having at last found him in the Syna- 
 gogue, whither he had taken refuge from the gathering 
 throngs, they asked him : 
 
 " Rabbi, when earnest thou hither ? " 62 
 
 He did not tell them, but made the sharp reply : 
 
 " Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me, not be- 
 cause ye saw signs, but because ye ate of the loaves and 
 were filled. Work not for the meat which perisheth, but 
 for the meat which abideth unto eternal life." 
 
 " What must we do," they asked, " that we may work 
 that work ? " 
 
 " Do this," said he, " believe on him whom God hath 
 sent." 
 
 The people were thoroughly convinced of his power, 
 but had heard it attributed to magic through the prince 
 of demons. He claimed, however, to be sent of God. 
 Hence they made the old oft-repeated Jewish demand for 
 a sign from heaven, such as Elijah had shown, or Moses 
 who had given the fathers bread out of heaven. But 
 Jesus objected, and then declared himself to be that sign, 
 saying :
 
 THE CLOSING SCENES 211 
 
 " It was not Moses, but my Father ; and now he sends 
 you the true bread out of heaven which giveth life unto 
 the world." 
 
 Then, like the woman of Samaria, they begged : 
 
 " Lord, evermore give us this bread." 
 
 Thereupon Jesus said unto them : 
 
 " I am the bread of life ; he that cometh to me shall 
 not hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never 
 thirst. For I am come down out of heaven, not to do 
 mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." 
 
 At this the people murmured in whispers, saying : 
 
 " Is not this Jesus, whose father and mother we know ? 
 How doth he come out of heaven ? " 
 
 They were scandalized, but he reiterated : 
 
 " I am the living bread out of heaven ; yea, and the 
 bread which I give is my flesh." 
 
 " Now," said they one to another, still more scandal- 
 ized, " how can this man give us his flesh to eat ? " 
 
 Jesus, still speaking figuratively, reaffirmed : 
 
 " He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath 
 eternal life. This is the bread which came down out of 
 heaven ; he that eateth this bread shall live forever." 
 
 The saying was more than the dulled ears of the peo- 
 ple could bear. So they departed from him out of the 
 Synagogue offended. A signal case of popular fickle- 
 ness. But yesterday perforce to be their king ; now 
 none so poor to do him reverence. 63 
 
 Even many of his disciples, construing, as usual also 
 with them, his figurative speech literally, murmured 
 among themselves : 
 
 " This is a hard saying ; who can bear it ? " 
 
 But Jesus, turning to them, said reprovingly :
 
 212 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 " Doth this cause you also to stumble ? But there are 
 some of you that believe not." 
 
 Upon this the many disciples likewise went back and 
 away. Jesus said therefore unto the twelve : 
 
 " Would ye also go away ? " 
 
 Simon Peter answered promptly : 
 
 " Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words 
 of eternal life. And we have believed and know that 
 thou art the Holy One of God." 
 
 Unsoothed by this noble profession, Jesus answered 
 bitterly : 
 
 " Did not I choose you the twelve ? And one even of 
 you is a devil, didfioXos" 
 
 These, perhaps, were the harshest words he ever ut- 
 tered. Their caustic acrimony shows how deeply he was 
 hurt by the stupidity of the seekers after loaves and 
 fishes, and by the defection of his trained disciples who 
 persisted in their spiritual blindness. Humanly speak- 
 ing, he was disheartened and discouraged, aggravated 
 even to painful exasperation. 
 
 Also be it noted that this speech is the introduction of 
 Judas into the gospel story ; for heretofore we have had 
 only his name as one of the chosen twelve. 
 
 Allusion may be made just here to the familiar fact 
 that egotism is commonly offensive. The great authors 
 are free from it. In Plato's thirty or more Dialogues it is 
 hardly possible to find a trace of himself. In Shaks- 
 peare's Plays, though it has been diligently sought, there 
 is no trace of himself. So of the Evangelists. St. John 
 in his Gospel never alludes to himself except of histor- 
 ical necessity and then never by name. For one to 
 thrust his personality frequently on others is at least in
 
 THE CLOSING SCENES 213 
 
 bad taste, to do so constantly is a vice. In society the 
 habitual egotist is disdained and shunned. In some 
 notable instances, a culminating preposterous expression 
 has been derisively preserved by history. Said Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, Is not this great Babylon that I have built ? 
 In that same hour he was brought low. Caesar's famous 
 dispatch to the Senate, Veni, vidi, vici, is called by 
 Shakspeare his thrasonical brag. Wolsey's arrogant Ego 
 et rex meus, was a lever in his overthrow. The vaunt of 
 the boy king, Louis XIV, L'Etat, c'est moi, was charac- 
 teristic of his long reign. And Napoleon while at St. 
 Helena said, Alexander, Caesar and I founded empires 
 which have passed away. The parable of The Pharisee 
 and the Publican is noteworthy in that the prayer of the 
 haughty self-conceited Pharisee, consisting of two short 
 sentences, repeats " I " five times, and each time it is the 
 subject of a verb ; whereas in the prayer of the humble 
 contrite Publican the personal pronoun occurs but once, 
 and then as indirect object. 
 
 Now observe that in the chapter from which the fore- 
 going conversations are extracted, within the compass of 
 thirty-three verses of the revised version, Jesus used the 
 personal pronoun in the first person no less than forty- 
 three times ; and besides, everything that he says is con- 
 cerning himself, pressing his personality upon his hear- 
 ers. Moreover, this is not an exceptional case, for 
 throughout the Gospels his doctrine constantly is : And 
 I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto myself. Also : 
 I and the Father are one ; which reads very like 
 Wolsey's, Ego et rex meus. So, it is just to say, that 
 Jesus of Nazareth was the most incessant and intense 
 egotist in all history. Such egotism in any mere man, 
 however exalted his station, would be intolerable, nay
 
 HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 
 more, even blasphemous. Undoubtedly it was an element 
 in the disaffection of his dull hearers. But does his ego- 
 tism offend us ? No, not at all ; for the reader of the 
 Gospels, even the casual or irreligious reader, is so power- 
 fully impressed by his superhuman character, wisdom and 
 power, that his egotism seems natural and proper ; and it 
 discloses the profound truth that Christianity is less a 
 dogma than a person, that Christianity is Christ. 
 
 The falling away of the people and many disciples from 
 Jesus was immediately followed by an intrusion of the 
 Scribes and Pharisees who had been commissioned from 
 Jerusalem to serve as spies and detractors. For as he 
 with the twelve was on his way home from the Syn- 
 agogue, these emissaries, rejoicing in the defection of the 
 great body of his adherents, and affecting a pious zeal to 
 cloak their malice, ask him the carping question : 
 
 " Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of 
 the elders ? For they wash not their hands when they 
 eat bread." M 
 
 This had reference to the ceremonial ablutions, which 
 were numerous, enjoined by the oral law, and practiced 
 by all the Jews. But Jesus, being just then not in a 
 conciliatory mood, answered sharply, denouncing them : 
 
 " Ye hypocrites, ye make the word of God void by 
 your traditions." 
 
 Then turning to the crowd of curious listeners that 
 still hung about him, he said : 
 
 " Hear and understand : Not that which goeth into 
 the mouth, but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, 
 defileth the man." 
 
 When he had entered into the house, one of the twelve 
 said unto him :
 
 THE CLOSING SCENES 215 
 
 " Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended by 
 what thou saidst to them ? " 
 
 " Let them alone," he replied, " they be blind guides." 
 
 Then Peter for the twelve asked an explanation of 
 what he had said. It was given along with the sharp 
 reproof : 
 
 " Are ye also even yet without understanding ? Per- 
 ceive ye not that whatsoever from without goeth into the 
 man, it cannot defile him ? But the things which pro- 
 ceed out of the man come forth from the heart; as, 
 blasphemies, also murders, adulteries, thefts, false witness, 
 covetings, and the like. These are the things which de- 
 file the man; but to eat bread with unwashed hands, 
 defileth not the man." 
 
 Thus closed his long Galilean Ministry.
 
 PART FIFTH 
 His Exile
 
 XVII 
 
 IN PHCENICIA AND DECAPOLIS 
 
 TWO years have now passed since Jesus began 
 in Jerusalem his public ministry with the pur- 
 gation of the Temple at his first Passover. The 
 third Passover is now at hand, April 16, A. D., 29. He 
 decided not to attend this Passover ; for he knew that the 
 hostility of the Jews of Judea, and especially of the 
 Sanhedrists at Jerusalem whom he had defied, was so 
 intense that they were resolved to kill him. On 
 previous occasions, his popularity with the vast number 
 of Galilean pilgrims had protected him from violence, the 
 Sanhedrists dreading to incite a riot. But now that this 
 popularity was lost, he would in Jerusalem be an easy 
 victim to the malevolence of his deadly enemies. But 
 his hour was not yet. Hence he would not now go to 
 Jerusalem. 68 
 
 The Galileans assembled at Capernaum on their way to 
 the feast were leaving the city in great numbers, going 
 southward through Peraea. In a day or two the city 
 would be almost deserted. What then? Should he 
 await their return, and resume his work ? It was evi- 
 dent that his profitable ministry of a year and a third in 
 Galilee had come to an end. During his long absences 
 from Capernaum, the Sanhedric emissaries had sown 
 tares broadcast in the field, they had poisoned the air 
 with calumnies that infected the whole region. The 
 mass of the people, with whom he was so popular at the 
 outset, had come to distrust his divine commission, and 
 
 219
 
 220 HIS EXILE 
 
 to look upon him as one of the many magicians among 
 them, especially powerful only because of demoniacal 
 collusion ; this in spite of the beneficence of his healing 
 and teaching. Clearly it was not wise in this case to 
 continue the sowing of pearls ; not wise to linger and 
 struggle against the popular tide. Hence he further 
 resolved to leave the country for a time. 
 
 When a babe he had been exiled for two months in 
 Egypt. Now he passed into an exile destined to last six 
 months. Bidding his mother farewell, and telling her 
 alone of his intent, he privately led his twelve adherents 
 northwestward into Phoenicia, then a Roman province, 
 and dwelt for some months in the neighborhood of its 
 ancient city of Tyre. In the strict privacy of this restful 
 retirement, he gave the twelve disciples special and much 
 needed instruction. This doubtless was its chief purpose, 
 and so a revival of the early Schools of the Prophets. 
 
 The veil of silence over this sojourn of about four and 
 a half months was only once, near its close, drawn aside. 
 Then was revealed a charming incident. On a certain 
 occasion, late in August, as the teacher and his pupils 
 were walking and talking together, like the peripatetics 
 of old, in a grove of lofty cedars of Lebanon, a woman, 
 probably a widow, who had heard of him, came after 
 them crying repeatedly : 
 
 " Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David, my 
 little daughter is grievously vexed with a demon." w 
 
 Now the woman was a gentile, a Canaanitish Syro- 
 phcenician by race ; yet evidently she had obtained some- 
 how a knowledge of Jesus, of his royal claim, and of his 
 divine power. But -to her piteous appeals he answered 
 not a word. Her incessant importunity annoyed the dis-
 
 IN PHOENICIA AND DECAPOLIS 221 
 
 ciples. It interrupted their pious meditation and conver- 
 sation. So they selfishly besought him to grant her 
 petition, and thus be rid of her, saying : 
 
 " Send her away ; for she crieth after us." 
 
 " I was not sent," he sternly replied, " but unto the lost 
 sheep of the house of Israel." 
 
 Then he sought refuge from the clamor and turmoil 
 by privately entering a house on the way. But he could 
 not be hid from the eye of the mother. Straightway she 
 followed him into the house, and like to Jacob wrestling 
 with this very angel for a blessing, she fell upon her 
 knees at his feet, saying : 
 
 " Lord, help me." 
 
 Observe that here, as in her first prayer, she identifies 
 herself with her daughter. The little girl's affliction is 
 the mother's affliction. Her pain is my pain, help me. 
 True maternal instinct. But Jesus, apparently unmoved, 
 repelled her with the rough words : 
 
 " Let the children first be filled ; for it is not meet to 
 take the children's loaf and cast it to little dogs." 
 
 Certainly this was a hard saying ; who could bear it ? 
 Only a pleading mother perhaps. It was sharply put as 
 a sharp test of her faith. She stood the test. The gentle 
 humility of her reply, and its exquisitely feminine adroit- 
 ness, have made it famous. 
 
 " Yea, Lord ; yet even the little dogs may eat of the 
 children's crumbs which fall from the master's table." 
 
 Jesus was pleased with her reply, and commending its 
 form, said : 
 
 " O woman, great is thy faith. For this thy saying, 
 go thy way ; the demon is gone from thy daughter." 
 
 And she went away unto her house, and found the 
 child laid upon the bed already healed.
 
 222 HIS EXILE 
 
 In one other case only did Jesus pronounce a person's 
 faith to be great, the case of the Roman centurion at 
 Capernaum. The one was a man, the other a woman ; 
 both were heathen. 
 
 Evidently the privacy thus far maintained was broken. 
 The fame of the Nazarene had been spread throughout 
 that region, but his presence was unknown. Now he 
 could no longer be hid. A few days, a few hours, would 
 bring crowds of people from the city and country. The 
 summer school was at an end. So the Master and his 
 pupils took up each his wallet and wander-staff and de- 
 parted from the vicinity of Tyre. It was towards the 
 first of September. They journeyed coastwise north- 
 ward, crossed the Leontes River, passed by Sarepta, where 
 Elijah had in like manner miraculously blessed the home 
 of a poor widow, and passed through the city of Sidon. 
 They then turned eastward, crossed the two Lebanon 
 mountain ranges near the source of the Jordan a little 
 north of Mt. Hermon, and descended into the plains of 
 Decapolis. 
 
 This was an indefinite region called Decapolis because 
 comprising ten cities. The inhabitants were mostly 
 Greeks. It extended from Damascus southward, east of 
 the upper Jordan and the Galilean lake, thus including 
 the cities Gerasa and Gadara, into Peraea to include 
 Pella, and finally into lower Galilee to include Sythop- 
 olis. 
 
 The travellers probably followed the rivers of Damascus 
 extolled by Naaman the Syrian, lingered in the gardens 
 enwreathing the famous city, bid it farewell from the 
 overlooking height where Saul of Tarsus afterwards met 
 the Master, and then pursued their way homewards.
 
 IN PHOENICIA AND DECAPOLIS 223 
 
 When they reached the eastern shore of the lake of 
 Galilee where Legion had been exorcised, certain ones 
 brought to Jesus a deaf stammerer, beseeching him to 
 lay his hand on him. Taking him aside from the com- 
 pany privately, Jesus touched his tongue, put his fingers 
 into his ears, and looking up to heaven, sighed, and said, 
 Ephphatha (Be opened). And his ears were opened, 
 and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he spake 
 plainly. Jesus charged them to tell no man ; then wish- 
 ing to be alone, he ascended one of the overlooking 
 heights, and sat there, gazing wistfully across the lake 
 towards his home. 67 
 
 Heedless of his injunction, the people published the 
 presence of the Nazarene and the new miracle, saying, 
 He hath done all things well. And there came unto 
 him great multitudes, bringing the lame, blind, dumb, 
 maimed, and many others, laying them down at his feet. 
 And he healed them all. The multitudes wondered, and 
 even the many heathen Greeks glorified the God of Israel, 
 when they saw the lame walking, the dumb speaking, 
 the blind seeing, and the maimed who had lost limbs, 
 made whole by a new supply. This was the last of his 
 lavish healings wherein great numbers without distinc- 
 tion of person or ailment, were together and at once 
 restored. 
 
 This lavish healing occupied some days, for many 
 companies came from different distances, as the news 
 reached them, in succession. Naturally they lingered 
 near the healer, but in their haste they had not made 
 provision for long stay. So Jesus called unto him his 
 disciples, and said : 
 
 " I have compassion on the multitude, because they
 
 224 HIS EXILE 
 
 continue with me now three days, and have nothing to 
 eat. I would not send them away fasting to their homes, 
 lest they faint in the way ; and some of them are come 
 from far." * 
 
 Then followed a miraculous feeding of the multitude, 
 very similar to that which took place about five months 
 before near Bethsaida Julias, north of the lake. This 
 multitude, however, numbered only four thousand men, 
 beside women and children. 
 
 The refreshed multitude was then promptly dismissed, 
 and Jesus, longing for quiet and for his own people and 
 his home, took a boat with his disciples to cross the lake. 
 If during his disappearance his pharisaic enemies had 
 dispersed, he could hope for the needed respite. He gave 
 order to land a mile or more south of Capernaum, intend- 
 ing to enter the city circuitously and privately. But no 
 sooner had the prow touched the land, and Jesus stepping 
 ashore had passed through the thicket of oleanders that 
 hedged the western coast, than there they were facing 
 him, and taunting him with the old test, said : 
 
 " Master, show thou us a sign from heaven." ffl 
 
 Doubtless they had heard of his presence on the 
 eastern shore, and were watchful for his crossing. Jesus 
 denounced their generation, and again refused any sign 
 other than his resurrection. Then sick at heart he 
 turned back, reentered the boat, and ordered the dis- 
 ciples to set sail again. While sailing away he said to 
 them : 
 
 " Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees 
 and Sadducees and Herod." 
 
 The simple minded disciples as usual interpreted this 
 literally, and reasoned among themselves, saying, We
 
 H 
 
 O 
 EH 
 
 fc 
 
 B 
 
 H
 
 IN PHCENICIA AND DECAPOLIS 225 
 
 took no bread. Indeed they had with them but one 
 loaf, such was their poverty and haste. But the word 
 of Jesus had no reference to this scant provision, which, 
 as they had seen, he was able to multiply abundantly ; 
 so, perceiving their error, he scolded them roundly for 
 their stupidity and mistrust. 
 
 The boat was sailing northward, towards the upper end 
 of the lake. Soon Capernaum came in sight with its 
 suburbs Chorazin and Bethsaida. The proud central 
 city receded from the shore, then surrounding the great 
 marble Synagogue, and climbing the heights beyond, 
 seemed, at that lofty horizon, to mingle with the sky. 70 
 
 Jesus, standing on the prow of his smoothly gliding 
 boat, gazed sadly on the passing city he had blessed, but 
 whose day of grace was gone, and with a reminiscence of 
 the heathen cities he had lately seen, thus apostrophized 
 his own : 
 
 " Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! 
 For, if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and 
 Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented 
 long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. Howbeit it 
 shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of 
 judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, shalt 
 thou be exalted unto heaven ? Thou shalt be brought 
 down unto Hades. For, if the mighty works had been 
 done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have 
 remained until this day. Howbeit I say unto thee, that 
 it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the 
 day of judgment, than for thee." 
 
 For many centuries down to this day the district of 
 Gennesaret has been desolate, and of the city, Capernaum, 
 not even the site can be exactly determined.
 
 XVIII 
 IN THE REGION OF MT. HERMON 
 
 THE boat landed just to the right of the mouth 
 of upper Jordan. That was the last time Jesus 
 was borne upon the bosom of his lake. He 
 stepped ashore, and with the twelve went northward, 
 across the green meadows where he had fed the thou- 
 sands, to Bethsaida Julias. 
 
 There a blind man from the country was brought to 
 him with the usual petition. Jesus, too tender hearted 
 to refuse, but still wishing to avoid a popular stir, took 
 him kindly by the hand and led him out of the village to 
 a private place, then having laid his hands upon his eyes, 
 asked, seest thou aught ? I see men as trees walking, 
 replied the man. The touch was renewed, and the man 
 saw clearly. Then Jesus sent him away to his home, 
 forbidding him to return to the village. As with the 
 deaf stammerer, Jesus here used means, perhaps as a help 
 to faith. The first partial recovery, suggesting difficulty, 
 is inexplicable. 71 
 
 The refugees were now in the domain of Herod Philip 
 II. Pursuing their way northward, and passing by the 
 Caesarea where Philip held his court, they came, about 
 twelve miles beyond, to the foot of Mt. Hermon, (the 
 Peak). This is the southern end of the Anti-Libanus 
 range, the water-shed giving rise to the Jordan, Leontes 
 and Orontes Rivers, and to the rivers of Damascus. The 
 
 226
 
 IN THE REGION OF MT. HERMON 227 
 
 Peak was thus the topographical centre of the whole 
 region of Palestine and Syria at their boundary, this 
 highest point rising 9,500 feet above ocean-level, and 
 visible even from the Dead Sea. Its summit is covered 
 with eternal snow; hence the Sidonians named it Sirion, 
 (the Breastplate), from the rounded snowy top glittering 
 in the sun. The Arabs call it Ice Mountain, and White- 
 haired Mountain, the latter referring to the long streaks 
 of snow in the ravines radiating like hoary locks from 
 the head. It is the Mt. Blanc of the East, 
 
 " The monarch of the mountains, 
 They crowned him long ago, 
 On a throne of rock, in a robe of clouds, 
 With a diadem of snow." 
 
 In the secluded valleys among the foot-hills and smaller 
 mountains around about the base of Hermon, Jesus with 
 the twelve took refuge, and found quiet and rest. He 
 lingered in that wild and desolate region for at least a 
 week. Soon after reaching the retreat he asked the 
 apostles, Who do men say that I am ? After various 
 replies, he further asked, But who say ye that I am ? 
 Peter, stepping to the front, answered promptly with 
 assurance : 
 
 " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." 72 
 
 Jesus approvingly declared this to be a special revela- 
 tion from his Father, but charged the apostles to keep it 
 secret. Also he spoke now for the first time of his 
 future Church, laying its foundation, in these words, 
 addressed directly to Simon Peter : 
 
 " And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and 
 upon this rock I will build my church." 
 
 This saying may have been suggested by a view of a
 
 228 HIS EXILE 
 
 temple to Augustus built by Herod the Great in this 
 region on a rock whence the springs of the Jordan issue. 
 But it is impossible not to see therein a play upon the 
 surname Peter (a Rock) ; and hence these words, latinized, 
 are inscribed around the interior of the dome of St. 
 Peter's at Rome. They have been the subject of various 
 exegeses from the early years of the Church until now. 
 He added a promise to him of the Power of the Keys, 
 which also has been a subject of various interpretation 
 and of bitter contention, especially since the Protestant 
 Reformation. 
 
 Then Jesus began to tell his disciples how that he, the 
 Son of man, must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many 
 things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be 
 killed, and the third day be raised up. He entered now 
 into the shadow of the cross. The disciples were 
 shocked, and perplexed by this apparent revulsion from 
 his Christhood. Peter, elated perhaps by the approval of 
 his great confession just made, had the audacity to take 
 hold of his Lord, and, though gently and lovingly, to 
 contradict him, saying : 
 
 " Be it far from thee, Lord ; this shall never be unto 
 thee." 73 
 
 But Jesus turned upon him sharply with the stern 
 rebuke : 
 
 " Begone behind me, Satan ; thou art a stumbling- 
 block unto me." 
 
 This is very severe, and in extreme and violent con- 
 trast with his words to Peter a few moments before. It 
 must not be regarded as merely a calling of harsh names. 
 Nor is his using the same formula as that closing the 
 great temptation in the wilderness, merely a reminiscence. 
 Rather, Satan, invisible to all save divine eyes, himself
 
 IN THE REGION OF MT. HERMON 229 
 
 was here present, for the moment in possession of Peter, 
 whose tongue he used to lay before Jesus, in the language 
 of love, a new and scandalizing temptation on the first 
 mention of the Passion. Again he was promptly and 
 with authority repelled ; and Peter shrank back abashed. 
 Moreover, this decided rebuke indicates not only that 
 he was willing to fulfill his commission, but that he de- 
 sired, and even was anxious for the decease which he 
 was to accomplish at Jerusalem. He looked forward 
 longingly and lovingly to the day of sacrificial redemp- 
 tion. Though he was to be the victim, not of bodily 
 suffering only, but of injustice, yet the natural, human 
 dread of contumely, pain and death was overborne by 
 the great love wherewith he loved us ; and thus he was 
 not impelled, but was attracted towards the cross. 
 
 The week passed. In the evening of its close, Jesus, 
 leaving the house of their abode, took Peter, and the 
 brothers James and John, the three nearest to him in 
 heart and thought, apart up into a high mountain. This 
 doubtless was not the great central mountain itself, but a 
 neighboring height, a spur of Hermon. From the sum- 
 mit of this lesser height, looking along the Jordan valley, 
 they might see the silvery sheen of his consecrated lake, 
 a mirror of the sky. Before them towered the majestic 
 Hermon, its base expanding over the confine of Jewish 
 and Gentile lands, its lofty summit of eternal snow gleam- 
 ing under its blue canopy in the sunset glow, like to the 
 great white throne. The four bowed in prayer. 74 
 
 When the tide of night rising from the valleys had 
 overflowed the mountains, the three disciples, men of 
 simple habits, were overcome by drowsiness. But in the 
 midnight they were awakened by a great light shining
 
 230 HIS EXILE 
 
 about them. Jesus had continued in prayer, and now 
 while he was yet praying, he was transfigured before 
 them; his face did shine as the sun, and his garments 
 became glistening, exceeding white and dazzling, white as 
 the light. And behold, there appeared unto them two 
 men, which were Moses and Elijah, talking with him, 
 and speaking of his decease (departure, exodus) which he 
 was about to accomplish (fulfill) at Jerusalem. And it 
 came to pass as they were parting from him, Peter, dazed 
 and bewildered, yet eager to prolong indefinitely the 
 vision of celestial glory, said unto Jesus : 
 
 " Master, it is good for us to be here ; and, if thou 
 wilt, I will make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and 
 one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 
 
 While he was yet speaking, there came a bright cloud 
 and overshadowed them; and they feared as they 
 entered into the cloud. And behold, a voice out of the 
 cloud, saying : 
 
 " This is my beloved Son, my chosen, in whom I am 
 well pleased ; hear ye him." 
 
 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their 
 face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and gently 
 touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And 
 lifting up their eyes they saw no one save Jesus only. 
 
 And as they were coming down out of the mountain, 
 Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man 
 until the Son of man be risen from the dead. And his 
 disciples asked him, Why then say the Scribes that 
 Elijah must first come ? He answered, Elijah is come 
 already. Then they understood that he spake of John 
 the Baptist. 
 
 This extraordinary scene, The Transfiguration, is full 
 of mysteries. It will bear but little comment. The
 
 IN THE REGION OF MT. HERMON 231 
 
 representatives of the Law, the Prophets, and the Gos- 
 pel, the Old and the New, each of whom attested his 
 special commission from the court of heaven by great 
 miracles, held converse on the central fact in the history 
 of redemption. As at Gethsemane, the visitation no 
 doubt brought comfort, and strengthened the resolution 
 of the Man relatively to his prospective suffering, which 
 resolution was confirmed by the Voice repeating the 
 heavenly utterance concerning him made at his baptism. 
 The faith of the disciples who were favored as witnesses 
 would also be confirmed immovably; and this would 
 steady any wavering among the rest, though for the 
 coming half year they could not be told. The place 
 where the event occurred seems fitting ; for as Mt. Her- 
 mon is the culminating centre of the region, so the 
 Transfiguration is the culmination of the history, which 
 henceforth descends through the valley of humiliation 
 unto death. 
 
 On the next day, when they were come down from 
 the mountain, a crowd of people met him. News had 
 gone abroad that the Nazarene, the great healer, was in 
 the mountains near Hermon ; and a man of that country, 
 accompanied by friends and others, had brought for heal- 
 ing his son, a demoniac, deaf and dumb, and epileptic. 
 In the absence of Jesus, the disciples had tried to heal 
 him, and failed. When the father saw Jesus coming, he 
 ran, and kneeling to him, said : 
 
 " Master, I beseech thee to look upon my son, my only 
 child. He is grievously afflicted. If thou canst do any- 
 thing, have compassion on us, and help us." 75 
 
 " If thou canst ! " exclaimed Jesus. " All things are 
 possible to him that believeth."
 
 232 HIS EXILE 
 
 Straightway the father cried out, and said with tears : 
 
 " Lord, I believe ; help thou mine unbelief." 
 
 " Bring hither thy son," replied Jesus. 
 
 As he was coming, the demon convulsed him griev- 
 ously ; then, at the word of command, came out, but left 
 the child as one dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, 
 and raised him up ; and he arose, healed. 
 
 When Jesus was come into the house, his disciples 
 asked him privately, Why could not we cast it out ? He 
 replied, Because of your little faith. Howbeit this kind 
 can come out by nothing, save by prayer. 
 
 The extreme contrast between this scene of a struggle 
 with satanic power, and the one immediately preceding, 
 should be remarked. Here the divine, the human, and 
 the demonic come close together. Raphael, in his great- 
 est and last picture, which with paint not dry was carried 
 as a banner at his funeral, brought, with artistic license, 
 the former and the first part of the latter scene upon one 
 canvas, thus heightening the effect by juxtaposition. 
 This design has become so familiar that we all see it as 
 depicted by this great artist, and perhaps no worthier 
 visual representation is possible. 
 
 It was now about the first of October in the year 29. 
 The exile had continued for six months. Then Jesus 
 decided to go to Jerusalem, through Capernaum. As he 
 with the twelve was on the way homewards, he again 
 predicted his Passion in plain literal terms. The disciples 
 were sorry, but did not understand, and were afraid to 
 ask questions. Apparently they construed his saying 
 figuratively, in an opposite sense ; for, falling a little be- 
 hind, they got into a dispute amongst themselves as to 
 which of them should be higher than others, and which
 
 IN THE REGION OF MT. HERMON 233 
 
 highest in official rank in the kingdom of heaven which 
 he was now going to set up. 76 
 
 When they reached Capernaum, and Jesus had gone 
 into the house, Peter was stopped at the door by a couple 
 of men who were collectors of the regular contribution 
 to the current expenses of the Temple, and asked : 
 
 " Doth not your Master pay the usual half-shekel ? " "" 
 
 Peter promptly answered, Yes ; though he knew there 
 was not that much, about thirty-one cents, left in the 
 purse. Telling the collectors to wait, he went into the 
 house, and stood in the Master's presence, troubled 
 and abashed. Jesus anticipated him, and smilingly 
 asked : 
 
 " What thinkest thou, Simon, concerning earthly 
 kings ; do they gather tribute from their sons, or from 
 strangers ? " 
 
 When Peter replied, From strangers, Jesus added : 
 
 " Then are the sons free." 
 
 From him, the Son of the King, nothing was due for 
 the support of the Palace. But, rather than give offense, 
 he told Peter to go to the lake and cast a hook, and that 
 in the mouth of the first fish taken, he should find a 
 shekel. That take, said he, and give unto them for me 
 and thee. 
 
 Often it is reasonable to allow the unreasonable, rather 
 than offend. 
 
 Matthew, who alone tells this pretty incident, naively 
 neglects the sequel, as of course fulfilled. 
 
 When the twelve were assembled in the house, Jesus 
 asked them, What were ye disputing in the way ? They 
 held their peace ashamed. Then he called a little child 
 to his side, and took him in his arms, and said : 
 
 " Verily, I say unto you, except ye turn, and become as
 
 234 HIS EXILE 
 
 little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom 
 of heaven." 78 
 
 This object lesson was followed by an instructive dis- 
 course upon humility, offenses, and forgiveness, illustrated 
 by the parable of The Merciless Servant. The principles 
 therein expounded reverse the standards of antiquity, 
 peculiarly characterize Christianity, and are leavening the 
 ideals of humanity. 
 
 Jesus spent only a few days in Capernaum privately 
 with his mother. Now the Feast of Tabernacles was at 
 hand, and some of his so-called brethren, his cousins, 
 who were unbelievers, taunted him with, Depart into 
 Judea; be not secret; manifest thyself openly to the 
 world. To this Jesus replied, Go ye up unto the feast ; 
 I go not up yet, because my time is not yet come. 79 
 
 After they and most others were gone, and the time 
 for the beginning of the feast, October nth, had come, 
 he sent messengers before him to provide lodgings in 
 Samaria, through which for greater privacy he would 
 pass. For his only safe course was to go up secretly, 
 and throw himself unexpectedly into the crowds in the 
 Temple where the dread of a riot would hold his enemies 
 in check. The messengers were repulsed by the Samar- 
 itans of a certain village, because he was going to Jeru- 
 salem. When at his coming this was reported to him, 
 James and John, young men of quick, high temper, were 
 especially indignant, and proposed to call down fire from 
 heaven, as Elijah did, to consume them. But Jesus re- 
 buked them, and turned painfully away to seek another 
 village. 
 
 Then came one, a Scribe, saying, Master, I will follow 
 thee whithersoever thou goest. But Jesus answered sadly :
 
 IN THE REGION OF MT. HERMON 235 
 
 " The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have 
 nests ; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his 
 head." 
 
 Thus ends the story of his exile. He was despised at 
 Jerusalem, and rejected at Capernaum ; and even a Sa- 
 maritan village scorned him. Therefore his nation, his 
 people, his own to whom he came and who received him 
 not, have passed into an exile lasting through the cen- 
 turies, reaching to the ends of the earth. 
 
 " And where shall Israel lave her bleeding feet ? 
 And when shall Zion's songs again seem sweet ? 
 
 " Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast, 
 Where shall ye flee and find a place of rest ? 
 
 " The wild dove hath her nest, the fox his cave, 
 Mankind their country, Israel but the grave."
 
 PART SIXTH 
 
 His Second Judean Ministry
 
 XIX 
 
 THE WORK IN JERUSALEM 
 
 THIS annual feast commemorated the wandering 
 in the deserts after the exodus from Egypt, dur- 
 ing which wandering the people dwelt in booths 
 or tents or tabernacles. It took place in the fall, six 
 months after the Passover, and occupied a week. Dur- 
 ing the week the people of Jerusalem dwelt in arbors 
 made of myrtle, pine and olive branches, erected on the 
 flat roofs of their homes, while the many thousands of 
 pilgrims dwelt in similar booths in the open streets, on 
 top the encircling city wall, and on the slopes of the 
 mountains that are about Jerusalem. See the holy city 
 robed in festal green, crowned with a garland, and her 
 rocky environs changed to a vast pleasure garden. The 
 courts of the Temple were daily thronged with festive 
 worshippers, clad in gay-colored holiday costume ; the 
 history of the wandering was read ; the silver trumpets 
 sounded ; the great Hallel was sung by the multitude, 
 waving palm branches, and following with their eyes the 
 smoke of the sacrifice as it rolled upwards to the skies. 
 
 At the feast in October of the year 29, the Jews of 
 the temple party sought for Jesus, asking, Where is he ? 
 They wished to gratify their enmity. The multitude, 
 divided in opinion, spoke much of him, but in whispers, 
 for fear of the rulers. This dark thread was interwoven 
 with the festivity. 80 
 
 About the middle of the week, Jesus entered the 
 239
 
 240 HIS SECOND JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 Temple, and taking a seat under one of the colonnades, 
 began to teach. He was not at once recognized by 
 those who heard him, and they wondered at the scholarly 
 wisdom of one unknown to their schools. But the 
 teacher had no wish to dissemble. So after some words 
 of self-abnegation and reproof, he asked : 
 
 " Why seek ye to kill me ? " 
 
 " Thou hast a demon," was the rude retort. " Who 
 seeketh to kill thee ? " 
 
 The teacher replied with some pointed logic relative 
 to his having healed a man there eighteen months before 
 on the Sabbath, for which he had been arraigned by the 
 Sanhedrin. This revealed him. The report of the pres- 
 ence of the famous and despised Nazarene spread. It 
 reached the Sanhedrists, who sent some of the Levitical 
 temple-guards to arrest him. But when these heard him 
 for themselves, and saw the favor of the multitude, they 
 dared not. And Jesus unmolested left the Temple. 
 
 When the chief priests and Pharisees of the Sanhedrin 
 demanded of the guards, Why did ye not bring him ? 
 they answered indirectly but very thoughtfully, Never 
 man so spake. The court, exasperated, was about to 
 pass sentence ; but Nicodemus protested : 
 
 " Doth our law judge a man unheard ? " 
 
 They turned upon him fiercely with : 
 
 " Art thou also of Galilee ? Search, and see that out 
 of Galilee ariseth no prophet." 
 
 Their rage blinded them to Jonah, Nahum, and Hosea, 
 and perhaps also Elijah himself, of Galilee. The protest 
 however availed, and the Court adjourned. 
 
 On the last, the great day of the feast, Jesus again 
 entered the Temple, and proclaimed :
 
 THE WORK IN JERUSALEM 241 
 
 " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." 81 
 
 This possibly had reference to the profuse libations at 
 the altar. Some who heard him said, Of a truth this is 
 the Christ ; but others said, What, doth Christ come out 
 of Galilee ? So there arose a division among them. 
 
 Then Jesus went into the Treasury, the eastern court 
 of the enclosure of the Sanctuary, where stood certain 
 lofty candelabra. Probably with reference to these, he 
 further proclaimed : 
 
 " I am the light of the world." 
 
 He was at once rudely interrupted by the Pharisees 
 who, offended perhaps by his arrogant egotism, charged 
 him with falsehood. Then followed a contention, grow- 
 ing more and more bitter. Jesus claimed his Father as 
 a witness to his truth. They asked him, Where is thy 
 father ? Who art thou ? He answered : 
 
 " When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall 
 ye know that I am." 
 
 This phrase " I am," here repeated, was to the Jews 
 an enigma and a stumbling-block. Yet of the multitude 
 many believed, and to them he said : 
 
 " If ye abide in my word, ye shall know the truth, and 
 the truth shall make you free." 
 
 To this others objected haughtily and mendaciously : 
 
 " We be Abraham's seed, and have never yet been in 
 bondage to any man." 
 
 They discarded their four centuries of slavery in Egypt, 
 their seventy years of captivity in Babylon, their century 
 and a half of subjection to the Oriental Greeks, and their 
 then present political bondage to Rome, signalized by 
 the tower of Antonia frowning over the temple, and its 
 Roman garrison, deployed with short swords at that mo- 
 ment along the western porch to enforce orders.
 
 242 HIS SECOND JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 " Every one," replied Jesus, " that committeth sin, is 
 the slave of sin. I know that ye are Abraham's seed ; 
 yet ye seek to kill me." To this he added, with great 
 severity, " Ye do the works of your father, the devil. 
 He was ever a murderer, and a liar, and the father 
 thereof." 
 
 " Say we not well," they answered, " that thou art a 
 Samaritan, and hast a demon ? " 
 
 " I have not a demon," said Jesus, deeply hurt and in- 
 dignant at the gross insult ; " but I honor my Father, 
 and ye dishonor me. Your father Abraham rejoiced to 
 see my day ; and he saw it, and was glad." 
 
 " Thou art not yet fifty years old," said they scorn- 
 fully, " and hast thou seen Abraham ? " 
 
 "Verily, verily, I say unto you," he replied with 
 solemn emphasis, " Before Abraham was, I am." 
 
 These words assert not merely preexistence, but by 
 confounding grammatical tenses, indicate an existence 
 out of all relation to time, the eternal Now. In them 
 the Lord again applied to himself the peculiar name by 
 which Jehovah revealed himself to Moses (Exodus 3 : 14). 
 For a mere man to utter them would be the highest form 
 of blasphemy ; and so the Jews now interpreted it. 
 
 With loud outcries the mob rushed tumultuously 
 through the eastern gate of the Treasury, the Beautiful 
 Gate, to the outer court, there to gather up the marble 
 chips scattered about the unfinished building, with which 
 to stone him, the usual punishment for blasphemy. But 
 when they returned, Jesus had disappeared. For mean- 
 time he and his sympathizers retired through the side 
 door of the Treasury to the steps leading to Ophel. 
 These he descended, followed by several disciples, and 
 so departed from the Temple.
 
 THE WORK IN JERUSALEM 243 
 
 Southward from the Treasury was an opening in the 
 floor of the outer court, leading by steps down to a 
 subterranean corridor or tunnel which passed under the 
 great Basilica, and out the substruction of the lofty 
 southern wall of the Temple by a double gate, the Hulda 
 gate, opening into the district of the city called Ophel. 
 This gate was the only southern egress from the Temple, 
 and it remains at this day. The Ophel (sloping hill) was 
 densely populated, mostly by Levites who served in the 
 Temple, and an humbler class of citizens. The hill de- 
 clined southward to the city wall, and just beyond was 
 the famous pool of Siloam. 
 
 When Jesus and his few disciples, including John, who 
 writes of all this like an eye-witness, emerged from the 
 corridor that afternoon, they were assailed by the clamor of 
 a beggar sitting near the Hulda gate on their right, crying 
 for alms because he was blind from his birth. Jesus paused 
 on hearing the cry of want, and in perfect self-possession, 
 with calmness unruffled by the bitter strife he had just 
 quitted, or by the still audible uproar of the mob that was 
 seeking his life, he listened to the plea of the benighted 
 man. The disciples were not thus calm, but with an 
 effort to be so, asked : 
 
 " Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he 
 was born blind?" 82 
 
 The first alternative in this curious question has 
 received much learned comment. It has been variously 
 explained by reference in turn to metempsychosis, to sin 
 of the fetus, and to proleptic punishment. Also the " or " 
 has been construed as corrective, meaning : or, since that 
 could not be, etc. It is best, however, to regard the 
 point as merely a blunder of the simple disciples excited
 
 244 HIS SECOND JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 and confused by the threatened stoning, a natural and 
 inimitable betrayal of inward agitation despite the effort 
 to be calm. 
 
 " Neither did sin," answered Jesus ; " but so it is, in 
 order that a work of God be manifest in him." 
 
 Reminded by the recent attack that his time was short, 
 and gazing perhaps on the now declining sun, he added : 
 
 "We must work while it is day; the night cometh. 
 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 
 
 Within the passing hour he had proclaimed this in the 
 Temple. Now he would illustrate it by giving light to 
 the sightless eyes that pleaded for and won his pity. 
 Making an ointment of clay with his spittle, he anointed 
 the beggar's eyes, and said : 
 
 " Go, wash in the pool of Siloam." 
 
 A second scene represents the blind beggar going 
 alone, groping with his staff in the midday darkness 
 along the familiar streets of Ophel on his way to the 
 pool. The smear on his eyes was not medicinal, but was 
 a crutch to his faith. Beyond the city wall, he reached 
 the pool. He washed ; he saw. What were his bewil- 
 dering thoughts when now first the brilliant light of day 
 poured into his soul ; what his ineffable delight when he 
 returned seeing the beautiful world glowing in all the 
 colors of the sunbeam. He saw ; and he understood what 
 he saw. For the miracle was much more than physical ; 
 he was at once divinely endowed with the ocular edu- 
 cation which it took Cheselden's patient many months to 
 acquire. 
 
 On his joyful return, he is met by neighbors and 
 acquaintances, who hardly recognizing him asked one 
 another, Is not this he that sat and begged ? Some said,
 
 THE WORK IN JERUSALEM 245 
 
 It is he ; others said, No, but he is like him. He said, I 
 am he. How then, asked they, were thine eyes opened ? 
 He answered, The man that is called Jesus made clay, 
 and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to Siloam 
 and wash ; so I went away and washed, and I received 
 sight. They asked, Where is he? He said, I know 
 not. Nothing could be more plain, terse and direct than 
 his exquisitely simple recount of the facts. It marks the 
 man. His equilibrium is not disturbed by the amazing 
 experience. His gossips, however, think that such an 
 extraordinary wonder should be reported at once to the 
 ruling elders ; so they bring him to their Synagogue. 
 
 The scene now shifts to an interior. The elders, in 
 dark robes edged with scarlet, are sitting as judges. The 
 man that was blind looks upon them with clear steady 
 eyes. His neighbors stand near. The Synagogue is 
 crowded. John the evangelist is there, commissioned 
 by his Master to follow and report results ; for he, the 
 healer, was resolved that nothing should pluck his sheep 
 out of his hand. The court asks the witness how he 
 received his sight. The answer is simple : 
 
 " He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see." 
 Now that day was a Sabbath, and being the final day 
 of the Feast, was especially holy. Therefore some of the 
 pharisaic inquisitors said, The man is not from God, be- 
 cause he keepeth not the Sabbath. But others said, How 
 can a man who is a sinner do such signs ? And there 
 was a division among them. Observe their dilemma. 
 To press the Sabbath-breaking was to admit the miracle, 
 and hence divine authority higher than the law. On the 
 other hand, to deny the miracle left no ground for the 
 accusation they wished to uphold. So sorely are they
 
 246 HIS SECOND JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 perplexed that, forgetful of their haughty dignity, and 
 hoping to gain a point, they ask the opinion of the 
 humble witness : 
 
 " What sayest thou of thy healer ? " 
 
 " He is a prophet," is the prompt reply. 
 
 A sturdy, straightforward fellow that. His mind's eye, 
 too, is clear. He did not share, nor did he relieve the 
 embarrassment of the judges. 
 
 These, unwilling to believe his story, put him aside, 
 and call his parents before them. The aged couple stand 
 trembling, for they know it is already agreed that any 
 one confessing the Nazarene to be the Christ should be 
 excommunicated. They are asked : 
 
 " Is this your son ? Say ye he was born blind ? Then 
 how doth he now see ? " 
 
 " We know that this is our son," they reply, " and that 
 he was born blind ; but how he now seeth, we know not ; 
 or who opened his eyes, we know not ; ask him ; he is of 
 age ; he shall speak for himself." 
 
 The first two questions they answer affirmatively ; the 
 third they evade. They are honest and sensible, but 
 timid, cautious, and rather selfish in leaving the young 
 man to shift for himself. But perhaps their parental 
 pride and confidence in his -ability, which by degrees be- 
 comes quite manifest, justifies them. 
 
 The parents are dismissed. After some consultation 
 the inquisitors recall the young man, and intimate to him 
 that they have now found out all about the matter, that 
 it is a fraud, and they call upon him to tell the truth and 
 shame the devil. Really they wanted him to tell a lie ; 
 they hoped to overawe or intimidate him into a false con- 
 fession of complicity in a fraud. They cloak their intent 
 with the unctuous speech :
 
 THE WORK IN JERUSALEM 247 
 
 " Give glory to God ; we know that the Nazarene is a 
 sinner." 
 
 But they mistake their man ; he is quite impracticable, 
 honest and fearless. With quick-witted, clear irony he 
 replies : 
 
 " Whether he be a sinner, I know not ; one thing I 
 know, that whereas I was blind, now I see." 
 
 He sticks to the concrete facts of the case, and is as 
 stubborn as they. Then the perplexed judges undertake 
 to cross-question him. 
 
 " What did he to thee ? How opened he thine 
 eyes ? " 
 
 This brings out another bit of sharp cutting irony. 
 
 " I told you even now, and ye did not hear; where- 
 fore would ye hear it again ? Would ye also become his 
 disciples ? " 
 
 He humorously affects to misunderstand their purpose. 
 To be thus bantered by a beggar in open court is too 
 provoking. Patience gives way. By his indirect con- 
 fession of discipleship, the witness becoming an offender, 
 instantly they accuse and revile him. 
 
 " Thou art his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 
 As for that man, we know not whence he is." 
 
 To this the response is most admirable. We can al- 
 most hear his long sarcastic drawl. 
 
 " Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know 
 not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened my 
 eyes." 
 
 In furtherance he treats the court to a little bit of un- 
 answerable logic. This is intolerable. The pharisaic 
 elders are furious. 
 
 " Thou wast altogether born in sins, and doest thou 
 teach us ? "
 
 248 HIS SECOND JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 The " altogether " means both body and soul. Since 
 bodily defects were believed to be due to sin, the judges 
 thereby trip, betraying their inner conviction that the 
 man was really born blind. Without further parley, how- 
 ever, they pass upon him sentence of excommunication, 
 and ceremonially cause him to be thrust out the door of 
 the Synagogue. 
 
 " He stood before the Sanhedrim, 
 The scowling Rabbis gazed on him ; 
 He recked not of their praise or blame, 
 There was no fear, there was no shame ; 
 For unto one upon whose eyes 
 The whole world poured its glad surprise, 
 The open heaven was much too near, 
 His first day's light too sweet and clear, 
 To let him waste his new-gained ken 
 On the hate clouded face of men. 
 
 He told the story o'er and o'er, 
 It was his full heart's only lore ; 
 A prophet on a Sabbath day 
 Had touched his sightless eyes with clay, 
 And made him see who had been blind. 
 Their words went by him like the wind; 
 Their sneers at Jesus and his band, 
 Nameless and homeless in the land, 
 Their boasts of Moses and his Lord, 
 All could not move him by one word. 
 ' I know not what this man may be, 
 Sinner or saint ; but as for me, 
 One thing I know, that I am he 
 Who once was blind, but now I see.' 
 
 They were all Doctors of renown, 
 The great men of a famous town ; 
 Their deep brows wrinkled, broad and wise, 
 Beneath their wide phylacteries; 
 The wisdom of the past was theirs, 
 And honor crowned their silver hairs.
 
 THE WORK IN JERUSALEM 249 
 
 The man they thrust away in scorn, 
 Was unlearn'd, poor and humbly born ; 
 But he knew better far than they 
 What came to him that Sabbath day ; 
 Yea, what the Christ had done for him, 
 He knew, and not the Sanhedrim." 
 
 The fourth scene is in the open air, in the market 
 square where sheep are on sale for sacrifice or food. 
 Thither the disconsolate outcast has wandered. John, 
 nimble-footed, has told his anxious Master, who imme- 
 diately finds him, and says : 
 
 " Dost thou believe on the Son of God ? " 
 " Who is he, Lord, that I may believe on him ? " 
 Hear the totally altered tone of the man, note his 
 humility in this presence. Jesus then privately reveals 
 himself, as once to the nameless woman at the well, 
 now here to this nameless beggar in the sheep-market, 
 saying, with a delicate allusion to the gift of sight : 
 
 " Thou hast both seen him, and he it is that speaketh 
 with thee." 
 
 " Lord, I believe," is the instant confession ; and bow- 
 ing upon his knees, with clasped hands and upturned 
 eyes, he worshipped him. 
 
 " On my bended knee 
 I recognize thy purpose clearly shown ; 
 My vision thou hast cleared that I may see 
 Thyself, thyself alone." 
 
 Then said Jesus, with great majesty and mystery : 
 " For judgment came I into this world, that they 
 which see me not, may see ; and that they which see 
 may become blind." 
 
 The court having adjourned, the people and the Phari- 
 sees of the inquisition followed the outcast to the market
 
 place and gathered around Jesus standing by his kneel- 
 ing adherent, in time to hear these last words. Then 
 one of the Pharisees ventured to ask sneeringly, Are we 
 also blind ? Jesus turned upon them with fierce indig- 
 nation, and withers them with scathing, scorching, 
 burning words. He denounces them as false shepherds, 
 as hirelings, indeed as sheep-thieves, entering into the 
 fold to steal, to kill, to destroy, and with majestic egotism 
 contrasts them with himself, the true, the good shep- 
 herd, who will lay down his life for the sheep. 
 
 It is a mistake to separate this " Discourse on The 
 Good Shepherd " from the preceding events, which in- 
 deed are narrated to introduce and explain it ; likewise 
 to regard it, with the common view, as a calm, mild, 
 gentle speech for instruction and consolation. No ; 
 though full of consolatory truth for us, who are all beg- 
 gars, blind beggars, born blind ; yet primarily, as spoken 
 to the pharisaic elders, these are words of regulated but 
 stormy passion ; a passion of indignation at injustice, a 
 passion of love for the poor outcast at his feet who had 
 been tried and had proven true. The hirelings cared not 
 for this sheep, but his shepherd had found him. And 
 he laid his hand upon his head, saying, I know mine 
 own, and mine own know me. Jesus claimed him, he 
 was his own ; he loved him, he would die for him. 
 What a scene ! Glorious, great-hearted Master ! 
 
 The adversaries were cowed and shrank away. Some, 
 wishing to brave it out, said, Oh, he is mad, he hath a 
 demon, why hear him ? But others said, These are not 
 the words of one that hath a demon ; besides, can a 
 demon open the eyes of the blind ? 
 
 As already intimated, the original narrative is autoptic
 
 THE WORK IN JERUSALEM 251 
 
 in style, and dramatic in treatment. Also it is vividly 
 picturesque, and critically artistic. Its characterization 
 is clear and distinct. The beggar is a sturdy, pertina- 
 cious fellow, brave and truthful. He cannot be brow- 
 beaten, but with dry humor pulverizes the cavils of the 
 judges. To his benefactor he is faithful, humble and 
 docile. His neighbors are simple street gossips. His 
 parents, as timid in old age as he is bold in youthful 
 vigor, yet show the shrewdness proper to parents of a 
 sharp-witted son. The judges are sinister and unscrupu- 
 lous, but lose their temper and betray themselves. The 
 clearness of this characterization is enhanced by a num- 
 ber of extreme contrasts ; as, the sightless and the seeing, 
 the beggar and the giver, impotence and power, vicious 
 malignity and gracious benignity. And let not the dis- 
 ciples be overlooked, whose blunder at the outset con- 
 nects what follows with the morning's peril, so that these 
 after events pass morally as well as literally under the 
 shadow of the Temple. 
 
 The dramatic unities are strictly preserved. There is 
 no interval of time, no transfer of place, though there 
 are four distinct and growing scenes. The chief per- 
 sonage appears only in the first and last, but in the in- 
 terim he is constantly before the mind's eye as the motive 
 of the action. Only one subject engages our thoughts, 
 and that of tragic interest; for, while the ostensible 
 matter is the healing, the underlying matter is the defama- 
 tion of the healer, with the purpose, if possible, to indict 
 and destroy him. The culmination in the last scene, to 
 which the others are preparatory, is overwhelming and 
 grand. All the previous interlocutors are present. The 
 apparent success of the evil-doers is utterly undone, and 
 they put to open shame. Mercy and trust stand hand
 
 252 HIS SECOND JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 in hand, and virtue triumphs. The giver of light sweeps 
 away the machination against himself and his own, and 
 with fearful denunciation of the adversaries, inter- 
 mingles great words of love and power and promise that 
 rise to celestial heights, and float beyond time.
 
 XX 
 THE TOUR AND ITS CLOSE 
 
 BECAUSE of the active hostility of the Temple, it 
 were manifestly unwise for Jesus to tarry in Jeru- 
 salem. Attended by many disciples, he retired to 
 a neighboring town, let us say to Ephraim, sixteen miles 
 north of Jerusalem, where he organized the mission of the 
 seventy. These were not evangelists, but heralds, like 
 John the baptizer, and with a proclamation quite similar : 
 " The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you." ra 
 It is evident that Jesus intended a tour throughout 
 that region. The time was limited. From the close of 
 the Feast of Tabernacles to the Feast of Dedication, 
 which also he proposed to attend, was just two months 
 and one week. To economize the time, he sent these 
 messengers in couples before his face into every city and 
 place wither he himself was about to come. If they were 
 rejected by any city, more time could be given to others ; 
 but, Woe unto that city ! Where welcomed, they were 
 to announce his coming, so that the people might be 
 ready to receive and to hear him. As a foretaste of the 
 blessing he gave the messengers power to heal. 
 
 A week, probably, was consumed by this mission. 
 The heralds return, and report joyfully, saying : 
 
 " Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy 
 name." 
 
 Alluding to the great temptation, he cries : 
 " I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven." 
 A shout of triumph. Another victory won. 
 253
 
 254 HIS SECOND JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 The tour begins. The first movement is southward 
 from Ephraim to a station on the road from Jerusalem to 
 Jericho. There a certain lawyer stood up and tried him 
 with questions, which gave occasion for that pearl of 
 parables, The Good Samaritan. The scene is in loco. 
 The story is very vivid, and apparently very simple. It 
 is in answer to the question, Who is my neighbor ? The 
 neighbor in the parable proves to be, not the Priest nor 
 the Levite, who passed him by, but the Samaritan, who 
 succored him. Then the wounded man whom he succored 
 is under the law to love that Samaritan as himself. This, 
 generalized, commands us to love our benefactors as our- 
 selves, which is not philanthropy, but gratitude. The 
 primary and purposed lesson is of gratitude to benefac- 
 tors, and supremely to God, the greatest benefactor. A 
 general philanthropy is abundantly taught elsewhere, 
 but nowhere are we commanded to love all men as 
 ourselves. 84 
 
 Now as they went on their way, he entered into the 
 village Bethany, on the eastern slope of the Mount of 
 Olives ; and a certain woman named Martha, the widow 
 of Simon the leper, received him into her house. This is 
 the first mention of the home at Bethany, but very likely 
 he made its acquaintance two years before this, during 
 his first Judean ministry. Here in five verses of Luke is 
 a pictorial characterization of the sisters, Martha and 
 Mary, so clear and distinct, and in such perfect harmony 
 with what John says of them, that, if it be not history, 
 says Meyer, then it is a literary miracle. The exquisite 
 contrast between the bustling, anxious, fretful housewife, 
 and the calm, docile, contemplative pupil sitting at the 
 Teacher's feet, has made a deep impression on the world;
 
 THE TOUR AND ITS CLOSE 255 
 
 and the Master's gentle, pleasant, kindly approval of his 
 pupil's choice is quoted to sanction the seclusion of the 
 convent. 85 
 
 From Bethany they went further southward, leaving 
 Jerusalem on the right. Was it not to some one of those 
 neighboring heights, which had been in old times a 
 Mount of Offense, crowned with the grove of Ashtaroth, 
 or serving as a pedestal to the brazen Moloch, that Jesus 
 retired for prayer? When he had ceased, one of the 
 disciples said, Lord, teach us to pray. Now to the 
 school of Gratitude and the school of Docility is added the 
 school of Petition. But the disciples had already been 
 taught the lesson in the Sermon on the Mount. Had 
 they forgotten ? Perhaps they wanted something new, 
 something more. How abashed they must have been to 
 hear him significantly repeat in condensed form the old 
 lesson ! How gentle the reproof, how strong the empha- 
 sis ! Perhaps now they caught sight of that perpetuity 
 in these words that excludes change ; of that complete 
 universality which cannot be enlarged. Then the 
 Teacher, by the parable of the importunate Friend at 
 Midnight, encourages perseverance in the one petition, 
 and adds the gracious promise, Ask and ye shall receive. 86 
 
 After this, did not Jesus with his attendants traverse 
 the plain of Bethlehem, where the shepherds watched, 
 where David fed symbolic flocks, where Ruth gleaned ? 
 Did he not enter the historic village, and visit the cave 
 of his nativity, and the house of his epiphany ? Did he 
 not teach and heal in Hebron, the birthplace of John, 
 and look upon the cave of Machpelah? Were not 
 Arimathea, and Joppa and Lydda and Emmaus in his 
 circuit ?
 
 256 HIS SECOND JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 Somewhere in that region, he healed a dumb demoniac. 
 Certain witnesses accused him of being in league with 
 Beelzebub. He indignantly repelled the charge. Then 
 a woman among those present, recognizing no doubt the 
 longed-for Messiah, whose maternity was the ardent hope 
 of every Jewess, cried out and pronounced his mother 
 Blessed. This is the only record in the Gospels of that 
 title applied to the Virgin in accord with her own 
 prophecy in the Magnificat. It is worthy of note that it 
 was not allowed to pass unnoticed along with other 
 concurrent exclamations. The Lord does not deny 
 it, but instantly rectifies it by reducing the Virgin, in 
 respect of blessedness, to the common level of all be- 
 lievers. 87 
 
 To the wondering multitude that speedily gathered 
 about him, he addressed solemn warnings, and claimed 
 for himself superiority to Jonah the effective preacher, 
 and to Solomon the wise king. 
 
 Now as he spake, a Pharisee asked him to dine with 
 him. He accepted the invitation though really it was 
 more hostile than hospitable. Its spirit is revealed by a 
 sanctimonious cavil, which calls down upon the Pharisees 
 a fearful threefold woe. Then a lawyer, one of the learned 
 class superior to the common Pharisees, an aristocrat, 
 who honored the occasion by his presence, haughtily 
 undertook to quell this tempest of denunciation, and to 
 overawe Jesus by pointing out that such sayings were 
 also a reproach to him and his influential class in society. 
 His success was not commensurate with his expectations. 
 Another threefold woe of even deeper intensity was in- 
 stantly hurled upon -the lawyers. 88 
 
 Jesus left the table and the house, followed by the em-
 
 THE TOUR AND ITS CLOSE 257 
 
 bittered company, who vehemently tried to provoke him 
 to say something by which they might accuse him. 
 Meantime a multitude of many thousands had gathered 
 without, already infected with the hostile spirit of Jeru- 
 salem. It were easy to excite a tumult. Jesus calmed 
 the alarm of his disciples, bidding them, Fear not ; the 
 very hairs of your head are all numbered. While he 
 was talking with them, a bystander made an unseemly 
 request. This was rebuked, and gave occasion for the 
 parable of The Rich Fool, which has its counterpart and 
 perhaps its ground in the Old Testament story of Nabal. 89 
 
 From this as a text, Jesus continues to teach his dis- 
 ciples, as they passed from the thronging multitude, and 
 out of the town on their way to another station. The 
 discourse is woven of the richest materials, some of which 
 are repeated from the Sermon on the Mount. As the 
 little band followed the highway, the sight of ravens 
 floating in the air, of lilies growing in the field, of mead- 
 ows clothed with grass, suggested his illustrations, which 
 were enriched by the parable of The Wedding Feast. 
 
 Mingled with the disciples was a large following of 
 hypocrites. Some of these told him of certain Galileans 
 whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 
 This is the first mention of the Roman governor, and 
 gives at once a correct impression of his character. Now 
 Jesus was a Galilean, and very likely it was expected that 
 his aroused sympathy would break forth in some words 
 that would ensnare him. A well planned trap, worthy 
 of Satan himself; for how diabolical to seek to use a 
 man's generous, patriotic, humane impulses to destroy 
 him. He was in Pilate's jurisdiction. Word carried to 
 him of a hasty speech would surely bring on an arrest 
 for treason. But the tempter in this master stroke was
 
 258 HIS SECOND JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 foiled. Jesus simply but keenly makes it the occasion to 
 teach, in a few words, the great lesson of the book of 
 Job, illustrated by the parable of the Barren Fig Tree. 
 This view explains, what is inexplicable by those who 
 locate the incident in Galilee, why no word of sympathy 
 or indignation escapes the lips of Jesus. Also his refer- 
 ence to the fall of the tower in Siloam confirms the 
 Judean locale, since it implies a Judean audience. 90 
 
 The last incident of the tour around about Jerusalem 
 is a deed of mercy. He was teaching in a Synagogue 
 on a Sabbath. A woman was there who was bowed to- 
 gether so that she could in no wise lift up herself. " God 
 made us erect," says Ovid, " with our faces upward 
 turned, and commanded that we lift them towards the 
 sky, and direct our glances to the stars ; but the beasts 
 made he prone, with looks cast downward to the earth." 
 Bunyan tells of " a room where was a man that could 
 look no way but downwards, with a Muck-rake in his 
 hand. There stood also one over his head with a Celes- 
 tial Crown in his Hand, and proffered to give him that 
 Crown for his Muck-rake ; but the man did neither look 
 up nor regard; but raked to himself the Straws, the 
 small Sticks, and Dust of the Floor." And Milton 
 tells of 
 
 " Mammon, the least erected spirit that fell 
 From heaven ; for ev'n in heaven his looks and thoughts 
 Were always downward bent ; admiring more 
 The riches of heaven's pavement, trodden gold, 
 Than aught divine or holy." 
 
 The work of Satan is to make us bestial, the work of 
 Jesus to uplift. He did not wait to be asked. As soon 
 as he saw her condition, he called the woman before him,
 
 THE TOUR AND ITS CLOSE 259 
 
 the prompt impulse of divine pity recognizing in her 
 brutal attitude a symbol of human degradation, and said 
 unto her : 
 
 " Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity." gi 
 
 Immediately she became straight, and shouted praises 
 to God. Here was the old offense again, a working on 
 the Sabbath. The ruler of the Synagogue was scandal- 
 ized ; but not daring to remonstrate with the Nazarene, 
 addresses a rebuke to the congregation. Jesus turned 
 upon him with fierce indignation, saying : 
 
 " Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the 
 Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead 
 him away to watering ? And ought not this woman, 
 being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, 
 lo, these eighteen years, to have been loosed from this 
 bond on the day of the Sabbath ? " 
 
 Words very plain, very homely, very strong, yet very 
 beautiful and very noble in their knightly defense of a 
 weak and timid woman against all comers. 
 
 The tour was complete. Jesus returned to Jerusalem, 
 where this second Judean ministry culminates and ends 
 in another collision with the hostile Temple party at the 
 Feast of Dedication. 
 
 Five dedications of the Temple may be distinguished ; 
 one by Solomon, another by Hezekiah, a third by Zerub- 
 babel, a fourth by Judas Maccabaeus, and yet another in 
 the time of Herod. Of these the feast commemorated 
 the fourth. 
 
 In the year 170 B.C., the Greek king of Syria, Anti- 
 ochus Epiphanes, on his return from an abortive cam- 
 paign against Egypt through Palestine which was under 
 his dominion, having heard that the Jews were in revolt,
 
 260 HIS SECOND JUDEAN MINISTRY 
 
 marched with the fury of a madman against Jerusalem. 
 The terrified citizens closed the gates. So he stormed 
 the battle-scarred city, slaughtered forty thousand inhab- 
 itants, and sold as many into slavery. He entered the 
 Temple, sacrificed swine on the great altar, and defiled 
 the Sanctuary. This pollution, followed by a robbery of 
 the treasures, put an end to the temple worship. Two 
 years afterwards, by order of Antiochus, another massacre 
 and pillage took place, the statue of Zeus Olympius was 
 set up in the Sanctuary, its courts were polluted by 
 licentious orgies, the phallic revels of Dionysus, and a 
 general and cruel persecution sought to force upon the 
 Jews the orientalized idolatry of Greece. Rebellion en- 
 sued, and a finally successful struggle for independence. 
 The first care of Judas Maccabseus, the hero of the con- 
 flict, on getting possession of Jerusalem., was to purify 
 the Temple by most solemn rites', and to reestablish its 
 worship. This event was thereafter annually celebrated 
 by the Feast of Dedication, or Purification. It occupied 
 a week in mid-winter. The Jews throughout Palestine 
 were not required to attend ; and the presence of Jesus 
 at the feast beginning December 3Oth, A. D., 29} is unac- 
 countable were he not in Judea at the time. 
 
 Having entered the Temple enclosure, Jesus crossed it 
 to Solomon's Porch. This unfinished structure extended 
 along the eastern wall, and looking inward, faced the 
 Sanctuary. It was so named because built, it .was said, 
 in part of materials belonging to the ancient Temple of 
 Solomon, and upon the old foundations. The history of 
 the Temple and the history of Mosaicism are parallel. 
 As the Mosaic Law had become enwrapped by accumu- 
 lated traditions, and moulded to the tastes of the day, so 
 but little of the substance of the old Temple was discov-
 
 THE TOUR AND ITS CLOSE 261 
 
 erable in the greatly extended and elaborately adorned 
 Temple of Herod. Mosaicism and the Temple were 
 soon to pass away, but the substructions of both have 
 proved indestructible. 
 
 Jesus was walking to and fro under the cover of Solo- 
 mon's Porch, for it was winter. He seems to have been 
 alone, unless perhaps the beloved John, who tells of this, 
 was walking with him, for his naming the particular place 
 is quite autoptic. Soon the Jews of the Temple party 
 collected about him, and demanded : 
 
 " If thou art the Christ, tell us plainly." M 
 
 He could not answer yea or nay ; for though he was the 
 Christ of prophecy, he was not the Christ of their hope. 
 They were looking for a national redeemer and temporal 
 king. It was as impossible for Jesus to descend to their 
 notion of a Messiah as it was impossible for them to rise 
 to his. Therefore he simply referred them to his works as 
 bearing witness of his commission from God, and affirmed : 
 
 " I and the Father are one." 
 
 Upon this the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 
 With calm but severe irony he asked : 
 
 " Many good works have I showed you from the 
 Father ; for which of those works do ye stone me ? " 
 
 " For a good work we stone thee not," said they, " but 
 for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, 
 makest thyself God." 
 
 This last Jesus did not deny ; but proceeded, by an 
 argumentum ad hominem, to disprove the blasphemy, 
 and enforce his claim to be the Son of God. Then 
 sought they again to take him ; but he went forth out of 
 their hand, out from the Temple, out from Judea. 
 
 Thus ends his Second Judean Ministry.
 
 His Peraean Ministry
 
 XXI 
 
 THE WORK INTERRUPTED 
 
 JESUS left Jerusalem not to return there until the 
 final scene. He stopped at Bethany of Judea telling 
 Martha where he was going, then crossed the Jordan 
 into Peraea. This name does not occur in Scripture, but 
 is in Josephus. It is from the Greek r.ipa, meaning ultra, 
 beyond, across, contra, the country. In Peraea, fj nspata, he 
 took up his abode in the Bethany beyond Jordan. This 
 village was about halfway between the lakes, near the 
 ford Bethabara where John had baptized, and where 
 Jesus, returning from the wilderness, had made his first 
 disciples. The people of the region, familiar with the 
 ministry of the Baptist, resorted to him in great numbers, 
 were healed and taught, and many believed on him 
 there. 
 
 Thus began his Peraean ministry. He had accom- 
 plished a long ministry in Galilee, a first and second min- 
 istry in Judea, and had visited Samaria and Phoenicia, 
 whereby the whole land west of the river had been can- 
 vassed. In the eastern district, he had twice visited 
 Decapolis, and now Peraea remained. To it he now 
 gave nearly two months, January and February, A. D. 30 ; 
 so that his labors extended throughout every portion of 
 Palestine. 
 
 After a sojourn of about six weeks near Bethabara, 
 Jesus, accompanied by the apostles, set about visiting 
 
 265
 
 266 HIS PER^AN MINISTRY 
 
 the towns of Peraea. The district was narrow, but ex- 
 tended from the Lake of Gennesaret southward to the 
 river Arnon, about seventy miles. Beginning at the 
 northern end, he went through the cities and villages 
 teaching and journeying towards Jerusalem. 93 
 
 In their progress southward, Jesus and the apostles 
 came to a town lying on the northern slopes of Mt. 
 Gilead, about a day's journey from Bethabara. There he 
 is asked, Lord, are there few that be saved ? He an- 
 swers that many shall fail, nevertheless a great multitude 
 shall be saved, gathered from all quarters of the world. 
 
 In that very hour he is warned against Herod Anti- 
 pas, in whose jurisdiction he is, by certain Pharisees 
 saying to him, Go hence, and get thee out, for 
 Herod intends to kill thee. It is very likely that the 
 hostile Pharisees had reported to Antipas the presence 
 of the Galilean prophet again in his domain, and that 
 Antipas, though desirous of seeing him, yet impatient 
 of annoyance, said something like this : Well, well, go 
 to the Nazarene, pretend sympathy, and tell him I mean 
 to kill him ; it will scare him away, and we shall be rid 
 of him. It lies on the surface that it was merely a cun- 
 ning threat ; for, had the intent been real, no warning 
 would have been given. The blood of one prophet al- 
 ready on his hands was as much as Antipas cared to 
 carry. 
 
 But the paltry princeling, who held his almost empty 
 title to the fourth of a domain by grace of his swinish 
 master wallowing in filth at Capreae, and who aping the 
 imperial Caesars succeeded only in the line of their vices, 
 could hardly have desired the distinction arising from his 
 sly trick. For when the interlopers told Jesus, he saw 
 that their solicitude was a cheat, and coldly replied :
 
 THE WORK INTERRUPTED 267 
 
 " Go and say to that fox " 
 
 This epithet, the synonym from all antiquity of low 
 cunning, is evidently uttered in cold contempt, and is 
 perhaps the only purely contemptuous word Jesus ever 
 spake. It has adhered ever since as a surname to the 
 half Idumean, half Samaritan, incestuous murderer. 
 
 Jesus was not to be moved by a threat, empty or real. 
 No doubt he was hurt, for it was very hard. He had 
 been exiled from his home and from Galilee, had twice 
 barely escaped stoning at Jerusalem, and now in Peraea 
 is menaced with both at once, banishment and death. 
 But his calm message is : 
 
 " Behold, I go on my way to-day and to-morrow and 
 the day following ; " to which is added the bitter, brand- 
 ing sarcasm, " for it cannot be that a prophet perish out 
 of Jerusalem." 
 
 Now at this time Lazarus, the brother of Martha and 
 Mary, was sick at their home in Bethany of Judea. The 
 anxious sisters had already sent word to Jesus hoping for 
 his help. The courier, some strong-limbed neighbor, not 
 finding him at Bethabara, had pushed onward to this 
 town of Gilead. There on receiving word Jesus had 
 responded : 
 
 " This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of 
 God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby." 94 
 
 To this the narrative naively adds, with the greatest 
 simplicity and purity, Now Jesus loved, r^ana, Martha 
 and her sister and Lazarus. Then why did not he, who 
 had from a distance healed the son of Herod's steward, 
 the daughter of a heathen woman, and the slave of a 
 Roman centurion, why did not he now utter the healing 
 word ? Or, why did not he, Heliand, go at once to his
 
 268 HIS PER^AN MINISTRY 
 
 friends in distress and peril ? He had unfinished work in 
 hand ; so he tarried two days in the place where he was. 
 This news interrupting his general work and further 
 progress in Peraea, came on a Friday, just before the 
 Pharisees warned him of Herod the Fox. Hence it was 
 that he replied to them, I must work to-day and to- 
 morrow, and the third day I am perfected, that is, shall 
 have finished. 
 
 On the next, the second day, Saturday, the Sabbath, 
 Jesus was invited to dinner by a ruler of the Pharisees. 
 Evidently it was a formal occasion, a fashionable and 
 aristocratic dining. But the invitation was extended to 
 the Nazarene with a sinister motive. A trap was laid. 
 A man swollen with dropsy, some poor wretch for 
 whom nobody cared, is brought from his hovel into the 
 reception hall where the guests are assembling, and so 
 placed in all his unseemliness that Jesus, when he enters 
 and is greeted by the host, shall not fail to see him. All 
 are watchfully waiting. Jesus enters, and is ceremoniously 
 welcomed. Then his eye falls on the miserable, abashed 
 sufferer, thus at once shamelessly made a public spectacle 
 and used for a base purpose, and with the keen glance 
 that always instantly detected evil intent, he sees through 
 the mean and paltry trick. Promptly he discloses it by 
 turning to the assembly with the question : 
 " Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not ? " 
 The issue is thus clearly presented and accepted. But 
 they held their peace. Then Jesus took him, and healed 
 him, and dismissed him. And then he reproved the 
 company for their want . of consistency and humanity. 
 There was no reply. Perhaps they thought to carry out 
 the plot, and prosecute him as a law-breaker ; but let us
 
 THE WORK INTERRUPTED 269 
 
 hope rather that they were heartily ashamed of them- 
 selves. 95 
 
 The embarrassment was relieved by the announcement 
 of dinner. The guests, being village aristocrats, were 
 punctilious of etiquette, jealous of precedence, and 
 solicitous to secure at table the couches of honor. Jesus 
 seeing this reproved their lack of social discretion in 
 words of wide significance. Afterwards, turning to the 
 host, and referring to the present company, he gave him 
 some wholesome advice about the selection of guests, 
 which also had a wider meaning. The table-talk of 
 Jesus was always seasoned with salt. Was he guilty 
 here of ill manners ? Let us remember : First, we should 
 not transfer to a distant clime and time our notions of 
 etiquette. Secondly, he was absolved from the claims of 
 courtesy on discovering the malign intent with which he 
 had been invited. Thirdly, Quod non licet bovi, licet Jovi. 
 
 The situation was again embarrassing. One of the 
 guests sought, by an unctuous speech, to turn aside this 
 salty table-talk. He failed ; for Jesus continued in the 
 same vein, concluding with the parable of The Great 
 Supper. So ended the Peraean dining, and the second 
 day of delay. 
 
 The next morning, Sunday, the two days having 
 passed, Jesus said to his disciples : 
 
 " Let us go into Judea again." x 
 
 To this proposed return they objected, saying : 
 
 " Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone thee ; 
 and goest thou thither again ? " 
 
 He rejoined that during the day of one's appointed 
 work, he walks securely. After this, his divine eyes 
 looking into the distance and the future, he said :
 
 2/o HIS PEfLEAN MINISTRY 
 
 " Our friend Lazarus is fallen asleep ; but I go, that I 
 may awake him out of sleep." 
 
 With what mild detraction is here predicted a wonder 
 of the world's history, and hinge of the world's faith. 
 The disciples, though they knew he had said of a 
 lifeless girl, She is not dead, but sleepeth, mistook now 
 his meaning, and thinking perhaps that he had sent a 
 healing sleep, responded : 
 
 " Lord, if he is fallen asleep, he will recover." 
 
 They were glad no doubt ; and especially as in that 
 case they need not go into Judea ; for evidently they did 
 not want to go. Then Jesus therefore said unto them 
 plainly : 
 
 " Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that 
 I was not there, to the intent ye may believe." 
 
 Had Jesus been there, Lazarus had not died. He 
 could not have witnessed unmoved the pain, the grief of 
 dear ones, nor have allowed in his presence the triumph 
 of Death. Indeed Jesus never saw any one die. 
 
 Lazarus had died the previous day, Saturday, and in 
 accord with Oriental custom was on the same day en- 
 tombed. To the announcement of his decease, Jesus 
 added : 
 
 " Nevertheless let us go to him." 
 
 Then said Thomas, turning to his fellow-disciples : 
 
 " Let us also go, that we may die with him." 
 
 Desponding, doubting Thomas, but brave and true. 
 He would follow to die with him. Write it in his epitaph. 
 
 Then Jesus with the apostles left the town of Gilead, 
 to walk that day, Sunday, as far as Bethabara, his late 
 abode. And there followed him great multitudes. See- 
 ing this he turned and said unto them :
 
 THE WORK INTERRUPTED 271 
 
 " Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come 
 after me, cannot be my disciple." 
 
 This is the second mention of the cross. He was 
 passing deeper into its shadow. To this he added a 
 severe admonition of those who were curiously or per- 
 haps thoughtlessly following, to count the cost of dis- 
 cipleship, a cost of all that is usually accounted most 
 dear. 97 
 
 Imagine this great company, having walked a weary 
 way westward from Mt. Gilead, pausing at noonday for 
 rest and refreshment. See them in their garb of bright 
 colors seating themselves in groups on the green, and on 
 convenient rocks, here and there in the sunshine of the 
 coming spring. On the east rises the rugged and bare 
 mountain, whose shadows have vanished in the meridian 
 sunlight that tinges its sombre gray with gold. West- 
 ward lies the deep Jordan valley, whose vast spread of 
 green foliage is unable to hide everywhere the silvery 
 sheen of the winding stream. Upon the meadow the 
 Scribes and Pharisees gather scrupulously to themselves, 
 a little apart from where Jesus is seated, but near enough 
 to catch his words ; the publicans and sinners draw as 
 close to him as possible, that they may hear him. All 
 take from their wallets what they have provided, and the 
 repast begins. 
 
 The soured Pharisees and Scribes soon murmur, say- 
 ing, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. 
 Jesus turns and reproves them with the parables of The 
 Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and that most precious gem, 
 The Prodigal Son. In this last the two sons allegorize 
 the two classes of men then and there listening. Since it 
 is evident that on other occasions the great Teacher used 
 objects at hand to illustrate and impress his lessons, per-
 
 272 HIS PERjEAN MINISTRY 
 
 haps on this occasion there was in sight a flock of sheep 
 and its shepherd on the mountain slope ; and in the dark 
 valley, a herd of swine and its swinish keeper. 
 
 Among his new disciples then around him were a 
 number of publicans. In a few hours these are to be 
 parted from their Teacher, and he seizes this last oppor- 
 tunity for personal instruction. Knowing it to be common 
 for tax-gatherers to grow rich by unjust exactions, and 
 by rendering less than they received, in the parable of 
 The Unjust Steward, the Teacher clearly yet delicately 
 intimates both his knowledge of their former practice, 
 and directions for their future conduct. The steward of 
 the parable is a sharper of the first water, and extricates 
 himself from his difficulties admirably. By a clever 
 device he at once rectifies his accounts, lays the victims 
 of his exactions under grateful obligations, and quiets his 
 own conscience. The lesson is, No man can serve two 
 masters ; ye cannot serve God and mammon. 
 
 The Pharisees, having rallied from their recent discom- 
 fiture, and being with all their austerity a covetous set, 
 proposing to serve both God and mammon, sneered at 
 (turned up the nose at, lEefiu&nfptZov') the teaching. 
 This called down upon them renewed severity, and then 
 is addressed to them the unique parable of Dives and 
 Lazarus. " It is a sublime delineation of this side and of 
 that side of the grave in astounding antitheses. What is 
 the trilogy of Dante, in which he sings Hell, Purgatory, 
 and Heaven, compared with this trilogy, which places 
 by a few but thrilling strokes the great whole of Earth, 
 Hades, and Paradise at once before our eyes ? In the 
 vesture of a figure, taken from the eschatology of his 
 time, our Lord makes here the most astonishing disclos- 
 ures, and lifts the veil which covers the secrets of the
 
 THE WORK INTERRUPTED 273 
 
 future." From this parable the word Lazarus has fur- 
 nished, in modified forms, certain common nouns to all 
 European languages. It is the only parable containing a 
 personal name. Was not Jesus thinking of his friend 
 just deceased at Bethany ? A foreshadow of the coming 
 event is the proposal of the suffering Dives that Lazarus 
 be raised from the dead to convince the unbelieving. 
 
 The noonday repast is ended. Many of the company 
 return homeward ; for after the halt we hear no more of 
 the multitude, but only of the disciples and then of the 
 apostles. These spent the night at Bethabara, and next 
 day, Monday, pursued their way southward. To them 
 Jesus, alluding to recent scenes, said : 
 
 " It is impossible but that occasions of stumbling should 
 come ; but woe to him through whom they come. It 
 were well for him if a millstone were hanged about his 
 neck, and he were thrown into the sea." 
 
 Perhaps from some rising ground their eyes were then 
 resting on the Dead Sea, stretching darkly towards the 
 southern horizon. 98 
 
 Yet they are to abound, he tells them, in forgiveness 
 to the erring and repenting. Finding it hard, they 
 humbly pray, Increase our faith. His reply is spirited, 
 and apparently tinged with impatience. 
 
 " If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye would 
 say unto this sycamine tree," pointing to one by the 
 roadside, " Be thou rooted up, and be thou planted in 
 the sea yonder; and it would have obeyed you." 
 
 That afternoon they crossed the Jordan ford to Jericho. 
 Having tarried there over night, they proceed on Tues- 
 day to climb afoot the steep road leading to Jerusalem,
 
 274 HIS PER^AN MINISTRY 
 
 twenty miles distant, and in the wane of day reach the 
 suburb of the village of Bethany of Judea. What there 
 took place that evening may fairly be included as the 
 culmination and close of his Peraean ministry.
 
 XXII 
 
 THE GREAT MIRACLE 
 
 THE village of Bethany lay nearly two miles east 
 of Jerusalem, and more than a mile beyond the 
 intervening ridge of Olivet. Being some dis- 
 tance aside from the highway, the situation was admi- 
 rably fitted for seclusion and repose. To-day it is repre- 
 sented by a hamlet of about twenty families, and is known 
 as El Azariah, a corruption of the word Lazarus. The 
 name Bethany means house of dates. As dates are fruit 
 of the palm, we may suppose that formerly the village 
 nestled in a grove of palms. Its name has become a 
 synonym for calm retirement, peace, purity, and fraternal 
 love. 
 
 In the last days of February, A. D. 30, the family at 
 Bethany, two sisters and a brother, was in distress. 
 Lazarus was sick. How they longed for their friend, the 
 Healer ! In his first recorded visit, he had probably, as 
 was his wont, healed all the sick in the village. Why 
 not send for him now ? They hesitate, because they 
 knew his danger, and did not rate the cure of Lazarus 
 higher than the safety of Jesus. But soon the deepening 
 malady brought the gentle sisters to despair of natural 
 recovery, and in dread of a fatal calamity, they send word 
 at last. How exquisitely feminine is the message ! 
 " Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." 
 The phrase, whom thou lovest, is delicately solicitous 
 and hopeful of help. But there is no direct request for 
 
 275
 
 276 HIS PER^EAN MINISTRY 
 
 him to come, no definite suggestion of any action. They 
 confide in his sympathy and wisdom. Fraternal love re- 
 quires thus much, reverent fear forbids more. 
 
 The messenger hastens away. He does not, as was 
 expected, return the next evening. The Sabbath morn- 
 ing dawns ; the brother dies. 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day, according to custom, 
 he was entombed. The body was laid in a niche in the 
 side of a cave, and the mouth of the cave closed by a 
 great stone rolled against it. Such tombs abound in the 
 vicinity of Jerusalem. The possession of a burial vault 
 indicates that the family did not belong to the poorest 
 class ; and the precious ointment, hereafter mentioned, 
 indicates means, if not wealth. The large attendance of 
 Jews from Jerusalem on a visit of condolence, is evidence 
 of social position and consideration. 
 
 When the bereaved sisters returned at sunset to their 
 dark and desolate home, they found the messenger they 
 had sent, and hear the reply of Jesus to their message of 
 love and trust : 
 
 " This sickness is not unto death." 
 
 How strange, how perplexing, how incredible ! Their 
 faith was sorely tried. It did not fail. They pondered 
 and talked of these mysterious words for days. Evi- 
 dently they did not catch the meaning, but they mingled 
 with them fresh words of confidence, often saying to 
 each other : 
 
 " Had our Lord been here, our brother had not died." 
 
 Did they expect him yet to come ? Apparently they 
 did not. 
 
 Tuesday, the fourth day, a day appointed for lamenta- 
 tion, was waning. Many friends and acquaintances, some
 
 THE GREAT MIRACLE 277 
 
 belonging to the Temple party, had come from Jerusalem 
 to comfort the sisters concerning their brother. The 
 house was full of company. Mary was sitting quietly in 
 a retired part. Martha was bustling about, seeing to the 
 needs of the guests. Thus she was in the way to receive 
 word, sent in advance for her ear alone, that her friend 
 with his followers was approaching the village. She im- 
 mediately went out to meet him. " The Jews, which 
 came to Mary," did not follow; it was supposed that 
 some hospitable care had called Martha away." 
 
 Martha found Jesus just outside the village, alone under 
 the palms. She did not bow down before him, but at 
 once exclaimed : 
 
 " Lord, hadst thou been here, my brother had not died." 
 
 Is there reproach for his late coming in these words ? 
 No ; for she knew by the hour of the messenger's return, 
 that Jesus could not have reached Bethany before the 
 death of her brother. The words contain only confidence 
 and sorrow. She adds : 
 
 " And even now I know that whatsoever thou shalt 
 ask of God, God will give thee." 
 
 There is evidently an undefined hope in her heart ; a 
 blessing of some sort must follow his coming ; and she 
 gives a gentle hint of her expectation. She rightly esti- 
 mates his favor with God, but underrates his own personal 
 power. She needs light. His response is an advance in 
 thought, yet ambiguous. 
 
 " Thy brother shall rise again." 
 
 Martha shrinks instinctively from the idea of an im- 
 mediate return to life, vaguely doubting the worth of a 
 renewal to end again in sickness, sorrow, pain and death. 
 So she fixes on the alternative meaning, and still ready 
 to talk, says :
 
 MIS PER^AN MINISTRY 
 
 " I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at 
 the last day." 
 
 In the dark, she is feeling her way. The rejoinder of 
 the Lord recalls her attention forcibly to himself as pos- 
 sessing inherent authority and power. 
 
 " I am the resurrection, and the life ; he that believeth 
 on me, though he die, yet shall he live ; and whosoever 
 liveth and believeth on me shall never die." 
 
 Greater words than these were never spoken. They 
 announce the death of death, and the eternal life of life. 
 This sublime revelation is evidently the central idea of 
 the episode, and is immediately to be confirmed by a 
 great miracle, an actual case, symbolizing the universal 
 and eternal resurrection. Indeed this revelation is the 
 central idea of the gospel of salvation bringing life and 
 immortality to light ; for, if there be no resurrection, our 
 faith is vain. 
 
 Let it be noted that the words fall into three clauses ; 
 the first asserting supremacy, the second referring to the 
 resurrection, the third to the life. Also note that 
 throughout, the physical and the spiritual are inseparably 
 blended. Moreover, observe how strikingly this cardinal 
 revelation, made privately under the palms to the woman 
 of Bethany, an ordinary housewife, is similar to that 
 made privately at the well to the woman of Samaria, a . 
 common gossip : Whosoever drinketh of the w r ater that 
 I shall give him, shall never thirst ; but it shall be in 
 him a well of water springing up unto eternal life. 
 
 After a pause, during which the bewildered Martha 
 gazed on him, he asked : 
 
 " Believest thou this ?- " 
 
 He did not ask, Understandest thou this ? Certainly she 
 did not, or at most but dimly. Nor do we, even in the
 
 THE GREAT MIRACLE 279 
 
 light of subsequent teachings and events, fully understand 
 its mysteries. 
 
 Martha continually reminds us of St. Peter, and Mary 
 of St. John. Here the reply of Martha is an exact counter- 
 part of Peter's great confession. 
 
 " Yea, Lord ; I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son 
 of God." 
 
 Very beautiful is this answer. She heartily believed 
 his incomprehensible saying, because she believed in him. 
 This childlike faith was enough. Then Jesus bade her 
 call her sister. 
 
 Mary in her privacy, received the whispered message : 
 
 " The Teacher is here, and calleth thee." 
 
 Instantly she arose and went out quickly. " The 
 Jews, which came to Mary," seeing this, and knowing 
 the different character of the sisters, followed, saying : 
 
 " She, she goeth to the tomb to weep." 
 
 Jesus was waiting under the palms. On coming to 
 him, Mary at once bowed down at his feet in tears, and 
 sobbing said : 
 
 " Lord, hadst thou been here, my brother had not 
 died." 
 
 The very words of Martha. Evidently they had often 
 said this to each other. Perhaps grief prevented her 
 saying more, or perhaps she was taciturn ; for this echo 
 of her sister is her only word on record. Yet the gentle 
 maiden, Mary of Bethany, not only was the chief attrac- 
 tion in her home, but also is well known and admired, 
 beloved and honored throughout all Christendom. 
 
 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews also weep- 
 ing which came with her, " he was moved with indig- 
 nation in the spirit, and aroused himself." In this 
 extraordinary statement, which is not too forcibly trans-
 
 280 
 
 lated, the first phrase implies anger; the second, its 
 tacit expression. How may it be interpreted? Evi- 
 dently it means much more than sympathetic grief. 
 
 In a free sense, Jesus was a passionate man. United 
 with his great intellect and mighty will, was a deep and 
 strong sensibility. How ardent and tender his love for 
 his personal friends, how profound his sorrows, how 
 quick and powerful the impulse of pity, how hot and 
 sudden the flashes of his indignation, how fierce and 
 bitter his scorn of hypocrisy ! All these, too, were 
 stimulated to preternatural exercise by a rapid, sharp and 
 clear imagination that depicted vividly and truly what 
 was beyond the reach of sense. Nor did he repress the 
 natural, outward manifestation of feeling. Witness his 
 outburst over the beggar that had been blind. Jesus 
 was no stoic. Indeed the chains of ancient Stoicism 
 were broken, and it put to shame by the free spirit of 
 Christianity. 
 
 Yet it is hardly accurate to say that he was passionate ; 
 both because of the bad sense commonly attached to the 
 word, and because its primary meaning indicates sub- 
 jection to feeling, the sway of emotion over intellect and 
 will. With him, however, feeling and desire were in con- 
 stant and perfect subordination, and performed their 
 normal and needful functions in his human nature. He 
 was as man before the fall. He was God's ideal, once 
 again realized. Moreover, in his case, the word passion 
 should be reserved for its sacred application to his final 
 suffering, when he subjected himself to objective evil. 
 
 On the present occasion there was a strong, self- 
 aroused manifestation of anger. But anger at what, with 
 whom ? Was it that he saw in the mourners before him,
 
 THE GREAT MIRACLE 281 
 
 and in the tomb of his friend, an epitome of all the suf- 
 fering and dying in the coming ages, and that there 
 passed before his eye all the funeral trains of time? 
 This might be ground for infinite sorrow, but not in itself 
 for anger. Was he angry at sin and death ? These are 
 abstractions. Real anger requires for its object a real 
 person. Was he angry with those Jews before him who 
 were inimical to him, and whose show of grief was per- 
 haps insincere ? Surely they were an inadequate object 
 for so great a movement of his spirit. Apparently there 
 was no person present who could be the object of this 
 profound agitation. 
 
 Let us recall to mind the strong emphasis given, in the 
 gospel narrative, to his conflict at the outset with his 
 great personal enemy, the enemy of mankind. True he 
 won the battle gloriously. Satan departed from him ; 
 but only for a season. That one defeat was insufficient 
 to wrest from him the sovereignty of the world. He re- 
 tired to recuperate, and to renew the struggle with all 
 his collected powers at every opportunity. During the 
 life of Jesus the battle was often repeated, the war was 
 continual. It is seen in the extraordinary prevalence of 
 demoniacal possession ; also in the blind and intense 
 malignity of his human adversaries, which seems explica- 
 ble only by an uncommon activity of satanic influences 
 perverting the mind of that generation. The conflict 
 deepened to the bitter end. At the cross and tomb, 
 Satan apparently triumphed ; but, in glorious reversal, 
 on the resurrection morn, Christ wrested the sceptre from 
 him, and led captive the captives. 
 
 Let us return to Bethany. There in the centre of the 
 group of disciples and mourners, stands the warring
 
 282 HIS PER^AN MINISTRY 
 
 Prince of Light. Invisible to others, but present to him, 
 is the hostile Prince of Darkness. This father of sin, 
 and sorrow, and death, this destroyer, had put forth his 
 hand, and smitten the Saviour's friends. And Jesus was 
 angry ; angry with him ; and aroused himself to wrest 
 from his hand the prey, and to restore to life, light and 
 love the brother whom he loved. 
 
 " Where have ye laid him ? " 
 
 " Lord, come and see." 
 
 They led the way southeastward from the village, down 
 deeper into the valley. 
 
 Jesus wept. 
 
 The tears of Jesus on the way to the tomb were not 
 of anger, nor of sorrow, but of sympathy. The word 
 'here translated wept, means a silent, gentle weeping, in 
 contrast with the crying of the sisters. For him, he 
 knowing what was about to occur, there was no cause 
 to sorrow. His tears were tears of human sympathy 
 only. He simply weeps with those that weep. He wept 
 over Jerusalem, and in Gethsemane, but Jesus comes 
 nearer to us in this weeping on the way to Lazarus' 
 tomb. 
 
 Said the Jews whispering to one another : 
 
 " Behold how he loved him ! " 
 
 Some, they from Jerusalem, wondered, and said : 
 
 " But could not he, which gave sight to the blind 
 beggar, have prevented this death ? " 
 
 Now in the dim twilight of the day and shadow of the 
 valley, before the vertical face of the rock and the stone 
 which lay against it, stand the twelve, the sisters, and a 
 dozen or more Jews, partly friendly, partly inimical to 
 Jesus, who is the central figure. There is no great con-
 
 THE GREAT MIRACLE 283 
 
 course, for he had avoided arousing the village, yet here 
 are exactly the kinds of witnesses fit for indisputable tes- 
 timony. The invisible Adversary with his cohort also 
 attends ; and this, in view of the tomb, excites another 
 storm of divine indignation in the soul of Jesus. Heaven, 
 too, is looking on. 
 
 " Take ye away the stone." 
 
 Martha, whose faith has ebbed, remonstrates, shocked 
 at the thought of exposure. Her words are character- 
 istically ready, plain and practical. She is silenced by a 
 gentle rebuke; and the stone is rolled aside. All stand 
 trembling and anxiously peering into the gloomy vault, 
 the gateway of death. Jesus lifts his eyes and voice to 
 heaven in thanksgiving prayer. He speaks to be heard 
 by all. He had often been accused of league with Satan, 
 the foe he confronts. Now, before witnesses, like Elijah 
 at Carmel, he calls upon his Father to vindicate his Son. 
 Then he cries with a loud voice : 
 
 " Lazarus, come forth." 
 
 That mighty cry thrills through the abyss, the domin- 
 ion of death, and breaks its insuperable power. The 
 soul is rendered up, and at once a white, spectre-like 
 figure stands in the dark door, now the gateway of life. 
 
 On the first day of time, that voice proclaimed, Let 
 there be light ; and light was. On the last day of time, 
 the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, 
 Let there be life ; and life shall be. Yea, the dead shall 
 live again. Marvel not at this ; for the hour cometh in 
 which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and 
 shall come forth. 
 
 Doubtless all present stood numb with amazement and 
 awe. But Lazarus needed assistance. The cerements 
 of the tomb did not entirely prevent motion, but im-
 
 284 HIS PERyEAN MINISTRY 
 
 peded him ; and the napkin about his face blinded him. 
 The words last spoken were those of an almighty God ; 
 the next are those of a calm, self-possessed man. 
 
 " Loose him, and let him go." 
 
 The dictate of practical common sense. His equanim- 
 ity is not disturbed ; but, as when he raised the little 
 girl, so here he is thoughtfully considerate of a simple, 
 ordinary need which others could relieve. All melo- 
 dramatic effect is thoroughly spoiled by this lame and 
 impotent conclusion ; but how vividly it brings out the 
 reality, and how forcibly do these extremes indicate the 
 compass of his character ! 
 
 " St. John here breaks off the narrative of the miracle 
 itself, leaving us to imagine their joy, who thus beyond 
 all expectation received back their dead from the tomb ; 
 a joy which was well nigh theirs alone, among all the 
 mourners of all times, 
 
 ' Who to the verge have followed that they love, 
 
 And on the insuperable threshold stand ; 
 With cherished names its speechless calm reprove, 
 And stretch in the abyss their ungrasped hand.' " 
 
 This great miracle, in which the three recorded rais- 
 ings from the dead culminate by striking gradations, was 
 wrought to exemplify and prove the central doctrine and 
 promise of the Gospel of Christ, and prefigured his own 
 resurrection, the cardinal miracle on which the Gospel 
 hinges. In view of the record, Spinoza, himself a Jew, a 
 logician, a philosopher, the father of modern pantheism, 
 said, If I could be convinced of the resurrection of Laz- 
 arus, I would dash to pieces my whole system, and with- 
 out repugnance embrace the entire faith of Christians. 
 Yet, strange to say, it failed to convert some of the Jews 
 who witnessed it. These precursors of Judas returned
 
 THE GREAT MIRACLE 285 
 
 to Jerusalem, and betrayed to the Pharisees what the 
 Nazarene had done. 
 
 A session of the Sanhedrin was called, and the question 
 raised, What shall we do ? for this man, as they con- 
 temptuously term him, doeth many signs. The reality 
 of the miracles they could not, and hence did not deny. 
 But he is a man dangerous to the State. They cloak 
 malignity with sham patriotism, that last refuge of a 
 scoundrel. See their hypocrisy, the homage vice pays 
 to virtue ! If we do nothing, the people will believe on 
 him, will hail him as Messiah, will crown and enthrone 
 him ; then the Romans will come upon us, extinguish 
 our authority, destroy this Temple, the Holy City, and 
 even our national existence. Thus, in seeking to justify 
 a coveted crime, they utter an unconscious prophecy. 100 
 
 The discussion was closed by Caiaphas, the High 
 Priest and ex-officio President of the Sanhedrin, who 
 scornfully rendered the decision. 
 
 " Ye know nothing at all," said this haughty man, yet 
 falling in with their half-spoken desire, " nor do ye take 
 account that it is expedient for you that one man should 
 die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not." 
 
 This was a Jewish adage, conformable to the political 
 principle of pagan antiquity that the citizen is solely for 
 the welfare of the State, and, to secure it, should be sac- 
 rificed. Accordingly, inspired with the wisdom that 
 cometh from below, the sentence of the court is, Jesus of 
 Nazareth in Galilee must die. There is no hearing, no 
 charge preferred, no guilt pronounced. Yet he must 
 die ; it is expedient. But the High Priest, in rendering 
 this decision ex cathedra, spake not merely his own will. 
 Inspired unconsciously with the wisdom that cometh
 
 286 HIS PER^AN MINISTRY 
 
 from above, he prophesied that the Saviour should die 
 for the nation, and for the world. It was fitting that the 
 Aaronic priesthood, having completed its course and 
 about to be superseded by the one great High Priest 
 consecrated forevermore, should with its expiring breath 
 announce the final sacrifice which it now prepared to 
 offer, and the eternal mediation which it so long pre- 
 figured. The Evil Spirit was present in that Council, 
 and dictated its decision. The Holy Spirit was present 
 in that Council, and set his seal to its decision. 
 
 The Sanhedrin furthermore published an edict that 
 any one knowing where the Nazarene might be found, 
 should give information, in order to his arrest. This led 
 ultimately to his betrayal. In immediate effect it was an 
 interdict against harboring him, and thus a snare for the 
 family at Bethany. For the Sadducees, with Caiaphas 
 their leader, denied the doctrine of the resurrection, and 
 concerning it engaged in fierce disputes with the Phari- 
 sees ; and, as Lazarus was now a living witness against 
 them, causing many adherents to apostatize, they finally 
 became so exasperated that they sought to put him also 
 to death. Thus extreme and bitter disagreement brought 
 around agreement, and a fusion of the hostile parties in 
 their criminal purpose. And hence it is that the Saddu- 
 cees now for the first time come prominently and actively 
 forward in the gospel history. 
 
 Jesus would not expose his friends at Bethany, nor as 
 yet himself, to the hostility of the hierarchy. He there- 
 fore promptly and privately retired with the twelve to 
 Ephraim, in the northeast of Judea, near the upper ex- 
 tremity of the Wilderness, and aside from the frequented 
 highways. There for about a fortnight he tarried in si- 
 lence and seclusion with his disciples. 101
 
 PART EIGHTH 
 His Final Presentation
 
 XXIII 
 THE ROYAL PROGRESS 
 
 THE silent sojourn at Ephraim marks an im- 
 portant epoch in the story of the Nazarene. His 
 evangelical ministry was completed. There 
 were yet healings and teachings, but they were inci- 
 dental. The kingdom had been certified as at hand ; 
 henceforth the dominating intent is the establishment of 
 the kingdom. He goes in lowly yet royal state to Je- 
 rusalem, the capital, to the Temple, the capitol, and 
 peacefully, but formally and distinctly offers himself to 
 the Jewish nation assembled for the Passover as its 
 Messianic King, and is rejected. The royal progress, 
 the proffer and rejection occupy a little more than two 
 weeks, and are the subjects of the present pericope. 
 
 In the early spring, about the middle of March, A. D. 
 30, Jesus with his twelve disciples, left Ephraim, and 
 went directly northward through Samaria into Galilee. 
 It was his intention to present himself in Jerusalem 
 during the pending passover week, the first in April. 
 Also he intended that his formal progress thither should 
 be from Capernaum. There were many reasons for this 
 which are obvious. One is that his mother, and her sis- 
 ters, Salome and Mary wife of Clopas, were going to this 
 Passover, and it was fitting that he, and their sons among 
 the apostles should be with them. 102 
 
 While on the way northward, he was met by ten 
 
 289
 
 290 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 lepers, who standing afar off lifted up painfully their 
 husky voices, and cried out, Jesus, Master, have mercy 
 on us. Prompt as an echo came the reply, Go, shew 
 yourselves to the priests. As they went, they were 
 cleansed. One, a Samaritan, returned to him shouting, 
 and fell on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. Then 
 Jesus sadly asked : 
 
 " Were there not ten cleansed ? Where are the nine ? 
 Have none returned to glorify God, save this alien ? " 
 
 This last miracle in Galilee, at the outset of the new 
 movement, is very significant. His own people turn 
 away. Hereafter he must look for acceptance to aliens 
 from the commonwealth of Israel. Hence the profound 
 pathos of that question, Where are the nine ? 
 
 As he journeyed onward, did he not stop at Nain, to 
 rest in the home of the widow and her son ? May be he 
 spoke a gentle word to the woman who had been a 
 sinner ; and may be he asked Simon the Pharisee an- 
 other question. Surely he went to Nazareth. He would 
 see once more the house where he had lived for thirty 
 years, the carpenter's shop where he had silently worked, 
 and the tomb of Joseph who had guarded his childhood. 
 He would climb once more the high hill, and gaze on the 
 landscape so full of natural beauty and historical glory. 
 Here the farewell lingered. Did he not pass through 
 Cana, and greet the young couple whose marriage he 
 had graced and exalted as water to wine? Then he 
 came to Capernaum, where, after his four months' ab- 
 sence, his mother embraced him. 
 
 While the caravan with which he would go to the 
 Passover was preparing, some Pharisees, who knew of 
 the defection of Galilee and the menace of Jerusalem,
 
 THE ROYAL PROGRESS 291 
 
 asked him with a sneer, When cometh the kingdom ? 
 He answered mildly, The kingdom of God, a kingdom 
 not to be seen and pointed out, is already in the midst 
 of you. m 
 
 This subjective view of the kingdom was discouraging 
 to his disciples, who were still hoping for an objective 
 kingdom expelling the Romans and restoring the sceptre 
 to Israel. To them he narrates the parable of The Im- 
 portunate Widow, teaching that they ought always to 
 pray, and not to faint. Yet a tone of human despond- 
 ency seems to sigh through his own closing words, 
 Howbeit when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith 
 on the earth ? 104 
 
 Relatively to the spirit of prayer thus illustrated, he 
 spake also the parable of The Pharisee and the Publican. 
 The presence of self-righteous and scornful Pharisees, and 
 of the humbled disciples, among whom was Matthew the 
 publican, all about to go up to the Temple to pray, made 
 the lesson very apposite, incisive and inspiring. 
 
 The festive caravan moved from Capernaum southward 
 in the last week of March. It comprised Jesus and the 
 twelve with the three mothers, Mary Magdalene who 
 joined it at Magdala, and other followers, men and 
 women. Perhaps Susanna, the lily, was one ; and may 
 be Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, joined it 
 at Tiberias, where Herod himself was making ready to 
 go. The men were afoot. The women, at least the 
 elder ones, may have ridden when weary, the sumpter 
 mules. This reminds us that Mary the mother of Jesus 
 was growing old. Her years could hardly have been 
 less than fifty, and gray hairs were mingling with her 
 tresses. 105
 
 292 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 The whole route is alive with caravans of pilgrims 
 bound for the Passover. Some have already gone for- 
 ward, others are coming on behind. They pass and 
 repass one another, and in hours of rest intermingle 
 socially. The one we follow crosses the Jordan below 
 the lake, then turns again southward to pursue the usual 
 route of pilgrimage. Farewell, thou proud Capernaum ! 
 Farewell, thou favored Galilee ! Farewell to thee sweet 
 Gospel Lake ! A last farewell. 
 
 To appreciate the connection and bearing of the sub- 
 sequent events, it is needful to observe that a key-note 
 of royalty sounds through them all. For the followers 
 of Jesus at this time cherished the growing conviction 
 that he was now on his way to Jerusalem to assert his 
 claim to the throne of David, and to enforce it by his 
 miraculous power. All looked upon him as a Prince, 
 and upon his journey as a royal progress. And so it 
 was ; only that, rejected as temporal king, he shall be- 
 come king eternal. Indeed he shall receive a purple 
 robe, a sceptre and a crown, and be lifted up upon a 
 throne whence he shall sway all peoples throughout all 
 generations. Therefore Jesus did not deny the hopes of 
 his followers, nor repress their enthusiasm; but, while 
 accepting their loyal homage, he sought, yet in vain, to 
 correct by inversion their chiliastic view. 
 
 On the way, during an hour of rest, certain Pharisees 
 tempt him with a question. These pestilent fellows 
 seem to pervade every region, and to poison every hour. 
 They are as prevalent as sin, and are continually break- 
 ing out like an incurable sore. They ask, Is it lawful for 
 a man to put away his wife for every cause ? This was 
 a very artful and entangling snare. It was a call for a
 
 THE ROYAL PROGRESS 293 
 
 decision between the rival schools that subdivided the 
 sect of Pharisees, the schools of Shammai the strict, and 
 Hillel the liberal. The latter, by far the most popular, 
 advocated divorce for trivial causes, and great laxness 
 prevailed. Had Jesus decided for the former, as was ex- 
 pected from the austerity of his teachings, he would put 
 himself in opposition to the approved customs of his 
 day, and thus incur odium. And, the matter being 
 similar, this might bring upon the prophet of Galilee the 
 fate of the prophet of the Wilderness. 106 
 
 But Jesus broke their toils. He decided for neither 
 school. Both had mistaken the intent of the Mosaic 
 precept. Nor had Herod the fox any terrors for him. 
 With a majestic assumption of royal legislative authority, 
 he proceeded to rectify the indulgent precept of Moses, 
 and propounded the Christian law of marriage, which 
 ennobles woman, and purifies the social world. 
 
 This vast stride in advance of the age perplexed the 
 disciples ; and when the Master entered into a house, the 
 only means of privacy on this thronging journey, they 
 asked him again of the matter. While he was explain- 
 ing, some mothers brought to the door their little chil- 
 dren, that he should lay his hands on them and bless 
 them. Now the disciples thought it unseemly that a 
 prince, expounding certain fundamental laws of his 
 kingdom to his future ministers, should be thus inter- 
 rupted. What concern have women and children with 
 such high matters ? Elated perhaps by his confidential 
 tone, they imagined that surely little children could not 
 interest or engage his thought. These must first be- 
 come men of pith and mark, like to us. So they 
 forbade the little children to come in, and rebuked the 
 mothers. 107
 
 294 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indigna- 
 tion, and said : 
 
 " Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid 
 them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 
 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the 
 kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise 
 enter therein." 
 
 And he took them in his arms, and blessed them. 
 
 This was severe on the disciples, completely inverting 
 their notion ; rather than the children like to them, they 
 must become like to the children. The deep impression 
 made by the incident on the disciples appears in that it 
 is the only one related by all the synoptists since the 
 similar one at Capernaum nearly five months before this, 
 which also they all relate. The impression on the world 
 is out of measure. It has been a common theme for 
 painters and poets ever since, and is one of the first and 
 last-forgotten lessons of childhood. Classical literature 
 knows nothing of children ; Christian literature is full of 
 children. In one short hour on the way to his end, Jesus 
 made, for all time, wifehood holy, motherhood holy, 
 childhood holy. 
 
 When Jesus left the house to resume his journey, one 
 who had been waiting without came running, and 
 kneeled at his feet, saying : 
 
 " Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal 
 life?" 
 
 He was a young man, very rich already by inheritance 
 of goods, but wanted to inherit also eternal life. Al- 
 though himself a ruler, .the governor of that district by 
 Herod's appointment, he kneeled in homage recognizing 
 the Prince of Life. His character is clearly marked.
 
 THE ROYAL PROGRESS 295 
 
 He is emotional, enthusiastic, demonstrative, fluent, and 
 withal rather self-complacent though feeling a lack. He 
 seeks, not grace, unmerited favor, but the reward of 
 merit. 108 
 
 Jesus simply referred him .to the laws of the second 
 table, and to their positive summary, Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbor as thyself. Disappointed and slightly chagrined 
 by this commonplace answer, the querist rejoined : 
 
 " All these have I kept from my youth up ; what lack 
 I yet?" 
 
 This implies that the law, and the answer of Jesus 
 were insufficient. He was still young, though hinting a 
 claim to maturity, and wanted to do something heroic. 
 Jesus concedes the lack in him, and gives him something 
 heroic to do. 
 
 " If thou wouldst be perfect, go, sell all that thou hast, 
 and distribute to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure 
 in heaven ; and come, follow me." 
 
 His countenance fell, for this mode and extent of love 
 to one's neighbor, the complete self-sacrifice which is the 
 essence of heroism, was beyond him. So he arose from 
 his knees, and went away sorrowful. 
 
 Dante calls this, The great refusal, through cowardice 
 made. He is too harsh. Jesus, looking upon that 
 ingenuous, upturned countenance, loved him. Let us 
 believe that this love followed him ; that he repented, 
 obeyed, returned, and was one of the last who shall be 
 first. 
 
 When he had gone away, Jesus, addressing his dis- 
 ciples as children, having but just now taught them that 
 of such is the kingdom of heaven, said to them : 
 
 " Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches 
 to enter into the kingdom of God ! "
 
 296 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 This he emphasized, quoted an Arabic gnome express- 
 ing physical impossibility, It is easier for a camel to go 
 through a needle's eye. The disciples were astonished, 
 and exclaimed, Who then can be saved ! But he said, 
 The things that are impossible with men are possible 
 with God. Now Peter, ready of speech, primus inter 
 pares, steps forward, saying : 
 
 " Lo, we have left all, and followed thee ; what then 
 shall we have ? " 109 
 
 His ear had caught the conditional promise, to the 
 young ruler, of treasure. Jesus replied : 
 
 " Ye shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve 
 tribes of Israel ; and shall inherit eternal life." 
 
 This promise of twelve principalities, this promise by 
 the King of kings that they should be the twelve 
 Caesars of the fifth monarchy, in his Ecclesian Empire, 
 accorded pleasingly with the glowing, chiliastic hopes of 
 the simple disciples, who were thereby unduly elated. 
 So Jesus added a gentle check, saying, with a significant 
 glance perhaps at the forward Peter, But many first shall 
 be last, and the last first. This he illustrated by the 
 parable of The Laborers in the Vineyard. We hear no 
 more from Peter for some time. 
 
 As the company approached the lower ford of the 
 Jordan, Jesus walked in advance, alone. There was 
 much to depress him. He knew the horrors of the next 
 week. He saw the worldly, fallacious hopes of his fol- 
 lowers. Hence a new anxiety oppressed him. Should 
 he lead the twelve, unwitting and self-deceived, into dan- 
 ger ? No, they must be told, and left to choose. With 
 these thoughts, as he walked alone, his mien was sad, 
 dejected, troubled. Though his face was set like flint to
 
 THE ROYAL PROGRESS 297 
 
 go to Jerusalem, yet it was haggard ; though his steps 
 did not falter, yet were they heavy. uo 
 
 The disciples observing him were amazed. A strange 
 aspect, truly, for a prince about to ascend his throne ! It 
 filled them with fear. 
 
 Before reaching the ford, the place of his former bap- 
 tism, Jesus called the twelve apart, and told them, in the 
 simplest, plainest, most literal terms, exactly what should 
 in a few days befall him at Jerusalem ; that he should be 
 betrayed unto the chief priests and scribes, who would 
 condemn him to death, and deliver him unto the Roman 
 gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify ; and the 
 third day he should rise again. But, alas poor human 
 nature ! They would not, or could not, or at least did 
 not understand. Blinded by their prepossessions, by the 
 thought of thrones, they construed these words figura- 
 tively. 
 
 For soon after this, Salome his aunt came to him, lead- 
 ing on either hand her two sons, the apostles James and 
 John, the Boanerges ; and the three bowed down before 
 him, doing royal homage as petitioners. Accepting the 
 homage, he asked : 
 
 " What would ye that I should do for you ? " 1U 
 
 She, presuming upon his kinship, replied : 
 
 " Grant that these my two sons may sit, one on thy 
 right hand, and one on thy left hand, in thy kingdom." 
 
 Jesus was shocked. He had a prevision of Calvary 
 and the two robbers on the right and left of his crucial 
 throne. He exclaimed : 
 
 " Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the 
 cup that I am about to drink, or to be baptized with that 
 other baptism that I am about to receive?" 
 
 Boldly the Boanerges replied :
 
 298 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 " We are able." 
 
 Jesus, pitying their blindness, said sorrowfully : 
 
 " Indeed ye shall drink my cup, and receive that bap- 
 tism ; but to sit on my right and left is not mine to give, 
 but is for whom it hath been prepared." 
 
 When the ten heard of this, they were indignant. 
 Once before they had disputed among themselves, Who 
 shall be greatest ? Now Jesus called them together, re- 
 peated the former rebuke, and sought again to invert 
 their notion of the kingdom. They were not to be like 
 Roman princes serving a Caesar; for even the Son of 
 man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. 
 
 The festal pilgrims recrossed the Jordan at the lower 
 ford into Judea. Three years before this, Jesus came 
 hither for baptism ; now he was on his way to another 
 baptism. The heroic return of Regulus to Carthage is 
 dimmed by this return to Jerusalem. The name of 
 Regulus has been honored justly by being given to the 
 brightest star in the constellation Leo ; but that star can- 
 not shine when the sun is shining. 
 
 Six miles beyond the ford, in the blooming plain, lay 
 Jericho, the city of palms, the city of roses, the fragrant 
 city. The tropical fertility of the region, and the posi- 
 tion on a chief highway, rendered it prosperous. It was 
 rich, and yielded large revenues. Herod the Great had 
 enlarged, adorned and adopted it as a favorite royal re- 
 sort. Archelaus, his son and successor in Judea, added 
 many improvements, and built a palace for himself. 
 Now the descendant of Rahab was approaching the 
 walls which, early in history, he, as Captain of the Lord's 
 Host, had smitten to dust with the sound of trumpets. 
 
 Other pilgrim caravans, concentrating at the ford,
 
 THE ROYAL PROGRESS 299 
 
 swelled his attendants to a multitude. The city got / 
 news of his coming, and many came out to meet him. 
 Among these was Zacchaeus, the chief collector of the 
 revenue from that wealthy district. He wanted to see 
 the famous Nazarene, but could not come near because 
 of the press ; and being little of stature, and there being 
 no mound in that flat alluvial plain from which he could 
 overlook the crowd, he bethought himself, turned back, 
 ran on before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree by 
 the wayside. When the van was passing his post, the 
 people jeered and taunted him with many rough jests ; 
 for, being the chief publican, he was well known, and 
 being a Jew enriched by tax-gathering for Romans, he 
 was despised. But when Jesus came to the place, he 
 looked up, and said : 
 
 " Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down ; for to-day I 
 must abide at thy house." m 
 
 Great was the surprise of Zacchaeus, who made haste, 
 and received him joyfully in his house. Great was the 
 chagrin of the scoffers, that he went in to lodge with a 
 sinner. Great was the scandal of his followers, that a 
 prince should consort with a publican. 
 
 During the evening's entertainment, Zacchaeus stood 
 forth in the assembly of guests, and said : 
 
 " Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the 
 poor ; and if I have wrongfully exacted aught of any 
 man, I restore fourfold." 
 
 This day of equal division and fourfold restitution, far 
 beyond Mosaic precept, was his new-birth day ; for 
 Jesus was pleased, and said : 
 
 " To-day is salvation come to this house." 
 
 What the rich ruler declined, the rich publican de- 
 signed. The camel had passed through the needle's eye.
 
 300 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 And now as the evening wore on, the talk was of the 
 kingdom ; for, as he was nigh to Jerusalem, the kingdom 
 was expected immediately to appear. Therefore he 
 spake the parable of The Pounds, which recounts pretty 
 closely, here in Jericho his favorite seat, the story of 
 Archelaus upon his accession, and is the only parable 
 having an historical basis. 
 
 When Jesus was entering Jericho, a blind beggar, 
 Bartimaeus, cried out to him for mercy. But Jesus, to 
 develop his faith, did not then heed him. Next morn- 
 ing, as he was leaving the city accompanied by a great 
 multitude, Bartimaeus, who together with a companion in 
 like case, was sitting in wait by the wayside, on being 
 told that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by, shouted out : 
 " Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy." l13 
 This Messianic title, heretofore rarely applied, recog- 
 nized his royal claim. But the princely progress should 
 not be assailed by such rude clamor, and so the crowd of 
 embryo courtiers roughly told the beggars to hold their 
 peace. But they cried out so much the more. Then 
 Jesus stood still, and commanded them to be brought. 
 The attendants, very courtier like, instantly changed their 
 tone, and said to Bartimaeus, Be of good comfort ; rise, 
 he calleth thee. And he, casting off his outer garment, 
 sprang up, and came. Then Jesus, moved with com- 
 passion, touched the eyes which immediately received 
 sight. All glorify God. The train moves forward. 
 Zacchaeus and Bartimaeus follow. The rich and poor 
 meet together ; the Lord is the maker of them all. 
 
 From Jericho to Jerusalem is only about twenty miles, 
 but the way is very rugged and very steep. Hence it
 
 THE ROYAL PROGRESS 301 
 
 was near sunset when the caravans reached Bethphage, a 
 hamlet on the east slope of Olivet, nearly two miles short 
 of Jerusalem. This was Friday ; next day was the Sab- 
 bath, beginning at sunset. They could travel no farther. 
 So around about Bethphage the tents were pitched and 
 the camp set until the Sabbath should be passed. 
 
 Jesus with a few of his company, men and women, 
 turned aside to Bethany. There he rested in the home 
 of his friends. History does not intrude into the sacred 
 silence of that Sabbath, the foreshadow of the next. 114 
 
 On Sunday morning, April 2d, the royal progress was 
 resumed. To regard this day as an epoch wherewith 
 begins a new series of events entitled The Passion, is an 
 ancient and persistent error. The week thus beginning 
 is called Passion Week since it includes the passion, but 
 the passion itself did not begin until Wednesday at sun- 
 set, and occupied only three and a half days. The events 
 of Palm Sunday are in strict logical connection with 
 those of the previous week. They are the continuation 
 and culmination of the royal progress. 
 
 Jesus left Bethany afoot, attended perhaps by Peter, 
 James and John, the favored trio, also by his mother and 
 her two sisters, and by Martha, Mary and Lazarus. On 
 coming near to Bethphage, and seeing the whole vicinity 
 alive with thousands of Galilean and Peraean pilgrims 
 waiting to conduct him to the city, Jesus, to avoid being 
 thronged, sent forward two of the disciples to the village 
 to bring him a certain unbroken colt of an ass on which 
 to ride. Anciently and even to-day, on state occasions 
 during peace, oriental princes ride the ass; the horse 
 being symbolic of military, the ass of civil dominion 
 (Zechariah 9 : 9, 10). The disciples found the colt tied,
 
 302 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 as he had said, in the open street at the door of a house, 
 and doubtless to the choice vine that shaded it (Genesis 
 49:10, n).' With the owner's hearty consent, they 
 loosed the colt, and led it away for the Nazarene to use. 
 Returning, they laid their cloaks on the colt, and Jesus 
 sat thereon. 
 
 The party then advanced into the midst of the glad 
 multitude, and the progress is resumed. Enthusiasm 
 rises. Shoutings begin. The most part spread their 
 garments in the way, others strew olive branches, sym- 
 bolic of peace, taken from the roadside orchards, in the 
 way over which the Prince of Peace, accepting this royal 
 homage, rides forward leading the multitude. The pro- 
 cession shouting hosannas ascends the eastern slope of 
 Olivet to its southern shoulder. 115 
 
 Meantime Jerusalem was astir. Already it was 
 crowded with pilgrims to the paschal feast. Aware of 
 the edict of the Sanhedrin, issued a month before, look- 
 ing to the arrest of the Nazarene, they said to one an- 
 other, What think ye ; will he come to the feast ? They 
 had heard, too, from eyewitnesses, of the resurrection of 
 Lazarus. Hence a ferment of expectation. When, 
 therefore, this Sunday morning, they learned that the 
 Nazarene was coming to the city, the common people, 
 both pilgrims and residents chose to honor the miracle 
 rather than the edict, and poured forth in festal array to 
 meet him. The Sanhedrists, bitterly chagrined, said to 
 one another, Behold how ye prevail nothing; lo, the 
 world is gone after him. Again unconscious prophecy. 
 
 The multitude from the city ascend Olivet. They 
 gather from willing palm trees the branches symbolic of 
 jubilee. They meet the Nazarene riding before his joy- 
 ous followers. Responding to their Messianic acclaim,
 
 THE ROYAL PROGRESS 303 
 
 and waving aloft the palm branches, the city people re- 
 turn as the van of the august procession ; so that they 
 that went before, and they that followed after cried to 
 one another continually : 
 
 " Hosanna to the Son of David ; Blessed the King 
 that cometh in the name of Jehovah ; Hosanna in the 
 highest ! " 
 
 When the procession passed over the shoulder of 
 Olivet and thus Cc.me in sight and hearing of the Temple 
 and city, some of the all-pervading, inimical Pharisees, 
 who were sneaking amid the throng, became scandalized. 
 They dared not, however, themselves check the people 
 inflamed with loyal enthusiasm ; but observing the meek, 
 gentle and calm bearing of the Nazarene, they ventured 
 to approach him, and say, Master, rebuke thy disciples. 
 He answered : 
 
 " I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the 
 stones would immediately cry out." 
 
 Yea, the stone walls of the Temple itself would shout 
 echoes. To-day ten thousand thousand Christian temples 
 proclaim him, in accord with the legend over the great 
 stone gate at Salzburg, Te saxa loquuntur. 
 
 The road, as it turns to the right around, yet below the 
 summit of Olivet, is still more than a hundred feet above 
 the city. The view from this point was grand, especially 
 in the morning ; for then the beholder was confronted by 
 the illumined face of all the buildings, then his eye fell upon 
 the holy mount crowned by the vast white marble Tem- 
 ple with gilded roofs blazing in the sunlight, this crown 
 of snow and gold brought into brilliant relief by the 
 mantle of towers and palaces spreading over mount Zion 
 beyond. It made those, says Josephus, who forced them- 
 selves to look upon it at the rising of the sun, to turn
 
 304 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 their eyes away, as they would have done at the sun's 
 own rays. 
 
 And now the royal procession has brought the Prince 
 to this view of his capital and his palace. There is a 
 pause. He gazes on the glorious scene, on the holy city 
 that he loved. History brings to him her thousand 
 thronging memories. Then the Future waves her wand, 
 and there rises a vision of the gathering eagles, the 
 marching legions, the fierce assault, the rivers of blood, 
 the blazing Temple, the levelled walls, the ploughshare 
 passing over Zion, the manacled remnant led to slavery. 
 Bursting into tears of sorrow, he exclaims : 
 
 " O that thou hadst known in this day, even thou, the 
 things which belong unto peace ! " 
 
 Then he recites his vision of the destruction, giving 
 certain specific details which, forty years afterwards, were 
 exactly realized. The people are bewildered by this pic- 
 ture of desolation replacing theirs of dominion, by the 
 cry of woe neutralizing the jubilee. Tears. This second 
 time, Jesus wept. First, were tears of sympathy ; now, 
 of sorrow ; soon, in Gethsemane of the valley before him, 
 shall be tears of suffering. Says Augustine, Lachrymce 
 Domini, gaudia mundi. 
 
 The procession resumes its way along the descent of 
 Olivet towards the city. Enthusiasm again rises ; the an- 
 tiphonal acclaim is renewed between the palm bearers 
 who lead and the olive bearers who follow. Gethsemane 
 is passed ; Kidron, the Rubicon, is crossed ; and the steep 
 ascent to the eastern gateway is begun. As the palm 
 bearers approach it, we expect the cry : 
 
 " Lift up your heads, O ye gates, 
 And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, 
 And the King of glory shall come in."
 
 THE ROYAL PROGRESS 305 
 
 But no ; they begin to feel the influence of the hostile 
 city, and the hosannas are dying. They enter the streets. 
 Women are thronging the balconies and peering from 
 lattices. Scowling men are standing aside in the bazaars 
 to let them pass. For the whole city is moved. And 
 when some scornfully ask, Who is this ye so honor ? did 
 they answer, The Son of David, Messiah, the King of 
 Israel, who cometh in the name of Jehovah ? Alas, no ; 
 the glow of holy enthusiasm is chilled, the hosannas are 
 dead. They answer tamely, This is the prophet, Jesus, 
 from Nazareth of Galilee. It is said that two sounds may 
 so combine as to produce silence. In such a silence, the 
 voice of praise meeting the voice of scorn, Jesus rides 
 through the street into the Tyropceon way, and dismount- 
 ing at the western stairs, ascends them and enters the 
 Temple. 
 
 Attended by the twelve, the Prince made an inspection 
 of his palace. He saw the renewed temple traffic, but 
 withheld his hand, for this was a day of peace. As he 
 passed through the courts, thronged with thousands, he 
 saw the frowns of Priests and Levites, of Pharisees and 
 Sadducees, of Rabbis and Doctors of the Law ; but he 
 passed without arrest, for the Sanhedrists feared the mul- 
 titudes that had escorted him, though indeed these were 
 now silent, and had cast down their palm and olive 
 branches. The inspection being finished, when he had 
 looked round about upon all things, the remainder of the 
 day was passed in silent waiting. He thus publicly and 
 emphatically and peacefully offered himself to his as- 
 sembled nation. No word from him was needed. His 
 claim had been unmistakably avowed, and was under- 
 stood by all. But the favoring multitude and the inim- 
 ical hierarchy neutralized each other. His silence was
 
 306 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 met by silence. An assembled nation kept silence. That 
 time of silence was the hinge of the TV oriel's history. He 
 came unto his own, and his own received him not. He 
 waited, he opened not his mouth. They saw no beauty 
 in him that they should desire him. They hid, as it were, 
 their faces from him. And thus the silent Sunday after- 
 noon was passing away ; the sun was hastening to its set- 
 ting ; and shall there be no voice ? 
 
 Late in the day certain Greeks asked to see him. It 
 was a sign of the ingathering of the Gentiles. Possibly 
 these Greeks were worshippers of the Unknown God, 
 seeking him, if haply they might feel after him, and find 
 him. And he was not far from them. The East had 
 bowed at his cradle ; the West now came to his cross. 
 The petition was made known to Jesus. He was deeply 
 moved, and said : 
 
 " The hour is come, that the Son of man should be 
 glorified. Now is my soul troubled. Father, glorify thy 
 name." 
 
 Then came there a voice out of heaven saying : 
 " I have both glorified, and will glorify it again." U6 
 In this mysterious and sublime event the day culmi- 
 nates. Scorned by the Jew, sought by the Gentile, ap- 
 proved by the Father. His voice had attested him at the 
 Baptism and at the Transfiguration. Now it breaks the 
 brooding silence of the Temple, and from its blue dome 
 proclaims, Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of 
 Zion. 
 
 It being now eventide, Jesus, to be apart, went out unto 
 Bethany with the twelve, and lodged there. 117
 
 XXIV 
 THE REJECTION 
 
 IN the early parts of this narrative, the year in 
 which events occur is more or less doubtful. In 
 later parts, the month is designated with reasonable 
 confidence. In the present part, the weeks stated are 
 beyond question. In the current week, the days and 
 even their two parts, and in the last day, the hours are 
 fixed with historic certainty. 
 
 On Monday, April 3d, A. D. 30, Jesus with the twelve 
 left Bethany to return to the city. It seems that in his 
 eager haste he had not broken his fast, and was hun- 
 gered. Seeing by the wayside a fig tree having leaves, 
 he came to it, and finding thereon nothing but leaves, 
 said unto it : 
 
 " No man eat fruit from thee henceforward forever." 118 
 The tree seemed to shrink, and began to fade. As 
 man he hungers ; as God he withers the barren tree. 
 
 He entered the city, and the Temple. His right to 
 rule he will emphasize by one full day of actual and 
 symbolic rule. He will take violent possession of his 
 palace, and enforce subjection. 119 
 
 In the beginning of his public ministry, at his first 
 Passover, he had expelled the traders from the Temple. 
 At the second Passover there is no sign of their pres- 
 ence. The third Passover he did not attend. At the 
 
 37
 
 308 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 subsequent intermediate feasts, no sign. But at this 
 fourth Passover, the temple traffic was once more in full 
 progress. It is easy to understand that, hostility to him 
 having become inveterate, defiant, the Sanhedrists again 
 connived at the abuse of the holy house, and secretly 
 rejoiced to insult the authority of the Nazarene. This 
 he endured during the peaceful visitation of the previous 
 day ; but now he resents the offense, again drives out the 
 traders, overturns the tables of the money-changers, and 
 more violently than before, the seats of the dove-sellers. 
 On the first occasion he exercised a zealot-right, 
 recognized as belonging to every reforming prophet, of 
 whom it was written, The zeal of thine house hath 
 eaten me up ; and his expostulation was, Make not my 
 Father's house a house of merchandise. On this second 
 occasion, he comes, not as a reforming zealot, but as 
 Messiah, and enforces his personal supremacy, with the 
 severe reprimand, My house shall be a house of prayer, 
 but ye have made it a den of robbers. The act was 
 doubtless symbolic of the cleansing of the theocracy, of 
 the church, of the human heart. 
 
 The purgation accomplished, Jesus continued in the 
 exercise of supreme authority ; for he would not suffer 
 that any man should carry a vessel through the Temple. 
 And how did he occupy the hours of his coercive rule ? 
 He taught the common people, who all hung about him, 
 listening. Also he turned the den of robbers into a 
 house of mercy; for the blind and the lame came to 
 him, and he healed them. The Temple for the first and 
 last time witnessed his healing beneficence. 
 
 During the day a very pretty incident occurred. In 
 the multitudes that thronged the Temple were a number 
 of children. These had seen the palm entry of yester-
 
 THE REJECTION 309 
 
 day, and in their childish hearts lingered an echo of the 
 Messianic cry. They picked up some of the discarded 
 and fading palm branches, formed a mimic procession, 
 and went to and fro, waving the branches and voicing 
 the echo as they cried, Hosanna to the son of David. 
 That cry kept the stones quiet. But the chief priests 
 and doctors were sore displeased. It was a last feather 
 on their overburdened patience. Unable longer to re- 
 strain their insolence, they asked the Lord, Hearest thou 
 what these are saying? This implies a denial of the 
 title, and contempt for the fearless little ones repeating 
 it. Jesus turned sharply on the haughty querists, and said : 
 
 " Yea, I hear it. And did ye never read, Out of the 
 mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected 
 praise?" 120 
 
 To this apt and cogent answer, quoting the septuagint 
 version of the eighth Psalm, there was no rejoinder. 
 The priests and doctors retired abashed, pursued by the 
 unchecked hosannas of the children. While they con- 
 sulted angrily together how they might avoid a riot and 
 yet destroy him, Jehovah, sitting in the heavens, was 
 laughing in derision of their counsel. 
 
 The day of enforced reign was fulfilled. When the 
 evening was come, Jesus went out of the city, returning 
 in the twilight to Bethany. 
 
 The next day, Tuesday, was very eventful. In the 
 morning on their way to the city, Peter called his 
 Master's attention to the fig tree, saying, Rabbi, behold, 
 the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. Jesus 
 answered : 
 
 "Have faith in God; and all things whatsoever ye 
 shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." U1
 
 3to HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 The miracle was extraordinary, unique, unlike any 
 other, inexplicable in itself, but as a symbol strikingly 
 significant. He came to his people hungered, found 
 them arrayed in all the pomp of leaves, but fruitless. 
 They boasted of their law, of their temple worship, of 
 their prerogatives. But their pompous pretensions were 
 deceptive, the nation was rotten-hearted, the fructifying 
 principle was dead, the show was vain, fruit there was 
 none. So, for being false and barren, it was condemned 
 to wither quickly away. 
 
 Jesus entered the Temple, and in the Court of Priests, 
 in view of the great altar smoking with its typical 
 sacrifice, he began to teach the people, who came early 
 in great numbers to hear him. Soon he was interrupted. 
 The inimical Sanhedrists, fearing mob violence, had 
 agreed that their first step must be to discredit him in the 
 eyes of the people. They remembered that, at his first 
 Passover, to their official demand for a sign of his 
 authority, he replied : Destroy this temple, and in three 
 days I will raise it up. Were he brought to repeat this, 
 it would be enough ; for it could be construed as 
 blasphemy. So, while Jesus was teaching, a Sanhedric 
 deputation of elders and scribes, led by the high priests 
 Annas and Caiaphas, came filing through the Temple 
 courts, sweeping its tessellated pavements with their long 
 robes, displaying their wide fringes and broad phylacter- 
 ies, dressed in all the insignia of their high offices. The 
 crowd respectfully gives way, the commissioners stand 
 before the Nazarene and demand : 
 
 " By what authority doest thou these things ? " 122 
 All this is regular, legitimate and imposing. Had he 
 answered, By divine authority, the next question would
 
 THE REJECTION 311 
 
 be, What sign shewest thou ? This, then, he could not, 
 without discredit, decline. The situation was trying, the 
 people expectant. 
 
 The keen intellect of the man, Jesus of Nazareth, quick 
 and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, pierced 
 instantly the heart of the situation. He knew the hypoc- 
 risy of these officials, the neglect and the perversion of 
 their functions. So, proposing to test their credentials 
 before submitting his own, he retorted boldly and 
 promptly : 
 
 " I also will ask you a question ; and first tell me, The 
 baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men ? " 
 
 It was equally their business to inquire into the re- 
 ligious reformation of John. Indeed they had done so, 
 but had neglected to promulgate a decision. The de- 
 mand was legitimate. But it reversed the relation of the 
 parties. The vigorous attack was met by a vigorous 
 counter-attack, and the presence of mind that worked the 
 sudden revulsion is most admirable. Then the Sanhe- 
 drists consulted together in whispers. If we say, From 
 heaven, he will say, Why then did ye not believe his wit- 
 ness of me ? If we say, From men, the people will stone 
 us, for all hold John as a prophet. The dilemma is com- 
 plete ; on either horn their plot is ruined. So they pub- 
 licly stultify themselves, saying, We do not know. This 
 profession of ignorance stripped them at once of all of- 
 ficial claim and dignity ; and that it was false, is implied 
 in the rejoinder of Jesus : 
 
 " Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these 
 things." 
 
 He was still supreme. His abashed opponents wished 
 to retire ; but he stopped them with, Hear a parable. He 
 then spake the parable of The Two Sons, applied it to
 
 312 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 them, and in severest terms denounced their guilt. Again 
 they moved to retire ; but he said, I have not done with 
 you yet ; hear another parable. Then he spake the para- 
 ble of The Wicked Husbandmen. Its application de- 
 clared their punishment, and so dreadfully that some 
 cried, God forbid, others angered wished to lay hold on 
 him. But they must stand and hear yet another parable, 
 The Marriage of the King's Son. It pronounces alle- 
 gorically the judgment which, because of their obduracy, 
 shall come upon their nation. This culminating predic- 
 tion brought them into instant hazard of being stoned. 
 No doubt they were glad of permission to retire, and re- 
 turned to their council chamber, humiliated, utterly dis- 
 comfited, and desperate. 
 
 They were not slow in devising a new plot against the 
 Nazarene. Be it remembered that the Temple was not 
 only a place of worship, but also of education. It was 
 the Jewish University. About twenty years before this, 
 a boy of twelve years of age had confounded its Faculty 
 with his questions, and taught the teachers by his an- 
 swers. Young Saul of Tarsus had more recently pur- 
 sued his studies there, and returned home. The learned 
 Rabbis and Doctors of the Law, of the schools of Hillel 
 and Shammai, were numerous, and no doubt their dis- 
 ciples, the Academics, were correspondingly numerous, 
 drawn mostly from the wealthy and aristocratic families 
 of Jerusalem and Palestine. 
 
 Also be it remembered that among the Jews there was 
 a political party, devoted to the house of Herod, and 
 therefore called Herodians. Especially they supported 
 Herod Antipas who was at this time in Jerusalem. They 
 were popular royalists, not in opposition to their own
 
 THE REJECTION 313 
 
 people, yet favoring the Roman power which sustained 
 the Herods. These also belonged to the wealthy and 
 aristocratic class ; some perhaps were courtiers. It is 
 easy to understand that many of the Herodian youths 
 were loitering in the Temple that Tuesday in the society 
 of the young Academics. 
 
 The Pharisaic Doctors, acting in collusion with the 
 Sanhedrists, gathered a mixed party of these young men, 
 and persuaded them to pretend a dispute among them- 
 selves about the lawfulness of the Roman tribute, which 
 dispute they had agreed to refer to the Nazarene for de- 
 cision. It was hoped that their youth would interest and 
 disarm him, and he be tempted to utter a treasonable 
 word. The Roman governor Pilate was at hand, no 
 doubt ready to mingle the blood of this Galilean also with 
 the sacrifices. The young men, already adepts in hypoc- 
 risy, flattered by the commission, and eager for any ex- 
 citing mischief, entered knowingjy and heartily into the 
 vile scheme. 123 
 
 They approached Jesus with great show of deference, 
 with fawning, flattering phrases to allay suspicion and 
 ensnare him, complimenting his fearless independence and 
 truthfulness, and then asked : 
 
 " Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not ? " 
 
 Should he answer, It is not, the Herodians would cry, 
 Traitor ! and deliver him to the Roman guard. Should 
 he say, It is, the Academics would cry, Renegade ! and 
 deliver him to the Levitical guard, and the people, in- 
 flamed with patriotism at their national feast, would con- 
 sent. But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said : 
 
 " Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites ? Shew me the 
 tribute money ? " 
 
 One of the querists drew a coin from his girdle, and
 
 3H HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 exhibited it lying in his open palm. It was a denarius, 
 of which specimens are still extant, stamped with profile 
 of the emperor Tiberius, and the legend Ti. Ccesar. Jesus, 
 pointing to it, asked : 
 
 " Whose is this image and superscription ? " 
 
 They said unto him, Caesar's. Observe, he obliges 
 them, standing before him, to acknowledge, by the dis- 
 play in their own hand of its current coin, their subjec- 
 tion de facto to the Roman government. Thence his 
 reply : 
 
 " Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are 
 Caesar's ; and unto God the things that are God's." 
 
 They had asked, Shall we give ? He replied, Render, 
 give back, repay ; it is not making a gift, but is paying a 
 debt. Render to Caesar the coin bearing his image ; 
 render to God the soul bearing his image. There is no 
 entanglement here. They could denounce him neither 
 as traitor nor as renegade. So they marvelled at his 
 answer, and held their peace, and left him, and went 
 their way. 
 
 The answer, so fitly solving the toil, is most admirable 
 for its broad wisdom. " It establishes the rights, regu- 
 lates the duties, and distinguishes the jurisdiction of the 
 spiritual and temporal powers, and their subjects. It 
 contains the fundamental principle and guide for the set- 
 tlement of the vexed question of Church and State which 
 has caused so much trouble and persecution in the his- 
 tory of Christianity." 
 
 And now certain haughty and inimical Sadducees come 
 forward with another'device for his abasement. 
 
 It has already been noted that this sect held, in opposi- 
 tion to the Pharisees, that there is no angel, or spirit, or
 
 THE REJECTION 315 
 
 resurrection, or after life, and claimed to prove it from 
 the writings of Moses. They were rationalists, material- 
 ists, the Epicureans of Judea ; while their doctrinal dis- 
 putants, the Pharisees, were ritualits, spiritualists, the 
 Stoics of Judea. They had come, however, to agree 
 with the Pharisees on one point, namely, the Nazarene 
 must die ; for he taught the resurrection with power, and 
 the revenant Lazarus was a present witness against 
 them. 
 
 There was a puzzling question with which the Sad- 
 ducees had often confounded their opponents, and with it 
 they now proposed to embarrass and discredit the Naza- 
 rene. They state a case under the levirate law (Deuter- 
 onomy 25:5-10), of a woman who had in succession seven 
 husbands, and they ask, In the resurrection whose wife of 
 them shall she be ? This they consider unanswerable, 
 and so infer from Moses that there is no after life. But 
 Jesus said unto them : 
 
 " Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power 
 of God." 124 
 
 Then he opened the gates of heaven, and gave to them 
 and to us a glimpse of the mysterious hereafter, saying : 
 
 " They that are accounted worthy to attain to that 
 world, neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are 
 as angels in heaven." 
 
 This amazing reply baffled his tempters. It has given 
 to art the beautiful conception and delineation of sexless 
 angels. How different the Moslem paradise ! 
 
 Then Jesus, adopting their vein, quoted from Moses 
 God's words, I am the God of Abraham, and said, He is 
 not the God of the dead, but of the living ; therefore ye do 
 greatly err. Evidently ; for the inference is plain, that 
 Moses recognized the reality of an after life.
 
 3i6 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 When the Pharisees heard that he had put the Sad- 
 ducees to silence, they resolved to make one more, a 
 desperate attempt. 
 
 Jesus was now standing before the Jewish people claim- 
 ing to be the Messiah, the Christ. The Jews of that time 
 were expecting in the Messiah no more than a human 
 temporal king of great power and wide dominion. But 
 these Pharisees remembered that on two prior occasions 
 a few months removed, the Nazarene had claimed sonship 
 of God, and equality with the Father, and on both occa- 
 sions had narrowly escaped being stoned. Could he now 
 be decoyed to repeat the claim, the stoning might at once 
 be accomplished. 
 
 Their device was this. There was a universally ap- 
 proved answer to the question, What is the great com- 
 mandment? which, answer declares very strongly the 
 unity of God, and demands exclusive devotion to him 
 (Deuteronomy, 6:4, 5). Now, if the Nazarene should 
 give some other answer, especially one claiming to share 
 divine honors, it would shock the people, break in upon 
 their rigid monotheism, and induce an instant stoning for 
 blasphemy. m 
 
 So then, to take the Nazarene off his guard, they put 
 forward as spokesman a venerable Scribe, a Doctor of the 
 Law, a Rabbi of great attainments and reputation, and 
 having a lofty spirit of piety. This aged man, walking 
 thoughtfully on the silent, solemn shore of that vast ocean 
 he must sail so soon, had taken no part in the efforts to 
 crush the Galilean teacher, and does not perceive the base 
 use his compeers would make of him. They suggest 
 that it would be weU to have the opinion of this famous 
 teacher on the question, and propose that he ask it. 
 
 The venerable Rabbi, followed by the Pharisees, makes
 
 THE REJECTION 317 
 
 his way to Jesus. The question is asked. Promptly and 
 respectfully Jesus gives the approved but undesired 
 answer, simply because it is the true answer. The in- 
 geniously woven mesh, so adroitly thrown, floats away 
 like gossamer. The Rabbi, touched by words so accord- 
 ant with his own conviction, rejoins with deep feeling by 
 this beautiful paraphrase : 
 
 " Of a truth, Master, thou hast well said that he is one ; 
 and there is none other but he ; and to love him with all 
 the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all 
 the strength, and to love his neighbor as himslf, is much 
 more " waving his hand towards the great altar " much 
 more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." 
 
 And when Jesus perceived that he had answered dis- 
 creetly, he looked upon him earnestly, and said : 
 
 " Thou are not far from the kingdom of God." 
 
 Of the four distinct attempts on this day to ensnare, 
 dishonor and destroy him, this last was the most subtle 
 toil of the Tempter. It too was foiled. But Jesus did 
 not permit his adversaries to retire with the conceit that 
 he had abated his high claim. Turning to them, he 
 pointed out in a few cogent words that David, the great 
 king, acknowledged under inspiration that Messiah, 
 though his son, yet was his superior, his Lord. The in- 
 ference from this, that David's son, being also his Lord, 
 must have been a partaker of the divine essence, he left 
 to their meditation. And from that day forth no man 
 durst ask him any more questions. 
 
 It must have been afternoon when this last assault was 
 made upon the Lord. He was still in the innermost 
 Court, in full view of the brazen altar and the lofty porch 
 of the Sanctuary. He was continually thronged by a
 
 3i8 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 multitude of people pressing to see and to hear him, and 
 he occupied the intervals between the assaults with teach- 
 ing. But now it was manifest that the breach between 
 him and the temple party, formed of the leading repre- 
 sentatives of the nation, had become irreconcilable. His 
 proffer of kingship was scorned. He was despised and 
 rejected. A crisis was near and inevitable. There is a 
 limit to divine patience, even to the patience of Jesus. 
 
 With a stern aspect and in the audience of all, he 
 warned his disciples against the practice and pride of the 
 Scribes and Pharisees. Then turning to them, he hurled 
 upon them the great denunciation. Like the seven thun- 
 ders of the Apocalypse, these seven woes follow each 
 other, peal upon peal. He opened his first recorded 
 public address, near the beginning of his ministry, on the 
 Mount of Beatitudes, with a sevenfold benediction ; he 
 closed this last public address, near the end of his min- 
 istry, on the Mount of Desecration, with a sevenfold de- 
 nunciation ; a reminder of Ebal and Gerizim. How the 
 wretched hypocrites must have been scathed and scarred 
 by these lightning flashes of divine indignation ! M6 
 
 The final beatitude has a beautiful counterpart in the 
 lamentation following the woes. Heightened by the con- 
 trast, nothing could be more tenderly pathetic. The 
 figure is the homely one of a hen and chickens. True 
 pathos always finds its expression in what is homely and 
 real. Here the figure is peculiarly apt ; for Jesus saw, 
 what the silly Jews did not see, the fierce and rapacious 
 eagle of Rome hovering over Jerusalem. Had they 
 gathered at his call, they might have been delivered from 
 its talons. 
 
 With this denunciation and lament, Jesus of Nazareth,
 
 THE REJECTION 319 
 
 the rejected Messianic King, closed his public ministry. 
 Then, attended by his few disciples, he left the Temple, 
 never to return. This was a great decisive act, and a 
 terminal epoch in the history of Israel. The Jews have 
 a tradition that forty years before the final destruction of 
 Jerusalem, the lamp which constantly burned in the 
 Sanctuary went out, and was never relighted. We un- 
 derstand that better than they. Tacitus tells us that be- 
 fore the ruin of the Temple a sound of the departing 
 gods was heard ; and Josephus adds that a voice as of a 
 great multitude proclaimed, Let us go hence. The 
 legend has a basis in truth ; for when the nation rejected 
 his proffer of kingship, the Shechinah of the Second 
 Temple abandoned it forever, saying : 
 
 " Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I 
 say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye 
 shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the 
 Lord."
 
 XXV 
 THE PROPHECY 
 
 THE final departure from the Temple was marked 
 by two events, simple but memorable. 
 On leaving the Court of Priests, Jesus passed 
 through the great Nicanor Gate into the adjoining Court 
 of Women. Here he sat down to rest after the wearying 
 conflicts and exhausting emotions of the day. In this 
 Court were ranged thirteen bronze, trumpet -mouthed 
 money jars, to receive contributions, each jar labeled for 
 a specific object. Hence this Court of Women was 
 called also The Treasury. Jesus observed rich men 
 coming and making large gifts of coins, dropping them 
 in ostentatiously one by one, so that all might hear the 
 ring on the bottom of the jar. Among them came also 
 one poor widow, timidly, bashfully, unnoticed by any 
 save one, and as secretly as possible, and with a blush, 
 dropped in two mites. Only one ear besides her own 
 heard the slight ring. As she hurried furtively away, 
 Jesus, pleased and touched with sympathy, called the at- 
 tention of his disciples to her gift, and said : 
 
 " Verily, this poor widow cast in more than they all ; 
 for it was all the living she had." m 
 
 So the poor widow must fast to-day and to-morrow. 
 Had she kept back one of the mites, it would have 
 bought her a slice of bread. Gifts are to be measured, 
 says Ambrose, not by how much is given, but by how 
 much remains behind. 
 
 320
 
 THE PROPHECY 321 
 
 The value of the two mites was less than half a cent. 
 Nevertheless, had they been put at compound interest at 
 only one per cent, per annum, they would to-day have 
 amounted to a sum greater than all the Christian contri- 
 butions of the past century. And have they not been at 
 interest ? Under the approbation of Jesus, what has not 
 been their multiplying influence for eighteen centuries, 
 and when will it cease to multiply ? The poor widow, 
 however, knew nothing of that so long as she lived. 
 
 Shortly after this charming incident, the little com- 
 pany, on its way out, was passing through the Court of 
 Gentiles. The disciples had witnessed his rejection, they 
 had heard the avalanche of woes falling with mighty im- 
 petus from so great height, and the wail that followed it, 
 and their hearts were full of sad presentiment. They 
 loved their people, and felt a patriotic pride in their 
 great Temple. Its stately colonnades and cloisters of 
 snowy marble, its Beautiful Gate of Corinthian brass, its 
 tessellated pavements, its ponderous masonry, its central 
 shrine of sculptured stone made glorious within by carved 
 cedar overlain by gold and studded with gems, these and 
 its history, these and its fame, these and its holiness, they 
 thought upon with dread of an impending doom. One 
 of them, perhaps Simon Peter, would plead for the 
 Temple. 
 
 " Master, behold, what manner of stones, and what 
 manner of buildings ! " 128 
 
 " Seest thou these great buildings ? " replied Jesus. 
 " There shall not be left here one stone upon another, 
 which shall not be thrown down." 
 
 His eye was not dazzled by its splendor. He knew it 
 was a whited sepulchre.
 
 322 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 Late in the afternoon of this eventful day, the little 
 band of Galileans ascended the western slope of Olivet to 
 a point overlooking the city. Dividing there, the greater 
 part went forward beyond the ridge to the Galilean 
 camps, while Peter and Andrew his brother, James and 
 John his brother, lingered behind with the Master, he 
 having stopped and seated himself on a rock-ledge by the 
 wayside to await the going down of the sun. Two days 
 before this he had paused near the same place, and wept 
 over Jerusalem, and foretold its doom. Then it was 
 lighted brilliantly by the morning rays of a risen sun, the 
 Temple reflecting his beams with a rival radiance. Now 
 the sun was declining. The towers and palaces of 
 Jerusalem cast lengthening shadows over the homes of 
 the people. The radiance of the Temple was gone, its 
 dark side met the eye, the sombre hues of night were 
 creeping through its marble courts, a tide of gloom was 
 rising among its gilded columns, and nigh at hand, in the 
 dark shadow of its lofty wall, down in the valley, lay 
 Gethsemane. As the prophet Prince gazed on the fading 
 glories of his abandoned palace, a vision of the coming 
 retribution and ruin transfigured the scene. Sad were 
 his eyes, and his features furrowed by sorrow. Then his 
 companions, mindful of his recent sayings, and oppressed 
 with sympathetic forebodings, ventured to ask: 
 
 " Master, tell us, when shall these things be, and what 
 the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world ? " 129 
 
 Assenting to their request, Jesus delivered in the hear- 
 ing of these favored apostles his great eschatological dis- 
 course. It separates into two principal parts. The first 
 is apocalyptic in style, and we note that St. John was a 
 listener. It predicts times of trouble and distress as 
 forerunners and signs of the end of Jerusalem, typical of
 
 THE PROPHECY 323 
 
 his second advent and the end of the world. This 
 prophecy, together with that spoken an hour before con- 
 cerning the Temple, and that spoken two days before 
 concerning Jerusalem, within less than fifty years became 
 history. Disasters accumulated, and culminated in the 
 destruction of Jerusalem. Even to-day some columns of 
 the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus are standing, the 
 Parthenon is almost entire, the temples of the sun at 
 Heliopolis and at Persepolis are not wholly ruined, and 
 travellers still wander through the gigantic halls of 
 Luxor ; but the great contemporary Temple of Herod, 
 in less than a century from its beginning, vanished like a 
 dream. Not one stone was left upon another. The 
 whole city was so utterly destroyed that for several ages 
 its very site was uncertain. Other nations of antiquity 
 have either wholly disappeared, or else their descendants 
 still occupy their country ; but the Jewish people were 
 perpetuated yet scattered over the face of the earth. 
 
 " For they must wander whitheringly, 
 
 In other lands to die, 
 And where their father's ashes be, 
 
 Their own may never lie ; 
 Their Temple hath not left a stone, 
 And mockery sits on Salem's throne." 
 
 Only divine eyes could foresee these strange inversions 
 of historical order ; and the exact fulfillment thus far of 
 the prophecy confirms the remainder. 
 
 The second part of the prophecy is parabolic in 
 style. It begins, however, with a mention of signs in 
 the heavens and the earth that shall portend his second 
 coming and the end of the world. This is followed by 
 a warning to prepare and watch for the advent whose 
 date is unknown to all save the Father. The warning is
 
 324 HIS FINAL PRESENTATION 
 
 enforced by the parables of The Wise and Evil Servants, 
 The Ten Virgins, and The Talents, which three parables 
 end the series, making about thirty in all. 130 
 
 The discourse closes with a parabolic description of 
 the last judgment. The sublimity of the scene surpasses 
 imagination. Christ appears in glory attended by the 
 holy angels. On the throne of his glory he exercises 
 full judicial authority as King of the Universe. Great 
 infinities crowd upon our thought; infinite majesty in 
 the celestial tribunal, infinite power in the resurrection 
 and assembling of all the nations, infinite wisdom in the 
 separation of the evil from the good, infinite justice in 
 the judgment, for those infinite punishment, for these 
 eternal life. And these infinities contrast with infinitesi- 
 mal acts, feeding the hungry and visiting the sick, which 
 give occasion and direction to the infinities. Imagina- 
 tion, failing to traverse such celestial diameters, sinks 
 fainting into the arms of faith.
 
 PART NINTH 
 
 His Passion
 
 XXVI 
 
 THE PRELUDE 
 
 THE close of the great prophecy, depicting the 
 parousia with dazzling splendor, and affirming 
 that the rejected kingship shall yet be realized, 
 terminates the mission of Jesus to the house of Israel as 
 teacher and reformer, as Prophet revealing God's will 
 and purpose. Heretofore his public life has been one of 
 incessant action ; the remainder is to be preeminently a 
 passion. True he has been a constant sufferer, through 
 sympathy, by contradiction, and in anticipation of 
 his appointed hour. But now above all he shall suffer 
 the hiding of his Father's face, and become a curse for 
 us. Heretofore he has avoided or contended with his 
 enemies ; henceforth he does neither, but willingly de- 
 scends into the valley of humiliation, and is submissive 
 and dumb as a sheep before her shearers. For he now 
 assumes his second office, and as High Priest will offer 
 once for all the great mediatorial sacrifice. Here all the 
 radii of history meet. Let us put off our shoes from 
 our feet, for we are about to enter the inner sanctuary 
 of time. 
 
 The sun beyond Jerusalem is setting. The city with 
 its temple is shrouded in gloom. Jesus and his four 
 disciples are silently gazing on the vision of things to 
 come. With sunset, by Jewish count, another day 
 begins. In its beginning, Jesus withdraws his gaze from 
 the remote future, and fixes it on that near at hand. 
 
 327
 
 328 HIS PASSION 
 
 Still moved by the spirit of prophecy, he tells the awed 
 apostles of his impending passion. Twice already he 
 has foretold its circumstances ; now he gives the date. 
 
 " Ye know that after two days the Passover cometh, 
 and the Son of man is delivered up to be crucified." 1M 
 
 These few, sublimely simple words constitute the 
 prologue to the last act of the tragedy for which the 
 world was built as a stage, and designate the epoch from 
 which eternity counts its fore and after aeons. 
 
 While Jesus and his companions were going in the 
 deepening twilight on to Bethany for the night, Satan 
 in Jerusalem was actively assembling his acolytes to con- 
 spire against him. The complete and disgraceful defeat 
 of their several assaults during the past day exasperated 
 him and them to desperation. So, after sunset, there 
 was a caucus of the leading Sanhedrists in the open 
 court of the palace of the high priest Caiaphas. This 
 palace was situated west of the Temple just across the 
 Tyropoeon valley which ran from north to south between 
 the temple mount and the city on Mount Zion. Its 
 court was afterwards the scene of Peter's denial. Jesus 
 had just foretold his death with calm certainty; his 
 adversaries with feverish uncertainty were now consulting 
 how they might take him by subtilty and kill him. 
 They dared not proceed openly, for they feared the peo- 
 ple lest there should be an uproar. The Jews were 
 easily inflamed, were very turbulent and violent, so that 
 the fears of the Sanhedrists were not idle fears. There- 
 fore they would resort to subtle craft; but unable to 
 devise a feasible plan, .they finally decided to postpone 
 the attempt until after Passover, when the departing of 
 the multitudes would restore their usual power. The
 
 THE PRELUDE 329 
 
 subsequent proposition of Judas, however, changed this 
 decision. They could neither hasten nor delay the divine 
 order. 132 
 
 It will be well just here to give a brief account of the 
 high priesthood, and of its present incumbents, who have 
 already been referred to by name several times, and who 
 soon become prominent actors. The office, according to 
 the law, was for life and hereditary. The succession had 
 been uninterrupted, with one exception, until the century 
 beginning with Herodian rule, during which century 
 there were twenty-seven depositions and appointments 
 by royal authority. Herod and the Romans played at 
 football with the high priesthood. In A. D. 7, Annas 
 was appointed by the Roman procurator, and continued 
 in office seven years. He was then deposed by like 
 authority, and several of his sons appointed and deposed, 
 one after another. Then Joseph Caiaphas, his son-in-law, 
 received the office from the procurator in A. D. 26, and in 
 turn was deposed in A. D. 37. Therefore, during the min- 
 istry of Jesus, Caiaphas was officially high priest, and as 
 such had wickedly prophesied that it was expedient that 
 one man should die for the people. But Annas was 
 looked upon by the Jews as legitimately high priest, and 
 he acted as deputy, sagan, to Caiaphas. His influence 
 was therefore very great, and it required the sanction of 
 both to legitimize and popularize any measure. Hence 
 the plural, high priests, at this time, though legally there 
 was but one. Their cooperation appears in subsequent 
 events. 
 
 The night and day of Wednesday passed in silence. 
 Jesus doubtless spent its hours in the privacy of the home
 
 330 HIS PASSION 
 
 of his friends at Bethany. We would gladly know some- 
 thing of his meditations during this solemn though brief 
 seclusion in near prospect of the bitter cross. But we 
 have only the poet's surmise : 
 
 " On thee and thine, thy warfare and thine end, 
 
 E'en in this hour of agony he thought, 
 When, ere the final pang his soul should rend, 
 
 The ransomed spirits one by one were brought 
 To his mind's eye ; this silent day of days 
 In calmness for his far-seen hour he stays." 13 
 
 In the evening his hostess made him a feast to which 
 the twelve were bidden. As it was not customary for 
 women to share in formal feasts, the busy Martha served 
 and the quiet Mary otherwise honored her Teacher, while 
 the revenant Lazarus reclined at table with the guests. 
 Is it not strange that Jesus, when passing into the valley 
 of the shadow of death, should have accepted the com- 
 pliment of a banquet, and engaged in social festivity? 
 For this, though it attained a higher significance, was 
 doubtless originally intended as a festal expression of 
 gratitude for the return of Lazarus, a joyful resurrection 
 feast. Yet thus the lord of life entered the vale of death. 
 Now it was not the habit of Jesus to turn gladness into 
 sadness, and we may be sure that, though he felt the iron 
 grasp of his destiny, though he knew that for him but one 
 day of peace remained, yet in full sympathy with joyful, 
 thankful hearts, he took his place at the festive board, 
 and by his kindly cheerfulness and pleasant converse with 
 his friends redoubled their happiness. Such self-command 
 is sublime ; such self-forgetful love divine. 134 
 
 Try to picture the scene ; the banquet hall lighted by 
 candelabra ; the low table in form of the letter U ; the
 
 THE PRELUDE 331 
 
 couches ranged around its outside, heading on it ; the one 
 at the closed end a little apart from the others, and occu- 
 pied by Jesus alone; on his left or behind him as he 
 leaned on his left elbow, the revenant Lazarus ; on his 
 right or before him, the apostle John; the other apostles 
 reclining on couches at the sides ; no other guests ; Martha 
 standing at the open end of the table opposite to Jesus, 
 directing the service along the clear space within ; ranged 
 against the walls of the hall many standing spectators, 
 mostly curious common people from Jerusalem, an ever 
 changing crowd, keenly but respectfully scrutinizing the 
 dead alive and the giver of life. Such attendance of un- 
 invited spectators on a semi-public banquet, was and 
 still is oriental custom ; and it was the flowing of these 
 people from Jerusalem to Bethany that now finally so 
 exasperated the chief priests that they took counsel to 
 put Lazarus also to death, since by reason of him many 
 of the Jews believed on Jesus. 
 
 The feast progresses. In the midst or near its end, 
 Mary, hitherto unseen, advances between her brother's 
 couch and that whereon Jesus lay, bearing an alabaster 
 cruse of spikenard ; she breaks off its narrow neck, and 
 pours much of the precious ointment upon the head of 
 Jesus ; then turning to his feet, she pours the remainder 
 over them ; then kneeling down she humbly catches the 
 drippings from his feet on her hair brought forward in 
 her hands, and gently wipes them with the flowing 
 tresses. The house is filled with the delicious perfume as 
 with the fragrance of all pervading love. 
 
 She had kept the spikenard for this day. It was a 
 princely gift, a pound, pure and very precious. When 
 the hour she awaited came, Mary broke her cruse, a 
 heroic action, there was no reserve, all was lavished, all.
 
 332 HIS PASSION 
 
 The first, choice portion was poured upon his head ; the 
 cruse was exhausted on his feet. It was customary for a 
 servant to wash with water the feet of guests as they re- 
 clined at table, and this must have been grateful to such 
 as were travellers afoot. But to anoint with precious oil 
 the feet even of kings and emperors, was not known until 
 Otho taught it to Nero. Here, however, a noble woman, 
 in an ecstasy of love, gratitude and adoration, anticipated 
 the prodigality of the Caesars, and herself anointed the 
 feet of her guest whose weary life-journey was near at 
 end. Near at end, yet now entering a new office. May 
 we not think of this as an inauguration festival, and that 
 as Moses poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, 
 and anointed him to sanctify him, so it was ordained that 
 here a pure and loving woman should anoint our great 
 High Priest, consecrated for evermore. 
 
 A new actor now enters the scene. Judas Iscariot, one 
 of the apostolic college and its bursar, had taken the 
 couch just beyond Lazarus, claiming an upper place be- 
 cause of his office, and wishing to avoid as far as prac- 
 ticable the Master's eye. While Mary was yet wiping 
 her Lord's feet with her hair, Judas turned to her with 
 the sanctimonious speech : 
 
 " To what purpose is this waste ? For this ointment 
 might have been sold for above three hundred denaries, 
 and given to the poor." 
 
 Waste, was it ? And whom did he mean by the poor ? 
 The college ? Then this was a beggar's whine. Others ? 
 Then it was pure hypocrisy, for he cared not for the 
 poor. In either case he wanted the denaries in the com- 
 mon purse entrusted to him, that he might pilfer from it 
 more than usual ; for he was a thief, habitually stealing 
 from its slender contents,
 
 THE PRELUDE 333 
 
 No doubt the gentle lady was troubled by those rude, 
 supercilious words. Modest and taciturn, she had no re- 
 ply ; but there was one to speak for her. Ill manners 
 were offensive to Jesus, and he despised hypocrisy. 
 Here it cropped out from a follower. Was he not mor- 
 tified ? If the speech had the beggar whine, then surely 
 Jesus blushed. No sooner did the harsh voice grate 
 upon his ear than fixing quick his flashing eyes on Judas, 
 he sternly said : 
 
 " Let her alone." 
 
 Then turning an indignant glance on certain of the dis- 
 ciples who, approving the pious speech of Judas, had 
 murmured against her, he added : 
 
 " Why trouble ye the woman ? She hath wrought a 
 beautiful work, e'pyov KO.UV, on me. She hath done what 
 she could. She did it to prepare me for burial." 
 
 Did Mary consciously anticipate that sad rite ? Only 
 perhaps in dim presage. But these words show whither 
 the thought of Jesus was tending in the midst of the glad 
 feast. 
 
 A beautiful work. Love's farewell sacrifice. She had 
 kept her gift which she might have used in embalming 
 her brother, for embalming her Lord. Mary of Bethany, 
 though no word of her own is recorded, stands, with 
 Mary of Magdala, next to Mary the mother of Jesus in 
 the loving admiration of mankind ; and, according to his 
 word, wheresoever the glad tidings are preached in the 
 whole world, there also is this told for a memorial of 
 her. 
 
 The incident is rendered most exquisite by the vivid 
 contrast between Judas and Mary. Observe his hypoc- 
 risy, her sincerity; his heartless noisy speech, her 
 hearty silent act. Compare his broken purse with her
 
 334 HIS PASSION 
 
 broken cruse ; his selfish greed with her generous liber- 
 ality; the price he received to dishonor and destroy 
 with the price she paid to honor and embalm. Both did 
 what they could ; and thereby the one became eternally 
 infamous, the other famous in earth and heaven forever. 
 
 With the commendation of her Lord, Mary of Bethany 
 disappears from the gospel story ; with the rebuke of his 
 Master, Judas comes into bad eminence. Heretofore 
 only his name has appeared, yet here and there his shadow 
 falls. Many warnings of Jesus attain a more pointed 
 significance, if we remember that Judas was a hearer, and 
 to his presence may be attributed occasional traces of re- 
 serve and depression. Jesus knew what was in man, and 
 from the beginning knew who should betray him. Once 
 he alluded to Judas as a devil. Why then did he elect 
 and retain him as an apostle? The question is unan- 
 swerable. 
 
 Judas was ambitious and avaricious. He had heard 
 the promise of twelve princedoms. This fired his unre- 
 generate soul with dazzling hopes of power and splendor 
 that blinded his moral sense. Meantime, having shown 
 some smartness in money matters, a dangerous talent, he 
 was made bursar, a dangerous trust. This whetted his 
 greed, and the expectant prince practiced pilfering from 
 the petty purse. Had he not heard, He that is unright- 
 eous in a very little is unrighteous also in much ; if there- 
 fore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, 
 who will commit to your trust the true riches ? Such 
 warnings, accompanied perhaps by significant glances, 
 made his guilty soul continually uneasy, generating dis- 
 like growing into malignity. 
 
 The feast at Bethany is over ; the guests are retiring.
 
 THE PRELUDE 335 
 
 Jesus, and perhaps two or three of the twelve, spend the 
 night in that favored home, the others depart for the 
 camp, and the last of the spectators from Jerusalem re- 
 turn to the city. Judas secretly goes with these. For 
 the sharp rebuke had stung him ; and then too he heard 
 Jesus speak of his burial as near at hand. So he de- 
 spaired of the princedom. But he knew the hot desire 
 of the powerful hierarchy to seize Jesus, and his feverish 
 ambition grasps at the notion of betrayal as a means of 
 securing favor, and through this, place, power, wealth. 
 Also it would at once gratify his resentment, and hide 
 his past guilt. Moreover, he would be rendering an im- 
 portant service to the State ; and so his refuge at last was 
 patriotism. 135 
 
 We read in a certain place that on a day when the 
 Sons of God were assembled a second time before him in 
 heaven, Satan also appeared again amongst them, having 
 failed in his temptation. So also was this ever active, 
 ever watchful Adversary a present spectator at the feast, 
 having failed in his many temptations, baffled at every 
 turn. There he heard the rebuke, looked into the soul 
 of his acolyte, approved its mood, entered into him, 
 fanned the flame, and used him as a willing tool to per- 
 fect his hellish scheme. Thus it was that the word of 
 Jesus, spoken to defend a gentle woman, became a link 
 in the chain of his destiny. 
 
 The night was deepening as Judas passed through the 
 gate of Jerusalem. He found the chief priests, Annas 
 and Caiaphas, at their palace, with the officers of the 
 Levitical police, which was subject to their orders, con- 
 sulting how they might trapan both Jesus and Lazarus. 
 They recognize Judas as a follower of the Nazarene, and 
 are glad to hear him ask ;
 
 336 HIS PASSION 
 
 " What are ye willing to give me, and I will deliver 
 him unto you ? " 
 
 These men were rich. The temple traffic alone, which 
 they licensed and partly practiced, though just now 
 checked, had yielded them large revenues. Hence 
 Judas, in view of their intensified hostility, had reason to 
 hope for a large bribe. What was his chagrin when, 
 after consultation, they offered him only thirty shekels, 
 the legal price of a slave, about eighteen dollars. No 
 doubt he chaffered and haggled ; but in the bargaining, 
 Jew met Jew. They said it was the fitting price, it was 
 enough, and his aid indeed was not needed. Yet they 
 excited his greed by showing him the silver ; they 
 weighed it out before his eyes, and put it aside in a 
 pouch, sealed. Contemptuously ranked as the servant 
 of a slave, his vain hope of favor and promotion col- 
 lapsed. Disappointed in the meagre sum offered, his 
 dream of riches vanished. He would have refused the 
 pitiful bribe, but it was too late to retreat. So he cov- 
 enanted with them, and promised to do the deed, reach- 
 ing forth his hand for the pouch. No, not yet. They 
 covenanted with him, and promised to pay the monies 
 when the deed was done, reserving them with reasonable 
 distrust. Also it was covenanted that the Nazarene 
 should be delivered unto them in the absence of the mul- 
 titude, lest there be a tumult. Then, after some words 
 with the captain of the police, Judas left the palace and 
 the city. Thus was our Master sold as a slave, that we 
 might be made free. 
 
 Devising how he might betray him, the vile traitor 
 slunk across the ridge of Olivet towards the Galilean 
 camp. It was midnight. He paused upon the hillock 
 that lies between Olivet and Bethany, and under the full
 
 THE PRELUDE 337 
 
 paschal moon at meridian, he stood to gloat his wicked 
 eyes on the village, holy in its calm stillness. There 
 Jesus was peacefully sleeping. It was his last slumber. 
 
 " Now the last sleep, 
 
 Last of his earthly slumbers, gently sealed 
 The Saviour's eyes. In heavenly peace it came, 
 Descending from the sanctuary of God 
 In the still softness of the evening air."
 
 XXVII 
 THE EUCHARIST 
 
 THE great passover festival commemorated the 
 exodus of Israel from Egypt. It began, after 
 days of preliminary purifications, on the I4th 
 of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish year, and con- 
 tinued eight days. In the afternoon of the I4th, the 
 paschal lamb was slain in the Temple, and dressed for 
 the Pascha, the feast, which took place after sunset, the 
 beginning of the 1 5th, the time of full moon. Of the 
 many hundreds of thousands assembled on the occasion 
 in and about Jerusalem, each family, or group of persons 
 associated for the purpose, spread its own feast, the house- 
 holders of the city furnishing accommodations as far as 
 practicable to strangers. The feast consisted of the 
 roasted lamb, a sauce of dates, unleavened bread, and 
 bitter herbs, together with wine. The I4th of Nisan, in 
 the year of the Lord's fourth and last Passover, fell on 
 Thursday, which by our calendar was April 6th, A. D. 30. 
 
 About noon of Thursday, the first day of unleavened 
 bread, Jesus sent Peter and John, coupled now for the 
 first time but hereafter acting together, saying, Go and 
 make ready for us the passover. They asked him, 
 Where ? He said to them : 
 
 " Go into the city, there shall meet you a serving man 
 bearing a pitcher of water ; follow him into the house 
 whereunto he goeth, and say to the goodman of the 
 
 338
 
 THE EUCHARIST 339 
 
 house, The Master saith, where is the guest chamber, 
 where I shall eat the passover with my disciples ? and he 
 will himself shew you a larger upper room furnished ; 
 there make ready." 
 
 Why this mystery ? Obviously it was important that 
 Judas should not know beforehand where the evening 
 would be spent ; a singular mingling of human prudence 
 with divine prescience. 136 
 
 The messengers found all as he had said. The good- 
 man of the house was evidently a disciple, and probably 
 the father of John Mark, the evangelist, then a mere lad 
 and at home. Peter and John, having obtained and 
 slain the lamb, and otherwise made ready, reported their 
 preparations to Jesus at sunset. 
 
 The evening has now come, the I5th of Nisan reck- 
 oned from sunset to sunset, twenty-four hours, crowded 
 with events, beginning with the Pascha and ending with 
 the burial. 
 
 Jesus leads the twelve into the city, into the upper 
 room. Here the table is in the form of the letter I, with 
 a couch at its upper end for three persons ; on it the Mas- 
 ter reclines with John at his right before him, and Judas 
 in his choice place behind him ; the ten others occupy 
 couches heading the sides. Thirteen at table, of whom 
 before the next sunset, one commits suicide, another is 
 crucified. Hence a common and persistent superstition. 
 
 It seems that the disciples, in taking their couches at 
 table, had some childish dispute among themselves about 
 precedence, as to who were entitled to the more honor- 
 able places. When this had passed, and they were in 
 place, Jesus first sadly expressed to them the earnest de- 
 sire he had felt to eat with them, before he should suf-
 
 340 HIS PASSION 
 
 fer, this his last passover. Then he gently reproved their 
 vain rivalry and strife, and asked : 
 
 " Whether is greater, he that reclineth at meat, or he 
 that serveth ? Is not he that reclineth at meat ? But I 
 am in the midst of you as he that serveth." 137 
 
 So saying, he arose from his couch, laid aside his upper 
 garment, took a towel and girded himself. Then he 
 poured water into a bason, and began to wash the feet of 
 the disciples, and to wipe them with the towel. Did he 
 not begin with Judas ? Jesus washing the feet of Judas ! 
 Surely humility has no lower depth. In turn he came to 
 Simon Peter, who said unto him : 
 
 " Lord, dost thou wash my feet ? " 
 
 " What I do," replied Jesus, " thou knowest not now ; 
 but thou shalt understand hereafter." 
 
 " Thou shalt never wash my feet." 
 
 " If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." 
 
 " Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my 
 head." 
 
 " He that is bathed needeth not to wash, but is clean 
 every whit ; and ye are clean, but not all." 
 
 So when he had washed their feet, and taken his gar- 
 ment, and reclined again, he said : 
 
 " Know ye what I have done to you ? If I, your Lord 
 and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash 
 one another's feet." 
 
 By this great object lesson, this sublime humility, he 
 taught the apostles, and his disciples throughout all time, 
 that the noblest end of man's endeavor is loving service. 
 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of 
 Christ 
 
 Evidently Jesus felt restrained by the presence of Judas.
 
 THE EUCHARIST 341 
 
 He well knew that Satan had put it into his willing heart 
 to betray him, and that the hour was at hand. So, when 
 he had interpreted the object lesson, he was troubled in 
 spirit, and said : 
 
 " Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you that 
 eateth with me shall betray me ; but woe to that man by 
 whom I am betrayed." 138 
 
 The disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom 
 he spake. They became exceeding sorrowful, and with 
 wonderful self-distrust, began to say unto him one by one. 
 
 " Is it I, Lord ? Is it I ? " 
 
 Jesus, whose head was bowed, not responding, Simon 
 Peter signalled to John, whom Jesus loved and who was 
 reclining next before him, to inquire and tell who it was. 
 John, leaning back as he was, his head coming to rest on 
 Jesus' breast, whispered to him, Lord, who is it ? Jesus 
 answered in like tone, He it is, for whom I shall dip the 
 sop, and give it him. So when he had dipped bread in 
 the sop, he gave it to Judas, who was reclining just be- 
 hind him. Then Judas, with brazen audacity, but in 
 under-tone, asked : 
 
 "Is it I, Rabbi?" 
 
 " Thou hast said," assented Jesus. 
 
 Thereupon Satan, who was present, at this feast also, 
 entered again into Judas to fortify him. And Jesus said 
 unto him aloud : 
 
 " What thou doest, do quickly." 
 
 Now the others at the table did not know with what 
 intent he said this, for the whispers concerning the treason 
 were not generally understood. Some thought, because 
 Judas had the purse, that Jesus directed him to buy 
 things needed during the festival, or to give something to 
 the poor. It was their custom, then, to give alms from
 
 342 HIS PASSION 
 
 their slender and thievingly depleted store. Judas, how- 
 ever, understood, and arose, and went out straightway. 
 And it was night. 
 
 When therefore he was gone out, Jesus, relieved from 
 the oppression of his presence, broke out exultingly : 
 
 " Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified 
 in him. Little children, yet a little while I am with you ; 
 but whither I go, ye cannot come. A new command- 
 ment I give unto you ; that, even as I have loved you, ye 
 love one another." 139 
 
 But this tone soon subsided in the sad prediction : 
 " All ye shall be offended in me this night ; for it is 
 written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be 
 scattered abroad." 
 
 Then Peter spake up and said boldly : 
 " Although all shall be offended, yet will not I." 
 Likewise also said all the disciples. Peter, however, 
 not satisfied with his simple asseveration, asked : 
 " Lord, whither goest thou ? " 
 
 " Whither I go," replied Jesus, " thou canst not follow 
 me now ; but thou shalt follow afterwards." 
 
 " Why cannot I follow thee even now ? With thee I am 
 ready to go both to prison and to death. I will lay down 
 my life for thee." 
 
 Then said Jesus to him, very emphatically : 
 " Wilt thou lay down thy life for me ? Verily, verily, 
 I say unto thee, that this night, before the cock crow, 
 thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me." 
 But Peter spake exceeding vehemently : 
 " If I must die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." 
 " Simon, Simon," said Jesus, " behold Satan hath ob- 
 tained you, as Job of old, by asking, in order that he may
 
 THE EUCHARIST 343 
 
 sift you as wheat ; but I have made supplication for thee, 
 that thy faith fail not." 
 
 Then addressing the whole company, he asked : 
 
 " When I sent you forth without purse, and wallet, and 
 shoes, lacked ye anything ? " 
 
 " Nothing," they replied. He rejoined : 
 
 " But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and 
 likewise a wallet ; and he that hath no sword, let him sell 
 his cloak, and buy one." 
 
 Taking this literally, and seeing a couple of swords 
 hanging across on the wall, they said : 
 
 " Lord, behold, here are two swords." 
 
 " It is enough," said Jesus, with a sigh. 
 
 After an interval of silence, as they were eating, Jesus 
 took bread, and when he had given thanks, he brake it, 
 and gave to the disciples, saying : 
 
 " Take, eat ; this is my body which is given for you ; 
 this do in remembrance of me." 14 
 
 And in like manner, after supper, he took the cup, and 
 gave thanks, and gave to them, saying : 
 
 " This is my blood of the covenant, which is shed for 
 many unto remission of sins. Drink all ye of it." 
 
 And they all drank of it. He then added : 
 
 " Verily I say unto you, I shall no more drink of the 
 fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with 
 you in my Father's kingdom." 
 
 Thus, in this wonderfully simple manner, was estab- 
 lished the great ordinance of the Eucharist, that is, the 
 Thanksgiving, quite commonly called, among Protestants, 
 The Lord's Supper, among Romanists, The Sacrifice of 
 the Mass. Its meaning, the mode of its observance, and 
 the extent of its efficacy in the participant, have been for
 
 344 HIS PASSION 
 
 many ages, and still are, matter of widely divergent opin- 
 ions and heated contentions among the many sects of 
 the Christian world. 
 
 The institution of this sacrament was followed by a 
 farewell address, beginning, Let not your heart be 
 troubled. I go, said he, to prepare a place for you, that 
 where I am ye may be also ; and I will pray the Father, 
 and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may 
 be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth. The 
 address overflows with loving consolation. Its first por- 
 tion is conversational, Thomas, Philip and Jude being 
 questioners. 141 
 
 At his bidding all arise from their couches, and listen 
 standing to the second part of the valedictory, beginning 
 with the simile, I am the true vine, my Father is the 
 husbandman, ye are the branches. He adds, No longer 
 do I call you servants, but friends. He tells them of the 
 persecutions they shall suffer, and closes with, Behold, 
 the hour cometh, yea, is come, that ye shall scatter, but 
 in me ye may have peace; in the world ye have 
 tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the 
 world. 
 
 These things spake Jesus. Then, lifting his eyes to 
 heaven, he offered up to the Father, whose face was soon 
 to be hidden, a great High Priestly prayer, wherewith 
 the innermost recesses of his heart are laid open. Let 
 us forbear. 142 
 
 The solemn intercession finished, they lifted up to- 
 gether their voices, and chanted, as the custom was at 
 the close of the Pascha, the hundred and thirty-sixth 
 Psalm, beginning :
 
 THE EUCHARIST 345 
 
 " O give thanks unto Jehovah ; 
 For he is good ; 
 For his mercy is forever." 143 
 
 Then with sad foreboding the eleven followed the 
 Master out of the upper chamber, out of the house, out 
 of the city. It was night.
 
 XXVIII 
 THE ARREST 
 
 AS the little band wended its usual way out of the 
 city towards Olivet, John, we may be sure, 
 walked on the right of his Master in front. 
 Peter was on his left. For, on leaving the upper 
 chamber, he had taken down from the wall one of the 
 two swords that hung there across, and girded it in its 
 sheath to his side. Thus armed as advised, he felt bold 
 for defense, and hand on hilt marched bravely in the 
 lead. They passed out the eastern gate just north of the 
 Temple, and descended into the ravine Kedron, or vale 
 of Cedars, that ran between the temple mount and 
 Olivet. 
 
 At or near the bottom of this valley, less than half a 
 mile from the city gate, beside the road leading up 
 Olivet, was a small garden enclosed by walls, called 
 Gethsemane, or Oil-press, because there was extracted 
 oil from the fruit of neighboring olive orchards. It in- 
 cluded a few olive and cedar trees, some cultivated 
 shrubbery and flowering plants. Although so near the 
 city and opening on a much frequented highway, it was 
 a secluded retreat, being screened by its stone walls. 
 Owned probably by a disciple resident in the city, 
 possibly by Mark's father, the place was familiar to Jesus 
 and his companions as a resort for private intercourse. 144 
 When, on this last occasion, towards midnight, they 
 entered the garden at the bottom of the deep ravine, 
 
 346
 
 THE ARREST 347 
 
 under the foot of the mountain and the frown of the 
 lofty temple wall, it was dark beneath the thick foliage ; 
 for the paschal moon at meridian, rather than look upon 
 the scene, had veiled her pale face with thick clouds. 
 Just within the gate, Jesus bid eight of the eleven : 
 
 " Sit ye here, while I go yonder and pray." 
 
 And he took with him Peter and James and John into 
 the midst of the enclosure. There he said : 
 
 " My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death ; 
 abide ye here, and watch." 
 
 And he went alone a little forward into the deepest 
 recesses of the garden, and fell to the ground upon his 
 face, and prayed, saying : 
 
 " O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away 
 from me ; nevertheless not my will but thine be done." 
 
 " 'Tis midnight ; and on Olive's brow 
 
 The star is dimmed that lately shone ; 
 'Tis midnight ; in the garden now, 
 The suffering Saviour prays alone." 
 
 His invocation here, and here only, is, My Father. 
 The embrace of love. After a time he cometh unto the 
 three disciples and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto 
 Peter : 
 
 " Simon, sleepest thou ? Couldst thou not watch one 
 hour?" 
 
 In compassionate excuse, he adds : 
 
 " The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 
 
 And again he went away into the thicket of this 
 second Eden, and prayed the same prayer. 
 
 " 'Tis midnight ; and from all removed 
 
 The Saviour wrestles lone with fears ; 
 E'en the disciple whom he loved 
 
 Heeds not his Master's grief and tears."
 
 348 HIS PASSION 
 
 Longing for human sympathy in the valley of the 
 shadow of death, he came again to the disciples, the 
 same favored trio, who had slept on the Mount of Trans- 
 figuration. The second time he found them again sleep- 
 ing, for their eyes were very heavy with sorrow. So he 
 went away once more, and prayed the third time, saying 
 again the same words. And being in an agony he 
 prayed more earnestly ; and the sweat of his brow be- 
 came great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 
 This was not supernatural, for pathologists tell us that 
 under intense agony the veins of the human forehead 
 swell even, though rarely, to bursting. We may, how- 
 ever, imagine with Carlo Dolce that each drop of blood 
 while falling kindled into light. 
 
 " 'Tis midnight ; and for other's guilt 
 
 The man of sorrows weeps in blood ; 
 Yet he who hath in anguish knelt 
 Is not forsaken by his God." 
 
 For there appeared unto him an angel from heaven, 
 strengthening him ; as at the close of the earlier Tempta- 
 tion. 
 
 " 'Tis midnight ; and from ether plains 
 
 Is borne the song that angels know ; 
 Unheard by mortals are the strains 
 
 That sweetly soothe the Saviour's woe." 
 
 And when he rose up from his prayer, he came yet 
 again to the chosen three, and finding them still sleeping, 
 said with compassionate irony : 
 
 " Sleep on now, and take your rest." 
 
 He waited on their brief rest until a glare of distant 
 torches caught his eye, and the sound of an approaching
 
 THE ARREST 349 
 
 multitude assailed his ear ; whereupon he awakened them 
 
 with: 
 
 " It is enough. The hour of betrayal is come." 
 Then advancing with them to the garden gate, where 
 
 the others were stationed, he summoned all, saying : 
 " Arise, let us be going. Behold, he that betrayeth 
 
 me is at hand." 
 
 It will be pardonable to linger here a moment for a ret- 
 rospective glance. The foregoing exquisitely tender 
 and ineffably sacred scene, so pathetic in its humanity, so 
 thrilling in its divinity, is reviewed in the following 
 delicate lines : 
 
 " Gethsemane. There heaviness oppress'd 
 The Saviour's heart, and there he felt the need 
 Of near communion ; for his gift of strength 
 Was wasted by the spirit's weariness. 
 He left his friends, and went a little on, 
 And in the depth of that hush'd solitude, 
 Alone with God, he fell upon his face ; 
 And as his heart was broken with the rush 
 Of his surpassing agony and death, 
 He gave his sorrows way, and in the deep 
 Prostration of his soul, breathed out the prayer : 
 Father, if it be possible with thee, 
 Let this cup pass from me. 
 
 Oh, how a word, 
 
 Like the forced drop before the fountain breaks, 
 Stilleth the press of human agony ! 
 The Saviour felt its quiet in his soul ; 
 And though his strength was weakness, and the light 
 Which led him on till now was sorely dim, 
 He breathed a new submission : Not my will, 
 But thine be done, my Father. 
 As he spake, 
 
 Voices were heard in heaven, and music stole 
 Out from the chambers of the vaulted sky,
 
 350 HIS PASSION 
 
 As if the spheres were swept like instruments. 
 No brilliant cloud was seen, but radiant wings 
 Were coming with a silvery rush to earth. 
 And as the Saviour rose, a glorious One, 
 With an illumined forehead, and the light 
 Whose fountain is the mystery of God, 
 Encalm'd within his eye,, bow'd down to him, 
 And gave him strength. 
 
 Then with his godlike brow 
 Rewritten of his Father's messenger, 
 With meekness, whose divinity is more 
 Than power and glory, he return'd again 
 To his disciples, and awak'd their sleep, 
 For he that should betray him was at hand." 
 
 When from the supper room Judas went out into the 
 night, he threaded the narrow streets unto the priestly 
 palace. Upon his report, Caiaphas, having obtained an 
 order from the governor Pilate, sent the captain of the 
 Temple police to the Antonia for a detachment of the 
 Roman garrison to unite with the police in making the 
 arrest. A considerable body of soldiers was mustered 
 under command of a tribune ; for resistance and a riot 
 might occur. These preparations took time ; besides it 
 was well to await midnight, and so avoid gathering a 
 mob. 145 
 
 Then Judas led the way to the house of Mark's father 
 where the supper had been held. Finding the company 
 all gone, he bethought himself of the familiar resort 
 Gethsemane, and proposed to lead the bands thither. 
 As they were going, young Mark, awakened by this 
 nocturnal visitation, wrapped the linen sheet of his bed 
 about him, and followed. 
 
 Since they were now about to go out of the city to 
 search a secluded enclosure this beclouded night, torches 
 were lighted. These and the noise of the march at-
 
 THE ARREST 351 
 
 tracted many followers, so that when the Roman 
 soldiery armed with swords and the Levitical police 
 armed with staves passed through the city gate, the at;, 
 tendance had swollen to a multitude. 
 
 Now he that was betraying him had given them a 
 token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he ; take 
 him, and lead him away safely. 
 
 As the crowd came on, it found Jesus standing out- 
 side the garden gate with the eleven beside him. At 
 once he asked those in advance : 
 
 " Whom seek ye ? " 
 
 " Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. 
 
 Promptly, not waiting on the traitor's signal, but im- 
 mediately revealing himself, he rejoined : 
 
 " I am he." 
 
 Awed by his majestic mien, and seeing by the glare 
 of the torches his face streaked with blood, they were 
 smitten with superstitious fears, and in consternation 
 went backward so tumultuously that many fell to the 
 ground. After the momentary panic and confusion, the 
 question and answer were repeated, and Jesus calmly 
 said : 
 
 " I told you that I am he ; if therefore ye seek me, let 
 these my companions go their way." 
 
 Judas who had shrunk back with the others now came 
 forward anxious to earn the purse. He put his hands on 
 Jesus' shoulders, and saying, Hail, Rabbi, kissed his 
 blood-stained face, kissed him much, warmly, repeatedly. 
 It is written, The kisses of an enemy are profuse. But 
 Jesus said unto him : 
 
 " Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? " 
 
 To illustrate the significance of this saying, let 
 emphasis be put on each term in succession, thus :
 
 352 HIS PASSION 
 
 Betray est thou, makes the reproach turn on the infamy of treachery. 
 Betrayest thou, rests it on the connection of Judas with his Master. 
 Betrayest thou the Son of man, rests it on the Saviour's character. 
 Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss ! turns it upon his prostitu- 
 tion of the sign of love and peace to one of hate and ruin. 
 
 The kissing of Judas ! The world is agreed that 
 nothing in the history of mankind is so vile. 
 
 Jesus, to convict him completely, immediately added : 
 
 " Comrade, for that thou art here.'' 
 
 The kiss was evidently devised to mask his purpose 
 from the Master and the eleven. The mask was torn off 
 by the words, Betrayest thou, etc., and the intent laid 
 bare by, For that (the betrayal kiss) thou art here. 
 
 As Judas drew back, a servant of the high priest 
 named Malchus, handed him privately a purse. This 
 Judas seized, then slipped away, and disappeared in the 
 night. But Peter had caught sight of the transaction, 
 and his indignation breaking bounds, he drew his 
 borrowed sword, and with a deadly stroke at Malchus, 
 cut off his right ear. Then said Jesus unto Peter : 
 
 " Put up the sword into the sheath. The cup which 
 the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it ? " 
 
 To the others he said, Surfer ye thus far. And he 
 touched and healed the ear. This was his last miracle of 
 healing. 
 
 Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took 
 him. Resenting the indignity, he protested to the of- 
 ficers of the police : 
 
 " Are ye come out, as against a robber, with swords 
 and staves ? When I was daily with you in the Temple, 
 ye stretched not forth your hands against me. But this 
 is your hour, and the power of darkness." 
 
 Satan was there, triumphant.
 
 THE ARREST 353 
 
 And they bound him, him who had never struck a 
 blow. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled. 
 The lad, Mark, lingered ; but some one seizing hold on 
 his linen sheet, he left it, and fled naked. 
 
 They brought Jesus, bound and deserted, up into the 
 city. But Peter followed him afar off.
 
 XXIX 
 
 THE ARRAIGNMENTS 
 
 THE palace of the high priests, opposite the west 
 side of the Temple, consisted of a paved court 
 open to the sky, surrounded by a colonnade, 
 beyond which stood on all sides the building containing 
 the apartments for residents. The principal entrance was 
 by a large gateway opening into an arched passage, 
 called the porch, leading through the building into the 
 open court. It was in this court that the caucus of San- 
 hedrists was held on Tuesday evening. 
 
 The police led Jesus through the porch and court into 
 the apartments of Annas. The Roman soldiery at- 
 tended as far as the gate, and the service being no longer 
 requisite, returned thence to barracks in the Antonia. 
 Now John, as well as Peter, had followed, and he being 
 in some way favorably known to the high priest, was ad- 
 mitted and entered into the court, but Peter was debarred 
 and stood without. Then John went back and spake to 
 the maid that kept the door, brought in Peter, left him 
 in the court, and went in where Jesus was. 
 
 The servants of the house having made a fire of coals 
 in a brazier placed in the middle of the court, they and 
 the policemen stood and sat around it warming them- 
 selves, for the night was cold. Peter joined them. The 
 maid that kept the door came also, and looking stead- 
 fastly on Peter by the light of the fire, said, Thou also 
 
 354
 
 THE ARRAIGNMENTS 355 
 
 wast with the Nazarene. But Peter denied before them 
 all, saying : 
 
 " Woman, I knew him not." 
 
 Restless and uneasy he returned to the porch, and 
 lingered in its shadow awhile. 
 
 Meantime Jesus was arraigned before Annas, high 
 priest de jure, for examination. This senile and crafty 
 miser was so eager to prosecute the disturber of his 
 temple traffic, that he had waited and was alert to judge 
 him in these cold hours between midnight and dawn. 
 John was present, and he alone records the interview. 
 Annas asked Jesus of his disciples and of his teaching. 
 Jesus would not betray his disciples ; of them he said 
 nothing. But recognizing the priestly authority, he re- 
 plied concerning his teaching, yet in a manner not at all 
 apologetic, saying : 
 
 " I have spoken openly to the world ; I ever taught in 
 the synagogues, and in the Temple, when all the Jews 
 came together ; and in secret I spake nothing. Why 
 askest thou me ? Ask them that have heard me, what I 
 spake unto them. Behold, these know the things which 
 I said." 146 
 
 Then the police officer, who was holding by the cord 
 which bound him, slapped Jesus on the mouth, saying : 
 
 " Answerest thou the High Priest so ? " 
 
 To this dastardly act and insult, Jesus replied indig- 
 nantly : 
 
 " If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil ; but 
 if well, why smitest thou me ? " 
 
 Then Annas sent him, bound as he was, to Caiaphas, 
 whose apartments were on the other side of the court. 
 
 Soon after Jesus had been led across the court, Peter
 
 356 HIS PASSION 
 
 returned from under the porch, and again joined the 
 group around the fire. There another servant girl 
 noticed him, and said to them that stood by, This man 
 also was with Jesus the Nazarene. And again Peter de- 
 nied, saying with an oath : 
 " I know not the man." 
 
 Jesus was now arraigned before Caiaphas, high priest 
 de facto, for examination. Certain zealous scribes and 
 elders, councillors, were present, constituting an informal 
 court of inquiry. Now the chief priests and councillors 
 had wickedly suborned false witnesses against Jesus that 
 they might put him to death ; but their witnesses agreed 
 not together. Afterwards came two who testified, say- 
 ing, We heard him say, I will destroy the Sanctuary, and 
 rebuild it in three days. Obviously this had reference to 
 what Jesus had said three years before in the Temple at 
 his first Passover. But the statements were purposely 
 garbled ; and moreover they also did not agree. Finally 
 Caiaphas stood up, and said to Jesus, Answerest thou 
 nothing to what these witness against thee ? But Jesus 
 held his peace, and answered nothing. Then Caiaphas 
 formally administered the test oath, saying : 
 
 " I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us 
 whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God." U7 
 
 And Jesus, recognizing his official authority re- 
 plied : 
 
 " I am. Thou hast said. And from henceforth shall 
 the Son of man be seated at the right hand of power, and 
 ye shall see him coming on the clouds of heaven." 
 
 Then Caiaphas, affecting holy horror, rent his gar- 
 ments, saying : 
 
 " He hath spoken blasphemy. What further need
 
 THE ARRAIGNMENTS 357 
 
 have we of witnesses. Ye have heard the blasphemy. 
 What think ye ? " 
 
 Unanimously they condemned him to be worthy of 
 death. 
 
 Then did they spit in his face, his blood stained face ; 
 and pinioned as he was, they did secretly buffet him, 
 saying, Prophesy, thou Christ ; who is he that struck 
 thee ? And the menial policemen, who had him in hold, 
 imitated their betters, and made a frolic of it, mocking 
 him, and reviling him, and blindfolding him, and beating 
 him with rods, saying, Prophesy ; who is he that struck 
 thee ? But Jesus was dumb. 
 
 Thus was he mocked as Prophet. 
 
 While this was going on, sometime after Peter's 
 second denial, one of the servants of the high priest, a 
 kinsman of Malchus whose ear Peter had cut off, observ- 
 ing him by the fire in the court, confidently affirmed, 
 saying, Of a truth thou also art one of them ; for thou 
 art a Galilean, thy manner of speech bewrayeth thee ; 
 did I not see thee in the garden with him ? Then Peter 
 began to curse and to swear, saying : 
 
 " I know not the man of whom thou speakest." 148 
 
 And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. 
 
 Now Jesus was where he could see and be seen of 
 Peter, and when the cock crew, he turned and looked 
 upon Peter. And Peter remembered, and he went out 
 of the palace, into the night and wept bitterly. 
 
 Day was now dawning. A session of the Sanhedrin 
 was called to take place immediately, before sunrise. 
 This was the earliest possible moment, for the law did not 
 al-iow night sessions. The Sanhedrin assembled in its
 
 358 HIS PASSION 
 
 hall Gazith near the Sanctuary in the Temple. Thither 
 Jesus was taken by the police, was unbound, and brought 
 into court. He stood in the centre of the semicircle, 
 just where he had stood two years before at his second 
 Passover, when he defied and overawed his judges. On 
 this second occasion we may believe that Nicodemus and 
 Joseph of Arimathea were not present ; but the sneering 
 Annas and the haughty Caiaphas were in their official 
 seats, flanked on right and left by a quorum of the seventy 
 elders. Before them Jesus was arraigned for final judg- 
 ment in legal form. 149 
 
 The procedure was summary, for time pressed, and the 
 case was prejudged. The questions and answers were 
 quite similar to those passed in the prior informal inquisi- 
 tion of Caiaphas, and Jesus was promptly and formally 
 condemned as worthy of death. The court then ad- 
 journed, and Jesus, bound again, and followed by the 
 whole company of them, was led away. This was nearly 
 the last, perhaps strictly the last meeting of the Sanhe- 
 drin in the hall Gazith, for just about this time its sessions 
 were transferred to the bazaars. 
 
 While the Sanhedrists were filing out from the hall, 
 Judas the traitor, who had been lurking around and now 
 saw Jesus led away sentenced, being smitten with re- 
 morse, rushed in among them with the cry : 
 
 " I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood." 150 
 " What is that to us," said they ; " see thou to it." 
 He offered the thirty pieces of silver to them, saying, 
 Take back. They refused. Then he cast the monies 
 down upon the floor of the Sanctuary, and ran out of the 
 Temple by the tunnel to the southern gateway, ran 
 through Ophel and out the city-gate, passed the pool of
 
 THE ARRAIGNMENTS 359 
 
 Siloam, crossed the ravine, climbed the hill beyond 
 to a worn out potter's field, and there hanged him- 
 self. 
 
 The Sanhedrists gathered up the pieces of silver, and 
 gave them to the chief priests, who said, It is not lawful 
 to put them into the sacred treasury, since it is the price 
 of blood. Ultimately they bought with them the potter's 
 field to bury strangers in, which was thenceforth called 
 Akeldama, or The field of blood. 
 
 The foregoing three sacerdotal arraignments or trials 
 were followed by three secular arraignments of Jesus. 
 Of these the first and third were before Pilate, the Roman 
 governor. 
 
 Pontius Pilate, the sixth procurator of Judea, was ap- 
 pointed by Vitellius, Roman prefect of Syria, in A. D. 26, 
 and was deposed by him in A. D. 37. His term of office 
 therefore coincided with that of Caiaphas, and included 
 the three years of the public life of Jesus. It is probable 
 that Pilate was a freedman. Certainly he resembled the 
 freedman Felix, one of his successors in office, of whom 
 Tacitus says : He exercised royal authority with the 
 disposition of a slave in all cruelty and lust. We learn 
 from Philo that Pilate was inflexible, and merciless ; and 
 from Josephus, who records a number of his deeds, that 
 he acted ruthlessly, and in violent disregard of Jewish 
 customs. In the gospel story he is a personage of one 
 day only. The deed of this day is told in a few words by 
 Tacitus also (Annals, 1 5 : 44) thus : Christus, Tiberio im- 
 peritante, per procuratorem Pentium Pilatum supplicio 
 adfectus erat. Seven years afterwards he was deposed, 
 and sent to Rome to answer complaints. He arrived just 
 after the death of Tiberius, but was heard by Caligula,
 
 360 HIS PASSION 
 
 and banished to Vienna in Gaul, where, tradition says, he 
 committed suicide. 
 
 Throughout his ten years' rule of the Roman province 
 of Judea, which included Samaria, Pilate's residence was 
 Caesarea. But it was his custom to attend the Passovers 
 at Jerusalem accompanied by an extra military force to 
 maintain order. During this sojourn he occupied the 
 palace of Herod the Great in the northwest corner of the 
 upper city, or Zion. The palace or praetorium had the 
 usual wholly enclosed inner court, and also an outer court, 
 with colonnades on three sides, the fourth being open, look- 
 ing towards the city. This court had a tessellated pave- 
 ment, gabbatha, whereon public trials were held before the 
 judgment seat, bema, placed at the head of the court be- 
 tween two columns ; a Roman tribunal. 
 
 It was about sunrise of that great day, Good Friday, 
 April /th, A. D. 30, when the officers led Jesus, followed 
 by the chief priests and elders of the Sanhedrin, from the 
 Temple, across the city, to the praetorium, there to be 
 arraigned before the procurator. For the Roman had 
 forbidden the Jewish authorities to execute a sentence of 
 death, but required them to deliver the condemned 
 prisoner to the procurator, that he might revise the 
 case, and himself execute his final judgment, yea or 
 nay. 151 
 
 On reaching the palace, Jesus was taken into the inner 
 court, but the scrupulous Sanhedrists would not enter lest 
 they should be defiled. Holy men ! They stopped in 
 the outer court, and Pilate, who was expecting this call, 
 because of the requisition made on him the previous even- 
 ing for a guard, went out unto them and asked : 
 
 - iVhat accusation bring ye against this man ? "
 
 THE ARRAIGNMENTS 361 
 
 " If he were not an evil-doer," said they, " we should 
 not have delivered him up unto thee." 
 
 This peevish evasion displeased Pilate who rejoined : 
 
 " Take him yourselves, and judge him according to 
 your law." 
 
 Evidently he did not know how diligent they had been. 
 
 " Already we have judged him worthy of death. But 
 it is not lawful," they grumbled, " for us to put any man 
 to death." 
 
 Then Pilate insisted on an accusation ; for the Roman 
 law held : Nocens, nisi accusatus fuerit, condemnari non 
 potest. So they then accused him in three counts, saying : 
 
 " We found this man perverting our nation ; and for- 
 bidding to give tribute to Caesar ; and claiming himself to 
 be anointed king." 
 
 This was not at all the accusation on which he had 
 been condemned. That was blasphemy. They surrepti- 
 tiously changed ground, and now charge him with sedi- 
 tion, rebellion, and treason. This last struck Pilate. So 
 he retired into the palace, and called Jesus, and said unto 
 him privately : 
 
 " Art thou the king of the Jews ? " 
 
 " Sayest thou this of thyself," asked Jesus, " or did 
 others tell it thee concerning me? " 
 
 "Am I a Jew?" he cried indignantly. "Thine own 
 nation and the chief priests delivered thee unto me ; what 
 hast thou done?" 
 
 " My kingdom is not of this world," said Jesus. 
 
 " Thou art a king then ? " 
 
 " Thou sayest it, for I am a king. To this end am I 
 come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the 
 truth." 
 
 " What is truth ? " asked scoffing Pilate, but did not
 
 362 HIS PASSION 
 
 stay for an answer. Had he done so, and had one been 
 given, it doubtless would have been : 
 " I am the truth." 
 
 In the words and hearing of Pilate throughout are 
 mingled contempt and cynicism with superstitious awe. 
 He was a typical Roman, and the Romans of that time 
 were profound skeptics. The Greeks used the question, 
 What is truth, to perplex pretenders ; the Romans asked 
 it in scorn, as a first yet unanswerable question. In this 
 private interview are opposed ad extrcma two representa- 
 tive men, the one of the kingdom of the world, the other 
 of the kingdom of heaven ; one who denied the reality of 
 truth, and one who claimed, I am the truth. In what 
 sense is Christ the truth ? Is it not strict identity ? For 
 he is not merely its witness ; but, in the last analysis, 
 all truth radiates from him, and he is the centre in whom 
 all truth ultimately terminates ; he is the Alpha and the 
 Omega ; he is himself the Logos, the informing word, 
 not of Theology only, but of all true science, secular and 
 sacred. 
 
 Then Pilate, leading Jesus forth, went out again to the 
 Sanhedrists, and said unto them : 
 
 " I find no fault in this man." 
 
 At this they clamorously accused him of many things ; 
 but Jesus made no answer. Therefore Pilate said : 
 
 " Hearest thou not how many things they witness 
 against thee?" 
 
 And to him Jesus gave no answer, not even one word ; 
 insomuch that he marvelled. But the adversaries became 
 more urgent, saying, He stirreth up the people beginning 
 from Galilee even unto this place. Then Pilate asked 
 whether the man were a Galilean. And when he heard 
 that he was, and therefore of Herod's jurisdiction, he
 
 THE ARRAIGNMENTS 363 
 
 commanded that he be taken to Herod, glad to be rid of 
 a difficult and pressing case with a show of respect for 
 official authority. 
 
 Once more Herod Antipas appears in the story. Though 
 of foreign lineage, his father being an Idumean and his 
 mother a Samaritan, and while fawningly subservient to 
 Rome, he sought to affiliate with the Jews and conciliate 
 Jewish prejudices, professing himself a Sadducee, and 
 affecting patriotic zeal for national customs. Hence he 
 pompously attended the national feasts, and was present 
 on this occasion, occupying as usual the old Asmonean 
 palace of the Maccabees, situate about a quarter of a mile 
 east of the praetorium of Pilate, at the west end of the 
 bridge from the Temple over the Tyropceon valley. 
 
 Thither Jesus was led in bonds, followed by his adver- 
 saries, to be arraigned before Herod the fox, there to face 
 for the first time the murderer of John. The tetrarch was 
 exceeding glad, for he had long wanted to see the famous 
 Nazarene, judging him to be a highly skilled magician 
 and theurgist, and hoping to see some miracle done by 
 him. So he questioned him in many words ; but Jesus 
 disdained to answer a single word, though the chief 
 priests and scribes stood vehemently accusing him. Then 
 Antipas with his courtiers set Jesus at nought, arrayed 
 him in gorgeous priestly apparel, perhaps some of 
 the old robes left in the palace by the sacerdotal Mac- 
 cabees, made mock of him, and sent him back to the pro- 
 curator. 152 
 
 Thus was he mocked as High Priest. 
 
 For some time Herod and Pilate had been at enmity, 
 it may be because of the murder of certain Galileans 
 whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
 
 364 HIS PASSION 
 
 But on this occasion the flattering condescension of the 
 one, and the responsive deference of the other, at once 
 reconciled them, and now they became friends. Hence- 
 forth in their intercourse it was Brother Herod, and 
 Brother Pilate. What dark figures loom up in the pic- 
 ture ! Judas, the treacherous apostle ; then the hypocrit- 
 ical priestly pair, Annas and Caiaphas ; now the unscru- 
 pulous royal pair, Herod and Pilate. The psalmist seer, 
 looking through a thousand years, perhaps had these in 
 view when he gave the satirical warning : 
 
 " Be wise now therefore, O ye kings ; 
 Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 
 Serve the Lord with fear, 
 And rejoice with trembling. 
 Kiss the Son, 
 Lest he be angry, 
 And ye perish by the way, 
 For his wrath will soon be kindled. 
 Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." 
 
 It was probably after seven o'clock that morning when 
 Jesus was again arraigned before Pilate. 153 
 
 On the return through the streets, a multitude gath- 
 ered, and now the outer court of the praetorium was 
 crowded. Pilate called together the chief priests and 
 the rulers of the people, and taking his official seat on 
 the bema, the judgment seat, said unto them : 
 
 " Ye brought unto me this man, as one that perverteth 
 the people, and I, having examined him before you found 
 no fault in him ; no, nor yet Herod, for he has sent him 
 back unto me. Behold, nothing worthy of death hath 
 been done by him. .1 will therefore chastise him and 
 release him. For ye have a custom, that I should release 
 unto you one at the Passover. Will ye therefore that I
 
 THE ARRAIGNMENTS 365 
 
 release unto you Barabbas the criminal, or Jesus the King 
 of the Jews ? " 
 
 While the priests and the people were consulting 
 about this proposal, Pilate, still sitting on the bema, re- 
 ceived a whispered message from his wife, Claudia Pro- 
 cula, who had come with him to the Passover, she being 
 a Jewish proselyte. Doubtless she had heard of the 
 requisition of the previous evening for a guard to protect 
 the arrest of the Nazarene; and her message to her 
 husband was : 
 
 " Have thou nothing to do with that just man ; for I 
 have suffered much this day in a dream because of 
 him." 
 
 Her designation of the Nazarene as, that just man, sug- 
 gests the reason for forbearance ; and it recalls to mind 
 the unconscious prophecy of Plato, cited in the intro- 
 ductory chapter, about the fate of the just man, should 
 one appear. The message increased Pilate's awe of the 
 mysterious man. 
 
 Now Pilate knew that for envy -the chief priests had 
 delivered him up, and hence sought to release him, in 
 compliance with the custom. But the chief priests and 
 elders stirred up the multitude that they should ask for 
 Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. So they cried out all to- 
 gether saying : 
 
 " Away with this man ; release unto us Barabbas." 1M 
 
 Now Barabbas was a notable prisoner condemned to 
 capital punishment for insurrection, robbery and murder. 
 Pilate had proposed so notorious and atrocious a crim- 
 inal, believing that the Jews would surely not prefer 
 him, but would rather choose Jesus for release. But this 
 anti-Christ was a political insurgent, a patriot brigand, 
 and so found favor in the eyes of the Jews. It is re-
 
 366 HIS PASSION 
 
 markable that his Aramaic name means a son of the 
 father, contrasting with the Son of the Father. It may 
 indicate the son of a Rabbi, which also would help to 
 explain why they asked for him, rather than for one of 
 the two thieves also awaiting crucifixion. By an ancient 
 text, his praenomen is Jesus ; in full, Jesus Barabbas. 
 The striking coincidence has, however, no significance. 
 It is enough that the Jews denied the holy and righteous 
 one, asked a destroyer of life to be granted unto them, 
 and killed the author of life. 
 
 For Pilate replied to their clamor : 
 
 " What then shall I do unto Jesus, whom ye call King 
 of the Jews ? " 
 
 They all cried : 
 
 " Let him be crucified." 
 
 Then he said unto them the third time : 
 
 " Why, what evil hath he done ? I have found no 
 cause of death in him. I will therefore chastise him, and 
 release him." 
 
 But they cried out exceedingly, saying : 
 
 " Let him be crucified." 
 
 Unwilling to pass this extreme judgment on one whom 
 he believed and had declared to be innocent, restrained 
 by his Roman sense of legal justice, crude yet strong, 
 Pilate resorted to the medium course twice proposed, 
 hoping thereby to satisfy the malignity and excite the 
 pity of the adversaries. Accordingly he took Jesus 
 under guard into the inner court, where the whole band 
 of his soldiers were assembled, and gave order that he 
 be scourged. 155 
 
 A bundle of rods, faces, with or without an axe, 
 securis, is the well known symbol of Roman dominion in
 
 THE ARRAIGNMENTS 367 
 
 the means of enforcing it. The faces was borne by 
 officers, lictors, before magistrates, partly as a sign of 
 authority, and partly for executing their judgments. A 
 Roman scourging with rods, usually flexible vine 
 branches, was a very severe infliction. The victim 
 stripped and bound to a post, received stripes, not 
 limited to forty, as in the merciful Mosaic code, but as 
 many as he could apparently endure and yet live, though 
 indeed death frequently occurred under the excoriating 
 lashes. 
 
 To such scourging our Lord was subjected. He suf- 
 fered the torture and the gross injustice without one word 
 of remonstrance. 
 
 Then the soldiers unbound him faint and bleeding, and 
 clothed him in a robe of royal purple ; also they plaited 
 a crown of thorns and put it on his head ; also they put 
 a reed for a sceptre in his right hand. Then they 
 kneeled down before him in mock homage, saying : 
 
 " Hail, King of the Jews ! " 
 
 And then they smote him with their hands ; and they 
 spat upon him ; and they took the reed from his hand 
 and smote him on the head. 
 
 Thus was he mocked as King. 
 
 His order having been fulfilled, Pilate went out again, 
 and said to the adversaries : 
 
 " Behold, I bring him out to you, that ye may know I 
 find no crime in him." 
 
 Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns 
 and the purple robe. And Pilate said unto them : 
 
 "Ecce, Homo Behold, the Man." 156 
 
 When the chief priests and officers saw him, they 
 cried :
 
 368 HIS PASSION 
 
 " Crucify, crucify ! " 
 
 " Take him yourselves, and crucify him," said Pilate, 
 tauntingly, " for I find no crime in him." 
 
 " We have a law," said they, " and by that law he 
 ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God." 
 
 When Pilate heard this, he was filled with superstitious 
 dread, and mindful perhaps of his wife's dream, took 
 Jesus again into the palace for a second private inter- 
 view, and in awe asked : 
 
 " Whence art thou ? " 
 
 But Jesus gave him no answer. Then said he : 
 
 "Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not 
 that I have authority to release thee, or to crucify 
 thee?" 
 
 Jesus, though suffering from the recent torture inflicted 
 by Pilate's order, was willing to find some slight pallia- 
 tion for the horrible injustice, and therefore spake his last 
 word to Pilate : 
 
 "Thou wouldst have no authority or power against 
 me, except it were given thee from above; therefore he 
 that delivered me unto thee hath greater sin." 
 
 Did he mean Judas, or Caiaphas ? Perhaps either. 
 
 Upon this Pilate went out, and again proposed to re- 
 lease him. But the Jews cried out : 
 
 " If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend ; 
 every one that maketh himself a king, opposeth Caesar." 
 
 This was more than timorous Pilate could resist. He 
 thought of Tiberius at Capreae, of Sejanus at Rome, of 
 Vitellius at Antioch, and of the precarious tenure by 
 which he held his place. So, more courtier than judge, 
 exercising royal authority with the disposition of a slave, 
 he brought Jesus out, took his seat upon the bema before
 
 THE ARRAIGNMENTS 369 
 
 the tessellated pavement, and said contemptuously to the 
 Jews: 
 
 " Behold, your King." 
 
 " Away, away with him. Crucify him." 
 
 " Shall I crucify your King ? " 
 
 The chief priests answered : 
 
 " We have no king but Caesar." 
 
 So when Pilate saw that he prevailed nothing, but 
 rather that a tumult was rising, he called for water in a 
 bason, and washed his hands before them all, saying : 
 
 " I am innocent of the blood of this just man ; see ye 
 to it." 
 
 And all the people answered and said : 
 
 " His blood be on us, and on our children." 
 
 Then Pilate, despite his fivefold exculpation, gave offi- 
 cial sentence that what they asked for should be done. 
 And he released unto them Barabbas, who for insurrec- 
 tion and murder had been cast into prison, but Jesus he 
 delivered up to their will. 157 
 
 A Roman centurion with a detachment of the soldiers 
 was commissioned to execute the sentence. They, after 
 they had again mocked him, took off from him the purple 
 robe, and put on him his own garments, and followed by 
 the triumphant throng of adversaries, led him away to 
 crucify him.
 
 XXX 
 
 THE EXECUTION 
 
 CRUCIFIXION was not a Jewish mode of execu- 
 tion. Even the first Herod, with all his cruelty 
 and aping of Rome, dared not resort to it. It 
 seems to have been of Phoenician origin ; it was adopted 
 by the Romans after the time of Julius Caesar, and was 
 abolished by Constantine. It prevailed in the provinces, 
 where Roman rule was most severe and cruel, and its 
 forms were ingeniously varied to prolong the life and in- 
 crease the torture of the victim. Cicero pronounces it 
 crudelissimum teterrimumque supplicium ( Verr. 5 : 64.) It 
 could not be inflicted on a Roman citizen, but was a 
 death of shame, as the gallows of to-day, reserved for 
 slaves, robbers, rebels and outlaws. The successful 
 appeal of the Jewish hierarchy to Roman power for the 
 crucifixion of their King, and the invocation, His blood 
 be on us, and on our children, came back in hundredfold 
 echoes, forty years afterwards, at the Roman siege of 
 Jerusalem, when so many, many thousands of Jews were 
 crucified that the city was girdled by a forest of crosses. 
 Several forms of cross were in use. The principal ones 
 were crux commissa "]", or St. Anthony's cross ; crux 
 immissa, Latin -f% Greek -|- ; and crux decussata X or 
 St. Andrew's cross, as seen on the Labarum of Constan- 
 tine. Of these the Latin cross, so familiar to-day, was 
 doubtless the one used on the present occasion. The 
 victim was always obliged to carry his cross himself to 
 
 370
 
 THE EXECUTION 371 
 
 the place of execution ; for any other, even an execu- 
 tioner, to handle it dishonored him. Naked, he was 
 bound or nailed to it ; then he was lifted up, his weight 
 being partly supported by a wooden pin, cornu, forming 
 a seat, sedile, midway the upright beam ; then amid the 
 encouraged jeers and mockery of lookers-on, he was 
 watched until exposure and suffering, lasting sometimes 
 for two or three days, found relief in death. An instru- 
 ment of greater disgrace and torture has hardly ever been 
 invented. The word excruciating marks intensest pain. 
 Christianity put an end to this hideous punishment, and 
 the Cross has become the symbol of civilization and of 
 progress, of peace and of love, human and divine. 
 
 " Crux fidelis, inter omnes 
 
 Arbor una nobilis ! 
 Nulla talem sylva profert 
 
 Fronde, flore, genuine ; 
 Dulce lignum, dulces clavi, 
 
 Dulce pondus sustinens." 
 
 On that Friday morning, a little before nine o'clock, 
 from the palace of Herod, the praetorium of Pilate, Jesus 
 came forth bearing the cross for himself. He was at- 
 tended by four Roman soldiers especially charged with 
 the execution, and perhaps by others as a guard against 
 rescue, or, what seemed more likely, mob violence on the 
 way, all under command of a centurion named Longinus. 
 He was followed by the hierarchy and people who had 
 clamored for his death. The sad but most august pro- 
 cession passed beyond the first wall into the busy quarter 
 Akra. Here the strength of Jesus failed, and he sank 
 exhausted under his heavy burden. The Roman sol- 
 diers, disdaining a service that would have honored and 
 ennobled the haughtiest Caesar, arrested one Simon, a
 
 372 HIS PASSION 
 
 Jew of Cyrene, who coming from the country into the 
 city that paschal morning met the procession, and com- 
 pelled him to bear the cross after Jesus. Him they 
 assisted to rise, and partly supporting, led onward. 158 
 
 As they were passing along Via Dolorosa the crowd of 
 followers greatly increased. Among them were many 
 women, who, grieved by the piteous sight, set up loud 
 lamentations and wailing. To them Jesus turned, and said : 
 
 " Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep 
 for yourselves, and for your children. For behold the 
 days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the 
 barren, and the breasts that never gave suck." 
 
 There is an early and pretty legend, that just then a 
 woman named Veronica, moved with compassion, took 
 off her linen kerchief from her head, and handed it to 
 him, with which to wipe the blood and sweat from his 
 face ; and that, when he returned the kerchief, his like- 
 ness had become impressed upon it. It is added, that 
 some years afterwards, the emperor Tiberius being sick, 
 he sent for Veronica, touched the portrait, and was cured ; 
 that she bequeathed the kerchief to Clement, the successor 
 of Peter ; and that the precious relic is even yet in posses- 
 sion of the Church. 
 
 The procession moved along the Tyropceon valley 
 northward through a gate in the second wall into the 
 suburb Bezetha, new town, not then walled in, and reached 
 a place directly north of the central point of the city, 
 called The Skull, in Aramaic Golgotha, in Latin Cal- 
 vary, which have the same meaning. No mount is there, 
 no hill, only a slight knoll rounded like the upper part of 
 a skull. It seems to have been the common place for 
 public executions ; for here, under like guard, two robbers 
 also were brought to be likewise crucified.
 
 THE EXECUTION 373 
 
 It was now nine o'clock. The soldiers with their victims 
 took possession of the rising ground, while the hierarchy 
 and a multitude of people stood around about on the 
 lower level, eager to see the execution. Then was offered 
 to Jesus a cup of wine mingled with myrrh, an anesthetic 
 to deaden pain, a stupefying draught, provided for 
 sufferers in general by an association of women of Jeru- 
 salem. 169 
 
 " Fill high the bowl, and spice it well, and pour 
 The dews oblivious ; for the cross is sharp, 
 The cross is sharp, and he 
 Is tenderer than a lamb." 
 
 But when he had tasted it, and thus perceived what it 
 was, he refused to drink it. Twelve hours before he had 
 said, I shall no more, in this life, drink of the fruit of the 
 vine. Moreover, he would not avoid nor diminish any 
 of the sufferings in the sacrifice he was making of 
 himself. 
 
 " Thou wilt feel all, that thou may'st pity all ; 
 And rather wouldst thou wrestle with strong pain, 
 Than overcloud thy soul in agony, 
 Or lose one glimpse of heaven before the time." 
 
 The cross was laid upon the ground. Jesus was 
 stripped of his garments, and required to lie down upon 
 it, with his arms outstretched upon the cross-beam. One 
 soldier held his hand in place, palm upward, while another 
 hammered a nail or spike through it into the wood 
 Then so with the other hand. Then so with the feet. 
 Amid the sound of the hammering, the voice of Jesus 
 was heard, praying : 
 
 " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they 
 do."
 
 374 HIS PASSION 
 
 Moral sublimity has no higher height. 
 
 This is the first of his seven sayings on the cross. 
 
 By the four soldiers, the upper part of the cross with 
 its burden was then lifted so that its lower end slid and 
 dropped into the hole prepared for it, and the beam was 
 then secured erect. The elevation was not great, the 
 feet of the victim being only about a yard from the 
 ground. In like manner the two robbers, probably com- 
 rades of Barrabas, were crucified by their guards, and 
 planted on either hand ; the cross of Jesus, intended for 
 Barrabas, being in the midst. So there were three. 
 
 Thus was he numbered with transgressors. 
 
 When the procession was leaving the praetorium, 
 Pilate handed to Longinus the centurion a placard to be 
 carried publicly on the way, and finally fastened to the 
 cross. Upon it he had written in bold letters : 
 
 " Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." 
 
 This was intended as a scornful insult to the Jews, 
 retaliating his defeat. The chief priests were scandalized, 
 and expostulated, saying, Write not thus, but that he 
 said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered testily : 
 
 " What I have written, I have written." 
 
 So the placard was carried flauntingly on the way, and 
 fastened to the cross before it was raised, just above the 
 head of Jesus. This superscription, titulus elogium, was 
 threefold, in three languages, so that all might read ; in 
 Hebrew (Aramaic), in Greek, and in Latin. Thus was 
 gathered up in true title an expression of the religious, 
 the intellectual, and the political culture of the world in 
 its preparation for the Messiah, the Christ, the King. 
 
 The cross was no sooner reared, and the superscription 
 displayed, than it awoke anew the frenzied hostility of
 
 THE EXECUTION 375 
 
 the crowd of spectators, who at once broke out into 
 hideous jeers and revilings. Even the chief priests and 
 other Sanhedrists joined the mad populace in scornful 
 taunts and bitter sarcasms. Also the soldiers, his execu- 
 tioners, offered him jocosely a cup of their sour wine, 
 and echoed the general cry whose burden was : 
 " If thou art the King of the Jews, save thyself." 
 Seven distinct forms of this mocking may be counted 
 in the record. The seventh is by one of the crucified 
 robbers, who said : 
 
 " Art thou not the Christ ? Save thyself and us." 
 But the other robber rebuking him said : 
 " Dost thou not fear even God ? We indeed suffer 
 justly ; but this man hath done nothing amiss." 
 Then with softened voice he made petition : 
 " Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy 
 kingdom." 
 
 To him Jesus replied promptly, his second saying : 
 " To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." 
 During the noise and confusion of the prolonged 
 revilings, to which Jesus made no reply, his four execu- 
 tioners busied themselves with dividing among them- 
 selves his only property, his garments which they had 
 stripped off. One took his sandals, another his girdle, 
 a third his shawl, the fourth his head-gear. There 
 remained only his tunic. It was without seam, woven 
 from the top throughout, a priestly garment. They 
 said, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose 
 it shall be. So, unconsciously fulfilling the prophecy of 
 Psalm 22 : 18, they gambled for it at the foot of the cross. 
 Then they sat and watched. 
 
 The loving and beloved John was doubtless present at
 
 376 HIS PASSION 
 
 the praetorium during the pseudo-trial there, and heard 
 an hour ago the final judgment of Pilate, and saw his 
 Master and friend led forth to be crucified. Instead of 
 following, he hastened with the sad news to the disciples 
 and relatives of Jesus. The women at least were brave 
 enough to go with him to Calvary ; and with him four 
 of them made their way through the scoffing throngs, 
 and were now standing by the cross of Jesus weeping ; 
 his mother, her sister Salome the mother of John, her 
 sister-in-law Mary the widow of Clopas, and Mary 
 Magdalene. Then was it that the sword, predicted by 
 Simeon, pierced through the Virgin's soul. 
 
 " Stabat Mater dolorosa, 
 
 Juxta crucem lacrymosa, 
 
 Dum pendebat filius. 
 
 Cujus animam gementem, 
 
 Contristatam et dolentem, 
 
 Pertransivit gladius." 
 
 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple 
 whom he loved standing by her, he saith unto his 
 mother : 
 
 " Woman, behold, thy son ! " 
 
 Then saith he to the disciple : 
 
 " Behold, thy mother ! " 
 
 And from that hour the disciple took her unto his own 
 home. 
 
 This was the third saying, a provision for his mother, 
 a legacy of filial love. John at once led the sorrowing 
 mother away from the heartrending scene to his home in 
 the city, and leaving her there, with such words of con- 
 solation as were possible, returned to Calvary. He alone 
 of the apostles, perhaps of all the disciples, clung to the 
 Master in those last hours of his agony, and witnessed
 
 THE EXECUTION 377 
 
 the final spear-thrust. The three other women named 
 above lingered to the end, beholding from afar, together 
 with many women which had followed Jesus from Gali- 
 lee, ministering unto him. 
 
 It was noon. A preternatural gloom hung over all the 
 land, the sun's light failing for the three remaining hours. 
 And there was silence, for the strange darkness quelled 
 the derisive mockeries. Jesus continued to suffer his ex- 
 cruciating pains without a murmur until about three 
 o'clock, when suddenly he cried with a loud voice : 
 
 " Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani ? " 
 
 " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? " 16 
 
 This cry is the first verse of the twenty-second Psalm, 
 spoken in Aramaic, his mother-tongue. All his intense 
 physical sufferings, for six hours on the bitter cross had 
 not extorted from him a groan, or even a sigh ; nor in- 
 deed had he uttered a word of remonstrance, though he 
 was the 'victim, not of suffering only, but of what was 
 worse, injustice. But there was yet a deeper pain, the 
 hiding of his Father's face. This became intolerable, 
 silence impossible, and the cry marks the cause and the 
 culmination of his agony. 
 
 It is intimate in our nature that, whatever be our 
 ordinary mode of speech, yet when aroused, excited, or 
 when softened by pity, or sorrowful, or deeply pained, 
 we instinctively resort to our mother-tongue. Greek 
 was the vernacular of Palestine in our Lord's day, for 
 the street and market-place and ordinary society, while 
 Aramaic, or late Hebrew, was the hearth-language and 
 heart-language. In three places it is recorded that Jesus 
 was moved to use this his mother-tongue. He recalled 
 the little girl to life with the tender yet mighty Talitha,
 
 3/8 HIS PASSION 
 
 Kumi. A deaf man with broken speech was brought to 
 him by loving friends beseeching him. Jesus, moved 
 with compassion, touched the ears and tongue, saying, 
 Ephphatha. A miracle of love. Now he is bleeding on 
 the cross. Hours of agony have stretched his vital 
 cords to breaking. Body and soul are alike lacerated. 
 The woe of woes at last rolls over him. God's face is 
 withdrawn. Then in intensest anguish, in the supreme 
 moment of his sacrifice, he cries to heaven in his mother- 
 tongue. 
 
 Some of them that stood there, when they heard that 
 cry, mistook its first words, and said, Behold, he calleth 
 Elijah. But Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, 
 said faintly : 
 
 " I thirst." The fifth saying. 
 
 Then one of the soldiers ran and filled a sponge with 
 the sour wine which they had at hand for their own 
 drinking, and putting it upon a reed of hyssop, three or 
 four feet long, brought it to his mouth, saying, Let be ; 
 let us see whether Elijah cometh to take him down. 
 Notwithstanding this jibe, an echo of and a fling at the 
 Jews, let us believe that the act was prompted by sym- 
 pathy ; for no one knows so well as a soldier the intoler- 
 able thirst that assails a wounded, bleeding and dying 
 man ; and let us recognize it as one, the only one, faint 
 spark of humanity in the dark of this horrible cruelty. 
 
 When Jesus had tasted the wine on the sponge, he 
 uttered his sixth saying : 
 
 " It is finished." 
 
 The work which had been given him to do was com- 
 plete, the sacrifice for- redemption was fulfilled. He met 
 Death not as conquered, but as Conqueror. He died 
 without death.
 
 THE EXECUTION 379 
 
 " En Pessima ! Non tu 
 
 Pervenis ad Christum, sed Christus pervenit ad te, 
 Cui licuit sine morte mori." 
 
 For immediately he cried again with a loud voice, 
 saying : 
 
 " Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." 
 
 And having said this, he bowed his head, and yielded 
 up his spirit. 
 
 The My God, of his fourth saying, returned here into 
 the Father of conscious fellowship. 
 
 " Love masters agony ; the soul that seemed 
 Forsaken, feels her present God again, 
 And in her Father's arms 
 Contented dies away." 
 
 His first recorded saying, when a boy in the Temple, 
 was of his Father ; the thought of his Father dominated 
 his life ; in Gethsemane last night he cried, O my Father ; 
 and his final cry was to his Father. The words are 
 from Psalm 31:5. It has just been remarked that the 
 human heart, in an hour of anxiety, of distress, or of 
 great pain, forgets all things, except those most dear to 
 it, those which lie hidden in its inmost recesses, and 
 when wrung by some fierce and final agony, it finds in 
 these its solace. Surely Jesus loved the psalms ; he had 
 learned them by heart when a little boy at his mother's 
 knee, and now in the supreme moments of his separation 
 and reconciliation he expressed the deepest movements 
 of his soul in the psalmist's words, rather than his own. 
 They have thus become inexpressibly precious, and the 
 dying words of many a Christian saint have been those 
 with which he breathed out his life. 
 
 As he bowed his head and died, the earth shuddered
 
 380 HIS PASSION 
 
 and quaked, rending the veil of the Sanctuary in twain, 
 breaking asunder the rocks of the hills, and throwing 
 open the sepulchres of the dead. And the multitudes 
 that were looking on, feared exceedingly, and many re- 
 turned to the city smiting their breasts. The moral uni- 
 verse was inverted. There was grief in heaven. There 
 was joy in hell. 
 
 Now when the Roman centurion, in charge of the 
 execution, heard and saw these things, he said : 
 
 " Certainly this was a just man. Truly he was a son 
 of a god." 
 
 It is needless to find in this more than the testimony 
 of a cultured heathen. In like vein Rousseau wrote, 
 Socrates died like a philosopher, but Jesus Christ died 
 like a god. Hegel said the death of Socrates was the 
 great tragedy of Athens. True ; and the death of Jesus 
 was the great tragedy of the World. 
 
 The spring day, Friday, was waning. It was now 
 after three o'clock. At six o'clock, with sunset, a Jewish 
 Sabbath would begin. That day, always holy, would be 
 especially holy, for it would be the second day, a high 
 day, of the Pascha, and for it this preceding day was the 
 Preparation. Therefore certain of the Jews, ever punctil- 
 ious for the law, had been to Pilate at the praetorium 
 with the request that an end be made, so that the bodies 
 might be taken down from the crosses and buried before 
 sunset, according to their law, in Deuteronomy, 21 : 22, 
 23. Pilate having consented, they returned with orders 
 to that effect. 
 
 But Joseph of Arimathea, a Jew of wealth and social 
 distinction, a Sanhedrist but a just man who had not con- 
 sented to the counsel or the deed of his colleagues, being
 
 THE EXECUTION 381 
 
 indeed a disciple of Jesus though secretly for fear of the 
 Jews, now went boldly in unto Pilate, and asked for the 
 body of Jesus, telling him that he was already dead. 
 Pilate marvelled that he had died so early, and calling the 
 centurion, who had come to make report, asked him if it 
 were true. On learning that it was, he granted the 
 corpse to Joseph. 
 
 The orders for the coup de grace soon reached Calvary. 
 It was usually preceded by the crurifragium, or breaking 
 the legs by the strokes of an iron crowbar ; an increase 
 of punishment to make up for its being shortened. The 
 death-stroke that followed was a sword or lance thrust or 
 a blow with the crowbar sub alas. Accordingly the ex- 
 ecutioners broke the legs of the two robbers ; but when 
 they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, 
 they brake not his legs. So the law of the paschal lamb 
 was fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. But 
 to make sure of death, one of the soldiers with a spear 
 pierced his side sub alas, and straightway there came out 
 blood and water. Of this John was an eyewitness. And 
 so it was fulfilled, They shall look on him whom they 
 pierced. 
 
 It has been asked, What was the physical cause of the 
 death of Christ ? It was quite common that victims 
 lingered for days on the cross ; but Jesus, a strong, young 
 man, just thirty-three and a third years old, died in six 
 hours. This surprised the experienced Pilate. The fast- 
 ing, the scourging, the nails, the exposure, were insuf- 
 ficient to account for it. The flow of blood and water 
 indicates that the lance pierced first a lung gorged with 
 blood, and then the pericardium filled with serum, and 
 thus the fluids appeared separately. Certain competent 
 pathologists, diagnosing the case from the record, have
 
 382 HIS PASSION 
 
 concluded that this phenomenon would take place only 
 if one, who was also being crucified, died of heart-rup- 
 ture. Be it so for us. Jesus died of a broken heart. 
 
 Joseph of Arimathea now claimed the body of Jesus, 
 and it was accorded him. When returning from the 
 praetorium through the city, he had bought a new linen 
 cloth ; this he brought with him. Nicodemus, also a 
 Sanhedrist, he who three years ago came to Jesus by 
 night, joined Joseph, bringing about a hundred pounds 
 of myrrh and aloes. John too was probably present. 
 And of the many women who had beheld the crucifixion 
 afar off, two had lingered and now came near, Mary, the 
 widow of Clopas and mother of several apostles, and 
 Mary Magdalene. 161 
 
 The cross with its precious burden was lowered and 
 laid on the ground. The cruel nails were drawn. The 
 lifeless body was lifted by loving arms from the accursed 
 tree, and laid tenderly upon the new linen cloth. Alas 
 how mangled, and stained with richest blood ! The back 
 excoriated by the scourge, the hands torn by nails, the 
 feet torn by nails, the side laid open by the spear, the 
 brow flecked by the rent veins of its bloody sweat, the 
 head encircled by an aureole of scars the crown of thorns 
 had made. This is his body, broken for you, reader, and 
 for me. 
 
 Loving hands strewed the spices lavishly over that 
 broken body, and then carefully wrapped it in the linen 
 cloth, and bound the head about with a napkin. This em- 
 balmment was temporary only, incomplete and necessarily 
 hasty, for the sun was within an hour or two of setting. 
 
 At a little distance, perhaps just beyond the highway 
 leading from the city past Calvary, was a small garden
 
 THE EXECUTION 383 
 
 belonging to Joseph. Its further end was closed by a 
 hill of rock, in which he had caused to be hewn a sepul- 
 chre for himself, and wherein of course no one had yet 
 been laid. To this new tomb the three men bore the 
 shrouded corpse, followed by the two women weeping. 
 A funeral procession, the simplest, yet the most august 
 the world has ever seen. The body was deposited in a 
 niche within the vault, and the men rolled a great stone 
 shaped like a huge mill-stone and hewn for the purpose, 
 across the outer opening so as to close it completely. 
 Thus he made his grave with the rich in his death. The 
 men then departed, while the two Marys lingered, sitting 
 over against the sepulchre. 
 
 But Jesus was not there. He was in Paradise. 
 
 Soon, however, the Marys rose and hastened to the 
 city to employ the remnant of the day in preparing 
 spices for complete embalming ; and when the sun had 
 set and the last Sabbath of rest begun, they also rested 
 according to the commandment. 
 
 " At length the worst is o'er, and thou art laid 
 
 Deep in thy darksome bed ; 
 All still and cold beneath yon dreary stone 
 
 Thy sacred form is gone ; 
 Around those lips where power and mercy hung, 
 
 The dews of death have clung ; 
 The dull earth o'er thee and thy foes around, 
 Thou sleep'st a silent corse, in funeral fetters wound. 
 
 " Sleep'st thou indeed ? or is thy spirit fled, 
 
 At large among the dead ? 
 Whether in Eden bowers thy welcome voice 
 
 Wake Abram to rejoice, 
 Or in some drearier scene thine eye controls 
 
 The thronging band of souls ; 
 That, as thy blood won earth, thine agony 
 Might set the shadowy realm from sin and sorrow free.
 
 384 HIS PASSION 
 
 " Where'er thou roam'st, one happy soul, we know, 
 
 Seen at thy side in wo, 
 Waits on thy triumph, e'en as all the blest 
 
 With him and thee shall rest. 
 Each on his cross, by thee we hang a while, 
 
 Watching thy patient smile, 
 Till we have learn'd to say : Tis justly done ; 
 Only in glory, Lord, thy sinful servant own." 
 
 On the morrow, the morning of the Sabbath and the 
 high day of the Pascha, Annas and Caiaphas, who were 
 Sadducees, accompanied by certain Pharisees, went to the 
 praetorium, and asked audience of Pilate. It was granted, 
 and they spoke, saying, Sir, we remember that that 
 deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I 
 rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be 
 made sure until the third day, lest haply his disciples 
 come and steal him away, and say unto the people, He 
 is risen from the dead ; for this last error will be worse 
 than the first. It is highly probable that the chief 
 priests had been told by Judas of the promise of the 
 resurrection ; and they remembered it, though those who 
 embalmed his body and the disciples generally seem to 
 have forgotten it ; for as yet they knew not the Scripture, 
 that he must rise again from the dead. The acquiescent 
 Pilate responded : 
 
 " Ye shall have a guard ; go your way ; make it sure, 
 according to your wish." 16Z 
 
 So they went, attended by a guard of five or ten sol- 
 diers, who under their direction put red tape with seals 
 of wax to the stone door, affixing Pilate's official stamp 
 on the wax, which it would be high crime to break. 
 Then the guard of Roman soldiers stood sentinel be- 
 fore the closed tomb, and watched through that last
 
 THE EXECUTION 385 
 
 Sabbath day, through the night, until the morning 
 came. 
 
 " Gladness be with thee, Helper of our world ! 
 I think this is the authentic sign and seal 
 Of Godship, that it ever waxes glad, 
 And more glad, until gladness blossoms, bursts, 
 Into a rage to suffer for mankind, 
 And recommence at sorrow ; drops like a seed 
 After the blossom, ultimate of all. 
 Say, does the seed scorn the earth and seek the sun ? 
 Surely it has no other end and aim 
 Than to drop, once more die into the ground, 
 Taste cold and darkness and oblivion there ; 
 And thence rise, tree-like grow through pain to joy, 
 More joy and most joy, do man good again."
 
 PART TENTH 
 
 His Revival
 
 THE RESURRECTION DAY 
 
 THE rising of Christ Jesus from the dead is 
 the greatest and most important of miracles, 
 being a confirmation of all the wonders of 
 his supernatural story. Beginning with his birth from 
 an immaculate virgin at Bethlehem and ending with 
 the apocalyptic revelation of himself at Patmos, the 
 arch of events has for its key-stone his resurrection 
 from the dead, without which they fall away. Indeed 
 without this, the total of Christianity would disap- 
 pear, for if Christ hath not been raised our faith is vain. 
 Mankind might revere the teachings of a dead Christ as 
 of other great sages, but could never trust him as an Ad- 
 vocate, Redeemer and Saviour. That he is even yet to- 
 day a living man, and that he ever liveth to make inter- 
 cession for us, is the centre and support of the world's 
 faith, hope and love. 
 
 The evidence that Christ Jesus was put to death, and 
 that he rose from the dead, is as abundant and complete 
 as the evidence for any other historic fact whatever. In 
 his crucifixion and death there is nothing miraculous, 
 nothing that taxes credulity save a few attendant circum- 
 stances, and the monstrous injustice and cruelty of his 
 accusers and executioners. In his supremely miraculous 
 resurrection there is the extreme antecedent improba- 
 bility of the event. Overlooking the unreasonable skep- 
 ticism of the few who blindly hold that any miracle is 
 impossible, the improbability is met by the overwhelm- 
 
 389
 
 390 HIS REVIVAL 
 
 ing testimony of numerous select witnesses to whom he 
 showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible 
 proofs, being seen of them forty days ; witnesses that 
 sealed their testimony with their blood. No higher 
 proof is possible for any historic fact, and the antecedent 
 improbability is, for those who hold to the reality of the 
 supernatural and its boundless possibilities, completely 
 swept away. Hence the unfeigned faith of the Son of 
 God, whom God raised up, having loosed the pangs of 
 death because it was not possible that he should be 
 holden of it, has been and is to-day the reasonable faith 
 of multiplying millions. 
 
 At dawn of Sunday, April pth, Jesus had already 
 risen from the dead. The rock-ribbed vault with its im- 
 perial seals did not detain him. The tomb was empty. 
 
 At dawn, while the Roman sentinels were still on 
 guard, suddenly the earth quaked, and from the sky, like 
 a fiery meteor, came swooping down an angel. Heed- 
 less of the seals, he rolled aside the stone, and sat upon it. 
 His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white 
 as snow. The guards, paralyzed by fear, gazed into the 
 open tomb illumined by the angelic light, and saw that its 
 tenant had disappeared. They then fled in disorder from 
 the garden northward, but soon came together again in 
 its vicinity, and themselves unseen, observed the coming 
 and going of visitors. 163 
 
 At dawn, while it was yet dark, Mary Magdalene, and 
 Mary the widow of Clopas, and Salome of Zebedee, and 
 Joanna of Chuza, left the city, and came bearing the 
 spices with which they purposed to anoint him. And as 
 they came, they said one to another, Who shall roll us 
 away the stone from the door of the tomb ? Evidently
 
 THE RESURRECTION DAY 391 
 
 they knew nothing of the sealing and the guarding. 
 Mary Magdalene, young, alert, eager, hastened on in ad- 
 vance, entered the garden, saw the open tomb, saw that 
 it was empty, then turned and leaving her companions, ran 
 back to the city. The others came on, and seeing that 
 the stone was rolled away, they entered the vault, but 
 found not the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were 
 standing perplexed, behold, two angels appeared unto 
 them arrayed in dazzling white apparel. Then they 
 affrighted, bowed down their faces to the earth, yet heard 
 the angels say, Why seek ye the living among the dead ? 
 Ye seek Jesus, the Nazarene. He is not here, but is 
 risen ; behold the place where they laid him. Go, tell 
 his disciples and Peter, he goeth before you into Galilee ; 
 there shall ye see him. And the women departed 
 quickly from the tomb, with great fear and great joy, and 
 ran to bring his disciples word. 
 
 But Mary Magdalene had already spoken apart to Peter 
 and John, saying, They have taken away the Lord out of 
 the tomb, and we who went there to anoint him know 
 not where they have laid him. Then Peter and John ran 
 both together towards the garden ; but John more nimbel 
 outran Peter, and came first to the tomb ; and stooping 
 and looking in, as he himself tells, he saw the linen 
 cloths lying ; yet entered he not in. Peter followed, and 
 with characteristic boldness at once entered the vault ; and 
 he too saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, that 
 was upon his head, rolled up carefully, no haste, in a 
 place by itself ; but no body, no person, no angelic mes- 
 senger. After him John also entered, and saw, and be- 
 lieved. Then these disciples went away again unto their 
 own home, apart from the other apostles. 164
 
 392 HIS REVIVAL 
 
 Mary Magdalene had followed the two apostles back 
 to the garden ; and, they having departed, she was now 
 standing before the tomb weeping. As she wept, she 
 stooped and looked into the vault, and saw two angels in 
 white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where 
 the body of Jesus had lain. And they said unto her : 
 
 " Woman, why weepest thou ? " 165 
 
 " Because," said she, " they have taken away my Lord, 
 and I know not where they have laid him." 
 
 When she had thus said, she turned about and beheld 
 Jesus standing ; but blinded by her tears, knew not that 
 it was he. Then Jesus saith unto her : 
 
 " Woman, why weepest thou ? Whom seekest thou ? " 
 
 She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto 
 him : 
 
 " Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou 
 hast laid him, and I will take him away." 
 
 Jesus saith unto her : 
 
 " Mary." 
 
 She turned to look intently on him, and with a glad 
 cry of recognition, bowed down before him, stretched 
 forth her arms to embrace his knees, and in her soft 
 mother-tongue breathed forth : 
 
 " Rabboni ! " 
 
 Then Jesus, predicting his ascension first to her, 
 saith : 
 
 " Take not hold on me ; for I am not yet ascended 
 unto the Father ; but go unto my brethren, and say unto 
 them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my 
 God and your God." 
 
 Thus he appeared first to Mary Magdalene. 
 
 In this exquisite story, Peter promptly entering the 
 sepulchre, is faith ; John outrunning Peter, hesitating and
 
 THE RESURRECTION DAY 393 
 
 peering in, is hope ; Mary standing without and weeping, 
 is love ; these three ; and love wins. 
 
 She then cometh hastily to the disciples as they 
 mourned and wept, and joyfully exclaimed : 
 
 " I have seen the Lord." 
 
 But they, when they heard that he was alive, and had 
 been seen of her, disbelieved. 
 
 While Peter, John and Mary were yet in the garden, 
 the other women, who had reached the city, were telling 
 the remaining apostles of the empty tomb, of the vision 
 of the angels, and of their message to the disciples. 
 But all these words, as well as those afterwards of the 
 Magdalen, appeared in their sight as idle talk ; and they 
 disbelieved them. A little disheartened perhaps, the 
 three widows returned, going again, by a different path, 
 towards the garden, when, behold, Jesus met them, say- 
 ing: 
 
 " All hail ! " m 
 
 And they came with fear and took hold of his feet, 
 and worshipped him. Then saith he unto them : 
 
 " Fear not. Go tell my brethren that they depart into 
 Galilee, and there shall they see me." 
 
 This was his second appearance. How exalting the 
 honor thus bestowed on Christian women ! 
 
 Meantime the Roman guards, having recovered some- 
 what from their consternation, and apprehending very 
 serious consequences to themselves for quitting their 
 post, deputed two or more of their number to report to 
 the high priests, under whose orders they had been 
 placed, an account of what had occurred. So they came, 
 that Easter morning, to Annas and Caiaphas, and told
 
 394 HIS REVIVAL 
 
 the things they had seen, including especially the vacant 
 vault. Thereupon the Sanhedrists were hastily assembled 
 for consultation, with the result that the wealthy high 
 priests gave a largess of money to the soldiers, with the 
 charge, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him 
 away while we slept ; and if this come to a hearing before 
 Pilate, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they 
 took the money, and did as they were told. 167 
 
 Thus Annas and Caiaphas, the high priests, with the 
 approval of their compeers, bribed these common mer- 
 cenaries to lie, and promised their cooperation. How 
 perplexed, bewildered and alarmed they must have been, 
 else surely they could have invented some more plausible 
 pretense. For this falsehood is transparent ; the soldiers 
 could not know what took place while they slept, and 
 besides it was death for a sentinel to sleep on his post. 
 With the stupid lie, incriminating the innocent, on their 
 lips, and a bribe, corrupting the unwary, in their hands, 
 Annas and Caiaphas, it is pleasing to say, disappear from 
 gospel history. But their vile lie spread among the 
 Jews, and was maintained by them during the apostolic 
 age; and moreover, it has persisted, with marvellous 
 vitality, from the time of Justin Martyr down to the 
 present century, as the approved Jewish explanation. 
 
 Early in the afternoon of this first Lord's Day, Jesus 
 appeared unto Simon Peter. Of the place, circumstances 
 or manner of this appearance, or of the words that passed, 
 nothing is told ; only the bare fact. The interview was 
 strictly private. Three days ago, Peter denied his Lord. 
 Then he went out, and wept bitterly. Nothing further 
 is heard of the man whom Satan was sifting, and who 
 felt perhaps that his denial ranked him with Judas, until
 
 THE RESURRECTION DAY 395 
 
 early this Sunday morning, when in the angelic message to 
 the disciples, he and he only is particularly named, lest he 
 should hesitate ; and soon afterwards he is seen running 
 to the garden, and entering the tomb. What passed that 
 afternoon between the penitent and his forgiving Lord, 
 is placed, with exquisite delicacy, under a sacred seal of 
 silence which a reverent imagination dare not profane. 168 
 
 Early in the afternoon, but probably before the ap- 
 pearance to Peter, two disciples had left the city to walk to 
 Emmaus, a village sixty stadia, nearly seven miles, north- 
 west from Jerusalem. Their purpose seems to have 
 been simply a private converse with each other on the 
 recent events. One was named Cleopas, the other, un- 
 named, was probably Luke himself; for he, and he only, 
 tells this incident in detail, his style therein is autoptic, 
 and the omission of his own name, while the other is 
 given, accords with gospel usage. In the course of their 
 walk, Jesus joined the wayfarers ; but their eyes were 
 mastered so that his form as they saw it was unlike that 
 of Jesus, and therefore they did not recognize him. 
 Kindly he said unto them : 
 
 " What communications are those that ye have one 
 with another, as ye walk ? " 169 
 
 Upon this intrusive question by a stranger, they stood 
 still, gazed on him with sad faces, and Cleopas answering 
 said: 
 
 " Dost thou alone of all that sojourn in Jerusalem not 
 know the things which are come to pass there in these 
 days ? " 
 
 " What things ? " he asked with evident sympathy. 
 
 " Why, the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth." 
 
 And they recounted to him, with simple but deep
 
 396 HIS REVIVAL 
 
 pathos, what had happened, even to the report of the 
 empty tomb. Then said the unknown, with rebuke : 
 
 " O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe. Be- 
 hooved it not the Christ to suffer these things ? " 
 
 And from Moses through the prophets, he interpreted 
 to them the scriptures concerning the Christ. 
 
 When they reached Emmaus, the learned and instruct- 
 ive stranger seemed about to pass on, but his charmed 
 hearers constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for the 
 day is far spent. So they went to an inn for rest and re- 
 freshment. And when they had reclined at table, he 
 took the bread and blessed and brake and gave to them. 
 On this familiar action, their eyes were cleared, and they 
 saw that it was Jesus himself; but he vanished out of 
 their sight. Astonished, they said one to another : 
 
 " Was not our heart burning within us while he spake 
 to us in the way ? " 
 
 Immediately they rose up, and returned with haste to 
 Jerusalem. They found ten of the apostles, Thomas be- 
 ing absent, gathered together with some other disciples, 
 probably in that same upper room in the house of John 
 Mark and Mary his mother. Upon entering they were 
 greeted with : 
 
 " The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared unto 
 Simon." 
 
 In turn, Cleopas and his companion rehearsed what 
 had happened to them in the way, and how Jesus became 
 known to them in the breaking of the bread. 
 
 This explicit testimony of two competent witnesses 
 was heard with wonder, yet not without bewilderment 
 and doubt. 
 
 It was now evening, and the assembled disciples began
 
 397 
 
 to partake of a frugal supper spread for them. In its 
 course, while they were yet talking of those things, 
 the doors being closed for fear of the Jews, suddenly 
 Jesus stood in the midst of them, and greeted them 
 with: 
 
 " Peace unto you." 17 
 
 But they were terrified, supposing that they beheld a 
 spirit. Then said he unto them : 
 
 " Why are ye troubled ? See my hands and my feet, 
 that it is I myself ; handle me, and know ; for a spirit 
 hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having." 
 
 And when he had said this, he shewed unto them his 
 hands and his side. Then, while their wondering, loving 
 hearts dared not even yet receive the joyful truth, he 
 asked : 
 
 " Have ye here anything to eat ? " 
 
 Surely nothing could be more prosaic, or better adapted 
 to tranquillize their thoughts. They gave him a piece of 
 a broiled fish, which he took and ate before them, thus 
 emphasizing his renewed human fellowship. Now they 
 believed. Their long drawn and slowly yielding skepti- 
 cism at last gave way. Far from being credulous wit- 
 nesses, they were slow of heart to believe, and awaited 
 infallible proofs. These received, they were rationally 
 convinced, and were glad. Jesus therefore said to them 
 again : 
 
 " Pax vobiscum. As the Father hath sent me, even so 
 send I you." 
 
 Then inspiring them with the Holy Spirit, he gave 
 these apostles, these missionaries, these sent forth, the 
 first of the three final apostolic commissions. This, then, 
 was the birthday of the Christian Church, as thereafter 
 Pentecost was her baptismal day.
 
 398 HIS REVIVAL 
 
 The appearing and disappearing of the crucified Jesus 
 five times on this first Lord's Day, thrills the heart that 
 loves him with joyful wonder. Aroused by the super- 
 natural facts, both spiritual and physical, it is hard to 
 suppress questions. Here is a man who was certainly 
 dead, and yet is alive again. The rock-ribbed and close 
 sealed tomb could not confine his body. He walked 
 with torn feet to Emmaus, and vanished. Closed doors 
 did not hinder his coming and going. Yet it was a body. 
 He was known by sight of his features, and of his pierced 
 hands and feet and side. It was a body of flesh and 
 bones that could be handled, and not a mere intangible 
 spirit. And moreover, he did eat before them. How is 
 all this possible ? But let us not incur St. Paul's rebuke 
 of those who ask, How are the dead raised, and with 
 what manner of body do they come ? Fool ; that which 
 thou thyself sowest is not quickened except it die ; then 
 God giveth it a body even as it pleaseth him. There are 
 celestial bodies, and bodies terrestial. So also is the 
 resurrection of the dead. It is sown a natural body ; it 
 is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and 
 there is a spiritual body. Behold, I tell you a mystery.
 
 XXXII 
 THE FORTY DAYS 
 
 AFTER the five appearances of our risen Lord 
 already noted, there were five others during the 
 forty days that elapsed from his resurrection to 
 his ascension. Three of these appearances are recorded 
 with some details ; the other two are simply stated. 
 Any surmise of where or how he was occupied during 
 the intervals, would be merely idle conjecture. 
 
 The apostles lingered in Jerusalem. They, the elect 
 witnesses of the resurrection, were not yet of one mind. 
 Thomas, not having seen for himself, refused to believe 
 in the corporiety of the revenant, saying : 
 
 " Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, 
 and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my 
 hand into his side, I will not believe." m 
 
 Because of this, he is sometimes called doubting 
 Thomas ; but his incredulity was not greater than that 
 of his fellows prior to the sensuous tests vouchsafed to 
 them. 
 
 On the eighth day, Sunday, thereby marked as sacred, 
 the second Lord's Day, the apostles were again gathered 
 together in the same upper room, and Thomas with 
 them. The doors were shut. Again Jesus stood in the 
 midst, and greeted them with the now familiar saluta- 
 tion: 
 
 " Pax vobiscum" 
 
 399
 
 400 HIS REVIVAL 
 
 Then personally addressing Thomas, he said : 
 
 " Reach hither thy finger into my hands ; and reach 
 hither thy hand, and put it into my side ; and be not 
 faithless, but believing." 
 
 With a sudden and complete conviction foregoing the 
 proffered test, and with a rush of feeling that passed at 
 once into adoration, Thomas bowed upon his knees ex- 
 claiming : 
 
 " My Lord and my God." 
 
 Then said Jesus graciously unto him : 
 
 " Because thou hast seen me, hast thou believed ? 
 Blessed they that have not seen, and have believed." 
 
 This is the last and greatest of the Beatitudes. It 
 approves the loving and rapturous confession, the highest 
 yet made, of the essential divinity of Christ, the faith of 
 the Church. 
 
 According to the command sent through the women 
 in the morning of resurrection day, the apostles with 
 other disciples now departed into Galilee. One week of 
 the six having already passed, and another being oc- 
 cupied with the journey, it was probably in the third 
 week that Simon Peter and Thomas, James and John, 
 Nathaniel of Cana, and two others, were strolling one 
 evening aimlessly along the shore of the Galilean sea, 
 awaiting his promised appearing. Welcome, once more, 
 sweet Gospel Lake! Peter, primus inter pares, a little 
 impatient perhaps, and with an impulse towards his old 
 vocation, said all of a sudden : 
 
 " I go a fishing." 
 
 " We also come with thee," promptly responded the 
 others. 172 
 
 So they procured a boat, and went out on the lake for
 
 THE FORTY DAYS 401 
 
 the night. But they caught no fish. At break of day, 
 while only a hundred yards from land, they saw Jesus 
 standing on the shore, but they knew not in the dim 
 twilight that it was Jesus. He said unto them, with the 
 familiar and affectionate address of a superior : 
 
 " Children, have ye aught to eat? " 
 
 They answered him, No. And he said unto them : 
 
 " Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and ye 
 shall find." 
 
 Though the favorable hour for fishing had passed, and 
 their torches were extinguished, for the morning light 
 was breaking, yet with a dim reminiscence and presage, 
 they silently obeyed the mysterious stranger. And now 
 they were not able to draw the net for the multitude of 
 fishes. Then John, with the quick intuition of his special 
 love, whispered to Peter : 
 
 " It is the Lord." 
 
 When Simon Peter heard this he, being naked, quickly 
 girt his coat about him, thus out of respect reversing the 
 usual order, and plunged into the lake to swim ashore. 
 He seems, however, to have gained no advance, for the 
 others came promptly in the boat, dragging the net of 
 fishes close to shore. 
 
 So when they got out upon the land, they saw a fire 
 of coals already there and a fish laid thereon, and a 
 loaf of bread. Then Jesus saith unto them : 
 
 " Bring of the fish which ye have now taken." 
 
 Peter therefore went aboard the boat, and drew the 
 net on land, full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and 
 three ; and for all there were so many, the net was not 
 rent. 
 
 The striking likeness and yet contrast between this 
 beautiful and wonderful lake scene, so exquisitely depicted
 
 402 HIS REVIVAL 
 
 by Raphael in his ghostly cartoon, and the one occurring 
 at the beginning of the Galilean ministry, are well worthy 
 of study. In both, nearly the same personnel, a like un- 
 favorable hour and discouraging antecedents, the fish 
 thronging together at his divine will, the large captures, 
 the impulsive actions of Peter; in the first the net 
 broken with loss, in the second unbroken without loss, 
 emblematic of the early and later fisheries of men. 
 
 The disciples overcome with awe durst ask no ques- 
 tion, knowing that it was the Lord. Then said he, re- 
 ferring to what he had provided : 
 
 " Come and break your fast." 
 
 And he took the bread, and gave them, and the fish 
 likewise. Was not the single loaf, and perhaps also the 
 single broiled fish, multiplied to meet the need of the 
 seven hungry men ? 
 
 When they had breakfasted, Jesus saith significantly to 
 Peter : 
 
 " Simon, son of Joanes, lovest thou me, d^ana? pe, more 
 than these ? " 
 
 " Yea, Lord ; thou knowest that I love thee, $d5> <Je." 
 
 The answer hesitates to claim the superiority touched 
 in the question with evident reference to Peter's recent 
 boast, Although all shall be offended in thee, yet will not 
 I. Moreover the answer uses an humbler word for love, 
 than does the question. There had been already a 
 private interview between the penitent man and his Mas- 
 ter ; but this incisive examination before the six brethren 
 was needed for his discipline, and complete restoration to 
 fellowship. His humble profession was followed by an 
 humble commission. 
 
 " Feed my lambs,"
 
 THE FORTY DAYS 403 
 
 Then Jesus, omitting the comparison, asked again : 
 
 " Simon, son of Joanes, lovest thou me ? " 
 
 " Yea, Lord ; thou knowest that I love thee." 
 
 " Tend my sheep." 
 
 This wider commission Peter, in after years, transmit- 
 ted to the Elders, saying, Tend the flock of God ; and 
 when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall re- 
 ceive the crown of glory that fadeth not away. 
 
 Then Jesus, adopting Peter's humbler word for love, 
 said unto him the third time : 
 
 " Simon, son of Joanes, lovest thou me ? " 
 
 Peter was grieved by this threefold inquiry, intended 
 to remind him and his brethren who stood by, bitterly 
 reminding him, of his recent threefold denial. With a 
 burst of painful emotion, and a renewed appeal to his 
 Lord's consciousness rather than an avowal of his own, 
 he cried out : 
 
 " Lord, thou knowest all things ; thou knowest that I 
 love thee." 
 
 Yes, Jesus knew it, had never doubted it ; and now out 
 from the eyes of the attendant witnesses, and of the pen- 
 itent himself, he cancelled the past, and restored him to 
 entire fellowship, by the full commission of a shepherd : 
 
 " Feed my sheep." 
 
 To this he immediately added an obscure prediction of 
 Peter's martyrdom ; and, as he turned to go, the com- 
 mand : 
 
 " Follow me." 
 
 Peter obeyed, not much troubled apparently by the 
 prospect ; for, seeing John also following, he forgot him- 
 self, lapsed, poor Peter, dear Peter, and ventured the im- 
 pertinent question : 
 
 " Lord, and this man, what ? "
 
 404 HIS REVIVAL 
 
 Thereupon Jesus administered the sharp rebuke : 
 " If I will that he tarry till I come, exempt from mar- 
 tyrdom and even death, what is that to thee ? Follow 
 thou me." 
 
 The purely ideal antecedent of the question was after- 
 wards misinterpreted, and the report went out among the 
 brethren that the disciple whom Jesus loved should not 
 die. John himself, in his old age, took pains to correct 
 it by adding the foregoing narrative to his already com- 
 pleted gospel ; yet the belief lingered, and as late as the 
 time of St. Augustine it was still a tradition that the be- 
 loved apostle in his tomb at Ephesus was not dead but 
 merely sleeping, awaiting the coming. 
 
 Within a fortnight after this seventh appearance, 
 occurred the general assembly specially appointed to be 
 held on a mountain in Galilee. It took place doubtless 
 on the same mountain where he had selected the twelve 
 apostles, and where he delivered the famous sermon. 
 There, when the eleven apostles and many disciples, 
 more than five hundred, were gathered, Jesus appeared 
 to them as promised. And when they saw him, they 
 worshipped him ; but some doubted. It was on this oc- 
 casion that Jesus gave forth the second, the great com- 
 mission, saying : 
 
 " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to all 
 the nations. Lo, I am with you alway." 173 
 
 Thus the Mt. of Election, the Mt. of Beatitudes, be- 
 came also the Mt. of Commission. 
 
 It was probably during the last week of the six, the 
 apostles having returned as directed to Jerusalem, that 
 Jesus appeared to James. No details are given ; only the
 
 THE FORTY DAYS 405 
 
 bare fact is stated. As this James, surnamed the Less, 
 merely to distinguish him from James the brother of 
 John, afterwards became the presiding elder of the mother 
 church at Jerusalem, ruling with special and stringent 
 authority, it is possible that this private interview with 
 the Lord was in preparation for that high office. 174 
 
 There is some mystical significance in the forty days, 
 the number passed by Moses on Sinai, and by Elijah in 
 Horeb ; the number which Jesus at the beginning passed 
 in the wilderness of temptation, and during which at the 
 end he lingered between two worlds. What it may sig- 
 nify, we know not. Let us be content ; for reverent 
 ignorance is wiser than presumptuous knowledge. 
 
 On the last of the forty days, Thursday, May i8th, 
 A. D. 30, occurred the tenth appearance, culminating in the 
 Ascension. 175 
 
 The apostles being gathered together by appointment 
 in one place in Jerusalem, Jesus once more appeared in 
 their midst. On this occasion he opened their mind that 
 they might understand the scriptures, and expounded to 
 them the doctrine of the suffering Christ. And there- 
 with he gave them the third commission, or rather the 
 commission for the third time, that repentance and remis- 
 sion of sins should be preached in his name unto all 
 nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Also he charged 
 them not to depart from the city until they were clothed 
 with power from on high. 
 
 And now, notwithstanding all the adverse teachings, 
 and despite the contrary course of events, the fixed idea 
 of the disciples that he would evict the Romans and 
 reinstate the throne of David, emerges again. So they 
 wistfully ask, and it is their last word :
 
 406 HIS REVIVAL 
 
 " Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to 
 Israel ? " 
 
 With sharp rebuke he replies : 
 
 " It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the 
 Father hath set within his own authority. But ye shall 
 receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you ; 
 and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in 
 all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the 
 earth." 
 
 The teachings were ended, the commission given. 
 Jesus then led the apostolic band from the city across the 
 Kedron, past Gethsemane, along the familiar route as- 
 cending Olivet and passing over its southern shoulder, 
 until beyond its summit Jerusalem is lost to sight, and 
 beloved Bethany, the home of purity and peace, once 
 more, here at the very last, comes into view. There 
 Jesus paused. Then lifting up his wounded hands over 
 the dear friends gathered around him, he pronounced a 
 farewell benediction. O that we had his words ! As 
 they listened and looked, he was parted from them, borne 
 upwards by invisible hands, until a white cloud, hovering 
 eagerly near, received him, and veiled him from their 
 sight. 
 
 Amazed they stood ; and while they were still looking 
 steadfastly into the sky, behold two angels in glistering 
 apparel, spake to them, saying : 
 
 " Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into the 
 sky ? This Jesus, which was received up from you, shall 
 so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into 
 heaven." 
 
 Then the apostles returned unto Jerusalem with great 
 joy in the promise of his coming again.
 
 XXXIII 
 
 THE AFTER DAYS 
 
 AND no man hath ascended into heaven, but he 
 that descended out of heaven, even the Son of 
 man, which is in heaven. There he sat down at 
 the right hand of God ; there he ever liveth to make in- 
 tercession for us. Having then a great high priest, who 
 hath passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let 
 us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high 
 priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our in- 
 firmities ; but one that hath been in all points tempted 
 like as we are ; yet without sin. Let us therefore draw 
 near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may 
 receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of 
 need. 
 
 There were three visions in the after days, whose re- 
 cital will complete the story of the Nazarene. 
 
 At the feast of Pentecost, Sunday, May 28th, ten days 
 after the Ascension, the baptism in the Holy Spirit prom- 
 ised to the disciples was fulfilled. This was the con- 
 firmation of the Christian Church, which then grew rap- 
 idly in vigor and zeal, and the number of the disciples in 
 Jerusalem multiplied exceedingly. Therefore the apos- 
 tles appointed seven men to help them in their work. 
 Among these was Stephen, a man full of grace and power, 
 who contended earnestly for the faith. Himself a Hellen- 
 
 407
 
 408 HIS REVIVAL 
 
 ist, he disputed with the Jews of the Hellenist synagogues, 
 and they were not able to withstand the wisdom and the 
 spirit by which he spake. Enraged, they stirred up the 
 people and the elders and the scribes, and seized him, and 
 brought him before the Sanhedrin, and set up false wit- 
 nesses which testified, We have heard him say that Jesus 
 of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the 
 customs which Moses delivered unto us. The old false 
 charge redressed. And the high priest, president of the 
 Sanhedrin, asked the accused, Are these things so? 176 
 
 Then Stephen, whose countenance was lustrous with 
 angelic radiance, rose to his feet, and addressed the coun- 
 cil respectfully, saying : 
 
 " Brethren and fathers, harken." 
 
 He did not seek to exonerate himself well knowing it 
 would be useless, nor did he reply directly to the accusa- 
 tion ; but he arrested the attention of his auditors by en- 
 tering upon a recitation of their typically messianic his- 
 tory, which they were always pleased to hear. As he 
 proceeded, the application to the well-known faith of the 
 Nazarenes, which application he, with high art, left the 
 hearers to make for themselves, became more and more 
 obvious, culminating in a complete vindication of the con- 
 fession that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ. Then 
 with a burst of indignation, he accused his accusers, and 
 criminated the council, saying : 
 
 " As your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the proph- 
 ets did not your fathers persecute ? They killed them 
 which showed before of the coming of the Just Man ; of 
 whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers." 
 
 Hearing this, they 'were cut to the heart, and gnashed 
 on him with their teeth. But he, looking up with his 
 shining face steadfastly into heaven, and seeing the glory
 
 THE AFTER DAYS 409 
 
 of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, ex- 
 claimed in rapture : 
 
 " Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man 
 standing on the right hand of God." 
 
 " Well might we guess what vision bright 
 Was present to his raptured sight, 
 E'en as reflected streams of light 
 
 Their solar source betray ; 
 The glory which our God surrounds, 
 The Son of Man, th' atoning wounds, 
 He sees them all; and earth's dull bounds 
 
 Are melting fast away." 
 
 Jesus, in his anxiety, had risen from his seat at the 
 right hand ; and by his parousia he encouraged this bold 
 defender of the faith. 
 
 But the purblind zealots stopped their ears, and with 
 loud clamor, rushed upon Stephen to lynch him, thus 
 seeking to justify one murder by doing another. The 
 fanatic mob haled him out of the city to Golgotha, and 
 there they stoned him. And as they stoned him, he 
 cried into the open heaven, saying : 
 
 " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 
 
 Then he kneeled down, and cried again, saying : 
 
 " Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." 
 
 Both cries were echoes from Calvary. And when they 
 ceased, under the stony hail, he fell asleep. 
 
 Thus to the proto-martyr Stephen, the first to receive 
 the crown, ffrfyavos, it was granted to see Jesus. 
 
 The tragic death of the evangelist inflamed the fanat- 
 icism of the Jewish zealots. Very soon all Jerusalem 
 was astir to extirpate the hated new heresy of the despised 
 Nazarenes. There was no tolerance, no measure, no
 
 410 HIS REVIVAL 
 
 mercy. Day after day men, women and children were 
 hunted down, and haled to prison and to scourging and 
 to stoning and to death. A fierce young Benjamite, who 
 had stood by and approved the murder of Stephen, led 
 this fearful onslaught. With the fiery zeal of a religious 
 fanatic, with the energy of hot youth, with the keen in- 
 telligence of a gifted and educated intellect, he fulfilled 
 the prophecy that Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf. The 
 wretched and helpless Nazarenes fled from the city hither 
 and thither, for the wolf was in the fold and the sheep 
 were scattered. 177 
 
 There was pain in heaven. The King standing before 
 his throne was now crucified afresh in his bleeding peo- 
 ple. He suffers with them their agonies. There was 
 pain in heaven. And the angels forgot to sing, and their 
 dumb harps were forgotten, and they stood in silence and 
 turned their wondering eyes now on the vacant throne, 
 now on the bleeding earth, now on the hunted fugitives, 
 now on the anxious King, and amazed they waited in 
 silent expectation. 
 
 The work at Jerusalem is done ; there are no more to 
 slay. See a cavalcade on the way to Damascus ; see this 
 blood-stained Benjamite seeking new prey. They reach 
 the rising ground at the hill Kokeba and pause. Damas- 
 cus lies before them, the eye of the East, its soft waters 
 of Abana and Parphar gleaming in the glorious light of 
 a noonday Syrian sun, its fountains sparkling, its white 
 walls glistening, its encircling wilderness of gardens of 
 roses and groves of palm, citron and olive exhaling sweet 
 odors, and vocal with the singing of birds and the murmur 
 of rivulets an emerald set in the desert of golden sand. 
 
 The beauty of the scene would surely soften the hard- 
 est heart, and calm the fiercest passion. But no. The
 
 THE AFTER DAYS 411 
 
 brow of the persecutor grows darker, and the only gleam 
 of satisfaction is at the near prospect of ravaging another 
 fold. He fumbles for his letters of authority to be sure 
 they are at hand. His determination deepens in spite 
 of the goadings that pierce his innermost soul. His 
 teeth are clinched with hate ; his lips are dry with thirst 
 for more Christian blood. 
 
 There was pain in heaven, and silence, and wonder, 
 and waiting. 
 
 The pause was short ; the persecutor moves forward. 
 'Twas more than heaven could hold. Suddenly its blue 
 portals are thrown wide open. The king of day pales 
 before a greater effulgence, flooding the firmament, save 
 where it casts upon the glowing world a shadow of the 
 sun. The King of celestial glory descends and confronts 
 the persecutor in the way. He sees, but blinded by ex- 
 cess of light, he falls to the ground ; yet his ears are open 
 to hear the piteous cry : 
 
 " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ? " 
 
 And he, trembling and astonished, said : 
 
 " Who art thou, Lord ? " 
 
 " I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. Inasmuch as ye 
 have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, 
 ye have done it unto me." 
 
 Thus was his hand stayed ; and he, humbled, bowed, 
 broken and blind, cast down but not destroyed, became 
 a new man in Christ Jesus. Yea, more, he became an 
 apostle and a witness of the living Christ to all peoples, 
 grounding his commission on this vision, saying : 
 
 "Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our 
 Lord?" 
 
 These extreme opposites, the martyred evangelist and
 
 4 i2 HIS REVIVAL 
 
 the dominant persecutor, were permitted to see Jesus ; 
 but in neither case is there any descriptive word by 
 which we might imagine the aspect of his appearance. 
 
 Years rolled on. The blood of the martyrs was the 
 seed of the Church. The fugitive Nazarenes, grouped 
 in remote places, zealously propagated the faith, and dis- 
 ciples were greatly multiplied. The apostles gradually 
 disappear from history, until near the close of the century 
 St. John alone survived. After the death of the Virgin 
 Mother confided to his care, and after the martyrdom of 
 St. Paul in A. D. 66, but before the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem in A. D. 70, he had made his home in Ephesus, and 
 took oversight of the churches of Asia which St. Paul 
 had founded and fostered. Here for twenty years or 
 more the disciple whom Jesus loved tarried for his com- 
 ing, and now an aged man was calmly awaiting, in the 
 last decade of the century, his Master's call. 
 
 " I'm growing very old. This weary head 
 That hath so often leaned on Jesus' breast, 
 In days long past that seem almost a dream, 
 Is bent and hoary with its weight of years. 
 God lays his hand upon me, yea, his hand, 
 And not his rod, the gentle hand that I 
 Felt, those three years, so often pressed in mine, 
 In friendship such as passeth woman's love. 
 I'm old, so old ! I cannot recollect 
 The faces of my friends, and I forget 
 The words and deeds that make up daily life ; 
 But that dear face, and every word he spoke, 
 Grow more distinct as others fade away. 
 Just now I think he must be very near, 
 Coming, I trust, to break the veil which time 
 Has worn -so thin that I can see beyond, 
 And watch his coming. Lord, I now am weak, 
 And old, and feeble. Let me lean on thee.
 
 THE AFTER DAYS 413 
 
 So, put thine arm around me. Closer still. 
 How strong thou art ! Tis worth the hundred years 
 To feel this bliss. So let me bide, dear Lord, 
 And on thy bosom rest in perfect peace." 
 
 In the year 95, Domitian, the last of the twelve 
 Caesars, instituted a general persecution of Christians 
 that extended throughout his Empire. It was probably 
 during this agitation that St. John, the last of the twelve 
 Apostles, was banished temporarily from Ephesus to 
 Patmos, a barren rocky islet in the ^Egaean Sea, about 
 sixty miles southwest of Ephesus. We have his own 
 words of what befell him there. 178 
 
 " I John was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the 
 word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the 
 Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a great 
 voice, as of a trumpet. And having turned I saw 
 seven golden candlesticks ; and in their midst stood one 
 like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to 
 the foot, and girt about with a golden girdle. And his 
 head and his hair were white as white wool, as snow ; 
 and his eyes were as a flame of fire ; and his feet like 
 unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a 
 furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters. 
 And he had in his right hand seven stars ; and out of his 
 mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword; and his 
 countenance was as the sun shining in his strength. 
 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. 
 And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not ; I 
 am the first and the last, and the living one ; and I was 
 dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore." 
 
 This symbolic epiphany baffles imagination and dazzles 
 intellect by its ineffable glory and majesty. 
 
 The honored saint, permitted once more thus to see
 
 4H HIS REVIVAL 
 
 Jesus, was charged by him with messages to seven 
 churches of Asia, represented by the candlesticks and 
 stars. Then followed, by the ministry of angels, a series 
 of apocalyptic visions of the things which must shortly 
 come to pass; closing with a sublime scene of a new 
 heaven and a new earth ; and of a new Jerusalem coming 
 down out of heaven from God, with no temple therein, 
 for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the 
 temple thereof; and of a river of water of life, bright as 
 crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the 
 Lamb, in the midst of the street thereof. And the city 
 hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine 
 upon it ; for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the 
 lamp thereof is the Lamb. 
 
 The curtain was closed again by angel hands. Then 
 once more Jesus appeared to the disciple whom he loved, 
 saying : 
 
 " Behold, I come quickly ; and my reward is with me. 
 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the 
 beginning and the end. I am the root and offspring of 
 David, the bright, the morning star. Yea, I come 
 quickly." 
 
 Even so come, Lord Jesus. 
 AMEN.
 
 APPENDIX
 
 SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS 
 
 THE distribution of events throughout is in general accord 
 with that adopted by the standard harmonists, following 
 mainly the order of Luke, who, in his Preface, claims to 
 have traced their course accurately, and to write of them 
 in order. There are, however, quite a number of uncer- 
 tainties, especially in the parallelism. Without discussing 
 these, we have simply presented the arrangement that 
 seems most reasonable. 
 
 PART FIRST HIS ADVENT. 
 
 I THE ANTICIPATION. 
 
 Matthew. 
 
 Mark. 
 
 Luke. 
 
 John. 
 
 I. Preface, 
 
 
 
 1:14 
 
 
 2. The Word, ........ 
 
 
 
 
 1 : 1-14 
 
 3. Genealogy, 
 
 II THE ANNUNCIATION. 
 4. Annunciation of John's Birth, 
 
 1:1-17 
 
 
 3 : 23-38 
 I : C-2C 
 
 
 5. Annunciation of Jesus' Birth, 
 
 
 
 I : 26-^8 
 
 
 6. Mary Visits Elizabeth, . . 
 
 
 
 1 : 3Q-c6 
 
 
 7. Birth and Circumcision of John, 
 
 
 
 1 : 57-8o 
 
 
 III THE INCARNATION. 
 8. Joseph's Vision, 
 
 I : 18-23 
 
 
 
 
 9. The Nativity, 
 10. The Watching Shepherds, . 
 
 1 : 24, 25 
 
 .... 
 
 2:I- 7 
 
 2:8-20 
 
 .... 
 
 IV THE RECEPTION. 
 II. The Circumcision, 
 
 
 
 2: 21 
 
 
 12. Presentation in the Temple, 
 
 
 
 2 : 22-4O 
 
 
 417
 
 4i8 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Matthew. 
 
 Mark. 
 
 Luke. 
 
 John. 
 
 13. Visit of the Magi, 2: 1-12 
 
 14. Flight into Egypt, 2:13-11 
 
 15. Massacre of the Innocents, . 2: l6-il 
 
 1 6. Return to Nazareth, .... 2:19-23 
 
 PART SECOND HIS INVESTITURE. 
 
 V THE PREPARATION. 
 
 17. Converse with the Doctors, 2:41-52 
 
 VI THE INAUGURATION. 
 
 18. Ministry of John 3:1-12 1 : 1-8 3:1-18 
 
 19. Baptism of Jesus, 3:13-17 1:9-11 3:21,22 
 
 20. The Temptation, 4:1-11 1:12,13 4:1-13 
 
 VII THE ATTESTATION. 
 
 21. Testimony of John, 1 : 15-34 
 
 22. First Disciples of Jesus, 1 : 35-5 1 
 
 23. Water Made Wine, 2: i-n 
 
 PART THIRD HIS FIRST JUDEAN MINISTRY (Eight months). 
 
 VIII THE INCEPTION. 
 
 24. First Passover. Temple 
 
 Cleansed 2:12-22 
 
 25. Talk with Nicodemus, . . 
 
 26. Jesus and John Baptize, 3 : 22-36 
 
 IX THE INTERRUPTION. 
 
 27. John Imprisoned, 3 : 19, 20 
 
 28. Jesus Departs for Galilee, . 4:12 1:14 4:14 4=1-4 
 
 29. The Woman of Samaria, 4 : 5-42 
 
 PART FOUR HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 
 (Four months and a year). 
 
 X THE NEW HOME. 
 
 30. Teaching in Galilee, .... 4: 17 1 : 14, 15 4: 14, 15 4:43-45 
 
 31. Healing the Officer's Son, 4:46-54 
 
 32. Rejected at Nazareth, and 
 
 makes Capernaum his Home, 4:13-16 .... 4:16-31 .... 
 
 33. Call of Four Disciples, . . . 4:18-22 I : 16-20 5:1-11 .... 
 
 34. Heals a Demoniac, 1:21-28 4:31-37 .... 
 
 35. Peter's Mother-in-law, and 
 
 others, 8:14-18 1:29-34 4:38-41 ....
 
 SYNOPSIS 
 
 419 
 
 
 Matthew. 
 
 Mark. 
 
 Luke. 
 
 John. 
 
 XI THE FIRST TOUR AND ITS 
 
 
 
 
 
 SEQUEL. 
 
 
 
 
 
 36. A Teaching and Healing Tour, 
 
 4 : 23-25 
 
 i : 35-39 
 
 4:42-44 
 
 .... 
 
 37. Healing of a Leper, .... 
 
 8:2-4 
 
 I : 40-45 
 
 5: 12-16 
 
 
 38. A Paralytic at Capernaum, . 
 
 9:2-8 
 
 2: I-I2 
 
 5 : 17-26 
 
 . . 
 
 39. Matthew's Call and Feast, . . 
 
 9:9-17 
 
 2: 13-22 
 
 5:27-39 
 
 .... 
 
 40. Jairus's Daughter. Healings, 
 
 9:18-34 
 
 5 : 22-43 
 
 8:41-56 
 
 
 XII THE EXCURSION AND RE- 
 
 
 
 
 
 TURN. 
 
 
 
 
 
 41. Second Passover. Heals on 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sabbath, 
 
 
 
 
 5: 1-15 
 
 42. Defense before the Sanhedrin, 
 
 
 
 
 6 : 16-47 
 
 43. Disciples Pluck Corn, .... 
 
 12: 1-8 
 
 2 : 23-28 
 
 6:1-5 
 
 J / 
 
 44. Healing a Withered Hand, . 
 
 12:9-14 
 
 3:1-6 
 
 6:6-11 
 
 .... 
 
 45. On Return Heals Many, . . 
 
 12: 15-21 
 
 3:7-12 
 
 .... 
 
 
 46. On a Mount Ordains Twelve, 
 
 . . . . 
 
 3^3-19 
 
 6: 12-16 
 
 .... 
 
 47. Sermon on the Mount, . . . 
 
 5,6,7 
 
 
 6:17-49 
 
 .... 
 
 48. Heals Slave at Capernaum, . 
 
 8:5-13 
 
 
 7 : l-io 
 
 
 XIII THE SECOND TOUR BEGUN. 
 
 
 
 
 
 49. Nain. Raises Widow's Son, . 
 
 
 
 7:11-17 
 
 
 50. Mission of John's Disciples, . 
 
 I I : 2-30 
 
 .... 
 
 7 : 18-35 
 
 .... 
 
 61. Penitent W^oman Anoints Jesus 
 
 
 
 7 : 36-50 
 
 
 52. The Tour Continued, .... 
 
 
 
 * ? <j 
 8:1-3 
 
 
 XIV THE SEQUEL OF THE TOUR 
 
 
 
 
 
 53. Reception. Blasphemy. Insane 
 
 12: 22-50 
 
 3:20-35 
 
 8: 19-21 
 
 .... 
 
 54. Parables. The Beginning of, 
 
 13: 1-53 
 
 4:1-34 
 
 8:4-18 
 
 .... 
 
 55. Excursion. Tempest Stilled, 
 
 8: 18, 23- 
 27 
 
 4:35-41 
 
 8 : 22-25 
 
 
 56. Legion Cast Out, ... 
 
 8:28109:1 
 
 5 : I-2I 
 
 8 : 26-40 
 
 
 XV THE THIRD TOUR. FATE OF 
 
 
 
 
 
 JOHN. 
 
 
 
 
 
 57. Rejected Again at Nazareth, . 
 
 IV4 " 
 
 6:1-6 
 
 
 
 58. Mission of the Twelve, . . . 
 
 9 : 35 to 
 
 6:6-13 
 
 9:1-6 
 
 .... 
 
 59. Death of John the Baptist, . . 
 
 14: I- 12 
 
 6:14-29 
 
 9:7-9 
 
 .... 
 
 XVI THE CLOSING SCENES. 
 
 
 
 
 
 60. Excursion. 5000 Fed, . . . 
 
 14: 13-21 
 
 6:30-44 
 
 9:10-17 
 
 6: 1-14 
 
 6l. Returning, Walks on the Sea, 
 
 14: 22-36 
 
 6:45-56 
 
 
 6:15-21 
 
 62. Last Public Teaching at Caper 
 
 
 
 
 
 naum, 
 
 
 
 
 6:22-58 
 
 63. The Falling Away 
 
 
 
 
 6 : 59-7 1 
 
 64. Talk with Spies from Terusalem 
 
 16: 1-20 
 
 7 : 1- 
 
 
 J* I
 
 420 APPENDIX 
 
 PART FIFTH HIS EXILE (Six months). 
 
 XVII IN PHCENICIA AND DECA- 
 
 POLIS. 
 65. Third Passover, Unattended, . 
 66. The Syrophoenician Woman, . 
 67. Healing in Decapolis, . . . 
 68. Multitude of 4000 Fed, . . . 
 69. Attempted Return Home, . . 
 70. Doom of Capernaum, . . 
 
 XVIII IN THE REGION OF Mr. 
 HERMON. 
 71. Blind Man of Bethsaida, . . 
 
 Matthew. 
 
 Mark, 
 
 Luke. 
 
 John. 
 
 
 
 
 T.I 
 
 15:21-28 
 15:29-31 
 
 I 5 : 32-39 
 16: I-I2 
 11:21-24 
 
 7 24-30 
 7 : 31-37 
 8:1-9 
 k 8:io-2i 
 
 8 : 22-26 
 8:27-30 
 8:31 109:1 
 9:2-13 
 9 : 14-29 
 9 : 30-3 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10: '13-15 
 
 
 72. The Great Confession, . . . 
 73. The Passion Foretold, . . . 
 74. The Transfiguration, .... 
 75. The Demoniac Boy, .... 
 76. The Passion again Foretold, . 
 77. At Capernaum. Temple-tax, 
 78. Humility, Forgiveness, Parable, 
 79. Through Samaria to Jerusalem, 
 
 1 6: 13-20 
 16: 21-28 
 17:1-13 
 17: 14-21 
 
 17: 22, 23 
 17: 24-27 
 18:1-35 
 8 : 19-22 
 
 9: 1 8-21 
 9 : 22-27 
 9 : 28-36 
 9=37-43 
 9 : 43-45 
 
 .... 
 
 9 = 33-5 
 
 9:46-50 
 9:51-62 
 
 7 : 2-10 
 
 PART SIXTH HIS SECOND JUDEAN MINISTRY (Two months). 
 
 XIX THE WORK IN JERUSALEM. 
 80. Recognized in the Temple, 
 
 
 
 
 7 : 11-76 
 
 8 1. Last Day. The Contention, 
 
 
 
 
 7 : 31 to 
 
 82. The Beggar and the Shepherd, 
 
 
 
 
 8:59 
 9: I to 
 
 XX THE TOUR AND ITS CLOSE. 
 83. The Mission of the Seventy, 
 
 
 
 10 : 1-24 
 
 10:21 
 
 84. Parable of the Good Samaritan, 
 
 
 
 10: 25-37 
 
 
 85. Visit to Bethany, . . 
 
 
 
 10: 38-42 
 
 
 86. Teach us to Pray. Parable, 
 
 
 
 II : 1-13 
 
 
 87. The Blessed Virgin. Warnings, 
 
 
 
 II: 14-36 
 
 
 88. The Pharisee's Dinner, . . . 
 89. Discourses and Parables, . . 
 90. The Slain Galileans. Parable, 
 91. A Woman Healed on the Sab- 
 bath, . .... 
 
 
 
 ":37-54 
 12:1-59 
 13:1-9 
 
 13: 10-21 
 
 .... 
 
 92. Feast of Dedication, .... 
 
 
 
 
 10: 22-42 
 
 PART SEVENTH HIS PER^EAN MINISTRY (Two months). 
 
 XXI THE WORK INTERRUPTED. 
 93. Journeys. Is Threatened, . . 
 
 
 
 13: 22-35 
 
 
 94. Has News of Lazarus, . . . 
 
 
 
 
 I I : 1-6 
 
 95. Dines. Heals. Parable, . . 
 
 
 .... 
 
 14:1-24 

 
 SYNOPSIS 
 
 421 
 
 
 Matthew. 
 
 Mark. 
 
 Luke. 
 
 John. 
 
 96. Return Proposed, ... 
 
 
 
 
 II : 7-16 
 
 97. Return. Discourse. Five Par- 
 ables, . . 
 
 
 
 14:25; 
 15, 16 
 
 
 98. The Disciples Instructed, . 
 
 
 
 17 : l-io 
 
 
 XXII THE GREAT MIRACLE. 
 99. Lazarus Raised from the Dead, 
 
 
 
 
 II: 17-44 
 
 loo. Decree of the Sanhedrin, . . 
 
 
 
 
 M:4C-C3 
 
 101. Jesus Retires to Ephraim, . 
 
 
 
 
 ": 54 
 
 PART EIGHTH HIS FINAL PRESENTATION (Two weeks). 
 
 XXIII THE ROYAL PROGRESS. 
 102. Return to Galilee. Ten Lepers, 
 103. The Kingdom. Its Coming, 
 104. On Prayer. Two Parables, 
 105. The Progress Begun, . . . 
 106. The Marriage Law, . . 
 
 
 
 17: 11-19 
 
 
 
 
 17: 2O, 21 
 
 
 
 
 IS : 1-14 
 
 
 19: 1-2 
 19:3-12 
 
 10: I 
 10: 2-12 
 
 
 
 
 
 107. The Children Blessed, . . . 
 108. The Rich Young Ruler, . . 
 
 109. The Disciple's Reward, . . 
 
 no. The Passion Foretold, . . . 
 in. Salome's Petition, .... 
 
 19: 13-15 
 19: 16-26 
 19:2710 
 20: 16 
 20: 17-19 
 20: 2O-28 
 
 10: 13-16 
 10: 17-27 
 
 10: 28-31 
 10: 32-34 
 10: 35-45 
 
 18: 15-17 
 18: 18-27 
 
 1 8: 28-30 
 18: 31-34 
 
 .... 
 
 112. The Guest of Zaccheus, . . 
 
 19 : 1-27 
 
 
 113. Blind Bartimseus Healed, . 
 114. Sabbath at Bethany, .... 
 
 20:29-34 
 
 io: 46-52 
 
 18: 35-43 
 19:28 
 19:29-44 
 
 ii : 55 to 
 12: i 
 12: 12-19 
 12: 20-36 
 
 115. Jesus Rides into Jerusalem, 
 116. The Voice from Heaven, 
 
 21 : i- i I 
 
 II : l-ll 
 
 117. Return to Bethany, . . . . 
 
 
 11:11,19 
 
 II: 12-14 
 11:15-19 
 
 3i:37 
 
 XXIV THE REJECTION. 
 118. The Barren Fig Tree, . . . 
 119. The Temple Cleansed, . . . 
 1 20. Hosannas of the Children, . 
 121. The Withered Fig Tree, . 
 
 122. Questions: Of His Authority, 
 
 123. Of Tribute to Caesar, . . . 
 124. Of the Resurrection, .... 
 125. Of the Great Commandment, 
 126. The Great Denunciation, . . 
 XXV THE PROPHECY. 
 127. The Widow's Mites, . . . 
 
 21: 18, 19 
 21: 12, 13 
 21: 14-17 
 21: 20-22 
 21 : 23 to 
 22: 14 
 22: 15-22 
 22: 23-33 
 22: 34-46 
 23:1-39 
 
 
 . . . , 
 
 II: 20-26 
 |ll: 27 to 
 12: 12 
 12: 13-17 
 12: 18-27 
 12: 28-37 
 12: 38-40 
 
 12:41-44 
 13:1,2 
 13:3-23 
 13: 33-37 
 
 
 
 20 : 1-19 
 
 20: 20-26 
 20: 27-38 
 20:39-44 
 20: 45-47 
 
 21 : 1-4 
 21:5,6 
 21 : 7-24 
 
 17: 22-37 
 
 12: 37-50 
 
 128. Of the End of the Temple, . 
 129. Of the End of Jerusalem, . 
 
 130. Of the End of the World, . 
 
 24:1,2 
 24 : 3-28 
 24 : 29 to 
 ' 25 : 46
 
 422 APPENDIX 
 
 PART NINTH HIS PASSION (Four and a half days). 
 
 XXVI THE PRELUDE. 
 131. The Prediction, . . . 
 
 Matthew. 
 
 Mark. 
 
 Luke. 
 
 John. 
 
 26 : I, 2 
 
 
 
 
 132. The Conspiracy, . . . 
 
 26:3-5 
 
 14: I, 2 
 
 22:1,2 
 
 .... 
 
 133 The Day of Silence, 
 
 134. The Feast at Bethany, . . . 
 135. The Compact of Judas, . . . 
 
 XXVII THE EUCHARIST. 
 136. Peter and John Provide, . . 
 137. The Strife. Feet Washing, . 
 
 138. The Traitor Indicated, . . . 
 139. Peter's Denial Foretold, 
 
 140. The Eucharist Instituted, . . 
 141. The Valedictory, 
 
 26: 6-13 
 26: 14-16 
 
 26: 17-19 
 
 14 = 3-9 
 14: 10, 1 1 
 
 14: 12-16 
 
 22 : 3-6 
 
 22:7-13 
 22: 14-16 
 and24~3O 
 22: 21-23 
 22: 31-38 
 
 22: 17-20 
 
 12:2-11 
 
 13 : 1-20 
 13: 21-30 
 
 13= 31-38 
 I Cor. 
 
 II: 23-26 
 14, 15, 16 
 17 
 
 26: 20-25 
 26: 31-35 
 
 26: 26-29 
 
 14: 17-21 
 14:27-31 
 
 14: 22-25 
 
 142. The Intercession, 
 
 
 
 
 143. The Hymn, 
 
 26:30 
 
 26: 36-46 
 26: 47-56 
 
 14:26 
 
 14: 32-42 
 14: 43-52 
 
 
 XXVIII THE ARREST. 
 
 144. Agony in the Garden, . . . 
 145. Betrayal and Arrest, .... 
 
 XXIX THE ARRAIGNMENTS. 
 146. First. Before Annas, . . 
 
 22: 39-46 
 22: 47-53 
 
 18: 1-12 
 
 18: 13-23 
 
 18:24 
 1 8: 25-27 
 
 1 8: 28-38 
 
 147. Second. Before Caiaphas. 
 Mocked, 
 
 26: 57-68 
 26: 69-75 
 
 27 : I, 2 
 
 27:3-10 
 27:11-14 
 
 H: 53-65 
 14: 66-72 
 15:1 
 
 *S l ~5 
 
 22: 63-65 
 22: 54-62 
 22:66-71 
 Actsi:l8, 
 *9 
 
 23=1-5 
 23:6-12 
 
 148. Peter's Third Denial, . . . 
 149. Third. Before Sanhedrin, . 
 
 150. Suicide of Judas, 
 
 151. Before Pilate (ist time), . . 
 152. Before Herod. Mocked, 
 
 153. Before Pilate (2d time), . . 
 
 
 
 23: 13-16 
 23: 17-23 
 
 18:39,40 
 19 : 1-3 
 19:4-" 
 19: 12-16 
 
 19: 16, 17 
 19: 18-27 
 19: 28-30 
 19: 31-42 
 
 154. Barabbas Preferred, .... 
 155. Jesus Scourged. Mocked, . 
 156. Ecce Homo, 
 
 27: 15-23 
 27: 27-30 
 
 15:6-14 
 15: 16-19 
 
 157. Delivered to be Crucified, 
 
 XXX THE EXECUTION. 
 158. Jesus Led to Calvary, . . . 
 159. Crucified, - . . . 
 
 27: 24-26 
 
 27: 31-33 
 
 27: 34-44 
 
 27: 45-56 
 27: 57-61 
 27: 62-66 
 
 5 :I 5 
 
 15: 20-22 
 15: 23-32 
 
 15- 33-41 
 15: 42-47 
 
 23: 24, 25 
 
 23: 26-33 
 23= 33-43 
 23: 44-49 
 23: 50-56 
 
 160. Death of Christ Jesus, . . . 
 l6l. The Entombment 
 
 162. Seals and Guards Set.
 
 SYNOPSIS 
 
 PART TENTH HIS REVIVAL. 
 
 423 
 
 XXXI THE RESURRECTION DAY. 
 
 163. Angels and Women at the 
 Tomb, . .... 
 
 Matthew. 
 
 Mark. 
 
 Luke. 
 
 John. 
 
 28 : 1-7 
 
 16 : 1-8 
 
 24: l-ll 
 24: 12 
 
 20: I, 2 
 20:3-10 
 20: II-l8 
 
 164. Peter and John at the Tomb, 
 165. Jesus Appears to Mary, . . 
 166. Appears to the Other Women, 
 167. Report of the Guards, . . . 
 
 28 : 8-10 
 28: II 15 
 
 16 :9-n 
 
 
 
 
 168. Appears to Peter, 
 
 
 
 24:34 
 
 24: 13-35 
 24: 36-43 
 
 I Cor. 
 1 S'-S 
 
 20: 19-23 
 
 20: 24-31 
 
 21 : 1-25 
 
 i Cor. 
 I 5 :6 
 I Cor. 
 
 15:7 
 Acts I : 
 3-12 
 
 169. To two Disciples at Emmaus, 
 170. To ten of the Apostles, . . . 
 
 .... 
 
 16: 12, 13 
 16 : 14 
 
 XXXII THE FORTY DAYS. 
 171. To All the Apostles, . . . 
 172. To Seven Apostles by the 
 Lake 
 
 
 
 
 
 173. To the Assembly in Galilee, 
 174. To James the Less, .... 
 175. The Ascension Day, ... 
 
 28: 16-20 
 
 16: 15-18 
 
 
 
 16: 19-20 
 
 24= 44-53 
 
 XXXIII THE AFTER DAYS. 
 
 176. To Stephen in Jerusalem, . . Acts 6, 7. 
 
 177. To Paul near Damascus, . . Acts 9, 22, 26. 
 
 178. To John on Patmos, .... Rev. I, 22. 
 
 I Cor. 15 : 8.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 
 
 There are a number of uncertainties in the dates of Jewish and Chris- 
 tian History. Those here given without discussion are authorized by some 
 of the best modern chronologists, and are in accord with common usage. 
 
 B. C. 
 
 Jewish History. 
 
 Roman History. 
 
 A. U. C. 
 
 63 
 
 3 
 
 44 
 
 42 
 
 40 
 37 
 3i 
 
 3 
 20 
 
 6 
 5 
 
 Dec. 25th. 
 
 4 
 April 1st. 
 
 April. 
 a 
 
 A.D. 
 
 1 
 
 it 
 
 7 
 9 
 
 14 
 26 
 
 M 
 
 Pompey takes Jerusalem, 
 
 Antipater, procurator of 
 Judea, . . . 
 
 Birth of Augustus, . 
 Julius Caesar in Britain, . 
 Battle of Pharsalia. Death 
 of Pompey, . . 
 
 691 
 699 
 
 706 
 710 
 712 
 
 7H 
 717 
 
 723 
 
 724 
 
 734 
 748 
 749 
 
 75 
 
 
 a 
 
 758 
 759 
 
 
 760 
 
 762 
 
 767 
 779 
 
 
 
 Herod a victor enters Jeru- 
 salem, 
 
 Death of Julius Caesar, . 
 Battle of Philippi, . . . 
 
 by the Roman Senate, 
 Augustus and Antony, tri- 
 umvirs, 
 
 Herod appointed King of 
 Judea, 
 
 Herod takes Jerusalem by 
 storm, ... 
 
 Battle of Actium, . . . 
 Augustus sole Emperor, . 
 Augustus in Syria. Birth 
 of Caius, 
 
 Visits Augustus at Rhodes 
 after the, 
 
 Herod confirmed as king 
 Proposes to rebuild the 
 Temple, 
 
 The census commences, . 
 Birth of John in July, 
 
 Birth of JESUS CHRIST, . 
 Epiphany and Flight, . . 
 Death of Herod. Arche- 
 laus rules, 
 
 Tiberius sojourns atRhodes 
 Peace throughout the Em- 
 pire, ... . . 
 
 Tiberius in Germany, . . 
 
 Birth of Seneca, .... 
 
 Birth of Vespasian, . . . 
 Augustus dies. Tiberius 
 Emperor, 
 
 Return to Nazareth, . . 
 Antipas rules Galilee, . . 
 
 Birth of St. Paul at Tarsus, 
 Archelaus deposed by Au- 
 gustus, ..... 
 
 Judea and Samaria a 
 Roman province. Sa- 
 binus, first procurator, . 
 Annas made High Priest, 
 Jesus converses in the 
 Temple, 
 
 Annas deposed, .... 
 
 Caiaphas made' High Priest 
 Pilate, sixth procurator of 
 Tudea, 
 
 Tiberius retires to Capreae, 
 
 424
 
 A. D. 
 
 CHRONOLOGY 
 
 Christian History. 
 
 425 
 
 Synopsis. 
 
 26 John proclaims the Kingdom, and baptizes. Dec. ? . . No. 18 
 
 27 Jesus baptized by John in the Jordan. February? . . "19 
 " First Passover, April 9th. Cleanses the Temple. John 
 
 imprisoned. Dec. ? 24, 27 
 
 28 Jesus makes Capernaum his home. First Galilean tour, 32, 36 
 " Second Passover, March 2gth. Second tour begun, . . 41,49 
 
 29 Third tour begun. Death of John the Baptist, ... 57, 59 
 " Third Passover, April i6th. The Exile. The Trans- 
 figuration, , . 65, 74 
 
 " Feast of Tabernacles, Oct. nth. Mission of the Seventy, 80,83 
 
 " Feast of Dedication, Dec. 3Oth, 92 
 
 30 Perean tour. Lazarus raised, 93, 99 
 
 " Progress from Capernaum to Jerusalem, last week in 
 
 March, 105, 1 14 
 
 " Palm Entry, Sunday, April 2d, 115 
 
 " The Last Supper, Thursday, April 6th, 140 
 
 " The Crucifixion, Friday, April 7th, 159 
 
 " The Resurrection, Sunday, April gth, 163 
 
 " The Ascension, Thursday, May i8th, 175 
 
 " Pentecost, Sunday, May 28th, 
 
 36 Martyrdom of St. Stephen at Jerusalem, 176 
 
 37 Conversion of St. Paul at Damascus, 177 
 
 " Pilate and Caiaphas deposed. Death of Tiberius, . . 
 
 39 Herod Antipas deposed. Caligula Emperor, 
 
 66 Martyrdom of St. Paul at Rome by Nero Emperor, 
 
 70 Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Vespasian Emperor, 
 
 95 Vision of St. John. Domitian Emperor, 178
 
 INDEX TO ACCESSORIES 
 
 Subjects merely accessory to the narrative, and therefore not indicated 
 in the Synopsis of Events, are here indexed. 
 PAGE 
 
 ANNAS and Caiaphas, . .329, 394 
 
 their temple traffic, . in, 355 
 
 Antipas, his inheritance, . . 55, 64 
 
 his mild rule, .... 56 
 
 and Herodias, . 116, 196, 202 
 
 and Aretas, . .116, 197, 202 
 
 in Jerusalem, .... 363 
 
 deposed and banished, 202 
 
 Antipater, executed, .... 50 
 Archelaus, accession of, . . 55 
 
 his rule and deposition, 55 
 
 Aretas and Antipas, 116, 197, 202 
 Augustus Csesar, a type, . . 17 
 
 Emperor, 29 
 
 orders a census, ... 29 
 
 his witticism on Herod, 50 
 
 confirms Herod's will, 55 
 
 decease of, 64 
 
 BABYLON, seat of Empires, . 17 
 Balaam, his prophecy, ... 42 
 Beatitudes, mount of, ... 172 
 Bethany, beyond Jordan, . 265 
 Bethany, beyond Olivet, . . 275 
 Bethabara, and Bethany, . 86, 265 
 Bethesda, pool of, ... 161 
 
 Brethren, of Jesus, . 57, 173, 194 
 Bethsaida, and Chorazin, . 137 
 
 CAIAPHAS, and Annas, . 329, 
 
 their temple traffic, 
 
 Calvary, or Golgotha, . . . 
 Capernaum, described, . . . 
 Church of Nativity, .... 
 Colors, Gospels without, . . 
 Crucifixion, a Roman, . . . 
 
 DEAD SEA, and the Lake, . 
 Decapolis, 
 
 394 
 in 
 
 372 
 136 
 
 35 
 206 
 
 37 
 
 137 
 
 222 
 
 Dedication, feast of, . . 
 Demoniacal Possession, 
 
 EGOTISM, of Jesus, . . 
 Empires, typical, . . . 
 
 GALILEE, described, . . 
 Gazith, hall of assembly, 
 
 hall of Sanhedrin, . 
 
 Gennesaret, Lake of, . 
 Gethsemane, garden of, 
 Golgotha, or Calvary, . , 
 Gospels, the apocryphal, 
 
 PAGE 
 259 
 140 
 
 212 
 16 
 
 146 
 165 
 358 
 37 
 346 
 372 
 
 57 
 
 HATTIN, the hill of, .... 172 
 Helena, mother of Cons'tine, 35 
 
 Herod the Great, 29 
 
 historical sketch of, . 39 
 
 rebuilds the Temple, . 40 
 
 his crimes, death, .41, 49, 50 
 
 his welcome to Hades, 51 
 
 his inheritors, .... 55 
 
 Herodian family tabulated, 65 
 Herodians, a party, . . . 170, 312 
 Herodias, and Antipas, . 196, 202 
 
 and Salome their fate, 202 
 
 High Priests, temple traffic, in 
 High Priesthood, sketch of, 329 
 
 JERICHO, an account of, . 298 
 Jesus, the name common, . . 37 
 
 his childhood, .... 57 
 
 a carpenter 62 
 
 education of, . . . 57, 62, 63 
 
 breth'n or cousins, 57, 173, 194 
 
 languages acquired by, 63 
 
 personal appearance of, 90 
 
 esteemed a magician, . 159 
 
 his repugn'ce to crowds, 163 
 
 427
 
 428 
 
 INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 Jesus, mother-tongue . . 63,377 
 
 physical cause his death, 381 
 
 John the Baptist, neglect of, 179 
 
 KEPLER, his supposition, . . 43 
 
 LAKE of Galilee, 137 
 
 Leprosy, a typical disease, . 149 
 
 MACHJERUS, castle of, . . 197 
 
 Magi, an account of, ... 42 
 
 traditions concerning, . 45 
 
 Magicians and sorcerers, . . 159 
 
 Miracles, their credibility, . 98 
 
 Monarchy, the Fifth, ... 17 
 
 Mount Hermon, 226 
 
 NAIN, an account of, ... 176 
 
 Nativity, church of the, . . 35 
 
 date of the, 36 
 
 Nazareth described, .... 20 
 
 OPHEL, the district of, . . . 243 
 
 PALACE, High Priest's, . 328, 354 
 
 of Herod, 360 
 
 Parables, an account of, . . 187 
 
 exoteric teaching, . . 189 
 
 Parthian power, sketch of, . 82 
 Passover, the Feast of, . . 338 
 Peraea, district of, .... 265 
 Pharisees, their doctrine, . 70 
 Philip I, at Rome, . . . . 55, 64 
 
 visited by Antipas, . . 116 
 
 Philip II, his inheritance, . 55, 64 
 
 marries Salome, . . . 203 
 
 Pilate, Procurator, .... 56, 64 
 
 an account of, .... 359 
 
 Pinnacle of the Temple, . . 79, 108 
 Plato, Symposium of, ... 182 
 
 his prophecy, . . 365 
 
 Prophecies of Advent, . . 43 
 Publicans, their conduct, . . 152 
 
 ROMAN empire, typical, . . 17 
 
 Roman province of Judea, 
 Rome, a sketch of, ... 
 
 PAGE 
 56 
 82 
 
 SABBATH, law and penalty, 162, 167 
 Sadducees, their doctrine, . 7 1 
 Sages, four typical, .... 14 
 Samaritans, their history, . . 121 
 Sanhedrin, ....... 86, 112 
 
 its limited power, . . 164 
 
 its hall Gazith, . . . 165 
 
 Satan and Herod the Great, 51 
 welcomes Herod to Hades, 51 
 
 at the Baptism, 
 
 sits in high council, 
 
 his three temptations, 
 
 his renewed attempts, 
 
 his emissaries, 
 
 74 
 
 7 I 
 76 
 
 140 
 142 
 191 
 228 
 
 in the Lake tempest, 
 
 uses Simon Peter, . 
 
 at raising of Lazarus, 281, 283 
 
 at the feast in Bethany, 335 
 
 at the Eucharist, ... 341 
 
 his sifting of Peter, . 342, 357 
 
 at Gethsemane, ... 352 
 
 Scourging, a Roman, . . . 366 
 Scribes, their functions, . . 71 
 Son of the Law, Jesus a, . 58, 61 
 
 Solomon's porch, 260 
 
 Star in the East, 43 
 
 Superstition, of the Age, . . 159 
 
 TABERNACLES, Feast of, . . 239 
 
 Temple rebuilt by Herod, . 40 
 
 description of, .... 106 
 
 desecration by traffic, 1 10, 308 
 
 a school, 312 
 
 Tiberias, his accession, ... 64 
 
 Types, heathen personal, . 14 
 
 heathen national, . . 16 
 
 scriptural, 13 
 
 VIRGIN, adoration of the, 
 honors to the, . . . 
 
 23 
 24 
 
 WILDERNESS of Judea, . . 66
 
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