_ YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE LIBRARY OF THE DIVINITY SCHOOL THE LIFE AND WRITINGS ST. JOHN. VIEW OF PAT Ca. *"•**, IE UPPER PART OF PORT SCALA. J* $.&> Reference to View. f£f Zbivn. of" .Rzfc/io .^ Monastery of St'JuJwls residence, \ CfuxptH of StJohn % THE TSLE OF PATMOS Scale isf'l-ASSO f. °'/>" fbn Stanfo-ds Geoff raphnxQ. Estab* 55 Chnnna Cross XV*v YnrU; Sciiluior AmtiHtviui{> \.- CV THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. BY JAMES M.- MACDONALD, D.D., PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY. EDITED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION, BY THE VERY REVEREND J. S. HOWSON, D.D., DEAN OF CHESTER. '0 virip wavras aytovs -fryairripivos, 6 ar-ript^as rijU avb TepdTuiv rijs olK.ovp.ivqs Ek- KXrialav, icoi l/Mpp&Zas ra t&v alperiKuV crT&fittra. Chrysostom, De PseudcProph., etc. SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & CO., 743 & 745, BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 1877- BtTTLER & TANNEE, ¦The Selwood Feinting- Woek£, Feome, and London. OOPTSIGHT BT SCRIBNBE, ARMSTRONG & CO., 1877. PREFATORY NOTE. No one whose attention has been turned to the fact that it was not so much the object of our Lord's ministry to produce effects directly on the minds of the people at large, (although these effects were, as a matter of course, incidental and con stantly visible,) as it was the object of that ministry to prepare His disciples for the functions of the apostolic office, will for a moment think that too great prominence has been given to that portion of St. John's life spent under the immediate training and discipline of the Great Master and Teacher Himself. Messrs. Scribner, Armstrong & Co. have, with the entire concurrence of the author, made an arrangement with Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton, of London, for the publication of this work in Great Britain. Princeton, N. J. LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTEATIONS. Patmos. Map and View ...... >eojjhs«eob. Tb .face page Imperitjm Romanordm, latissime patens. Map .... 1 Bust of Tiberius Cesar 6 Site op Bethsaida . . 16 Jerusalem 24 Palestine in Time op Christ. Map 32 Cana op Gat.tt.ee 48 Road from Jerusalem to Jericho 52 Jerusalem, Walls of 55 Shechem 62 Gesarea Philippi 78 Garden op Gethsemane 92 Bethany 116 Samaria .......... 131 Bust op Caligula 133 Asia Minor, showing the Seven Churches. Map . . ¦ 137 Bust op Nero 143 Ephesus 147 St. John. (Thorwaldsen's Marbles) 151 Thyatira 167 Philadelphia 189 Laodicea 192 Bust of Julius Cesar 204 Bust op Augustus 218 Old Tyre 241 LIST OP MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. St. John's Travels. Bust of Titus . Pergamos . SardisSite op Capernaum Jacob's Well . TiberiasPool of Siloam Bust of Vespasian Smyrna Map To face page 257259264 265 287 294305 323380 384 CONTENTS. TAGJ! Introduction . xvii CHAPTER I. The place in history, and character of the period, in which the apostle John appeared. Life of St. John coeval with the first century. — Date of Christ's birth. — Julius Caesar. — Pompey the" Great. — His march into Judsea. — The Holy Land becomes tributary. — He profanes the Holy of Holies. — Enters Rome in triumph. — Julius Ctesar supreme. — He appoints Antipater procurator of Judsea. — His son Herod governor of Galilee. — Julius Caesar assassin ated. — Herod appointed king of Judsea. — Augustus Ceesar becomes emperor. — Extent of Roman empire. — Universal peace. — Birth of Jesus Christ. — Death of Herod the Great. — Archelaus and Antipas. — Archelaus deposed. — Quirinius governor of Syria. — Successive procurators of Judsea, — Death of Augustus. — Tiberius Csesar. — Caiaphas. — Pontius Pilate. — Heathen world. — Pagan literature. — Alexandrian Library destroyed. — Character of the period shown by the condition of the Jewish people. — Development of the prophecies of Messiah. — The law a schoolmaster. — Ceremonial law. — Light dawning when St. John came on the stage . 1 CHAPTER II. Parentage, early life, and natural traits or the apostle. Position and physical features of the Holy Land. — Ruins. — Sacred as sociations. — St. John a native of Galilee. — Bethsaida. — Childish pastimes. — Sea of Galilee. — Zebedseus. — His early death. — Jewish education. — Pro fane and sacred literature. — Schools in the post-exile period. — Education of apostles. — Mode of instruction. — John at school. — Outward life of the boy. — Judas the Gaulonite. — Samaritans. — Pilgrimages. — Jerusalem. — Saul of Tarsus a coeval of St. John. — The Passover. — St. John youngest of the Twelve. — Was he ever married ? — Meaning of " Boanerges." — Strong elements in his character. — Compared with Augustine and Luther. — His intellectual character . 14 CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. St. John in his earliest stage of preparation for the apostleship, as a disciple of John the Baptist. Preparation for the Advent. — Prophet of the preparation. — His important influence on St. John the Evangelist. — Birth of Jefhn the Baptist. — Predic tions concerning him. — His prototype. — Miracles at his birth. — His holi ness. — His life in the wilderness. — St. John his disciple. — Matter of his preaching. — Manner. — Impression on his young Galilean disciples. — Jesus pointed out to them as the Lamb of God. — John and Andrew follow Jesus 32 CHAPTER IV. St. John under the training of the Great Master Himself from the beginning of His public ministry. His first meeting with Jesus. — Returns to Galilee with Jesus. — Call to the discipleship. — Kana el-Jelil. — His faith strengthened. — Capernaum. — "With his Master joins caravan to Jerusalem. — Route. — Transjordanic country. — Sacred reminiscences. — Jerusalem and the temple. — Nicodemus. — St. John probably present at the interview. — Rural parts of Judsea. — St. John engages in his first public work. — "Unwritten history. — Central Palestine. — Jesus among the Samaritans. — "Wonderful result. — Impression on St. John. — Nazareth. — Miracles. — St. John forsakes all for Christ. — His first cironit in Galilee with Jesus. — Call of St. Matthew. — Daughter of Jairus and widow's son raised from the dead. — St. John's training and pre paration for his work. — Again at Jerusalem. — Apostles appointed. — Their names. — Their gifts. — Sermon on the Mount an inaugurative discourse. — Another circuit in Galilee. — Christ begins to teach by parables. — The Twelve sent forth by two and two. — Who was St. John's associate ? — Jesus walks on the sea. — Days of darkness drawing near. — Last year of St. John with Christ.— Visit to the Gentile world.— Jesus foretells His death. — Transfiguration. — Its design. — Its effect on St. John.— Faults of St. John. — His jealousy and bigotry. — Anger.— Resurrection of Lazarus. — Persea. — Parables at this time. — Ambition of St. John. — End of pupilage drawing near. — Last publio discourses and parables of Jesus. — Impressions on St. John. — St. John sent with St. Peter to prepare the feast of the passover 44 CHAPTER V. Preparation for his work from intercourse and instruction in pri vate; especially from the great sacrifice offered by Jesus, as witnessed by the apostle himself. Jesus and His disciples celebrating the passover. — Strife. — Expostu lation and washing disciples' feet.— Treachery of Judas foretold.— St. CONTENTS. XI Peter's denial foretold. — Institution of the Supper.— Valedictory address. — Intercessory prayer. — Garden of Gethsemane. — The agony. — St. John present. — St. Peter and his sword. — Plight of the disciples.— St. John regains his natural bravery. — St. John alone accompanies Christ to the palace of the high-priest.— Palace described. — St. Peter admitted at the request of St. John.— Jesus led before Pilate.— Charged with sedition and exonerated by Pilate.— Before Herod.— Mocked.— Herod and Pilate made friends. — Again before Pilate. — Pilate's wife. — St. John at1 the side of Christ. — Bearing the cross. — Simon the Cyrenian. — The penitent thief. What St. John was taught. — St. John and the mother of JesuH. — The blood and the water seen by St. John 86 CHAPTER VI. Crowning proof of the Messiahship of Jesus, as witnessed by St. John. Chief functions of an apostle. — Evidence of resurrection of Christ as addressed to St. John.— St. John's testimony on this subject. — Mary Mag dalene's message to St. Peter and St. John. — Christ's first appearance. — St. John sees the empty sepulchre and believes. — Christ appears to Mary Magdalene. — To St. Peter. — The two disciples going to Emmaus. — The ten apostles in the evening. — To the eleven eight days after. — To St. John and six other apostles at the Sea of Galilee. — To five hundred disciples on a mountain in Galilee. — The ascension.' — Competency of apostles as wit nesses. — St. John neither an enthusiast nor an impostor . . . Ill CHAPTER VII. History of St. John in the Acts of the Apostles. Returns to Jerusalem to await the promise of the Spirit. — Galilee no longer his home. — Apostles assembled in the upper room. — St. John and the mother of Jesus. — Mary disappears from history. — Matthias elected an apostle. — Day of Pentecost. — Apostles in one of the stoas of the temple. — Tongues of flame. — Three thousand converted.— St. John engaged in this work. — Its effect on him. — Miracle at the gate Beautiful of the temple. — His first imprisonment. — Arraigned before the high-priest. — Second time imprisoned. — The work advancing. — The mission of St. John and St. Peter to Samaria. — Tiberius.— Caligula. — Agrippa I.— Publius Petronius. — Claudius.— Martyrdom of St. James, his brother. — Antioch.— The Jewish party.— Council at Jerusalem.— St. John " a pillar " of the Church . 122 Xll contents. CHAPTER VIII. Later history from traditionary sources, till his arrival at Ephesus and banishment to patmos. Authentic traditions concerning St. John. — Parthian empire and the Euphrates. — Glorious clime. — Scenery of the Apocalypse and of the books of Daniel and Ezekiel. — Jerusalem's tribulation approaching. — Agrippa II. — The Roman governors. — Nero. — Fires Rome. — Accuses and persecutes Christians. — Gessius Florus. — Vespasian invades Judsea. — Titus. — St. John sees the " signs " foretold by Christ. — Sails for Asia Minor. — Supposed reflections. — The voyage. — The Mediterranean. — Cyprus. — Rhodes. — Cnidus. — Patmos. — Miletus. — Harbour of Ephesus. — Temple of Ephesus. — Recent discovery of its ruins. — Neronian persecution reaches the apostle — Banished to Patmos . 137 CHAPTER IX. St. John writes the Apocalypse. Its date and design. Date from internal evidence. — From peculiar idiom. — Only seven churches as yet in Asia. — Judaizing heretics active. — Jews still occupying their land. — Jerusalem not destroyed. — Sixth Roman emperor still on the throne. — No internal evidence favouring later date. — Value of external evidence. — Design of the Apocalypse. — Theme, coming of Christ. — His coming partly visible, partly invisible. — Book with seven seals symbolical of whole prophecy. — End of Jewish and pagan persecuting powers. — Over throw of later opposing powers. — Millennial and heavenly glory. . 151 CHAPTER X. Analysis of the Apocalypse, with brief explanatory notes. I. By whom and to whom the Revelation was made. — The title. — The dedication. — The Revealer speaks. II. Epistles to the Seven Churches. — To Ephesus. — Smyrna. — Pergamos. — Thyatira. — Sardi s. — Philadelphia.— Laodicea. III. Sublime visions, introductory. — Throne in heaven. — Lamb in the midst of the throne. — Honour paid to the Lamb. IV. Overthrow of the Jewish persecuting power.— First five seals, signs of the destruction of Jerusalem. — The sixth seal. — Seventh seal. — Seven angels prepare to sound.— First four trumpets.— First trumpet, appearance of the pagan power of Rome. — Second trumpet, the destruction of nations or their ab sorption into that of Rome. — Third trumpet, Julius Cffisar founder of the contents. xiii empire. — Fourth trumpet, empire established under Augustus.— Fifth trumpet, first woe, or Nero and the ravages of the Jewish war. — Sixth trumpet, second woe, or siege and destruction of Jerusalem under Titus. V. Overthrow of the pagan persecuting power. — Seventh trumpet begins to sound. — Compendium of the little book. — Pagan Rome persecuting the Church. — Spiritual agents in the conflict, and anticipated victory. — Perse cution continued. — Imperial magistracy of Rome the visible agents. VI. Corruptions, temporal power, etc., of the nominally Christian Church. — Symbol, dominion, and name of new persecuting power. — Gloomy picture relieved by a vision. — Judgment on the papacy. — Seven vials, or plagues. — First vial, priestcraft and degeneracy of the clergy. — Second and third, Mohammedan power in the 7th, and Ottoman in the 13th century.— Fourth vial, the Inquisition. — Fifth, Reformation.— Sixth, French Revolution. — Seventh vial, symbols of destruction. — Seventh vial continued, woman on a scarlet coloured beast. — Fall of spiritual Babylon. — Lamentations over her fall. — Rejoicing in heaven. — Final conflict and victory. VII. The millennium. — Final destruction of Satan's power. — Resurrection and last judgment. — Prelude to description of New Jerusalem. — The city described. ' Its more spiritual elements. — The epilogue 178 CHAPTER XI. Traditionary history of the apostle continued. Length of his imprisonment in Patmos. — Siege and fall of Jerusalem. — Effect of tidings on St. John. — Sole survivor of the apostles. — Changes that had come over him. — Accession of Titus to the empire. — Character of this emperor. — Was St. John acquainted with great writers of Greece and Rome ? — Epictetus, Seneca, and Pliny. — St. Paul's labours in Asia Minor. — The Jews of Asia Minor. — Heathen philosophy. — St. John's special fitness for this scene of labour. — Early adulteration of Christianity. — Seven churches visited. — Smyrna. — Pergamos. — Thyatira. — Sardis. : — Philadelphia. — Laodicea. — Ephesus. — Anecdote of St. John's pursuit of a young robber. — The Ebionites. — Docetse. — Cerinthus. — Co-labourers . 257 CHAPTER XII. St. John writes the Fourth Gospel. Date, design, and contents. Unanimous testimony of antiquity that it was written at Ephesus, a.d. 85 or 86. — Purity of the Greek. — Written at a distance from Judaaa. — Author writes as one who had ceased to be a Jew and become cosmopolitan. — Compared with synoptists, writes more in historical vein. — Adopts Roman horology throughout. — His authorship of Fourth Gospel never xiv contents. seriously questioned until recently. — Strauss denied its genuineness. — Tubingen School, etc.— Johannean authorship as stated by Canon Liddon. — This Gospel not a mere supplement to the others. — Its design traced in the parables and miracles which he admits. — St. John's personal knowledge of all the miracles he names. — Principle of selection he adopts. — His design clearly stated by himself. — He wrote to prove Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. — Contents of the Gospel. — St. John presents the fullest and deepest picture of His love. — His object not polemical. — Quarterly Beview quoted.— *Tholuck . 268 CHAPTER XIII. Analysis of the Gospel, with brief explanatory notes. I. Signs to the unbelieving World that Jesus was the appointed Saviour. — Prologue.— Testimony of John the Baptist to His pre-existence. — His testimony to His own followers. — Power of Jesus' will over nature. — His control over the wills of men. — The conviction of Nicodemus. — Final and complete testimony of John the Baptist. — His Messiahship acknowledged by the Samaritans. — A courtier of Herod Antipas convinced. — His miracles in contrast with false miracles.— "The dignity of His character and Divinity of His person asserted by Himself. — God's testimony to Jesus in the miracles He wrought and the prophecies fulfilled in Him. — Great masses convinced. — His character as a proof. — His Divine Sonship proclaimed by a voice from heaven, etc., etc. II. Evidence derived from His intercourse and discourses i/n, private with Sis disciples, and especially as seen in His great sacrifice for sin. — His continued presence in the mission of the Holy Com forter. — His prayer for His followers*— His Divinity seen in the garden of agony. — In His trial before Pilate. — 'In the manner of His death. — In the Divine interposition in His burial. — In His resurrection, etc. . . 278 CHAPTER XIV. Last days and concluding writings of the apostle. St. John far advanced in years.— The Epistles written later than the Gospel.— Brevity of the Second and Third indicates infirmities of age. Sublime thought at foundation of First Epistle. Fellowship, — Five great topics. — Second and Third Epistles addressed to individuals.— Exhibit remarkable simplicity. — Second addressed to a Christian woman, Kuria by name, and her children.— Third addressed to Gaius. — It admirably sketches three distinct portraits. — Very aged, probably past ninety. These writings breathe spirit of heaven. — Becoming too weak to walk into the assembly, he is borne thither. — Lived to beginning of CONTENTS. XV second century.— Not less than one hundred at death.— Buried probably among sepulchres of Mount Prion. — Tradition that he did not die. — Perse cution under Domitian. — Nerva.— -Trajan. — Traditions.— Some apocryphal, some genuine. — Boiling oil. — Legends of the shipwreck, partridge, etc. — Cerinthus at the bath.— Legendary interpretation of John xxi. 22. — Longfellow on the legend.— Professor Plumptre quoted . . . 380 CHAPTER XV. Analyses of The Epistles, with brief explanatory notes. First Epistle. — Fellowship in its twofold aspect : Union with God and with one another.— -(1) Fellowship, its nature.— -(2) Its fruit, holiness. — (3) Its law, truth. — (4) Its life, love.— (5) Its root, faith.— 'Second Epistle. — Letter to a mother in Israel and her children. — Pleasing information respecting her absent children. — Warns them against fellowship with errorists.— Third Epistle. — Three portraits. — Gaius, Diotrephes, and Demetrius . ......... 390 Index of Subjects > 415 Index of Scripture References 429 List of Authors and Works referred to ..... 434 INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR. An affecting interest is given to this treatise on the life, character, and writings of St. John, in consequence o£ the death of its author while these sheets were passing through the press. I am not able to reckon Dr. Macdonald among my own personal Ameri can friends. I never had the pleasure of meeting him on either side of the Atlantic : but a slight biographical notice, which has been placed in my hands, enables me to furnish the following particulars.1 Descended from a family in the north of Ireland, and, more remotely, drawing his origin from the west of Scotland (these two parts of our coast have been associated together by many romantic and historical incidents, and the name " Macdonald " has a well known place in such recollections), and himself born and bred in the midst of the Puritanism of New England, the writer of this book united in his character two elements of strength, which showed themselves, throughout his career, in a vigorous and resolute habit of mind. His father, a man of mark both as an enterprising merchant and as a general in command of troops during the war of 1812, on his deathbed dedicated this son, then a boy of only fourteen, to the Ministry^of the Gospel. The youth " appears never to have lost sight of this dying charge, and very soon set himself in earnest to fulfil it " ; and his charac ter was from the first and throughout in harmony with the call ing thus accepted. By a companion of his early manhood he is 1 Memorial of James Madison Macdonald, D.D. : a Discourse delivered in the First Presbyterian Church of Princeton, New Jersey, by Lyman A. Atwater. 1876. ka XVU1 INTRODUCTION. described as robust in frame, with an honest face, a fresh com plexion, and a bright eye, as devout' and conscientious, genial in society, firm in his friendships and diligent in study. After exercising his ministry first in Connecticut, then in Long Island, then in Brooklyn, he made his home in Princeton, New Jersey ; and there his mature work was done with zeal and perseverance for many years.1 There too he became Vice President, and (for the most part Acting President) of the Board of Trustees of the Theological Seminary, though himself a graduate of the Theo logical Seminary of Vale. Thus, in different parts of his life, he was closely connected with two of the most famous Divinity Schools of the New World, each of which has exercised a wide and beneficial influence on Beligion in the United States. Dr. MacdonaldJs position at Princeton was peculiarly responsible and difficult, his congregation containing men of the highest culture in Science, Philosophy, and Theology. It is justly remarked in the pamphlet which I am now consulting, that " no pastor retains his unabated hold of any congregation for a score of years without some very sterling qualities, much less such a charge as this." But Dr. Macdonald had this success, and he was never more honoured and trusted than at the last. The most conspicuous feature of his character appears to have been an unswerving love of truth, with an earnest and zealous desire to propagate the truth. As a preacher he had great advantages in a voice of singular compass and distinctness, and in his power of lively description. Notwithstanding his tenacity of purpose, he was remarkably can did in his dealing with new expressions of opinion; he was always a most diligent student; his habit was to make careful and assiduous preparation for his work; and he had that strong com mon sense, and that power of subordinating the unimportant to the important, which almost always give to the possessor of these faculties a command over the minds of others. With all this there was a tenderness and a gentle sympathy in his nature which 1 This period began in 1853 and ended in 1876. INTRODUCTION. XIX bound him closely to those who were in suffering and sorrow. " We never truly knew what Dr. Macdonald was," it was said, "till he came to us when death invaded and darkened our house holds." The end of his own life came very suddenly ; but in this circumstance, notwithstanding the distress which it caused, there was this advantage, that the impression of his full usefulness and the fresh power of his example were unimpaired. These partic ulars are put together from a short memoir, which is evidently not written in the language of blind eulogy ; and it is pleasant thus to be able to combine a slight sketch of the author with the publication of the book which is here edited.1 Both the plan and the execution of this book will, if I am not mistaken, recommend themselves to the English-speaking world as a really valuable addition to our theological and religious literature. The plan is to present in one view all parts of St. John's life in their connection with one another and with his writings, and also in their connection with the Life of Christ and the founding of His Church. Of the execution the readers must judge, when they have examined the whole volume. I may be allowed here to make a few remarks on thegeneral subject. We are invited in this volume to contemplate St. John as the personal link connecting together three very different parts of Holy Scripture. This method of presenting the personality of a Biblical writer in close combination with his writings, — so that the man is set forth, so to speak, as part of the Divinely-com municated Revelation with which we have to deal, — is remarkably characteristic of our times, and has met with much favourable acceptance.2 The texture of the Bible lends itself with peculiar facility to this method. It may be worth while to note two or 1 Among the books which he published was one entitled Credulity in its Different Forms, and another, for devotional use, entitled My Father's House. See below on the Apocalypse. 2 I am of course not in any way responsible for the friendly way in which my own attempts in this direction are mentioned in one of the notes of this book ; but it may be allowed to me to express my sense of obligation to the -writer of the note. XX INTRODUCTION. three instances before we turn to the special features which mark the case of St. John, when regarded in this point of view. There are some cases of this kind in the Old Testament. One is pre-eminent. We have there the life of David in the Historical Books, and the poems of David in the Psalter ; and in proportion as we can connect the two together (and to a considerable extent we certainly can) we gain very much in our appreciation of the value of both. If the man stands out, as it were, from the Psalms, we read those Psalms with a stronger sense of their reality ; and when we study the story of David's life we study it with a new interest, if we remember that it is he, under God, who instructs us, for the conduct of our life and devotion, in poems familiar as household words. It is however in the New Testament that we have the best and the most frequent instances of this connecting together of dif ferent books by a living personality. One such instance is St. Luke. We can trace his presence and his movements in the inci dents recorded in that narrative of the Acts, which he wrote with out a dream of attracting any attention to himself. But he is the writer too of one of the Gospels. He is an Evangelist as well as a biographer of the Apostles. May we not say that he is a Psalmist also ? for to him we owe that Angels' Song which makes our Christmas morning bright, as well as those three familiar Hymns of the Nativity, which are embodied in the Services of the Church of England. Another example is St. Peter. Not an Evangelist, and not a historian of the early events of the Church, he yet binds together the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles by the con tinuous thread of his own animated and vigorous life, while in his two Epistles the same disciple and apostle, of whose doings and Words we have read with so much interest, stands forth to address us directly. The great instance of this personal and most eloquent connection between different books of the Sacred Volume is, of course, St. Paul ; for his letters are so numerous that they consti tute a very large portion of the New Testament, while he is also INTRODUCTION. XXI the great figure in the Apostolic History, and becomes more and more commanding as we approach the end of that narrative; while the letters and the narrative are so bound together by coincidences of time and place, in small things as well as great, that these co incidences have formed the whole subject of a treatise famous in Theology.1 Perhaps we shall best appreciate the distinctive characteristics of St. John, viewed under this aspect, if we contrast him with St. Luke, St. Peter, and St. Paul. Like the first of these, he is an Evangelist, and also has a very definite connection with the Acts of the Apostles : but " the beloved physician " wrote no Epis tles destined to be a part of Holy Scripture : no " Acts " of his own are recorded by the pen which has so diligently recorded the sayings and doings of others : and, so far as we know, he never saw the countenance or heard the voice of the Incarnate Son of God. In certain of these respects St. Peter held common ground with St. John; he shared with him the blessed and ever-fruitful expe rience of the Gospel time ; he is even more conspicuous on the ground of the apostolic history. He also wrote inspired letters ; but he did not write a Gospel ; his two Epistles are not marked by that variety of character which we find in the three by St. John ; and to his early friend of the Galilean lake, not to himself, was vouchsafed the Apocalypse. In the two facts that St. John's writings are of three very different kinds, and that he was per sonally associated with our Saviour upon earth, we see at once that he rises to a level higher than that which is occupied even by St. Paul. The " beloved disciple " and the " apostle of the Gentiles " have indeed these things in common, that we can con nect their early training and early history with their subsequent career and with their writings, and that each has a place in St. Luke's narrative, while the latter has there by far the greater place. In other respects the former has pre-eminent claims on our attention and reverence. To this we must add that the ground 1 The Hone Paulina need hardly be named. INTRODUCTION. occupied by Peter and Paul is chiefly Biblical, whereas the pro tracted life of John, covering the whole of the later as well as the earlier part of the first century, enters into the range of what we popularly term Ecclesiastical History. Passing now from the general plan of the book, to which these pages are meant to serve as an Introduction, we may take a sepa rate glance first at the life, and then at the writings, of St. John. As regards his life, if the writing of these pages aimed at any thing like completeness, it would be necessary to say something of those two facts, which together give us our correct starting point, and a starting point full of meaning; viz., that St. John was a Galilean, and that he was a fisherman. But I turn at once to two influences which had much to do with the moulding of his character and the direction of his life. The first of these influences is that which was connected with his mother. It is probable that we might with perfect safety write more confidently and more fully on this subject than is done by Dr. Macdonald.1 Whether on the ground of hereditary trans mission, or through the powerful influence of example, it seems evident that we must trace something of the mother in the son. In the first place, Salome is made conspicuous in the Gospel His tory ; and there must be a reason for this, and a reason connected with our instruction. We might also perhaps justly lay some stress on this, that Salome somewhat throws Zebedee into the shade. The eagerness and patience with which she devoted her self to Christ, ministering to Him of her substance, following Him in His journeys, staying in Jerusalem when He was there, and even after His crucifixion continuing her service, reveal to us a warm and euergetic disposition, with a readiness to believe that the kingdom of the Messiah was come. That interview with Christ, -when she asked on behalf of her two sons, that they might sit, the one on the Lord's right hand and the dther on His left, manifests a strong and enthusiastic character in the mother, and 1 See Godet, Commentaire sur V Evangile de Saint Jean, vol. i., p. 59. INTRODUCTION. XX111 the fact of a warm and close union of feeling between herself and them. We easily see that this request, viewed on one side, was foolish and ambitious. But we must not forget that the request had its good side also. At least it shows that this impetuous mother had faith to perceive that Jesus Christ was something more than He seemed ; and she was willing and eager that her sons should cast in their lot with Him, however much for the present He might be " despised and rejected of men." And with this incident we must connect that other occasion, when the Lord gave to James and John the title of " Boanerges." This cannot have been a term of reproach; but, while conveying an admonition and a caution, must like Peter's name have been intended to indi cate some high qualities. And it cannot well be doubted that there was by nature a fiery force and enthusiasm in John the Evangelist, inherited perhaps from his mother, and intensified by the grand example of John the Baptist, which had a high value, if only it might be trained and brought under a loving discipline. The second influence to which we must now pass is that which was exerted on this Evangelist by St. John the Baptist. This is made very prominent in the fourth Gospel, as anyone may see very distinctly, on comparing it for this purpose with the other three. It is not precisely that the Baptist himself is made more conspi cuous there than in the other narratives. It would hardly be cor rect to state the matter thus. It is rather that our Evangelist is distinctly set before us as the disciple of the Baptist, in pre paration for a higher discipleship, and that precisely through this relationship to the Forerunner the allegiance to Christ began. The author of this book follows a true instinct in devoting a whole chapter to this subject, Chapter III. One circumstance which tends to give us a distinctive know ledge of St. John, and a knowledge very serious and affecting, is his friendship with St. Peter. This friendship too was a very early one ; and early friendships have often a tenderness and a power that belong to no other. Moreover it comes before us XXIV INTRODUCTION. with the characteristics of a definite local colouring; and this enhances to us the interest with which we think of these two disciples together. As boys and young men they were com panions on the shore and on the waves of the Sea of Galilee. There they gathered pebbles and shells; and there they exercised their craft in companionship, mending and casting their nets. Each of these two men had a brother ; but we have a conscious ness that cannot be mistaken, that Peter was more to John, and John to Peter, than James was to the former, or Andrew to the latter. This is true to nature, and true to the experience of life. These two men had strongly contrasted characters, and yet not so strongly contrasted but that there was common ground between them, and an easy bond of sympathy of each with the other. Peter was impetuous ; but so also was John, though the general bent of his mind was contemplative. John was full of the deep -emotion of love for his Master ; but so also was Peter, though adapted by natural qualities for an active life. The circumstances too, in which they were placed, tended, as time went on, to make this friendship closer. At the Transfiguration and in Gethsemane, as Well as on another occasion, they (with one associate who died young1) were the chosen companions of their Lord. During the fearful hours which preceded the Crucifixion, — moments which neither of them could ever forget, — we see them both, by the flickering firelight, in the high-priest's house. The incidents of the morning of the Eesurrection associated them in like manner, and even more closely, and laid up a store of recollec tions, so that this event could never be thought of by either without the presence of the image of the other ; while the last chapter in St. John's Gospel not only brings the two to gether, under circumstances most solemn and touching, on the very scene of their childhood, and in connection with the craft of their early manhood,2 but shows clearly how deeply conscious St. John was of Peter's affection towards him, and how fully he returned 1 See Acts xii. 2. 2 jonn ^ 1_14_ INTRODUCTION. XXV it. " Lord, and what shall this man do ? " The manner in which this is recorded is an eoho of the friendship which inspired the question. Npr do the Scripture notices of this union of heart and life end here. Still, after the day of Pentecost, these two apostles are together, pre-eminent above the rest, at the healing of the lame man by the Beautiful Gate of the temple : l together they went from Jerusalem to Samaria, to consolidate the results of the first mission of the Christian Church ; 2 and when finally we reach the last notice of them in the Epistles, they disappear from view together. St. Paul, in writing to the Galatians, de.' scribes Peter and John as " pillars " standing side by side in the Church of God.3 If we compare the scenes in which that earlier life of St. John was spent, which is so clearly recorded to us in the Gospel History, and those to which the dim, though most interesting, traditions of his later life in Church History belong, we are much struck by their difference. In two respects indeed the contrast is very marked. There is in the first place that contrast, which I have just touched, between the transparent distinctness of what 'we read in the Bible and the hazy uncertainty of what elsewhere yve read regarding this apostle. All that relates to the Sea of Galilee and Jerusalem, in their relation to St. John, is vivid and bright ; all that relates to his connection with Asia Minor, Ephe sus and Patmos, is merely lighted up by anecdotes more or less probable. But the regions themselves also are strongly contrasted in their aspect and political and social condition. A season of sharp persecution separates the two periods of St. John's life. It seems probable that St. John may have quitted Palestine during the campaign conducted by Vespasian under the Emperor Nero, and when that emperor's general cruelties were spreading terror through the world. About this 1 Acts iii. 1. 2 Acts viii. 14. 3 Gal. ii. 9. It is hardly necessary to say that the James mentioned here is not the brother of John. XXVI INTRODUCTION. time St. Paul suffered martyrdom; and it is most interesting to think of St. John as entering upon the region in which the Apostle of the Gentiles had laboured so much, and which he had so richly instructed by his Epistles; landing perhaps at Miletus,1 whence the message went for the Ephesian elders,2 and taking up his residence at Ephesus, in the heart of the country of " the Seven Churches." The geography of the district of " Asia" connects together, in a remarkable way, the widely separated biographies of these two apostles. The personal interest, however, of St. John, at this period of his life and in this part of the Levant, is chiefly concentrated on Patmos, a barren rocky island to the southwest of the peninsula which we popularly term Asia Minor. A large amount of his torical romance has, on various occasions, been connected with islands. It is only needful to name Salamis and Malta, Elba and St. Helena, to justify this remark. But islands have also been vividly connected with what may truly be called the romance of Ecclesiastical History. Two such places are on the west and east of our own coast. Iona retains imperishably the memory of Columba and his great school of missionaries. Lindisfarne is less frequently in our thoughts; but it has a very distinguished connection with the early spread of the Gospel through the south of Scotland and the north of England. The sunny Mediterranean too, as well as our bleak northern sea, has its sacred islands. One group, famous in Church History, is that of the Lerins Islands off the south coast of France. But none has so great a name in connection with such associations as Patmos. There St. John, the " brother" of them that suffer for religion, and their " companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ," was an exile, as he himself tells us, " for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ."3 It was the custom of the Romans to send exiles to the most rocky and 1 See below in this book, p. 145. 2 Acts xx. 17. 3 Bev. i. 9. INTRODUCTION. XXV11 desolate islands. Such a scene too was suitable, if we may presume to say so, to the sublime and awful revelation which the Apostle there received.1 In the life of St. John, however, we cannot forget that the mam point is not his association with any one of his brother apostles, or with all of them, but his association with Jesus Christ : just as we must remember a higher interest is to be found in St. John's relation to his own writings than the living person ality which connects them. The method indeed of the book to which these lines are an Introduction is that which has been de scribed, but the aim and scope is something greater. The book does tend to bring out this separate personality into clear view ; but its main purpose is, through St. John, to increase our homage to Christ ; and through St. John's writings, taken in con nection with their author, to throw light upon the Gospel. All this course of study and reflection is meant to be made subservient to. a better appreciation of the Person and Doctrine of the Saviour. Now this close asociation of St. John with his Master resolves itself into three subjects : first, the effect produced on St. John by the teaching and training of Christ; secondly, the lessons derivable from the close friendship between this disciple and his Master; and thirdly (as a consequence of these two par ticulars) the peculiarities of St. John's mode of representing the life of Christ, and the advantage which we gain by gazing on that biography, so to speak, through the eyes of this Evan gelist. The fact that during a period of three years St. John was under the direct tuition of the Saviour of the world, and thus « 1 I quote here from words used by myself in an article on Patmos in The Dic tionary of the Bible. Dean Stanley visited Patmos on the return from his second journey in Palestine ; and preaching, the day after, on John xvi. 13, he said: " We have been on the very track of the Apostle who wrote down these words for his support and ours. We- have seen at Patmos and at Ephesus the last traces of St. John, with whom we parted, as it were, on the shores of his own lake of Tiberias. Let us ask ourselves what the lessons are which he has left to us." XXV111 introduction. fitted for what he was afterwards to do and to write, is of para mount importance. That this direct tuition and Divine prepara tion was the privilege of the apostles we all know, as a matter of course : but we too often forget this, or fail to mark its special significance. We are apt to look on our Lord's life on earth as a time of working miracles, of revealing His character, of giving utterance to instruction, with the view of its being recorded afterwards for all time ; and we too frequently think of the apostles merely as the environment of this wonder-working and this blessed revelation of the Saviour's mind^ His life on earth was indeed all this; but it was much more. And to the apostles was accorded the happiness of gazing and listening and moving with Him, as He "went about doing good"; but this was not all, as regarded them, or as regards us. They were under direct and most careful training for the work which they were appointed to do, by the power of the Holy Ghost, when Christ was gone from the earth. Dr. Macdonald does well in calling our attention very definitely to this point. He says most correctly that " in any account that would present truly the life and character of the disciple " it . is essential to make " the freest use " of the familiar Gospel history, as showing the con nection of the Master and the disciple : " for it was under the instruction and ministry of the Saviour that he received his pre paration for the high office and special work to which he was called; nor can we appreciate the ministry of Christ aright until we learn to view it, not so much in its direct influence on the world at large, as designed to instruct and train the apostles for their work." And again the author says : " The Founder of Christianity did not send forth uninstructed, untrained, undisci plined men to do His work ; the apostles have been so often de scribed as rude, untaught fishermen, that it is the more important to notice their advantages over all other men in their contact and close association with the Greatest of Teachers for a period of more than three years." And once more : " While many others were INTRODUCTION. XXIX instructed and blessed through His ministrations, the chief end of the Saviour evidently was to prepare for their great office those to whom He was to commit the work of establishing His kingdom : never had men such teacher before : for three years they were under the careful training of Him who knew all the secrets of mind as well as heart."1 Such remarks, while true of the relation of Christ to the whole of His faithful eleven, have a special force in connection with St. John, partly because his apostolic work extended over the longest range of time, partly because his writings are of varied character and constitute a large and singularly precious part of the Sacred Canon, but likewise on account of his peculiar intimacy with our Lord. Not only had John, in common with all the twelve, those opportunities of learning which have been named above, but to him was vouchsafed, in a sense to which even Peter could lay no claim, a close friendship with the Saviour of the world. In this fact there is a depth of meaning which even very slight re flection enables us to appreciate as of the utmost moment. Some thing has been said above of the influence of Salome, of the influ ence of the Baptist, upon St. John the Evangelist : but here is an influence greater and more pervading, exercised in a method which gave to it the utmost advantage, and having its opportuni ties in all the incidental circumstances of daily life. In consider ing the subject that is before us, it is highly important to bear this friendship in mind, when we think of Cana and Capernaum, of the journeys to Samaria, of the visits to the Syrophosnician frontier and to the other side of the Jordan. John saw the miracles that were wrought, whether he records them or not. He heard the Sermon on the Mount, the words spoken at Caesarea Philippi, the discourses in the Temple. All these were opportunities of learning and preparation, and perhaps we may venture to say'' that they were more to him than to any others of the companions of the Lord. Certainly to him was assigned the innermost place, 1 See pp. 45, 72, 86. XXX INTRODUCTION. when instruction was addressed in private to the chosen twelve. It is lawful to conjecture that he alone may have had privileges of this kind that were not accorded to the rest. It seems highly probable that he was present at that secret interview with Nico- demus which the other evangelists do not relate.1 It is hardly necessary to remind the reader that, at the last, St. John appears in a place of peculiar honour and power, when appointed along with the others, to be "a witness of the Resurrection." It is evidently a great advantage to us to be able to look at the work of Jesus Christ through the medium of the biography of St. John, to see as he saw, and to endeavour to share his feelings. If we follow the Great Biography by the help of this thread, we may expect to meet some aspects of the truth which otherwise we might miss. Even if we are familiar with the general distri bution of hill and dale, of wood and water, over a range of country which we admire and love, we always learn something new con cerning it when we traverse it by a path, even though it be a narrow and secluded path, which we have never traversed before. This train of thought brings us at once to the consideration of the characteristics of St. John's Gospel, as compared with the other three, and to the distinctive features of St. John's writings generally. This is far too large a subject to be dealt with adequately in a mere Introduction, or even in a volume of moderate size. Moreover these few pages are intended to have reference to his writings chiefly in one aspect, namely, as bound together by St. John's personality. Still, with this limited end in view, a few words must be said on these writings, the study of which is so much enhanced to us when we connect them by this golden thread. As regards the Gospel of St. John, it seems to me desirable, in following the line of study to which we are invited in the volume before us, to note as sharply as possible the differences which separate it from the other Gospels, and then, in order to restore 1 See p. 58. INTRODUCTION. XXXI the balance of truth, to observe with equal care the resemblances which give a deep inward unity to the four accounts of our Lord. By making the most of these two contrasted methods, and not diluting either of them for the sake of accommodation to the other, we shall, as it appears to me, best acquire a correct view of the whole case. To illustrate what I mean I will bring forward two English writers of very different dates, one of them a recent and a living writer, the other renowned nearly a hundred years ago for his varied defences of Natural and Revealed Religion. ' The Bishop of Derry is writing of the style of St. John, and remarks that it is very natural if we find it like the style of the discourses in the Gospel.1 " Remember that that disciple was John, and that master Jesus." There are certain favourite words such as " light and darkness, life and death, love and hate, truth and lie, world, abiding," which St. John had not taught himself to apply to his own thoughts. "He had heard them in the long golden hush of the summer evenings by the shore of the Lake of Galilee; in the sorrow of the guest chamber ; between the brook of Kedron and the Garden of the Agony ; during the days when the risen Lord spoke to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." Such words were not merely in his memory : they had entered into his soul. " He had made them so lovingly his own, that he could use them with 1 The Leading Ideas of the Gospel, pp. 139, 140. I have somewhat inadvertently here run off the line I was intending to follow. The Bishop of Derry is in this passage comparing the style of the Epistles of St. John with the discourses of Christ as given in his Gospel. Still I will leave the passage as it stands ; for resemblance between the Epistles of St. John and his Gospel is a point to which, in a study like this, we are bound particularly to attend. Elsewhere in these sermons the Bishop of Derry dwells, in a most instructive and suggestive manner, on the distinctive pecu liarities of this Gospel. Thus after remarking that in it the miracles are few, while yet the greatest stress is laid on them, he says that while in all the Gospels the miracles both prove and teach, in the others they chiefly prove, here they chiefly teach ; and he quotes St. Augustine to this effect : " Our Lord did not merely work miracles for the miracle's sake, but that the things which He wrought might be true to those who could understand them, as well as marvellous to those who beheld them." Pp. 122-126. XXXII INTRODUCTION. unerring precision." It has been asked whether it is the son of Zebedee who has given to us lessons of abstract metaphysics, to which we find no parallel in the Synoptical Gospels ; and the answer is, " Certainly, for he had heard them from Christ." These fragments of quotation may suffice to indicate a method, which will enable us to appreciate some of the distinctive pecu liarities of St. John. But in order to see the whole case clearly we must turn to the other side ; and here one of Paley's chapters may be used to help us to perceive the deep inner unity which binds together this Gospel with the others. I refer to his chapter on " the Identity of Christ's Character," one of the best in his treatise on The Evidences of Christianity.1 It has often been remarked that in St. John's Gospel there are no parables, in the strictest sense of the word. But alike in this Gospel and in the others there is a mode of teaching, characteristic of the Saviour, and different from what we find in any of His apostles. This is the Lord's habit of " drawing His doctrine from the occasion — or, which is nearly the same thing, raising reflections from the objects and incidents before Him, or turning a particular dis course then passing into an opportunity of general instruction." Instances are given from the Synoptical Gospels, such as the warning concerning " the leaven of the Pharisees," arising from the circumstance that the disciples had forgotten to take bread, the inculcation of the necessity of a childlike spirit on the occasion of young children being brought to Him, the parable of "the Great. Supper," suggested by the supper at which He was present :2 and parallel instances are then given from St. John, such as the address concerning " living Water " to the woman of Samaria at the well, and the discourse con cerning " the Light of the World " in the presence of a blind man.3 " The manner of Christ," says Paley, "discovers itself in 1 Part II., Chap. iv. 2 Matt. xvi. 5 ; Mark x. 13-15 ; Luke xiv. 15. 3 John iv. 10, ix. 1-5. INTRODUCTION. XXXlll St. John," and he follows the same method of comparison into other particulars. " All this," he adds, " bespeaks reality." As regards the Epistles of St. John, contrast may be again useful, and part of their distinctive character may be set forth by a comparison with the Epistles of St. Paul. There is a remark able absence from these three sacred letters of that constant ego ism (if the term may be used) which we find throughout the correspondence of his brother apostle. It was indeed a superficial remark, which was once made by a young theologian, that he liked St. John better than St. Paul, because he says less of him self. We should be much poorer than we are, and much weaker for spiritual work in the world, if we had not been allowed to see the inner movements of St. Paul's heart. But the egoism of St. John is of a different kind. What he has to say to us of himself is that he had personally known and lived with the Incarnate Word. And, once more, there is a difference of style, which we easily connect with the characters of the two men. In St. John truth is the result of intuition; in St. Paul it is set forth in argu ment. We could not imagine the Epistle to the Galatians or the Epistle to the Romans written by the former. Concerning the Book of Revelation I will say nothing, except to invite attention to the arguments by which Dr. Macdonald endeavour's to fix its date. The reasoning seems to me very well drawn out, which assigns the writing of this part of Holy Scripture to a time intermediate between the Gospel and the Epistles of St. John.1 In undertaking the responsibility of editing this book, it is obvious that I do not commit myself to the author's view of the meaning of every passage in detail, or even broadly to his general interpretation of difficult parts of Holy Scripture. This is the last thing which Dr. Macdonald would have expected me to do ; yet it is desirable to preclude all misapprehension on the point. 1 See Chapter IX. In an earlier part of his life Dr. Macdonald wrote a Com mentary on this book. a a XXXIV INTRODUCTION. I will give just one illustration as regards matters of detail, an<3 then make just one reference to an important general question of Biblical exegesis. In commenting on that passage in the third chapter of St. John's Gospel, where the doctrine of the new birth is unfolded,1 Dr. Macdonald says of the words "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the king dom of God," that the Sacrament of baptism cannot be al luded to, because it was "not then instituted as a Christian rite." 2 I am not here discussing the question of the precise nature of the reference which is here made to baptism, but the argument which the author employs. Surely when we re member that our Lord was about to institute the Sacrament of baptism, and knew that He was about to institute it, — when we remember further that, when St. John wrote, it had been insti tuted, — we find it natural to see here an anticipative reference to baptism. When we are meditating on our Lord's question to the Jews, "What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend where He was before ? " it would not be sound logic to say that there could be no anticipative reference to the Ascension, because that event had not then taken place.3 And indeed our author is here not quite consistent with himself; for when he reaches those words in the sixth chapter,4 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you," his note is as follows :5 " Although the Lord's Supper had not yet been instituted, we unmistakably find here the idea which underlies that Holy Sacrament, and the great doctrine which in the breaking of bread and the pouring out of wine is set forth, the expiatory death of Christ ; we find the same men tion of the death of Jesus, or in the same form of speech, as in the institutive words of the Supper, and proclamation of the same truths of which that ordinance is the symbol and the memorial." 1 John iii. 5. 2 See p. 289. 3 John vi. G2. * Verse 53. o See p. 310. INTRODUCTION. XXXV Let me add, however, — and I have made the present reference to these passages partly because they give me a welcome oppor tunity for adding — that I cordially agree with Dr. Macdonald in the supremacy which he assigns in this book to the spiritual as pect of Christianity, as high above all outward ordinances, even if they be divinely appointed Sacraments. He has caught the spirit of the Lord's words given by St. John in the fourth chapter, "God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth;" and again in the sixth, — "It is the Spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth nothing : the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." It. will be conjectured that the general exegetical subject to which I have referred is the interpretation of the Apocalypse. I must confess that much of this great question still remains very dark to me ; and my conviction is not clear that we are to find the full interpretation of certain chapters of this mysterious book in the cruelty, superstition, and corruption of the Papal Church. I will not here bring forward any arguments which might be employed against Dr. Macdonald's views. It is no part of my task in this Introduction to combat any opinions of the author whom I desire to recommend. And indeed I must confess that facts which history has made known to us concerning the Church of the Vatican have a very close re semblance to these portions of the prophecy in the Apocalypse. And I will here adduce the words of one of the most learned of our English theologians, who has a special claim to be listened to in regard to the subject. The Bishop of Lincoln, in his Hulsean Lectures, writes thus : J " Having been led in these discourses to devote the best faculties at my command to this solemn subject, I should feel myself guilty of culpable dereliction of duty in the sight of Almighty God if I did not declare that the prophecies contained in the thirteenth, fourteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of the Revelation of St. John 1 Hulsean Lectures for 1848, Sec. x., p. 274. XXXVI INTRODUCTION. the Divine, and which describe the guilt and portray the punish ment of the mystical Babylon, have been partly accomplished, and are in course of complete accomplishment, in the Church of Rome." "This, I well know," he adds, "is a very grave asser tion ; and ought not to be made without the most serious delibera tion." I feel the greater interest and satisfaction in being allowed to have some share in the bringing of this book before the public, because it represents, on a small scale, that co-operation between England and America, in reference to Biblical subjects, which may be expected to be full of blessing to mankind. If I may give one illustration of what I mean, I will mention the New York edition of The Dictionary of the Bible, enriched by the notes of Dr. Abbott and Dr. Hackett. The former of these theologians gave me those volumes on a well-remembered occasion in the Library of Harvard University. The latter, like Dr. Macdonald, has been taken from us by death. But death does not destroy the fruits of the labours of such men; and those who survive may still feel that they are fellow-labourers, on very sacred ground, with those who are gone. J. S. HOWSON. The Deanery, Chester, Dec. 1th, 1876. IMPERIUM ROMANORUM Latissime patens. E.Sansla: tiel Stmi^r^^Gboa^st^ NewTcaik; Scxxbonec AtxnHtvcrag & O? THE LIFE AND WETTINGS OF ST. JOHN. CHAPTER I. PLACE IN HISTOET, AND CHAEACTEE OF THE PEEIOD IN WHICH THE APOSTLE JOHN APPEARED. LIFE OP ST. JOHN COEVAL WITH THE FIRST CENTURY. — DATE OF CHRIST'S BIRTH. — JULIUS CESAR. — POMPEY THE GREAT. — HIS MARCH INTO JUDEA. — HOLY LAND BECOMES TRIBUTARY. — HE PROFANES THE HOLY OF HOLIES. — ENTERS ROME IN TRIUMPH. — JULIUS CESAR BECOMES SUPREME. — AP POINTS ANTIPATER PROCURATOR OF JUDiEA. — HIS SON HEROD GOVERNOR OF GALILEE. — JULIUS CESAR ASSASSINATED. — HEROD APPOINTED KING OF JUD.EA. AUGUSTUS CESAR BECOMES EMPEROR. EXTENT OF ROMAN EM PIRE. UNIVERSAL PEACE. BIRTH OF JESQS CHRIST. — DEATH OF HEROD THE GREAT. — ARCHELAUS AND ANTIPAS. — ARCHELAUS DEPOSED. — QUI- RINIUS GOVERNOR OF STRIA. — SUCCESSIVE PROCURATORS OF JUD^A. — DEATH OF AUGUSTUS. — TIBERIUS CESAR. CAIAPHAS. — PONTIUS PILATE. — HEATHEN WORLD. — PAGAN LITERATURE. — ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY DESTROYED. — CHA RACTER OF THE PERIOD FROM CONDITION OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE. DEVELOPMENT OF MESSIANIC PROPHECY. THE LAW A SCHOOLMASTER. — CEREMONIAL LAW. — CLEAR DAWNING WHEN ST. JOHN CAME ON THE STAGE. The life of the apostle John, from near the beginning of the first century of the Christian era, stretches on to the beginning of the second. If he was one hundred years old at his death, it overlaps the second century as much as it falls short of being coterminous with the beginning of the first. A history of his life, therefore, especially when Christianity, of which he was so important a representative, is viewed in its relations to subsequent developments and changes in the con dition of nations, must form one of the most deeply interesting chapters, not only in ecclesiastical history, but in the annals of the human race. Born under the reign of the first of the Csesars, who wore undisputed B 2 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. the title of emperor, he was contemporary with the remainder of the twelve, and probably outlived the last. The greatest event of time, the birth of the world's Redeemer,1 occurred not long before the death of Herod the Great, which hap pened A.u.c. 750, just before the Jewish passover;2 i.e., some four years earlier than the Dionysian reckoning, or the common era. If John was born some four or five years later than Jesus, the period of his birth would nearly, or quite exactly, correspond with the first year of the common era, whilst the dynasty of Herod still maintained a sickly existence in the reign of his son Archelaus. The history of the Herodian dynasty, and that of the great empire whose authority this dynasty represented in the Holy Land, are brought so much in contact with Christian history in its beginning, or throughout the century during which the Apostle John lived, that a survey of their leading points will be justified, if it is not rather required. One hundred years before Christ, the foremost man in the annals of the ancient world, Julius Caesar, was born. At the early age of twenty- two, having already identified himself with the popular party, he appeared at Rome, on hearing of the death of the dictator Sulla, and 1 Matt. ii. 10. 2 Jos. Ant., xvii., 8 (1); Wars, i., 33 (8) ; Wieseler, Chron. Syn., p. 57; Robin son's Harm., p. 167. Cyrenius (Luke ii. 1-7), or Quirinius, appears to have been twice governor of Syria. First, from the year of Eome (a.u.o.) 750 to 753, having succeeded Varus toward the close of 750. He was made governor the second time at the end of the Herodian dynasty, after the banishment of Archelaus. (See A. W. Zumpt's, Berlin, Commentatio de Syria Romanorum provincia a Casare Augusto ad Tit. Vespasianum. Comment. Epigr. ad Antiq. Rom., ii., 71-150.) The census, or enrolment (registration), appears to have been commenced in Palestine before Herod's death, who was a rex socius, i.e., held his title from, and was tributary to, the Eoman empire. As Herod's death occurred a.u.o. 750, just before the passover (Jos. Ant., xvii., 8), this note of time points to the year of Eome 749, as coincident with the first year of the Christian era. Dionysius Exiguus, who in the sixth century instituted the practice of dating from the tiirth of Christ, fell into the mistake of making the year of Christ's birth coincident with the year of Eome 754, some four or five years too late. The Christ ian world, in adopting the era, adopted the mistake ; and although long since discovered, no attempt, for obvious reasons, has been made to correct it. The time, as given by Luke, when John the Baptist is said to have entered on his ministry, "the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar" (Luke iii. 1, 2), and the age as given by him when Jesus was baptized, " about thirty years of age " (iii. 23), have been made to yield the same result as above in regard to the year of our Lord's birth, i.e., provided they both entered on their ministry at the Levitical age of thirty. Aug. Csssar died Aug. 29, a.u.o. 767. Tiberius had been associated with him at least two years in the administration at the time of his death. If we reckon from the time when Tiberius was admitted to this partnership, which must have been as early as a.u.c. 765, and may have been in 764, the fifteenth year of Tiberius began in A.u.c. 778 ; and it follows that John the Baptist was born in 748, and Christ in 749. FOMPEY S MARCH INTO JUD3IA. 3 entered on his great career. He was shortly brought into close con nection with another eminent man, more distinguished for military than civic talents, and who, after the death of Sulla, had been the chief representative of the aristocratical party, Pompey the Great. It was Pompey's breach with this party, and his eventual coalition with Cassar, which perhaps tended as much as any one cause to give success to the plans of the latter. Long ambitious to obtain the command of the war against Mithridates, Pompey was now successful, through the growing popularity and influence of Ctesar. It was effected by the passage of a law which placed almost unlimited power in Pompey's hands over the whole Roman dominions. The measure was advo cated by- Cicero in an oration, Pro lege Manilla, which has come down to us. It is with the movements of the Roman army under Pompey, on its return from the pursuit of Mithridates beyond the Euphrates, that we connect the Roman supremacy in Palestine. The year B.C. 63 found him marching south, through Phoenicia and Coele- Syria, into the country of the Jews. It was then distracted by a civil war between the nephews of Aristobulus I., Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, degenerate scions of that famous Asmonean line of princes who had overthrown the tyranny established by Antiochus Epiphanes, and defeated his Hellenizing designs. Pompey espoused the cause of Hyrcanus, and with ease effected the conquest. On the surrender of Jerusalem, he went to the temple, and entered the holy of holies, the first time that any human being, except the high-priest, had dared to penetrate within its awful precincts. He carried Aristobulus with him a captive to Rome. Although the government was left in the hands of Hyrcanus, the nation was made tributary, and was henceforth compelled to acknowledge the authority of the great people whose capital lay across the sea in another continent. Never was there a more glorious triumph accorded to mortal than that of Pompey on his return to Rome. Aristobulus was made an ex ception, however, to the clemency displayed on this occasion, and was retained in captivity through fear of the commotion he might ex cite in Judaaa, if permitted to return. But if this triumph was the most glorious period in Pompey's life, his glory from that moment, as if the avenger had pursued him for his sacrilege in passing within the veil, began to decline. For twenty years he had been the first man in the Roman world, and his power had been steadily increasing ; but from this time, he was not long in discovering that the genius of another had reduced him to a subordinate place. Julius Caesar strode steadily forward to supreme power in the state. The battle of Pharsalia decided the fate of the republic and the supremacy of Caesar. In the 4 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. following year, B.C. 47, Antipater, an Idumean, was appointed by him procurator of Judaea. His second son, * Herod, afterwards surnamed the Great, though only, according to Josephus, fifteen years of age,1 was made governor of Galilee. Caesar had not completed his fifty- sixth year at the time of his assassination, on the 15th of March, B.C. 44 ; but by the strong domination of his will, and his varied gifts 3 as a commander, statesman, and lawgiver, he had rescued his country from anarchy. At his fall there was a renewal of a state of civil dis-. order, which continued for the period of half a generation, and was only allayed by the final establishment of the empire, under his nephew Augustus. Before the close of the year, B.C. 40, Antipater having been poisoned, Herod, at the instance of Antony and Octavianus (subsequently known as Augustus), was solemnly appointed the king of Judaea. He married Mariamne, the granddaughter of Hyrcanus, in order in some degree to be endowed in the eyes of the people with a lawful title to the throne. He established his power by deeds of unparalleled cruelty, among which was at length his attempt to extirpate the entire race of the Maccabees, not excepting his own wife and children,- It was to conciliate the people alienated by his atrocities, that he expended, during a long series of years, vast sums in repairing and beautifying the temple. The emperor Augustus (Caesar Octavianus) came to the sole and supreme dignity in the year B.C. 27. The Roman empire then in cluded the fairest portion of the known world, enclosed by the Danube and the Rhine, the Euphrates, and the deserts of Africa and Syria, containing a population of at least one hundred and twenty millions. The sea, well named Mare Internum, lay in the midst, washing the shores of three continents ; and giving to the empire, as outlined on the map, the appearance of one of those huge beasts' which, in the prophecies of Daniel and John, are such favourite symbols of mighty world-powers. , 1 Mihnan says he must have been at least from 20 to 25. (Hist. of Jews, ii., p. 60.) 2 Besides the Commentaries he wrote works which are lost, but the mere titles of which are proof of his literary culture and extensive knowledge. (1) " Orationes." As an orator, the ancients describe him as inferior only to Cicero. (Quintil. , x., 1„ § 114 ; Tac, Ann. xiii., 3 ; Plut., Cces., 3 ; Suet., Cces., 55.) (2) " Anticato," in two books, in reply to Cicero's " Cato." (3) " De Analogia," in two books : disquisitions! on the Latin language ; or, as Cicero styles it, " De Eatione Latine loquendi ; " it was written while crossing the Alps on one of his military journeys. (Cicero, Brut., 72 ; Pliny, H. N., vii. 30, s. 31 ; Quintil., i., 7, § 34.) (4) " Libri Auspiciorum," or "Auguralia." (5) " Apophthegmata," or "Dicta Collectanea :" a collection of good sayings. (6) "DeAstris," in which he treated of the heavenly bodies. (7) " Poemata," including a tragedy, " CEdipus." (8) "Epistolaj," of which several are preserved. (See Art. Julius Ccesar, in Diet, of Greek and Eom. Eiog. and Myth., by William Smith, LL.D.) HEROD THE GREAT. 5 Over the heterogeneous millions of this vast territory, Augustus, without seeming to assume unusual power, by the simple process of uniting all offices in his own person, concealing his usurpations under legal forms, engrossed and monopolized the whole. At length for the third time the temple of Janus was closed. In this time of universal peace, a few months before the death of Herod the Great, was born Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. It was the tidings of this event, brought by the arrival of the Magians from the East, which led this bloody tyrant to issue his decree for the massacre of the innocents of Bethlehem. One of his last acts was to put to death his eldest son, Antipater. Five days after, he suffered a miserable death, his body putrefying before life was extinct, rendering him an object of loathing to himself and all who attended him. By the will of Herod his dominions were divided among his three sons. Archelaus received Judasa, Samaria, and Idumea, with the title of king, which with him was no more than an empty title, and now that the true King of Zion had come, was to pass away from Judah for ever. Herod Antipas received Galilee and Perea; and to Philip was assigned the north-eastern portion of the country beyond the Jordan, Trachonitis.1 Both Archelaus and Antipas hastened to Rome, where the latter sought to have his father's will set aside, and obtain the royal dignity for himself. Augustus ratified, in all essential points, the will of Herod the Great, with the promise of continuing the title of king to Archelaus, should he be found to deserve it. His government, however, notwithstanding his large professions of moderation, proved most corrupt and tyrannical; and charges having been brought against him, he was deposed and banished, in the tenth year of his reign. His territories were attached to Syria, and governed by Roman procura tors, who held their court in Caesarea, on the Mediterranean, visiting Jerusalem on great public occasions. Quirinius (the Cyrenius of Josephus and Luke) was the governor of Syria at this time; and Coponius was sent to exercise, the office of procurator under him in the government of Judaea. Quirinius had been governor of Syria before, from A.u.c. 750 to 753, when the taxing that was going on at the birth of Jesus, and which seems to have been interrupted by the death of Herod, was completed. Thus the sceptre which Herod the Great left to Archelaus, subject to the will of the emperor, proved to be but a mere shadow, as Augustus permitted him to . wear the title only by mere sufferance and con ditionally, and on his failure to fulfil the conditions, soon deposed him from the government altogether. The title for ever lapsed, and the reins of government passed into the hands of Roman governors 1 Dion Cass., Iv., 27 ; Jos. Ant., xvii., 1 (3) ; Wars, i., 28 (4). 6 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. and procurators. Marcus Ambivius succeeded Coponius, who was followed by Annius Rufus, by whom the office was filled at the period of the death of Augustus. After the deposition of Archelaus, and the government of Judaea had fallen to the administration of Quiri nius, he appointed Annas (Ananus he is called by Josephus1) to the high priesthood. This was in A.D. 7, according to the Dionysian or common era (which, to avoid confusion, will be used in this work), the same year in which Archelaus was deposed. He continued to fill the office till the death of Augustus. This illustrious ruler lived to be seventy-five years of age, and, weighed down with cares and domestic misfortunes, died in a.d. 14. One of the most memorable epochs in the history of literature, as well as in the civil history of mankind, reached its noonday splendour during his reign. But the grand distinction of his reign was, that it was that " fulness of time " when everything had been prepared for the appearing of the great De liverer of the nations. The man who swayed the sceptre during the larger portion of our Lord's life, and who was still upon the throne when John went forth on the duties of his apostleship, was Tiberius. He was well ad vanced in life when he became emperor, and he held the office for twenty-three years, till a.d. 37, being nearly eighty years of age at the time of his death. He spent his closing years in infamous de bauchery in the island of Caprese, having retired altogether from the imperial city. On his accession to the throne, he appointed Valerius Gratus to the procuratorship of Judsea, to succeed Annius Rufus. Gratus at once deposed Annas from the high-priesthood. His successor, Ismael, son of Fabus, after a short time was succeeded by Eleazer, son of Annas, the old high-priest, who, after a single year, was deprived of the office, and it was given to Simon, son of Camithus, who held the office for another year ; when it was conferred on Joseph Caiaphas, son-in-law of Annas, who filled the office during the remainder of the reign of Tiberius. Other sons of Annas filled this office at a still later period. Gratus administered the government eleven years, when he returned to Rome, and Pontius Pilate, whose name is so familiar in New Testament history, came as his successor, a.d. 25 or 26. Under the hated Roman yoke, the Jews clung only the more strongly to their Messianic hopes ; but it was for a political deliverer they longed, who should break this yoke, and restore, only on a more splendid scale, the kingly power and state of .David. Hence they were the more deeply offended by the humble form of Jesus, and the spiritual kingdom which He professed to found, and which He sought to convince the people fulfilled the Scriptures. 1 Ant., xviii., 2 (1). TIBERIUS CiESAR. PAGAN CULTURE AND REFINEMENT. 7 No one fact is made more evident in the classics of pagan an tiquity than that, at the very moment this history opens, the entire heathen world, even the most civilized portion of it, were sunk in deplorable ignorance of everything relating to the true religion, in the grossest superstition and idolatry and in the most abomin able corruption and depravity of manners. The great doctrines re specting God and a future life, which the light of nature teaches, or which had been diffused in the world by tradition, were obscured and darkened. The very mythologies had outlived themselves. The wisest men were in the greatest perplexity, and knew not what to believe. They knew and felt (for they had tried the experiment in circumstances where there could be no influences of a divine revela tion, or, if any, only the feeblest traditionary light) that the world by "wisdom," i.e., by philosophy, could never know God. Hence the confessions of the wisest of them (for such in effect are all their ethical writings), that the mere light of nature is not sufficient to conduct men to the path of virtue and happiness ; that the only sure and certain guide must be a divine discovery of the truth.1 Pagan literature having reached its highest point of culture, marked, at the same time, the loftiest pinnacle which the human mind could of itself reach. We look in vain for any distinguished name, in this literature, subsequent to the age of the Antonines. It is a most remarkable and significant fact, that not a single valuable contribution to literature from that day to this has proceeded from the entire heathen world. The literature of the Saracens, which made Bagdad and Cordova seats of civilization and refinement, was Mo hammedan. Mohammed was of Abrahamic descent; and the Koran was derived, to a considerable extent, from the Scriptures. Every Moslem scimitar was ready to leap from its scabbard to chase idolatry from the world. All that the mind could accomplish in philosophy 1 In the Apology of Socrates, he is represented as uncertain whether death is a state of unconsciousness and annihilation, or the passage of the soul to another state. 'f&vv Si koX T7?5e, ws ttoWtj ekirls icrTtv ayadbv avrb elvai. Avo'iv yap Oarepbv karc rb reBvavai' rj yap olov p-wfiiv elvai, p.t)5' ata9v(nv p-ySeptav p.ijSevbs exew rbv TeOveuJra, if Kara to. \ey6p.eva p,eTa(3o\fj tls rvyx&vei oftcra koX p.eTolKvcns rrj ipvxy roD t6ttov tov evdiv5e els SKhov rlnrov, k.t.X. (Apol. Soc, c. 32). In either case, he argues that we have much hope that death may prove a blessing, dyaB6v. In the Phaado, in which it is probable we have more of Plato's own modes of thought than those of Socrates, -while the immortality of the soul is proved with as much certainty as it is possible for the human mind, in a fallen state, to arrive at, no one can read it without feeling on what vague and uncertain grounds the whole (eXrrls) hope rested. If the greatest minds of antiquity were in such darkness, as their specula tions on topics of this nature and ethics generally prove, their writings may be taken as the confession of the Gentile world, as to their need of a divine revela tion. b THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. and culture, without some superadded influences, was done in the palmy days of Greek and Roman literature. The republic of Rome was the very last result which a prolonged and careful study of jurisprudence and the science of politics could elaborate ; the religion of Rome, the best that could be wrought out by the un assisted human faculties. As if conscious of the weakness of every separate system, it had assembled the gods of all nations in its Pan theon to find, if possible, in the huge conglomerate what had been sought in vain among its separate parts. The writings of Homer, of Plato, of Cicero, of Seneca, record the highest achievements which it is possible for the mind of man, from its own natural vigour and perspicacity, to make. The reason why ancient culture so soon reached its acme, is found in its deficiency of an adequate moral power. We are not to be led astray by the renown of great names, the glory of letters, the external show with which art can deck a tomb as well as a palace, in our estimate of Attic and Roman morals. Their low standard was betrayed, not only by their gay and licentious mythology and the impure mysteries of their sacred temples, but in their ungenerous, ungrateful, and unjust treatment of benefactors. They could not endure the presence of virtue, even of such virtue as grew in nature's soil. Their best citizens received the hemlock at their hands, or pined in prisons or in exile. Their art, beautiful in its forms, was cold as the marble which it chiselled, in its moral tone. They worshipped statuary, and their tem ples were without even natural religion. Disgusting depravity and horrid nameless crimes prevailed among the best members of society, in the best days of those polished states. Poetry, philosophy, and elo quence were mere aesthetic workers, and could, no more than the gilded canopy of a sick man's couch, save a body which was festering with ulcers, from decay. Ornaments and rich drapery might hide the diseased mass, but could not cure. Let their history be divested of its fine rhetoric, let the veil be lifted from the manners of private life, and society be seen in all its living reality, and there can be no doubt a most startling "picture of tragic truth " would be presented. " Scholars and artists," said the late Dr. Wayland, " have mourned for ages over the almost universal destruction of the works of ancient genius. The Alexandrian library is believed to have contained a greater treasure of intellectual riches than has ever since been hoarded in a single city. These, we know, have all vanished from the earth. It furnished fuel for years for the bath of illiterate Moslems. I used myself frequently to wonder why it pleased God to blot out of existence these productions of ancient genius. But the solution of this mystery is found, I think, in the remains of Hercu- DECADENCE OP PAGAN SYSTEM. 9 laneum and Pompeii. We there discover that every work of man was so penetrated with corruption, every production of genius so defiled with uncleanness, that God, in introducing a better dispensation, deter mined to cleanse the world from the pollution of preceding ages. As when all flesh had corrupted His way, He purified the world by the waters of a flood ; so when genius had covered the earth with images of sin, He overwhelmed the works of ancient civilization with a deluge of barharism, and consigned the most splendid monuments of literature and art to almost universal oblivion. It was too bad to exist, and He swept it all away with the besom of destruction." Even the craving for the sight of human blood had become, like hunger for bread, a recognised popular appetite, which it was one of the functions of government, in the public amphitheatres, to satisfy. " It was," says Schlegel, " as if the iron-footed god of war, so highly revered from of old by the people of Romulus, actually bestrode the globe, and at every step struck out new torrents of blood ; or as if dark Pluto had emerged from the abyss of eternal night, escorted by all the revengeful spirits of the lower world, by all the Furies of passion and insatiable cupidity, by the bloodthirsty demons of murder, to establish his visible empire, and erect his throne for ever on the earth." All attempts to infuse new life into the pagan system proved utterly futile. It lay like a pitiable torso, without head or hands, on the threshold of its crumbling temple. The experiment which was com menced when men built the tower of Babel, had been' fully tried, and this was the result. Neither the austerities of Egyptian theology, nor the moralities of stoical philosophy could infuse new life into a religion which contained the active elements of its own dissolution. False themselves, and destitute of the spirit of faith and love, these imperial props to a falling idolatry were destined to pass away. The human mind could never have advanced further, but must have certainly and hopelessly declined, had not a new element of life and power been imparted by Him who made it. Like soil which, from long and injudicious tillage, is worn out, it needed some new and fertilizing agent or influence to save it from hopeless sterility. That influence came with the introduction of Christianity, which not only brought the divine teachings of Jesus, and the inspired writings of His apostles, but the sublime productions of Hebrew bards and prophets to the knowledge of mankind. New views of men and of life, and a new or ganization of society were to spring from the power of love divinely revealed. " In this great central point of history," to use again the words of Schlegel, " stood two powers opposed to each other. On one hand we behold Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero, the earthly gods and 10 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. absolute masters of the world, in all the pomp and splendour of ancient paganism, standing as it were on the very summit and verge of the old world, now tottering to its ruin ; and on the other hand we trace the obscure rise of an almost imperceptible point of light, from which the whole modern world was to spring, and whose further progress and full development through all succeeding ages constitute the true purport of modern history." It was an era for which the world had long been waiting and preparing. During the domination of the Ptolemies, the Jewish Scriptures had been translated, with great care, into the Greek language, and the Jews, scattered far and wide, had talked of their prophecies to their heathen neighbours, until some of them were gradually taken up by them, as if they had been actually prophecies of their own oracles.1 Revealed knowledge was no longer to be confined, shut up in narrow bounds. The same great provi dential act, which breaks its bonds, and unlocks its prison house, enlarges its commission, confirms its credentials, and sends it forth to conquer and regenerate the world. But the character of the period in which the apostle John lived, as shown from the condition of the Jewish people (his own nation), and the state of opinion among them, as influenced by the inspired writings in their possession, and their expectation of a Messiah, have a still more important connection with his life and the productions of his pen. No sooner was the early promise given, that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, than we discern a tendency in sacred history towards the great end indicated in that promise ; namely, the manifestation of the Son of man, in whom and through whom alone the counsel of God could be fulfilled. To preserve the knowledge of divine truth among men, and to prevent heathenism from becoming universal, the danger of which, on account of the corruption in man, was im minent, Abraham was called, and the visible church instituted. In the promise to him — "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed," 2 — the purpose of redemption flames out with the brightness of the sun, 1 Virgil, in one of his noblest bursts of poetry, drew from the prophetic visions of Isaiah : — " Ipsa? lacte domum referent distenta capella3 Ubera ; nee magnos metuent armenta leones. Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores. Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni Occidet."— Bucol., Eel. iv., 21. There was a very general expectation in the world that some personage, who was to perform a great work for humanity, was soon to be manifested. (Comp. Isa. xi. 6-9 ; xxxv. 9 ; Ixv. 25.) 8 Gen. xii. 3. CONDITION OF THE JEWS. 1 1 which, although still far below the horizon, begins to scatter the dark ness of the night. The Messiah is. now to be found in the seed of Abraham. This is a decided advance on the idea presented in the first promise respecting the Seed of the woman. The believing Israelites are expressly told from what quarter they are to expect deliverance to arise ; and are further taught that the promised salvation will consist, not merely in the destruction of evil — the bruising of the serpent's head, but in positive blessings. Next they have the promised salvation in the words of the dying Jacob. No longer in the terms merely of the promise made to Abraham, the particular line of Judah is designated, and we have the first distinct mention of a personal Messiah. "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come ; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." l At length Moses appears as a deliverer from bondage and a lawgiver, and in him the idea of a personal Messiah becomes even more distinct : " The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee of thy brethren like unto me ; unto him ye shall hearken." 2 The very law which was given by Moses was calculated to show man his need of redemption, and awaken a desire to obtain it. It showed him the need of grace — grace that can come only from One who is able to sustain the honour of a violated law. The law was his schoolmaster to bring him to Christ. God did not relax His holy demands. The curse remained; it thundered in the ear of man, " Thou shalt surely die, unless a Deliverer be found." It kept pealing and echoing along the ages which preceded the advent of the Redeemer, in louder and more distinct reverberations, according as they cherished a knowledge of the law ; and dying comparatively away as that law, for any season, was lost and buried out of sight. It presented the idea of a personal Jehovah, the Creator of all things, and the Governor of all, as an Avenger of sin, and the Rewarder of all them that diligently seek Him. In the ceremonial law and the worship it prescribed, we see, moreover, how significant and typical of Christ it was in all its parts. The spiritual worshipper could not rest in these things; he would have found them in themselves empty ceremonies, or a yoke of bondage. They pointed him to a future, better service. They were a shadow of good, things to come. In the sacrifices the atoning work which a broken law demanded was por trayed. The victim, a lamb without blemish and without spot, repre sented a Saviour so holy and well-pleasing to God, that He can take away the sin of the world. The whole Jewish economy, in its priests, 1 Gen. xlix. 10. " Deut. xviii. 15 ; Acts iii. 22 ; vii. 37. 12 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. its tabernacle and its temple, its festivals and purifications, was but a shadow and a type of a coming One unto whom the gathering of the people should be, and in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed. At the same time, the early promise continued to blossom out in prophecies, which shed beauty and fragrance over the dreary desert by which the Church was making her steady way towards the promised land. Their history, their captivities, their deliverances, were a per petual prophecy to the Jews of their deliverance from a worse— a spiritual bondage. The interpositions of God to deliver them from earthly enemies and straits prefigured a higher work to be done in the future. The highest splendour of the history of the old covenant appeared in David, when the promise was given that his Seed should reign for ever, and that the throne of his kingdom should be established for ever.1 There is a further development of the expectations connected with the coming of Messiah. The quarter whence the Star that should come out of Jacob was to arise is more specifically mentioned. The family of David is singled out from the tribe of Judah, and made the bearer of the line of the promise. First, the revelation was in the most general form, — the Seed or Offspring of the woman ; next, this promised Off spring is to be of the seed of Abraham. Again, the boundaries are narrowed, and we see the Star arising out of Jacob, and Shiloh coming out of Judah. And, lastly, the house of David is selected out of Judah, and Bethlehem, the city of David, is pointed out as the birth place of the Saviour. The peaceful, prosperous reign of Solomon was prophetic of the reign of the Prince of peace, and the building of the temple expressed, in its perfection and reality, the conception of the Christian Church. Psalms were heard in the temple and at .the hearthstones of the people, which spoke of the future King. The pious Hebrews were always, as it were, in the attitude of expectation. There was a gradual advancement from the first ray which broke on the darkness of the night, to the clear dawn, which foretokened the going forth of the Bridegroom out of His chamber. The plan of salva tion had been gradually developed, and made clearer and clearer, as the time for the full manifestation of its Author and Finisher drew near. And, while this was going on, the salvation itself was imparted to every one who in faith built on the foundation laid in Zion, according to the measure of truth revealed to him. Many died " in faith, not having received the promises (or the things promised), but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."2 1 2 Sam. vii. 12, 13 ; 1 Kings viii. 25 ; Ps. lxxxix. 29. 2 Heb. xi. 13. GROWING DAWN. 18 We have a long catalogue of such worthies. It was in the growing light of" a dawn like this that such men as John, and Andrew, and Peter, and Philip, and Nathanael, came on the stage of life. They were neither blind nor infatuated. It is not to be wondered at, that when Jesus was pointed out to them by him whom all men counted as a prophet, as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, they followed Him, and were convinced that they had " found Him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write."1 1 St. John i. 45. CHAPTER II. EARLY LIFE AND NATURAL TRAITS OF ST. JOHN. GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION AND PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE HOLT LAND. — RUINS. SACRED ASSOCIATIONS. NATIVES OF GALILEE. BETHSA1DA. — CHILDISH PASTIMES. — SEA OF GALILEE. ZEBED.SUS. HIS EARLY DE MISE. — JEWISH EDUCATION. — PROFANE AND SACRED LITERATURE. — SCHOOLS IN THE POST-EXILE PERIOD. — EDUCATION OF APOSTLES. MODE OF IN STRUCTION. — JOHN AT SCHOOL. — OUTWARD LIFE OF THE BOY. — JUDAS THE GAULONITE. — SAMARITANS. — PILGRIMAGES. — JERUSALEM. — SAUL OF TARSUS A COEVAL OF JOHN. — THE PASSOVER. — JOHN YOUNGEST OF THE TWELVE. — WAS HE EVER MARRIED ? MEANING OF BOANERGES. — STRONG ELEMENTS IN HIS CHARACTER. — SUSCEPTIBILITY TO IMPRESSION. — COM PARED WITH AUGUSTINE AND LUTHER. — HIS INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER. The importance of Palestine, the principal theatre of the earlier events now to be narrated, is not to be estimated by its geographical extent. Its breadth, from the Jordan to the sea, is scarcely at any point more than fifty miles: and its extreme length, from Dan to Beersheba, not far from one hundred and eighty. It occupies the northern portion of the high mountain tract which lies between the great plains of Assyria and the shores of the Mediterranean. On its northern frontier rise the ranges of Lebanon. On the east, the vast fissure of the Jordan valley and the desert separated it from the empires on the plains of Mesopo tamia, and the cities that rose on the Euphrates and Tigris, so well- known in ancient history. Another great desert separated it on the south from Egypt, a land which had taken the lead of all others in arts and civilization. On the west, it was accessible only by the sea ; but afforded no great harbours inviting and protecting commercial enter prise. It thus stood midway between the two seats of ancient empire and civilization. And when at last the West began to rise as a new power, as the nearest point of contact between the two worlds, it became the scene of the chief conflicts of Rome with Asia. It has thus been the chosen field where the gauge of battle has been thrown down between powerful armies, from the days of the Assyrian kings to those of Mehemet Ali. The wide and fertile plains of Sharon1 and Shechem and Esdraelon, 1 The scattered trees are apparently the remnants of a great forest which once existed here. The Septuagint translates " Sharon," in Isa. lxv. 10, by the word Spvp.6s, forest, with reference probably to the feature by which it was then dis- RUINS AND DESOLATION. 15 like its everlasting hills, remain as of old ; but the land is far from what it once was in populousness and fertility. It is literally a land of ruins. " There is no country," it has been said, " in which they are so numerous, none in which they bear so large a proportion to the villages and towns still in existence. In Judaea it is hardly an exaggeration to say that, whilst for miles and miles there is no appearance of present life or habitation, except the occasional goatherd on the hill-side, or gathering of women at the wells, there is yet hardly a hill-top of the many within sight which is not covered by the vestiges of some fortress or city of former ages."1 These ruins tell us that we must not judge of the resources of the ancient land by its present depressed and deso late state. How different must have been the aspect of the country, when every hill was crowned with a flourishing town or village, or was a terraced garden to its summit! The neglect of the terraces which supported the soil on the steep declivities, the destruction of the forests, 2 and the gradual cessation of rains, consequent on this loss of vegetation, has subjected the country to the evils of sterility and depopulation. Once herds and flocks grazed upon a' thousand hills ; fields of wheat and barley, and plantations of figs and pomegranates, citron and palm, variegated the landscape, and afforded food, or the promise of food, to the crowded population. In comparison with the deserts which surrounded ft, even to a people emigrating from the banks of the Nile, it might well have been denominated a " land flow ing with milk and honey." And what sacred historical associations, running back to the time of world-renowned patriarchs, and inspired seers, cluster around every part of the land ! This was the goodly land Moses had viewed from the top of Pisgah, where the tribes, after their long wandering in the wilderness, under the leadership of Joshua, obtained possession, and found rest. Here were Hebron, and Bethel, and Sychar, and Bethlehem, and Nazareth. Here was Jerusalem, its mountain- site, the towers and gates and battlements of its lofty and complete walls, tinguished. It was famed for the excellence of its pasture land ; and within its borders Herod the Great built Csesarea, which became the residence of the governors of Judasa. At Shechem " there is no wilderness, no wild thickets, yet there is always ver dure ; not of the oak, the terebinth, and the carob-tree, but of the olive-grove — so soft in colour, so picturesque in form, that for its sake we can well dispense with all other wood." (Van de Velde, i., 386.) Esdraelon runs from the shores of the Mediterranean on the west to the valley of the Jordan on the east. It reaches, where it is widest, about twelve miles from the hills of- Samaria to the mountains of northern Palestine. 1 Stanley's Sinai and Palestine, p. 117. London, 1862. 2 Dr. Olin's Travels in the East, ii., p. 428 Dr. Eobinson's Bib. Ees., i., pp. 507,553; iii., p. 595. 16 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. giving to it, to all beholders, a commanding and picturesque appear ance. It had been the scene of great wonders for centuries before the birth of John ; and it was destined to be of greater still. Here holy prophets had delivered their messages, and David and Solomon had reigned. Here Isaiah touched his harp. Here was the first temple in which the Shechinah had once dwelt ; and the second the glory of which was to be greater than the former, by the presence of Hlm who was "the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person." John, the apostle, was a native of Galilee, in the north of Palestine, probably the town of Bethsaida, on the western shore of the lake, not far from Capernaum and Chorazin. Such have been the devasta tions in that region, that it is now difficult to fix upon the exact site of these. cities.1 The green slopes of Tabor and the snowy summits of Hermon were in full sight of his childhood's home. Galilee includes the ancient territories of Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali, the whole northern section of the country. Josephus describes the soil as rich and well cultivated. Fruit and forest trees of every kind abounded ; numerous large cities and populous villages, amounting in all to no less than two hundred and forty, thickly studded the whole face of the country. The inhabitants were industrious and warlike, being trained to arms from, their infancy.2 The northern border ran from Dan westward across the mountain-ridge, till it touched the territory of the Phoenicians. The upper Jordan, from the fountain of Dan, the Sea of Galilee, and the river Jordan, formed the eastern border. The southern ran from the Jordan by Scythopolis, up through the valley of Jezreel to Gilboa, and along the base of the hills of Samaria and Carmel. And on the west it was bounded, from the foot of Carmel, by the territory of Ptolemais. It was divided into two sections, " Upper " and " Lower " Galilee. 1 Eobinson's Ees., ii., pp. 404, 405 ; iii., pp. 347-361. There were two towns named Bethsaida, one near the northern extremity of the lake, on the eastern shore ; the other in the neighbourhood of Chorazin and Capernaum, on the west side of the lake. The former is mentioned Luke ix. 10, near which the five thousand were fed ; the ruins of it are still to be seen at the distance of little more than four miles beyond where the Jordan enters into the lake. The latter was the city of Andrew and Peter ; and like Chorazin and Capernaum, has been so com pletely effaced, that its precise locality is a matter of some doubt. 2 Jewish Wars, iii., 3 (2, 3) ; Life, 45. The " soil is universally rich," is the language of the Jewish historian, "and fruitful, and full of plantations of trees of all sorts, insomuch that it invites the most slothful to take pains in its cultivation by its fruitfulness ; accordingly, it is all cultivated by its inhabitants, and no part of it lies idle. Moreover, the cities lie here very thick ; and the very many villages are everywhere so full of people, that the very least of them contain above fifteen thousand inhabitants." Copied by permission from a phowgrapk taken by Jr. FKITH SITE OF BETHSAIDA. HIS BIRTH-PLACE. 17 " Lower Galilee included the great plain of Esdraelon, with its off shoots, which run down to the Jordan and the Lake of Tiberias, and the whole of the hill country adjoining it to the north, to the foot of the mountain range. It was one of the richest and most beautiful sections of Palestine. With the exception of a few rocky summits round Nazareth, the hills are all wooded, and sink down in graceful slopes to broad winding vales of the richest green. The outlines are varied, the colours soft, and the whole landscape is characterized by that picturesque luxuriance which one sees in parts of Tuscany. Upper Galilee embraced the whole mountain range lying between the Upper Jordan and Phoenicia. It is the region to which the name of ' Galilee of the Gentiles ' was given in the Old and New Testa ments.1 The summit of the range is tableland, part of which is beautifully wooded with dwarf-oak, intermingled with tangled shrub beries of hawthorn and arbutus. The whole is varied by fertile upland plains, green forest glades, and wild picturesque glens, breaking down to the east and the west." - His parents were Zebedsaus and Salome.3 Their home, if the inter pretation of the name Bethsaida (house of fish) can be trusted, was close to the water's edge. A short distance to the north of the supposed site of Capernaum is a beautiful little bay, with a broad margin of pearly sand. There is every reason to believe1 that this is the site of Bethsaida.4 No site along the whole shore seems so ad mirably adapted for a fishing town. Here is a bay sheltered by hills behind and projecting cliffs on each side ; and a smooth sandy beach, such as fishermen delight to ground their boats upon. On this , beach the child John doubtless might often have been seen gathering the pebbles and shells, playing in the sand, or launching on some little pool, his mimic boat. As he grew, he would pass many a happy day sailing on the lake, or engaged in taking the fish with which it 1 Isa. ix. 1 ; Matt. iv. 15. ' Eev. Professor J. L. Porter's Handbook, pp. 427, 440. 3 On a comparison of Matt. xx. 20, xxvii. 56, Mark xv. 40, xvi. 1, Salome must be regarded as the wife of Zebedsus. Most of the ancient traditions make her the daughter of Joseph by a previous marriage ; i.e., the step-daughter of Mary the mother of the Lord. But according to Wieseler (Studien und Eritiken, 1840, iii.), she was the sister of Mary, making John a cousin of Jesus. Cave, in his Anti- quitates Apostolicce, refers to the opinion of Jerome as to the nobility of the family from which St. John sprang, giving this as the reason why he was known to the high-priest, and could introduce St. Peter into his judgment-hall : " Propter generis nobilitatem notus erat Pontifici et Judseorum insidias non timebat." Ho also refers to Mcephorus, who gives as a reason why St. John was known to the high-priest, that he had lately sold the estate left by his father in Galilee to the high-priest. (Cave, ii., p. 260.) 4 Eobinson's Bib. Ees., iii., p. 358. Prof. J. L. Porter, in Eitto's Bib. Cyc, Art. Bethsaida. C ] 8 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. abounded. Although boats and fishermen are now rarely seen on its surface or along its shores, it was once covered with them, and populous towns dotted the whole region around. It is about fourteen miles lopg, and at the widest point nine miles broad. As seen from any of the surrounding heights, it is described as a fine sheet of water, — "a burnished mirror set in a framework of rounded hills and rugged mountains, which rise and roll backward and upward to where hoary Hermon hangs the picture against the blue vault of heaven." To see it from one of its overhanging promontories, as the day breaks along the eastern mountains, and, one by one, the stars begin to fade, and every moment the scene shifts, and changes from bright to brighter, from glory to glory, the eastern cliffs throwing down their dark shadows on the bosom of the lake; and when the note of the lark rings out suddenly, silvery and joyous, as if from the very midst of the fading stars, and bird after bird, in rapid succession, commence their early matins, until the whole vault of heaven seems vocal with the invisible choristers, — it may doubtless well be pro nounced "the very perfection of this style of beauty."1 In the crowded population of Galilee in the days of John, where, in a country scarcely thirty miles square, Josephus could raise in a few days one hundred thousand volunteers for the war against the Romans, this inland sea was the centre of a busy life, which must greatly have enhanced its attractiveness and interest. Nowhere else in the. whole land, except in Jerusalem, could Messiah have found such a sphere for 1 Thomson's Land and Book, ii., pp. 71-78. Even the humorist, Mark Twain (Mr. Clemens), who writes so contemptuously of certain descriptions of the Sea of Galilee, which he quotes, seems himself to have been most deeply impressed with the scene at night: "Night is the time to see Galilee. Gennesaret, under these lustrous stars, has nothing repulsive about it. Gennesaret, with the glitter ing reflections of the constellations flecking its surface, almost makes me regret that I ever saw the rude glare of the day upon it. Its history and its associations are its chiefest charm in any eyes, and the spells they weave are feeble in the searching light of the sun. ' Then, we scarcely feel the fetters. Our thoughts wander constantly to the practical concerns of life, and refuse to dwell upon things that seem vague and unreal. But when the day is done, even the most unim- pressible must yield to the dreamy influences of this tranquil starlight. The old traditions of the place steal upon his memory and haunt his reveries, and then his fancy clothes all sights and sounds with the supernatural. In the lapping of the waves upon the beach he hears the dip of ghostly oars ; in the secret noises of the night he hears spirit-voices ; in the soft sweep of the breeze, the rush of in visible wings. Phantom ships are on the sea, the dead of twenty centuries come forth from the tombs, and in the dirges of the night-wind the songs of old forgotten ages find utterance again. In the starlight, Galilee has no boundaries but the broad compass of the heavens, and is a theatre meet for great events ; meet for the birth of a religion able to save the world ; and meet for the stately Figure ap pointed to stand upon its stage, and proclaim its high decrees" (Excursion to Europe and the Holy Land in the steamer Quaker City, pp. 512, 513). • ZEBED&US AND SALOME. 19 His teaching and His miracles, where He could draw around Him the multitudes "from Galilee, from Decapolis, from Judoea, and from beyond Jordan"; and where "His fame" could spread "throughout all Syria." The traveller obtains the first glimpse of its waters, in their deep basin, six hundred feet lower than the Mediterranean, from the top of Tabor ; and they he open wide before him from the Mount of Beatitudes.1 Christ's residence and ministry on its shores, and its being the native region of so considerable a number of His apostles, have rendered it the most sacred sheet of water on the face of the globe. That John's father was a man of worldly substance is evident from the fact, to which the sacred record refers, that he was assisted by hired servants2 in the management of his boats and the mending of his nets. The mention of his ownership of a house, and of the fact of his being personally known to the high-priest Caiaphas, all go to establish the fact of the comfortable circumstances, and respectable position of the family to which he belonged. His mother was an ardent and pious woman, who ministered to the wants of Jesus, and united in the purchase of the spices for his body, and, as appears from the few incidents related of her, was evidently possessed of more than ordinary energy of character. The family, although usually classed with fishermen,3 according to ecclesiastical tradition was of noble origin. Possibly, Zebedaeus and his sons pursued fishing more for pleasure and recreation, than as a means of livelihood. It was, however, a Hebrew custom for the sons of the most reputable families to be trained up to some useful calling or trade. So little mention being made of the father, the presumption is not unnatural that he died not long after his sons James and John became the followers of Jesus. This maybe the reason why the mother is so much more prominent in the gospel history, and may serve to explain the somewhat anomalous designation, " the mother of Zebedee's children; " that is, of the deceased Zebedee. 4 1 Stanley's Sinai and Palestine, pp. 319, 320. - Mark i. 20, pera tCip pmt8wtG>v, " with the hired servants." Meyer, after Grotius, says it was only proof Zebedaaus was not without means, that his sons could leave him with servants to complete the work in which they were engaged. Td i'Sia, in John xix. 27, means one's own things, i.e., possessions, property. Spec, one's own house or home. See Eobinson's Lex. of N. T. ; Xen. Hist., *., 5. If John owned a house in Jerusalem, that fact may have brought him into contact with the high- priest, or afforded an opportunity of his continuing an acquaintance which we suppose, as will be seen on a subsequent page, may have begun in his early youth. Johnxviii. 15. 3 The Bev. Francis Trench, in his Life and Character of St. John, quotes Chrysostom as speaking of St. John as sprung from a poor fisherman: irarp'os akiiws TriVTjTos (Horn. I. in Johan.). 4 Matt. xx. 20 ; xxvii. 56. Some have supposed that Zebedee became a follower 20 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. 'JOHN. There were two other young men of Bethsaida, besides John's brother James, who became connected with the family of our Lord, Andrew and Peter. With them, no doubt, James and John had often been associated in the pastimes, studies, and occupations of youth. His advantages of education and literary culture we cannot presume were, like those of Saul of Tarsus, of the highest order ; on the con trary we have reason to believe that his knowledge of letters, pro perly speaking, was comparatively limited. He had doubtless been carefully instructed by his parents in the rudiments of the Mosaic law, in the leading events of the marvellous history of his nation, and in the sublime and animating predictions of the prophets. It was a proverb among the Jews, that he was the vilest of men who suffered his son to grow up without being educated in the principles of religion. The songs of David, such psalms as the twenty-third, the forty-second, the forty-fifth, the hundred and third, and the strains of Isaiah, Habakkuk, and Malachi, were not without their appropriate influence in forming the character and stimulating the intellectual life of the youthful John. Whilst in Galilee he would be exposed to a contact with Gentiles, which he would have escaped at Jerusalem, and his dialect1 and pro nunciation would be affected in a marked degree from this contact ; he was at the same time removed from the Pharisaic influence that would have encompassed and permeated him with its spirit of narrow bigotry, had his home been in Judaea ; and he had a mother who, there is reason to believe, made it her first care to nourish in his heart the Messianic hopes that filled her own. Without undervaluing the profane literature of the ancient world, as it had assumed form at the period of the advent of Christ (and it had just then reached its highest development3), when we compare it, for all the most valued purposes of education, with sacred literature, as it existed at the same epoch, the advantage is unspeakably on the side of the latter. The former may have the advantage of securing certain re finements in sesthetical culture, in poetry, rhetoric, and criticism, and in philosophical speculation ; but have truth and purity no indispensable connection with right education ? Do we not know that some of the most elegant specimens of ancient classical literature are so polluted with licence and passion as to render them wholly unfit for use in of Christ. But Lampe in his Prolegomena on John says, " Sunt qui suspicantur, cum nusquam historia ejus porro mentionem faciat, brevi post vocationem filiorum suorum eum diem obiisse." 1 Matt. xxvi. 73, r; XaXid aov Sij\6v ae iroiei, " Thy dialect maketh thee known." The dialect of the Galileans was defective in the pronunciation of the Hebrew gut turals. In the Talmud are accounts of amusing misunderstandings in consequence of these and other defects. 2 See Chap. I. HIS EDUCATION. 21 schools for training and developing the faculties of the young ? Docs that deserve the name of education, which, without even the postulates of truth, can only train the faculties to skill in the dialectics of error, and, by the very process, undermine the foundations of sound morality? John, although surrounded with Gentiles, was not brought up where Greek ideas had gained the ascendancy. It doubtless could be said of him, as it was subsequently said of Timotheus, whose father was a Greek, that from a child he had known the Scriptures.1 In the post-exile period of the history of the Jews, there began a new era in the education, and the provisions for the education, of their youth.2 As the people during their captivity had in a measure lost their vernacular, or had greatly corrupted it by the use of foreign terms, Ezra, the scribe and restorer of the law, found it necessary on their return, to gather around him those who were skilled in the law, and with their assistance to train a number of public teachers. The more accomplished of these collected large numbers of young men at Jerusalem, whom they instructed in all things pertain ing to the law and the prophets ; others were sent into the provincial towns to gather scholars and form synagogues. The schools continued to increase in importance, and the intercourse of the Jews with the Babylonians, the Persians, and the Greeks, extended their notions of education, and led them to study foreign languages and literature. Simon b. Shetach, B.C. 80, has the credit of having introduced superior schools in every large provincial town, and ordained that all the youth from the age of sixteen should attend them, — the first example of Government education. The estimate which had come to be placed on juvenile education may be learned from such declarations as the fol lowing, found in the Talmud : " The world is preserved by the breath of the children in the schools." " A town in which there is no school must perish." The provisions thus made for general or national education were those in which the apostles of Christ shared, and are therefore of the greatest importance and interest to Christians. The kind of schools which existed at this period, the mode of instruction, and what was considered to constitute the proper education of a respectable Jew, may be learned from the Talmud and the Midrashim. A school or teacher was required for every twenty-five children. Up to the age of six years they must be instructed by their parents, and then sent to school. The 1 Acts xvi. 1 ; 2 Tim. iii. 15. " Neh. viii. 1-8; Ecclus. ii. 9-11 ; Mishna, Aboth, i. 1. " Scrolls were given to. children upon which were written passages of Scripture, such as Shema (i.e., Deut. vi. 4), or the Hallel (i.e., Ps. cxiv.-cxviii., cxxxvi.) ; the history of the creation to the deluge (Gen. i.-viii.) , or Lev. i. 18 (comp. Jer. Megilla, iii. 1 ; Gittin, 60, a ; Soferim, v. 9)."— Ch. D. Ginsburg. 22 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. parents never ceased to watch that their children should be in the school at the proper age, and in the class punctually from day to day. The greatest care was taken that the books, or scrolls, from which in struction was given, should be correctly written, and that the lessons should not be above the capacities of the scholars. Besides the elemen tary schools, designed for popular education, there were superior col leges, at first confined to Jerusalem, under the management of the " doc tors," as they are called in the New Testament, and members of the Sanhedrin.1 Gradually these academies were spread over all the coun tries where Jews resided. Alexandria, Sepphoris, Tiberias, and places too numerous to mention, became distinguished for these seats of learning. The method of instruction was chiefly catechetical, or the Socratic. All manner of subjects were treated, — theology, philosophy, jurisprudence, astronomy, astrology, medicine, botany, arithmetic, geography, architecture. " The Talmud, which has preserved the topics discussed in the colleges, is an encyclopaedia of all the sciences of that time, and shows that, in many departments of science, these Jewish teachers have anticipated modern discoveries."2 In one of the schools connected with the synagogue at Bethsaida, John was, no doubt, found at the required age — six years. His parents, we cannot presume, would be less zealous than other Jewish parents that their son should be found promptly and punctually in his place. They had already taught him to read the Scriptures, for Jewish chil dren were required to be able to study the Scriptures at the age of five years. We see the young lad John going, led by his brother or mother, to the synagogue school. To this day, in the East, in the schools connected with the synagogues, pupils may be seen seated on the ground with their tutor, conning or reciting their tasks. If there were schools of a higher grade already in Galilee, as we have reason to believe there were (as we know there were at a period shortly later),3 the worldly estate of Zebedaeus was such as to enable him to put their advantages within the reach of his sons. Or he may have sent them to sit at the feet of masters at Jeru salem ; and in this way John may have attracted the attention of and 1 Luke ii. 41. The Talmud has preserved the names of the presidents and vice- presidents of the colleges, with those of the most distinguished masters and scholars under each. Hillel the Great, in whose family the presidency became hered itary for fifteen generations, was president from ts.c. 30 to a.d. 10. He was suc ceeded by Simon, who, in the year 30, was succeeded by Gamaliel, the teacher of the apostle Paul. 8 See the excellent article, " Education," by Christian D. Ginsburg, in Kitto's Cyclopaedia. 3 Tiberias, after the destruction of Jerusalem, was famous during several centuries for its rabbinical academy. Lightfoot's Hora? Heb., p. 140, seq. OUTWARD LIFE OP THE BOY. 23 become known to the high-priest Caiaphas. Those winning traits that so commended him to the great Teacher and the great High-Priest may have secured for him the regards of his earthly teacher, and, through him, of the head of the Jewish Church, under whose auspices and supervision these higher schools at Jerusalem would naturally fall. Gifted with an intellect of great clearness and penetration, patient and conscientious in his duties, the high-priest may have fixed on him as one of the probable future lights of the Sanhedrin. But however all this may have been, he heard the law read, and listened to discussions and discourses from Sabbath to Sabbath in the synagogue, and to the conversation of pious friends and neighbours in the house of his parents. The Jewish child was encouraged to listen, even in the presence of the most venerable doctors, by the privilege he was per mitted to exercise of asking and answering questions. Nurtured thus in the pathetic histories of his people, his heart was filled with a love for his brethren, his kindred according to the flesh, which fitted him, in an eminent degree to become, as he afterwards was, up to the period of their dispersion, the apostle of the Hebrews. The outward life of the boy could not fail at the same time to be deeply affected by the political agitations which were felt throughout the whole of Palestine. He was of sufficient age when that remark able man, Judas the Galilean, or rather Gaulonite (called the Galilean, probably, because Galilee was the chief theatre of his action), began to preach revolt against the Roman government. The principal themes of his eloquence were the sovereignty of God over his people, the un lawfulness of paying tribute, and the degradation of subjection to a foreign yoke. He had for his confederate Sadoc, a Pharisee. Multi tudes gathered around them, who were full of burning zeal for their country and their law. The watchword of their party was, " We have no lord and master but God." The country was for a time entirely given over to the control of the warlike throng whom Judas had gathered by his fiery eloquence. But the might of Rome was irresist ible ; Judas perished, and his followers were dispersed.1 Like other Jews, John grew up with bitter prejudices against the Samaritans. From the period of the establishment of a separate wor ship and temple, the breach between the Jews and Samaritans had been irretrievable. The very name of either people became a term of reproach to the other. Whilst the same Quirinus (Cyrenius) under whom the revolt of Judas the Gaulonite took place, was prefect and Coponius was procurator of Judaea, as the Jews were celebrating the passover, a body of Samaritans made their way at midnight into the 1 Milman, Hist, of Jews, ii., pp. 124, 125 ; Jos. Ant., xviii., 1 (1). 24) the life and writings OP ST. JOHN. temple, and scattered through the cloisters dead men's bones.1 This greatly intensified the hatred of the Jews for the Samaritans. It is not improbable that this act of desecration occurred not far from the time of John's first visit to Jerusalem to attend the passover. At an early period of life commenced the periodical pilgrimages of every male of the Jewish nation to Jerusalem.2 At twelve or thirteen years of age, therefore, must John have made his first acquaintance with the holy city. With his parents and brother (who was pro bably the elder of the two), he might be seen joining some one of the caravans that went up statedly to Jerusalem, on the occasion of the great festivals of the nation. There must have been something grand and imposing in the movement of these throngs, chiefly composed of men and boys, in discharge of a sacred duty. To avoid the annoyances incident to a journey through Samaria, and the positive danger of collision with an unfriendly people, the usual route was through the valley of the Jordan, for a considerable distance lying be yond, or on the eastern side of, the river ; crossing it at or near Beth- shean or Scythopolis, and passing on through the confederation of the ten Greek cities, known as Decapolis ; and continuing till the ter ritory of Samaria had been left behind, and the ford of Bethabara, nearly opposite Jericho, was reached. How grandly must have sounded the psalms the people sang on these pilgrimages, designated in our version as " Songs of Degrees " (cxx.- cxxxiv.), as they echoed along the valleys, and through the gorges, and up the mountain sides.3 What must have been the thoughts and emo tions of John when, going up from Jericho through Bethany, and reaching the top of Olivet, his eyes for the first time rested on the holy city. Jerusalem was at this period surrounded by walls in those parts where it was not fortified by abrupt and impassable ravines. These walls did not stand one within another in narrower circles running round the whole city, but each defended one of the quarters into which the city was divided. They were guarded by towers built of solid 1 Jos. Ant., xviii. 2 (2). * Deut. xvi. 16. 3 No one can fail to be struck with the peculiar appropriateness of these psalms for the use of pilgrims gathering from the most distant quarters. The first is heard as in Mesech, or in the tents of Kedar, races far to the north or the south, in lamentation of the situation. In the next, the worshipper lifts up his eyes to the hills, and, looking forward to the journey, sings, " The sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night." In the next there is an exhilaration as if the journey had been commenced, or was on the point of being commenced. " I was glad," etc. And so, on ; it would not be difficult to assign each psalm to some particular stage of the journey. The hundred and thirtieth, " Out of the depths," De pro fundus, comes like a wail of agony from the wearied, footsore travellers, out of some deep defile, with the craggy height above them. But at last they see Jeru salem ; they bless the Lord, with all the servants of the Lord in the temple. Copied by permission from a photograph taken by F. FRITH. JERUSALEM. HIS FIRST VISIT TO JERUSALEM. 25 masonry. There were over seventy of these, running to a great height, with broad flights of steps leading up to them. The whole height of one of them (Hippicus) was about 140 feet, and it was nearly forty- four feet square, with battlements and pinnacles. Another (Phasaelis) was a solid square of seventy feet. It was surrounded by a portico, and defended by breastworks and bulwarks ; and above the portico was another tower, richly ornamented with battlements and pinnacles, so that its whole height was nearly 170 feet. It looked from the dis tance like the tall Pharos of Alexandria. These lofty towers, built of white marble, the blocks so fitted that they seemed hewn out of the solid quarry, stood upon the old wall that ran along the brow of Zion.1 He goes to the temple, and becomes familiar with its stately worship, with the sacrifice, the incense, the altar, and the priestly robes.2 Nothing escapes the notice of his eye, or the attention of his active mind. He was receiving impressions and drinking in influences that would affect his character in all his future life. At the very time John first visited Jerusalem, there was probably one there with whom he was destined in the future to be associated, and who was to become the most eminent in the apostleship. He was a youth not far from his own age, born neither in Galilee nor in Judaea, but in a Gentile city, Tarsus of Cilicia, yet of the purest Hebrew descent. He had enjoyed the best advantages of his native city, famous for its schools ; but had now come to Jerusalem to sit at the feet of Gamaliel, in the great rabbinical school of which he was the head. The school had been established by Hillel, the grandfather of Gamaliel. The fame of Gamaliel is celebrated in the Talmud. He was revered for his wisdom and eminent for his learning, and candour seems to have been a marked feature of his character. He was called the "Beauty of the Law." But his celebrity was to rest chiefly on the distinction in the world to which the remarkable youth would rise, who, as we have said, was probably sitting as a pupil at his feet3 when John was present, under the requisition of the law, for the first time, at the celebration of the passover. It is by no means impossible that these two youths, who were not very far from being, if they were not quite exactly, coevals,4 may have met for the first time in the temple at the '¦ Josephus. Milman thinks his authority for the topography and description of the walls unquestionable. Hist, of Jews, ii., p. 335. 2 Eev. Prof. E. H. Plumptre, Art. John, Smith's Bib. Diet. 3 Acts xxii. 3. The words, irapa rois woSas Fap.a\tr)\, are to be connected with irenaiSevpivos, taught, rather than with avareBpapixivos, as they refer to scholars receiving instruction from the teacher in his cathedra, while they are seated on the floor or low benches at his feet. 4 Dean Howson, in the Life and Epistles of St. Paul, says, " He must have been born in the later years of Herod, or the earlier of his son Archelaus " (i., p. 44, C. Scribner's ed., New York, 1854). 26 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. celebration of this great feast, although as entire strangers, or knowing and recognising each other only as equally ardent worshippers at the altar of their fathers. On the day known as the Preparation of the Passover (14th of Nisan), the representatives of the several com panies of the people, who had joined together as offerers of the same lamb, presented themselves at the temple, and having been divided into separate bands for convenience of numbers, were successively ushered in with the paschal sacrifices, until the court of the temple was filled. The doors were then closed, and as the trumpets were sounded, the priests in their official robes immediately placed themselves in two rows, holding bowls of gold and silver in which the blood of the victims might be caught and borne to the altar.1 In some such scene a3 this, the two young Israelites, one from the plain of Cilicia and the shadow of Mount Taurus, the other from the Sea of Galilee, may have met. They could appreciate it, and were capable of receiving impressions from it, as very few youths of their age could, — impressions that never could be lost, and which may be recognised in the Epistle to the Hebrews of the one, showing how the divinely-instituted types and symbols of the Old Testament economy have their actual and complete accomplishment in Christ; and in the rich liturgical imagery of the Apocalypse of the other. Little did the parents of John think of the honour and distinction that awaited him. They anticipated nothing higher for their active-spirited boy, guiding his little boat over the smooth, glassy sea, or fearlessly and dexterously bringing it to the shore, when some sudden gust came down from the adjacent hills, than that he should succeed to the hum ble estate, or a share of it, and the position of his father. They little thought that his history would be studied, and his character admired, long after the names of most of the great ones whose renown then filled the earth should have passed into oblivion. The opinion that John was the youngest of the twelve disciples rests not merely on tradition, but is supported by the historical evidence that he lived to see the close of the first century, and was himself nearly or quite one hundred years old. If John reached this great age, the argument of Jerome that he must have been a mere boy when he was called is shown to be of little force. The idea of his perpetual youth has no better foundation, or rather is an idle story of the monks, to which they gave currency on finding in Constantinople an antique agate intaglio, representing a young man with a cornucopia, and an eagle and figure of Victory placing a crown on his head. They maintained it was a portrait of John, sent to their hands by miraculous preserva tion. It proved to be a representation of the apotheosis of Ger- 1 Mishna Pesachim, v. 5-10. MEANING OF THE TITLE BOANERGES. 27 manicus. Whether he was ever married, as it is evident Peter was,1 we have no testimony one way or the other in the New Testament. If he had been, however, the presumption clearly is, that the fact would in some way have been referred to in the narratives of the evangelists, or in the Acts of the Apostles. He had a home, presided over, it may be, by Salome his mother, to which he could take that " blessed among women," the mother of his Lord, who had been committed by a dying injunction to his filial care.2 Salome was ready, there can be no doubt, from the singular devotion manifested for the Son, aud from the relationship and friendship which had existed between the two women, to unite with her son in the faithful execution of the solemn charge. The earliest testimony on the question whether John had a wife, is that of Tertullian in the third century, who numbers John among those who had restrained themselves from matrimony for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He was an ascetic, and sought to use the example of John as favouring those monastic views and practices which had begun to find place in the Christian Church. Other fathers have made great use of the case of John as an instance of celibacy in accordance with monastic principles. St. Augustine alludes frequently to the circumstance, insisting particularly that he was engaged to be married when he was called, but gave up his betrothal to follow Jesus.3 But all this rests on mere tradition. What may be regarded as the proper significance of that peculiar title, "Boanerges, sons of thunder," given to him and his brother James ? The composition and derivation of the word Boanerges has been the occasion of much discussion and difference of opinion. It occurs only in Mark. It " is no doubt a double modification (Greek and Aramaic) of some Hebrew phrase which cannot now be certainly identified."4 It is well we have Mark's translation of it. It is natural to look for its significance, as applied to the sons of Zebedaeus, in some- 1 Matt. viii. 14. 2 John xix. 25-27. 3 Lampe says, " Constans satis traditio Patrum ilium coelibem testatur et fuisse, cum vocaretur, et permansisse. An vero satis antiqua sit, de eo disceptatur " (Proleg. in Joan., I., c. i., § 13). And, in the end of the same section, he ridicules the idea that St. John was the bridegroom at the marriage in Cana of Galilee, and, at his vocation to be a follower of Christ, immediately afterwards left his wife : " Tertullianus de Monogamia, c. xvii. Joannem Christi spadonem vocat, quod nempe se continuisset a conjugio propter regnum coelorum. Favere quoque videtur huic opinioni, quod huic Discipulo potissimum matrem suam Dominus com- mendaverit. Istud tamen libentes coneedimus, nulla probabilitate arridere, quod addunt alii Joannem in nuptiis Can», quibus Jesus intererat, sponsum fuisse, ejusque vocationem intercessisse ne maritus fieret, et quaa illius furfuris sunt alia." See also Cave's Antiq. Apostol., Life of St. John, § 10. 4 Alexander on Mark iii. 17 ; and Poole's Synopsis. 28 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. thing earnest, bold, and fervid in their manner of address or their mode of action, revealing a corresponding type of character. In their ordinary speech, they used strong expressions, and there was a direct ness which brought the matter right home to those whom they addressed. When they preached, they addressed the consciences of men, they wielded the terrors of the law. They remembered the tones and warning manner of that preacher from the wilderness whose voice first arrested them in their youthful career, kindled the latent enthusiasm of their souls, and gave form and meaning and the expectation of a speedy accomplishment to the predictions of a coming Deliverer. Like him they cried aloud, and shouted their warnings in the ears of men. They could not have been dull, prosaic, and spiritless in their address. 1 From his honoured position at the Last Supper and his peculiar designation as " the disciple whom Jesus loved," 3 and because, in his epistles and gospel he dwells so much on love,3 John has been fre quently described as being all mildness, distinguished by a feminine softness, and destitute of strong, positive elements. But to imagine that he was a merely contemplative being, tame, and of a weak sen timental nature, is unquestionably to do serious injustice to his character. His natural traits appear rather to have been those of decision and energy; traits which it is not the province of divine grace to eradicate, hut to regenerate and sanctify. He possessed a temperament, indeed, which, if it had not been subjected to the in fluence of this grace, might have made him fiery and fierce, if not cruel and unforgiving. The love which dwelt in him in so eminent a degree might easily, under adverse influences, have been changed into its opposite, violent hatred. It was the strong manly qualities of John which so commended him to the regards of the Redeemer of 1 " Omnino videtur mihi Christus in hujus nominis impositione respexisse ad vaticinium Agu., ii. 7, ubi verbum illud comparet unde nomen hoc derivatum est " (Beza in Poli. Syn. ad loc). Theophylact says, vlovs Si fjpovrijs dvopa^ei tovs tov ZefSeSaiov as peyaXoK^pvicas koX BeokoyLKar&Tovs, great preachers and eminent divines. (Comm. in Marc.) Trench says, they " were surnamed ' sons of thunder,' as resembling thunder in spiritual power and effect. So he who resembled abstract perdition is entitled the ' son of perdition,' and he who resembled abstract consola tion is called in Scripture (Acts iv. 36) ' the son of consolation ' " (Life of St. John, p. 23). See Lampe's Proleg., §§ 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. " John xiii. 23 ; xix. 26 ; xx. 2 ; xxi. 7 and 20. 3 Trench well remarks on the periphrasis "the disciple whom Jesus loved," as applied to himself by St. John, that he "refers to himself as one passive and not as one active. He speaks of another who loves him, and not of himself as loving another ; " and cites Lampe in his Comment, on John, "Apostolus non se Jesum amasse, sed a Jesu amatum esse pronunciat, amorem divinum absque ullo merito suum amorem pravenisse secundum 1 Joh. iv. 19 agnoscens." HIS SUSCEPTIBILITY OP CHARACTER. 29 the world, and led to his selection for the great share he had in the work of laying the foundation of the Christian faith, amid opposition, confusion, and blood. In him the searching eye of the Redeemer recognised faculties which, diverted from the low ends of worldly ambition and contest, might be exalted to the great works of divine benevolence. He could see how the impulses which, misdirected or left uncontrolled, must tend only to evil, " could be made the guide of truth and love," and in his " fiery ardour, the disguised germ of a holy zeal," which under His careful tuition " would become a tree of life, bringing forth fruits of good for nations." It was in perfect keeping with these characteristics, which Josephus ascribes to the whole Galilean race, " ardent and fierce," that when the inhabitants of a certain Samaritan village refused to show Jesus hospitality, the two brothers, James and John, the more ready doubtless to take fire on account of the old national grudge, desired permission to call down fire from heaven for their destruction.1 It was a delicate sus ceptibility to impression which led John to respond so readily, — and sometimes in a way not so amiable, — to the events and disclosures which were ever multiplying around him, as he followed his Master. To refuse hospitality to such a being as he knew his Master to be, seemed to him unpardonable. This same quick susceptibility appears on another occasion, when he came and told the Saviour that he had rebuked a man for casting out devils, because he did not follow Christ in his company.2 The character of John, even when more matured, showed itself strongly coloured by the same constitutional peculiarity. " Had this native quality been left to itself, unchecked by parental influence, and unchastened by the grace of God, that John whose soul, pouring itself forth in inspired writings, one delights to observe so yielding to the slightest touch of heavenly truth, would have been known, if at all, only as the dissolute prey of contending passions. His suscepti bility would have been like the perturbations of angry waters, which ' 1 Luke ix. 54. Attempts have been made to show that the apostles were fault less, or to excuse the faults and errors which are mentioned in the New Testament. Even Peter's denial, and Judas's betrayal have had their apologists. And this act of James and John has had some to excuse it. Ambrose of Milan, in commenting in loco, maintains that their zeal was only such as would have met approval in the Old Testament times. He says, "Nee discipuli peccant, qui legem sequunl;ur," •and then refers to the punishment of Hophni and Phinehas, and to the incident in the history of Elijah to which James and John referred. Even Calvin says of these two disciples, that " they desired vengeance not for themselves, but for Christ ; and were not led into error by any fault, but merely by ignorance of the spirit of the gospel, and of Christ." 2 Mark ix. 38 ; Luke ix. 49. 30 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. surrender themselves to every coming gust. But, in the confirmed Christian and apostle, this trait appears like the rapid and transparent picturing of fast succeeding beauties and glories of the opening heavens on the bosom of some stream, charmed by the presence of an unseen presiding spirit. If this responsive picturing in his soul was sometimes overcast with a shade from untimely objects, such a dis figuring shadow was but transient." 1 He used no softened, honeyed terms, when he described or rebuked sin and evil-doers. With him a false professor was "a liar;" a hater of his brother, "a murderer;" a denier of fundamental doctrines, " antichrist." 2 Such were the strong vigorous traits in the character of this apostle. There was nothing half-way or vacillating in him. Just those qualities which, if he had remained on the sea of Galilee, would have made him the noble, brave, and generous seaman, and, without restraint, might have made him a man of enmities and altercations, the leader of a forlorn hope in a struggle against oppression and tyranny, — by the grace of God made him a disciple whom Jesus took to His heart with a peculiar affection and confidence. It needed but the merest spark to kindle his resentment into a fiery glow. The most eminent servants of Christ have been those who were once, like Saul of Tarsus, or like Bunyan and John Newton, most determined foes ; or, who would, like Calvin and Brainerd, have become so but for the grace of God. Were we to seek the apostle's counterpart among men of the post- apostolic times, we should find it sooner in Augustine, or even Luther, than in such men as the gentle Melanchthon. Regenerating grace does not impart (John's call to be an apostle did not in his case) any new natural faculties. It takes men just as it finds them, and makes of an impetuous, headstrong Peter, a courageous, firm, persevering apostle ; it takes the iron will of a Luther, and bends it to that of the divine niind, and infuses into it a principle of new obedience, without impairing its inherent firmness and strength. It converted the native prowess of John's character into a burning zeal for his Master, which shone out with lustre when he went, in advanced age, to preach the gospel to a gang of robbers, in the fastnesses of the mountains, where they were lying in wait for blood. It converted his ambition to be first3 among his associates, into a holy emulation to promote the glory of God, and serve his brethren and his fellow-men, by performing just those services which become the servant of all, and the least of all. He at length learned the import, not only of those solemn words, " Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism 1 Eev. E. E. Salisbury, in Bib. Eepos., iv., p. 299. - See I. and II. Epist. passim. ' Matt. xx. 20-28. HIS INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER. 31 I am baptized with," but of that other saying, which could never be forgotten, nor fail to fill him with abasement : " He who will be great among you, let him be your servant." His aspiration then was not after a throne, at the right hand of his Lord, in a temporal kingdom, but after increase of grace, and fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. To see Christ in His glory, and be like Him, would fill up the measure of His longing, and accomplish His most fondly cherished hopes. As to his intellectual character, there can be no doubt he was a man of a very high order of abilities. The skill he at length acquired in the use of the Greek, as shown in the gospel from his pen, is evidence of one given to constant self-improvement, and who had acquired the habits of an accurate scholar. The education he received was prob ably of a higher order than has been commonly supposed, as was that of the apostles generally. He possessed a mind which, as it developed and ripened, was capable of taking the most profound view of things. He gave full evidence in his writings of having penetrated deeply into the groundwork of the Christian scheme. " He manifestly strove to attain a glimpse of divine things, in their primitive reality, — r to view them not in their mode and manner, as topics of logical dis crimination, addressing themselves to the understanding, but in their essence, as recognisable by the enlightened and sanctified reason. If the Spirit of inspiration assisted him to surpass the ordinary apostolic conception of divine truth, and to take deeper views of the gospel, these must be considered as at once tokens of special divine favour and manifestations of constitutional profoundness of mind." L 1 Bib. Eepos., iv., p. 309. CHAPTER III. ST. JOHN AS A DISCIPLE OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT. — THE PROPHET OF THE PREPARATION. — HIS IMPORTANT INFLUENCE OVER JOHN THE EVANGELIST. — HIS BIRTH. — PREDICTIONS CONCERNING HIM. — -HIS PROTOTYPE. MIRACLES AT HIS BIRTH. HIS HOLINESS. — INFLUENCE OF SUCH A CHARACTER ON ONE CONSTITUTED LIKE JOHN THE EVANGELIST. HIS LIFE IN THE WILDER NESS. ST. JOHN A DISCIPLE THERE. — MATTER OF HIS PREACHING. — MANNER. — IMPRESSION ON HIS YOUNG GALILEAN DISCIPLES. — JESUS POINTED OUT TO THEM AS THE LAMB OF GOD. JOHN AND ANDREW FOLLOW JESUS. All really important events and characters in history find in the Messiah that central point around which they revolve in their several places, as parts of one great whole. He is the " desire of all nations." x " All things were created by Him and for Him." 2 In the fulness of time, when the process of preparation was completed, and the world's need of redemption was fully disclosed, He appeared. " In Judaism, the true religion was prepared for man ; in heathenism, man was pre pared for the true religion." A circumcised Idumean, or Gentile, was the king of the Jews, when He to whom that dignity of right be longed, was born in Bethlehem of Judaea. But notwithstanding this long preparation, issuing in so remarkable a condition of things in the heathen and Jewish world,3 there was a special preparation for the introduction of the ministry of Christ. John the Baptist was its prophet and herald. It was not for mere dramatic effect that this man appeared on the stage, but for a great practical purpose. He came to arouse the people from their spiritual stupor, and call them to repentance, and thus prepare the way of the Lord. The long night of four thousand years had been brightened with many stars and constellations, but he was " the prophet of the Highest,"* to betoken that darkness was about to pass away, and all those stars to melt into the brightness of a glorious morning. But it was the relation he sustained to St. John, and the influence he must have exerted upon him, and several of his fellow-apostles, ' ' Hag. ii. 7. 3 See Chap. I. ' Col. i. 16. " Luke i. 76. E.Sandoz Ad.. Stasiforcls GeogVJf. stab. KewYaLk; Saabner Aunstrcaa^ & CV JOHN THE BAPTIST. 33 giving them the first intimation of the advent of Christ, and distinctly pointing Him out personally to them, which demands some special notice of this remarkable man, in this place. The people, sunk in unbelief, apathy, and spiritual declension, needed a strong voice to arrest their attention, awaken them to reflection, and arouse them to an attitude of expectation. Other and older prophets had foretold the coming of Christ at a distant future age ; but he came with the thrilling joyful message, that that Saviour was immedi ately to appear, and to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. He comes up from the recesses and labyrinths of the desert to the banks of the Jordan,1 with his rough garment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins. His countenance bears no aspect of effeminacy or sensual indulgence. It is hard and bronzed with his rugged abstinent mode of life. With the flashing eye and the spirit-stirring voice of a theopneust, such as the world had not seen for several centuries, he takes his position on the banks of the stream, and cries to all who come within the sound of his voice, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord;" "Repent ye, for the king dom of heaven is at hand." Never was there a Jnorg/impressive scene ; never a more commanding speaker ; never one before him who had a more important message. His mission was to arouse the people, to rebuke their sins, and baptize with water, as a symbol of that pre paratory repentance, which was to open the way for the coming Messiah. John the Baptist was of sacerdotal family. His father, Zacharias, being an aged priest, was serving in his regular course in the temple, when the revelation or promise was made2 to him of the birth of this son. His mother was a cousin of Mary, the mother of our Lord. He was born, according to the conjecture of Keland,3 which there is reason to believe is well founded, at Jutah, or Juttah, a city of 1 "The wilderness of Judasa," the rocky district in, the eastern portion of the territory of the tribe of Judah, was the place where from early youth he had lived in retirement. But the place where he exercised his ministry is given by St. John as " in Bethabara beyond Jordan " (chap. i. 28) ; i.e., it was on the eastern bank, and probably near Succoth, the more northern ford. He was nearer Galilee than Judaea, which accounts for his having Galileans among his disciples. The place was only about a day's travel from Nazareth. The place where John de scribes him as baptizing, subsequently, was in"iEnon near to Salim." The most ancient MSS. the Sinaitic, Vatican, and Alexandrine, and others, for "Bethabara " read " Bethany." Origen states that in his time this reading prevailed, but he changed it to the more ancient name Bethabara, that it might not be confounded with the place where Lazarus and his sisters lived. But the evangelist made the distinction by saying Iv 'B-qBavla iripav rov 'lopSdvov, in Bethany beyond the- Jordan. s Luke i. 5-13. 3 Palest., p. 870. 34 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. the priests in the mountains of Judah, south of Hebron, which still exists under the same name.1 His advent, like that of the Lord, had been predicted long before he was born. In the rapt vision of Isaiah, when he was commanded to speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and fore tell the solemn and stately march of mountains and deserts, to prepare the way of the Lord, this notable individual is made to appear in the foreground, as herald of the advancing retinue of the great King : " The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord ; make straight in the desert a highway for our God." 2 But the prophet Malachi, even more distinctly predicted the forerunner: " Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me, and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in : be hold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." " Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet." And the Saviour, speaking of John, declared, " This is Elias, which was for to come." John, it is true, told the Jews that he was not Elijah. They were expecting that old prophet in person to rise from the dead, to go before the Messiah, to prepare His way. They interpreted too literally ; and if John had answered their question affirmatively, they would have been led into great mistake. But although John was not literally Elijah, he came in the spirit and power3 of that eminent prophet ; and thus was the prophecy fulfilled. Whether we look at the character of his distinguished prototype, the wonders he performed, or the honours conferred on him, he stands pre eminent among the great men of the first dispensation ; nay, among those of every dispensation and age. He stood up with a fearless front, and flung back the charge of troubling Israel in the face of the monarch, whose hands were dripping with the blood of his brother- prophets.4 Rain and dew were withheld at his word, and came at his command, and even fire from heaven. His career on earth was closed with a splendour which suited well so magnificent a history. In a chariot of fire, with horses of fire, he went up by a whirlwind into heaven. It was in the spirit and power of this great prophet, that, according to the message of the angel Gabriel to Zacharias, his pre dicted son should go before Messiah. Miracles preceded and attended his birth. It was part of the angel's message to Zacharias, that he should be filled with the Holy Ghost, from his mother's womb.5 His peculiar holiness from his birth 1 Bob. Bib. Ees., ii., p. 206. 2 Isa. xl. 3 ; Mai. iii. 1 ; iv. 5 ; Matt. xi. 14 ; John i. 21. 3 Luke i. 17. 4 1 Kings xviii. 18. s Luke i. 15. THE BAPTIST'S HOLINESS. 35 may well be taken into consideration, in forming an estimate of the remarkable man under whose moulding influence the evangelist John, with all his native quickness of susceptibility to impression, fell, just at that period when he would most deeply experience the benefit of it, in preparing him for that great future of his life which was about to open before him. Mourning over the corruption of the times, and led by the Spirit which filled him, John the Baptist retired to the desert regions in the vicinity of the Jordan, lying to the north of the Dead Sea, and devoted" his days to holy meditation, or to the instruction of the few who at length heard of his sanctity and wisdom. It is altogether probable that John the apostle, and others who are mentioned as present with John the Baptist as " his disciples," when he came bearing witness to Jesus,1 had for some time shared in this instruction in the wilderness. They had gone down from Galilee into the wilderness where John was, and put themselves under his instruction. These disciples evidently stood in a nearer relation to him, implying a longer and more intimate acquaintance than could have been claimed for the multitude in general, that thronged about him. How important a bearing on their training for their future work must the tuition of such a man have exerted ! They needed no one to assure them of the genuine purity the humility, and self-abnegation of his character. They saw him in private, in his unrestrained and familiar moods, as well as in public. His garments were coarse ; he drank neither wine, nor strong drink, but lived a life of abstinence and austerity, satisfying his simple wants with a nourishment which the wilderness afforded.2 He kept under 1 John i. 35-42. 2 Several species of locusts are mentioned in Scripture, which were used for food (Lev. xi. 22). The migratory locust ((Edipoda migratoria) may be taken as the type of its family. They are used as an article of diet in Africa and Abyssinia, and other countries they frequent, thus compensating in some way for the amount of vegetable food they consume. (See Bible Animals, by the Eev. J. G. Wood, M.A., F.L.S., p. 596.) Herodotus describes the Libyans as making use of the locust for food. (Melp., chap. 172. See also Pliny, H. N., vi., 35.) Signor Pierotti says, in his " Customs and Traditions of Palestine," that locusts are excellent food, and that he was accustomed to eat them, not from necessity, but from choice. Burck- hardt says that he saw among the Arabs " locust-shops," where they were sold by measure. Dr. Thomson says that in Syria they are eaten only by the poorest of the people. (Land and Book, ii., 108.) They are boiled alive in salt and water, then dried, and fried in butter, or their bodies ground into fine dust, and eaten with milk or honey. This locust-dust mixed with honey was no doubt the food of John the Baptist. Some commentators, under the impression that locusts were not fit for food, conjectured that the original reading must have been, not dxplSes, but iyxplSes (cakes), or KaplSes (shrimps). The honey of bees-flowed in abundance from the clefts of the rocks in the wilderness ; and there was a kind of honey that issued from fig-trees, palms, and other trees. In the accompanying plate there are two species of locusts represented. Those 36 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. his body, not ministering to the lusts of the flesh. Josephus gives an account of one of his own. instructors, Banus by name, which throws light on the manner of John's life in the desert, and that of the disciples who gathered around him : " He lived in the desert, and used no other clothing than grew upon trees, and had no food other than that which grew of its own accord, and bathed himself in cold water frequently, both by night and day. I imitated him in these things, and continued with him three years." : It was " the wilderness of Judaea," 2 from which the Baptist, the first master of John, is said to have come preaching. There is a wilder ness-region, in the South Jordanic country, where he had probably spent his earlier years ; but it was in a locality farther to the north, in the vicinity of Bethabara, and much nearer Galilee, where he entered on his ministry. Bethabara was "beyond Jordan," that is to the east of the river. The special locality where he first made his appear ance was probably near the more northern ford,3 not far from Succoth, the ford by which Jacob crossed from Mahanaim, — by which the Midian- ites endeavoured to escape in their flight from the sword of Gideon, and where Jephthah slew the Ephraimites. This wilderness, whether on the eastern or western side of the Jordan, has. never been inhabited, except for purposes of ascetic seclusion, as by the Essenes and the her mits of later times. It was here that the prophet Elijah made his last appearance, before he was taken from the sight of his disciple and suc cessor. And here his great representative, as if the old prophet had risen from the dead, suddenly appeared. He had been residing there, making his abode, like the sons of the prophets, in the leafy thickets of the Jordan forest. His food was the locusts of the desert and the "wild honey," or "manna," that dropped from the tamarisks; his clothing was a garment of camel's hair, fastened with a " leathern girdle round his loins." Here what sweet communion he had with God ! He lay down to sleep in the fear and love of God ; he awaked to adore and glorify Him ; and with Him he daily walked, thus strengthening every holy resolution and growing in every grace, until he was prepared to come forth from his seclusion in that full-orbed brightness, which at once inspired the multitude with awe, and sent the fame of him to every quarter of the land. The holiness of John was one grand element of his greatness, and of his fitness for the office to which he was called. No holier man, on the wing, with long heads, are a species of Truxalis, those on the ground the common migratory locust. 1 Life, § 2. 2 Matt. iii. 1. 3 JEnon was not situated near this ford, as is commonly supposed. See Note 3, p. 59. THE BAPTIST A GREAT TEACHER. 37 not even Enoch, who walked with God, and was translated, nor Elijah, who rode to heaven in his chariot of fire, had appeared before his time. This was the eminence, doubtless, to which He who came after him, the latchet of whose shoes he felt himself unworthy to unloose, particularly referred, when He said that there had not arisen among men "a greater than John the Baptist."1 It was this that so qualified him to be the teacher of those Galileans, of whom the youthful John was one, who were so soon to be called to follow Jesus as His first disciples, and were eventually to be appointed His apostles. He had all the qualities which go to form the great teacher and preacher of truth. In addition to that first and most important quali fication of all, godliness and a blameless life, he evidently possessed a commanding intellect, enabling him to comprehend the great truths committed to him, and by his earnestness and ability to express these truths clearly and forcibly ; and at the same time, to put himself into contact and sympathy with his pupils and hearers, he had that power of self-impressment which is a distinguishing mark of all great teachers. Prior to His entering on His public work, our Lord does not appear to have opened His lips to give any instruction to men ; indeed, it is quite evident, although they were kinsmen, that, prior to his bap tism of Jesus, John had had no intercourse with Him, and did not even know His person. Yet none of the inspired men that went before John the Baptist excelled or equalled him, in the clear view he had of the doctrine which was to be taught by Messiah. How clearly he taught the necessity of repentance and faith in the Mediator, in order to life eternal! With a mighty hand he struck at once at that great error which hung like a millstone around the neck of the chosen people, that descent from Abraham and the observance of outward ceremonies were the only requisites for admittance into the kingdom of God. The most undoubted Abrahamic succession, and the most scrupulous attention to the externals of religion would do them no good, without repentance for sin, and a right reception of the promised Saviour. " Who has told you," he said, " that by simple baptism at my hands you can escape the coming wrath? I tell you, Nay. Trust not to your old saying, ' We are the children of Abraham ' ; for I tell you that God's kingdom is not confined to the race of Abraham, and that from these very stones thai lie upon the river's brink, He can raise up His children. Repent ye, repent ye ! and do works meet for repentance."2 He proclaimed the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, a doctrine which the twelve apostles understood so imperfectly, until the Spirit Himself was poured out on them on the day of Pentecost. He told his disciples and hearers that He who was about to come should baptize them with the 1 Matt. xi. 11. 2 Matt. iii. 7-12. 38 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. Holy Ghost ; that as he (the Baptist) applied water to the bodies of men, so Christ would apply His Spirit to their souls, until He should thoroughly penetrate their being, and form within them a new principle of life.1 " He whom God hath sent (meaning not himself, but Messiah, the Son- of God) speaketh the words of God : for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."2 These unquestionably are the words of the Baptist, and not of the evangelist, as has sometimes been suggested. In them he " adverts to the reasons confirming what he had said, namely, that the precedence is due not to him, but to Jesus. It is, he means to say, only just that His fame should be spread, and the num ber of His disciples increased, inasmuch as He was sent from heaven, endowed with gifts immeasurably great ; nay, was the beloved Son of God, the Lord, and promised Saviour." 3 If such were the public teach ings of the forerunner, what must have been his teachings in private to those who attached themselves to him as disciples ? What a prepara tion St. John had in these private instructions for that higher disciple- ship to Him who taught as never man taught.4 John the Baptist was distinguished, as a preacher, for great fervour and earnestness ; and perhaps we may see the effect of his very manner on one so susceptible as the evangelist, in his having won the title of a son of thunder. He was a voice, "a voice crying in the wilderness." That voice went pealing and echoing among the crowds gathered on the banks of the Jordan : " Repent te ; " " Prepare ye the way of the Lord." Turning to the Pharisees, " Who hath warned you, 0 genera tion of vipers, to flee from the coming wrath ? Repent ye, and by your works give evidence of the genuineness of your repentance. For, lo ! Ho cometh ; He cometh who shall baptize, not only with the Holy Ghost, 1 Matt. iii. 11 ; John i. 33. - John iii. 34-36. 3 Tittm. in Bloomf. 4 The question which he sent to Jesus from prison, " Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another ? " presents a striking instance of the effect of the state of the body on the mind ; for it is manifest that he sent his disciples with this question, not to resolve any doubts of theirs, but his own. His exclusion from air and light and exercise had affected his health, which had reacted on his mind. Accustomed to the freedom of the wilderness, he droops like a caged lion or chained eagle. In his gloomy prison he was overtaken by an hour of darkness, in which he began to call in question his former convictions. In the Elijah-like wrath and impetuosity which distinguished him, and led him to look for judgments against the corruptions of the times, he was disposed to interpret the miracles of mercy of the Lord, and His receiving of publicans and sinners, to His disad vantage. THE BAPTIST POINTS OUT JESUS. 39 but with fire. A sifting by fire will go along with the mighty opera tions of the Spirit, and consume all who will not appropriate the latter. He will hew down all the trees which bring not forth good fruit, and cast them into the fire. Lo ! I see the Mighty One advancing with His fan in His hand, to purify the threshing floor of His kingdom ; and He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Such were the stirring appeals he addressed to his auditors. All classes, not only self- righteous Pharisees, but the common people, and soldiers x from the Roman garrison, were drawn together. Jerusalem and all Judaea and all the region round about Jordan went out to listen to his thrilling appeals, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. How deep must have been the impression on the young men from Bethsaida in Galilee, who had joined John, before he appeared publicly at the fords of the Jordan, and received baptism at his hands, before the great sensation produced by his public harangues ! It is very evident that they had found their way to the spot at a very early period of John's ministry, and had attached themselves to him as personal attendants and disciples. With the crowd that went out to him, they hung upon his burning words. His earnest solemn appeals deeply moved their hearts. They listened again and again, not doubting that they were the words of a prophet of God. There can not be the least doubt that they were with him on that memorable occasion, when John pointed out- Jesus to his hearers, as He emerged from his fearful encounter with the powers of darkness in the wilderness, as " The Lamb of God which iaketh away the sin of the world." 2 " Behold the Lamb of God, without blemish and without spot, of whom the sacrificial lamb, offered for so many ages by the Jewish nation, is but a type, whose blood is sufficient for the remission of all sin." The next day, John the Baptist was standing on the banks of the river, or had not yet, more probably, eome forth to his daily work of preaching and baptizing, and two of the Galilean youths, who had attached themselves as disciples, were with him.3 The multitude do not appear to have been present, it was too early in the day ; Jesus is seen again walking in the distance. John, directing their attention to Him, simply says, "Behold the Lamb of God! " He no longer speaks to the multitude ; He speaks to them personally. He calls on them to behold the Saviour of the world. He, whose public appeals were so 1 These soldiers, Luke iii. 14, are designated by a term arparevipevoi (not o-Tpanurrac) , which denotes that they were in performance of their duty as soldiers. Wherever great crowds of people were drawn together, there the military commander of the district was required to be present, with sufficient force to quell tumult or insur rection. 2 John i. 29. 3 John i. 35-42. 40 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. powerful, could be just as faithful in the private, personal appeal. His words, which have been so often repeated, in directing men to the Saviour, were not without effect at their first utterance. The personal appeal and reiteration of the testimony he had publicly borne in regard to Jesus, have the desired effect. Christ, in the Old Testa ment, had been presented to them, not in a dim, uncertain light ; and if they had before enjoyed the private instruction of John, Christ must have been made in the prophecies to stand out distinctly to their faith, for "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."1 It is no less " the spirit " of the entire Old Testament. Its appointed sacrifices, drenching the earth with the blood of animals selected as without blemish or spot, pointed to the great sacrifice to be made for sin, they testified in characters of blood to the Lamb of God that taketh away sin. He therefore uses a term to designate Jesus familiar to and well understood by these young disciples. The paschal lamb and the Iamb in the daily sacrifice were typical of a suffering Saviour. But there is doubtless a distinct allusion to the great prophecy in Isaiah,2 where Messiah is foretold as a lamb led to the slaughter; as bearing our griefs, and carrying our sorrows ; stricken for the trans gression -of His people; His soul made an offering for sin. They therefore understand their master to say, " Behold the Lamb, foretold by prophets, slain from the foundation of the world ! Believe in Him ! He takes away sin by bearing it, atoning for it, so as to exempt all who believe in Him from the punishment due to their sins." " They followed Jesus." It was the beginning of their faith. Their connec tion with, and instruction by, John, was the first step or stage in it ; it was the immediate preparatory process, this was the second. As they walk in silence and reverence behind Jesus, He notices them, and encourages them to come nearer to Him and to speak, by the ques tion, " What seek ye ? " He wishes to inspire them with confidence (filled with awe as they must have been, by what they had just learned from John, that their eyes were then actually resting on the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world), and therefore He does not wait for them first to speak to Him. To their question, " Where dwellest Thou ? " they receive the prompt invitation, " Come and see." They accompany Him to the place ; and for the first time listen to the speech of Him who spake as never man spake. They tarried with Him the remainder of that day. We cannot doubt that the time was fully occupied with instruction suited to their necessities and worthy of Him. It was the beginning of a new life. It was their sense of need of One who could do more for them than John, who could atone for their sins, and forgive them, which led them to follow Him so 1 Eev. xix. 10. 2 Isa. liii. ST. JOHN FOLLOWS JESUS. 41 promptly. Their knowledge was very imperfect, as consequently must have also been their faith. But it was sufficient to lead them to attach themselves personally to Christ, and to confide implicitly in Him. as their Teacher and Guide. The light which shone in them, however feebly, from that moment continued to wax stronger and stronger, even unto the perfect day. The name of one of these young men is given, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He was afterwards called to the apostleship. The name of the other is not given, but there can not be the least doubt it was St. John the Evangelist, known as " the disciple whom Jesus loved." He carefully suppresses his name in other instances in which he unmistakably refers to himself. When an old man, in the city of Ephesus, this scene in his youth, on the shores of the far-distant Jordan, rises up distinctly before his view. He sees again the prophet from the wilderness, in his strange garb, as he stands on the banks, and points out the Saviour of the world. He sees himself and his companion as they timidly follow after Jesus. He recalls the very hour of the day, as well as the place, of the first interview with the Saviour, whom he had loved and served so long : " It was about the tenth hour." He had long resided among the Gentiles when he wrote this ; the Christian community he addressed was largely composed of Gen tiles ; the Jewish nation for a full quarter of a century had been dis persed and scattered far and wide. It would have been misleading to the mass of his readers had he designated the hour according to the division of the day made by the Jews, who commenced their day at sunset, dividing it into twelve hours till sunrise, and again from sunrise till sunset, into the same number. He therefore adopts the horology of the Romans, who commenced their civil day as we do, at midnight, dividing it into twelve hours till noon, and again from noon till mid night, making the day to consist of twenty-four hours of equal length, at every season of the year. It was then about ten o'clock in the morning, or two hours before noon, instead of two hours before sunset, when John and Andrew followed Jesus. John the Baptist, as has been already suggested, had not commenced his labours for the day ; the crowd had not time to gather from the places where they had passed the night. That it was not a hurried visit in the evening, but an in terview extending from an hour in the morning, till night, seems to be clearly indicated, by the language that the two disciples " abode with him that day." x That was a memorable day in the history of our 1 Lampe, who writes on the Life and the Gospel of John with so much learning, and whose work in Joannem has proved a thesaurus to many who have followed him, although he says the tenth hour was quarta pomeridiana, yet adds : — ' ' Passim interpretes haac verba accipiunt tanquam terminum a quo. Yerum eo magis propendeo, 42 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN., apostle. We know not what were the topics the Great Teacher dis coursed upon ; John gives no intimation. That they were topics worthy of the occasion, we can not doubt ; and that they served to convince the young men that they had found Christ, we know.1 The whole subsequent life of the apostle took its shape and direction from the interview to which he was invited on the morning of that day. John the Baptist was the connecting link between the old and the new economy. He was the herald immediately preceding that Saviour, whom other prophets from remote ages had foretold. The great sen sation produced by his preaching, the multitude that thronged about him, did not cause him to forget his true position, or to aspire to any higher work than that which had been assigned him. He was not dis turbed when John and Peter and Andrew ceased to own him as their master, and followed Jesus. He had himself directed them to Him, as the Lamb of God. It is interesting to know that the words he used, now so familiar to the Christian ear, were instrumental in leading the evangelist who records them, — who held so conspicuous a place among the apostles, and whose name and writings have been so dear in all ages, — and his companions to the knowledge of the Saviour, the first example of their saving effect. " Te yourselves bear me witness," John the Baptist said to the Jews, " that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the bride is the Bridegroom : but the friend of the Bridegroom, which standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice : this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease." 2 These are noble words, worthy of one who was full of the Holy Ghost. They were uttered in rebuke of those who sought to excite his jealousy, because Jesus, or the disciples of Jesus, baptized, and more were now flocking to Christ's than to John's ministry. The fruit of the little handful was beginning already to shake like Lebanon.3 He reminded them that he had constantly, both in public and private, disavowed any claim to the Messiahship, but had merely been sent to preface His way, who was to fill that great office. He likens Christ to the Bride groom, and himself to the paranymph, or friend of the Bridegroom, who acts in His behalf, in the ceremony of solemnizing the marriage, and rejoices greatly at the happiness of his friend: "He that hath the 6ride is the Bridegroom." The Church is His ; won by His love, ut ea pro termino ad quern habeam. Cum enim in vicinia Jesus noctem transegisset, procul dubio jam ante meridiem prodiit, et a Joanne conspectus est, ac reliquam partem diei ad decimam usque horam discipulis dedit" (Com. in Joan., i., 39). 1 John i. 41. 2 John iii. 28-30. " Ps. lxxii. 16. THE BAPTIST'S DEATH. 43 ransomed at a great price, a price which He alone could pay, purified and adorned by His grace. The friend of the Bridegroom stands and hears Him, and rejoices greatly at the satisfaction of the Bridegroom, and that He has at length come to the long-expected espousals. " This is my joy," says John ; " I am glad like one that officiates at the mar riage of a friend. Ho must increase, but I must decrease. My personal influence with the people is destined steadily to decline, whilst His fame and glory are destined just as steadily to advance." But the prospect did not disturb him. Instead of diminishing it rather contributed to enhance his satisfaction. There was no faltering in his tone when he said, " This my joy therefore is fulfilled." It is not improbable that he said these things with the clear presentiment of his early and cruel death : — " My goal is near at hand ; I must decrease ; my race is nearly run. But it having been appointed me to be the herald of Messiah, to be the friend of the Bridegroom, to lead his chosen bride to him, I am satis fied ; I ask no greater honour, no greater joy ! " It is to be remembered that John the Baptist was in the prime and vigour of his days, and that the words, therefore, are those of one who was still a young man. He was but a few months older than Christ, and it is supposed entered on his ministry about six months before Christ. About the same length of time after Christ entered on His ministry, the ministry of John was brought to a close. By his faithful rebuke of sin, he offended Herod Antipas, who ruled in Peraaa, where he mainly resided. He was seized and imprisoned in the border-fortress of Machaerus.1 Here he was beheaded, and his head on a platter was paraded at a feast given by Herod to his high captains, as a present to a daughter of Herodias who had danced before them.2 1 Joseph. Ant., xviii., 5 (2). 2 Mark vi. 19-29. CHAPTER IV. ST. JOHN UNDER THE TRAINING OF THE GREAT MASTER HIMSELF, FROM THE BEGINNING OF HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY TO ITS CLOSE. first meeting with jesus. returns to galilee with jesus. — call to the discipleship. — kana-el-jelil. his faith strengthened. caper naum. with his master, joins caravan to jerusalem. route. — trans-jordanic country. — sacred reminiscences. jerusalem and the temple. nicodemus. st. john probably present at the interview. — rural parts of judiea. — st. john engages in his first public work. unwritten history. central palestine. jesus among the samaritans. — wonderful result. impression on st. john. — naza reth. miracles. — st. john forsakes all for christ. — his first cir cuit in galilee with jesus. call of st. matthew. daughter of jairus and the widow's son raised prom the dead. — st. john's train ing and preparation for his work. again at jerusalem. — apostles appointed. — their names. — their gifts. sermon on the mount, an inaugurative discourse. — another circuit in galilee. — christ begins to teach by parables. the twelve sent forth by two and two. — who was st. John's associate ?— jesus walks on the sea. — days of darkness drawing near. — last year of st. john with christ. visit to the gentile world. — jesus foretells his own death. — the transfiguration. — its design. its effect on st. john. faults of the apostle. jealousy and bigotry. anger. resurrection of lazarus. per^a. — parables at this time. — ambition of st. john. — end of pupilage drawing near. — last public discourses and parables of jesus. — impressions on st. john. — st. john sent with st. peter to prepare the feast op passover. We have met the evangelist with his first teacher, that remarkable man, John the Baptist. He .was with him in the Trans-Jordanic country (Peraea, as it was called in the Greek nomenclature of its Roman conquerors) where John was baptizing. How long he had been his disciple, it does not appear. We find him in his company shortly after Jesus had been made known to the Baptist, as the promised Messiah, by the appointed sign, "Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He." 1 After His baptism, " Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness," and it 1 John i. 33. HE RETURNS TO GALILEE WITH JESUS. 45 was probably on His return from the scene of temptation, that John the Baptist stood and two of his disciples ; and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he said, " Behold the Lamb of God ! " Here in this secluded region, away from those stirring centres of life, Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee, where David when an exile from his capital, under the rebellion of Absalom, mourned in bitterness of spirit as he felt all God's waves and billows go over him,1 Jesus, the Son of God, was first pointed out by His forerunner to that young disciple, who was to win the appellation, and be known in the ages to come, as " the disciple whom Jesus loved." Could we fix upon the site of Bethabara, we might know that we were not far from the exact spot. But it has pleased Him who knows the infirmity of our nature, — our tendency to rest in a veneration for sacred places, instead of a true spirit of reverence and devotion, — to substitute pilgrimages for a self-denying walk and prayerful life, — that neither tradition nor hu man monuments should preserve any certain evidence of the exact locality of many of the most interesting scenes and events recorded in the New Testament. To such travellers as Wilson, Olin, Durbin, Stanley, Thomson, and Porter, and such explorers and geographers as Niebuhr, Raumer, Robinson, and Lynch, we are indebted for information which enables us to test traditions, and to separate those which have a foundation in probable truth from those which are the inventions of superstition or of ignorance. Through them we obtain knowledge which is far more favourable to devotion and piety than that veneration for places which a little investigation, or a small measure of common sense, will be sure to explode. It is with such enlightened guides as these, that it is proposed to trace the steps of the beloved disciple as he follows Jesus during the years of His public ministry, receiving instruction and gifts and graces, qualifying him for the Apostolate, and while prosecuting his own ministry in his native land. Familiar as the gospel history is, showing the connection of St. John with our Lord, the freest use must be made of it in any account that would present truly the life and character of the disciple ; for it was under the instruction and ministry of the Saviour, that he received his preparation for the high office and special work to which he was called. Nor can we appreciate the ministry of Christ aright until we learn to view it, not so much in its direct influence on the world at large, as designed to instruct and train the apostles for their work. John returned to Galilee with Jesus almost immediately after his first introduction to Him. The journey seems to have been commenced on the very next day, and the company to have consisted of Jesus, 1 Ps. xiii. 46 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. John, Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael. By what route they reached Bethsaida, or the Sea of Galilee, from the desert region about the Jordan, it would be difficult now to determine. The green slopes, cultivated valleys, and populous towns and cities of Galilee, must have presented a striking contrast to the jagged cliffs of the Jordan, and the knolls and rocks, thrown together in wild confusion, as they rise irregularly and recede to the highlands on the west, and to the moun tain heights on the east beyond Jordan. Going up from Beth-shean, or Scythopolis, as they approached Tabor, they would enter on that arm of the great plain of Esdraelon l which sweeps round the base of the mount, and extends far to the north, forming a broad tract of table land, bordering upon the deep Jordan- valley and the basin of the Lake of Tiberias. If they ascended Tabor, there was presented to the eye a landscape, extensive and beautiful, one of the finest in Palestine, or perhaps in the world. Directly beneath, lies spread out the great plain, which extending far to the north, even now contains several villages, but at that time swarmed with a busy population. The view embraces also the western part of the great plain of Esdraelon, as far as to Carmel. On the right of Nazareth a portion of the Mediterranean is seen in the north-west, as well as slight glimpses in other parts. In the north and north-east are Saf ed 2 and its mountains, overtopped by snowy peaks beyond. At the distance of about three hours' travel is seen in the great plain a low ridge with two points, called by the Latin monks the Mount of Beatitudes. On the right the whole outline of the basin of the Lake of Tiberias can be traced ; but only a small spot of the lake itself is visible in the north-east. Beyond the lake the eye takes in the high tablelands of Gaulonitis; and farther down beyond the Jordan, the higher mountains of the ancient Bashau and Gilead. On the south, the view is bounded by the mountains of Gilboa, forming the northern side of the valley of Jezreel.3 After his call, when he left his father and the servants in the boat, mending their nets4 (his call to the discipleship, in distinction from his appointment as one of the twelve apostles), John appears to have been an almost constant attendant of our Lord. He saw the greater number 1 The Greek form of the Hebrew word Jezreel. The city of Jezreel was situated near the eastern extremity of the plain, on a spur of Mount Gilboa. In the 0. T. the plain is called the Valley of Jezreel. 2 It is situated on a bold spur of the Galilean Anti-Lebanon. It was one of the holy cities of the north (Tiberias was the other), associated with the last efforts of Judaism, where, according to rabbinical belief, Messiah would establish His throne. It has been supposed to be the city on a hill, t6\is eiravu Spovs Kelp-evq, Matt. v. 14. 3 Eob. Bib. Ees., ii., p. 354. 4 Matt. iv. 21 ; Mark i. 19. THEY VISIT CANA. 47 of His miracles, and heard the most of His discourses and parables. He gives an account of eight miracles,1 among the most interesting and important performed by Christ, which are not mentioned by the other evangelists. It may not be easy to suggest a reason why such im portant miracles as the healing of the impotent man at Bethesda and the raising of Lazarus, are not found in the synoptists, as the three earliest evangelists are sometimes called ; in regard, however, to the miracles at the marriage in Cana, and the healing of the young man lying sick at Capernaum, it may be said that these were performed before Matthew, the first of the evangelists, and the only apostle, save John, in their number, was called to the discipleship. John was, no doubt, present at the performance of the miracle in Cana of Galilee.3 If it was three days after the commencement of the journey from the Jordan 3 when this miracle was performed, and if our Lord went by the Sea of Tiberias, and took the disciples already called with Him, He must have prosecuted His journey, made as it doubtless was on foot, diligently. Cana, from the nearest point He left the Jordan, was at a distance of fifty or sixty miles ; by the Sea of Tiberias the distance must have been still greater. It would require two days for Jesus to reach that Sea. From an incidental remark made by Josephus,* it would appear that Cana was a night's march distant from Tiberias. By modern travellers, it (i.e., Kana-el-Jelil) is said to be seventeen miles distant from Capernaum and Tiberias, eight miles north of Nazareth. This Tiberias (for there was another town of this name to the north-east, on the opposite shore of the lake), was on the western shore. This shore and the little plain of Gennesaret 5 were the most thickly peopled district of Palestine. It was filled with towns 1 Of the thirty-three commonly enumerated, as for example in Trench's work on the Miracles, he has but eight. In these thirty-three, however, are not included several events of the most highly miraculous character, — such as the incarnation itself, the transfiguration, the voice from heaven in presence of the Greeks, the falling backward to the ground of the Eoman soldiers in Gethsemane, when Jesus said, " I am He," etc. 2 " There want not indeed some and especially the middle writers of the Church, who will have our apostle to have been married, and that it was his marriage which our Lord was at in Cana of Galilee, invited thither on account of his con sanguinity and alliance ; but that being convinced by the miracle of the water turned into wine, he immediately relinquished his conjugal relation, and became one of our Lord's disciples. But this, as Barrow himself confesses, is trifling, and the issue of fabulous invention, a thing wholly unknown to the fathers and best writers of the Church, and which, not only has no just authority to support it, but arguments enough to beat it down" (Cave's Lives, i., p., 270). 3 John ii. 1. 4 Life, 16, 17. 5 el-Ghuweir. It was probably as the Saviour surveyed this plain from the Sea, that the parable of the sower was spoken. 48 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. and villages. It was, as has been said, to the Roman Palestine, what the manufacturing districts are to England. Nowhere, except in the metropolis itself, could be found a more busy scene of life. With the Hebrew dwellers by this inland sea, there were min gled the Gentile races of Lebanon and of Arabia, with here and there Greeks and Romans scattered among them. Here might be seen the heathen tax-gatherers, or publicans, sitting by the lake side, at the receipt of custom. Here were the women that were sinners, corrupted by Gentile manners, or who had come from neighbouring Gentile cities. Here the Roman centurion quartered with his soldiers, to be near the palaces of the Herodian princes, or to repress the turbulence of the wild Galilean peasantry. Here were the hardy boatmen, preparing their vessels or their nets to launch out for a draught. Passing through this busy scene, Jesus went with the disciples, the five who had then been called, to Cana. It was the home of one of them, the guileless Nathanael,1 whom Philip had brought to Jesus while He was at the Jordan. The situation of this town is described as fine, on the southern declivity of a hill, overlooking the plain el- Biittauf. It appears once to have been a village of considerable size, of well-built houses. There is not, it is now said, a habitable house in the village. There are traces about it of high antiquity, in the cisterns and fragments of water-jars found there. It is probable that it was never a place of any considerable importance. The miracle of Christ caused its name to be known, and has preserved it from oblivion. In former times, the house in which the marriage feast was celebrated, and the water-pots themselves were exhibited to travellers at this place ; but now the monks show them at another place (Kef r Kenna) three miles north-east of Nazareth.2 There can he no doubt that the faith of John and of his companions was greatly strengthened on this occasion. We are expressly told that His disciples, as well as Jesus Himself, were invited to the wedding. They then, probably for the first time, saw the manifestation, or bursting forth of His glory,3 and partook of the astonishment of the company, as the water with which the servants filled the jars became wine. " And His disciples believed on Him." They had before believed on the testimony of their first master, John the Baptist ; but now they could have said to Him, as the believing Samaritans afterwards said 1 In the lists of the apostles (Matt x. 3 ; Mark iii. 18 ; Luke vi. 14 ; Acts i. 13) he is called Bartholomew, never Nathanael. St. John gives him his real name (chap. xxi. 2). Bartholomew means, son of Tolmai; and he was thus designated in the lists of the apostles probably to distinguish him from some other Nathanael, for whom it was desirable he should not be mistaken. 2 Eob. Bib. Ees., ii., p. 346 ; Kitto's Bib. Cyc. 3 John ii. 11. THEY JOIN CARAVAN TO JERUSALEM. 49 to the woman, or in words similar, " We believe not because of thy saying ; for we ourselves have seen His glory manifested, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." It was with John the commencement of a series of proofs that Jesus was the Messiah, which had their climax only when He rose in triumph from the dead. From Cana, John went with Jesus, his mother, and his brethren, back to the Sea of Tiberias, to a city in the immediate vicinity of Bethsaida, Capernaum, situated near its north-western shore. This city subsequently became, after the rejection of our Lord at Nazareth, the principal place of His residence in Galilee, and was probably favoured with more of the works and words of Jesus than any other single place. The most eminent biblical geographers, however, cannot agree as to the precise location of the place, which derived its chief importance from having become the adopted home of the Saviour. Robinson has fixed its site at Khan Minyeh, in the northern end of the plain el- Ghuweir. But Dr. Wilson, Dr. Thomson, and Ritter fix it at Tell Hum. It is gone ! It has been effaced from the earth ! " And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be brought down to hell."1 Who or what can stand before the word of Him who did not strive, nor cry,- — who would not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax ? The whole region, once filled with flourishing towns, has been swept and desolated by Arab hordes. The occasion of this visit to Capernaum is not indicated in the inspired narrative ; but the fact is mentioned that it continued but few days.2 There is no intimation that He taught, or that He performed any miracles at this time. As the passover was at hand, the first occurring after our Lord entered on His ministry, it is not improbable He went there for the convenience of joining one of the numerous parties of pilgrims coming down from Northern Palestine and Lebanon, and gathering, as a convenient centre, at Capernaum, to form a caravan for a journey to the capital. They came from different and distant cities and towns of Syria ; from the coast of Tyre and Sidon ; from Ba'albek or Heliopolis ; and from beneath the palm-trees of Damascus ; all men of one race, but of various languages and costumes. There are, doubtless, representatives here from the shores of the Caspian Sea, from within the boundaries of the ancient Persian empire, and from the banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates, and from all those northern and north-eastern countries to which Hebrews had either been carried in their captivities, or had emigrated in prosecution of their commercial enterprises. Companies increase as the pilgrims draw near the borders of the Holy Land, and are so multiplied i Matt. xi. 23. 2 John ii. 12. E 50 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. as they arrive among the populous towns of the plain of Gennesaret, as to form a numerous caravan. It was to join one of these, as may be plausibly supposed, that Jesus went with His relatives and disciples to Capernaum. The most direct route from Capernaum to Jerusalem, the route through the valley of the Jordan, would have been south, through Bethsaida, past Scythopolis, or Beth-shean, to Succoth ; thence across the Jordan, and down the east side of the river to a point opposite Jericho, and thence to Jerusalem.1 If this was the route taken by our Lord and the company with which He and His friends joined themselves, then He retraced, in part at least, the course by which He had recently gone from the scene of John's baptism to Galilee. For the sake^of a clear understanding of the influences to which our young disciple was now subjected from the scenes and associations through which he passed on this journey, let us endeavour to follow him, in its different stages, to his entrance into the holy city. On former* similar occasions his mind had not received that spiritual quickening which came from recent intercourse with the forerunner, and from the companionship he now enjoyed with the Lord Himself. The journey would require from three to four days. Great would be the change, as they left the shores of the lake, covered with an almost tropical vegetation, and entered on the wild scenery of the Jordan valley. Crossing the plain of Gennesaret, some five miles wide, at one spot on the western shore, where the mountains which hem in the lake suddenly recede, the verdure and fertility, would reach their per fection. The barley-fields would be seen almost white to harvest, the wheat beginning to ear, and the fig-trees beautiful with blossom. Watered by living springs which pour forth copious streams, the richness of the soil is displayed in magnificent corn-fields ; whilst along the shore rises a thick jungle of thorn and oleander, abounding in birds of brilliant colours and- various forms. The whole impression is said to recall the image of the valley of the Nile.2 Josephus describes this plain as one of surpassing loveliness and fertility, possibly with some exaggeration, as one favourable alike to trees, plants, and fruits of every clime. Marvellous must have been the change as the pilgrims descended into the Jordan valley. "The desert" is the ordinary name by which this valley has been known in all ages. Unlike most other rivers, the Jordan, from the point where it leaves the Sea of Galilee to its entrance into the Dead Sea, presents not a single feature of civilization. And with the one exception of Jericho, situated some 1 Coleman's Hist, and Bib. Geog., p. 374. 2 Stanley's Sin. and Pal., p. 374. THE TRANS- JORDANIC COUNTRY. 51 six or eight miles west of the river, in the plain, this has been true of it from the beginning of history. Hardly a single city or village has ever adorned its banks. Leaving Succoth, the pilgrims would enter on this desert region. Arriving at some ford to which the road leads, they cross the river, and pursue their journey, thus avoiding the territory of the hostile Samaritans and the pagan cities of the Decapolis. It is the land which, in the partition of the country, had been assigned to the two tribes, Gad and Reuben. It is well adapted to flocks and herds. They moved along between the river and Mount Gilead, which cut them off from the great Arabian plateau to the east. It was here that Laban overtook Jacob ; and when they separated, Jacob went on his way to Mahanaim, where the angels of God met him.1 The Gilead range is everywhere covered with luxuriant herbage. The rich pasture-land presents a striking contrast to the nakedness of Western Palestine ; and nowhere except among the hills of Galilee and the heights of Carmel, is there anything to be compared with it. Here the two tribes, Reuben and Gad, rich in flocks and herds, and with a country so suited to their pursuits, retained almost unchanged the nomad pastoral habits of their patriarchal ancestors. Here the sons of Saul were refugees, and found protection, while vainly en deavouring to re-establish the authority of their house.2 Here Elijah the Tishbite, the great prophet of Ahab's time, had his home. He has been well described as " the grandest and most romantic character that Israel ever produced."3 Here David found a sanctuary during the rebellion of Absalom. All these incidents would now have a significance to John they never had before. They journey on till the northern extremity of the mountain range which overhangs the eastern shore of the Dead Sea comes in sight. Here, from the top of Nebo, the summit of Pisgah, to Moses had been granted a view of the promised land ; and somewhere among the gorges of this spur of Abarim, this eminent servant of God had his burial. Some be longing to- the tribes of Gad and Reuben join the caravan as it advances. To the left they see Heshbon, where Herod the Great had erected one of his citadels, or strong military posts, as a place of retreat from the disaffected metropolis,4 whose resentment he had so much cause, on account of his continual crimes, to dread. The whole scene through which they were passing abounded with reminiscences of the most sacred character, belonging both to the earlier and later periods of Hebrew history. We cannot suppose that the great Teacher could on 1 Gen. xxxii. 1, 2, 22. 2 2 Sam. ii. 8, seq. 3 Stanley's Sin. and Pal., p. 327. " Milman, Hist, of the Jews, ii., p. 81. 52 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. such an occasion, in such a company, pass through it without uttering many things for the instruction of His disciples. But no record is found in the evangelists of any of His words or works. He per formed many works which John has emphatically told us there had been no attempt to report.1 They have now arrived near that point, so celebrated in Jewish history, where the passage of the Jordan was effected by the tribes, under the leadership of Joshua, on taking possession of the promised land.2 A city celebrated in the history of Palestine lies to the west of the river, built upon an oasis in the desert, watered by living springs that break out of the limestone ranges above it, and a copious stream whose course through the deep defile may be traced by a line of verdure along the valley. From the mountain sides of Gilead, as they approach the ford, the forest gardens and verdant fields of Jericho must have been a most interesting and welcome feature in the otherwise forbidding landscape. This city stood at the right of the main pass or road from the Jordan to the south-west towards Olivet and Jerusalem. Beautiful as the spot is now, it must have been far more so in the days of its prosperity and grandeur. It was here that one of the great miracles which attended the first settlement of the Israelites in Palestine occurred.3 It was here that the prophet Elisha healed the fountain of waters.4 It was the water which served to convert this barren plain almost into a paradise. The stream of the Kelt, issuing from a ravine, flowed across it ; and besides the large fountain of Elisha, there was still another further north. Within the range of these waters the soil was exuberant in its fertility. The fruits, spices, and perfumes of tropical climes could be produced there in great abundance. Its palm- groves yielded the choicest of indigenous fruits ; its balsam-groves that fragrant balsam, or balm of Gilead, which in ancient times was so highly esteemed, both as a perfume and a medicine. The revenue of these balsam-gardens had been presented by Antony to Cleopatra ; and there is a tradition that she caused slips of the balsam-shrub to be taken to Egypt, and planted at Heliopolis.5 It was at Jericho that Herod the Great and this famous queen met, and where he seriously meditated putting her to death. Here he built another of those strong citadels for refuge from an exasperated people, of whose vengeance he had so much reason to stand in dread. He built towers and palaces ; and it was evidently his favourite place of residence. It was here he died, and in the amphitheatre the news of his death was announced to the assembled soldiers and people. Such as Herod the Great and 1 John xxi. 25. 3 Josh. vi. 2 Josh. iv. 1-8. < 2 Kings ii. 19-22. 6 Brocardus, Descrip. Ter. Sanct., xiii. Copied by permission from a photograph taken by F. Frith. ON THE ROAD FROM JERUSALEM TO JERICHO. THE ROAD CHEERED WITH SONGS. 53 Archelaus had left it, such was Jericho when Christ and the company Ho was with journeyed through it on His way to Jerusalem to the first passover, after the commencement of His public ministry. As they pass beyond the walls, it is to travel beneath the shade of the syca mores,1 which for a short distance skirt the Jerusalem road. Then they begin to climb the wild, dreary mountains, the bare limestone-hills. On every side are deep, frightful ravines, defiles, and gorges. For miles and miles not a house nor a tree even, it is said, can now be seen. In one spot travellers come upon the remains of a large khan, or inn. At length a height is reached from which the first glimpse of the line of trees and houses on the summit of Olivet is gained. The present road lies by Bethany, the town of Mary and Martha, over the south point of Olivet, into the deep narrow vale of Jehoshaphat, to St. Stephen's gate. The Jewish pilgrims were in the habit of cheering the long and toil some road with songs. The fifteen Psalms, beginning with the one hundred and twentieth, called " songs of degrees," which are said to have been used during the journeys to Jerusalem at the time of the great festivals, might better be described as songs of up- goings, with reference to the progress made in ascending the mountainous road to Jerusalem, especially by those who made their approach by the route through the valley of the Jordan. How grand must have been the effect as the voices of the pilgrims rose, " I will lift up mine eyes ; " or, as some one more devout than the rest commenced in the shades of the evening, or the dawn of the morning, and then the whole caravan joined in, " Unto the hills, from whence cometh my help ! "• Again they break out in song, " I was glad when they said unto me; Let us go unto the house of the Lord." As they descry the situation of Jerusalem, they sing, " They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion. . As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people." As they enter the gates, and march along the streets, " Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." And as they come to the temple, " Behold, bless ye the Lord,. all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord. The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion ! " The young son of Zebedaaus had never made the journey to Jerusalem before in such company, never under such circumstances and influences,, as now. He was with the great Teacher, who no doubt availed Him self often of the opportunity to speak as never man spake before. Never were the sacred associations of the scenes through which he passed, richer or more significant. The splendour of Jerusalem, which, after its adornment by Herod the Great, was equalled by no city of the 1 Luke xix. 4. 54 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. East except Antioch, and no city of the West except Rome, set like a jewelled crown on mountains towering thirty-eight hundred feet above the Jordan, and twenty-five hundred above the level of the Mediterra nean, must have often excited his admiration as he went up in former years to the great feast. But with what different eyes, especially with his improved and expanding notions respecting the Messianic kingdom, he must have seen it as it first appeared in sight from the brow of Olivet, as he journeyed with the King of Zion ! The most conspicuous and glorious object of all was the temple, so enlarged and beautified by Herod the Great, who had already greatly adorned the city, and gratified his passion for sumptuous building by the erection of towers, theatres, and amphitheatres. A new fabric of more regular and stately architecture than the old, which had been much dilapidated through the sieges of five hundred years, now crowned the brow of Moriah with its glittering masses of white marble and pinnacles of gold.1 There were four immense towers at the north-west part of the wall. There stood the palace of the Asmoneans, the palace of Herod, with its lofty storeys and turrets, and other public buildings ; while the fortress of Antonia, rising in the immediate vicinity of the temple area, towered above every building within the city, and formed, with the temple, the most striking feature in the view. With Jesus John goes to the temple, and beholds that wonderful miracle, for it can scarcely be regarded as anything less, the expulsion of the traders and money-changers from its sacred precincts.2 What was it but power over the secret will which made those profaners so obedient to One who came as a Galilean peasant, with no signs of external power ? It brought Him at once conspicuously before the authorities and the people who thronged to the feast. By this act He proclaimed Himself the Son of God, jealous of His Father's honour. It is probable that the purification took place on or before the first day of the feast, at which time the paschal lamb was offered. It pointed to that purification which the offering of the true Paschal Lamb was designed to effect in the divine kingdom. This passover according to Friedlieb was on the 11th, but according to Greswell was on the 9th, of April.3 If the Lord's baptism was, as has been supposed, early in January, then some three months had intervened, and John, for about half this period, as our Lord was forty days in the wilderness after His baptism, had been under His instruction. What progress he had made since Jesus had been first pointed out to him as the Lamb of God, and he had followed Him, — especially within the last few days, while 1 Milman, Hist, of the Jews, ii., p. 85. 2 John ii. 13-17. 3 Andrews' Life of our Lord, p. 152. JERUSALEM. PLAN OF WALLS. JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE. 00 journeying through scenes so rich in sacred associations, and since he entered the holy city ! He had now heard Him say, in reference to His death and resurrection, in asserting His right to reform the abuses of religion and establish the true faith, in words indeed which he did not then fully comprehend, " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." But after His resurrection he understood that " He spake of the temple of His body." 1 However confused and exaggerated in some particulars may seem the account given by the Jewish historian, Josephus, his topographical sketch of the city and temple, as they existed in his day, is invaluable. There may be reason to distrust his accuracy when he professes to give exact details, measurements of heights and magnitudes. These, in many cases, were probably only matters of estimate or conjecture. As a general view, however, of the city and temple, his description, there can be no doubt, is perfectly reliable. According to this writer, Jerusalem, except where it was defended by precipitous and impassable valleys, on which sides it had but a single wall, was enclosed by a triple wall.2 It lay upon three hills, separated by intervening valleys. Mount Zion, the highest of these hills, on account of its fortifications had been called by King David, the citadel or fortress. The hill on which the lower city, containing the bazaars, was built, Akra, had the form of the moon when it is gibbous, or between the quarters and full moon. The valley between these two hills was the Tyropcaon, or the valley of the cheesemongers ; it extended quite down to a fountain of sweet and abundant water, Siloam. Over against Akra, but separated from it by another valley, broader than the Tyropceon, was Moriah, with the temple. In the extreme part of the upper city, or Zion, was an open space or park, called Xystus, connected by a bridge with the temple, where the people sometimes assembled en masse. The single wall which surrounded all those parts of the city which were defended by precipitous valleys, began at a tower called Hippicus, and extended south to a place called Bethso, and thence, in the same direction, to a point over Siloam; then, turning east, terminated at the eastern portico of the temple. The first, and oldest, of the triple walls began at the same tower, Hippicus, and running along the northern brow of Zion to the Xystus, terminated at the western portico of the temple. The second encircled only the northern part of the city, from near the tower of Hippicus to the castle of Antonia. The third, built after the time of Christ, beginning at the same tower, first ran northwards, then sweeping round towards the east, and afterwards towards the south, was joined to the ancient wall in the valley of the Kidron. On the i John ii. 21, 22. 2 The third wall was not built till the year of our Lord 45, by Herod Agrippa. 56 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. western side of the temple area were four gates, — one leading over the valley to the palace on Zion, by the bridge just mentioned ; two to the suburb on the north ; and the remaining one to the lower city on Akra, first by steps down into the intervening valley, and then by an ascent. The hill, Bezetha, lay quite near, on the north of the temple. The hill Moriah, on which was the temple, was in the eastern part of the city, facing the Mount of Olives, overlooking the valley of the Kidron. * Our learned countryman, Dr. Robinson, who has investigated the topo graphy of the modern city with so much care and patience, on the spot itself, with the volumes of Josephus in his hands, is not aware of any particulars which can excite a doubt as to the faithfulness of this his torian and eye-witness, in his general description of Jerusalem, or as to the identity of the site of the ancient and modern cities.2 The valleys of the Tyropcson, and that between Akra and Moriah, although greatly filled up, are still distinctly to be traced ; while the hills of Zion, Akra, Moriah, and Bezetha, are not to be mistaken ; and the deep valleys of the Kidron and of Hinnom, and the Mount of Olives, are prominent features, too gigantic to be forgotten, or undergo any per ceptible change.3 The temple, according to Josephus' description, stood upon a rocky eminence, on which there was scarcely level space enough at first for the fane and the altar, the sides being everywhere steep and precipit ous. Solomon built a wall around this summit, and then built up a wall on the east, filled in on the inside apparently with earth, on which he erected a portico, or covered colonnade. The temple itself was thus left naked on three sides, and stood out boldly to one surveying the city from Olivet, or approaching it from any direction. In process of time the whole enclosure was built up, and filled in quite to a level with the hill. The enclosure thus constructed was a quadrangle, measuring four stadia, or about half a mile, around it. The* interior of this enclosure was surrounded by porticos or covered colonnades along the walls, and the open part was paved with variegated stones. This open part was what has been called by Christian writers the court of the Gentiles. Near the middle of this court an ornamental wall or balustrade of stone, three cubits high, formed the boundary of a smaller enclosure, which neither Gentiles nor the unclean might enter. Within this, an inner wall, forty cubits high from its foundation, sur rounded the second or inner court. It was encompassed on the outside by fourteen steps, leading up to a level area around it of ten cubits wide, from which again five other steps led up to the interior. The 1 Jos. Wars, v., u. 4. 2 Bib. Ees., i., p. 281. 3 Stanley, Sin. and Pal., p. 166, seq. JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE. 57 principal entrance of this inner court was on the east ; there were also three entrances on the northern side, and three on the south. After wards three others were added for the women, one upon the north, south, and east, respectively. Within this second court was still the third or most sacred enclosure of all, which none but the priests might enter, consisting of the temple proper, and the small court before it, where stood the great altar. To this, from the second court, there was an ascent by twelve steps. It was this Naos, or body of the temple, which was rebuilt by Herod the Great, who also built over again some of the magnificent porticos around the area. But no mention is made of his having had anything to do with the massive walls of the exterior enclosure.1 Dr. Robinson thinks it can hardly be a matter of question that the area of the present mosque of Omar occupies the same location in part or in whole. Some idea, from this somewhat minute description, may now be formed of the scene that met the eye of the youthful John, if we sup pose, that, when at Bethany, instead of following the road round to the valley of the Kidron, he took the path across the mountain. From the brow of Olivet all Jerusalem lay before him. Mount Akra, and Bezetha, covered with bazaars and houses ; and immediately below him Mount Moriah, crowned with the temple, blazing in the reflection of a bright vernal sun. The shape of the city was that of an irregular oblong. Mount Moriah lies near the middle of its eastern side, nearest to Olivet. About north-west from the temple lay what was called the lower city, or Akra. North, lay Bezetha. At the south-west end of the city rose Mount Zion, the city of David. The towers upon the walls contributed to its imposing appearance. The first or old wall had sixty, the second forty, and the third ninety. ' The walls, by which Mount Moriah had been built up and extended from the valley below, on the north, east, and west, were 450 feet high ; on the south side this wall rose to the astonishing height of 600 feet. Some of the stones employed in building these walls having a surface of seventy-five square feet. John descends the mountain ; he enters the city. From the elevated top of Mount Zion, the upper city, he has a nearer view of the temple. As he continues his walk, and enters the sacred enclosure, through the outer parapet, he sees the cloisters, or double porticos, on the north-east and West sides, supported by 162 columns, on the top of which rested an, exquisitely finished cedar ceiling. These pillars were entire shafts, hewn out of solid marble, perfectly white, forty- four feet high. On the south side the portico was triple, or had three rows of these marble pillars.2 1 Jos. Ant., xv., 11 ; Wars, v., 5. 2 Jos. ibidem. Salamiel, pp. 33-52. 58 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. If he entered as a guest into any of the houses, it was through a large gate or door, leading from the narrow street to a court or open space, around which the house was built, and from which it received its light. Except one latticed window or balcony, there are no win dows towards the street. Round this open court are seats ; and per haps a fountain plays in the centre. B; is paved with marble, and is the usual place for receiving guests. Doors open from it into the apartments, and when the house is more than one storey, into spacious chambers, with galleries running around, defended by balustrades. The streets of the city are narrow and gloomy, with rough pavement ; in some places passing by arched ways, through the edifices themselves. Such is the city, as to its external aspect, into which the young disciple of Jesus has come. Such the scene which is presented to his view, as he stands on Olivet or Zion, or goes round about the city marking its bulwarks, and telling the towers thereof.1 Of the miracles which Christ performed during his brief stay in' Jerusalem at this time, and of which St. John must have been a wit ness, no particular mention is made by any of the evangelists. It is simply recorded that " many believed in His name, when they saw the miracles which He did."2 John gives an account of the deep im pression upon the mind of a member of the Sanhedrin, a learned doctor, named Nicodemus. For the sake of a more unrestrained and private inter view, this man came to Jesus by night. What Nicodemus had seen and heard of His miraculous power had convinced him that Jesus was " a teacher come from God." There is nothing improbable in the supposi tion that John, who had accompanied Jesus to Jerusalem, was present on this occasion. How impressive the sight when this master in Israel, with grave and venerable aspect, approached the young Teacher, to listen to His wondrous words ! John, too, could hear them, and hear the soughing of the wind among the mountains, to which the rabbi's attention was directed, as the Lord instructed him on the mysterious subject of the nature and necessity of regeneration. He heard him say . " Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." He heard Him say, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilder ness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up ; that whosoever be lieveth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoso ever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world ; but that the world through Him might be saved." 3 And how could such 1 Ps. xlviii. 12, 13. ° John ii. 23. B John iii. 5-16. THE RURAL PARTS OF JUD^A. 59 words as these, as they fell from the lips of Him who spake as never man spake, be listened to by a man of so susceptible a nature as the young disciple, without making the deepest impression ? As John alone of the evangelists records the interesting conversation with Nicodemus, the reason may be that he alone was present. And the same may be true as it regards some of the other discourses he alone records. Matthew had not been called as yet to the apostleship. We know that St. John was one of the three disciples who were admitted to a closer intimacy, and were more constantly with Jesus. Neither of the other two was the author of a Gospel. Jesus does not appear at this time to have remained long in Jeru salem, but went into Judeea,1 i.e., into the rural districts adjacent, or into the province of Judaea in distinction from the city, doubtless re turning to Jerusalem to attend the great feasts of Pentecost and of Tabernacles. John accompanied Him, and with his fellow-disciples engaged in his first public work, that of baptizing, no doubt under the direction of Jesus, for "Jesus Himself baptized not, but His disciples." 2 As John, and Andrew, and Peter, and perhaps Philip and Nathanael, had been the disciples of John the Baptist, when such great multitudes flocked to him to be baptized, the rite was not new to them. John the Baptist was still prosecuting his work, but had left the Jordan, and come also to ^non near to Salim.3 The Pharisaic party, not under standing the relation between Jesus and His forerunner, and judging them according to the ordinary principles of human nature, sought to stir up jealousy between the parties. This was the occasion when John the Baptist uttered that testimony which John the Evangelist re cords,4 than which nothing can be nobler or finer. The evangelist was evidently once more within the sound of his old master's spirit-stirring voice, when these grand words wereuttered. John was at this time absent from Galilee with Jesus about two 1 John iii. 22. 2 John iv. 2. 3 John iii. 23. As the passage, as it stands in the evangelists, seems to require that this place should be found, not only at a distance from the Jordan, but in Judaea, there is reason to believe Dr. Barclay (1858) has discovered iEnon at Wady Farah, a, secluded valley about five miles north-east of Jerusalem. Here are very copious springs (vSara iroXkd), and the name Selom, or Seleim, the appellation of another wady close by. If John was baptizing near Scythopolis, according to Jerome (Onomasticon, under iEnon and Salem) and Thomson (Land and Book, ii., 176), or near to Nablus, according to Bobinson (Bib. Kes., ii., 279 ; iii., 298), i.e., in Samaria, it seems strange that the passage, John iii. 23, should be found where it is in the narrative, i.e., before Jesus and His disciples had left Judam. The narrative plainly demands that iEnon should be found in Judsa, in the same region where Jesus and His disciples were then Baptizing. 4 John iii. 27-36. 60 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. thirds of a year. He arrived in Jerusalem in April ; and the return journey must have been made in December, or the latter part of Novem ber.1 We have no minute account of the manner in which these months were employed ; how many parts of Judsea were explored ; whether the place of His nativity, Bethlehem, was visited ; whether it was at this time Jesus formed His intimacy with the family at Bethany; what may have happened at the feasts of Pentecost and of Tabernacles ; what discourses were delivered, what miracles were performed. Here are months in the Lord's brief ministry of almost unwritten history. That He was constantly engaged in doing good, there can be no doubt. His favoured disciple was constantly with Him. Jesus hears of the imprisonment of John the Baptist, and it deter mines His departure for Galilee.2 As this journey was made in the direction of Nazareth, and from the vicinity of Jerusalem, we cannot doubt as to the particular route taken. It was not now by the valley of the Jordan. Jerusalem rested on the southern edge of a grand and lofty plateau, which occupies the entire area of Central Palestine, inter rupted only by the valley of Esdraelon, crossing it midway between its northern and southern extremity. Along the summit of this moun tainous tract lay in ancient times, as now, the great road leading from Jerusalem through Samaria into Galilee. Dr. Robinson, in passing over this route, to his surprise came upon traces of an ancient paved road, similar to the Roman roads, probably a military way, the pavement re maining entire for a considerable distance.3 The country wears a sterile, desolate aspect. Twelve miles from Jerusalem, the travellers reach Bethel, a spot around which cluster so many sacred associations, Yet the whole region around it is said to be bleak and forbidding in aspect,4 and the surface so covered with stones that Jacob could scarcely have discovered a spot where a pillow could not easily be made ready for his head.5 Three or four acres of ruins mark the site of this ancient 1 John iv. 35. Seedtime fell in the beginning of November, so that the fields were already giving promise of harvest. According to Lev. xxiii. 5-7, etc., and Jos. Antiq., iii., 10 (5), the firstfruits of the barley-harvest were presented on the second day of the paschal week. The wheat-harvest was two or three weeks later. On the chronological value of the passage, see Eobinson's Greek Harmony, p. 189, and Wieseler's Chron. Synopse, p. 214. 2 Matt. iv. 12. -1 Bib. Bes., ii., p. 262. 4 Bob. Bib. Bes., i., p. 448. 5 Gen. xxviii. 11. Among the great lessons of the significant vision granted here to the patriarch, " a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold the angels of God ascending and descending upon it " (Gen. xxviii. 12), was this : that the servants of God, wherever they are, wherever they rest or wander, whether in sickness or health, whether in joy or sorrow, are the objects of His care and love, and He exerts a special providence in their behalf. There is great com- CENTRAL PALESTINE. 61 place. To the eastward rises a lofty hill, on the summit of which was the parting scene between Abraham and Lot ; and where, after Lot's departure, the Lord said to Abraham, " Lift up now thine eyes, and look; ... all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it."1 In the surrounding cliffs are many rock-hewn tombs, the same doubt less that existed in the days of king Josiah.2 It was through this interesting region, where every summit seemed to be a memento of what was sacred in the past, and the valleys still to be echoing with the voice of God and the words of patriarchs and prophets, that John was now passing in company with the great Teacher. The narrow territory of Benjamin is soon crossed, and they come to the hills known as " the mountains of Ephraim," the central mass in this hilly range, nearly equidistant from the northern and southern boundary of Palestine. Here the rocky soil begins to be broken into plains, in the heart of the mountains, and to be diversified with running streams and stretches of vegetation. The road is picturesquely wooded. The change is so marked coming from among the sterile hills of Judah and Benjamin that it is no wonder they should have been styled " the smiling hills of Ephraim."3 It leads on by the ancient Gophna of Josephus and Ptolemy, a name which does not appear in Scripture, unless it may be the same as Ophni.4 The next place of special interest in sacred history reached on this fort and strength to the good man in the thought that this providence of God is over and around us. (Mr. Charles Scribnsr, the founder of the publishing house, New York, that still bears his name, died amid the mountains of Switzerland, at Lucerne, Aug. 26, 1871. He went abroad for the recovery of health, which seemed for a time to be greatly benefited, but here fell a victim to typhoid fever. Heaven was as near as if he had laid himself down to that last sleep beneath his own roof. Those huge mountain- piles on which he looked out from the cottage window may have helped his dying vision to see the ladder Jacob saw, reaching as steps or stairs to the very gate of heaven. At his funeral was sung : — Angels to beckon me Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee ! " 1 There let the way appear Steps unto heaven ; All that Thou sendest me, In mercy given : He was a good man, of singular purity and unworldliness of character. He pos sessed admirable judgment, and his finished education and refined taste qualified birri in an eminent degree for the profession he adopted. But it was his con scientiousness, his humble, unostentatious piety which imparted to his character its singular attraction. He was modest and humble, true and faithful to his friends.) 1 Gen: xiii. 14. ¦ 2 Kings xxiii. 16. 3 De Pressense's Life of Christ, p. 296. 4 Josh, xviii. 24. 62 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. road, is Shiloh. It was the sanctuary of the nation, or the place where the ark remained, from the time of Joshua to Samuel ; and it was the great sanctuary of the house of Joseph during the whole period of their supremacy; yet from the days of Jerome, until the spot was identi- tified by Dr. Robinson1 in 1838, the site of Shiloh was completely for gotten, and its name transferred to Gibeon. It was here Samuel was dedicated to God, and His childhood spent in the sanctuary, and a feast was held to the Lord yearly. And it was here the last general division of the land was made among the tribes. From the hills amongst which Shiloh is secluded, our travellers descend into a wide plain, described as the wildest and most beautiful of the Ephraimite mountains. From the midst of the fields, unbroken by boundary or hedge, start up olive trees, unenclosed as the fields in which they stand. When Dr. Robinson passed along here, in the mid dle of June, " the fields of millet were green and beautiful." Over the hills, which close the northern end of this plain, far away in the distance, is caught the first glimpse of the snowy ridge of Hermon. Its western side is bounded by the abutments of two mountain-ranges, running from west to east. These ranges are Gerizim and Ebal.2 In the opening between them was the site of ancient Shechem. Nabulus, a corruption of Neapolis, the " New Town," founded by Vespasian, after the ruin of Shechem, now occupies the site, or very nearly the same site. It is a long and narrow city, stretching close by the north-east base of Mount Gerizim, in a small deep valley, half an hour distant from the great eastern plain. Keeping the road along its northern side, the traveller passes some high mounds, apparently of ashes ; where all at once the ground sinks down to a valley running towards the west, with a soil of rich black vegetable mould. Here a scene of luxuriant and almost unparalleled verdure bursts upon the view. The whole valley is filled with gardens and orchards of all kinds of fruits, watered by fountains which burst forth in various parts, and flow westward in refreshing streams. It breaks upon the view like a scene of fairy 1 It was not a city, but the " camp of Shiloh " (Jud. xxi. 12). It was the last encampment, or the " last relic of the nomad existence of the chosen people." In the rabbinical traditions the sanctuary was described as " a structure of low stones, with a tent drawn over the top; " Mishna (ed. Surenhusius), vol. v., 59. When the sanctuary was removed, the place was deserted, and became desolate to a proverb, Jer. vii. 12, 14 ; xxvi. 6. It is the careful manner in which the location is specified in the Scriptures which enabled Dr. Eobinson to discover it. Judges xxi. 19; Bib. Ees., ii., p. 269 ; Stanley's Sinai and Palestine, p. 233. 2 Deut. xi. 26-29. The blessing was to be on Mount Gerizim, the curse onMount Ebal. This was accomplished by half the tribes standing on one mount, and half on the other ; those on Gerizim affirming blessings, and those on Ebal curses, as pronounced by the Levites who stood with the ark in the valley below. Deut. xxvii. 11-26. Copied by permission from a photograph taken by F. FRITH. AMONG THE SAMARITANS. 63 enchantment. Nothing is seen to compare with it in all Palestine.1 The traveller who approaches this valley from the richer scenery of the north, is no less struck by it than those who contrast it with the barren hills of Judffia. " The awful gorge of the Leontes is grand and bold be yond description. The hills of Lebanon over against Sidon are magnificent and sublime. The valley of the hill of Naphtali is rich in wild oak forest and brushwood. Those of Asher, Wady-Kara, for exam ple, present a beautiful combination of wood and mountain-stream, in all the magnificence of undisturbed originality. . . . Carmel, with its wilderness of timber trees and shrubs, of plants and bushes, still answers to its ancient reputation for magnificence. But the vale of Shechem differs from them all. Here there is no wilderness ; here there are no wild thickets ; yet there is always verdure, always shade, not of the oak, the terebinth, and the carob-tree, but of the olive grove, so soft in colour, so picturesque in form, that for its sake we can willingly dispense with all other wood. Here there are no impetuous mountain torrents, yet there is water ; water, too, in more copious sup plies than anywhere else in the .land, and it is just to its many foun tains, rills, and watercourses, that the valley owes its exquisite beauty."2 It was into this beautiful valley that Jesus on His way to Galilee came with His disciples. They were now in Samaria, among a people between whom and the Jews were no friendly relations. The name, Samaritan, was a term of reproach among the Jews ; and the town of Shechem, or Sichem, probably in consequence of the contempt of the Jewish common people, went by the name of Sychar. 3 To this city, or to the well near it, known as Jacob's well, which Dr. Robinson found to be about thirty-five minutes distant from the present city, Jesus, wearied with travelling over the mountains of Ephraim, came 1 Bib. Ees., ii., p. 275. 2 C. W. M. Van de Velde, late Lieut. Dutch E.N., i., p. 386. 3 Land and Book, ii., p. 206. An interesting statement has recently been made public. It is contained in a letter of the Eev. C. H. Payson, of New York, travel ling in Palestine, dated April 6th, 1873. The Eev. J. El Karey, who is a native of Samaria, partly Jew, partly Arab by birth, and now by faith a Christian, has been successfully labouring at Nabulus, for the last five years, under the auspices of an English missionary society, as a missionary physician. Discovering in the syna- gogue at N&bulus, a record kept by the priests, that reaches back hundreds of years before Christ, containing an account of interesting events connected with the synagogue, it occurred to him to search this record, to see if it contained any re ference to this visit of Christ. He ascertained that the name of the leading priest in the time of Christ was Shaffer ; he did not find, however, what he sought, but was rewarded by the discovery of this statement : — " In the Vdth year of my priesthood, and the 4281sf year of the world, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Mary, was erucified at Jerusalem." 64 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. and rested, while His disciples went into the city to purchase food.1 It was the first spot on which Abraham halted, when he came into the land which God had promised to give him,2 and where he built the first altar to the true God. At the mouth of the valley in which Shechem was built, the traveller of to-day may see a white Mussulman chapel, which covers the alleged tomb of Joseph, in the parcel of ground which his father Jacob bequeathed to him. Near it a few fragments of stone show the place of Jacob's well. A large stone coders or fills its mouth, and it is choked by the ruins that have fallen into it. Of the special localities made sacred by the visit, the discourses, and the miracles of Jesus, it is almost the only one absolutely undisputed. Dr. Robinson thinks we may rest with confidence in the opinion that this is Jacob's well, and here was the parcel of ground which Jacob gave to his son Joseph ; and that here the Saviour taught the Samari tan woman. Here he had halted, at a distance of some thirty-five miles from Jerusalem, as travellers still halt, on this same, great thoroughfare, by the side of the well. Up that narrow valley, His disciples leaving Him, wend their way to the city, to obtain food. As He was sitting there, a woman, in the cool of the early morning,3 came with her pitcher to draw water. He entered into conversation with her. Far and wide around them extended the noble plain of waving corn. The vale was musical with the songs of thousands of birds.4 Above them, as they talked, on one hand, rose to the altitude of some 800 feet Gerizim, crowned by the temple, of which vestiges still remain, where the Samaritans said men ought to worship, and to which, after so many centuries, their descendants still turn as to the only sacred spot in the wide world ; 5 and on the other, to about the same height, the somewhat steeper and less watered Ebal, from which the words of the curse were spoken. The light of the rising sun was fast dis persing the shadows they cast over the valley that lay between. While the conversation with the woman was going on, John and his fellow-disciples were absent in the city. In consequence of the 1 John iv. 3-6. 2 Gen. xii. 6. 3 "ilpa •§« Cbo-el iKrn, i.e., the hour was somewhere about the sixth hour. If John adopts the Eoman horology here, as he evidently does in other instances, this must have been at an early hour in the morning, between six and seven o'clock, after a journey which had been prosecuted during a considerable portion of the preceding night. It could not have been at evening, for the sun at N&bulus would set at the end of November, not far from five o'clock, and at six in that country of brief twilight, it would have been quite dark. A night- journey, so common among travellers in Palestine at the present day, would account for the fatigue of our Lord. 4 Land and Book, ii., p. 203. 6 Stanley's Palestine, p. 242. THE WONDERFUL RESULT. 65 mortal hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans, there was no little peril, and it therefore required courage in this little band of the followers of Jesus to venture within the city. The long-continued animosity had been deepened by what had happened some years before, under the government of Coponius. During the feast of the passover a company of Samaritans, entering Jerusalem by night, had at tempted to interrupt the solemnity, by profaning the sanctuary with human bones. This explains the astonishment of the woman that Jesus should address her, and ask a favour of her, as well as that of the disciples when they returned with the food they had purchased, and found their Master engaged in conversation with her. Jesus must have communicated to John, who alone records the details of the interview with the woman, this part of this interesting episode in His ministry. While the woman hastened into the city to invite the people to come out and see a man who had told her all the things that ever she did, the Saviour addressed His disciples, and made use of an expression which indicates the season of the year, " Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest ? " From the form of the ex pression, we infer that the harvest was yet four months distant. And as the harvest had its legal commencement, when a sheaf of the first- fruits was to be waved before the Lord, about the first of April, if we count back four months, we obtain the last of November, or the first of December, as the time when this visit was made by Jesus to Samaria. Such was the effect of the woman's report on her countrymen, and of the discourses which they themselves heard from Him, that He re mained there two days, at the earnest solicitation of the Samaritans ; and many believed on Him. A most wonderful result ! With what amazement must John and his companions have contemplated it ! Leaving Shechem, the Saviour and His disciples journeyed on through the valley, which presents on every side a beautiful and inviting land scape of green hills and dales, ornamented with olive-groves and fountains. At the distance of two hours' travel, they pass the city of Samaria, the ancient capital of the ten tribes. Here was the scene of many of the miracles and acts of the great prophets, Elijah and Elisha. It occupied a situation of great strength, beauty, and fertility combined. It was built on a large isolated hill, rising by successive terraces, at least six hundred feet above the valleys that surround it. From the topmost terrace, far away over the rich plains and hills, can be descried the blue Mediterranean.1 But they press on through the valley of Jezreel, remarkable as the scene of great battles, and by the 1 Thomson's Land and Book, ii., pp. 197, 198. F 66 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. lofty ridge now known as Little Hermon. The hills of Central Pales tine descend on the north, through long broken passes, to the great plain of Esdraelon. Through these passes the lines of communication must have run between the north and south ; and by one of them Jesus and His little band of followers must have journeyed, skirting the western side of the plain, until they arrive at Nazareth, the place where He had passed the years of His childhood and youth. Nazareth ! one of the most interesting spots to the Christian, on the face of the earth, but once so obscure and unimportant that it is not named in the Old Testament, nor even by Josephus, who shows the most intimate knowledge of the whole region, but seems to be totally ignorant of the existence of this place.1 The residence of the Son of man in it for thirty years, has imparted to it all the history it has in the annals of the world ; a history which might well be coveted by the most renowed city on earth ! The same great features and outlines and glorious works of nature, with which the Saviour was familiar may still be seen there. The narrow vale, on the side of which the village is built, extending up the steep mountain back of it, of course remains very much as it was then. The same fountain to which the young Jesus came, still supplies the pitchers of the children of Naza reth. Shut in by swelling eminences, gently-rounded hills rising round it, as if to guard it from intrusion, Nazareth itself must have always been wanting in prospects and distant views.2 The carpenter's Son would have to climb the western hill, risjng at least some five hundred feet above the bottom of the wady, to catch a view of the distant sea, and breathe its fresh breezes. From thence his eye might rove over a vast expanse of sacred scenery. On the south east Tabor rises with its rounded dome ; Hermon's white top in the distant north ; Carmel and the Mediterranean Sea to the west ; and in the nearer prospect, on the west, overhanging the plain of Acre, the town of Sepphorieh, the Roman capital of the province, where Herod held his court.3 " Here the Prince of Peace looked down upon the 1 " There is a sort of latent beauty and appropriateness in the arrangement by which He who made all things out of nothing should Himself come forth to the world out of a place that had no history. Within the last hundred years, Naza reth has gradually grown in size, and risen into importance, until it has become the chief town of this district. It is now larger and more prosperous than in any former period in its history, and is still enlarging. The present population must exceed three thousand. The present growth of Nazareth is mainly owing to the unchecked inroads of the Arabs, from beyond Jordan, which has rendered it un safe to reside in Beis£n and on the great plain of Esdraelon " (Dr. Thomson's Land and Book, ii., p. 129). 2 Land and Book, ii., p. 131. 8 OrSeffiirieh; obviously the Sepphoris of Josephus and Tsippori of the rab bins. It is not mentioned in Scripture. It was rebuilt and fortified by Herod REJECTED AT NAZARETH. 67 great plain, where the din of battles so oft had rolled, and the gar ments of the warrior been dyed in blood ; and He looked out, too, upon that sea over which the swift ships were to bear the tidings of His salvation to nations, and to continents then unknown/ How has the moral aspect of things been changed ! Battles and bloodshed have indeed not ceased to desolate this unhappy country, and gross darkness now covers the people ; but from this region a light went forth, which has enlightened the world, and unveiled new climes ; and now the rays of that light begin to be reflected back from distant isles and continents to illuminate anew the darkened land where it first sprang up."1 The report of the wonderful works of Jesus in Jerusalem and Judaea had preceded Him, brought back by those who had gone up from Galilee to the feast ; and the Galileans, as a general thing, perhaps proud of the honour He had reflected on His country, were disposed to receive Him. Ho came back preaching, " Repent ye, and believe the gospel." Strange to tell, at Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and to which He had already given greater fame than it had ever enjoyed before, although all bare Him witness, and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded from His mouth, He was thrust out of the synagogue, and brought to the brow of a precipice of the hill on which the city was built, that they might cast Him down headlong ; and they would have done it had He not escaped out of their hands. A precipice of this hill breaks off in a perpendicular wall, forty or fifty feet in height, which may well have been the spot to which the Nazarenes led Jesus, to execute their murderous purpose.3 Of the fulfilment of this prophecy, " He was despised and rejected of men," s St. John thus early became an astonished witness. He began now to learn what was involved in discipleship to such a Master. He retired with Him to Cana, the home of Nathanael, a town some seven miles to the north, where the great miracle of turning water into wine had been performed. Whilst here another very remarkable miracle was wrought. A nobleman, supposed to be Chuza, one of the chief officers of Herod's court came in great haste and anxiety, and besought Him to come at once to Capernaum to heal his son, who was lying at the point of death. He would have Christ instantly leave the work in Antipas. After the destruction of Jerusalem, the great Jewish Sanhedrin is said to have been established here, for some years before it was transferred to Tiberias. It was called by the Eomans Diocassarea. Jos., Life, 9, 45, 65 ; Ant. xiv., 15, (4) ; xvii., 10, (9), etc. ; Eeland's Palestina, p. 998; Eobinson's Bib. Ees., ii., p. 344. 1 Bob. Bib. Ees.,ii., pp. 337, 338. 2 Eob. Bib. Ees., ii., p. 335.' But see also Land and Book, ii., p. 135. 3 Is. liii. 3. 68 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. which He was engaged, no matter what distress there might be to be relieved at Cana, and hurry to the bedside of his dying son, not knowing while he gave so much evidence of faith how inadequate it was, and that the Lord, though at the distance of a score of miles, with a word could heal the sick just as effectually as if He were present and could lay His hands on him. The visit of the nobleman probably prepared the way for Christ to come to Capernaum, and may have led to His selecting it as His future Galilean home, as Bethany came to enjoy a similar honour in Judasa. On arriving at Capernaum He went into the synagogue, where He taught with so much power that they who heard Him were astonished. Here John saw a demoniac healed by a command to the unclean spirit to come out of the man, and he heard the spirit cry, " Thou Jesus of Nazareth, art Thou come to destroy us ? I know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God."1 So great were the crowds on one occasion that pressed upon Him to hear the word of God, that He went into a boat, and taught the people standing on the shore. At the conclusion of His discourse, He directed Peter, to whom the boat belonged, to put out into the deeper waters, and cast the nets. In another vessel were James and John. So great was the number of fishes that they were overwhelmed with astonishment. From this time they forsook all and followed Him ; and He told them that from henceforth they should catch men.2 Whatever- may have been the secret thoughts and pur poses of John and his companions heretofore, as to the future course of their lives, their plans were now fully formed. Whatever prospects the world may have held out, he now resolved to forsake all and follow Christ, and devote his life to His service as He should direct. He had been called to the discipleship ; he now freely chose it for himself. Accompanied by His disciples, Jesus at once starts on His first circuit through Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and healing all manner of diseases, and His fame spreads over the whole province of Syria.3 The whole region was crowded with people, as attested, not ODly by history, but by the ruins of towns and cities which fill it. It was a new mode of life to John ; and by what he daily heard and saw, his faith in his new Master had occasion to be strengthened. On returning to Capernaum He performed another miracle, similar to the healing of the nobleman's son, — that of the centurion's servant, 1 Mark i. 21-28 ; Luke iv. 33-37. John and his fellow-disciples had every con ceivable form of evidence that the Master whom they followed was the promised Messiah. Not only voices from heaven above, but voices from beneath proclaimed Him. The demoniacal possessions which marked the period of our Lord's appear ance were overruled in this way, and may have been permitted for this purpose. 2 Luke v. 1-11. 3 Matt. iv. 23-25; Mark i. 35-39 ; Luke iv. 42-44. ST. MATTHEW CALLED. 69 whose faith and humility were such that, feeling unworthy the Saviour should come under his roof, he desired Him only to speak the word, remaining where He was. His faith received the highest commenda tion ; his request was granted, and his servant healed.1 In Peter's household He performed the miracle of healing his wife's mother by touching her hand. And we are told that all the sick of this city, whatever diseases they had, were brought to Him, and He cured them all ; so that once in the history of this sin-stricken world, there has been a considerable place or city, in which for a time, no sickness could be found. The whole train of human maladies was kept at bay by Him, to whose word they were as obedient as soldiers to their com mander, or servants to their master. John was present at Capernaum on this happy occasion. He was, moreover, about to receive a new companion in the discipleship, selected from a class whom, doubtless, in common with the Jews generally, he had been in the habit of look ing upon with contempt. Matthew or Levi, the publican, was called from the very receipt of custom ; he probably being the tax-gatherer for the district of Capernaum. Our Lord thus closely identifies Him self and His followers with a despised class. At the feast which Matthew made for Him in his own house, were many publicans and sinners ; and He seizes the occasion to give the offended Pharisees some wholesome instruction, which may have been equally suited to John and his companions, previously called to the discipleship.2 The list, as it now stood, was John, James, Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathanael, and Matthew.3 Christ loved them all ; and when He had chosen the twelve who were to be apostles, all were dear to Him ; even those whose names scarcely appear in the evangelical narrative, except in the apostolic catalogues there given. He loved Judas Iscariot. But Peter, James, and John, appear to have stood in a nearer relation to Him than the others. They formed a kind of inner circle ; the innermost nearest circle of the loving trusting hearts that gathered around Him. But of this favoured triad John was admitted to the closest intimacy, and 1 Matt. viii. 5-13 ; Luke vii. 1-10. 2 Matt. ix. 9-17 ; Mark ii. 14-22 ; Luke v. 27-39. 3 The humility of Matthew is very worthy of notice. He speaks of himself in his gospel as if he had but the slightest possible connection with the narrative. He was " a man named Matthew," and he records in .the simplest manner possible the two facts that he was in the discharge of the duties of his office when Christ called him, and that he immediately followed Christ on being called. He refers to him self on but one other occasion — in the catalogue he gives of the names of the apostles, Matt. x. 3. Mark and Luke mention the fact that Matthew, or Levi, as they call him, made a great feast in his house, at which Jesus was present in company with many publicans and sinners. Mark ii. 15 ; Luke v. 29. Matthew himself, in referring to this feast, makes no allusion to the fact that it was made by him (chap. ix. 10). 70 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. must already have had many opportunities of enjoying its privileges. He was to be best known as " the disciple whom Jesus loved." Near the close of the first year of the Lord's ministry, these three disciples were permitted to be present, when all others were excluded, on a most important occasion — that of the resurrection of a person from the dead — the first miracle of the kind by our Lord of which record is made, and of which, probably, there had been no example among the Jews since the days of the old prophets. The person on whom this miracle was wrought was the young daughter of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue. Having caused the company, who were gathered around the body weeping, and indulging in all those manifest ations of grief customary among the Jews, to leave the room where the corpse was lying, He went in with the father and mother, and the three disciples just named, and taking the child by the hand called her back to life again.1 The impression of that scene on the spectators could never pass away. John was one of them, and shared in the joy of the parents as they received back to life and health their little daughter; saw her walk, and eat, and smile again. From that hour he must have looked with increasing wonder and admiration on the Master whom he was following. Another miracle of a similar kind almost immediately followed. Jesus went out to Nain, a town in the vicinity of Capernaum, and seems to have gone expressly to meet a funeral procession at the gate. It was that of a young man, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. He touches the bier, and says, "Arise;" and he that was dead sat up and began to speak.2 It was about this time that John the Baptist, lying in prison, oppressed with solitude and inaction, sent a message 3 to Jesus, which betrayed a disturbance of that faith he had so confidently expressed when he pointed Him out to Andrew and John as the Lamb of God. How must these old disciples of the Baptist have wished that he could see and know what had been granted to them ! Thus closes the first year of the Lord's ministry, and of John's association with Him as a disciple ; a year of constant labour, in which were gathered in the first fruits of the spiritual harvest in Judsea and Samaria and Galilee. No adequate view of the history of this disciple can be given, without presenting those parts of the history of the Master, in which especially he had a more immediate personal concern, nor can we otherwise discern the influences which served to form and develop his character and fit him for his work. The history of his connection with Christ exhibits his preparation — his training and educa- 1 Matt. ix. 18-26 ; Mark v. 22-43 ; Luke viii. 41-56. 2 Luke vii. 11-17. * Matt. xi. 2-19 ; Luke vii. 19-35. AGAIN AT JERUSALEM. 71 tion, it may be said — for the great work to which he was called. How ever little he may have known of schools and academies, he had for. his tutor Him whom he learned to style the Light of the world.1 At the beginning of St. John's second year under the tuition of the great Teacher, we find him again at Jerusalem with his Master, whither he had gone to be present at the passover.2 We have no intimation by what route this journey was made, nor of the incidents of the journey. We pass over what occurred at the pool of Bethesda,8 as full of instruction and impressive as the scene must have been to John, and the events of the return- journey, except to notice that the charge of violation of the Sabbath, which the Pharisees brought against Him, on account of His healing the impotent man at Bethesda, seems to have led Him on the way to instruct His disciples in regard to the true sanctity of the Sabbath ; and thus to bring into bolder contrast the spiritual system He taught with the ceremonial system of the Pharisees. On the following Sabbath, he repeated the lesson in the synagogue (probably at Capernaum), where He had healed the man with a withered hand, and silenced His enemies. It was now that the Pharisees first began seriously to plot against His life. It was this probably that had led Him to withdraw so soon to the Sea of Tiberias, which hitherto had been the chief theatre of His ministry. Great 1 John i 7-9 ; viii. 12 ; ix. 5 ; xii. 46, etc. 2 John v. 1. 3 The monks and many travellers have chosen to find the pool of Bethesda in the deep reservoir or trench on the north side of the area of the great mosque, or temple-area; and in the two long vaults at its south-west corner they profess to find two of the five ancient porches. But there is not the slightest evidence that can identify it with the Bethesda of the New Testament. Dr. Eobinson thinks that this was a trench designed to protect the fortress of Antonia on the north. The name Bethesda has probably been assigned to it in comparatively modern times, from its proximity to St. Stephen's gate, which was erroneously held to be the ancient Sheep-gate. Bib. Bes., vol. i., p. 330 seq. Dr. Eobinson suggests, with great probability, that the Bethesda of Scripture is to be found in the pool of the Virgin, situated at a short distance outside the present wall of the city, in the valley of Jehoshaphat, into which the water is supposed to come from a fountain beneath the temple-vaults, and from which it flows, by a subterraneous passage, under the hill Ophel, into the pool of Siloam. After a careful examination of the subject, we are constrained to accept the suggestion that the fountain of the Virgin, or the upper pool of Siloam, is the true site of the ancient Bethesda. The dis covery of Dr. Eobinson that the upper pool is intermitting or irregular in its flow (for he may be said to have discovered it, as the fact had been overlooked by the learned world for centuries), throws great light on the passage which records Christ's miracle at Bethesda. It strongly confirms the results of the best criticism on John v. 1-9, which regards the closing words of the third verse, in the English, " waiting for the moving of the water," to the end of the fourth verse — in the Greek, from the word exSexopAvoiv to the word voai\pari — as spurious. But see the author's " Bethesda and its Miracle " in Biblioth. Sac, vol. xxvii., No. 105, Jan., 1870 ; Art. v. 1 1 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. multitudes gathered around Him. They came from all parts of Judsea and Galilee, and from the countries lying to the south-east of Tiberias, Idumea and Peraaa, and to the north-east, from the region about those great ancient marts of trade, Tyre and Sidon.1 At night He sought retirement ; He went out into a mountain near Capernaum, and spent a whole night in prayer.2 That night of prayer had some reference, there can be no doubt, to what was to occur the following day. In the morning, " He called unto Him His disciples ; and of them He chose twelve, whom He also named apostles." In this honoured list occurs the name of John, who, together with his brother, the first apostolic martyr, received the surname, Boanerges, sons of thunder.3 It was a great office, the greatest to which man was ever called. In virtue of it he was to be endowed with miraculous power, and the gift of inspiration ; he was to receive the keys of the kingdom of heave'n, and to be entrusted with the organization of the Church and the dissemination of the religion of Christ among men. He had been already more than a year with Christ, before he received solemn appointment to this high office. His tuition and discipline were to be continued during the whole period of the Lord's ministry ; and after His ascension he was to receive those supernatural gifts which would qualify him to perform the high functions he would be called to exercise. The Founder of Christianity did not send forth uninstructed, untrained, undisciplined men to do His work. The apostles have been so often described as rude, untaught fishermen, that it is the more important to notice their advantages over all other men in their contact and close association with the greatest of teachers for a period of more than three years. 1 Mark iii. 8, 9. 2 Luke vi. 12, 13. The calling and training of the apostles was a most moment ous part of the work of Christ. When in John xvii. 4-6, He says rb ipyov crcXeiWa, k.t.X., I have finished the work, etc., He defines the declaration more precisely, icpavipaa-d o-ov rb 8vopa, k.t.X., I have declared thy name unto the men which thou gavest me. The great work of His public life was concentrated in the preparation of those who were to be His witnesses. His ministry had for its chief end the training of the twelve apostles. This is a fact which must not be overlooked, if we would rightly estimate His miracles and instructions, and the influences that were concerned in the education of such men as John and his associates. " From the time of their being chosen, indeed, the twelve entered on a regular apprentice ship for the great office of the apostleship, in the course of which they were to learn, in the privacy of an intimate daily fellowship with their Master, what they should do, be, believe, and teach, as His witnesses and ambassadors to the world. Henceforth the teaching of these men was to be a constant and prominent part of Christ's personal work." This idea has been elaborated at great length in a work which has just fallen under the author's notice : " The Training of the Twelve," by the Eev. Alex. B. Bruce. Edinburgh : T. & T. Clark, 1872. See p. 31, etc., passim. 3 Mark iii. 17. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 73 It was at or near this period, that Christ delivered, and, as it appears, especially for the instruction of Hi3 disciples, that wonderful discourse, known as the Sermon on the Mount.1 It may, without any straining or violence, be regarded as a discourse inaugurativo of the apostolic office, and designed expressly for the instruction of those who were to fill this office. It opens with the beatitudes, and proclaims the spirit of the new dispensation ; and thus it is to the New Testament what the Ten Commandments were to the Old. It was designed to show these men, preparing for their work as apostles, that the pre cepts Christ gave, instead of abrogating, enforce, in its true spiritual import, the law given on Sinai, expanded into the new law of love. It is a discourse which excites admiration the more it is studied, and the more its adaptation to its end is discovered. It was a fit occasion for giving the men, who were to be " apostles of the Lamb," and whose names were to be inscribed on the " twelve foundations " of the New Jerusalem,3 some special instruction ; and for a public declaration respecting the spiritual nature of the kingdom of Christ, and the life and character of those who would become His followers. It was the apostles, who were to be charged with carrying forward the great work of evangelizing the world, who were primarily meant when Jesus said, "Ye are the salt of the earth ;" " Te are the light of the world." It was, however, intended for all who felt drawn to follow Him, to teach them what they had to expect, and what would be expected of them. It was intended to exhibit the kingdom of Messiah as the consumma tion for which the old dispensation had prepared the way. The apostles gathered immediately around Him, while the multitude, at the foot of the slope on which He was seated, would hear from His own lips, those great truths respecting the requisites for entering His kingdom, the results of admission therein, and the relations of the members to one another, and to their fellow-men.3 " We are no more in the burning desert, at the foot of lightning-crowned Horeb, in a land of terror, where the divine voice reverberates like thunder among the naked rocks. Jesus is seated on a grassy slope, which by a gentle incline sinks down to the Lake of Tiberias. The gorges of Hattin, to which tradition assigns this great gospel-scene, command the enchant ing landscape of the country of Gennesaret. Every utterance of nature is peace and love ; and nothing is more easy than to picture to one's self the Master in such a scene, surrounded by His twelve apostles, 1 Matt. v. 1, 2. He went up into the mountain, avifin els rb Spos, that He might separate His disciples from the great throng that was gathered about Him, and address His instructions more particularly to them. - Eev. xxi. 14. 3 Neander's Life of Christ, chap. ix. 74 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. and addressing them in the hearing of the multitude, seated on the flowery p-^ass His first word is not a threat, but a blessing. The new law is not, like the old, a terrible manifestation of the divine holiness, flashing on the eyes of men, in condemnation and unap proachable purity. No ; it is, in its very essence, grace and pardon ; He who proclaims it is the Saviour of mankind. And yet every beatitude has a corresponding anathema. Matthew restricts himself to the benedictions, because he knows full well that they are sufficient in themselves to condemn Phariseeism. The Sermon on the Mount is not the opening of an idyl ; it is the prelude of a drama, of a conflict ; thus, from its commencement, it is transfused with a solemn forebod ing. On these enchanted shores of the Sea of Galilee we see again the burning bush, out of which speaks again the High and Holy One. The God of sovereign compassion is also a consuming fire." l As Jesus came down from the mountain, followed by the multitude, He exhibited again His miraculous power, by healing one afflicted with that terrible form of disease, the leprosy. He immediately made another circuit, accompanied by the twelve now appointed to the apostolic office, through all the cities and villages of Galilee, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. They shared in this blessed privilege, and thus exercised their gifts and gained ex perience.2 In addition to the seven whose names have already ap peared (John, Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathanael, James brother of John, and Matthew), the men who constituted this sacred band, and who were henceforth to be so intimately associated with John, were Thomas, James son of Alpheus, Simon Zelotes, Jude the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot.3 They were accompanied by the pious women, who ministered to Christ of their substance ; some of whom were the same who were to attest their fealty and heroism at His crucifixion, Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, the wife or widow of Chuza, Herod's steward. Our Lord at this time commenced that method of instruction by parables, of which He made so great use, and the meaning of which He often unfolded to His disciples in private ; as for example, that instruc tive series in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, all relating to the same subject, — the kingdom or Church of Christ ; in which we have (1) the establishment, (2) the government or discipline, (3) the. exten sion, (4) the internal or spiritual growth, (5) the preciousness, (6) the purchase, and (7) the final perfection of the kingdom, so strikingly set 1 De Pressense's Jesus Christ ; Times, Jufe, etc., pp. 321, 322. 2 Luke viii. 1-3. 3 Nathanael is the same as Bartholomew, Lebbeus or Thaddeus the same as Jude the brother of James, Simon the Canaanite the same as Simon Zelotes. Of Simon not a single circumstance is recorded beyond the fact that he was one of the twelve. He is the least known of all the apostles. THE TWELVE WITHOUT THE MASTER. 75 before us. On then- return to Capernaum, to escape the throng of people that were continually about Him, and enjoy a season of quiet, Ho gave direction to the apostles that they should set sail for the other side of the lake. It was on this occasion a certain scribe desired to follow Him, to whom He made the plaintive reply, which could not have been without its effect on so susceptible a nature as that of John, " The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man1 hath not where to lay His head." It was evening when they set sail, and Jesus, wearied with His recent manifold labours, was soon asleep. A storm arose, and they were in great fear ; they awake Him, and He performs for the first time the miracle of stilling the tempest.2 Passing over the miracles, the discourses, the parables, and the third tour which Jesus made through the cities and villages of Galilee, all of which must have been full of instruction to the disciples, who had already become so dear to Him and to the whole band, we come to the period when the Saviour was moved with compassion as Ho saw the multitudes perishing as sheep having no shepherd, and sent forth the twelve, by two and two, in all directions, giving them power to work miracles, particularly to heal the sick, and commanding them to preach the kingdom of God.3 They were not to pass beyond the boundaries of Palestine among the Gentiles ; they were not even to enter any city of the Samaritans. It was a mission exclusively to their own people, or kindred, according to the flesh, the Jews. He gave them the sub stance of what they were to preach : " The kingdom of heaven is at hand." He gave them a charge as to their deportment, and the manner in which they should cast themselves unreservedly on the care and protection of divine providence in prosecuting their work. The Jews in every part of the land must first hear the glad tidings before they could look abroad to other fields, however white to the harvest. We are not told who was John's companion on this missionary tour. Perhaps it was Peter. More probably it was his brother James. They were " sons of thunder," and no doubt prosecuted their mission with a zeal and fervour becoming the title they had received. But the par- 1 Matt. viii. 20. This title, vibs rov dvBpdirov, the Son of man, is here for the first time applied to Christ, by Himself, and is never, although it occurs some sixty times, applied to Him by any other person in the gospels. After His ascen sion we find it applied to Him by the martyr Stephen (Acts vii. 56) ; and in the Apocalypse (i. 13 and xiv. 14). It is used in Dan. vii. 13, where everlasting dominion is ascribed to Messiah. Dr. J. Addison Alexander, who seldom in a matter of this kind falls into mistake, in commenting on the words of Stephen in the above passage in Acts, says, the title " is nowhere else in Scripture applied to Christ except by Himself." 2 Mark iv. 35-41 ; Luke viii. 22-25. 3 Mark vi. 7-13. 76 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. ticular history of the sayings and doings of these young men, sent forth on an embassy of such high importance, is not recorded. We are simply told that they returned and reported to Jesus all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. It was a critical period in their- history. What a moment it must have been to John and his companions when for the first time they exercised their newly acquired power of performing miracles ! Was there no danger lest the possession of such a power should work in them a spirit of presumption and self-consequence ? But the Lord was with them to strengthen them in their weakness. They do not, on this first occasion in which they venture forth without their- Master, appear to have encountered much opposition or persecution. The mission with which Jesus charged them had been proportioned to their weakness. It was not prosecuted among the philosophic heathen, nor the hostile Samaritans, but was confined to their own countrymen, and mainly, probably, to Galilee. And their preaching was limited to the general announcement that the promised Messiah had appeared, — a message indeed of the weightiest import. They were criers and heralds of the great fact, and knew enough, especially John and those of their number who had been dis ciples of the forerunner of Christ, to be entrusted on this embassy alone. They proclaimed without fear what they knew of truth, that Messiah had come ; and Jesus, the Master they followed, and who had sent them, was He. On the return of the twelve He takes them into a desert place for rest, thus showing His regard for the health and physical comfort of those whom He had called to labour for Him. Ho departs privately by boat to an uninhabited region on the other side of the lake. But the people saw in what direction Ho sailed, watching the boat no doubt from the highlands near the shore, and hastened to the spot by thousands. The country was thronging with people again preparing to go to the passover at Jerusalem. They had followed in such haste that they found themselves in that desert-region without food. Five loaves and two small fishes in the possession of a lad was all the food found in the company. With these He performed the miracle of feed ing five thousand men, besides women and children, and after all had eaten twelve baskets full were left, one for each of the apostles ; as if there was something symbolical in this, designed to teach them that of the bread of life of which they were made the bearers to nations, the supply could never be exhausted. Such was the effect of the miracle on the thousands that they resolved by force to make Him their king. What must have been the effect of all this enthusiasm on the minds of the apostles ? May not the idea of being first in the kingdom in the minds of John and James, which had its development at a later period, THE LAST TEAR OP TRAINING. 77 have had its inception at this time ? Our Lord sends the apostles back to the other side, and hides Himself in a mountain at hand. During the night they are overtaken by a violent storm on the lake, and are filled with the utmost terror. Jesus comes to them walking on the sea; but they take Him to be some phantom or spirit of the storm. As soon as He enters the vessel the tempest is calmed, and they find themselves at the point where they wished to land. The thousands who had been fed follow Him back to the western side of the lake, and He delivers to them a most important and instructive discourse, unfolding the spiritual nature of His kingdom and of the blessings to be conferred on His followers. The effect was that many who had professed to be His disciples left Him; but the apostles remained firm in their attachment. Many when they discovered that no worldly advantage was likely to accrue to them, went back and walked no more with Him. But John and his associates were stead fast; and in face of the gathering dangers could say in strong emphatic language, " We believe and are sure that Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." It was on the occasion of His faithful discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum, after the miracle of feeding the five thousand, in which Jesus proclaimed Himself to be the Bread of Life, and said, " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood ye have no life in you," that this profession was solemnly made by the twelve, one only of their number not joining sincerely in it.1 Probably those things which had caused some who had been numbered among His disciples to turn back had begun to affect the mind of Judas, and cause his dreams of earthly riches and grandeur to fade away. The days of darkness were drawing near ; the hour of dreaded conflict was at hand ; Christ joins none of the caravans that are moving on towards Jerusalem to the passover. He knew how intense the spirit of opposition and hatred to Him had become ; and as His hour had not yet come, He resolves not to go to Jerusalem, but to remain and prosecute His ministry in Galilee. Whether John remained with Him or went to the passover does not appear. We enter upon the last year of the apostle's training for his work under the tuition of Jesus. At the beginning of this year occurred a most interesting episode in the Saviour's life. Disappointed by His not appearing at Jerusalem at the passover, the scribes and Pharisees send a delegation to Galilee, which gives Him an opportunity of rebuk ing to their face, in the hearing of His disciples, their vain traditions, as they deserved. It was probably their object to stir up Herod against Jesus ; He, therefore, withdrew for a season into Phoenicia, to 1 John vi. 1-71. 78 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. the celebrated Tyre1 and Sidon, — the second time of His passing beyond the bounds of the holy land into the great Gentile world. It was the occasion of His meeting with the Syro-Phoenician woman. John was with Him; and it was doubtless the first time he had looked, with his own eyes, upon that world with which he was to be so familiar in his later years ; although, in Galilee and in Decapolis,2 he had from his childhood been, to a considerable extent, familiar with Gentiles, or persons of Gentile extraction. It was, therefore, a mem orable occurrence in his life ; it entered into the preparation through which he was passing for his great work. Our Lord went still far ther to the north, and passed along the base of Lebanon, coming down on His return through the region east of the sources of the Jordan, upon the eastern coast of the Sea of Galilee, to the district of the " Ten Cities," built, or rebuilt, by the Romans, Decapolis so called, largely populated by Gentiles, where He resumed His miracles and teaching. But passing on to another interesting period in the history of John's preparation for his apostolic work under the teaching of Christ, we find him with his Master, in company with other disciples, near the northern boundary of the holy land, in the vicinity of Csesarea Philippi. Here stood the temple which Herod the Great had erected in honour of Augustus Caesar. Here was the easternmost and most important of the two recognised sources of the Jordan. Here were trees of every variety of foliage, and a park-like verdure, and a rush of waters through deep thickets. The situation combines in an unusual degree the elements of beauty and grandeur, "a Syrian Tivoli." The ruins of the ancient town are found in a recess at the southern base of the mighty Hermon, which towers to an elevation of 7000 or 8000 feet, and so near that its snowy top is shut out from view.3 It was 1 Tyre, in the time of Christ, although shorn of its ancient magnificence, was still celebrated for its manufactures and trade, which it retained for a long time afterwards. Jerome in the 4th century calls it the noblest and most beautiful city of Phoenicia ; and as late as the 7th century it retained its ancient celebrity for its purple. But from the beginning of the 16th century to the middle of the 18th, nothing but ruins and hardly any inhabitants were found there. Its present inhabitants live among the broken ruins of its former magnificence, eking out a scanty livelihood upon the exports of tobacco, cotton, wool, and wood. Sidon is a more ancient city, about twenty miles north of Tyre, and at present is larger and better built than its ancient rival. 2 Not a district or distinct territory, but a confederation of cities, subject to a jurisdiction peculiar to themselves, like the once free cities in the German States. Like the coast of Tyre and Sidon, or Phoenicia, they afforded a refuge from any persecution Herod might be disposed to undertake. On the east side of Jordan there were Gadara, Pella, Gerasa, and others ; and on the west Scythopolis. 3 Stanley's Sin. and Pal., p. 397 ; Bob. Bib. Ees., iii., p. 404. Copud l>y p<.r»tissienfrom a photograph taken by F. FRITH. C^SAREA PHILIPPI. A WITNESS OP THE TRANSFIGURATION. 79 as Jesus was journeying through this beautiful region towards Caesarea Philippi, that John with his fellow- disciples so emphatically professed their faith, in the words, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."1 It was made in answer to Christ's own question : "Whom say ye that I am ? " From this time Christ began more distinctly to teach them, — as distinctly as words could do it, — that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things, and be killed, but that He should rise again ; and to set before them the self-denying, cross-bearing life, which would inevitably be theirs as His followers, and in performing the work specially allotted to them. It no doubt put them to a severe test. Their minds had been filled with visions of a temporal kingdom, in the honours of which they were to have a principal share. It was difficult for them to be reconciled to the idea that His enemies were to triumph over Him, — that He must suffer and die. Peter cried out, speaking, no doubt, representatively, as in the confession just pre viously made he had done (i.e., expressing the feelings of John and other associates, as well as his own), " Be it far from Thee, Lord ; this shall not happen unto Thee." 2 Soon after this conversation, our Lord took John, with Peter and James, up into a high mountain, identified by ecclesiastical tradition with Mount Tabor, the highest peak of Galilee, but more probably one of the summits forming part of the magnificent chain of Great Hermon, lying to the north of Caesarea Philippi. It is impossible to look up from the plain to these towering peaks, and not be struck with the appropriateness of some one of these to the scene. Here, one of the most wonderful events with which the history of John is connected, nay, one of the most wonderful mentioned in the Scriptures, took place. As Jesus prayed3 a sudden and most astonishing change took place in His whole appearance. It was that which is known as the transfigu ration. They saw the fashion of His countenance change, till it shone like the sun, and His garments became "white and glistering," * "white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them." If the transfigu ration took place at night, as supposed by Dean Afford and others, it would of course serve to make this brightness appear only the brighter. It was a glory, not shed upon Him or around Him from other sources, but which broke forth from that fulness of the Godhead which dwelt in Him. The rays of His divinity shone through the thin veil of His humanity, affording a feeble glimpse of the glory, which He, as the brightness of the Father's, had in Himself. It was unspeakable, beyond i Matt. xvi. 13-28 ; Mark viii. 27-30. 2 Matt. xvi. 21-23. 3 Luke ix. 29. 4 i^affTpaTTuv, flashing forth light. 80 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. all earthly splendour, such as mortal eye had never seen before, and such as will never be seen again till the second advent of the Lord., To add to the grandeur of the scene, two other personages appear, one of whom had been in heaven nearly fifteen hundred years, and the other nearly a thousand, arrayed in celestial brightness, who enter into conversation with the transfigured Christ on the very subject on which He had been conversing with His disciples, " His decease, which He should accomplish at Jerusalem." Here were these ambassadors from the city of God, representing the law and the prophets of the Old Testament ; — here were Peter, James, and John,1 the pillars of the New Testament Church ; here was ^ the great Head of the Church ; about them, doubtless, the holy angelic hosts. A cloud floats near the top of the mountain, illuminated as if it embosomed a sun, or the Day-spring from on high was tabernacling within it. As they entered into the cloud, or the cloud began to envelope them, Moses and Elias disappeared, and they saw them no more. And there came a voice out of the cloud, as from One making it his chariot, or his pavilion, who said, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him." It was He who had just spoken of suffering and dying of whom the voice spake, whom John and Peter were to see led bound as a prisoner by Roman soldiers, treated with contempt by sneering Jewish priests, crowned with thorns, buffetted and spit upon, and dying on the accursed tree. The transfiguration was a manifestation designed to assure John and Peter and James, and, through them, their associates in the Apostolate, that their faith was well founded in Him as the promised Saviour of the world ; to cast some rays of light forward on the dark days just ahead ; to relieve the gloom of Gethsemane, and the midnight which was ere long to hang at noon around the heights of Calvary. And what John saw and heard in the " holy mount," prepared him to understand some of the wonders that were to be displayed before his rapt vision in the island of Patmos, and which were introduced by the sight of One, like unto the Son of man, walking amidst the golden candlesticks, whose countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength, and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.2 Amid the terrors of the night in the garden, and of the day of crucifixion, John could not forget the scene in the mount ; and during his long and eventful life, however severe the conflict or dark the prospect, he could not forget 1 Lampe thus states the reason why (Triga ilia) this triad was selected to be with Christ on this occasion, and several others of great interest and import ance : " Causam cur tres hos discipulos, eKXeKT&v eKXeicroTipovs, eleganter nominat Clemens Alexandrinus, csteris totiens pratulerit Salvator, recte summi Theologi in liberrima Domini voluntate posuerunt." 2 Eev. i. 13-16. FAULTS OP CHARACTER. 81 that scene ! The mystery of the Lord's person, as both Divine and human, which had been discerned and professed, when He said with Peter, that " He was the Christ, the Son of the living God," was now more clearly revealed. It was a truth far surpassing the common Jewish conception of the Messiah ; and it took the deepest hold of the mind and heart of the apostle, as is clearly evinced by his history and writings. Again Jesus foretells His death and resurrection in the plainest lan guage.1 The disciples, still mistaking the nature of the kingdom of Christ, ask Him, " Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven ? " He places a little child in the midst of them, and gives them an im pressive lesson on humility, which He follows with important discourses exemplifying the suggestiveness and richness of His instructions on all occasions, on offences, forbearance, and forgiveness of enemies.2 But John, privileged with instructions like these, beloved as he was, was by no means free from faults, faults of the gravest character. The Saviour loved sinners ; He loved imperfect men. John was not one of those tame, spiritless beings, whom it seems as difficult to love as to hate. He had an aspiring, resolute, retaliatory, daring spirit. It was not far from this period that the record made by Mark and Luke 3 concerning him occurred. John said, " Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name, and he followeth not us, and we forbade him. But Jesus said, Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is for us." 4 It was shortly after this that he accompanied Jesus as He was going up to the festival of Tabernacles at Jerusalem (having taken His final leave of Galilee before His crucifixion), through central Palestine, the route by which He had travelled on a former occasion (in going from Judasa to Galilee), which led through the beautiful vale of Shechem and over the smiling hills of Ephraim. As the inhabitants of a certain Samaritan village would not receive Him, that is, show Him hospitality, James and John cried out, " Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did ? " 5 He around whom heaven had shone with such bright ness on the mount was treated with disdain by these obscure villagers. 1 Matt. xvii. 22, 23 ; Mark ix. 30-32 ; Luke ix. 43-45. 2 Matt, xviii. 1-35 ; Mark ix. 33-50 ; Luke ix. 46-50. * Mark ix. 38-41 ; Luke ix. 49, 50. 4 " Hie autem exserte introdueetur imprudentiam tarn facto, quam dicto osten- dens. In facto, quod Joanni cum aliis discipulis commune fuit, hoc erat vitium, quod non constabat, quo animo ille dsmonia ejiciens erga Jesum fuerit, et nihilominus ilium increparent" (Lampe, Joannis Proleg.,lib. i., c. ii., § 18). He is very acute on what he styles the ncevos, blemishes, of St. John. 6 Luke ix. 51-56. G 82 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. The anger of the two brethren was kindled. Vengeance was in their hearts.1 Their fierce Galilean spirit was aroused ; they remembered the old ancestral hatred. But Christ told them they knew not what manner of spirit they were of. Arriving at Jerusalem about the middle of the feast, John heard the Saviour boldly assert His Messiahship, in the presence of a large com pany of people ; and he was with Him from day to day, as He put to confusion His enemies, and convinced many that He was what He claimed to be, the Messiah.2 He appears with Him again in Jerusalem, at the feast of Dedication, in the winter, walking in Solomon's porch,3 and heard Him declare so plainly to the party hostile to Him, "I and My Father are one," that they would have stoned Him on the spot, had He not escaped and retired beyond the Jordan. He was with Him when He was summoned back to Beth any by the illness of Lazarus, and when He performed the aston ishing miracle of raising him from the dead after a burial of four days. He alone of the evangelists records this great miracle.4 It was the miracle, so great an impression did it produce at Jerusalem, which led the Sanhedrin formally to decree His death. Jesus, therefore re tired, as His work was not yet done, from Jerusalem ; and we find Him again in Peraea, the country east of the Jordan. John was with Him here, and listened to an important course of instruction on a large variety of subjects. He uttered at this period of His ministry some of His most interesting and instructive parables : e.g., the great sup per, the lost sheep, the lost piece of silver, the prodigal son, the un just steward, Lazarus at the rich man's gate, the importunate widow, the unjust judge, the Pharisee and the publican, and the labourers in the vineyard. As He sets His face once more towards Jerusalem, He again foretells His death and resurrection. s 1 "Observari hie potest immitis quasdam iracundia, quas hos discipulos pra? aliis corripuisse videtur. Ilia eo vitiosior erat, quia a Magistro toties edocti erant ipsos inimicos diligere. Et hi tamen non tantum malum malo referri ex talionis lege volunt, sed omnes etiam illius loci incolas cum conjugibus, et liberis protenus extinctos cupiunt, qui etsi hospitium negassent, salvos tamen dimiserunt. Praeterea abutuntur Scriptural authoritate et Elias exemplum ad se transferunt, atque huic pares esse volunt, cum vocationem similem non habeant " (Lampe, Proleg. I., ii. 19). 2 John vii., viii., and ix. 3 'Ex rrj prof 2oXopSvos. This was a part of Solomon's temple which had been incorporated in the new edifice. It fronted to the east. Jos. Ant., xx., 9 (7). 4 For the silence of the synoptists in regard to this great miracle, it is not so easy ' to account. That it was due to a prudential regard to the surviving family of Lazarus, in order to avoid attracting to it the attention of Jewish fanatics seems hardly consistent with the spirit and character of the evangelists. Meyer (ed. 5th, p. 439) explains the omission, from their plan to confine themselves to the Galilean ministry of Jesus. 5 John x., xi. ; Luke xiii., xiv., xv., xvi., xvii., xviii. HIS AMBITION. 83 We come now to an incident in the history of John which strikingly illustrates the difficult task which Christ had undertaken of infusing right notions of His kingdom into the minds of even the best of pupils. John, in company with his brother James, through their mother, prefer an ambitious request, which greatly disturbed the other apostles.1 On one occasion, Christ had informed His disciples that when seated on His throne in His kingdom, they should sit around Him on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.2 With their old inherited views of a temporal kingdom, this information was enough to inspire the hearts of the sons of Zebedee with visions of glory. At once they aspired to the chief places, and enlisted their mother,3 one of the pious women who ministered to Christ, to unite with them in a petition for these places. In their minds they had pictured a scene of earthly grandeur. They saw a gorgeous palace, with an imperial throne, on which was seated the Master whom they followed, and on either hand six thrones for His twelve apostles. They wished to be permitted to occupy the thrones on the right and the left, nearest to the one occupied by Christ Himself; that is, to rank next to Him in dignity and honour. And this after they had been so long with Him who was meek and lowly in heart, and who was so near the end of His ministry ! Mistaken disciples ! How hard it was for them to learn that the only earthly crown of their Master was to be a wreath of thorns on bleeding brows, His only royal robe some worn-out vestment of a Herod or Pilate, put on Him in mockery, His only sceptre a brittle reed ! How hard to understand that He was to be proclaimed king of an earthly state, only by the mocking inscription on the cross which was to bear up His lacerated body ! They did not know that to ask for dis tinction in His kingdom, was to ask for a share in the cup and baptism of His sufferings. That share in due time they received, one, the first apostolic martyr to appease the vindictive spirit of the same enemies who imbrued their hands in the Saviour's blood ;4 the 1 Matt. xx. 20-28. 2 Matt. xix. 28. 3 " Hoc splendidissimum domus sua? erat decus, hie summus felieitatis apex, duos tarn illustres in bellis Jehova? heroas, duas Stellas in regno coelorum primi ordinis, quales Jacobus et Johannes erant, utero gessisse" (Lampe, Proleg. I., i. 2). 4 " Even admitting that the legend of the poison and the boiling oil has no historical foundation, it is still true that St. John as well as St. James pre-eminently shared his Master's cup and baptism" (Dr. J. Addison Alexander on Mark x. 39).f " We know not how deep he (the latter) drank of the cup of sorrow during the course of years between the time of Christ's prophecy regarding his future lot and his violent death. We know not how often he was plagued, and how painfully he was baptized in the waves of tribulation going over his head, ere his work was done and his testimony finished on the earth. But this we know well, that the cup which his Master drank was his to drink also, that the baptism of his Master 84 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. other, bearing the burden and heat of the day, long the last survivor of the little band whom men used to think it a form of God's service to persecute ! But the end of the period of pupilage of the beloved disciple draws near, and we are about to see him in the most interesting points of his history, and under the most impressive scenes in his personal connec tion with the ministry and teaching of our Lord. Six days before the Passover, he reaches Bethany with Jesus. It was on the evening of the following day, probably, that the supper occurred at which the risen Lazarus was present, and his sister Mary anointed the head of the Lord with precious ointment.1 John saw his Master on the following day, (corresponding to our Sunday,) amidst the waving of palm branches, and the hosannas of the people, make His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, in the fulfilment of prophecy. He goes with Him to the temple, where He is welcomed by the children. In the two following days an immense amount of in struction was concentrated. He goes out with Him at evening to Bethany, returning to the temple with Him in the morning, listening to what He says to His disciples by the way, and to what He says to His enemies, who were tempting Him by their questions in the temple. He seems to have drunk in every word of His predictions concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, as He walked along its streets, or looked back surveying the devoted city from the sides of Olivet.2 On Thursday, the 14th of the Jewish month Nisan, " the day of un leavened bread," called also " the preparation of the passover," Peter and John were sent into the city to make preparations for celebrating this feast. Christ told them, that they should meet a man in the streets bearing a pitcher of water, whom they were to follow to his house, and say to him, " The Master saith to thee, Where is the guest-chamber, where I shall eat the passover with My disciples ? " In this incident, John and his companion had new proof of the prophetic power, or prevision, and the power of miracles possessed by Christ, in His foresight that they would meet a man in the streets of Jerusalem carrying a pitcher of water, and in the prompt obedience of this was his also wherewith to be baptized, and that he was not only one of the ' glorious company of the apostles,' but also of ' the noble army of the martyrs,' slain ' for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God' " (Trench's Life and Cha racter of St. John, p. 72). 1 St. Matt. xxvi. 6-13 ; John xiii. 1-11. 2 St. John was one of the four disciples mentioned by St. Mark (xiii. 3-5), Peter James, and Andrew being the others, to whom Jesus declared the prophecies con cerning the destruction of Jerusalem, and the far-reaching ones with which they were connected, and which were to be more fully declared by St. John himself in the Apocalypse. PREPARING FOR PASSOVER. 85 stranger (as we may presume him to have been, or his name would have been given) to Christ, to show them a chamber in his house where they might make ready.1 A precisely analogous case of prevision and miraculous power over the human will occurred when the two disciples were sent, as Jesus was approaching Jerusalem, to a neighbouring village to procure the animal on which He was to make His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.2 The paschal lamb was slain between the hour of evening sacrifice, the ninth hour, or three o'clock in the afternoon, and sunset, at which the 15th of Nisan, the day of the crucifixion began. John or Peter, representing the household or company to which they belonged, was to aid the Levites in sacrificing the lamb. It was then to be carried to the house where it was to be eaten, and they were also to provide bread and wine, bitter herbs, and all that was necessary for the proper celebration of the feast. 1 Luke xxii. 7-14. " It may be observed," says Trench, " that a great pecu liarity was attached to the circumstance of a ' man bearing a pitcher of water.' It would have been no sign to speak of a woman bearing a pitcher of water ; for that business always has been, and is still, the exclusive task of the women. An Eastern missionary brought this to my notice " (Life and Character of St. John, p. 85, note). 3 Matt. xxi. 2, 3. See an ingenious and suggestive discourse on this subject by Henry Melville, Sermons, new edit. 1844, p. 534. *' We can declare the incident before us," he says, " a singular exhibition of the power of prophecy and the power of miracle ; an exhibition, moreover, as appro priate as it was striking. We can suppose that our Eedeemer, knowing the bitter trials to which His disciples were about to be exposed, desired to give them some proof of His superhuman endowments, which might encourage them to rely on His protection when He should no longer be visible among them. What shall be the proof ? Shall He control the tumultuous elements ? Shall He summon legions of angels ? Shall He shake Jerusalem with the earthquake ? Shall He divide the Jordan ? Nay ; it was not by any stupendous demonstration that the timid disciples were likely to be assured. They rather required to be taught that the knowledge and power of their Master extended to mean and inconsiderable things," etc. OHAPTEE V. PREPARATION FOR HIS WORK, FROM INTERCOURSE AND INSTRUCTION IN PRIVATE, IN THE LAST DAYS OF CHRIST, ESPECIALLY AS A WITNESS OF THE CRUCI FIXION. CELEBRATION OF THE PASSOVER. — STRIFE. — WASHING DISCIPLES' FEET.—' TREACHERY OF JUDAS FORETOLD. ST. PETER'S DENIAL FORETOLD. — IN STITUTION OF THE SUPPER. — VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. — INTERCESSORY PRAYER. — GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. — THE AGONY. ST. JOHN PRESENT. ST. PETER AND HIS SWORD. FLIGHT OF THE DISCIPLES.— ST. JOHN REGAINS HIS NATURAL BRAVERY. ST. JOHN ALONE ACCOMPANIES CHRIST TO THE PALACE OF THE HIGH-PRIEST. — PALACE DESCRIBED. — ST. PETER ADMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF ST. JOHN. JESUS LED BEFORE PILATE. — CHARGED WITH SEDITION. — BEFORE HEROD. — MOCKED. — HEROD AND PILATE MADE FRIENDS. AGAIN BEFORE PILATE. PILATE'S WIFE. — ST. JOHN AT THE SIDE OF CHRIST. — BEARING THE CROSS. — SIMON THE CYRENEAN. THE PENITENT THIEF. WHAT ST. JOHN WAS TAUGHT. — ST. JOHN AND. THE MOTHER OF JESUS. THE BLOOD AND THE WATER SEEN BY ST. JOHN. While many others were instructed and blessed through His minis trations, the chief end of the Saviour evidently was to prepare for their great office those to whom He was to commit the work of estab lishing His kingdom. Never had men such teacher before. For three years they were under the careful training of Him who knew all the secrets of mind as well as heart. But of all the discourses and scenes in our Lord's history, which were fitted to make abiding salutary impressions, none were more so than those which distin guished the concluding period of His visible presence with them on earth. We are, as far as possible, to place ourselves by the side of "the beloved disciple," and hear what he heard, and see what he saw. As the shadows of the evening gather, or soon after it becomes dark, Jesus and His disciples assemble in the large upper room, which had been discovered by Peter and John in a manner which so strikingly exhibited to them the presence and power of their Master and Lord. Although it was the fifth day of the week, or Thursday, the evening which now commenced, introduced according to the Jewish method of dividing time, the sixth day, or Friday.1 The whole nation are 1 The time of killing the paschal lamb was between the ninth and eleventh WASHING DISCIPLES' FEET. 87 engaged in the same solemn service. Even His enemies cease for a time from their plottings. The din of the crowd has subsided, and an unusual quiet, although Jerusalem is full of people, reigns throughout its streets. The great Paschal Lamb, although but few may have any knowledge of the nearness of the event prefigured by so many thou sands of victims since the exodus from Egypt on that dreadful night of the flight of the destroying angel, was about to be led to the slaughter. With one of the cups of wine in His hands, which had been provided for the feast,1 Jesus gives thanks, and the feast pro ceeds. He tells them with pathetic tenderness that, before He drank the fruit of the vine again, the kingdom of God should come. The old strife, which of them should be accounted greatest in that king dom, arose. H they could have foreseen the events of the next few hours, would they have spent any of the moments of that solemn interview in vain jangling about mere rank and place ? Our Lord seized upon the opportunity to renew the instructions which it was so evident were still needed by His disciples. Did the strife originate, this time, with the ambition of John and his brother, or did it extend through the ranks of the entire twelve ? He tenderly sought to recall them to the contemplation of His own example. He would have them be not like the kings and lords of the nations, who exercise authority over their fellow-men, but like Himself, who had been among them as one that serve th, as one who performs the part of a menial or waiter, while others partake of the feast. It was the spirit of humility, of self-forgetting concern and love for others, which the Saviour sought to promote in His followers, and which could alone prepare them for their proper place in the promised kingdom. And then He reiterates the assurance of that kingdom : " I appoint unto you a kingdom, as My Father hath appointed unto Me ; that ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 2 That He might more deeply impress on His disciples the lesson that they should live in harmony and humility one with another,3 the hour, i.e., between our three and five o'clock in the afternoon, airb ivvdrvs &pas pexpi evSeKdrvs. (Josephus's Wars, vi., 9 (3).) It was eaten the same evening : Exod. xii. 8 ; Num. xxxiii. 3. The true time of killing the passover in our Lord's day was towards sunset of the 14th of Nisan. The time of eating was the same evening, or after the beginning of the 15th, as the Jews commenced their day at sunset. l. Four cups of red wine mingled with water were usually drunk during the progress of the meal. The first was in connection with the blessing invoked, and corresponds to the cup mentioned in Luke xxii. 17. See Bib. Sac, Aug., 1845, p. 405, seq. *¦ 2 Luke xxii. 24-30. 3 John xiii. 20. 88 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. Saviour rose from the table (it was probably just after they had partaken of the first cup of wine, before the bitter herbs had been brought in, and the proper meal commenced),1 He laid aside His gar ments, and poured water into a basin, and proceeded to wash the disciples' feet. The question who should perform this necessary service may have given rise to the dispute among them, just rebuked by the Saviour. He washed even Judas's feet, but did not fail to make an affecting allusion to that base act of which he was soon to be guilty, in the words : " Ye are clean, but not all." When He came to Peter, that earnest disciple refused to permit Him to perform so humble a service for him, until he heard the words, " If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me ;" when he instantly exclaimed, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." This drew from the Saviour the profound and practical truth, that while there is a cleansing that needs no repetition, it nevertheless does not dispense with daily purification ; " He who is washed (or hath bathed) needeth not save to wash feet." The gri. nd lesson of this touching scene was, that in imitation of Him, their Lord and Master, who had humbled Himself, they were to seek all their pre-eminence in humility and love, in generous, self-denying services for one another. While the paschal feast is proceeding, another interesting and most thrilling scene occurred. As they ate, probably in silence, after what they had just been taught on the subject- of self-denying love, by the words and example of their Master, a visible sadness came over Him. He " was troubled in spirit." 2 This is the record of John, who was in a position, as will be presently noticed, easily to observe every passing expression of His face. The cause of this sadness or trouble of spirit is not long concealed. " Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betrayMe," broke the painful silence ; and the ex clamation passed from one to another, "Lord, is it I ? Is it I ?" and searching glances went from face to face. Simon Peter made a sign to John who was lying on Jesus' breast, his posture betokening the peculiarly endearing tie that subsisted between them, to ask who was meant. It was in connection with this incident, and as if to explain 1 Upb Se ttjs iopr-rjs, k.t.X. It is not said how long before ; but the meaning pro bably is, that the feet-washing took place before the commencement of the meal proper. Alford, in answer to the question, how long 'before the feast this took place, says, " probably, a very short time ; not more than 'one day at most." But Alford held that the meal our Lord ate with His disciples, at which the announce ment was made that one of them should betray Him, was not the ordinary pass- over of the Jews, but only in some sense or other regarded as the passover, and that it was eaten on the evening of the 13th (i.e., the beginning of the 14th) of Nisan. See his note on Matt. xxvi. 17-19. 2 'ErapdxBw t$ irvetipan. (John xiii. 21.) JUDAS ISCARI0T. 89 his loving posture, that he styles himself " the disciple whom Jesus loved," a title which he repeatedly applies to himself during the short residue of the Lord's history from his pen. His position1 enabled him to observe what others did not see, and to hear what others did not hear. This may be one of the reasons why he records discourses not contained in the other evangelists, two of whom were not of the number of the apostles. To John's question, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus replied, "He it is to whom I shall give a sop,2 when I have dipped it." At length Judas summons sufficient assurance to ask the question, "Master, is it I?" Instantly he received the sop at the hands of Jesus, with the words, " That thou doest, do quickly." Judas went immediately out. The twilight was passed. " It was night." 3 Darkness shrouded the form of the wretched guilty man as he hurried away through the nearly deserted streets. Scarcely any sound vied with the echo of his own footsteps, save the moaning of the night wind through the valleys and the gorges of the mountains, which were round about Jerusalem. At some appointed place, the chief priests, or their agents, with their silver, awaited his coming. After Judas had departed, these striking words fell from the Saviour's lips : " Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him." Let the traitor go ; let the unclean be separated from the clean ; let him do that which he has resolved to do quickly. I shall only the sooner be glorified, and God shall be glorified in Me. Could John ever forget these words or the occasion of them, or when tenderly turning to the eleven He added: "Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek Me, and as I said unto the Jews, ... so now I say to you. A new command ment I give unto you, That ye love one another."4 Late in life, in the very latest of his writings, we have evidence that this new com mandment still rang in his ears. And when, according to tradition^ in extreme old age, he had to be carried into the church, and could only, as he lifted his trembling hands, utter a few words, they were, "Little children, love one another." 1 The Jews had adopted the Persian manner of reclining at their meals on divans or couches, each on his left side, with his face towards the table. Thus the second guest to the right hand would lie with his head near the breast of the first, and so on. (Lucke, ii., p. 565.) This explains what is meant by the " leaning " of one of the disciples on Jesus's bosom, Kelpevos . . . iv rt} kUKttu tov 'Ivcrov. That John is the disciple meant there can be no doubt. See also John xix. 26 ; xxi. 7 and 20. 2 T6 tyuplov, morsel. 3 John xiii. 30. 4 John xiii. 21-35. 90 THE LIPE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. But another painful communication remained to be made by Jesus to His disciples. It was introduced in this wise : as He had told them He was going away, Peter wished to know whither He was going, and why he could not accompany Him ; adding, " I will lay down my life for Thy sake." " Lord, I am ready to go with Thee both to prison and to death."1 How little he knew himself, or the severity of the trial at hand ! " I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow [before the cock crow twice] this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest Me."2 The passover meal was now ended ; but in connection with the third cup, the "cup of blessing," which terminated that feast, the Lord pro ceeded to a most solemn and interesting service ; He instituted the holy sacrament of His supper. He took of the fragments of that great Jewish festival which had been celebrated so many hundreds of years, but which was now, as a type, to have its accomplishment, and conse crated them to a new and nobler use, a sacramental use, that His death might, through all the coming ages of time, even to His second visible advent, be showed forth, and believers in Him might by faith be made partakers of His body and blood, with all His benefits to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. " And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of Me. Likewise also the cup after the supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood which is shed for you."3 If John still retained his place on the bosom of Jesus, he was probably the first to receive the bread and the cup at His hands. In the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth chapters of the fourth Gospel, he reports the address or addresses which Christ delivered at the institution of this sacrament. How full of beautiful, weighty, pathetic, and instructive thoughts ! These golden sentences the beloved disciple with rapt attention caught as he leaned on his Master's bosom. Neither Mark nor Luke were present to hear them ; and at the early period when Matthew wrote, the general church may 1 Luke xxii. 33. 2 Mark xiv. 30 ; Luke xxii. 34. De Wette supposes that Jesus meant merely the division of the night, called dXeKropofiuvia, the cock crowing, between midnight and morning. But it was the crowing of the cock (Mark xiv. 68) that roused the memory and the conscience of Peter. According to the Mishna, the priests and the inhabitants of Jerusalem were forbidden to keep fowls because they scratched up unclean worms. And the scarcity of cocks in Jerusalem seems to be intimated by the absence of the definite article before &S.4ktup, a cock. This is the more noticeable as it is wanting in all the four Gospels. And it makes the fulfil ment of the Saviour's prediction only the more remarkable. The crowing of a, cock was an unusual sound in Jerusalem. 3 Luke xxii. 19, 20. THE INTERCESSORY PRAYER. 91 not have been sufficiently prepared to receive instructions so profound and spiritual, and he was not selected by the spirit of inspiration to put them on record.1 The chief end of this valedictory discourse was consolation, and its chief topic the revelation of the Holy Comforter. Viewed as a whole, it may be regarded as the fitting casket for this precious jewel, the doctrine of the Comforter. In addition to consola tion and encouragement from the promise of the Holy Spirit to com pensate for His own departure, He exhorts the apostles (they were His only auditors, and He was concluding His special instruction to them) to continued faith in Him, to zeal and faithfulness, not to become estranged from one another, and not to shrink from any duties their office might impose on account of dangers and hardships. On the con clusion of His address, He gives them the reason why He forewarned them of the hatred of the world, and the offence of the cross, that He might guard them against being surprised by it, and that they might fortify their minds against the temptation to give up either their stead fastness or their comfort.2 Upon the conclusion of His discourse, the Saviour offered up a touching and fervent prayer. It is one of the most wonderful portions of inspired truth. It unfolds the grand mystery of the gospel. In one breath the Suppliant speaks as the incarnate Son of God ; in another He seems to wrestle like a dependent man. Again He seems to plead as the Mediator of His people, but not unf requently expresses Himself with Divine majesty and authority. It is the loftiest effort of the human spirit to rise to the height to which this prayer soars. As the Jewish high priest on the day of atonement was required to make intercession for himself, for his household, the priests and Levites, and for the whole nation,3 so our all-sufficient High Priest on this His great day of atonement solemnly interceded with God His Father for Him self, that He might be received into glory, His original glory in heaven ; for His household, the apostles and disciples, that God would preserve them in His name, give them a spirit of unity and concord, and pro tect them in and from the wicked world ; also for all future believers, through their preaching, that they might be endued with the same spirit of unity and concord ; and for the conversion of the whole world ; and that finally they might partake of His glory in heaven, and be supported by His love and presence on earth.4 1 John xiv. 26 ; xvi. 12, 13. - '' Nowhere throughout the entire Gospel has the language of Christ such perfect artlessness, and a character so adapted to the minds of His disciples, as here (xiv. 2, 3, 16, 18, 21, 23 ; xvi. 23, 24, 26). As Luther says, ' He speaks as he must who would charm and win the simple " (Tholuck on John, trans, by Krauth, Philad., p. 330). 3 Lev* xvi. 17. 4 See Bloomfield's Greek Testament in loco. It bears in the Church the name 92 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. When the prayer was ended Jesus and His disciples united in singing a hymn of praise. If they used one of that series of psalms (known as the Hallel, comprising the hundred and thirteenth and the five immediately following it in the psalter) which the Jews were in the habit of repeating at the passover, then we know the strains of adora tion, confidence, and love that poured from their lips. " Gracious is the Lord and righteous ; yea our God is merciful. The Lord preserveth the simple : I was brought low, and He helped me. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living." "I shall not die but live, and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord has chastened me sore, but He has not given me over to death." "The stone which the builders refused has become the head-stone of the corner." How must strains like these have sounded from the lips of the Saviour and His eleven followers in that guest chamber in Jerusalem, just as He was about to go to Gethsemane to be betrayed! Let us accompany Him to Gethsemane. The evening is already far advanced, the midnight hour approaching. He leads His disciples out of the city, and instead of turning towards Bethany through the valley of Siloam, turns in the other direction, enters the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and crossing the brook Kedron just at the foot of the Mount of Olives, enters the garden, " which delves like a sanctuary of. grief into the narrowest and darkest depths of the Valley of Jehoshaphat." 1 Above, in the distance, can be seen gleaming in the light of the moon, then at its full, the white sepulchres on the edge of the cliffs which overhang the valley, and the lofty porches of the temple on Moriah. He takes with Him Peter and James and John, the same three who had seen His glory in the mount, and penetrates farther into the recesses and thickets of the valley, to make them now the witnesses of that bitter agony when His soul was to be exceeding sorrowful. In His deep grief the Man despised and rejected of men, the Man of sorrows, seeks a more complete solitude. He withdraws Himself from the favoured three who had accompanied Him thus far, and hides Himself under the shadow of the trees, the mountain, and the night. Then falling on His face He prayed, " O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me ; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt. And there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven strengthening Him. And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly ; and His sweat was as it were great " Oratio Sacerdotalis," the sacerdotal prayer. Melanchthon states the substance of it thus :— " Primum de ipso precatur, postea de tota ecclesia, et de hac petit quatuor res precipuas ecclesise, conservationem verse doctrinse, concordiam ecclesiaa, applicationem sui sacrificii, et ultimum ac summum bonum, ut ecclesia cum Christo ornetur vita, latitia, et gloria asterna." 1 Lamartine, i., p. 264. Copies? f,y ft' 'otograph taken by F. FRITH. GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. GETHSEMANE. 93 drops of blood falling down to the ground."1 The wind sighed among the olive trees, and the waters of the Kedron moaned as they rolled over their rocky bed. When He returned to where He left the dis ciples, He found them sleeping for sorrow. He went away the second time and offered the same prayer, and when He returned again found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. Again He goes away, and a third time pours forth the same prayer. Returning He finds them still sleeping, and with all the gentleness of a mother, or tender nurse, says, " Sleep on now and take your rest."2 Then, as if a sudden rustling among the thickets, suppressed voices, or the tramp of approaching steps broke the stillness and admonished Him of the presence of His foes, He cries out in the ears of His sleeping followers,. " It is enough ; the hour is come. Behold the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners ! Lo, he that betrayeth Me is at hand ! "3 As He spoke, the silent shades of the garden are illuminated with torches and lanterns, and filled with the confused noise of an approaching crowd in search as for some thief or robber. It is Judas, who well knew the secluded retreat to which Jesus often resorted with His dis ciples, at the head of a band of Roman soldiers and officers, and a rabble such as would be attracted at a late hour of the night from a large city by the martial array and the gleam of the torches and lanterns. Jesus does not flee, nor attempt to conceal Himself, but calmly advances, with the question, " Whom seek ye?" At His words, "I am He," they went backward and fell to the ground as if smitten by invisible hands. He asked again, " Whom seek ye ? "4 and Judas, in fulfilment of his promise, arose from the ground, and approaching with " Master, Master," on his traitorous lips, kissed Him. The stern soldiers at once made the arrest. How like some terrific dream must these sudden events have seemed to John and his companions, just aroused from their deep slumber ! Peter remembered his valorous words, and doubtless thinking that this was the time of trial of which his Master had given him warning, began to brandish one of the swords which were in possession of the disciples. But he effected nothing more than to cut off the ear of a servant of the high priest-; 1 Matt. xxvi. 39 ; Luke xxii. 43, 44. 2 Calvin and Beza think these words are used ironically, by way of rebuke. And Meyer says : " The profoundest grief of soul, especially when associated with such clearness of spirit, has its own irony. And what an apathy had Jesus here to encounter!" Lange adds: "If the essential principle of irony is security and perfect composure of spirit, we recognise here the sacred irony, which does not speak in contempt of weakness, but in the triumphant consciousness that the fight was already won." (Lange on Matt. xxvi. 45.) 3 Mark xiv. 41, 42. 4 T„V>„ „™4i A—R 94 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. though it is evident he came near destroying a human life, he does not appear to have ventured on a combat with the soldiers. With a miraculous touch our Lord healed the wounded ear, and commanding Peter to put up the sword, said, " Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall give Me more than twelve legions of angels ? " Then turning to the multitude He said, "Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take Me ? x But the Scripture must be fulfilled." The disciples seeing their Master, without any show of resistance, submitting to arrest, and fearing that what had befallen Him would befall them, as accomplices in the crime that might be charged against Him, appear now for the first time to have fully awakened to the perils of their situation. All of them, not excepting even John, forsook Him and fled away among the trees and rocks of the valley. It was not long, however, before John recovered his natural bravery of spirit, and we find him again by his Master's side. He shrank not again from any of the terrors of that gloomy night, nor of the succeeding day, the day of crucifixion. It is noticeable that John, who records at such length the sayings of Jesus at the institution of the supper, makes no mention of His agony in the garden. The reason of this doubtless is that he had nothing to add to the full and graphic account given by the other evangelists. " All the bitter consequences of the fall were concentrated in that agony. It was an anticipation of the bitterness of that cup which He was to taste in His death on the cross. The will of God to Him at this crisis of His history is that terrible death, at once the full manifestation and the full punishment of the sin of mankind. He had accepted the will of His Father in all the various circumstances of a life in which He has already mingled much of sorrow and reproach ; by virtue of this obedience, He has never ceased a single day to carry on His work of redemption, but this moment brings Him face to face with surpassing grief and ignominy. He has doubtless already accepted all that awaits Him ; but the prospect more or less remote of sacrifice is another thing from the sacrifice itself. Therefore it is that He who found His meat and drink in doing the will of God must yet learn obedience in that garden of agony, with strong crying and tears. Herein appears the reality of His humanity. These words, the echo of His broken but submissive heart, inaugurated the era of salvation for man ; for in Christ they brought man back definitively into the paths of obedience." 2 All the Galilean bravery of spirit of the disciple Jesus loved had 1 Matt. xxvi. 55. 2 De Pressense's Times, Life, and Work of Christ, p. 447. PALACE OF THE HIGH-PRIEST. 95 returned ; and he remained, as far as circumstances would permit, close by His side all that dreadful day, until he saw His corpse removed from the cross for interment by the two rich disciples. It was doubt less from his example that Peter, who had used the sword, and perhaps on this account felt that he was in peculiar peril, recovered some measure of his natural courage and resoluteness. He turned from his flight, or emerged from his hiding-place in the thickets of the valley, but still followed Jesus afar off. He did not come near His person to be recognised as one of His followers, but kept on the outskirts of the crowd. John, who was known to the high-priest, went boldly into the palace by the side of Jesus, and was there one of His acknowledged followers, His only visible friend. The palace, like other oriental houses of the better class, was built around a quadrangle or court, into which there was an arched gate way through the front of the house, which could be closed with a mas sive folding gate, having a smaller gate, or wicket, for ordinary admis sion, attended by a porter or portress. The interior court was open -to the sky and paved with stones, on which the rooms opened directly, or upon galleries above. A fire had been kindled (for the morning was cold) on the pavement of the court. John descrying Peter at the gate, which excluded the noisy rabble, and only too glad to be joined by his old companion, interceded successfully with the portress for his admission, and he sat down like an unconcerned spectator with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire, to see the end. Jesus was standing before the high-priest in the audience room of that functionary, which occupied one side of the court, and where, He could both see and be seen by those sitting around the fire. A maid-servant from one of the over hanging galleries descries Peter " beneath," J and recognises him as one of the followers and friends of Him who stands accused before her master. She hastens down, and, carefully scrutinizing his countenance by the flickering light, says, " Thou wast with Jesus of Nazareth." He denied it by the make-belief that he could not understand her, or did not know what she meant. He had been following his Master afar off, and was now acting a part, playing unconcerned spectator, where he should, with John, have appeared as open friend ; and he is afraid to admit to a serving-girl his true relation to Jesus. He felt however ill at ease ; some one else might recognise him if he continued so near the blazing fire. He accordingly retreated into the shadow of the porch,2 or covered passage way, which led through the front of the building into the court, and where he thought he would be safe from the peering eyes of maid-servants passing to and fro through the court yard or along the galleries above. But the damsel who was 1 Mark xiv. 66. 2 Mark xiv. 68. 96 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. stationed there to attend the gate knew him, or suspected who or what he was, as it was at the instance of John she admitted him, or she had been informed by her officious fellow-servant ; and she asked him if he was not one of this Man's disciples. He promptly answered " I am not." He does not pretend that he is ignorant of her meaning, but flatly denies his discipleship. She insisted that he was, and said to the persons standing near, or looking through the bars from the outside, " This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth." And the cock crew.1 In the meantime a preliminary examination was proceeding before Caiaphas, while the Sanhedrin were assembling. Jesus stood bound before him, wearing the chain which had been put upon Him by the command of the old rabbi, Annas. The high-priest asked Him of His disciples"and doctrine. Jesus replied, " I spake openly to the world, I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort ; and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou Me ? [the accused : Am I to give testimony in My own case ?] Ask them which heard Me, what I have said unto them." 2 At this one of the officers struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, " Answerest Thou the high-priest so ? " What a spectacle it must have been to John when he saw the hand of this rude official fall upon Jesus ! How difficult it must have been for him to restrain that resentment which his nature held as the steel holds fire ! Peter, who perhaps would gladly have escaped through the gate, but would not venture after it had been proclaimed there that he was one of the adherents of the Prisoner, had gathered courage, as an " hour " 3 had passed away, and no new accuser had appeared, to return to the court, and was again sitting by the fire, where he could both see and be seen by his Master. Several who stood by now renewed the charge that he was one of the followers of Jesus, and referred to the pro vincialisms, which marked his expressions and pronunciation, in proof that he was a Galilean : a sort of circumstantial evidence that he was one of them. But the proof became positive, and indeed overwhelm ing, when one of the servants of the high-priest, a kinsman of the Malchus whose ear Peter cut off, asked, " Did I not see thee in the garden with Him ? " Evidence like this must be met with a stronger denial ; and to prevarication and falsehood the infatuated man added profane oaths. " And the second time the cock crew." 4 The Lord turned a mingled look of sadness and rebuke on His disciple.5 Instantly Peter recalled the prophecy respecting his denial ; and the crowing of the cock was like a trumpet-call to his guilty soul. It 1 Matt. xxvi. 71 ; Mark xiv. 68. * Mark xiv. 71, 72. 2 John xviii. 19-24. 5 Luke xxii. 61. 3 Luke xxii. 59. BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN. 97 pealed and echoed through all its secret chambers and inmost recesses. It aroused his slumbering conscience. The first crowing of the cock, when he was seeking to hide himself in the shadow of the porch or covered passage way, if noticed by him, had no such effect. But now the alarum had sounded. It told him as if the very words had been syllabled in this matin-call of the unconscious bird, what he had done : " Peter, oh, Peter, thou hast denied thy Lord." Just that thing had happened which his Saviour foretold, and which he thought when he spoke so vehemently never could happen. Lifting a trembling glance to his Master, he caught a reproving look from His loving eye, and all the fountains of his soul were broken up within him. He rushed away to seek some solitary place to vent his overpowering grief. John alone of all his fellow apostles was a witness of Peter's defection, and of this sorrowful scene. How painful it must have been to him ! What must he have thought when he saw one who had been so prominent, with whom he had been so intimately associated in the most solemn and tender scenes, so weak and so wicked ? He utters not a word, but looks on in silent amazement. It is from him we learn that it was through his intervention Peter gained admission to the palace of the high-priest.1 But hia account of Peter's sin and humiliation is more brief than that of any of the evangelists ; while that of Mark, who is commonly supposed to have written under the supervision of Peter himself, is more graphic and full in its details than any other. The Sanhedrin,2 in obedience to a hasty summons, had now assem bled in the audience chamber of the high-priest. The gathering of this grave body, in the gray of the morning, just as soon as it was day,3 was a singular spectacle. The aged and severe Annas, who had sent Christ bound to Caiaphas, was there. Nicodemus alone (and perhaps Joseph of Arimathea) casts a friendly look on Him. All others glared fiercely on Him, and sought for witnesses among the attending 1 John xviii. 15, 16. 2 Sanhedrin, aweSpior, so called in Matt. v. 22, Mark xiv. 55, Luke xxii. 66, John xi. 47, Acts iv. 15. It was the supreme council of the Jewish nation, composed of seventy members besides the high-priest, in imitation of the seventy elders ap pointed by Moses, Num. xi. 16. (Jos. Antiq. ix. 1 (1).) The members were selected from former high-priests, the chief priests, or heads of the twenty-four courses, elders, and scribes. The high-priest for the time was, ex-officio, princeps or president. This court appears to have had cognizance of all important causes, both civil and ecclesiastical, and to have met ordinarily in a hall near the temple, called by Josephus, /3oiA?j, povXevr-qpiov. (Wars, v., 4 (2) ; vi., 6 (3).) On extraordinary occasions they were convened in the high-priest's palace : Matt. xxvi. 3, 57. Under the Bomans, the right of capital punishment had been taken away from this court. See Lightfoot, Hor. Heb., and John xviii. 31. Bob. Greek and Eng. Lex. 3 Luke xxii. 66. a 98 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. crowd, to make out some charge which would be punishable with death under the Roman law. There was no lack of false witnesses; but because their testimony was false it lacked the necessary agree ment and consistency. Christ stood in perfect silence, surveying the scene with a placid dignity which might well have awed His judges. At length the presiding officer arose in his place, and addressing Jesus, said, " Answerest Thou nothing P What is it which these witness against Thee ? " l But Jesus still held His peace. With mingled solemnity and fierceness the high-priest cried out, " I adjure Thee, by the living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God." 2 Then was heard that calm, majestic voice : " I am ; and hereafter shall ye see the Sou of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." At these words the high-priest rent his garments, and pronounced Him guilty of blasphemy. " What further need have we of witnesses ? " he said. He immedi ately put the question to the Sanhedrin, and they pronounced Him "guilty of death." Then some spat in His face, and buffeted Him; others blindfolded Him, and, striking Him in the face, bade Him in mockery tell which of them it was that smote Him. John heard and saw all this. With his intense affection for the Saviour, it must have been an occasion of the deepest suffering to him. There can be little doubt he would have preferred to receive the blows, and would have welcomed all the indignity heaped upon his Master. It was an occa sion, moreover, of severe discipline to his indignant spirit. It must have cost him no small effort to quell that anger which, as we have seen, was so quick to rise at any slight or disrespect to One whom he knew to be so spotless and pure. The Jewish council had reached their decision, had finished their session. Their next step, as they could not under the Roman law put any man to death, was to carry Him before the Roman governor, and insist on His being capitally punished. The guard were accordingly directed to lead Him to Pilate's 3 judgment hall. They themselves followed, but would only approach the entrance. With their hearts 1 Mark xiv. 60-64. 2 Matt. xxvi. 63. 3 The name of Pilate appears in the Annals of Tacitus, and the testimony of this historian as to the time when the foundations of the Christian religion were laid is in perfect harmony with that of the evangelists. In stating that Nero him self was believed to have ordered the conflagration of Borne, and in order to sup press the rumour, charged the persons commonly called Christians with the crime, he adds : " Auctor nominis ejus Christus, Tiberio imperitante, per Procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio affectus est : " i.e., Christ, the founder of that name (sect), was capitally punished by Pontius Pilate, Procurator (of Judasa), in the reign of Tiberius. Annal., xv. 44. JESUS BEFORE PILATE. 99 filled with hatred ana murder, they refused to enter that hall lest they should incur ceremonial defilement, and be disqualified for observing some of the remaining rites of the passover. Pilate, in condescending to come out and confer with them, betrays his anxiety to conciliate their good esteem. On some account he seems to have felt the inse curity of his position in the government of the province, and imagined that he might strengthen it by making himself p6pular with the heads of the people over whom he ruled. At the same time, he evinces throughout the trial a strong desire to evade the responsibility they sought to lay upon him. He wishes them to take Jesus and judge Him according to the Jewish law ; but this they would not agree to, as it would defeat their object, inasmuch as their conquerors, the Romans, did not permit them to put any man to death.1 His death they had determined upon, and no punishment short of it would satisfy them. They pleaded that the charge which they preferred was one of which not the Jewish, but only the Roman tribunal, could take cognizance. They began only the more earnestly to accuse Him, saying, " We found this fellow perverting the nation (that is, attempting to break its allegiance to Rome), and forbidding to give tribute to Ceesar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a king." The accusation was artfully framed as far as it related to His claim to be Messiah, as involving the claim to be a king ; but so far as it related to the paying of the tribute it was wholly false, for they had utterly failed 2 when they sought to ensnare Him into saying something on this subject which might be interpreted as of a hostile bearing to the Roman government. Pilate could discover no way by which to evade the responsibility of proceed ing with the trial, without appearing indifferent to the safety and rights of the imperial government, which he could at that time by no means afford to do. He therefore returned 3 to his judgment seat, and formally arraigned the Lord Jesus Christ at his bar. He asked Him, " Art Thou the King of the Jews ? " The Lord at once admitted that He claimed to be a king, but in no such sense as to make Him liable to the charge of treason. " I am a king, but My kingdom is not of this world. I have no armies to fight for its establishment, nor to defend Me against arrest or insult." The accusation that this meek, mild Prisoner, without armed followers, had any treasonable designs against the Roman government was evi- 1 The account found in the gospel touching the civil condition of the Jews at this time corresponds in a striking manner with other authorities. Lardner has discussed the subject with an exhaustive learning, and has come to the conclusion that the Jews did not possess the power of life and death, which was in the hands of the Boman governor. Vol. i., pp. 83-164. 2 Matt. xxii. 15-22. 3 Matt, xxvii. 11 ; Mark xv. 2 ; Luke xxiii. 3 ; John xviii. 33. 100 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. dently, in the opinion of Pilate, simply absurd. He therefore left the judgment seat the second time, and went out and said to His accusers, "I find in Him no fault at all." 1 Then the chief priests and elders accused Him of many things. They felt that their cause was becoming desperate, and they hoped that in the multiplicity of their charges one might be found that would stir up the animosity and cruel nature of Pilate against the Prisoner, and result in His condemnation. While this was going on, Jesus stood in calm and silent dignity, and was so unmoved that the astonishment of His judge was excited.2 " An- swerest Thou nothing?" he says. And He answered him never a word. Why should He attempt to answer such unscrupulous accusers ? But Pilate did not interpret His declining to answer as a disrespect. It was a sacred privilege, which, under the circumstances, He had a perfect right to exercise, and which His judge therefore respected. Again Pilate addressed the chief priests and people : " I find no fault iu this Man. " 3 But this only excited them the more ; and they cried out, " He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place." He was an agitator, if not a traitor. The mention of Galilee as the region where Jesus commenced this work of agitation suggested to the perplexed governor a mode in which he might escape from his dilemma. He immediately inquired if the man were a Galilean ; and being answered in the affirmative, sent Him to Herod, the governor of Galilee, who was on a visit to Jeru salem at that time.4 There can be no doubt that the disciple who accompanied the Lord to the palace of the high-priest, where he was so well known to that functionary and his retainers, stood with the same firmness by His side, both before Pilate and Herod. And he alone of all the apostles probably was present. In being the witness of these scenes, how important the lessons he must have learned, fitting him for his future work, not merely as the inspired narrator of the Lord's history, but for that long service in doing the Lord's work, during a considerable portion of which he was the sole survivor of his apostolic companions. The soldiers led Jesus forth to the quarters of Herod.5 This was Herod Antipas, the same cruel ruler who had caused the head of John 1 John xviii. 38. " Matt, xxvii. 12-14. 3 Luke xxiii. 4, 5. 4 Luke xxiii. 6-12. 5 The share Herod took in the trial of Jesus is referred to in Acts iv. 27. The feud between him and Pilate may have had some connection with the slaughter of the Galileans mentioned in Luke xiii. 1, &v rb alpa LTiXdros ?pi£e pera tSv Bvaiuv avrGiv. Herod was unscrupulous and cruel. With his cruelty there seems to have been united a peeulia* cunning, justifying the title, 'H dXc&Tnjf aUrt) (Luke xiii. 32). PROGRESS OP THE TRIAL. 101 the Baptist to be brought on a platter in the midst of a gay revel, at the request of a girl, the daughter of his paramour, whose dancing had pleased him. This wicked man was exceedingly glad to see Jesus, and had desired, we are told, for a long time to see Him, for the singular reason that he had heard many remarkable things respecting Him, and he hoped to see some wonderful work performed by Him. He immediately began to question, and appears to have insisted on obtaining an answer ; but we are expressly told that our Lord answered nothing. He did not once open His lips. Herod was not permitted to hear the sound of that gracious voice which had fallen, in the sweetest accents, on the ears of the humblest of the people. The chief priests and scribes, who had followed to be present at this tribunal, stood and vehemently accused Him ; but their charges were of the same ground less, absurd, or indefinite nature which distinguished them before Pilate. No answer that He could give would silence them, or satisfy a judge whose principal wish was to gratify a morbid desire for sight seeing. The result of His arraignment before Herod was that Herod with his men of war set Him at naught, mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him again to Pilate. Another singular result is stated; to wit, that Herod and Pilate, who before were enemies, were made friends on the same day. That which undoubtedly was a mere expedient on the part of Pilate to get clear of an embarrass ing case was probably interpreted by Herod as an act of concession, or of deference and respect ; and thus the Lord of glory, in passing from one to the other of these wicked men, restored them to friendship. Christ stands again in the presence of Pilate, and as He was accused of practices unfriendly to the Roman government, His case must be disposed of in a manner which would not give His enemies an oppor tunity of accusing him of malfeasance in office to the emperor. What was his next step ? He first distinctly declares to the accusers of Christ that neither he nor Herod had been able to discover the least evidence of guilt 1 on the charge they had brought against Him of seek ing to lead the Jewish people into revolt; 'but as they had a custom that he should, at the feast of the passover, release unto the people one prisoner, whomsoever they desired, he would release the King of the Jews. He put the question whether he should do this. There was then on trial, or awaiting his trial, a notable criminal, one Barabbas, a robber, who had been engaged in an insurrection, in which murder was committed. Pilate therefore referred it to the crowd gathered around his judgment seat, to say whether he should release Barabbas unto them or Jesus Christ. Whilst the multitude are preparing to give their decision, and the chief priests and elders are engaged in 1 Luke xxiii. ; comp. Matt, xxvii. 15-26 ; Mark xv. 6-15. 102 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. persuading them to ask Barabbas, woman, in the person of Pilate's wife, like a good angel, appears on the scene, to plead in favour of Jesus.1 She sent to her husband on the judgment seat, saying, "Have thou nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream concerning Him." But in vain ; the man who will not heed the monitions of his own conscience will disregard the warn ings and forebodings of an anxious wife. At length the question was put to the people by the governor. Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you ?s Prepared as they had been, by their rulers, they promptly, evidently to the dis appointment of Pilate, answered, "Barabbas." He had hoped that the answer would have been " Jesus," or, at least, that there would have been dissensions among them. But what, he says, shall I do unto Him whom ye call the King of the Jews ? 3 Immediately they cried out, Crucify Him. Again he said, " Why, what evil hath He done ? I have found no cause of death in Him." How can you ask me to give sentence of death against Him ; "I will therefore chastise4 Him, and let Him go. And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that He might be crucified. And the voices of them and the chief priests prevailed." Pilate had yielded point after point to the demands of the accusers ; had shown that he had no sincere regard for the principles of justice ; and now yields all. He resorts to the vain ceremony of washing his hands before the multitude, saying, " I am innocent of the blood of this just Person ; " 5 which called forth that fearful exclamation of the people, " His blood be on us, and our children ! " Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him, and having committed Him to the custody of the soldiers, they took Him into the prffitorium, or common hall6 of the palace, and called together the whole cohort 1 Matt, xxvii. 19. A partial knowledge of Eoman history might lead the reader to question the historic credibility of Matthew in this particular. In the earlier periods, and indeed as long as the commonwealth subsisted, it was very unusual for the governors of provinces to take their wives with them (Senec. De Ccntrov., 25) ; and in the strict regulation, which Augustus introduced, he did not allow the favour except in peculiar and specified circumstances (Suetbn., Aug., 24). The practice, however, grew to be more and more prevalent, and was (says Winer, Real-wort, in " Pilate ") customary in Pilate's time. In the beginning of the reign of Tiberius, Germanicus took his wife with him into the East. Piso, the prefect of Syria, took his wife also along with him at the same time. Tacit. Annal.,ii., 54, 55. See Lardner's Works, vol. i., p. 145 ; Eitto's Cyclop., Pilate. 2 Matt, xxvii. 21, 22. 11 Mark xv. 12. 4 Luke xxiii. 22. 5 Matt, xxvii. 24, 25. 6 Matt, xxvii. 26-30. ST. JOHN PRESENT. 103 or garrison that they might make sport of the Condemned. They took off His garment and put on Him a purple robe ; they plaited a crown of thorns and put it on His head ; and for a sceptre placed a reed in His hand. They then bowed the knee to Him and said, " Hail, King of the Jews ! " Having wearied themselves with this rude sport and mockery, they next gratified the brutality of their nature, they took the mock sceptre from His hand, and smote Him on the head, and spat upon Him. But Pilate, although he had given sentence, appears to have relented. Perhaps whilst the scene which has been described was going on in the prsetorium, his wife had again remonstrated. At all events he again seeks to release Jesus. He goes forth to the chief priests and rulers, and caused the Condemned to be led out, His limbs lacerated and bleeding from the cruel scourge, still wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe,1 and said to them, Behold the Man ! " Those words, that scene, have become immortal. Painters have dipped their pencil in that purple robe, and sought for ages to depict that expression of suffering majesty. The Church of Christ caught up the motto and the image, and pressed them to her bosom." 2 Pilate doubtless hoped that some pity would be excited in the bosom of the beholders, and that they would yet consent that he should release Him. But no, they cried out, Crucify, crucify Him ; if the Roman law does not condemn Him, by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God. These words only increased the terror of Pilate. He accom panied Christ back into the judgment hall, and earnestly inquired, Whence art Thou ? But he received no answer. Pilate then said, Speakest Thou not to me ? Knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee, and have power to release Thee ? " Thou couldst have no power at all against Me except it were given thee from above," was the calm reply. Again Pilate presented Jesus to the Jews, and said, Behold your King. But they cried, Away with Him, away with Him ; crucify Him. For three or four weary hours this trial had been going on, and now it was concluded ; and Pilate delivered Him unto them to be crucified. We cannot doubt that that disciple who accompanied the Lord to the palace of the high-priest was near Him, perhaps walked by His side, on His way from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back to Pilate, and on His way to Golgotha ; and would gladly, if he had been 1 Probably a scarlet (Matt, xxvii. 28) military cloak, belonging to one of them selves, which was intended to represent the imperial purple. Hence Mark and John describe it for what it was intended to be — a purple, vopcpipav, robe (Mark xv. 17 ; John xix. 2). 2 Homer's Sermons, edited by Dr. Edwards A. Park. 104 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. permitted, have borne that cumbrous cross which crushed the Saviour to the earth. He stood near the cross, after Jesus was fastened upon it, — the only representative of the apostles on that scene of blood, unless perhaps the shamed and sorrowing Peter was somewhere there, on the outskirts of the crowd, his heart powerfully attracted by love towards that Saviour whom he had denied. Taking our station, with the beloved disciple, as near as possible to the person of the suffering Saviour, we join the procession as it takes its departure from the palace of the high-priest. Jesus no longer wears the purple robe in which He had been mocked. The cross to which He was to be nailed had been prepared. It was probably a tree, with limbs of a proper size and shape to adapt it to the purpose. Peter styles it a tree,1 and it repeatedly receives the same designation from the his torian Luke.2 It is laid on the Condemned, and the procession starts for the place of execution. Suddenly, its progress is arrested. The Saviour sinks beneath the burden that has been laid on Him. No severity of the soldiers can cause Him to rise beneath it. It is not obstinacy, it is exhaustion. One Simon, a Jew, from Cyrene, who is met in the way, is compelled to take the cross and bear it after Him. 3 As they move on, a voice of lamentation and wailing is heard from the great company of people that followed.4 It proceeds from the women, to whom the Saviour turned, and said, " Weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves and your children '' ; and then uttered a prediction of the calamities that were coming on the nation. To add to the ignominy of His crucifixion, two others, malefactors, were led with Him to be put to death. 5 Arrived at the place known as the Skull,6 or in Hebrew, Golgotha, as the Sufferer probably still 1 1 Pet. ii. 24. 2 Acts v. 30 ; x. 39 ; xiii. 29. 3 Jesus seems to have borne the cross as far as the city gate. It was as they were coming out (i^epxopevoi, Matt, xxvii. 32) that they met Simon the Cyrenian coming in from the country (ipxbpevov dir' dypov, Mark xv. 21). The scene of the crucifixion was beyond the northern, now known as the Damascus gate. Mark says of this Simon that he was "the father of Alexander and Bufus," an expression which seems to imply that they were well-known persons in the Church at the time Mark was writing. Perhaps Bufus is the one whom Paul greets, Bom. xvi. 13. But the attempt to identify them is altogether conjectural. 4 Luke xxiii. 27-32. " Viri muliebres animos ostenderant in fuga et desertione Christi. Infirmus sexus hie prasvalet fortiori. Tantum valet amor Christi et robur spiritus etiam in vasis imbecillioribus.'* — Lampe in Evang. Joan., cap. xix., 26. 5 See the four evangelists. 6 Kpavlov, the skull, Luke xxiii. 33. In Matthew, Mark, and John, it is called Kpavlov rbiros, skull place. Cyril of Jerusalem, Beland, Paulus, Lucke, De Wette, Meyer, and others, understand the name as descriptive of the shape of the hill of crucifixion. See a very interesting monograph on this subject by the late lamented Fisher Howe, Esq., of Brooklyn, N.Y. THE CRUCIFIXION. 105 exhibited signs of syncope, they offered Him wine mingled with myrrh ; or it may have been a mixture intended to stupefy the mind and deaden the sense of pain ; but when He tasted He refused to drink.1 It was the third hour, corresponding to our nine o'clock in the morning ; and they crucified Him. He was nailed to the tree by His hands and feet, and with Him they crucify the two thieves, and plant the crosses the one on His right and the other on His left hand. Then was heard that prayer of boundless love, " Father, forgive them ; they know not what they do." This was the first of those weighty utterances which John heard dropped from the lips of Jesus, as He hung upon the cross.2 How impressively he must have been taught that there is forgiveness with God for those who have despised and rejected Christ through ignorance ! He was to preach the gospel to many such. He was to preach the gospel to those who took part in the crucifixion of Christ, and would have occasion to say, " And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it." 3 He fully believed God to be a for giving God, as is evidenced by all his writings ; and he found in it the grandest of all motives to the forgiveness of enemies. It was this which qualified him in so eminent a degree for his work as a preacher of the gospel. The next scene in the crucifixion, presented to the eye of John, was the act of the four soldiers who officiated as executioners, in dividing the garments of Jesus, and casting lots for His seamless robe. It is a matter of business with them ; they must not miss the perquisites of their trade ! They have one more service to perform before they sit down to watch the slow and steady advance of death, and make sure 1 Matt, xxvii. 34. 2 The form of the cross varied. Sometimes it was in the shape of the letter X> This was called St. Andrew's, or crux decussata. Sometimes in the shape of the letter T, called St. Anthony's cross, or crux commissa. And sometimes in the following form -J-, the Latin cross, or crux immissa. It was on a cross of the latter kind our Lord is supposed to have suffered. There is a beautiful tradition which assigns the perpetual shiver of the aspen to the fact of the cross having been of this tree. But Lipsius, who has displayed such wealth of erudition on this subject, thinks (De Cruee, iii., 13) that it was of oak, which was common in Judaaa. There is another tradition, that the cross consisted of three kinds of wood : cypress, pine, and cedar. And still another that it consisted of four kinds : cedar, cypress, palm, and olive. That it was wood is certain, but of what wood no evidence remains. " The principal standard," says Gibbon, writing of the reign of Constantine, "which displayed the triumph of the cross, was styled the labarum, an obscure though celebrated name, which has been vainly derived from almost all the languages of the world. It is described as a long pike intersected by a transversal beam. The silken veil which hung down from the beam was curiously inwrought with the images of the reigning monarch and family " (Decline and Fall, chap. xx.). 3 Acts iii. 17. 106 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. that they have accomplished their work. Pilate had written a title1 to be put up over the head of Jesus on the cross. It was in the three great languages of the world, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, and was in these words, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. There was something significant in its being in these three languages, as well as in the title itself. It contained a message for the whole world, not only the Jewish, but the Gentile — not only the learned, but the un learned. Pilate, although he meant it not so in his heart, but doubtless imagined that some apology for his unjust sentence might be found in the inscription he ordered to be placed on the cross, proclaimed a great truth, that Jesus was a King, and not the King of the Jews only, but the King of nations, the King of kings. It was one more attempt to quiet a troubled conscience ; and he could not be persuaded by the solicitations of the chief priests to remove or to change it. Thus Divine providence seems to have overruled the mind and heart of Pilate to proclaim the kingship of Christ at the very moment when shame and reproach were heaped on Him. And now commenced before the eyes of the loving disciple a scene of cruel mockery.2 The rabble, as they passed by the cross, wagged their heads, and pointed the finger at Him', crying out, " Ah, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself. If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." And with them the chief priests and scribes and elders joined and said, " He saved others, Himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe." And even the voices of the thieves, hanging in tortures by His side, were heard reviling Him, " If Thou be Christ, save Thyself and us." But lo ! a scene of wondrous grace. Something, (perhaps it was the prayer, " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,") touched the heart of one of them, it being a prayer for the forgiveness of those who were engaged at that moment in crucifying Jesus ; and he bethought himself, If these can be forgiven, why not I r And he began to pray in earnest, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." The grace that put this prayer into his lips seems singnlarly to have enlightened him, not only in respect to the power and glory of Christ, but in respect to His kingdom. Through 1 Airia, Matt, xxvii. 37 ; i) liriypacp^ ttjs alrlas, Mark xv. 26 ; iwiypaCXG> tre. It is a declaration of his personal attachment, and yet it is expressed with humility, as the circum stances demanded. Though he might be wanting in the Divine measure of love that belongs to Jesus, he knew that he loved Him. He uses a word of less meaning than that used by Christ, and when the Saviour, in His last question, used the same term, he answered with increased emphasis, " Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest," etc. 116 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. which the disciples falsely interpreted as meaning that " that disciple should not die." l The appointed time had arrived, and John went with his companions to the mountain. It was on this occasion, it is supposed, that our Lord showed Himself to more than five hundred brethren at once, the greater part of whom were alive at the time St. Paul wrote his First Epistle to the Corinthians.5 The formal appointment to meet His disciples on the mountain in Galilee was doubtless made known to the whole brotherhood as extensively as possible ; and this concourse was probably gathered, not only from the surrounding country, but even from Jerusalem ; for who of His followers, who knew of the appointed meeting, and could reach the place, would willingly have been absent ? On this occasion, in this great convocation, the eleven, it is to be presumed, were in a solemn manner set apart to the apostle ship. They were commissioned to go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever had been com manded them. And the promise was added, " Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." At last St. John saw Him, with all the apostles, at the time of His ascension. He led them out of Jerusalem as far as to Bethany,3 where He was parted from them and carried up to heaven. While they beheld He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. As they stood gazing up into heaven, at the place where He had dis appeared, two men in white apparel came and told them that this same Jesus, who had been taken up from them into heaven, should so come, in like manner, as they had seen Him go into heaven.4 Thus was the proof completed. His departure from the world, like His entrance into it, was miraculous. Nothing was wanting 1 John xxi. 1-24. The erroneous interpretation of our Lord's words respecting St. John, that he should not die, laid very strong hold on the early Church. Dean Stanley says that it " required nearly seventeen centuries to shake it entirely off." Sermons and Essays on the Apostolical Age, p. 146. 2 1 Cor. xv. 6. 3 "E£w els BriBavlav, Luke xxiv. 50, " He led them out as far as to Bethany." It was here, as He blessed them, that He was parted from them, and ascended to heaven. Bethany lies on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, not far from a mile below the summit of the ridge. In Acts i. 12 Luke relates that after the ascension the disciples returned to Jerusalem " from the mount called Olivet." Luke uses the terms Bethany and Mount of Olives as interchangeable, and almost synonymous. Comp. Matt. xxi. 17 ; Mark xi. 11, 19, 20 ; Luke xxi. 37 ; and see an article by Eev. Dr. Edw. Eobinson, in reply to the objections of the Eev. Mr. Newman, of Oxford, in the Biblioth. Sac. for February, 1843, p. 176, seq. 4 Mark xvi. 19, 20; Luke xxiv. 50-53; Acts i. 9-12. Were the two men Moses and Elias ? See Alexander on Acts i. 10. WMM i! IIIIIIHI1 i;i.^|||||j|||l|j'::i||lllilti£ illtii'1! § |i illilLr Pi i ill! j|. ii 111!!!!!! Mil!. IIIM'illr:;1'1 'ii. INFALLIBLE PROOFS. 1 1 7 essential to a full conviction in the mind of John, and of his brother apostles, that He was the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. In His ascension St. John saw the humanity of Jesus glorified, and a clear manifestation of His essential deity. Such were the many infallible proofs by which He showed Himself alive after His passion. The fact of His death, let it be added here, was never called in question by His enemies, but was fully admitted by the story to which they sought to gain credence, and to give currency, through the agency of the soldiers who were set to watch the tomb, that while they slept His disciples came and stole Him away. It is true none of the witnesses were present when He arose. No mortal saw Him come out of the tomb, as Lazarus was seen to come out when he was raised from the dead. But He was seen alive in the same body in which He suffered, during forty days, by those who saw Him dead and buried, who were distinctly advertised, before His final departure from the world, that they were appointed to be witnesses of these things ; and He was also seen by many others, who had the most undeniable evidence that He was crucified, dead, and buried. There was no expectation with the women to whom He first appeared, nor with His disciples, that He would rise again. Although He had repeatedly foretold His resurrection, it is evident they had not under stood Him, and knew not the Scriptures that He must rise again. Certainly they were not looking for His return at the time He ap peared. They were not in a frame of mind to be deceived by some phantom of the imagination. The women, to whom He first appeared, held Him by the feet as they worshipped. Mary Magdalene, mistaking Him through her tears for the gardener, instantly knew His voice as He pronounced her name. If it be asked why He did not show himself publicly at Jerusalem, in the streets and in the temple, as before His crucifixion, it is a sufficient answer, that it would have been contrary to the whole course of His former life and ministry, in which He never sought to dazzle and con found the senses of men ; and to that fundamental principle of His kingdom, which He had laid down, that it cometh not with " observa tion," as well as to His direct teaching that they who believe not Moses and the prophets (and He might have added who believed not, in view of His own teaching and miracles) would not believe though one rose from the dead.1 1 Strauss, in his new Life of Jesus, advocates the theory that the appearances of Jesus to His disciples were nothing more than visions, and has prepared his argument with special care. A vision is distinguished from an appearance in that it exists for the mind only. He lays special emphasis on the passage, 1 Cor. xv. 3-8, in which the apostle speaks of the appearance to himself, on the way to 118 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. The apostle John, therefore, had as good evidence, and his testimony is as reliable, as if he had been present when the angel rolled away the stone, and the Lord of life emerged from the tomb. He had every opportunity to be satisfied of the verity of the facts to which he testi fies. In bearing this testimony, he sacrificed or endangered all his temporal interests, and had not the least prospect of any earthly advan tage or reward. He was steadfast to this testimony, when the fiercest persecutions raged. If he did not seal it with his blood, which was literally true of nearly, if not quite, all the rest of the apostles, we nevertheless have in him an example of unwavering steadfastness in it through all the trying and chequered scenes of a life, continued to quite a century, through persecutions which his brethren, whose course was shorter, escaped ; which certainly renders his testimony of no less value. These men unite in telling us how at first they were unbeliev ing, or wholly ignorant of the meaning of Scripture, and of the Saviour's own predictions on the subject, and were even terrified at the sight of the risen Lord. They show us by what evidence they were convinced of His resurrection j1 and being convinced, they never after wards swerved. Damascus, as of the same nature as that to His disciples at Jerusalem. And he argues that the appearance to Saul of Tarsus must have been simply and purely a vision, from his own words, Gal. i. 16 : " It pleased God to reveal His Son in me." But St. Paul does not confound a vision with an actual appearance. His argument, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, for the bodily resurrection of believers, would have no foundation if he had intended to speak of a mental vision, rather than the actual sight of the risen Christ, when he says, "He was seen of James, then of all the apostles, and last of all He was seen of me," etc. Benan, with less or rather with no attempt whatever at argument, refers to the morbid condition or strong imagination of Mary Magdalene, who had been possessed of seven devils. " Divine power of love ! " he exclaims, " sacred moments in which the passion of a hallucinated woman gives to the world a resurrected God." 1 " One and all of them regarded His first appearance to them sceptically, and took pains to satisfy themselves, or made it necessary that Jesus should take pains to satisfy them, that the visible object was no ghostly apparition, but a living man, and that man none other than He who had died on the cross. The disciples doubted now the substantiality, now the identity, of the person who appeared to them. They were therefore not content with seeing Jesus, but at His own request handled Him. One of their number not only handled the body to ascertain that it possessed the incompressibility of matter, but insisted on examining, with sceptical ingenuity, those parts which had been injured with the nails and the spear. The power of imagination and nervous excitement we know can do much. It has often happened to men in an abnormal, excited state, to see, projected into outward space, the creations of a heated brain. But persons in a crazy state like that, subject to hallucination, are not usually cool and rational enough to doubt the reality of what they see ; nor is it necessary in their case to take pains to overcome such doubts. What they need, rather, is to be made aware that what they think they see is not a reality : the very reverse of what Christ had to do for the disciples, and did, by solemn SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE. 119 Such is the evidence that St. John the apostle was no mere enthu siast, led astray by an impostor, and deceived by the phantasies of his own excited imagination. He saw the risen Lord, again and again, in company with others, with every advantage of being certified that He was the same Jesus whom he saw expire on the cross. He received the testimony of others who saw Him when he was not present, and in whom he had the best reason to repose the fullest confidence, — that of Peter, of the two disciples going to Emmaus, of James who had been once the unbelieving kinsman of the Lord, his own mother Salome, Mary Magdalene, and other women of Galilee. His confidence in the fact of Christ's resurrection, instead of growing weaker, became stronger as he advanced in age, in knowledge, and experience. His account 1 of it was written when he was far advanced in years. And at a still later period he says : " That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of life . . . declare we unto you." 2 When we inquire, more at large, what was the nature of that evidence which convinced him, in opposition to all his Jewish prejudices, against all the passions of corrupt nature, and all the powers of a frowning world, the answer is not difficult. The resurrection of Christ did but crown a life which began in a miracle and was a life of miracles. He had seen Jesus again. and again perform works in which there was a sensible departure from the established laws of nature. , He had seen effects which could not possibly have been the result of any other cause than the direct interposition of the power of Him who is the author of nature and its laws. There could be no delusion or mistake, for these miracles were palpable facts, addressed to the senses, and many of them were attended by lasting effects. He had seen men raised to sudden health from sickness, or who were born blind seeing, or crippled walk ing ; he had seen the dead, from the couch, from the bier, and from a four days' burial, coming to life, and continuing active for a season (after reviviscence) in the affairs of this world. He saw this power of miracles not pompously displayed, nor exercised for the destruction of enemies or the aggrandisement of friends, but unostentatiously employed for benevolent and holy ends. There was another form of evidence, to wit, the prophecies respect ing Messiah, in the ancient Scriptures, which John could plainly see assertion that He was no spirit, by inviting them to handle Him, to satisfy them selves of His material substantiality, and by partaking of food in their presence " (The Training of the Twelve, by Bruce, p. 497). 1 John xx. ¦ 1 John i. 1-3. 120 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. were accomplished in Jesus of Nazareth. These Scriptures were in the custody, as they still are, of the Jews themselves, who for ages had preserved them with the utmost care and reverence. The prophecies they contain were delivered centuries before the birth of Jesus ; and nearly three hundred years before that event, the Scriptures containing them had been translated, and widely disseminated in the Greek lan guage, the language of the then literature of the world.1 They con tain distinct predictions of the particular seed, line, and even family, of which Jesus was born. They foretell the place, the time, and circum stances of His advent. They describe His forerunner. They predict in graphic terms the very miracles He performed. They foretell that He would be despised and rejected of men, that He should be slain, should lie in the grave, but should rise again.2 The fulfilment of these Old Testament prophecies in Jesus of Nazareth was the finger of God pointing directly to Him. They who saw them fulfilled in Jesus could not do otherwise than believe that He was the promised Saviour of the world. He was Himself a prophet. He foretold events so near, some regulated by the caprice of men, and others which depended purely on the will of God, that they who heard them from His lips were the witnesses of their fulfilment. He foretold again and again His own death and resurrection, the conduct of His followers after He should leave them, His ascension to heaven, and the pouring out of the Spirit. He predicted and circumstantially described the destruction of Jeru salem. But the evidence contained in His doctrine must be added to that derived from miracles and prophecy. John heard words, as they fell warm and glowing from the lips of Jesus, which have excited the admiration for ages of some of the most gifted intellects. He felt the authority which accompanied His teaching — a certain majesty and power which belonged to unmixed truth and perfect goodness. His reason, his conscience, his heart, were addressed by One who needed not that any should testify what is in man ; who could unfold the most secret feelings; who could so hold up a mirror to his inner nature 3 that he should see even more than he knew to be there before. It was not 1 The most probable date of the completion of the translation of the Scriptures into Greek is about the year b.o. 285, when Ptolemy Lagus and Ptolemy Philadel- phus were kings of Egypt. It is called the Septuagint, either because the number of translators supposed to be engaged in it was seventy, or because it was approved by the Jewish Sanhedrin, consisting of seventy-two persons. This version was in common use in the synagogues, and it is from this that the New Testament more frequently quotes than from the Hebrew. 2 Gen. xlix. 10 ; Isa. xl. 9 ; xii. 27 ; Hag. ii. 6-9 ; Micah v. 2 ; Mai. iii. 1 ; iv. 5 ; Isa. vii. 14 ; Zech. ix. 9 ; Isa. xliii. 1-3 ; xxxv. 5, 6 ; liii., etc. 3 Matt. xx. 22 ; Luke ix. 55, etc. WORDS AND WORKS OF CHRIST. 121 possible that the Son of God should come into the world without bring ing with Him convincing evidence in His words, as well as His works, whence He came. He brought that evidence in its fulness and bright ness ; and the reason why all men should have yielded to it is inti mated in the words which He Himself, recognising the light which one branch of the twofold evidence in His favour reflected on the other, addressed to a company of Jews, who were divided in their opinions in regard to Him : " If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not. But if I do, though ye believe not Me, believe the works, that ye may know, and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."1 While the works of Christ proved His doctrine true, His doctrine was the evi dence that His works were wrought by the power of God. 1 John x. 37, 38. CHAPTER VII. HISTORY OF ST. JOHN IN THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. \ HE RETURNS TO JERUSALEM TO AWAIT THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT. — GALILEE NO LONGER HIS HOME. — APOSTLES ASSEMBLED IN THE UPPER ROOM. — ST. JOHN AND THE MOTHER OF JESUS. — MARY DISAPPEARS FROM HISTORY. — MATTHIAS ELECTED AN APOSTLE. DAY OF PENTECOST. APOSTLES IN ONE OP THE STOAS OF THE TEMPLE. — TONGUES OF FLAME. — THREE THOUSAND CONVERTED. — ST. JOHN ENGAGED IN EVANGELIC WORK. — ITS EFFECT ON HIM. — MIRACLE AT THE GATE BEAUTIFUL OF THE TEMPLE. — ST. JOHN'S FIRST IMPRISONMENT. — ARRAIGNED BEFORE THE HIGH-PRIEST. — SECOND TIME IMPRISONED. — THE WORK ADVANCING. MISSION OF ST. JOHN AND ST. PETER TO SAMARIA. — TIBERIUS. CALIGULA. — AGRIPPA I. — PUBLIUS. — PETRONIUS. — CLAUDIUS. — MARTYRDOM OF ST. JAMES. — ANTIOCH. — THE JEWISH PARTY. COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM. — ST. JOHN A PILLAR OF THE CHURCH. On the spot where His sacred feet last rested, John bowed, and wor shipped the ascended Saviour. He then returned with his com panions into the city, there to await, agreeably to the direction, the promise of the Spirit to be received from Him. Daily he resorted with them to the temple, praising and blessing God. He had seen His open sepulchre ; he had seen Him ascend ; and he knew that He was entered into His glory, and was able to fulfil His promise, " I will not leave you comfortless; I will come unto you." Galilee, so long hallowed by the presence and deeds of Jesus, is no more the apostles' home. They are to obey the command, " Go ye into all the world;" but Jerusalem is for the present to be their head quarters, and to be made the centre of the great movement. "When they were come in they went up into an upper room:" was it the same in which they had partaken of the Passover, and the Lord's Supper, already consecrated by the farewell words of their crucified and ascended Lord ? l Here were all the eleven, not one 1 Tb vireptjiov, the upper chamber. It was not an apartment in the temple, as some of the earlier interpreters supposed, but belonged probably to the private residence of some friend of Jesus. The article, the upper room, Dr. J. Addison Alexander thinks, refers to something previously mentioned, or already known. " This is altogether natural if we suppose them to have still frequented the same upper room, in which they had partaken of the Passover, and which had been designated by the Lord in a remarkable manner (Matt. xxvi. 18 ; Mark xiv. 15 ; Luke xxii. 12). This is much more probable than that they had procured another ELECTION OF AN APOSTLE. 123 missing, — Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James son of Alpheus, Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. And they continued, with the most perfect unanimity of feeling and sentiment, from day to day, in prayer and supplication. The pious women, who had been so faithful to Christ, in His life and death, were admitted to the privileges of this little assembly. Among them Were Salome the mother of John, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mary the mother of James the less. 1 This is the last time the name of the mother of our Lord occurs in the New Testament history. John had received the charge from the lips of the Saviour, dying on the cross, " Son, behold thy mother ! " He cheerfully accepted it, for he tells us 3 that from that hour he took her to his own home. His father, Zebedeeus, who had been possessed of property, was probably deceased; and it would seem that John already had a house, or was able to provide one, in Jerusalem. It was not with the beloved dis ciple as with his Master, who had not where to lay His head. To his home he took Mary, that " blessed among women " ; and with what filial devotion he provided for her wants, soothed her Sorrows, and smoothed her pathway to the tomb ! According to one tradition, she died early in Jerusalem ; according to another, she accompanied John when he removed to Ephesus, and died there at an advanced age. But whether her stay on earth was longer or shorter, she never had occasion to suspect that her confidence in the words, " Behold thy son ! " had been misplaced. It is a most striking comment on the position the Church of Rome assigns to her, that she fills so small a space both in inspired and in uninspired history. She retires from the stage of human affairs, disappearing in the family circle of the beloved apostle, and nothing is known of the events of her subsequent life, nor of the circumstances and period of her death. As the apostles continue, day after day, in prayer and supplication, in the upper room, and in their visits to the temple, praising and blessing God, they are led to take notice of the gap in their number, occasioned by the defection of Judas Iscariot. In order to complete place for their assemblies, either in a private house, or in the precincts of the temple. Even supposing that they could have been accommodated in one of the chambers or small houses which surrounded the courts of the temple, they could have had no reason for preferring it to one already consecrated by the presence and farewell words of their ascended Master." See Alexander on The Acts, in loco. 1 Acts i. 13, 14. J. A. Alexander thinks there is no express reference to the women that accompanied Him from Galilee, but that, according to a strict transla tion, the meaning is that there were women as well as men in the assembly ; i.e., it was not confined to either sex. 2 John xix. 27. 124 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. their number as originally constituted, the disciples in and around Jerusalem are called together. They assembled to the number of about one hundred and twenty. Peter takes the lead. He is spokes man, as on former occasions in their intercourse with their Master, not on account of any superiority or primacy, as of right belonging to him, but probably on account of his age, and his character for ready action. John must of course have taken a deep interest in the im portant transaction ; but if he is less conspicuous here, and throughout the history of the Acts, than Peter, it must be remembered how much he was his junior, and how closely they were associated, insomuch that the acts and words of the one may almost be regarded as the acts and words of the other. With solemn prayer, Matthias was chosen to fill the place "from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place." 1 Fifty days after the resurrection of Christ, ten days after His as cension, something very wonderful occurred in the temple at Jeru salem. The city was full of people. There were assembled repre sentatives of the Jews who had settled among the different nations of the earth. They were men of a serious or devout class, who had come to be present at Jerusalem on the occasion of a great religious festival. Some had come from the regions adjacent to the Caspian Sea, and from the borders of the ancient Persian empire ; others from the countries lying between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates ; others from the shores of the ^Egean Sea ; others came from Arabia ; others from Africa; and others still from Rome, the capital of the world.2 The festival they had come to attend occurred at the end of seven weeks, or a week of weeks, from the second day of the Passover, and hence was called the feast of weeks. In the time of the apostles, it had 1 Acts i. 24-26. The view has been advocated by Stier and others, that Paul was the true twelfth apostle, and that the appointment of Matthias was in opposi tion to the will of God. The circumstance that the labours of Matthias as an apostle are not mentioned no more proves that he was not an apostle, than the silence in respect to several of the twelve proves that they were not apostles. Paul never claimed that he was one of the twelve, but makes a distinction between them and himself, as in 1 Cor. xv. 5. Matthias must have been, according to what is implied in Peter's address, a constant attendant of Christ from the begin- ing to His resurrection and ascension. Some have conjectured that he was one of the seventy disciples sent forth by Jesus, and there is nothing unreasonable in the suggestion. 2 Even Judaa is introduced into this catalogue of foreign names. Olshausen adduces the circumstance that St. Luke, writing probably from Borne, considered the geographical position of Judasa from the point of view at Borne, rather than Jerusalem. Bengel and Meyer account for its insertion from the fact that the dialect of Galilee was different from that of Judaa, and this dialect was that of the speaker. PENTECOST. ' 125 received the name of Pentecost, or fiftieth ; i.e., it was the feast of the fiftieth day after the second day of the Passover. According to a tradition of the Jews, it commemorated the giving of the law on Sinai with fire from heaven. They had come to worship the God of their fathers in the capital of their nation. Probably they had been present at the preceding Passover, and had remained, or had been "dwelling," at Jerusalem in the meantime. It may have been the first occasion on which some of this host of pilgrims had visited the holy city. It was to be ever memorable to thousands of them, and in the history of the Church and the world. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, the disciples were all, with the same delightful accord, or union, in one place.1 The place probably was the temple, to which the apostles, since the ascen sion, had been in the habit of daily resorting for praising and blessing God. They knew the relation which this great festival had to the giving of the law by Moses ; and the public ceremonials would not only draw them, but lead them to protract their stay at the temple ; so that the place in which they were gathered was most probably one of the oratories, or stoas, which occupied the upper range of the inner court of the temple. They were full of expectation, awaiting the advent of the promised Comforter from the Father. To the great mass of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the throng of strangers, they were unnoticed and unknown ; or, if not altogether unknown, they were regarded as of very little account. Suddenly,2 there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the apartment, and lambent flames, like tongues of fire, playing around, lighted upon each of them. Now were fulfilled the words of their great Master. The Comforter had come. The awful rush as of that mighty wind and the tongues of fire were the sensible signs, addressed to their eyes and ears, of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The old law on Mount Sinai was given amid darkness, tempest, and fire, and thunders, which shook the mountain ; and now as the Church was about to be reorganized, on the basis of a new and better covenant, this assembly, representing the body of believers, hear the sound as of a mighty breathing about them, and see the flashing of flames, which in the shape of tongues alight on each of them. These 1 Acts ii. 2 "Atpvu, unexpectedly. The disciples were not looking for anything so extra ordinary. It is not said that a wind or tempest accompanied the manifestation, but that there was ?xos> a sound as of a mighty rushing wind or breathing, irvoijs. The common impression that the tongues were divided into two or more is not sustained by the original, as the word 5iapepij;6pevoi means distributed ; i.e., the pointed tongue-like flames were distributed upon each of them. 126 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. external sensible signs of spiritual influence were followed by the in fluence itself : " they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Their speaking in languages different from their own, and previously un known, was miraculous, and another sign of the presence of a Divine power. The design of this gift was not merely to facilitate the preaching of the gospel ; it served, like any other miracle, but with a special propriety and force, to prove the reality of an extraordinary spiritual influence. " And it served as a symbol to prefigure the voca tion of the Gentiles, whose exclusion from the Church, or chosen people, had been typified of old by a corresponding prodigy, the miraculous confusion of tongues at Babel. As the moral unity of mankind had been then lost, it was now to be restored by the preach ing of the gospel to all nations." x The body of the disciples, on whom the tongues of flame were sitting, and who were speaking with other tongues, so that the multi tude, composed as it was of men speaking so many different lan guages,2 heard them speak every man in his own language, became of course at once the centre of attraction. They were filled with astonishment, as well they might be, when they heard these Galileans address them every man in his own tongue, wherein he was born. There was a general exclamation, " What meaneth this ? " But some tried to make light of it, and said, " These men are full of new wine." 3 But Peter, with the eleven, stood up, and addressing the multitude, showed them that what had occurred was the fulfilment of a signal prophecy of Joel, and demonstrated, in a discourse of great power, the Messiahship of Jesus. The hundred and twenty, who appear to have shared in the gift of tongues, scattered among the crowd, probably acted as interpreters, so that every man might be able to understand the purport of the discourse. Or the meaning may be, that in whatever language Peter spoke, every man heard him 1 Alexander on Acts, in loco. - To say that they only preached and prayed with a flow of language, and fervour entirely new to them, or that their tongues " now became the organs of the Holy Ghost " (Baumgarten), is inconsistent with the following narrative, where men from distant countries are represented as hearing every man in his own tongue, wherein he was born. Bloomfield well remarks that there is no phraseology in Pindar himself more lyrical than the high-wrought figure thus ascribed to a plain prose narration. 3 TXevKovs, sweet, rather than new-made, wine. It denotes a fermented wine in which the sweetness was retained. The word is used in the Sept. version (Job xxxii. 19) for the common Hebrew word for wine, where the reference to fermenta tion is essential to the meaning. Athenteus, a physician and voluminous writer, supposed to have lived in the first century after Christ, uses the word in the same sense. See Bob. Lex. N. T. THE GATE BEAUTIFUL. 127 in his own. Three thousand were converted. " They joined themselves to the company of Christ's disciples, and continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." Opposition, for a time at least, seems to have ceased, and awe to have fallen on all minds. The good work went on ; many signs and wonders were done by the apostles ; and the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved. St. John no doubt shared largely in the work and joy of this blessed season, — this great introductory work of the dispensation of the Spirit. How suited to his zealous mind, his loving heart ! He now understood the words of Scripture, and the words of Jesus, as they were marvellously brought to his recollection. His mind was en lightened, and his soul fired with love, as never before. He shared in that blessed experience, when the infant Church, notwithstanding its sudden increase, by those who were from so many different nations, had that unity of feeling and affection, that it seemed to constitute but one family, with identity of interest and even possessions. " And they continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread, from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people." Happy John ! happy disciples all ! who had followed Jesus, .despite the ignominy of His cross, permitted to see a day like this ! We next see John associated with Peter in the performance of a miracle, which was the occasion of the beginning of opposition to the Christian Church, or that pressure from without which seems to have been necessary, or at least was overruled, as one of the providential causes for the spread of the new religion. As these two apostles were going up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the third stated hour, being the ninth hour of the day, corresponding to our three o'clock in the afternoon, the same being the hour of evening sacrifice, a certain man, who had been lame from his birth, and was now above forty years old, was lying at the gate of the temple, at which they were about to enter. It seems that his friends were in the habit of placing him in this, one of the most frequented localities, for the pur pose of soliciting alms. Of course he was well known to those visiting the temple at this favourite entrance, called the Beautiful Gate.1 As Peter and John approached, the lame man asked alms. They fixed 1 As ibpa topically has the sense of bloom, or beauty, as of youth, 'iapalav, applied to gate, means "beautiful," although its primary sense is timely or season able (Acts iii. 2). It is not certainly known what gate is meant, but probably one of the external gates leading from without into the area of the temple, or court of the Gentiles, on the east side of which was Solomon's porch. It was so called, as we may presume, from its architectural decorations. See Biblioth. Sac. , 1843, p. 19, seg.,and Biblioth. Sac, 1846, p. 626 ; and Eobinson's Lex. of N. T. 128 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. their eyes on him, and said " Look on us." They told him they had no silver or gold to- give him, but that they would give him, or do for him, what was in their power. Immediately they commanded him, in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, to rise and walk. With the word they raised him up, and his feet and ankle-bones received strength ; and he, leaping up, stood and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God. All the people saw him, and as they knew it was he whom they had been in the habit of seeing lying hopelessly lame at the Beautiful Gate, they came running together, greatly wondering. St. Peter made it the occasion of another powerful and solemn discourse, in which he charged home upon them, the guilt of crucifying the Lord of glory, to the evidence of whose Divinity he points in the miracle which had just been wrought in His name. He calls on them to repent, and pro claims the second glorious coming of Christ to judge the world. The indignation of the Jewish rulers, especially of the Sadducees, because of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, which they preached through Jesus, was aroused, and Peter and John were arrested and cast into prison. But the good work of conversion went on ; the number of believers was increased to about five thousand. The next day they were arraigned before the high-priest, and being asked by what power or by what name they had done this, Peter, that same Peter who had acted so cowardly at first, when his Master was standing at the bar of the same high-priest, used the occasion for a faithful discourse, in which he told his hearers that there was none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved, but the name of Jesus Christ, by whom the man who stood before them had been made whole. There the man stood, and they could not deny that a miracle had been wrought. They knew not what to do. But after conferring privately, they commanded them that they should not preach any more in the name of Jesus. The high- priest was acquainted with John, and perhaps they thought his authority would be sufficient to restrain these men. But Peter and John said, " Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." They threatened them further, but were compelled to discharge them.1 The report among 1 It is said that they " perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men," ay pdpparoi el'' means brass brought to a white heat, in an incandescent state, of a glittering whiteness. This explanation was first proposed by Bochart.1 It has been adopted by Vitringa, Hengstenberg, and Trench. Hengstenberg says : " in the formation of this word we are presented with a small image of the innermost nature of the Apocalypse, the singular manner in which the Hebrew and the Hellenic are fused together in it." 2 We have perhaps another somewhat similar example in the word NucoXanw, chap. ii. 6, the best interpretation of which is that it is derived from the Greek words vckHv tov XadV, which would express in a name, Nicolaus or Nicolas, what Balaam expresses in Hebrew, " destroyer of the people," and is therefore equivalent to Balaamites. As the other names in this book are predominantly mystical and symbolic, in all probability this is so as well.3 1 De Animalibus Sacr. Script., ii. 16, p. 883. 2 Comm. on Bev., Edin. Ed., i., p. 101, note. 3 See Archbishop Trench on Epistles to the Seven Churches : Amer. Ed., p. 58. 154 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. But so conspicuous is this Hebrew idiom in the Apocalypse that it is unnecessary to multiply examples. While it is Greek in language, it is Hebrew in form and spirit. This lies upon the very surface, and is patent to the most cursory examination. It is admitted by all who have bestowed any attention on the subject that it is more prominent here than in any other part of the New Testament, not excepting the other writings of John. It causes the book to bear somewhat the aspect of an elementary, initiatory work, as if it might be the fontal source of those further idiomatic changes required in the Greek of the synagogue, to adapt it to the expression of the truths of the gospel of Christ. Now what are we authorized to infer from this ? Clearly that it was one of the earliest written books of the New Testament. Beyond all question, as the New Testament contains other books written by John, this Hebrew complexion, so marked in the style of the Apocalypse, proves that the writer of it was but recently arrived among a Greek population, and that this was his first attempt at com position in Greek. At this result we have certainly arrived, that the Apocalypse, in its verbal language, bears evidence of having been written long before the Gospel and Epistles of John. Tholuck says : " when we compare it [the style of the Gospel of John] with the style of the Apocalypse, the Gospel, to all appearance, must have been written at a considerably later period." l He thinks that the interval of twenty or twenty-five years would not be too great to require to account for the great diversity in their language. Of all the arguments adduced by Sir Isaac Newton, none appears more cogent to Michaelis than that which is drawn from the Hebrew style of the Revelation, from which Sir Isaac had drawn the conclusion that John must have written the book shortly after his departure from Palestine, and before the destruction of Jerusalem.2 2. Seven Churches only in Asia at the time it was written. There appear to have been but seven churches in Asia, that is to say, in Proconsular Asia, or that part of Asia Minor lying along the western seaboard, when this book was written. It is dedicated to these seven alone, by the careful mention of them one by one by name, as if there were no others (i. 4, 11) ; rais «n-a iKKXncrlats rais iv rfj 'Ao-ia, " to the seven churches in Asia." The expression "the seven churches" seems to imply that this constituted the whole number, and hence affords one of the most striking incidental proofs in favour of an early date. " There were but seven churches," says Dr. Tilloch, "in Asia when the Revela- ] Comm. on Gospel, Introd., § 3. Also Olshausen's Introd. to John, § 4. 2 Introductory Lecture, Marsh's Translation, 1793. Vol. iv. JUDAIZERS IN THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 155 tion was given."1 An earthquake, in the ninth year of Nero's reign, overwhelmed both Laodicea and Colossa?,2 and the church at the latter place does not appear to have been restored. As the two places were in close proximity, what remained of the church at Colossse probably became identified with the one at Laodicea. The churches at Tralles and Magnesia could not have been established until a considerable time after the Apocalypse was written. Those who contend for the later date, when there must have been a greater number of churches than seven in the region designated by the apostle, fail to give any sufficient reason for his mentioning no more. That they mystically or symbolic ally represent others is surely not such a reason. 3. Judaizing Heretics and Enemies Active. The epistles to the seven churches disclose that Judaizing heretics were exerting a great influence, and that there was vigorous activity on the part of Jewish enemies, such as could not have belonged to these people subsequent to the catastrophe which befel their nation. The angel of the church of Ephesus is commended (ii. 2) for having " tried them which say they are apostles, and are not." " Among the properties belonging to an apostle," says Bengel, " it was one that he should have seen the Lord Jesus Christ. So that false apostles were persons who not only broached false doctrine, but also set this forth with an apostolic air, as if they had seen Christ, or falsely pretended to have done so." It would have been too late in the reign of Domitian, when John, who was the youngest of the apostles and the only survivor, was nearly a hundred years old, for such a claim as this to be set up with any degree of plausibility. Those to whom John refers must be regarded as identical in character, if not in person, with those of whom Paul complained in his Second Epistle to the Corinth ians, and whom he thus describes : " for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ," etc. (xi. 13.) Again, the church of the Ephesians is commended for hating " the deeds of the Nicolaitans " (ii. 6). The best explanation of the term " Nicolaitans " makes it symbolical, like Balaam (ii. 14) and Jezebel (ii. 20), and makes all these names apply to the false apostles or apo states before named, or the Judaizing heretics that infested the Church. There are insuperable objections to the derivation of the name from a sectarian called Nicolaus, that is, to a historical explanation. Balaam, according to its etymology, signifies " destroyer of the people " ; and 1 Dissertations, etc., p. 32. 2 Pliny, Hist. Nat., v. 41. s 156 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. Nicolaitans, according to its etymology, is simply Balaamites in Greek. The Nicolaitans, and those mentioned afterwards as Balaamites, and the followers of the woman Jezebel, were those precisely who repeated the sins of Balaam and Jezebel by becoming tempters of the people of God. They were the same troublers to whom Paul refers (2 Cor. ii, 17, xi. 4, 5, 13 ; Gal. i. 7, ii. 4), and who were represented at a very early period in the apostolic history as going down from Judsea (Acts xv. 1), and causing no small dissension in the churches among the Gentiles, by teaching that circumcision was still essential to salva tion. It became necessary for Paul and Barnabas to go to Jerusalem and lay this matter before the apostles and elders. The council that was convened sent a written answer to Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, that no greater burden was laid upon them than these necessary things, to " abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication " (Acts xv. 28, 29). Paul had warned the elders of Ephesus, when taking his leave of them (Acts xx. 29, 30), that he knew after his departure "grievous wolves" should enter in among them " not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." These words, in respect to Ephesus and several of those churches addressed in the Apocalypse, were now fulfilled ; the " griev ous wolves " had come ; these " perverse men " had arisen. To the church of Pergamos it is said : "I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication." And to the church at Thyatira : " I have a few things against thee, be cause thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols." The woman Jezebel, although the name is symbolical, points also, it may be, to some busy influential female Judaizer and heretic among these disturbers of the peace and purity of the early Church. It would seem from the answer of the council at Jerusalem that the same class of false teachers who insisted on circumcision were disposed to encourage a dangerous licence in respect to idolatrous feasts and in dulgence of lascivious passions ; for the same decree that declared circumcision to be unnecessary condemned such licence in express terms. There can certainly be in such expressions as these no allusion whatever to the doctrines of those ethnicising seducers, who, at a sub sequent period in the Christian Church, exercised so pernicious an influence. They clearly point to an earlier period, when the assault came from quite a different quarter. In the epistle to Philadelphia the JERUSALEM NOT TET DESTROYED. 157 claims of the Judaizing heretics, who are distinctly described as " the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not," are annihil ated as by a single stroke ; " I, Christ your Saviour, have the key of David, and open, and no man shutteth." Again, in the epistle to Smyrna it. is said : "I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer : behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have tribulation ten days," etc. They called themselves Jews, and no doubt were by natural descent the children of Abraham. But they had a spirit so malignant that the synagogue to which they belonged might be called the synagogue of Satan. The source of this persecution, or rather the fact that the Jews were its zealous agents, points clearly to a date anterior to the great disaster which came upon the Jewish nation, certainly long anterior to the time of Domitian. The Jews, it is true, even after this catastrophe, exhibited great bitterness of spirit against Christianity ; but there is greater power attributed to them here than they can be supposed to have possessed after their dispersion and ex treme humiliation by reason of the overthrow of their city and temple. They were never a persecuting power subsequent to this disastrous period in their history. 4. The Jews still occupying, as a distinct People, their own Land. In chap. vii. we have what has been styled " the vision of seal ing," but which is evidently a continuation of what was disclosed in the sixth seal, of which we have the opening in chap. vi. The tor nado of judgments is stayed until a process of sealing the servants of God in their foreheads could be accomplished. " And I heard," says John (vii. 4), " the number of them which were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." And then the tribes are named one by one, and twelve thousand of each are sealed. The language and the manner in which the whole thing is stated could hardly more distinctly imply that the Jewish nation was still existing, and occupying its own land, — a land exposed to some im pending desolation, from which the sealed, the one hundred and forty- four thousand, were to be exempt. The twelve tribes are named, notwithstanding so many of them had been lost, because the destruc tion revealed in connection with the sealing was to overtake the whole land of Judaaa, once the inheritance of and partitioned among these twelve tribes. It was a destruction that was to overtake Judaea; therefore Jewish Christians are alone selected. Bengel held very strongly that Israel is here spoken of in the natural sense and not in. 158 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. the figurative. " As certainly," says he, " as the tribe of Judah is that from which the victorious Lion, the Lamb, sprung (Apoc. v. 5), so cer tainly are all the tribes to be literally understood." Many thousands, we know, had been converted from the Jewish to the Christian faith (see Acts ii. 41, vi. 7, xii. 24, xix. 20). According to the Saviour's own words (Matt. xxiv. 22), "the elect" were to be secured or cared for in that day of calamity. He gave them a sign, and when it should be seen they were to seek places of security.1 These one hundred and forty-four thousand represent either symbolically or literally the num ber of those gathered out from among the Israelites, of whom God would never for a moment lose sight as His own, in the things that were coming on the earth, and to whom His special grace and provi dence would be extended. These sealed ones appear again in this prophecy (xiv. 1-5) on Mount Sion, following the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, and are there expressly recognised as "the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb." Hengstenberg maintains that the " tribes of the children of Israel " are here mentioned in the sense that " the whole Christian Church, however composed, is what is meant by them as being the legitimate continuation of ancient Israel." But it seems strange that Jewish Christians alone should be selected as representing the whole Church in a writing originally addressed to churches so remote from Judasa, and composed largely, if not mainly, of Gentile converts. And such a designation would only seem the more strange in a writing the date of which is referred to a period some twenty-five or thirty years sub sequent to the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews. But the view of Hengstenberg is further shown to be wholly inadmis sible, inasmuch as immediately upon the sealing of the one hundred and forty- four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel we have the numberless multitude2 out of all nations set over against these sealed ones as the complete harvest, of which the sealed ones are but " the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb." The multitude which could not be numbered are put in contrast with the firstfruits, the one hundred and forty-four thousand ; and the " all nations and kindreds and people and tongues," with the twelve tribes of Israel. 5. Tlie city of Jerusalem not yet destroyed, and the Temple still standing. When the Apocalypse was written, as the book itself intimates, if it does not distinctly state, the temple was still standing undisturbed, and the city of which it was the glory undesolated (see chap. xi. 1-13). 1 Matt. xxiv. 15-22. 2 q^^ ^ 9 ITS NEAR DESTRUCTION SYMBOLISED. 159 John says there was given to him a reed, and he was directed to measure " the temple of God, and the altar "; but " the court which is without the temple " he was not to measure ; " for it is given unto the Gentiles : and the holy city shall they tread under foot, forty and two months." Power was to be given to " two witnesses," who should "prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days." They should then be killed, and their dead bodies " lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." But their lives should be marvellously preserved while they were working miracles, and till their prophecy was ended. Their bodies, unburied, after three days and a half should come to life, and they should "ascend to heaven in a cloud." It is difficult to see how language could more clearly point to Jeru salem, and to Jerusalem as it was before its overthrow ; where were the temple of God and the altar, where also our Lord was crucified. The prophecy in the most striking manner seems to adopt the very expression of our Lord, as recorded by Luke xxi. 24, in which the destruction of Jerusalem is universally allowed to be foretold : " Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles." Regarding the literal Jerusalem and the external temple and altar as named, and this particular prediction as having reference to their desolation, it follows of course that this book must have been written prior to that event. On the other hand, if we regard the whole (the city, the temple, the altar, as well as the measuring) to be symbolical, as we must if we adopt the later date, it seems very strange and altogether unnatural that the apostle, in writing to churches so remote from Judsea, gathered on Gentile soil, should make use of such symbols ; and still more so if nearly or quite a generation had passed since that city with its temple had been destroyed. This interpretation indeed seems too unnatural to be admitted, especially where we have so much ground from other parts of the prophecy for the assumption that the temple and Jerusalem were still standing. The parts symbolical in the passage are the measuring reed and the measuring, the two olive trees, the two candlesticks, and the beast ascending out of the bottomless pit to make war against the witnesses. The parts that are literal are the temple, the altar, the court without the temple, the holy city trodden under foot by the Gentiles, the wit nesses prophesying forty and two months, and the equivalent period, a thousand two hundred and threescore days ; and that there might be no doubt as to the city intended, it is described as the city " where our Lord was crucified." The measuring reed and the measuring are here symbolical of destruction. In previous visitations or threatenings of evil on the 160 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. holy city we find analogous figures employed. " I will . stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab " (2 Kings xxi. 12, 13). " Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of My people Israel, . . . and the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste," etc. (Amos vii. 8, 9 ; see also Isa. xxxiv. 11, Lam. ii. 8.) In such passages as these, in which the very implements made use of in construction are employed as symbols of demolition, we have ample authority for the meaning attached here to the measuring reed and the measuring. It was to be applied to the temple, the altar, and them that worship therein ; that is, these holy places were to be overthrown, and the worship connected with them brought to an end. The direction to leave out and not to measure the court without the temple may denote that this court and all that lay outside of the temple proper was not in the same sense holy ; it was the court of the Gentiles, to which they already had access. The consecrated temple and altar were not to be permitted to fall into the hands of the uncircumcised. God would save them from such dishonour by their destruction ; and the worship peculiar to the temple would pass away, never more to be reinstated. Hence we see perhaps the propriety of employing the implements of construction here as symbols. The destruction was in order to save consecrated things. The Roman general found it impossible, although he made the most strenuous efforts, to rescue the temple.1 Titus gave orders to demolish the whole city, except three towers and that portion of the wall which inclosed the city on the west side. The towers were preserved, to prove to posterity how strongly fortified a city had been subdued ; and the wall to afford a camp for the garrison he was to leave behind. The rest of the wall " was so thoroughly laid even with the ground [to use the language of Josephus, as if he had written with the very words of our Lord's prediction, Luke xix. 44, present to his mind] by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe that it had ever been inhabited."2 The worship peculiar to the temple, the great national religious observances to which the whole people went up, passed away, never more to be celebrated on Mount Sion. As to the times or periods specified in the passage, there is no difficulty in making out, in accordance with the application or interpre tation suggested, a literal fulfilment. Vespasian appears to have re ceived his commission from Nero, i.e. the war was declared,3 in the early part of February, A.D. 67 ; three years and six months after, namely the tenth of August, a.d. 70, Jerusalem was destroyed. Here then we , ] Josephus, Wars, vi. 4 (6, 7). 2 Wars, vii. 1 (1). 3 See Lardner, Jew. Test., § viii. THE TWO WITNESSES. 161 have the "forty and two months," or the equivalent period, " twelve hundred and sixty days," during which, understanding " the holy city " by a common figure of speech as representing the entire Holy Land, that land was to be laid waste by the Gentiles. It is a striking confirm ation of the literal interpretation which has been given to the temple and altar in this passage, and from which we necessarily infer the earlier date of the book, that from this point in the prophecy they entirely disappear, and no more recur in the book. Immediately upon the overthrow of the city where our Lord was crucified, the temple, in the remaining part of the prophecy, in the visions and pictures by which it is unfolded before the apostle's mind, is treated as if it had already passed away, had been transferred from earth to heaven ;J until in the final vision, that of New Jerusalem, it disappears even there. " I saw no temple therein."2 This vision of the New Jerusalem very significantly forms the bright and cheering close to a prophecy of which the earlier part relates to the destruction of the old, the earthly Jerusalem. As to the witnesses, it is in this interpretation supposed that there were precisely two. The two were enough to perform the work to which God had called them. If we had a Christian history extant, as we have a pagan one by Tacitus, and a Jewish one by Josephus, giving an account of what occurred within that devoted city during that awful period of its history, then we might trace out more dis tinctly the prophesying of the two witnesses. The great body of Christians, warned by the signs given them by their Lord, according to ancient testimony, appear to have left Palestine on its invasion by the Romans. After the retreat of Gallus from Jerusalem, and the disasters he suffered at the hands of the Jews, " many of the most eminent Jews," to use the words of Josephus, " swam away from the city as from a ship when it was going to sink."3 Perhaps John, the writer of the Apocalypse, took his departure at this time. But it was the will of God that a competent number of witnesses for Christ should remain to preach the gospel to the very last moment to their deluded, miser able countrymen. It may have been part of their work to reiterate the prophecies respecting the destruction of the city, the temple, and com monwealth.4 During the time the Romans were to tread down the Holy Land and the city, they were to prophesy. Their being clothed in sackcloth intimates the mournful character of their mission. In their designation as the two olive trees and the two candlesticks or lamps standing before God, there is an allusion to Zechariah iv., where these 1 Chap. xi. 19 ; xiv. 17 ; xv. 5, 6, 8 ; xiv. 1, 17. 2 Chap. xxi. 22. 8 Wars, ii. 20 (1). * Commentaries of Daubuz, Lowman, Wetstein, and Stuart. M 162 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. symbols are interpreted of the two anointed ones, Joshua the high-priest, and Zerubbabel the prince, founder of the second temple. The olive trees, fresh and vigorous, keep the lamps constantly supplied with oil. These witnesses, amidst the darkness which has settled round Jeru salem, give a steady and unfailing light. They possessed the power of working miracles as wonderful as any of those performed by Moses and Elijah. What is here predicted must have been fulfilled before the close of the miraculous or apostolic age. All who find here a predic tion of the state of the Church during the ascendancy of the papacy, or at any period subsequent to the age of the apostles, are of course under the necessity of explaining away all this language which attributes miraculous powers to the witnesses. They were at length to fall victims to the war, or to the same power that waged the war, and their bodies were to lie unburied three days and a half in the streets of the city where Christ was crucified. Their resurrection and ascension to heaven, like their death and lying without burial, must be inter preted literally; although, as in the case of the miracles they per formed, there is no historical record of the events themselves. If these two prophets were the only Christians in Jerusalem, as both were killed there was no one to make a record or report in the case, and we have here therefore an example of a prophecy which contains at the same time the only history or notice of the events by which it was fulfilled. The wave of ruin which swept over Jerusalem, and wafted them up to heaven, erased or prevented every human memento of their work of faith, their patience of hope, and labour of love. The prophecy that foretold them is their only history, or the only history of the part they were to take in the closing scenes of Jerusalem. We conclude then that these witnesses were two of those apostles who seem to be so strangely lost to history, or of whom no authentic traces can be dis covered subsequent to the destruction of Jerusalem. May not James the less or the second James (in distinction from the brother of John), commonly styled the bishop of Jerusalem, have been one of them ? Why should he not remain faithful at his post to the last ? According to Hegesippus, a Jewish Christian historian, who wrote about the middle of the second century, his monument was still pointed out near the ruins of the temple. Hegesippus says that he was killed in the year 69, and represents the apostle as bearing powerful testimony to the Messiahship of Jesus, and pointing to His second coming in the clouds of heaven, up to the very moment of his death. There seems to be a peculiar fitness in these witnesses for Christ, men endowed with the highest supernatural gifts, standing to the last in that forsaken city, prophesying its doom, and lamenting over what was once so dear to God. MISTAKEN INTERPRETATIONS. 163 The main, if not the only argument of Hengstenberg, against the view here presented of the passage in the eleventh chapter, in support of the later date which he advocates, is founded on what appears to be a very singular interpretation. He makes the import of the measuring to be preservation: "where the measuring ceases, there," he says, "the line of abandoning begins." In other words, what was measured (the temple, the altar, etc.) were to be preserved ; and what was not measured was to be destroyed. It is on the ground of an interpret ation such as this that he objects to that view of the passage which finds in it proof that the book was composed before the taking of Jerusalem. He devotes several pages to a protest which it will be seen was labour lost, when it is understood that John, by the symbol of measuring, meant destruction and not preservation. Hengstenberg, making the measuring a symbol of preservation, considers the temple, as a symbol of the Church, and the altar a symbol of that free-will sacrifice by which believers present themselves to Him who redeemed them with His blood, and the outer court as denoting those who have not been reached, or are only superficially affected, by the spirit of the Church. He makes everything symbolical. " Spiritually," he says, is to be applied, not only to Egypt and Sodom, but to the expression "where also our Lord was crucified"; and that Jerusalem is here intended to denote the Church as degenerate on account of the ascendancy of the world, and filled with offences, thus crucifying the Lord afresh. He makes the whole prophecy here, if not " to swim in the air," to use one of his own favourite expressions, to sink out of sight ; for he makes it to mean simply the preservation of the Church and its worship. No events are foretold ; it is nothing more than a re-affirmation, in highly figurative language, of the promise that God will ever have a seed to serve Him. Another interpretation makes this prediction relate to what will befall the restored temple and the rebuilt Jerusalem, for which those who adopt it are looking in the future. They hold that the Jerusalem of Palestine is yet to know a splendour and magnificence becoming the metropolis of the Christian world; and that a third temple, sur passing the first and second, is to be erected, and the Jews are to form a sort of spiritual nobility in the Church. Mr. D. N. Lord, one of the ablest of the millenarian writers, however, adopts a view more nearly resembling that of Hengstenberg. He makes the great and peculiar truths of the Scriptures proclaimed by the Reformers to be symbolised by the temple, the altar, and the offerers of worship; and the outer court generally to be occupied by apostates. Dr. Croly and Mr. Barnes present a very similar view. 164 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. 6. The Sixth of the Boman Emperors on the Throne. The book of Revelation, according to its own representation, was written or its visions seen during the reign of the sixth of the kings or emperors of Rome. In chap. xvii. is a passage which professedly explains the mystery of the beast having seven heads and ten horns, on which sat the woman who was arrayed in purple and scarlet. " The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings : five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come ; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition." But see the entire passage, verses 7-12. That Rome is here intended there can be no mistake. It is dis tinctly said that the seven heads of the beast' symbolise " the seven mountains on which the woman sitteth " ; that is, the seven hills on which Rome was built. And as little room is there for mistake in the words, " And there are seven kings ; five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come." That the line or succession of emperors is here meant, and not the primitive kings of Rome, is certain from the connection of the "five '' who have "fallen" with the one "who is," the one then reigning, and with the one who is to " come," that is, his successor. We have then only to reckon the succession of emperors, and we must arrive with certainty at the reign under which the Apo calypse was written or was seen. If we begin with Julius Caesar, it stands thus: Caasar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius; these make up the five who have fallen. " One is;" Nero. The ancients, although the empire was not fully established till the time of Augus tus, reckoned from Julius Caasar. He had been declared perpetual dictator, and had concentrated sovereign power in his hands. Josephus calls Augustus the second emperor of Rome, and Tiberius the third.1 "And the other is not yet come ; and when he cometh he must con tinue a short space." Galba, who reigned seven months, makes the seventh. The context, " the beast that was, and is not, and yet is " (ver. 8), strikingly describes Nero by alluding to the popular belief that, after disappearing for a time, that emperor would reappear, as if he had risen from the dead. And again in the words, " and the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition." Had the expectation in regard to Nero, that after disappearing for a time he would come again, been fulfilled, he would have been the eighth ; and he might also be said to be the seventh, as his successor Galba is generally reckoned as one of the 1 Antiq. Xviii. 2 (2). THE SIXTH EMPEROR. 165 mock emperors. This popular belief in regard to Nero was founded on a prediction of the soothsayers in the early part of his reign. Ac cordingly, after his death several impostors appeared, professing to be Nero ; and there were not wanting those who, in full expectation of his return and recovery of power, "adorned his tomb with spring and summer flowers,"1 with the hope doubtless of thus ingratiating themselves into his favour. It appears from numerous sources, Jewish as well as pagan, that there was a widespread expectation of Nero's return.2 To harmonize this passage with the theory which refers the time of the Apocalypse to the reign of Domitian, it has been maintained that the seven kings represent the seven hills of Rome, merely to character ize them as kingly or princely hills. The ten horns are said to repre sent the number of sovereigns that had ruled in Rome: That five of her seven kings (which are so many magnificent hills) are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come, etc., merely represents the con dition of Rome as " not having reached its acme in external greatness, but nevertheless wasting away in its internal strength." Others, who for the most part have held to the same interpretation, have departed from it in some particulars, understanding by " the beast that was, and is not, and yet is," the Roman empire, idolatrous under the heathen emperors, then ceasing to be for some time under the Christian em perors, and then becoming idolatrous again under the Roman pontiffs ; and by the ten horns the ten kingdoms into which the Roman empire is represented as divided after it became Christian. " The seven hills of Rome," says Hengstenberg, " could only be pointed to as a symbol of the seven-formed worldly power." " Of the seven kings mentioned, five belong to the period already past ; and of the two others one appeared at the time then present on the stage of history, and the other had still not entered on it. The five kings, or worldly kingdoms, that had already fallen at the time of the seer, are the kings of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece. The one that is, accordingly, must be the sixth great monarchy, the Roman, for it was this that was in existence at the time of the seer. With the seventh phase of the ungodly power of the world, the beast goes also; into perdition, the heathen state generally comes to an end." " The scene," says Mr. Lord, " was the site of Rome. The seven heights were the seven hills of the city, and they were symbols of the seven kinds of rulers who exercised the government of the ancient empire." All seem to agree that Rome is meant. But those who understand the prophecy to mean kingdoms or dynasties, when it says 1 " Vernis sestivisque floribus tumulum ejus ornarent." — Suet., § 57. 2 Prof. Stuart's Commentary, ii., pp. 434 seq. 166 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. "kings," assign no good reason for an interpretation by which they give scope to the utmost latitude of- speculation in the application of the prophecy. The comparison of these interpretations with that which makes the sixth ruler, then ruling, the emperor Nero, leaves no room for choice to a mind uncommitted to some favourite theory re quiring a later date. We therefore conclude that a reader of the Apocalypse, without pre possessions as to the date, consulting the book itself as a witness on this point, cannot fail to come to the conclusion that it was written before the destruction of Jerusalem, in the reign of Nero, the sixth in succession to Julius Cassar in the empire of Rome. The precise year of our Lord, probably, cannot be ascertained. It is not easy to determine the exact time when John left Judasa and took up his abode in Ephesus. We infer that he was not yet in that city when Paul was there (a.d. 58 or 59), as there is no allusion to him in the scene recorded in Acts xx. 17, and an allusion could not have been avoided had he been there. And yet afterwards, when Paul reached Jerusalem, as would appear from Acts xxi. and Galatians i. 19, he did not find John there. This may have been but a temporary absence ; we, however, infer from all the facts that can be gathered in the case, that not long after Paul's farewell address to the elders of Ephesus John ar rived, and took up his abode in that city. He was probably one of the earliest, being one of the most eminent of the disciples and apostles of the Lord, who felt the persecution which commenced under Nero (a.d. 64), when it reached Ephesus. If we fix upon a.d. 64 or a.d. 68, or one of the intermediate years, as the date of the Apocalypse, it makes little or no difference, as the destruction to which so consider able a portion of the prophecy relates would still be at hand, even at the doors. Or if we suppose that John did not leave Judeea till after the war was declared, a.d. 67, and .that he was sent to Patmos almost immediately on his arrival at Ephesus, it only brings the catastrophe he predicts still nearer. In its very title his prophecy professes to be a revelation of "things which must shortly come to pass." The ful filment was in the immediate future. This is repeated again and again (ii. 15, 16; iii. 11; xi. 14; xvi. 15; xxii. 7, 12, 20). A very large part of the book was to be speedily fulfilled ; and although a part of it related to the distant future, and some of it to scenes and events fol lowing the end of the world, yet the " shortly " and " I come quickly " never lose their appropriateness and significance as the very key of this book. The complete argument for the early date, from internal evidence, can only be found in the full exposition of the book, showing that while it has its starting point in the state of things existing at the time it was written, it progresses in the order of history from that Copied by permission J rom a photograph taken by F. 1-Kl'l H THYATIRA. THE SEVEN EPISTLES. 167 point until every antichristian power is overthrown, and the consum mation is reached in the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, and the new heaven and the new earth. Such an exposition will show, for example, a most remarkable coincidence between the first six seals, viewed as premonitions of the great catastrophe, and the signs of this catastrophe as foretold by our Saviour (Matt, xxiv., Luke xxi.). And so striking an instance of Scripture interpreting Scripture ought not perhaps to have been omitted in that cumulative proof in volved in the very nature of the question under consideration. No Internal Evidence favoueing the Later Date. So clear is the internal evidence in favour of the earlier date of the Apocalypse. And no evidence can be drawn from any part of the book favouring the later date so commonly assigned to it. Some, it is true, have thought they had found internal marks inconsistent with the earlier date in the state of the seven churches in Asia, as inferred from the special epistles addressed to them contained in the Apoca lypse.1 With a considerable degree of certainty, considering the in herent difficulty which belongs to the chronology of the Acts, taking the Claudian decree 2 in A.D. 51 (requiring Jews to leave Rome) as the starting point, we learn that Christianity was first introduced at Ephesus in a.d. 53 or 54, and that near the close of the last named year there had been gathered there, under the labours of Paul, Aquila and Priscilla, and Apollos, a church, " the men," or male members, of which numbered twelve.3 If we suppose that John wrote the Apo calypse somewhere between A.D. 64 and a.d. 68, these churches had been in existence at least some ten or twelve years, a sufficient length of time, considering that most of them no doubt were converts from heathenism, for them to have undergone all the changes to be inferred from these epistles. The church of Smyrna is represented as troubled with false apostles. The church of Pergamos had such as held the doctrine of Balaam. The church of Thyatira had some who suffered the woman Jezebel to teach and seduce the people. And so on. Only the church of Philadelphia had nothing laid to her charge. But we find in the Epistles of the other apostles the churches in general, which were no older, troubled with precisely the same evils. See Paul's Epistles to the Corinthians, passim, and his Second Epistle to Timothy, in which he sorely complains of some who were called Christians, and mentions several who were of the churches of Asia: Demas, Alexander, 1 See Dissertation in Woodhouse's Apocalypse Translated. 2 Acts xviii. 2. 3 Acts xviii.,' xix. 168 the life and WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. Hermogenes, and Philetus. Peter wrote against those who held the doctrine of Balaam. Jude did the same. Lardner assigns Jude's Epistle to a.d. 64 or 65. But the exhortations of Paul in his Epistle to one of these seven churches, that of Ephesus,1 to put away from them bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, evil speaking, malice, and even stealing, as much imply a departure from their first love as the exhortations in the epistle to them in the Apocalypse imply such a de parture. And Paul, in writing to Timothy in his FirBt Epistle, be seeches him to abide at Ephesus. And for what purpose ? That he might charge some that they teach no other doctrine ; and he speaks of some as having swerved from sound doctrine, and turned aside to vain jangling (1 Tim. i. 6). There is nothing in any of the epistles to the seven churches which indicates a more serious charge. Instead of these epistles affording any internal evidence unfavourable to the earlier date claimed for the Apocalypse, it has already been shown that there are features about them wholly inconsistent with referring the book to a date so late as the time of Domitian. Main Ground in Support of the Later Date. With all this clear evidence from the book itself in favour of an early date, it may be asked how it has happened that so many have ac cepted, or seemed to take for granted, the later date. It has been sup posed the external testimony required it. IrenaBus, who lived so near the apostolic age, has been interpreted as declaring that the Apocalypse was seen by John near the end of the reign of Domitian. The passage occurs in a chapter of his work against, heresies,2 the object of which is to show that nothing should be affirmed rashly in interpreting the number 666, in the passage Rev. xiii. 18, inasmuch as it may be made to agree with so many names. He has been understood in this connection as recording his opinion that the Revelation was seen near the end of Domitian's reign. The passage is as follows : 'HpeU ovv ovk diroKiv&weio- pev irep\ tov ovpparos tov 'AiT^pioroG dirocpaivopevoi 0ej3aiGmKa>s, et yap edei dvacpav&bv rip vvv KaipQ KnpvTTecrBai to ovopa avrov, 81 exelvov av eppedr/ tov ko.1 ttjv ' A7roKa\vyjnv eo>paKOTOs' oii&i yapirph iroXXov %povov iapdOn, dXXd crxeSbv eVt ttjs fjperepas yej/far, irpbs t reXei rrjs Aopendvov dpxrjs. " In regard to the name of Antichrist, we do not therefore run the risk of speaking posi tively ; for, if it were necessary at present to proclaim distinctly his name, it would have been done by him who also saw the Apocalypse ; for it is not a long time ago [he, or John himself] was seen, but almost in our generation near the end of the reign of Domitian." 1 Written, according to Wieseler, a,d. 61 or 62, Chronol., p. 455. 2 Adv. Haares., v. 30. testimony op irensus. 169 It will be observed that iwpddr) has no nominative expressed. If ' AiroKdXv\jris is to be supplied, then it is evident that the testimony of Ireneeus is that the Revelation was seen near the end of the reign of Domitian. But if 'ladwns is taken as the subject, then Irenseus simply says : " For it was not a long time ago he was seen, but almost in our day, near the end of the reign of Domitian." And of course his authority cannot be adduced in support of the later date, as the assertion that John was seen, that is, was alive, near the close of Domitian's reign, does not by any means prove that this book was written at that time. It is admitted that the application of this verb to the man who had seen the vision appears somewhat unusual ; and that it is used just above in the active voice, of the vision itself, which makes the transition to the seer somewhat sudden. But in the begin ning of the chapter Irenaeus, beyond all doubt, applies the same verb to John himself. His words are : 'Ev tidm toi? ottouoVois koX apxaiW avriypacpois tov api&pov tovtov Keipevov, Ka\ paprvpovvroiv airav eKelvwv T\ov Kar o\jnv tov 'ladvvnv iapaKorcov, k.t.X. "In all the best and oldest manuscripts this number is found, and those themselves seeing John in the face bear testimony," etc. ; that is, in favour of the reading 666, in oppo sition to the other reading 616. Again, the scope of the entire passage is to assign a reason why it was not necessary, at the time Irenams wrote, for it certainly to be known who was pointed out by the number " Six hundred threescore and six." He argues that if this knowledge had been important at that time it would have been communicated by the writer of the Apocalypse, who lived so near their own time that he might almost be said to be of their generation. There was therefore really no ambiguity to be avoided, requiring him to use the name of John or the personal pronoun as the subject of eapddn, the verb of sight. The scope requires this nominative and no other. There was, moreover, something about John, considering his great age, and the deep interest which the Church had in him as surviving apostle, which makes the verb eapddn peculiarly appropriate. To say of one " he was seen," meaning thereby he was alive at a certain time, might seem unusual, whether in Greek or English, as applied to an ordinary man. When we consider, however, how much would be thought of seeing this most aged apostle who had seen the Lord, there is nothing unnatural in the use of such an expression. In fact this verb is applied to him in precisely the same sense in the beginning of the chapter. Wetstein understood John to be the nominative of impdBn. The ancient translator of Irenams renders it visum est; i.e., to Bfjptov the beast was seen ; so also Storr. Guericke, in his " Introduction to the 170 the life and writings OP ST. JOHN. New Testament" (1843) retracts his former opinion in favour of the later date, and although he understands ' AiroKaXvyj/is as the subject of iapdOr), suggests that Aopendvov, being without the article, is not a proper name, but an adjective, belonging, in accordance With the Greek formation, not to Domitian (which would make an adjective of the form AopniaviKoi), but to Domitius, which was Nero's name, Domitius Nero. This would make Irenaeus testify to the fact that the Apo calypse was written near the end of the reign of Nero. But as Trenseus was merely assigning a reason why it was not necessary for it to be known at the time he wrote what name was pointed out by the number in question, (or it would have been communicated by John himself,) it seems utterly foreign to his design to say anything respect ing the time when the Apocalypse was seen or written; whether under Nero or Domitian ; and entirely in furtherance of it to state that John was alive at a period so near his own time, and that of his original readers. Besides, Domitius is a very unusual appellation for Nero, and several of the Greek fathers do not appear to have thought of any one here other than Domitian, the last of the Caesars. Eusebius, who flourished in the early part of the fourth century, and not Irensaus, was the first who expressly asserted that John was an exile in Patmos during the reign of Domitian ; but it is to be observed that he does not ascribe the Revelation to this apostle at all, for he expressly says : " It is likely the Revelation was seen by John the elder." Lardner thinks that the argument of Dionysius of Alexandria, who wrote against the Chiliasts or Millenarians, had great weight with Eusebius. Dionysius held that the Apocalypse was written by an elder of Ephesus, whose name was John, " a holy and inspired man." He endeavoured to prove from the book itself (and it was this argument which evidently influenced Eusebius), from its style, especially its alleged solecisms, l&ivpao-i piv ffapdapiKois,1 which so strikingly distinguish it from the Gospel and Epistles of the apostle, that he could not have been the author. It is doubtless on the authority of Eusebius that the theory which assigns the Apocalypse to the time of Domitian mainly rests. But as he does not recognise John the apostle as the author of the Apocalypse, his opinion as to the time of his imprisonment is of little account in determining the date of this book. Jerome, and most of the other ancient authorities commonly adduced in favour of the later date, plainly depend on him. But what is stated by Jerome as true of John in the year 96, that he was so weak and infirm that he was with difficulty carried to the church, and could speak only a few words to the people,2 is wholly inconsistent with this opinion. The 1 Euseb., Hist. Eccl., vii. 25. 2 Epist. ad Galat., Oper. 4, c. 6. OTHER TESTIMONIES. 171 interesting anecdote related by Eusebius as founded on what occurred after his return from exile, in his pursuit of a young robber in the fastnesses of the mountains, is equally inconsistent with fixing the time of this exile in the reign of Domitian, when the apostle was nearly one hundred years old. Other Ancient Testimonies. The name of "the tyrant," upon whose death Clement of Alexandria represents John as returning to Ephesus, is not given by him.1 But Nero, above all other Roman emperors, bore the name of "tyrant" among the early Christians. Neither does Origen, who, in commenting on Matthew xx. 22, 23, speaks of a tradition which assigns the condem nation of John to Patmos to " a king of the Romans," give the name of that king.2 Epiphanius (fl. a.d. 366) dated the Apocalypse in the reign preceding that of Nero. He is, however, admitted to have been an inaccurate writer. Andreas, a bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, near the close of the fifth century, in a commentary on the Apocalypse, says it was understood to have been written before the destruction of Jerusalem. Arethas, one of his successors in the next century, assigns to it the same date. In the Syriac version this book is entitled : " The Revelation which was made by God to John the evangelist in the island Patmos, into which he was thrown by Nero Caesar." And Theophylact, in the eleventh century, places the origin of the Apo calypse during the reign of Nero. Comparative Value of the External and Internal Argument. The external evidence seems, on the whole, to be of comparatively little value in deciding the true date of the Apocalypse. The main reliance, it is clear, must be upon the argument from internal evidence. When it has been made to appear that Irenaeus says nothing respecting Hie time when the book of Revelation was written, and that Eusebius ascribes its authorship to another John than the apostle, it is suffi ciently evident that the remaining testimony of antiquity, conflicting as it is, or about evenly balanced between the earlier and later date, is of little account in deciding the question. And when we open the book itself, and find inscribed on its very pages evidence that at the time it was written Jewish enemies were still arrogant and active, and the city 1 Quis Salyus Dives, 42, and Euseb., Hist. Eccl., iii. 23. toD rvpdvvov TeXevr-qcravros, k.t.X. Although it is clear that Eusebius understood Domitian to be referred to, there is nothing in his quotation from Clement to show this. 2 Oper., Ed. de la Eue, iii., p. 720. 6 twv 'Pupaiuv paeiXev's. 172 THE LIPE AND WRITINGS ' OF ST. JOHN. in which our Lord was crucified, and the temple and altar in it were still standing, we need no date from early antiquity, nor even from the hand of the author himself, to inform us that he wrote before that great historical event and prophetic epoch, the destruction of Jerusalem. II. DESIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE. It is a book full of w.onders. The blood of the ministers and dis ciples of Christ was flowing, at the command of one of the most infa mous tyrants that ever wielded a sceptre ; a persecution one of the last victims of which was the great apostle of the Gentiles, into whose labours John had now entered. Nero himself came to his wretched end, probably the same month Paul was executed. This truly was a fit occasion for Him who walketh amid the golden candlesticks to make known to His servants the issue of events in which they had so deep a personal concern. Moreover the predictions of our Saviour in regard to the destruction of Jerusalem were on the eve of being accomplished It was under these circumstances that the apostle addressed his com panions " in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ," and said, " Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things that are written therein ; for the time is at hand." The great design of this book then was to support the faith of God's persecuted people. As if the writer of it had said : "Fear not; the persecuting powers under which you now suffer, the Jewish and the pagan, will soon be destroyed. Hold fast that (precious faith) which thou hast received, that no man take thy crown. Behold I come quickly. And although other enemies may arise in future times, let the Christians of those times find consolation in this, that all foes are destined to the same overthrow, and that Christ shall reign in glory for evermore." "The prophecy of the Revelation," says Daubuz, "was designed that when men should suffer for the name of Christ they might here find some consolation, both for themselves and the Church ; for them selves, by the prospect and certainty of a reward ; for the Church, by the testimony that Christ never forsakes it but will conquer at last." "The book of the Apocalypse," remarks Dr. Adam Clarke, " may be considered as a prophet, continued in the Church of God, uttering predictions relative to all times, which have their successive fulfilment as ages roll on ; and thus it stands in the Christian Church in the place of the succession of prophets in the Jewish Church ; and by this special economy prophecy is still continued, is always speaking, and yet a succession of prophets rendered unnecessary." 173 In the first part of the Apocalypse it is repeatedly declared that the time was at hand for the series of predictions it contained to be ful filled. And in the conclusion, or what has been called the epilogue of the book, this is again asserted. Three times we have these words, " I come quickly." Accordingly this prophecy reveals the power of Jesus Christ, the Prince of the kings of the earth, as about to be employed to bring to a speedy end the persecutions by which Christians were then oppressed. But it not only reveals the destruction of these par ticular persecuting powers, but of every other that might arise in future times, till the day of complete and final victory. Hence the great theme of the Apocalypse is the coming of Jesus Christ to this world, in compassion to His people, and judgment on His foes, and, after the destruction of all the antichristian powers that may arise in different ages of the world, and the Church has enjoyed a long season of unex ampled prosperity, His final coming to raise the dead and judge the righteous and the wicked; so that this book might be entitled, not inappropriately, The Book of the Coming cp Jesus Christ. The New Testament informs us of a twofold appearance or coming of Christ. One, His appearing in the flesh, was visible. The other, or second, relates to the preservation, propagation, and consummation of His kingdom. The second coming is partly invisible, as in the instance of the destruction of Jerusalem, or as when He interposes for His sincere followers and grants them the light and comfort of His presence. And it is partly visible; that is, Christ at the end of the world will thus appear, to raise the dead and pass the irreversible sentence of judgment on every man. Now it is this second, partly visible and partly invisible, coming of Christ, which this book reveals, and which should never be lost sight of if we would have the blessed ness it promises : " Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things that are written in this book." In the particular messages to the seven churches, the Lord, speaking by the writer of this book, has two objects in view ; their rebuke, and their consolation or encouragement. They were exhorted to fear none of those things which they were to suffer : " Behold I come quickly ; hold that fast which thou hast." " That which ye have already, hold fast till I come." " I will come unto thee quickly." " I will come on thee as a thief." " Behold I stand at the door and knock." While He thus endeavours to fortify the minds of the faithful under their tribulations, by the assurance that He would speedily come, He warns such as had fallen into a state of spiritual declension to prepare for His coming by repenting, returning to their first love, and doing their first works. 174 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. The book with seven seals is a symbolical representation of the whole prophecy contained in the Apocalypse. In the first six seals we have a prediction of the signs and calamities that were to precede the coming of Christ at the destruction of Jerusalem, in striking correspondence with those foretold by the Saviour. This was that coming to which the persecuted Christians, whose "brother and companion in tribulation " John was, were directed then immediately to look forward. John was commissioned to show unto God's servants things which were shortly to come to pass. Persecution succeeded persecution at the hands of the Jews ; and all who acknowledged them selves Christians were cast out of the synagogue, and treated with all the cruelty the Jews could inflict, or could stimulate, by false witness, ¦Mieir pagan rulers to inflict. The promise, "Behold I come quickly," encouraged the prayer, "Even so come, Lord Jesus"; " come for the deliverance of Thy persecuted people." This entreaty was now entering into the ears of the Lord ; and He who was crucified was about to come, whilst some who pierced Him were alive, and might see Him, and feel His avenging power. The prophet next proceeds to predict the destruction of the pagan persecuting power, under the symbol of a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. He is repre sented as standing before "the woman," i.e. the Church; as "wroth" with her, as persecuting her, and going to make war with the remnant of her seed. These expressions must be understood as referring to the bloody persecutions of Christians under Nero and Domitian. The reigns of successive emperors were signalized by similar persecutions, though none of them perhaps were equally sanguinary. But the promise, " Behold I come," sustained the faith of God's people. At the very period of the Diocletian persecution Christianity was advancing more rapidly than ever to the overthrow of paganism. The prayer, "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly," pierced the heavens; and those pagan foes that had led the people of God into captivity were made captives, and those who had killed them with the sword fell by the same weapon, — if not literally, by that word which is the sword of the Spirit. The decline and fall of the Roman empire was a part of that revelation which John was commissioned to make to those who were his companions in tribulation. Such was their consolation, and the consolation of their brethren who came after, during the general persecutions carried on by the Roman emperors ; and such at length was the reward of the faith and patience of the saints. The prophet having completed his description of the advent of Christ to destroy the Jewish and pagan persecuting powers, proceeds next to predict His coming to destroy a persecuting power, which AMEN, ALLELUIA ! 1 75 should not arise (although this " mystery of iniquity " had begun to " work " at the date of the earliest Epistles of Paul, see 2 Thess. ii. 7-10) until long after the Christians, for whose consolation he immediately wrote, had been called from, the present scene. But this too never theless would serve to fortify their minds, because the assurance that God would remove out of the way future enemies would be a proof of His unchanging love to His Church. And it has actually served to support the faith of a great multitude, in different ages, to the present hour. That same Saviour, who has come once and again for the destruction of error and of enemies, will fulfil all His word in due time, and great Babylon shall come into remembrance before God; and a great voice of much people shall be heard in heaven, rej oicing over her, worshipping God, saying Amen, ALLELUIA. He that is " called Faithful and True," whose eyes are as a flame of fire, and on whose head are many crowns, will ride forth, leading His redeemed to victory. The papal temporal power will be broken, and the errors which have grown up in the Christian Church in connection with the papacy be destroyed; and then those, or many of them, who have received the mark of the beast, and worshipped his image, shall be slain by the sword of Him whose name is the Word of God, which sword proceedeth out of His mouth. That is, they shall be converted, by the Holy Spirit accompanying the truth of the gospel, to be the true and humble disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. The book of the Apocalypse, which we are to consider as a prophet always speaking in the Church of God, at length foretells the appear ing of Christ to bind Satan, and cast him into the bottomless pit for a thousand years. There is to be a long arrest of Satanic influence, following upon the destruction of antichristian powers, including the diversified forms of modern paganism. This will be the noonday of the latter-day glory, foretold by ancient prophets. At the expiration of the thousand years •Satan is to be liberated for a short period, and will go forth to deceive the nations. Gog and Magog denote the multitude that will be deceived by him. He shall gather them to gether for battle. Their defeat and destruction are then foretold, together with the finishing stroke to the agency of Satan, as a power for evil, in the world. He shall be cast into the lake of fire to be tormented for ever. The great Being, from whose face the earth and the heaven shall flee away, will sit on His great white throne, visible in this His final coming to all the dead and the quick, small and great. The books will be opened, and every one judged out of the things written in the books, according to their works. The righteous will be received up into glory; and whosoever is not found written in the book of life will be cast out with Satan and his angels. 1 76 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. In the close of the book the Son of God, the Divine Revealer, repeats the solemn assurance, " Behold, I come quickly." He personates the Spirit and the bride ; or He ceases, for a moment, to be the speaker, and in the pause, the Spirit and the bride, and all "that love His appearing and wait with longing desire for the advent of the Lord, take up His oft repeated word, Come, and echo it back to His throne. First the Holy Spirit speaks, and says to the Root and the Offspring of David, and the Bright and Morning Star, Gome. The bride, the ransomed Church, purified by her trials, now ready for her espousals, speaks out with the Spirit dwelling in her, " Come, my Lord ; make haste, my Beloved." And while she is yet speaking the opening gates of heaven shall reveal her Fair One, the heavenly Lamb, coming with ten thousand of His saints. Everything, from beginning to end, seems to be in rapid motion, and hastens and urges on to this triumphant goal. One seal is broken after another ; there is a sound of trumpets, a pouring out of vials, swift messengers are flying through the air. At one time the image is that of a throne in heaven, supported by living creatures, one of them having the wings of an eagle, and lightnings and thunderings and voices proceeded out of it ; at another, it is that of a conqueror on His snow-white steed, or a glittering two-edged sword. But there is one voice in all its epistles, seals, trumpets, vials, plagues, and visions of glory and joy, The Lord cometh. That voice has been sounding along the ages for more than eighteen hundred years; and He has come again and again to the overthrow of one enemy after another, Jew and pagan, priest and emperor ; and still it sounds, and still He is coming to the overthrow of superstition, idolatry, and bigotry, wherever found, in whatever form practised, and by whatever sacred names baptized. Scripture would lead us to be always expecting Christ ; and there has always been something present in the world to warrant the expectation. While some who have thought they saw symptoms of His coming to judgment, or of His millennial reign, have been disappointed ; others, who have desired His spiritual presence, and have interpreted the providential events of their own times by the light of Divine truth, have felt that their prayers for His advent were not unanswered. Nor will they, who wait for His coming now, to make the desert rejoice and blossom as the rose, look in vain. " Signs of the white horses " are even now appearing ; bright signals herald His approach.1 The Spirit and the bride still supplicate ; the bride, the ransomed Church, as with uplifted hands and outstretched neck, cries, " Come, oh hasten Thy coming." Then let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that 1 Parochial Sermons, by John Henry Newman, D.D. "even so, come." 177 is athirst come, hasten to meet the Coming One. "And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." That the Apocalypse was written in accordance with this general design, and at this period of the apostle's history, will more fully appear from the book itself. CHAPTER X. ANALYSIS OF THE APOCALYPSE, WITH BRIEF EXPLANATORY NOTES. ]. BY WHOM AND TO WHOM THE REVELATION WAS MADE. — THE TITLE. — THE DEDICATION. — THE REVEALER SPEAKS. — II. EPISTLES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES. — TO EPHESUS. — TO SMYRNA. — PERGAMOS. — THYATIRA. — SARDIS. — PHILADELPHIA. — LAODICEA. — III. SUBLIME VISIONS, INTRODUCTORY. — THRONE IN HEAVEN. — LAMB IN THE MIDST OF THE THRONE. — HONOUR PAID TO THE LAMB. — TV. OVERTHROW OF THE JEWISH PERSECUTING POWER. — FIRST FIVE SEALS, SIGNS OP THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. — THE SIXTH SEAL. — SEVENTH SEAL. — SEVEN ANGELS PREPARE TO SOUND. — FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. — FIRST TRUMPET, PAGAN POWER OF ROME APPEARS. — SECOND TRUMPET, DESTRUCTION OF NATIONS, OR THEIR ABSORPTION INTO THE EMPIRE. — THIRD TRUMPET, JULIUS CESAR, FOUNDER OP THE EMPIRE. — FOURTH TRUMPET, EMPIRE ESTABLISHED UNDER AUGUSTUS. — FIFTH TRUMPET, FIRST WOE, OR NERO AND THE RAVAGES OF THE JEWISH WAR. — SIXTH TRUMPET, SECOND WOE, OR SIEGE AND DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM UNDER TITUS. — V. OVERTHROW OF THE PAGAN PERSECUTING POWER. THE SEVENTH TRUMPET BEGINS TO SOUND. COMPENDIUM OP THE LITTLE BOOK. PAGAN ROME PERSECUTING THE CHURCH. — SPIRITUAL AGENTS IN THE CONFLICT, AND ANTICIPATED VICTORY. — PERSECUTIONS CONTINUED. — THE IMPERIAL MAGISTRACY OF ROME THE AGENCY. — VI. CORRUPTIONS, TEMPORAL POWER, ETC., OF NOMINALLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH. — SYMBOL, DOMINION AND NAME OF NEW PERSECUTING POWER. GLOOMY PICTURE RELIEVED BY VISION. — JUDGMENT ON THE PAPACY. — THE SEVEN VIALS OR PLAGUES. — FIRST VIAL, PRIEST CRAFT AND DEGENERACY OF THE CLERGY. — THE SECOND AND THIRD, MOHAMMEDAN POWER IN THE SEVENTH AND OTTOMAN IN THIRTEENTH CENTURY. — FOURTH VIAL, THE INQUISITION. — FIFTH, REFORMATION. — THE SIXTH VIAL, FRENCH REVOLUTION. — THE SEVENTH VIAL, SYMBOLS OP DESTRUCTION. — SEVENTH VIAL CONTINUED, WOMAN ON A SCARLET COLOURED BEAST.— FALL OF SPIRITUAL BABYLON. — LAMENTATIONS OVER HER FALL. — REJOICINGS IN HEAVEN. — FINAL CONFLICT AND VICTORY. — VII. MILLENNIUM. — FINAL DESTRUCTION OF SATAN'S POWER. — RESURRECTION AND LAST JUDGMENT. — PRELUDE TO DESCRIPTION OF NEW JERUSALEM. — THE CITY DESCRIBED. — DESCRIBED IN RESPECT TO ITS MORE SPIRITUAL ELEMENTS. — THE EPILOGUE. REVELATION I. 179 THE REVELATION OP ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 1. By whom and to whom the Revelation was made. Chap. I. The Title and Introduction. I] [Ver. 1-3. 1 The Revelation1 of Jesus Christ,2 which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly3 come to pass ; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His ser- 2 vant John :4 who bare record of the word of God/ and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear6 the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein : for the time7 is at hand. The Dedication, with an Anthem to the Dioine Revealer. [Ver. 4-7. 4 John8 to the seven churches which are in Asia : Grace be 1 'ALTOKAAT^IS 'IHSOT XPISTOT, THE BEVELATION OF JESUS CHEIST, means both that the revelation is from Him, or He is the Discloser of it, and is of Him, or that He is the subject of it. ' AvoKdXvfis means, in the LXX. and the N. T., a discovery of things hidden, as in 1 Sam. xx. 30, Rom. xvi. 25, 2 Cor. xii. 1, Bph. iii. 3, — or the manifestation of a person, as of Christ, Luke ii. 32, 1 Cor. i. 7, etc. Wiclif, in his translation, a.d. 1380, used the word " Apocalips." 2 That it was given to Jesus Christ accords, doctrinally, with the teaching found in the Gospel written by John : John v. 19, 20 ; vii. 16 ; viii. 28 ; xvi. 15, etc. Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 24-28. 3 'Ev rdxei, in swiftness, or in a very short time. This is repeated very often, e.g. chap. ii. 5 and 16, " I come quickly," raxv ; iii. 11 ; xi. 14 ; xxii. 7, 12, 20. A large part of the book was to be speedily fulfilled. At every period to which the prophecy relates, the " shortly " and " I come quickly " have a peculiar significance. 4 The order is, God gave it to Christ ; Christ sent an angel to communicate it to John ; and John delivered it to the churches. 5 There can be no allusion to the other writings of this apostle, the Gospel and Epistles, which were written subsequently to the Apocalypse. Even Hengstenberg, who holds that the Gospel and Epistles have priority of date, expresses surprise that the reference to these writings should still have its defenders. 6 The reference plainly is to the public reading and hearing, — the singular, he, pointing to the reader, and the plural, they, to the company listening, in an age anterior to the printing of books. • '0 yap Katpbs iyyis, another expression pointing to the immediate future. Some of the events were so near that, even while St. John was writing, they might be said to be commencing. And, in every generation, the time of some of the events of this wonderful book has been at hand. 8 The writer does not style himself an apostle. It was not necessary. He was about to address them rather as a prophet ; and those whom he addressed would know that none other but the apostle of this name would or could address them in the manner he does in this book. The entire book is inscribed to the 180 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. unto you, and peace,1 from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come ;2 and from the seven spirits3 which are before 5 His throne; and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness,4 and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him5 that loved us, and washed us from 6 our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings6 and priests unto God and His Father ; to Him be glory and dominion 7 for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, He cometh with clouds ;7 and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him : and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen. The Bevealer speaks. John's First Vision that of the Bevealer. [Ver. 8-20. 8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,8 which is, and which was, and which is to come, the seven churches. The reason why he addresses no more than seven churches is found in the fact that at this early period in the apostolic history these were all that existed in the region designated. Colossaa had been destroyed by an earth quake not long after the church there had been addressed by Paul in his Epistle. This according to Pliny, Hist. Nat., v. 41, took place in the ninth year of Nero. 1 Xdpts bplv Kal elp-t)vn, a form of salutation which was a very favourite one with the apostles. Eom. i. 7 ; 1 Cor. i. 3 ; 2 Cor. i. 2 ; 1 Pet. i. 2 ; 2 Pet. i. 2. 2 " From Him," etc., dirb 6 8>v Kal b^v koI o ipxipevos is one of the more striking instances in this book in which there is a manifest departure from the" ordinary Greek construction. It is simply a translation of that great and awful name, Jehovah (which is indeclinable, and admits of no variation), into the heathen language in which John was writing. 3 The Holy Spirit, according to the ancient interpretation (see Poole's Synopsis) is undoubtedly designated by this expression. The reference is to His divers opera tions, or manifold manifestations (1 Cor. xii. 4-7), in all which He is " one and the selfsame spirit." The number seven is frequently used symbolically in this book. In oriental usage it is the number of completeness ; Philo styles it reXeo-cpbpos, the completing number. * In the original we have here another of those apparent solecisms, 6 paprvs, k.t.X., instead of toO pdprvpos, k.t.X. In chap. iii. 14 these titles are made equivalent to the indeclinable Hebrew Amen, used as a name of Deity, hence no oblique cases are recognised. 5 The opening strains of a sublime anthem. 6 The original has kingdom instead of kings, and is sustained by the Sinaitic and Alexandrine MSS. ; but the idea of the Textus Eeceptus may be retained, as it is a kingdom in which the subjects share the reign. 7 The anthem concludes in these exalted strains. It is as if the last great day had dawned on the vision of the inspired seer, and he saw the clouds which Christ will then make His chariot, rolling beneath his feet. 8 To the anthem there seemed to come a response as from heaven itself. The narrative in its onward flow is arrested, and without any intimation of change in REVELATION I. 181 9 Almighty. (I John,1 who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ,2 was in the isle that is called Patmos,3 for the word of God, and 10 for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day,4 and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,5 actor or speaker, the voice of a Being is heard, as if echoed back from the invisible world, as the last cadences of the anthem die away : "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord." The Sinaitic and Alexandrine Texts both have Lord God. Alpha is the first, and Omega the last, letter in the Greek alphabet. The meaning of the initial and final letter, as used in this title, is doubt less as defined, the beginning and the ending, for which we find no corresponding words in several of the most ancient MSS., the Alexandrine for example. He is the All-in-all. These two letters, A and il, represent and include all the others, or the en the alphabet ; which also may be said to include all knowledge, as disseminated and perpetuated by letters. He was committing to His servant a written revelation, and He appropriates a title peculiarly suited to Himself in this character, as the Inspirer of every one employed in putting it in writing, as the great fountain of Divine and saving knowledge. 1 John now began to realize the solemnity and dignity of his position, as one selected to show to the servants of God the things of the future, as he had not and could not have done before. He saw as with a prophet's ken how what he was writing would be intently perused and pondered in the distant places and ages of the world. He arrests himself in the record he had begun to make of the words of the voice, and which he had caught at once as an amanuensis, in order that he might more fully state who he himself was, and how he came to be in so strange and out-of-the-way a place when the revelation was made. 2 'Ev T17 BXlij/ei, k.t.X., is language that points to something beyond the ordi nary troubles of life, to persecution, the persecution which had made St. John a prisoner. 3 The preterite was, iyevbpvv, is not to be understood as meaning that St. John was not still on the island when he wrote this book. It was the scene of the vision he is about to record ; he may have had his future readers in view. That the process of writing was going on while the visions recorded were yet passing before him appears from chap. x. 4. Patmos, now called Patino and Patmosa, is a rocky island in the Jiigean Sea, situated not far from the coast, to the south of Ephesus, a short distance from Samos. It is little more than one huge rock pro jecting out of the sea, and at the time of the apostle's exile was probably with out inhabitants, unless it might be other prisoners, and those who had charge of the place as a prison. It was in this stern and desolate place that St. John was favoured with the visions of God. It was among the caves, or f;jm the peaks of its rocky eminences, that he heard sounding the words of that awful voice which he had commenced, and was about to resume, recording. 4 He was in the spirit, i.e. in a theopneustic state, on the Lord's day. This is the only instance in which this appellation is given to the first day of the week in the New Testament. It is called r/ KvpiaKi) i/pipa, the dominical day, because on it our Lord arose from the dead, and became the firstfruits of them that slept ; and it became consecrated to public worship. s He heard behind him a great voice of a trumpet. Whether he stood within or in front of some grotto (one is still pointed out as the scene of his visions) we know not ; the voice sounded behihd him. It was a voice of strength and majesty, which seemed to fill all the air for a wide distance. 182 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. JOHN. 11 Saying,) I am Alpha and Omega,1 the first and the last : and What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia ; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and 12 unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned2 to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven 13 golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man,3 clothed with a garment down to 14 the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow;4 15 and His eyes were as a flame of fire ; and His feet like unto fine brass,5 as if they burned in a furnace ; and His voice as 16 the sound of many waters.6 And He had in His right hand seven stars : and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.7 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not ; I am the 18 first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead;8 and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen ; and have the keys9 of 1 I am Alpha and Omega. John here resumes the record which he had com menced, ver. 8. He is told what to do : to write what he saw in a book, and send it to the churches named. He was to send it to them, i.e., from Patmos. The Sin. and Alex. Texts omit " which are in Asia." 2 If it was within a cave or excavation where the apostle stood on that dominical day, worshipping, as he looked towards the light, and listened to the murmurs of the sea, Him whose resurrection the day commemorated, he saw its gloomy recesses lighted up, and a glory such as no mortal eye, not excepting Moses' or Isaiah's, ever rested on before. 3 Amidst seven distinct and separate lamps he saw One like unto the Son of man. This is a title which Christ applied to Himself on many occasions during His earthly ministry, but which does not appear to have been used in addressing Him, or in application to Him, by any except Himself, until after His resurrection. 4 The whiteness here is not that of hoary age, neither does it denote merely the purity of Christ, but His majesty as a Mug ; Mugs and other persons of official standing often resorting to artificial means to produce preoisely this effect. 5 XaXKoXi/3d>v, brass in an incandescent state. See the probable origin of this word explained in chapter on date of Apocalypse, p. 153. 6 His voice, before likened to a trumpet, is now likened to the majestic, far reach ing sound of the ocean breaking on the shore. 7 Any attempt to give outward form or an embodiment to this sublime descrip tion would only be to degrade it. The symbols employed were not given to be used in making pictures. See Dan. x. 4-9 ; cf. Ezek. i. 28. 8 Two distinct classes of titles and attributes applied interchangeably to Christ. He is the Thbanthkopos. 9 To have the keys is an oriental symbol of authority and government : Isa. xxii. 22, Eev. hi. 7. By hell, or hades, is not meant the mere prison of the wicked, any REVELATION II. 183 19 hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;1 20 the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches :2 and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. 2. The Epistles to the Seven Churches. Chaps. II. and III. To Ephesus. II.] [Ver. 1-7. 1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus3 write ; These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, 2 who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks ; I know thy works,4 and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil : and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles,5 and are not, and hast found 3 them liars : and hast borne, and hast patience, and for My name's 4 sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, more than that he who is exalted to the supreme dominion in an earthly kingdom has authority only over its dungeons and prison houses. But by it is meant the in visible world, to which ah the dead, whether good or bad, have departed. 1 We have in ver. 19 a plan or very general outline of the book or prophecy. 1. He was to record the things already seen ; to wit, the glowing vision of the Son of man, investing him with authority. 2. The prophecy was to have reference to the existing state of the Church, as affected by the hostile Jewish and pagan powers. 3. It was to relate to the destruction of all antichristian powers, and to the Church in its final and complete glory. 2 He expressly declares, before proceeding, that the stars were symbols of the angels of the seven churches, and the lamps symbols of the churches. 3 The Ephesians styled their city irp&rn rys 'Acrlas, and it was the most ancient and chief city of Ionia. Its foundation dates from the era of the ante-Hellenic tribes. Under the Persian rule it was sunk in luxury and voluptuousness. Lysander set on foot commerce, industry, and the arts, and succeeded in raising Ephesus to be the most magnificent city of Asia. See Plutarch. For a fuller notice of Ephesus, see Chap. TIH., p. 145. By the angels addressed in these epistles we are to understand the official directorship of these churches. There appears to have been one pastor, or bishop, who presided, with independent authority, in each of these churches. 4 OlSa to. Ipya